How to Create an Event and Run Polls in iClicker Cloud

Owned by Nelson Baquero
Last updated: Mar 13, 2024 by Kimberley Barker
4 min read

iClicker Events allow you to run polling questions without requiring your audience to create an iClicker account to participate. Using an event is a great alternative to running polls in a Course when your poll is a one-off session and you are not concerned about measuring an individual’s performance or tracking progress across multiple sessions.

 IMPORTANT: Hosting an event requires that your iClicker account has had this feature activated and that you download and use a special version of the Cloud desktop application (v5.6.0).

Creating an Event

Before creating an event, you must create an iClicker Cloud instructor account and download the latest version (5.6.0 or later) of the iClicker Cloud software.

If you don’t see an event option, check with your iClicker account manager for more information about getting access to iClicker Events.

 

  1. Go to instructor.iclicker.com.

  2. Select your Institution then click Let's go!

  3. Click the Create New Event button from the instructor website or click the Create button from the desktop and select Event from the dropdown menu. A Create Event form opens with the Primary Institution pre-populated from your iClicker profile.

  1. Enter a name for your event and, optionally, a brief description. The information entered here will be shown to participants before they join the event, so choose a name and description that help them recognize that they are in the right place!

  1. Once an event is created, it will be listed in the Upcoming Events tab of the website and in the Events tab of the desktop application.

 Although events can be created and managed from the instructor website, you must use the desktop application to run the event.

Sharing Event Information

Participants don’t need an iClicker account to join your event but they will need to know how to join it. iClicker Events offer a number of ways to join the event, both in advance and while the event is running.

Sharing Join Information from the Website

If you are creating your event ahead of time and wish to send join information to participants, you can share the join link and/or QR code for the link.

  1. To access the join information from the website, click the event name to open the Event History.

  2. Click the Settings option in the side navigation or the join information link. Clicking either option opens the Event Details tab of the settings.

  1. Copy the join link or download a QR code to share with participants.

Sharing Join Information from the Desktop App

  1. From the Cloud desktop application, join information for the event can also be shared by clicking the Join Code link.  

Although the join information can be shared ahead of running an event, participants will not actually be able to join the event until it starts. Attempting to join an event before it has started opens the event information page with the Join Now button disabled.

Running an Event

Notes:

  • Once started, an event can last up to 12 hours. For multi-day engagements, facilitators should create a separate event for each day. As a best practice, include the day in the event name and description. For example, create separate events “2024 Spring Orientation - FRIDAY” and “2024 Spring Orientation - SATURDAY” for an event spanning two days. 

  • There is no cap on the number of participants that may join an event but local infrastructure/network capabilities should be considered when planning an event. iClicker Events has been successfully tested with up to 1500 participants.

 

Click the Start Event button that appears when you move your cursor over your event name. Once the event has started, the Join Now button becomes active and participants are immediately able to join.

When an event is active, the desktop home screen is replaced with the Events toolbar. This toolbar displays a count of the participants who have joined the event and offers options to show join information, switch to the Polling toolbar, and end the event.

Sharing Join Information During an Event

Clicking the Join option on the toolbar opens a window with information on how to join the event. This information includes a QR code that participants can scan with their mobile camera, as well as the link to enter the join code manually.

Starting a Poll

  1. Click the Poll option in the toolbar to switch the Events toolbar to the Polling toolbar. The Polling toolbar looks and functions nearly identically to polling with Courses. The only difference is the absence of some course-only polling features such as Group polls and Anonymous polling mode. Learn more about question types available in polling.

  1. Click the Results button to see how users are responding to the poll. Note that there's no option to select a correct answer here. Correct answers can be marked when viewing results on the iClicker website, but there is technically no grading since users are all anonymous for Events.

  1. To end the event, use the back arrow next to the Cloud icon to return to the Events toolbar and then click the End option. Once an event has ended, it cannot be resumed and no longer appears in the list of upcoming events.