Step-by-step Instructions for Basic iClicker Use

These instructions were developed for the most recent version of the iClicker software (v5.4.1) as of October, 2009.  If these instructions do not match what appears on your screen, please contact CTSI at ctsi.teaching@utoronto.ca or 416-946-3139 for support.

This section is divided in to the following categories:
Setting Up iClicker
Creating Your Courses
Settings and Preferences
Polling Your Students in Class
Viewing Student Responses
Asking Questions on the Fly
Anonymous Polling

SETTING UP iClicker

  1. Connect the iClicker receiver base to your computer through the USB port.
  2. Connect the iClicker flash drive to the USB port on the back of the iClicker receiver base
  3. Navigate to My Computer to locate and double-click the flash drive (usually the E or F drive or called a Removable Disk by the system)
  4. The flash drive contains two folders: MyCoursePC or MyCourseMac. Double-click on MyCoursePC if you use a PC, or MyCourse Mac if you use a Mac.

CREATING YOUR COURSES
Please note: these instructions presume that you are using iClickers in course lecture sections only. If you would like to use clickers in tutorial or laboratory sections, please contact CTSI for information on creating iClicker course folders for this purpose.

  1. In the MyCoursePC or MyCourseMac folder, double-click the iClicker icon to start the program
  2. The Welcome screen appears. Click Add Course
  3. An Add Course window appears. Enter your Course Name, Course Number and Section Number.
  4. Click Create (iClicker automatically creates a new course folder in the “Classes” folder in MyCoursePC or MyCourseMac.) The Add Course window closes and you are returned to the Welcome screen where you will see you course name in the list of courses.
  5. Repeat steps 1-5 to create as many courses or sections as you need.

SETTINGS AND PREFERENCES

  1. From the Welcome screen, highlight your course. Click Choose.
  2. On the Main Menu screen, click Your Settings and Preferences in the lower left hand quandrant.
  3. On the General screen, input Instructor’s Remote ID (8 character code printed on back of remote). Leave the Frequency Code on its default settings.
  4. If you would like to set a time limit for your questions, go to Polling Session. Under Polling Timer, click on Count down from: and enter your desired time limit.
  5. Under Scoring, you can set preferences for keeping track of students’ participation and accuracy in responding to questions. If you plan to assign marks based on clicker use,please contact CTSI for guidance in selecting the appropriate settings under this tab. As a default, we recommend setting Participation Points to Students must respond to at least one question and leaving the Performance Points settings on the default.
  6. When you are finished modifying your settings and preferences, click Set For This Course. If you are using clickers for a particular activity in one specific class session, you may wish to select Set For This Session after modifying your settings.

POLLING YOUR STUDENTS IN CLASS

  1. Double-click the iClicker icon to start the program. The Welcome screen will appear.
  2. Select the desired course from the list of available courses. Click Choose. If you do not see your course listed, see the previous section on Creating Your Courses. The Main Menu screen will appear.
  3. Click Start Session in the centre of the screen. The Main Menu will disappear and you will see the floating toolbar appear in the top left corner your computer desktop, indicating that polling is active. When you are ready to pose a question, advise your students to turn on their clickers. Then present them question and answer choices (either verbally or visually).
  4. Click Start on the toolbar.
  5. You will see a timer and a counter. The counter records the number of student responses received. Once you have received a sufficient number of responses, click Stop. iClicker will no longer accept votes. The toolbar will display the word Done along with the total number of votes collected for five seconds after polling has ended. After five seconds, the counter and timer will disappear so the floating toolbar is less obtrusive.
  6. Click Display on the toolbar to view a graph of your students’ responses for the current question.
  7. Repeat steps 4-6 for each question you ask in class.

VIEWING STUDENT RESPONSES

  1. Clicking DISPLAY on the toolbar will show a graph of your students’ responses for the current question. The graph displays the percentage of total votes and number of votes for each answer choice.
  2. To designate a correct answer, roll your mouse over the graph so that the correct answer choice buttons appear. Click the letter that corresponds to the correct answer. When you select a correct answer, the bar colours will change. The bar for the correct answer will become green, while all others become red.
  3. To clear the correct answer selection and return to the default graph, roll your mouse so the answer choice buttons appear and then click the “?”
  4. Click Compare to open another graph. To display data for a previous question, click Previous. To display data for the next question, click Next.  (This can be a useful feature if, for example, you ask students a question once, allow them to discuss it with a partner, and then allow them to respond to the same question again.)
  5. To stop displaying the graph, click Hide.

ASKING QUESTIONS ON THE FLY
This feature allows an instructor to ask a question spontaneously and have it recorded in a screen capture, without closing out of your presentation application. E.g., In the middle of your lecture, you may suspect that students are having trouble with a particular concept, and wish to ask them a question about it.

To use Question On the Fly:

  1. Click the arrow menu button from the floating toolbar
  2. Select Question On The Fly
  3. Type in a question title in the Question Title field, your question in the Question field (and the correct answer in the Answer field if you want).  Once you have typed in your question,do not close the Question on the Fly box.
  4. Select Start from either the floating menu bar or using your instructor’s remote. Click Stop to close polling and Display to view student responses. A screenshot will be taken when polling begins and will be saved in iGrader, along with the question title and the correct answer (if you chose to have one).
  5. Once you have closed the poll and reviewed the results, click the Close button at the bottom of the textbox to close the question.

ANONYMOUS POLLING
When a question is anonymous, the iClicker software does not record students’ responses. However, it will still record whether or not students replied to the question. To make any question anonymous:

  1. Click the arrow menu button from the floating toolbar
  2. Select Anonymous Question. An (*) appears next to the Start button on the iClicker toolbar, indicating that the question is anonymous
  3. Click the Start button to begin polling, Stop to close the poll, and Display to show students’ responses.