In primary or high school, every class starts with a customary roll call. Class teachers would call out a student’s name to track the days missed. Although this process of attendance tracking was efficient, it took a lot of class time. In a 45 minutes class, calling names of 50 students can take 10% of the total class time.
In universities, the student count can easily be more than 100. Here, professors abandon monitoring attendance of students due to time concerns. Multiple instructors have no alternatives. It is because state education laws need educationalists to keep a register for comparing the days’ students miss a class.
No Proper Alternatives in Roll Call
To save time, educators have experimented with alternative methods to archaic roll call. Seating charts may save time at the starting. But the teacher needs to keep a note if students are not in their places. Forcing young students to remain in their seats can also be daunting.
Attendance sheet signing gets passed before the class starts. It saves time as an educator can dedicate more time to teaching while students sign-on sheets. However, this method has also proved to be ineffective. The reason is many students “sign-in” on behalf of their absent friends.
Time and attendance management technologies keep track of the hours their staff works. The same tool can be leveraged by teachers in the education industry to save time monitoring attendance.
Understanding Student Attendance Tracking
Today, digitization of institutions is impacting the world of education. Digitalization and advanced technologies have enabled professors to interact with students in many ways. From online forums to webinars, to study groups through social media platforms with experts on the other side of the world. The advancement of education-based technologies is seen in student attendance tracking.
The attendance tracking software enables mentors to gather, manage, and monitor student absences. It can provide professors crucial data on the student attendance pattern. The advanced data allow teachers to engage with parents to ensure the student is attending school daily.
In colleges, professors forgo attendance monitoring of students. It’s the reason why more than 30% of students drop out before ending their first year. The time and attendance tracking technology aids in making sense of accountability and motivate them to take their careers seriously.
Customizing Attendance Tracking Technology
One of the significant factors of this technology is it can be customized to meet the requirements of educational spaces. Some technologies depend on biometric data like ID cards with barcodes, or fingerprint authentication. Whereas, others depend on GPS locators to ensure that students are present in class.
According to the Hechinger Report, above 60% of high school principals allowed students to use mobile devices. There has been a significant increase in students taking notes, submitting homework to teachers through email on time, and more.
These devices are useful for tracking attendance. With the advanced time tracking software, instructors can have their students sign in on their devices. A combination of Bluetooth and GPS technologies will confirm that they are physically present inside the classroom. It will enable the student to check-in and out, giving exact details of the time the student spends in class.
Attendance tracking technologies enable teachers to create absentee warning automatically. If a student has recorded late arrivals to class, he gets a notification through email. Emails can be sent to their parents once a student has reached a pre-defined level of absences. It can create a culture of transparency essential for proper schooling.
The right attendance tracking solutions enable students to apply for leaves and interact with their teachers when they are planning to miss a class. Such technologies play a pivotal role, helping professors to take advantage of the time they have in the classroom while motivating student participation.
