During the spring 2021 semester, Oklahoma Christian University enacted a pilot program to test the Qwickly attendance system. After approved results, the fall semester used this new attendance system with varied feedback.
Director of Student Success, Amy Janzen, said there was a lot of analysis on the pilot process in the spring for Qwickly.
“There is a lot of research that links class attendance with being a successful college student,” Janzen said. “We just want to help students be successful.”
Assistant professor of music and band director George Schrader said he understands how important attendance is to student success.
“It allows the students to better track their own attendance as well,” Schrader said. “I’ve implemented the automated email system, which automatically notifies a student when they are counted absent.”
Attendance through Qwickly has become more common in classes with mixed reactions from students. Junior Olivia Siebols said Qwickly attendance has a good thought process behind it.
“I absolutely love the concept behind the attendance system,” Siebols said. “But I do believe that there are some flaws in the system and the way the school decided to use it and execute it.”
However, classes at Oklahoma Christian have struggled with the Qwickly process.
“For Qwickly, the biggest downside I see is functionality,” Siebols said. “I mainly see professors who have a big challenge connecting it through Blackboard and actually getting it to function the way it should.”
Junior Kolton Johnson said he feels there could be more time spent on discovering a campus-wide attendance system.
“I think it can be improved by teaching every teacher exactly how to use it and maybe making it more user friendly for them,” Kolton Johnson said.
Janzen said she wants to focus on the students while also adapting the Qwickly system to students’ and faculty needs.
“There is always room for improvement,” Janzen said. “Qwickly has its own technical challenges. We hope things will improve.”
Junior Abby Johnson said she feels Qwickly attendance is good in some cases but wonders about the smaller classes.
“Oklahoma Christian tends to have smaller sized classes so I feel Qwickly could be less beneficial for them,” Abby Johnson said.
Schrader leads a larger group with roughly 52 students and said he finds the Qwickly system extremely helpful.
“It always helps to have useful tools for classroom management,” Schrader said. “I definitely approached it with an open mind, hopeful that it could assist me with tracking attendance.”
Abby Johnson said she understands the importance of Qwickly on a more prominent scale.
“With larger classes, it is more beneficial for professors so there isn’t a need to count or roll call every student,” Abby Johnson said.
Schrader said he understands why a universal attendance system is necessary for Oklahoma Christian.
“It allows me to focus on starting class on time, and puts the student in control of their own attendance record,” Schrader said. “All I have to remember is to project the PIN number for all to see, so that they can easily check-in.”
Even with larger or smaller classes, Janzen said student success is a top priority at Oklahoma Christian.
“If a student has a number of absences in a course, Student Success and/or Student Life will check in with the student to see if there is anything we can do to help,” Janzen said. “Usually, if someone is missing a lot of class, something else is going on.”
With the Qwickly attendance system in full effect, Janzen said Student Success hopes to improve the education of the students on campus.
“A lot of students do not realize the importance of going to class, how easy it is to get behind and also that dropping a course is an option,” Janzen said.
With mixed feedback on Qwickly attendance, there may be possible add-ons to Qwickly attendance in the coming semesters.
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