Schools and colleges have had to change their usual methods of delivery due to the Cocid-19 global pandemic. With these changes, the old system of operation is not enough to handle all the scenarios arising from unforeseen changes. More and more schools are adapting remote learning technologies by implementing online classrooms to compliment the face to face learning.
Online learning is helping education institutions to conduct classes without any obstacle posed by covid-19 and the instructors and lecturers are learning more advantages of online learning that were not known before.
Along with the advantages, school administrations and teachers are faced by some challenges. Attendance tracking and management is one of the crucial challenges. How do teachers ensure regular attendance of all the students? And even if attendance is achieved, how do you track the attendance quickly?
Here are ways to easily track attendance easily in both online and offline classrooms.
1. Manual attendance
One way you can track attendance is by taking manual records. You can do this through pen and paper. However, this process will take up some time that should have been otherwise used for productive learning. And if you are taking note of only the absent students, the process can become really complicated. The experience is also difficult from offline classes, a student can drop out in online class and you might not notice. As a result you can try a management record which accurately records the student attendance without wasting a lot of time.
2. Through student logins
If you are conducting an online class through video conferencing platforms, then this could be an easy way for you to check which students did or didn’t check-in for class. Most of these platforms require students to sign-in with their students email and password for them to access class. Once they log in, their details are automatically captured and backed. Once you finish the class you will be able to get a complete list of students who were present in the lecture. The advantage of this method is that it is impossible to have proxy attendance since only one user can sign in at a time. The disadvantage is that students can drop out at any time and their attendance will still be recoded. Some platforms can provide you with the duration the student was present in the lecture.
3. Randomized Q&A sessions
Randomized question and answer sessions can help you gauge if your students are paying attention in class and also prevent them from dropping off mid-lecture. In an offline classroom you can set a qr code for every question and answer session that a student has to scan with an app on their phone to help you track attendance. This will make students eager to listen to your lecture and take notes during the class.
The thought of having a randomized question and answer session also prevents the students from having to drop off because if they miss the questions they will be marked as absent for that particular class. The only disadvantage is that it requires students to have qr code scanners on their phones and to have a strong internet connection.
4. Online polls
Most teachers find it harder to keep track of students in virtual class than in an offline class. Students are easily distracted in a home environment plus they don’t have that physical proximity to each other to maintain constant focus. As a result, some students might be present for an online class, but at night not actually be concentrating on anything that is being taught.
To ensure concentration, you might provide your students with an interactive learning experience that will make them pay attention. This is true for both online and offline classrooms. The overall grade of the student is tied to their participation and accuracy when answering the polls. This provides your student with an incentive to concentrate during class. It is also a great way to help online lecturers to make two-way communication with their students.
5. Student attendance tracking software
With recent advancement in technology, teachers and instructors can use student attendance tracking systems for both online and offline classrooms. This feature provides profiles for each student and tracks the classes they check-in to. It can also analyze and calculate students’ performance and their attendance habits. It is the most accurate way to track attendance because it eliminates proxies.
You can use the qr code feature provided by the software to track CAT participation, where a student must scan a unique qr code with their phones before sitting for a cat to prevent proxies, where another student sits for a CAT on a friend’s behalf. Tracking software also allows you to add timing for submitting CATs and assignments. This ensures students do the assignment within the stipulated duration.
6. Feedback forms
Feedback forms are a great way to capture attendance of students as they check-in to the leaning platforms. You can create forms and share with your students for self-reporting of attendance with a timestamp. Your students will fill the form and the date and time will be automatically captured by the platform, mainly google form. The form is only sent to students who have signed in to class using their specific qr code. You can make the form as simple or as detailed as you want. Forms can prevent proxy attendance to a certain extent.
Conclusion
There are several methods one can think of when tracking attendance in online and offline classrooms. Some schools are grading students based on attendance by using accountability based on work done during class. It is good practice to keep track of student’s attendance. Consider the above mentioned tips on how to easily track students online and offline.