Dear faculty and students,
We are excited to announce that we will implement a new student response system, iClicker, for the 2024-2025 academic year. This system will allow instructors to engage students in real-time polling, quizzes, and discussions using their own devices. iClicker is a widely used and reliable platform that integrates with our learning management system and supports various pedagogical approaches.
Some aspects of iClicker that impressed the review committee and pilot participants are the simple setup for users, the specialized training for faculty, the option for instructors to ask spontaneous questions, the smooth integration with Canvas, and the student access from laptops and mobile devices.
One of the main benefits of iClicker is that it will be an institutional paid license, which means that students will not have to pay any fees to use the system. This will remove the financial barrier students previously experienced with Top Hat, the current student response system. We hope that this will increase student participation and satisfaction in the classroom.
We thank the ETAC and volunteer faculty members who led the software review and selection process. They evaluated several options and conducted surveys, focus groups, and demos with faculty and students. Thank you to the students for providing feedback and sharing their thoughts and concerns with the systems. Their input was invaluable in making this decision. Lastly, we’d like to thank the faculty who volunteered and piloted the software options in their courses. Their feedback and experience helped us assess the strengths and weaknesses of each system.
The IT&A team will work with the vendor to implement iClicker and provide faculty training. We will help faculty who have used other in-class polling software and want to move to the new system. More information will be shared later in the spring semester. In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, contact ETAC co-chairs Jenna Linskens (jlinskens@ithaca.edu) and Colleen Countryman (ccountryman@ithaca.edu).
We look forward to working with you to enhance student engagement and learning with iClicker.
Sincerely,
Jenna & Colleen