Set Up Qwickly Attendance

About Qwickly Attendance

Qwickly Attendance enables instructors to efficiently take student attendance and grade participation in Blackboard. In addition to recording attendance in just a few clicks, Qwickly seamlessly integrates with your Grade Center, allows you to create your own attendance statuses, add private comments, and download the attendance record for your division. When students access the attendance tool, they are able to view a record of their individual attendance. 

Mozilla Firefox is the recommended browser when using Qwickly Attendance.

Configure Attendance Settings

Watch a brief video demonstrating recommended settings

1. Click Qwickly Attendance on your course menu.
2. On the next screen, click the Begin Set-Up button.
3. Choose your default style for taking attendance. Learn more about attendance styles in Qwickly’s Attendance Overview video (01:21m).
1. Rollover each of the ? bubbles to learn about the available options. You can change your attendance method at any time by revisiting the Settings link at the top of the Attendance tool.
   
   
4. Select your View Preferences for the Take Attendance and Attendance Record screens.
1. The “Show Absences on Take Attendance Screen” option will display each student’s total number of absences while you take attendance.
2. The Record Order options determine the order of attendance columns in the Attendance Record. Newest First is recommended.
   
5. Choose your grading method. Most instructors choose Total Points and do not track absences in the Grade Center. Instructors and students can view attendance at any time by clicking the Qwickly Attendance tool link on the course menu.
   1. Decide whether or not attendance will be worth points.
      1. Select No Grade Center Column if attendance is not worth any points.
      2. Select Total Points to grade attendance if you know how many points attendance for the term will be worth. Type the number of points in the Total field.
      3. Select (Points) Per Session to grade attendance if you know how many points per class session attendance will be worth. Type the number of points in the Total field.
   2. Decide whether or not you want to subtract points for each absence in the Grade Center.  
      1. To subtract points, select the Points Per Absence option and type a negative value in the Points Per Absence field.
         
         
6. If using Student Check In, define your default check-in settings.
1. Note: Students navigate to your Blackboard course and click the Qwickly Attendance link to access the Check In screen.
   
2. If you choose to require a PIN, a random PIN will be generated when you start attendance. You may also set a default timer window during which students can access the Check In screen.
   
   
7. Choose whether or not students will receive an email notification when you mark them as absent for the day.
1. Select Yes Email on Absence (recommended)
2. Customize the alert email to your liking while leaving the text in curly braces intact.  
   
   
8. Review and configure Attendance Statuses:
   1. Review the System Statuses. While you cannot modify system statuses, you can turn them off and/or create your own.
   2. Create Custom Course Statuses. Add your own custom statuses for marking students. Popular statuses include Tardy, Excused w/ Pts, and Extra Credit. (See how 30 seconds into the settings video)
9. Click the Save Settings button to save your changes. You can update these settings at any time from the Attendance tool by click on the Settings link.

Additional Resources

• Qwickly Attendance webinars
• Attendance articles in Qwickly’s knowledge base