1. Download iClicker Cloud and Create Your Free Account
Start by downloading and installing the
iClicker Cloud standalone application. Classroom computers have Deep Freeze and are wiped clean after each use. You should install the iClicker Standalone application on a flash drive that can be carried from classroom to classroom. Once you’ve installed iClicker Cloud, create your instructor account.
1.1. Download and Install iClicker Cloud
- Go to
http://iclicker.com/downloads/iclicker-cloud.
- In the middle left of the page, click the
Download the Windows standalone version link.
- Locate the downloaded
iClicker Cloud x.x.x. zip file.
- Check your
Downloads folder.
- Note: x.x.x. in place of actual version number
- Open the zip file.
- Inside the zip file you will find the
iClicker Cloud.exe file.
- Click and drag the .exe file onto a flash drive (Removable Disk).
- The flash drive that can be carried into multiple classrooms.
1.2. Create an iClicker Cloud Account
- Open the iClicker Cloud application.
- Click the
Create Account button in the iClicker Cloud Sign In window.
- In the “Primary Institution” field, enter:
University of Houston-Downtown.
- Fill in the rest of the form and agree to the
Privacy Policy and
Terms of Use.
- Use your uhd.edu email address.
- The password is not integrated with Single Sign On (SSO).
- Click the
Create button.

2. Create Courses in iClicker Cloud
Now that you have installed iClicker Cloud and created your instructor account, you should set up your courses. Create one course for each class that you are teaching in Blackboard.
- Open the
iClicker Cloud application (if it’s not already open).
-
Sign In with your iClicker Cloud credentials (created in previous section).
- Click the
Create a Course button.
- Alternatively, click the + button in the bottom left of the Courses menu to create a new course.
- Fill in the
Course Details.
- Recommended:
- Course ID: Your
CRN #
- Term example: Fall 2016
- Check boxes: Meeting days and times
- Click
create.
- Confirm that your course appears in the Courses menu on the left.
- If you need to make edits to the course details, click the course title and click the gear icon at the bottom of the menu.
- Repeat steps 3 through 6 for each additional course.
3. Sync Your iClicker Cloud Courses in Blackboard
iClicker Cloud is one of many third-party applications with Learning Tools Interoperability
(LTI). Syncing your iClicker Cloud Polling courses with Blackboard is as simple as
creating a web link. First, you’ll need to copy the link from your iClicker Cloud course settings, then you’ll paste it into the
Web Link tool in Blackboard.
3.1. Copy the Course-Specific Link from iClicker Cloud
- Open the
iClicker Cloud application and sign in.
- Click the course you’d like to sync in the left-hand menu.
- Click the gear icon at the bottom to open the course Settings.
- Click
LMS Sync in the settings menu.
- LMS = Learning Management System (e.g. Blackboard).
- Click the
Copy Link button in the middle of the window.
3.2. Create an LTI Link in Blackboard
- Open your web browser and login to
Blackboard with your UHD username and password.
- Open the course that you’d like to sync with iClicker Cloud.
- Click a content link (e.g. Course Content) in the left-hand course menu where you’d like to set up the iClicker Cloud link.
- For more about the course menu, go
here.
- In the content area, click the
Build Content button near the top of the page.
- Click the
Web Link option in the dropdown menu.
- Give the link a
Name.
- Paste the link that you copied from the LMS sync.
- Important! Check the box labeled:
This link is a Tool Provider.
- Click the
Yes radio to
Enable Evaluation.
- Enter the total
Points Possible
- Click
Submit.
Important notes:
- Instruct your students to sign in to your Blackboard course and click the LTI link.
- Repeat these steps for each Blackboard course that needs to be synced with iClicker Cloud.
-
Click here for additional information about syncing iClicker Cloud in Blackboard.
4. Start a Polling Session and Grade User Activity
It’s easy to start polling sessions, but remember that iClicker is separate from your presentation software like PowerPoint. You will open your presentation file and the iClicker Cloud separately, and both will run at the same time. The iClicker window will stay in the foreground to give you quick access to the polling controls and results menu.
4.1. Start a Polling Session
- Open the
iClicker Cloud application.
- In the left-hand menu, click the course in which you’d like to start a polling session.
- Example: course title is Info Literacy.
- Click the
Start Polling Session button.
- A small iClicker window will open in the foreground of the presentation.
- Click
POLLING to open a second small window with a
blue play button.
- POLLING opens the session for students to
Join
- Before clicking the Play button, make sure that your presentation file is open.
- Example: PowerPoint presentation with multiple choice questions.
- Click the
Play button to start a timer.
- A tally of the responses received will appear to the right.
- When all responses have been received, click the
Stop button.
- In the iClicker window, click
RESULTS to show a chart of student responses.
- Students cannot submit responses once the polling has stopped.
- Feel free to discuss the results with students.
- Click the correct answer column to grade the question.
- Grading can also be done after the session is closed in the
Session History.
- Click the X icon in the upper right corner of the iClicker window to end the session.
- Click the
End Session button in the dialogue window.
4.2. Viewing Session History/Grade Book
- You will find a list of all past sessions in the
Session History tab of the iClicker software.
- Click the
Session Name of the session you’d like to review and grade.
- To view a list of all students, session, and grades, click
Launch Gradebook in the upper right corner.
A. Students who have clicked the LTI link in Blackboard will have a green dot in the LMS Connection column.
B. Students who have NOT clicked the LTI link in your Blackboard course will have no green dot.
- Click the Sync Scores to LMS button to automatically publish iClicker scores to Blackboard LMS.
- Students who have not synced will receive an email reminder.
5. Understanding iClicker Scores in Blackboard
Currently, Blackboard does not display individual iClicker session scores in the Grade Center, so understanding how grades are calculated can be a bit confusing.
5.1. Calculating iClicker Scores
- Each students’ score that you see in Blackboard is a combined total of their polling sessions so far.
- Each time scores are synced to Blackboard, this score may go up and down depending on students’ performance.
- It may seem confusing, but it’s quite simple.
Example:
Session 1
|
Session 2
|
Session 3
|
Session 4
|
iClicker Score: 4 / 4 Blackboard: 100% (4/4) |
iClicker Score: 2 / 4 Blackboard: 75% (6/8) |
iClicker Score: 3 / 4 Blackboard: 75% (9/12) |
iClicker Score: 3 / 5 Blackboard: 70.6 (12/17) |
Q: How is the iClicker grade calculated?
A: Let's look at the four sessions in the example above.
- The total number of questions in all four sessions is 17 (4 + 4 + 4 + 5 = 17)
- The total number of questions answered correctly in all for sessions is 12 (4 + 2 + 3 + 3 = 12)
- Divide 12 by 17
- 12 / 17 = .7058
- .7058 = 70.6%
- Again, Blackboard only displays one overall grade for their iClicker total, not individual session scores.
- Whether they’re using physical remotes or the cloud application, all students can check their individual session performance by logging into their iClicker accounts at
https://app.reef-education.com.
5.2 Edit the Blackboard score primary display to match iClicker
- Individual session scores DO NOT sync to Blackboard.
- Only the Total column is synced to Blackboard.
- The iClicker Total column displays a total by percent of ALL polling sessions.
- When setting up the LTI link in Blackboard, you entered a score in the Points Possible field.
- Changing the Primary Display from Score to Percentage will reflect the same score in both iClicker and Blackboard.
- Open the Full Grade Center
- Click the action link in the iClicker column header
- Click Edit Column Information
- Below the main Description container, you will find the
Primary Display field.
- Click the dropdown menu and select
Percentage.
- Click Submit
- The score will now display as a percentage to match what students see in iClicker.
- Alternatively, toggle between % and Pts in the iClicker Gradebook.
If you have any questions or comments regarding the steps outlined in this document, please contact UHD TLS Training Services by calling (713) 221-8200, or by sending an email to
ttlctraining@uhd.edu.