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Qwickly is proud to announce a major evolution in its attendance ecosystem with the launch of NFC Check-In and the Campus Location Manager, setting a new standard for how institutions define, manage, and verify the physical presence of their students. As learning environments become more dynamic, the technology that tracks engagement must be equally agile, ensuring that administrative workflows remain efficient and student data stays secure. Learn more by registering our "What's New in Qwickly Attendance" webinar on May 19, 2026.

Frictionless Presence Verification with NFC Check-In

Taking the spotlight in this release is the launch of NFC Check-In, a contactless solution that makes attendance as intuitive as a mobile payment. By placing NFC tags at classroom entrances or at individual student desks, institutions can leverage the Qwickly Attendance App to facilitate instant, reliable verification. Because NFC technology requires close physical proximity to a tag, it offers a robust layer of integrity that surpasses traditional PIN or QR codes, ensuring that "present" truly means the student is in the room.

Agile Support for Diverse Learning Environments

The architectural foundation of these advancements is the new Campus Location Manager, a powerful engine designed to orchestrate NFC deployments, campus-wide geolocations, and enterprise seating grids from a single interface. By allowing administrators to define locations at the Campus, Building, and Room levels, Qwickly effectively eliminates the tedious cycle of manual coordinate uploads, ensuring that every room’s technical configuration is defined once and applied everywhere. This flexibility is critical for modern courses that move between lecture halls, specialized laboratories, and seminar rooms. Whether a class meets in a stadium-style theater on Monday or a clinical lab on Friday, the system automatically adapts to the correct geofence or NFC configuration, providing a seamless experience for the student and reliable data for the institution.

Eliminating Repetitive Setup Time with Campus-Wide Seating Grid

The integration of Campus Seating Grids further bridges the gap between physical space and digital insights. Administrators can now establish master seating layouts for every room on campus within the Campus Location Manager, which instructors can utilize instantly without manual setup. When combined with NFC tags at individual seats, the system becomes fully automated: a single tap from a student marks them present and simultaneously places them on the digital seating chart. This gives instructors an immediate visual overview of their classroom, fostering better engagement and providing critical proximity data at a glance.

About Qwickly

Qwickly is a leading provider of educational technology solutions dedicated to simplifying workflows for millions of users worldwide. By focusing on the intersection of ease-of-use and institutional integrity, Qwickly continues to redefine how technology supports the student journey. For more information on how to modernize your campus with NFC and the Campus Location Manager, visit www.goqwickly.com.

Qwickly Symposium Georgia took place on Friday, October 24th, 2025 at the Ramsey Conference Center at Lanier Technical College.

Attendeees discovered enhancements to Qwickly Attendance, including the improved seating chart mode and the new NFC check-in (now in Beta), learned about the SMS text messaging capabilities in Qwickly Course Tools, and received the latest on the instructor mark-up feature for Qwickly Jot.

Check out a quick summary of the sessions on each product family: 

Qwickly Attendance has seen a plethora of improvements for both instructors and administrators. Seating chart enhancements include new 20x5 layouts, the integration of student photos for better visual identification, and a cleaner interface. Qwickly Attendance can now pull LMS avatars from Canvas and Blackboard, offering an alternative to traditional photo store integrations.

A significant future development is automated check-in using NFC tags. This new method of check-in allows students to check in by tapping their phone against an NFC tag, eliminating the need for instructors to manage the process directly. This method offers high accuracy for student presence and can be deployed at the classroom or even individual seat level. A public beta for NFC check-in is planned for the summer.

A major new development is the SMS Text Messaging tool within Qwickly Course Tools, which allows instructors to send one-way text messages to students without revealing phone numbers. Students opt-in by registering their numbers via the Qwickly Course Tools interface or a link in an initial email. Currently, it supports US phone numbers only, with plans for international support and custom school phone numbers.

Qwickly Jot, designed to digitize the traditional paper assignment (like drawing or marking maps), has received a key update. Instructors can now directly mark up student submissions with written feedback, shapes, and other annotations, with both original and marked-up versions saved.

For more information on any of these enhancements and new features, please watch the on-demand "What’s New in Qwickly Products" webinar.

Qwickly is thrilled to announce the official launch of SMS text messaging within Qwickly Course Tools, after a successful Beta testing throughout the Fall 2024 semester.

This innovative addition empowers instructors to inform students of important course information directly through text messages, a more immediate notification method. Providing this alternative form of communication for students who prefer text messaging over email will greatly improve course communication, ensuring that no important information slips through the cracks.

Join us for our webinar on September 24th, 2025, at 2:00 PM ET: Get Started with SMS Text Messaging in Qwickly Course Tools.

Discover the power of SMS text messaging in Qwickly Course Tools. Learn how instructors can create these SMS notifications to be sent to students and how the tool will ultimately improve communication with students by providing instant notifications and updates.

Can't make it to the live webinar? Register anyway to receive a recording of the session. You'll still have the opportunity to learn how to leverage SMS text messaging in Qwickly Course Tools and enhance your institution's student communication.

To learn how to enable and use SMS text messaging in Qwickly Course Tools, please refer to our latest Knowledge Base Article.

The updated version of the Seating Chart attendance taking mode is now available for instructors using Qwickly Attendance Plus and Qwickly Attendance Pro. This feature allows for a visual representation of the classroom, moving beyond simple list-based attendance.

How It Works

Once the Learning Management System administrator enables the feature, instructors will see a new Seating Chart menu item. 

• Build the Chart: Begin by creating a new seating chart. The new update allows flexibility to choose from different grid sizes, such as, 10 x 10 or 20 x 5, ensuring a layout can be designed to suit any class size.
• Place Students: Students are assigned to seats by clicking on a student’s name and then the desired seat. Empty spaces can be left to show aisles or unoccupied desks.
• Take Attendance with Ease: With the seating chart saved, taking attendance is as simple as clicking on a student's seat. With the new photo integration, instructors can learn names and faces faster than ever before. This is also a huge help for substitute teachers, giving them a clear visual guide for the day.

The Seating Chart attendance-taking mode, and all other modes within the Qwickly Attendance service levels, are here to save instructors time and help create a more organized and efficient classroom.

That's a wrap for Qwickly Symposium New England! At MassBay Community College, the Qwickly Team presented an overview of recent product updates and future plans, covering innovations across Qwickly Attendance, Qwickly Course Tools & Qwickly Jot. 

Check out a quick summary of the sessions on each product family: 

Qwickly Attendance has seen a plethora of improvements for both instructors and administrators. Seating chart enhancements include new 20x5 layouts, the integration of student photos for better visual identification, and a cleaner interface. Qwickly Attendance can now pull LMS avatars from Canvas and Blackboard, offering an alternative to traditional photo store integrations.

A significant future development is automated check-in using NFC tags. This new method of check-in allows students to check in by tapping their phone against an NFC tag, eliminating the need for instructors to manage the process directly. This method offers high accuracy for student presence and can be deployed at the classroom or even individual seat level. A public beta for NFC check-in is planned for the summer.

A major new development is the SMS Text Messaging tool within Qwickly Course Tools, which allows instructors to send one-way text messages to students without revealing phone numbers. Students opt-in by registering their numbers via the Qwickly Course Tools interface or a link in an initial email. Currently, it supports US phone numbers only, with plans for international support and custom school phone numbers.

Qwickly Jot, designed to digitize the traditional paper assignment (like drawing or marking maps), has received a key update. Instructors can now directly mark up student submissions with written feedback, shapes, and other annotations, with both original and marked-up versions saved.

For more information on any of these enhancements and new features, please watch the on-demand "What’s New in Qwickly Products" webinar.

Review the faculty training handout that contains resources for faculty assistance like on-demand trainings, how-to videos and more!

With Qwickly Jot, students can write on diagrams, charts, maps and more inside the learning management system. Now, with the new instructor markup tool, instructors are empowered to provide detailed, personalized feedback on student submissions. This feature allows instructors to directly annotate and correct student work, imitating the traditional pen-and-paper experience. 

Key Benefits of Qwickly's Instructor Markup Tool:

• Personalized Feedback: By marking directly on the student's work, instructors can tailor their feedback to specific areas of concern, offering targeted guidance.
• Efficient Grading and Assessment: Instructors can seamlessly grade assignments and provide feedback within the platform. The integrated grading system ensures accurate and timely reflection of student performance in the LMS gradebook.

How it Works:

Qwickly Jot provides instructors with a seamless platform to review student submissions. Within the platform, educators can directly access individual student work. Using the annotation tool, instructors can provide specific feedback directly on the student's document. Different colors can be assigned to different feedback types, such as corrections, suggestions, or positive reinforcement. Once the review is complete, instructors can assign a numerical grade to the assignment, which is then automatically transferred over to the Learning Management System (LMS) gradebook. This user-friendly approach empowers educators to deliver immediate grading and feedback to their students.

If you are interested in learning more about the new instructor markup tool, make sure to register for the upcoming webinar: Create Interactive Digital Assignments with Qwickly Jot. This webinar will be held on February 12th, 2025. We hope to see you there!

Both Anthology and Qwickly are thrilled to announce a significant improvement to Qwickly Attendance within Blackboard Learn Ultra. A new launch point has been added to the left-hand menu, making it easier than ever for instructors to access and use the tool. 

Senior Director of Product Management at Anthology, Dominic Gore, stated: “Listening to our customers is a shared priority for both Blackboard and Qwickly. We are continually enhancing our solutions to provide the most seamless and effective experience for our users.”

See Updated Launch Point for Instructors Below: 

This update addresses a common request from our users and has been eagerly anticipated. Terry Patterson, Senior IT Systems Analyst of Austin Community College, expressed his enthusiasm, stating, "This is a fantastic feature that will make Qwickly Attendance more accessible to students and faculty in every Blackboard course."

Instructors will find the Qwickly Attendance launch point in the right-hand menu of their Blackboard course. Please note that this feature must be enabled at the administrative level.

Blackboard administrators that want to enable this integration should check out our knowledge base article. The name of the launch point can be customized to suit your institution's preferences. This flexibility ensures that it's easily recognizable by instructors.

Check-In Banner in Blackboard for Students: 

Prior to the recent UEF updates, students had to actively launch Qwickly Attendance to mark they were present in class. This added an extra step to the attendance process. However, with the new enhancements, Qwickly Attendance now includes a convenient check-in banner directly within the Blackboard course interface.