iClicker: Formatting Your Class Roster

Tip: Quickstart directions can be found on the iClicker Instructor Kit thumbdrive.

Each student remote has a unique serial number printed on the back. This number is referred to as the remote ID. The association (or registration) of a student with the remote ID is required before a student can receive individual credit for voting in class.

Course Management Systems (CMS) Integration

For a step-by-step tutorial on CMS integration, go to iClicker.com and find your CMS version. For your convenience, the direct link has been provided:

http://www.iclicker.com/dl/dl.html

The Process of Registering Your Students

I. Formatting Your Class Roster

II. Registering Your Students (choose one option):

In-class or Roll Call Registration
Web Registration
In-class "Individual" Registration

III. Optional: Loaning an iClicker for a Single Lecture

Formatting Your Class Roster

Create a file containing student information in your course folder.
1. Create a text file named Roster.txt.
  
  NOTE: If you wish to integrate iClicker voting data with Blackboard, you will NOT use a Roster.txt file. Various Course Management systems require different file names and types.
The Roster file must have one line for each student in your class, with each line containing:
1. The student’s last name
2. The student's first name
3. The student's ID, which will be his/her BroncoName
  
  Note: Each element must be separated by commas.
Save this file as “Roster.txt” within the folder you’ve renamed for your course. You will need to do this for each section or course in which you are using iClicker. An example Roster.txt file is provided in your class folder. You may wish to simply edit this file rather than creating a new one.

Registering Your Students

In-class or Roll Call Registration

Note: To use Roll Call Registration, your computer screen needs to be projected so all students can easily see it.

Open iClicker by double-clicking the iclicker.exe icon in your course folder.
1. Select “start session” from the Welcome Screen.
From your floating menu bar, click on the down arrow to open the Options menu.
1. Select “Loan/Register Clickers.”
From the Loan/Register clickers window, select Roll Call.
The Roll Call screen will appear. Each student’s information (from the Roster.txt file you have placed into your course folder) will begin scrolling.

Note: You can modify the information that appears on the screen. For example, choose to display students' names only, BroncoNames only, etc. For more on this feature, see the Section on iClicker Settings and Preferences.

Note: You can control the speed at which your students’ names scroll down the screen with the Scrolling Speed option in the top right hand corner of the Roll Call screen.
The instructions for students to register are outlined on the screen and are easy to follow.
1. Step One: The student locates his/her name or BroncoName as read from the Roster.txt file.
2. Step Two: The student must wait until his/her BroncoName has scrolled down into the central blue region of the Step Two screen. A letter will then appear to the right of his/her BroncoName or name. The student must press the displayed letter on his/her remote, at which point the remote ID appears to the left, and a second (different) letter appears to the right of his/her name or BroncoName.
3. Step Three: The student should press the second letter on his/her keypad to complete the registration process. This is the final step in tying each individual student to his/her unique remote.
4. Once the second letter is selected, the boxes to the right of the name disappear and the student is registered for the duration of the course. His/her name will no longer appear on the scrolling roster list.
  
  Note: If a student’s name scrolls off the screen before completing Steps 2 or 3, he/she should simply wait for his/her name to appear again. Names will continue to scroll on the screen until you click on the Close button (bottom right of screen) or until all students have registered.
  
  Tip:
  If a student accidentally registers his/her clicker to the wrong name, he/she should push the D button on his/her iClicker remote twice to clear the incorrect registration and restart the registration process.

Web Registration

Your students can also register through a simple Web registration process.

Tip:

When using Web registration, the key to success is sharing directions with students before they register their clickers online. Let students know that the Student ID will be the same as his/her BroncoName. You may want to add iClicker registration ID instructions to your syllabus so your students follow the proper clicker registration protocol.

Send your students to the iClicker.com website (link opens in new window):

www.iclicker.com/registration
On the iClicker registration page, students should:
1. Enter his/her first name in the box labeled First Name.
2. Enter his/her last name in the box labeled Last Name.
3. Enter his/her BroncoName in the box labeled Student ID.
  
  Note: This Student ID (AKA BroncoName) should match the Student ID you have listed in the Roster.txt file.
4. Enter his/her clicker ID number (found on the back of the iClicker remote, toward the bottom, next to the bar scan) in the box labeled Clicker ID.
5. In the verification box, enter the verification code given in the image found on the iClicker registration page. This verification image will appear as a slightly distorted series of numbers and/or letters (and is used to keep spam bots from submitting the form).
6. Click Enter.
7. The student will see an on-screen message confirming that registration was successful. The student’s ID (AKA BroncoName) is now tied to his/her unique iClicker remote ID.
  
  NOTE: If a student has not voted with his/her iClicker remote, the online registration will not synchronize with your iGrader application. The student must vote at least once in class. As such, we recommend you ask at least one clicker question (for example, an attendance polling question) on the first day of class to capture remote IDs before requiring your students to register.
Once your students have registered online, you will need to synchronize the relevant information from the Web server with your iGrader application. This updates the student registration information in your class folder. This is one of the functions built into the iGrader application, which is described in the eHelp iGrader section.

Tip:

Students can use one iClicker remote for multiple classes, and only need to register on the Web once. If the student makes a mistake, he/she can simply register a second time.

In-class "Individual" Registration

If only a few students need to register (for example, a new student joins your class as a late add), an individual registration option is available.

From the iClicker floating menu bar:
1. Click on the down arrow to open the Options menu.
2. Select “Loan/Register Clickers.”
  
  Note: Be sure that “For the Term (Permanent)” is selected from the “Register” drop down menu.
Now enter the student’s Remote ID (the number on the back of his/her iClicker toward the bottom, next to the bar scan).
1. This can be done by just typing it into the Remote field.
2. Or, by having the student hold the On/Off button on his/her remote until the blue light starts flashing (around two seconds) and pushing the A button twice. This will send the clicker ID to the computer and the Remote ID will appear in the Remote field as if you had typed it.
Select the student’s ID (AKA BroncoName) from the drop down menu labeled Student.

Note: The names in this list are taken from your Roster.txt file.
Click OK.
1. The student’s ID will be associated with the corresponding iClicker remote ID.
  
  Note: The procedure described above (Individual Registration) permanently assigns the iClicker remote to the student. See below for instructions on loaning a clicker.
  
  Note: Only one student at a time can register via the Individual Registration option.

Loaning an iClicker

If a student forgets his/her iClicker remote, you can loan one for a single lecture. To associate the loaned clicker with a student for one lecture only, you should perform a temporary (or loaner) registration.

To do this, follow the exact same steps as outlined above for an individual registration, BUT make sure to select the “For one Session (Loan)” option from the Register drop down menu (as shown here).

If this option is used, the assignment of the iClicker remote ID is tied to that student for one lecture only. This temporarily overrides any permanent registration. The student will receive credit for any votes during that lecture and these will be synchronized with existing scores. In subsequent classes, the student can resume using his/her regular clicker.

This page was last updated on May 21, 2008.