Qwickly is a Canvas application for flexible attendance tracking and grading.
Qwickly provides instructors with two easy ways to take attendance: using an on-screen list or letting students check in via their devices with a PIN and countdown timer. Compared to the default Canvas Attendance app, Qwickly offers more options for customizing points and grading. It also simplifies the process of combining classes in Canvas by showing all students on one screen for easy attendance recording. With Qwickly's on-screen reports, tracking attendance is straightforward, as it shows individual and overall records for all students.
In this article, we'll cover:
1) You can take attendance in 3 modes:
- Check-in - Allows students to check in on their devices using a PIN or QR code.
- List - A list of students you can mark as "Present," "Late," or "Absent."
- One-by-one - Each student's name is listed separately for individual marking.
2) Course Report: An overview of attendance in your class, including absences, late statuses and date last attended.
3) Records: View the overall class attendance, including cumulative absences.
4) Settings: Choose your preferences for taking and grading attendance.
Note: Qwickly works best with the most recent version of Chrome or Firefox. Safari is not supported.
To add Qwickly Attendance to your course if it's not already there, follow these steps
- In your Canvas course, go to "Settings."
- Click the "Navigation" tab.
- Find "Qwickly Attendance" in the disabled navigation options.Click the "Options" button and select "Enable."
- Click "Save."
Note: The first time you view your student list in Qwickly, not all students may appear. To see the full list, log out of Canvas completely, then log back in and access your class again.
- Click "Qwickly Attendance" in the course menu.
- You will be prompted to Authorize Qwickly by entering your SEU username and password.
- Click "Settings."
This section allows you to choose overall settings for taking attendance.
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User Sorting: Choose how to sort attendance lists (by first name, last name or username).
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View Preferences: These settings affect how certain information is displayed in the tool.
- Show Absences on Take Attendance Screen: Students' absent/present status will be displayed next to their names. We recommend checking this to easily see who has been marked present/absent.
- Student Grouping: By default, all students from all sections are displayed in a single list for attendance.
- If you have combined courses and want to take attendance separately for each section, select "By Course Section."
- Check-In: The Check-In function allows students to check in from their own devices. You can require students to enter a PIN or scan a QR code and set a time limit for check-ins.
- Note: Students need the Qwickly Attendance App (for QR codes & PINs) or the Canvas Student Mobile App(PINS)to access this feature. Students can download both apps from their iOS or Android App store. Students can check in using a web browser on a computer with a PIN, but Safari isn't recommended for this. Check out the tips below for using the Check-in function. If you decide to use student check-in, pick the authenticator (PIN or QR code) you want to use, if any, and set the duration for the check-in period.
- No PIN or QR Code Required.
- Require QR Code: Students must check in with the Qwickly Attendance App.
- Note: This option shows a new QR code regularly to prevent students from sharing codes. However, the instructor must keep the QR code visible on the screen for the entire check-in period.
- Require PIN: Setting to require a randomly generated four-digit PIN to be entered for Check-in mode.
- Check-in Timer: Setting to any number greater than zero enables a timer for the check-in sessions.
- Enable Check Out Sessions: This feature allows instructors to select a previously created Check In session to check out of. Use this if you want to verify that students are still in the classroom throughout the class. This requires running 2 check-in sessions during the class.
- Schedule Sessions: This sets up pre-created Attendance sessions using a course schedule. Taking attendance is still required, either in List view or by Check-In. This option does not automatically start Check-In sessions.
- In Qwickly Attendance, go to "Settings" and from the "Preferences" tab, scroll down to "Schedule Sessions."
- Clicking "Add Sessions" will produce the following window.
- Use this interface to add the course start and end date, and meeting days. After entering the schedule, click "Create."
- Pre-scheduled sessions appear in the "Attendance Record" screen without any records. When you open Attendance on the day of a scheduled session, the tool will automatically select that session for attendance.
- Click "Save Settings" to save your changes.
- System Statuses: You can control and customize which statuses are used in your class and create custom statuses with custom points.
- System Statuses On/Off: Use the toggle button to the left of each status. Note that values for system statuses can't be changed. Instead, turn the status off and then create a custom status.
- By default, the Late Status is worth 85%, however, you can alter that by disabling the default status and creating a custom status with your preferred percentage.
- The Excused status is worth no points, but it is also not counted as an absence. For example, if you take attendance 20 times during the semester and a student is excused 1 time, the student's overall attendance grade will be based on 19 sessions, rather than 20. See About the Excused Status for more information.
- Custom Course Statuses: Create your custom status for this course.
- Click "Save Settings" to save.
- Absence Email: To email students after marking them absent, click "Send email on Absence." Customize the email by modifying the text outside of brackets to suit your preferences.
- To automatically notify students after a set number of absences, enable the option to send absence emails and specify the threshold for triggering the notification.
- Click "Save Settings" to save.
If you don't want to add a Canvas grade center column for attendance, leave both options unchecked. Attendance can still be tracked, but it won't appear in Grades. Use this option if you prefer a combined participation/attendance assignment instead.
- Session-Based Grading Column: Use this to award points for attending a session. Choose to award total points for attendance (e.g., 100 points for the entire semester) or points per session (e.g., 10 points each time you take attendance).
- Absence-Based Grading Column: Use this to award or deduct points per absence. Criteria entered here will be reflected in the Canvas gradebook, not in Qwickly's attendance records. One way to set this up is to set total points and make each absence worth negative points. For example, 100 points for the entire semester and -5.00 points for each absence. You can also excuse a specific number of absences.
Note: We recommend using the Session-Based Grading Column as the simplest method for tracking attendance grades.
- Click "Save Settings" to save.
Note: If you make changes to the grading (points or type of grading column) after taking attendance, you may need to manually sync grades to update the changes in the Canvas gradebook.
Step 3. Taking Attendance
- Click the "Qwickly Attendance" link in your course menu.
- Click "List" from the Qwickly menu.
- By default, all students are marked as "Present." Click "Absent," "Late" or "Excused" to change that status.
- When you're done taking attendance, click "Submit Attendance."
- Tip: Use Chrome or Firefox to take attendance. Qwickly will not be able to authorize your use from within Canvas on Safari.
- Click the "Qwickly Attendance" link in your course menu.
- Click "Check-In" on the Qwickly menu.
- Click "Start Check In."If you choose to use a PIN, the randomly generated number will be displayed on the next screen. If you are using the timer, that will automatically begin counting down.
- You can let the timer run out or end the check-in session at any time.
Tips
- If using a PIN, write the code on the board or add it to the Zoom Chat so you can leave the Canvas attendance page and start class.
- If using the QR code to check in, ensure the code remains visible on the screen long enough for students to scan it.
- Students can check in using the freeQwickly Attendance App (required for QR code check-in)or the Canvas Student App on their mobile devices. For the first class, use the List view for attendance. Recommend students to download Qwickly Attendance or Canvas Student App for the next class; they work on iOS and Android. Avoid using Safari for check-in via a web browser. See the Troubleshooting section below for help.
- You can edit an attendance record to change the student's status if needed. Click the cell for the date and student, change their status and click "Update."
This video demonstrates how to take attendance using the Student Check-in Mode with a PIN.
If using a QR code at check-in, the QR code can only be scanned with the Qwickly Attendance App. Students will not be able to scan the code and check in from a mobile browser or within Canvas.
- Click the "Qwickly Attendance" link in your course menu.
- Click "Check-In" on the Qwickly menu.
- Click "Start Check In."
- The QR Code will display on the screen.
- Note: Keep the QR code on the screen for students to scan during check-in. The QR code changes randomly every few seconds for security.
Add a Check Out session to confirm student attendance at the beginning and end of class. It operates like Check In mode, connecting to a previous Check In session. Students are marked present if they attended both sessions.
- Open a regular Check-In session and take attendance.
- After the Check In session ends, go back to the Check In screen when you're ready to record the Check Out session. There, choose "Check Out" from the "Type" options. You'll then be prompted to select a session to check out from the list of previous check-in sessions.
- Click "Start Check Out" to begin a new session for the students to use the same method (PIN or QR code) to check out of Qwickly.
- After the session is completed and closed, Attendance will compare the Check In and Check Out sessions.
- Present: If a student has a present status in check-in and check-out sessions.
- Absent: If a student does not have a present status in either the check-in or check-out session.
- The final combined session will be titled the date when the checkout session ended.
- Click the "Qwickly Attendance" link in your course menu.
- Click "Records."
- You can see total absences in the far right column for each student. You can also download the records to a CSV file.
Qwickly will automatically sync grades to the Canvas gradebook if you have enabled grading in settings. However, if you make a change to the grading (points, absence grading vs session grading), you may need to sync grades manually after the change. If you make a change, but the change does not appear in your Canvas grade book, go to Records in the Qwickly menu and click Sync Grades.
