iClicker


iClicker Student Response System

iClicker is a response system with which instructors may present polling or quiz questions to student during in-person or online synchronous classes. Students may use either the mobile iClicker Student app or a physical iClicker remote. Instructors are able to engage students and enhance learning through interactive polling or quizzing, as well as to track attendance. Any courses that have a Canvas site and award points for iClicker polling or quizzing can be directly linked to the Canvas roster and grades. When polling, instructors are able to award points for only participating, answering questions correctly, or both.

Students must either purchase either a mobile app subscription or a clicker remote to answer polling or quiz questions, but not if instructors only track attendance. No points are awarded for attendance, but instructors can download a spreadsheet and modify it for points-based attendance. Polling and quizzing most often comes in the form of multiple-choice questions that instructors display to students in class with PowerPoint or any other presentation tool. The Windows or OSX computer used to display the question must also have the iClicker Cloud instructor app installed on it. The app captures a screen shot of the question for reference later.

If all students in the course use the mobile app (instead of the iClicker remote), instructors may ask additional question types, such as short answer, numeric, mathematical formula and target questions where students press an area on an image. If permitted by the instructor, students with the app may respond to questions while at remote locations, while students with the iClicker remote must be at the same location as the instructor.

New features in 2024 include student groups, AI-generated questions and more options for students to enter mathematical formula characters when texting answers in the mobile app.

If you would like to arrange a consultation, please contact us. 

Download the Instructor Application

Download the iClicker Cloud app for instructors. The application needs to be installed on the computer you use to teach in class. It should already be present on instructor computers in general assignment classrooms. Mac users will also likely need to adjust their Privacy and Security settings to grant iClicker Screen Recording and Accessibility access to their content.

Integrate iClicker Cloud with Canvas Courses

  • iClicker Cloud can directly sync your Canvas course roster and grades.
  • Updating the roster and scores is a quick manual process that you repeat whenever syncing your scores to Canvas.
    • For courses in Canvas that utilize the single activity Moodle LTI, you should sync to the Canvas gradebook.
    • For Canvas courses using the full LTI, please contact us for more information. [[[link to the Contact Us form – I didn’t know if you had a short URL for that]]]]]
  • Create an instructor account at iclicker.com using your University email address (@illinois.edu).
  • Install the Cloud app on any computer you will use to run the app in class. It should already be present on instructor computers in general assignment classrooms.
  • It can be installed on and signed into on any computer, but you can only conduct sessions on one computer at a time.
  • You can access all class data in your iClicker.com account from any web browser after a class session is over.
  • If you allow any students to use the physical remote, you also must plug a USB base station receiver into whichever computer you use in class before you open the Cloud application.
  • See if your classroom has a base station. If not, you can request one from Technology Services. Or request your own from CITL Instructional Support.
  • View full instructions on how to integrate iClicker Cloud with Canvas.

iClicker for Students

  • View full iClicker instructions for students.
  • There are two options for students to participate – the iClicker Student app or a clicker remote. When instructors set up a course in iClicker Cloud, they choose which options students have. Instructors can select either one or both.
  • All students must use their Illinois email address to create an iClicker account (whether using the app or a remote) and will enroll in their iClicker Cloud courses through that account, if not automatically added by the instructor.
  • Benefits when all students subscribe to the mobile app include:
    • Instructors are able to ask additional question types, such as multiple answer, short answer, numeric, mathematical formula and target – where they touch specific places on an image displayed to their personal device.
    • Courses that meet synchronously online are able to use iClicker Cloud.
    • If you choose to share the images of your questions, students can save those images as flashcards to study from later.
    • Instructors do not need to use a USB base station in class.
  • As of 2023, 75.6% of students use the iClicker Student App. For students who do not already own a physical remote, please consider allowing and suggesting the student mobile app. For polling and quizzing, this requires a paid subscription.
  • For students who already own a remote, unless you want access to all question types and other features, please consider allowing them to use a remote. They must register that remote’s ID to their iClicker account. Since the Fall of 2021, when registering a newly-purchased clicker remotes, students will also unlock a code for a free multi-year subscription to the mobile app.
  • Whether students use a remote or the mobile app, they can immediately view their performance and attendance in their app or by signing into their student account at iclicker.com as soon as you have ended the session and (if applicable) marked answers as correct.
  • For any help students should contact iClicker Support.

Resources