Table of Contents
What is Live View?
Live View shows you what's happening in your class while students work on Quill. At a glance, you can see who's online, what each student is working on, and who might need a little help, so you can check in while students are still writing.
Live View is for during class. To review work after students finish, you can use other Quill reports.
Who can use Live View?
The full Live View report is included with School and District Premium. There's nothing to set up, and you don't need approval from your admin. If you don't have Premium, you can still see which students are online and get a preview of the report.
| Free | School/District Premium |
Students Online button in the header | ✅ | ✅ |
Student names and time spent | ✅ | ✅ |
Current activity and prompt progress | Preview of one student | ✅ |
May Need Help tags and settings | 🔒 | ✅ |
Live View card on the Home page | Preview of one student | ✅ |
Without Premium, you'll see the full details for one student (the student who started their activity first) as a preview. For the rest of your students, you'll see their names and time spent, and the other details will be blurred. Interested in Premium? Click Contact Your Admin to send your administrator a ready-to-go email about it.
📌 Note: You'll only see students in your own classes. If you co-teach, you and your co-teacher may see different things, depending on each of your Premium access.
📌 Note: Live View is rolling out gradually, so some Premium teachers may see it a few days after launch.
How do I open Live View?
There are a few ways to get to Live View.
(a) From the Header
When your students are online, you'll see a Students Online button at the top of every Quill page, along with how many students are online. Click it to jump into Live View. If no students are online, the button won't appear.
(b) From Your Home Page
On your Home page, the Live View card shows which students are online and how up to five of them are doing on their activities. Click View all to see the full report. Like the header button, this card only appears when students are online.
(c) From Reports
To open Live View from the top navigation, navigate to View Reports
Reading Live View
At the top of Live View, you'll see how many students are online and how many are working on an activity right now. Below that, each online student has their own row.
(a) May Need Help Summary
The two boxes at the top are your quick list of students who may need a check-in, so you know who to visit first:
May Need Help: Low Score (red): These students have missed a few questions in their current activity.
May Need Help: Long Time on Question (yellow): These students have been on their current question for a while.
(b) Status Dots
The dot next to each student's name shows what they're doing right now. You can also hover over the Student column heading for a quick reminder.
Solid green: Working on an activity.
Yellow: In an activity, but hasn't typed or moved their mouse in about 30 seconds.
Open green circle: On Quill, but not in an activity.
(c) Report Columns
Student: The student's name and status dot.
Time: How long the student has spent on their current activity. If a student leaves and comes back to the activity later, the time picks up where they left off. Click the arrow to sort by time.
Activity: The activity the student is working on now.
Prompts completed: Each circle is one question in the activity. The count next to the circles, such as 4/6, shows how many questions the student has finished.
Green: Answered with a strong response.
Red: Didn't reach a strong response within 5 attempts.
Open circle: The question the student is on now.
Gray: Not started yet.
May Need Help: Shows a tag, such as Low Score: 2 Questions Incorrect, when a student may benefit from a check-in. You may also see In Progress for students taking a Diagnostic, or Activity Completed when a student finishes.
Students who may need help are highlighted and moved to the top of the list. You can also sort by the Student, Time, or Activity column.
(d) Filtering Students
All classes: Choose a class from this menu to focus on one class at a time.
Only Show In-Progress Students: Check this box to see only the students who are working on an activity.
When does a student get a May Need Help tag?
Quill gives a student a May Need Help tag for one of two reasons:
Low Score: They've missed a certain number of questions. By default, that's 2 questions in Connect, Grammar, and Proofreader activities, or 1 question in Reading for Evidence.
Long Time on Question: They've been on their current question longer than expected. By default, that's 2 minutes in Connect, Grammar, and Proofreader activities, or 4 minutes in Reading for Evidence.
Please note that Quill Diagnostics don't trigger May Need Help tags. In Proofreader activities, only the grammar questions after the passage can trigger a Low Score tag.
📌 Tip: Think of a May Need Help tag as a nudge to check in, not a sign that something is wrong. The student might just be reading carefully, working through a tricky question, or using extra time as an accommodation.
Changing Your May Need Help Settings
You know your students best, so you can change what triggers a May Need Help tag. For example, you might allow more time for students with extended-time accommodations. Reading for Evidence has its own settings, since its questions usually take longer.
Click May Need Help Settings, just above the table on the right.
Choose your Low Score and Long Time on Question limits for Language Skills Activities (Connect, Grammar, and Proofreader) and for Reading For Evidence.
Click Save settings.
Want to start over? Click Restore Defaults to go back to Quill's original settings.
📌 Note: Your settings are saved in the browser you're using. If you switch to a different computer or browser, you'll need to set them again.
Recently Completed Activities
As students finish their activities, you'll see them appear in the Recently Completed Activities list below the main table, along with their score and when they finished. Click an activity name to open that student's report in a new tab.
Using Live View During Class
Before students start, open Live View and choose your class from the All classes menu.
Check the May Need Help boxes at the top to see who to visit first.
Look at that student's progress to see which question they're on, then stop by to check in.
Glance at the yellow dots to find students who may have stepped away or gotten distracted.
Use the Recently Completed Activities list to see who's finished and might be ready for the next activity.
Good to Know
Progress updates each time a student finishes a question, not after every attempt. If a student is working through a longer question, their row may not change for a few minutes.
Live View doesn't show what students write. To read their responses, check the Activity Analysis report once they finish.
Students can't ask for help through Live View. There's no raise-hand or messaging feature, so use the May Need Help tags to decide who to visit.
FAQs
Why isn't one of my students showing up?
Why isn't one of my students showing up?
Live View only shows students who are online right now. A student will drop off the list after about 3 minutes of inactivity, or right away if they click Save and Exit or close their tab.
It's also worth checking the All classes menu to make sure the right class is selected, and unchecking Only Show In-Progress Students so you can see students who aren't in an activity yet.
Why is a student's dot yellow?
Why is a student's dot yellow?
A yellow dot means the student is in an activity but hasn't typed or moved the mouse in about 30 seconds. They may be reading, thinking, or away from their device, so it's a good moment to glance over.
Why is some of the information blurred?
Why is some of the information blurred?
The full Live View report is included with School and District Premium. Without it, you'll see names and time spent for every student, plus the full details for one student as a preview.
Can a student get a May Need Help tag on their first question?
Can a student get a May Need Help tag on their first question?
Yes. Quill tags a student as soon as they pass your Low Score or Long Time on Question limit, so a student who's stuck on their very first question can still get a Long Time on Question tag.
Do Quill Diagnostics show May Need Help tags?
Do Quill Diagnostics show May Need Help tags?
No. Diagnostic activities don't trigger May Need Help tags. Students taking a Diagnostic still appear in Live View with their progress and an In Progress tag.
Do Proofreader activities show May Need Help tags?
Do Proofreader activities show May Need Help tags?
Only the grammar questions that follow a Proofreader passage can trigger a Low Score tag. The passage itself doesn't have separate questions.
Have More Questions?
Please feel free to send a message to the Quill team using the green message bubble in the bottom-right corner of the screen or email us at support@quill.org.