QUICK KEY MOBILE™, THE iOS APP FOR TEACHERS THAT GOT 450,000 VIEWS ON YOUTUBE AND CREATED A BUZZ ON KICKSTARTER IN JUNE, LAUNCHED TODAY ON THE APPLE APP STORE, AMID HIGH PRAISE FROM EDUCATORS WORLDWIDE.
DESIGN BY EDUCATORS, INC. (DBE), THE CAMBRIDGE, MA COMPANY BEHIND THE QUICK KEY™ SOFTWARE PLATFORM, SAYS THAT THE SERVICE FOR TEACHERS, WHICH INCLUDES AN APP FOR iOS DEVICES AS WELL AS A WEB PORTAL, WILL REMAIN FREE FOR USERS DURING AN INITIAL INTRODUCTORY PERIOD.
CAMBRIDGE, MA., AUGUST 26, 2013
Quick Key Mobile™ is an app for iPhone and iPad that turns those devices into optical scanners, to grade paper quizzes and surveys in a flash. The free app is available on the iTunes App Store at www.tinyurl.com/quickkeymobile.
DBE first made a splash among teachers in March of this year, when a grainy YouTube video demo of the prototype iPhone app went viral and racked up 450,000 views. Then, in June, the company made news again, when their Kickstarter campaign to fund completing Quick Key™ surpassed its goal of $20,000. More than 300 people – many of them teachers – ponied up between $25 and $150 to help get the project into the Apple App Store, in spite of the fact they had never seen the app work in real-life.
As one Kickstarter backer – a teacher from Hollywood Florida – said in a recent video testimonial: “This is going to change the way we do business in the classroom.”
Today, the company made good on its promise to Kickstarter backers, releasing a free introductory version of Quick Key Mobile™ on the App Store, and simultaneously launching the Web portal at www.quickkeyapp.com.
Based on today’s trend, DBE Co-Founder and Chairman Walter O. Duncan IV expects more than 1,000 people to download the app before midnight tonight.
“So far, people from over twenty different countries in North and South America, Asia, Europe, and Australia have registered on www.quickkeyapp.com. We went through an extensive international beta test in July and August. But we expect our new users to help us work out the kinks in the software over the coming months” he said.
Mr. Duncan added that he is completely satisfied with “only” 1,000 Launch Day downloads. “It is going to take some time for the word to spread. And we also want to make sure our servers and support systems can handle the traffic. We upgraded our servers last week in anticipation of the launch, but this afternoon we had to upgrade again because so many teachers are grading quizzes as soon as they register their accounts. Teachers are excited to use Quick Key Mobile™ in their classrooms right now, and we are in constant communication with our users as they try Quick Key™ for the first time.“
The Company has raised over $200,000 from private investors since October 2012, when development of the Quick Key™ prototype began. An Android version of the app is expected in early 2014. DBE was incubated at the Butler Venture Accelerator at Babson College, where one of the Company’s Co-Founders earned his MBA cum laude in Entrepreneurship in 2008.
CONTACT:
Isaac D. Van Wesep, Co-Founder and President, Design by Educators, Inc.
Mobile: 617-233-6363 Email: isaac@power2teach.com
LINKS:
A short video of user testimonials: http://youtu.be/0Wut5nx1n9g
The Quick Key Kickstarter Campaign page: tinyurl.com/QK-Kickstart
Free Download of Quick Key Mobile on iTunes: tinyurl.com/quickkeymobile
Original Viral Video: http://youtu.be/UUqZYcAnUlw
