Qwickly Blackboard Building Block No Longer Supported as of September 1, 2022.

In order to comply with the future of Blackboard's partnership guidelines, Qwickly has decided to focus exclusively on LTI versions of its products in order to future-proof all integrations with Blackboard Learn & Learn Ultra. Qwickly, Inc. has officially ended support of the Qwickly Blackboard Building Block (B2), including Qwickly Course Tools & Qwickly Jot, and will only support the LTI versions of Qwickly products. Note that service shutdown for users of the free Building Block (including Qwickly Course Tools: Course Availability/Send Email/Post Announcement/Needs Grading and Qwickly Jot) happened on September 1, 2022.

• Please note that if you are using a licensed version of Qwickly Course Tools (B2), the LTI version is available at the same cost. If you are using the free version of Qwickly Course Tools (B2) or Qwickly Jot (B2), you will need to move to a licensed version by the end of support date in order to continue use of the software. This includes use of the B2 in any unsupported ways, such as serving up a preview version of the B2 into an HTML Ultra Base-Nav module. Note that the free version has never been included with a license of Blackboard Learn. While we understand a great many Blackboard Learn clients have come to rely on some of Qwickly's free tools, we will no longer be able to offer permanently free LTI equivalent versions.

Review installation guides for Qwickly Course Tools (LTI) and for Qwickly Jot (LTI).

Uninstall the Qwickly Blackboard Building Block by following these steps:

Follow the guide below to UNINSTALL Qwickly into your Blackboard instance.

Go to Blackboard System Admin Tab
Click "Building Blocks" > "Installed Tools"

Locate the Qwickly Building Block. Click the arrow next to the name of the building block and choose "Uninstall".

Migration Timeline

Checked Checkbox January 1, 2021: Timeline announced for End-of-Life of the Qwickly Blackboard Building Block (B2); New feature development for the B2 ends; LTI is the preferred implementation.

Checked Checkbox January 1, 2022: Decreased Support; No new versions of the B2 will be published, including bug fixes or compatibility updates for future versions of Blackboard Learn

Unchecked Checkbox September 1, 2022: End of Support; Support inquiries will be directed to the LTI version; B2 Download file will no longer be available publicly.

Unchecked Checkbox September 1, 2022: Service Shutdown for users of free B2 tools (Qwickly Course Tools: Course Availability/Send Email/Post Announcement/Needs Grading and Qwickly Jot).

Unchecked Checkbox January 1, 2023: End of Life date of the Qwickly B2

Unchecked Checkbox June 1, 2023 — Complete Platform Shutdown; The Qwickly B2 (including Qwickly Course Tools & Qwickly Jot) will no longer operate for licensees.

Transition Recommendations

It is recommended to move to the LTI version in production between semesters to avoid possible confusion with the building block version & LTI version running simultaneously. As a reminder, testing can (and should) begin before the planned between-semester move and we encourage use of the LTI version in multiple LMS environments (staging, test, production, etc.)

Future of Blackboard Building Blocks

In June 2021, Blackboard, Inc. announced a support policy update for Building Blocks in Blackboard Learn: 'Cloud computing's adoption in education has broadened the possibilities as SaaS models open a gateway for innovation, including next generation integration capabilities. In order to continue supporting our customers on their path to SaaS deployments, our goal is to ensure that our integration framework is SaaS aligned. With that in mind, at the end of 2023, Blackboard will wind down all Building Block support in Blackboard Learn and move to integrations based on REST APIs, IMS LTI standards and Partner Cloud.' For additional information see these full details of the announcement from Blackboard, Inc.

Regarding Blackboard Learn Ultra

Building Block apps are only fully functional in the Original Experience of Blackboard Learn. If a Building Block is installed on a Blackboard Learn environment with the Ultra Experience enabled, the functionality of the integration will only be available in courses using the Original course view. Building Block functionality is not compatible with the Ultra experience of Learn including anywhere within the Ultra base navigation (outside of the course context) or within Ultra view courses.

Qwickly LTI Benefits

Qwickly Course Tools LTI & Qwickly Jot LTI will have all the same features as the B2 version, as allowed by available APIs, plus some additional features. All new features of Qwickly Course Tools & Qwickly Jot will be added exclusively to the LTI versions.

Qwickly is able to diagnose most issues remotely, and bug fixes are applied directly to the LTI version of the tool so no more mid-semester B2 updates are required. Likewise, new features are automatically available without having to update the tool.

Considering an LMS review? With the LTI versions of Qwickly products, any Learning Management System that has LTI/REST API launches could be supported in the future.

Support for the Building Block version of Qwickly Attendance ended on July 1, 2020. Review more details here.