How to Run Polls in Class with iClicker Cloud
Watch this video, or follow the steps in this article to learn how to run polls.
Table of contents
- Start a class session from the desktop software
- Instruct students to join the class session
- Select the "Poll" icon
- Select the question type
- Start the poll
- Students respond to the poll
- More poll options
- End the poll
- View the results
- (Optional) Select correct answers
- View screenshots of questions
- Switch to another activity
- End the class session
Start a class session from the desktop software
Launch the iClicker Cloud desktop software, log in, then mouse over your course name. Select Start Class.
Instruct students to join the class session
When you start class, your session becomes active and ready to join. Instruct students to join the session and wait for your poll to begin.Learn more about taking Attendance during class.
The iClicker toolbar will hover over your lecture content, so you can easily access it when needed during class. You can move the toolbar to the location on your screen that works best for you, and iClicker will remember its most recent location each time you start class. You can also collapse and expand the toolbar by clicking on the blue cloud icon.
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Select the "Poll" icon
Many instructors include question slides within their lecture presentations, but how you format and deliver your questions is up to you! Once you have a question displayed to students, select the Poll icon on the iClicker toolbar.
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Select the question type
The iClicker toolbar will now display your Polling options. You can toggle between different question types using the drop-down menu. By default, every new class session starts with the question type set to Multiple Choice. The question type you select will apply to subsequent Polling questions in the same class session, until you choose another question type from the drop-down menu.Learn more about the different question types in iClicker Cloud.
Start the poll
Select the play button to start a Polling question.
You'll be prompted with the first poll of each class session to select which screen or window iClicker will screenshot and share with students. By default, a thumbnail of the captured image appears each time you click the play button on the toolbar, so you can preview what your students are seeing, but you can uncheck this option if you wish. iClicker will remember your image capture settings for the rest of your class session, and you can change the settings at any time during an active class session from your toolbar's More menu.
Click Select to continue.
Students respond to the poll
iClicker sends the screenshot of your screen or window to students' devices as a Polling question, as shown in the image below. If you turn on the Confidence setting from your toolbar, as described in the next section, your students will also be able to select their level of confidence in their response.
Learn more about how the different Polling question types appear to students.
More poll options
Select the More icon on the toolbar for more Polling options.
Anonymous
Select Anonymous from the menu to run a poll in Anonymous mode. This will change the Polling toolbar to a dark gray color, similar to an incognito web browser window. Your Polling questions will remain in Anonymous mode until you switch your toolbar back to regular Polling by clicking again on the More icon and switching Anonymous to OFF.
Timer Count
Select Timer Count to toggle the question timer to count up or count down. Your selection will remain in place for the rest of the class session, or until you click on the More icon again to change it. You can also change the timer count anytime after class through your course settings.
Confidence
Select Confidence to run a poll with the confidence rating feature. After responding to the poll, students can select their level of confidence in their response: Not confident, Somewhat confident, Confident, or Very confident. You can view students' aggregate confidence ratings in class using the Results chart, or anytime after class through the Class History section of the instructor website. Your Polling questions will continue to include the confidence rating until you disable it by clicking again on the More icon and switching Confidence to OFF.
Select Screen...
Select which screen or desktop iClicker will screenshot and send to students for polls. If you're on a Mac, you can also select which window to image capture. Your selection will remain in place for the rest of the class session, or until you click on the More icon again to change it. Return to top.
End the poll
The toolbar will show you how much time has elapsed during a Polling question and how many students have submitted responses. To end a Polling question, select the stop button.
View the results
Select the Results icon in the iClicker toolbar to view class responses. You can drag the edges of the window to resize the panel as needed.Only display the results if you want to share this information with your students. Note: If you’re concerned about sharing results with your students, you can always view results privately in the iClicker Cloud Mobile instructor app.
(Optional) Select correct answers
Although you can display the Results chart while a poll is open to show results in real time, once you have closed a poll, those responses will be considered final and can be graded.
Select an answer choice on the Results panel to indicate that it is correct. Select it again to toggle it to incorrect or ungraded. You can choose multiple correct responses. When graded, the results change color to green (correct) and red (incorrect), a check mark appears below the correct response(s), and a GRADED badge displays next to the question number. Note that you cannot grade questions you asked in Anonymous mode, but you can grant participation points for responding.
Remember, you can always view and grade Polling results after class on the instructor website.
More Results options
Here's what else you can do in the Results panel:
- Compare results between two Polling questions you've asked in the current class session
- Use the arrows to navigate through the other questions you've asked in the current class session
- Select the three dots to Delete Question or Mark All Correct if you need to quickly grade all student responses as correct
- (Short Answer and Numeric questions only) Click on the arrows next to the Response or Count headers to sort the responses in ascending or descending order
- Click on the arrow on the left side of the panel to view screenshots of all the Polling questions you've asked in the current class session
- Double-clicking a Polling question thumbnail opens a new window with a larger view of the image
- Questions you've already graded are marked with a green checkmark icon
- Anonymous questions are marked with an A icon
- Student confidence ratings are displayed below the responses of any polls for which you had enabled the confidence rating. Select Details to view how many students were Very confident, Confident, Somewhat confident, or Not confident in their response
When you are finished with the results, select the Results icon again on the iClicker toolbar to hide the panel.
To ask another Polling question, repeat the steps listed above.
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Switch to another activity
Select the arrow to the right of the cloud icon on the toolbar to return to your main class session options. From here, you can view Attendance information or run a Quizzing activity. You can always switch back to Polling later in class.
End the class session
Close the class session by selecting the End icon on the main iClicker toolbar. Ending the class session properly will help ensure that students are able to join your new class session during your next class.
When you do this, you will have the option of ending your session with an exit poll to gather post-class feedback from your students.Learn more about running exit polls.
After ending the class session with or without an exit poll, you'll return to your main Courses window of iClicker Cloud.