iClicker® Student Response System Information

If you are planning on using the iClickers in your course, please contact Nick Downey or Bob Hoar so that the purchases can be coordinated (we get free receivers with large orders, so pooling the orders makes sense).

To visit the iClicker website, click here.

Frequently asked questions:

What is an iClicker?
iClicker is the brand name for a Student Response System (SRS), which is a wireless response system that allows faculty to request information and for students to respond by using a "clicker" or hand-held response pad to send his or her information to a receiver. When presented with a question, the student presses a button on a hand-held response pad or clicker, which sends either an infrared or radio signal to a receiver attached to a computer. The computer records and/or displays the response per the instructor's preference. You may have seen these systems in use on television during political debates or game shows, where a host or a contestant chooses to "poll the audience". You can learn details about the iClicker more by clicking here.

Is the iClicker software compatible with Desire 2 Learn (D2L)?
At the start of the fall semester (2008), iClicker released the following:

We are pleased that we are finally able to offer support to our Desire2Learn customers; we had struggled to get a sandbox via D2L earlier but have been able to access one this summer and build appropriate support for manual integration using i>clicker and Desire2Learn. The one challenge we faced: the testing sandbox we were able to access only provided us with access to one sample student. We have put this software through our regular quality assurance testing process but would love your help in testing this software (and hopefully using it) with a larger pool of students (perhaps in your own course using your roster).

With this new version of the software, our manual integration solution will enable you to use your D2L class roster via for either roll-call/in-class registration or web registration (either via www.iclicker.com or your own campus, if your campus is hosting registration locally) and to upload your i>clicker polling scores directly into D2L in a specially formatted .csv file designed to work specifically for D2L.

The step-by-step documentation (if a pdf file) can be viewed here.

Which Courses are using iClickers?

Courses using iClicker currently include:
BIO 103, 105, 306, 341, 414
PHY/AST 155
PSY 100
If you are planning to use the iClicker in your course and it is not listed above, please contact Nick Downey or Bob Hoar so that we can add it to the list.

Which rooms have receivers (antennas)?

Mitchell Hall H0010
Cowley Hall 140, 151, 156, 405
Carl Wimberly Hall 102, 112, 122, 156

Is it easy to set up a new room to have a receiver?
Yes it is. With each iClicker purchase of 100 we get one receiver. These can easily be installed in a room with a pedestal/podium computer (Mac or PC).

Why the iClicker brand?
A group in SAH made college wide presentations relating to eInstruction, iClicker, and Turning Point. Those who attended filled out a survey and the iClicker system was selected. For more info on the iClicker product you can jump to their website by clicking here.

Who is coordinating the efforts related to the iClickers?
A group of interested faculty have been involved with the selection/implementation of the clicker system. Nick Downey (Biology) is the faculty member that has been moving the process forward. He has worked with Educational Technologies and the iClicker rep.

How do we ensure the one-student-one-clicker idea?
Students may be in multiple courses that are using the iClicker system. Each student will be given only one clicker, but each textbook in the courses using the system will be bundled with a clicker. Textbook rental is aware of the one-student-one-clicker idea and will be explaining it to the students.

How easy is it to add an iClicker to your course?
VERY simple (main reason for the adoption).

How do you work with textbook rental?
Textbook rental will order the clickers and put bar codes on for rental. They monitor students picking them up.

If someone else wants to use a different system, is this a problem?
No! It is not a problem technically speaking and as the instructor, you have the freedom to choose. There are a number of technical and logistical details that you may need to deal with if you choose another system--most of the bugs have been worked out of the iClicker implementation.

Is there special software, and is it already in the classroom?
The current plan is to have the software loaded onto a USB flash drive which will be permanently connected to the receiver so the computer has access to the software. It will be "installed" with each receiver.

Is this program compatible with my computer?
Most likely. The software runs identically on both Windows and Apple OS machines, sorry no LINUX at this time.

Can I save the data I get from my class, and if so, how?
Yes, if you bring a USB flash drive. The software allows you to save the session to that at the end of each class.

Can I upload results of quizzes directly to D2L?
Yes. Quiz results can be saved in the .csv file format, which is uploadable to your D2L site.

Can the instructor control the clicker software from a remote control?
The answer is yes, we have a stock of special instructor clickers that can be used to control the program like a simple tv remote.

If a class is using iClickers in a neighboring room, will this effect my system?
iClicker can be setup on different frequencies to prevent cross-communication between classes. This is a very simple intuitive procedure and can be demonstrated as the need arises.