user's Blog!

In the 21st Century, the education sector globally has undergone several critical milestones in realizing future sustainable development goals to include integrated information management systems in schools. These are the fundamental reasons why automated student tracking is not a huge surprise. The electronic student attendance management system is on course to give data control by doing away with manual processes and paperwork that would be time-consuming and cumbersome. Teachers have the liberty to monitor how students utilize their time in the classroom quickly. This brainchild has emanated sequentially from the urge to solve the loss of information that results from handling many students in schools manually. Most schools have incepted the online student tracking model, especially as a precursor to efficiency and effectiveness in evaluating students’ performance concerning their classroom attendances. The following is a discursive approach to the benefits of this data management system.

Time-Saving

Teachers utilizing the automated online student tracking systems no longer worry over time as this is a fluid flowing mechanism that does away with manual paperwork and closely following students. The interface presents a quick menu in elaborate apps where teachers can easily scrutinize the overall hours students have attended different courses. In the conventional system, teachers have to peruse massive amounts of paperwork to arrive at data relating to a particular student.

Data Protection and Accuracy

In this system, teachers eliminate the avenues of error because the attendance tracking apps have intricate features like voice recognition and real-time location data conveyance, which indicate a student identity. As such, students can no longer mark attendance for their missing classmates. No fuss or muss, and leeway for wrong information submission is entirely avoided. The data protection feature establishes fluent identity authentication, and students can submit their attendance over their smartphones.

Productivity and Efficiency

Most online student attendance tracking apps have efficient system architecture with several intertwined components. Smartphone apps are used for both students marking attendance and teachers conducting the process. Distributed servers are used to collect, store, and analyze attendance records submitted from students ’smartphones. In the electronic attendance data management app, there’s a precise real-time status tracking of leave requests.

Cost Saving Economics

For teachers specifically, the student attendance tracker regulates payment in relation to the amount of work done. Therefore, teachers can only be paid for the hours they’ve taught. Students can only be awarded for the hours they’ve attended classes. Online attendance management systems have solved issues relating to teachers’ reporting, absenteeism, time abuse, tardiness, and overpayment.

Effective Management of Workflow

For teachers in the private sector, an integrated attendance management app is such a heaven sent. It provides excellent visibility of all data easing the payroll workflow, performance review and leave management for schools. Most attendance management solutions are built up with integrated notification and alert permissions, enabling schools to approve a request for leave and early departure by teachers. These apps have eliminated the herculean task of manual scheduling. Within seconds, these systems help manage work allocation, schedules, and keep track of shift swaps for teachers. It enables users to forecast workloads, resources, and budgets.

Flexibility

Amid the hard-hitting COVID-19 pandemic blow, there is no better time to automate online student attendance tracking solutions that have been so quintessential and outstanding in data management. In schools across the globe, students and teachers would never have physically interacted, throwing the future of education at the verge of compromise. With these attendance management apps, it became easier for teachers, students, and schools to centralize their classrooms by virtual attendance. The importance of attendance management apps could not be better pronounced than it is currently, the world over. Schools could efficiently track teaching time using smartphones, the internet, swiping technology, biometric terminals, and desktop readers.

Configuration

Schools can choose attendance management systems that suit their needs considering their work nature and policies in place. Electronic attendance apps can be integrated with any third-party attendance hardware like swipe biometric, as explained above, capturing GPS-based attendance with mobile configurations.

Recording of Absenteeism Related Data

Efficient attendance management apps come in handy when making evidence-based decisions arising from students’ and teachers’ absenteeism. Teachers can record the reasons for absence by students in schools. Management can monitor the reasons for late reporting by teachers. They can, too, monitor the reasons for absence by teachers in escalated scenarios. Conventional paperwork attendance monitoring required students to fill lengthy forms. These forms were cumbersome, consuming necessary spaces in offices as well as consuming time.

Lean Data Entry

In these integrated attendance management systems, there is room for just in time data entry. This saves cloud-space as only relevant school, teacher, and student attendance data can be entered or accessed at a specific time. Again, only the required data is printed. In previous attendance monitoring models, teachers and students were exposed to colossal data handling mechanisms even when they just needed an iota of information. They had to peruse loads of documents to enter and access data.

Security

Most automated online attendance apps have linked-up home and office security solutions like RFID and biometric based systems that ensure total protection for essential user data. They prevent infringement, imposition, and control permissions for and by users. Teachers can easily undertake auto-calculation of leave and reward points accrued. They present students and teachers with increased security and confidentiality, utilizing role-based permissions to users.

Compliance

Inaccurately kept records can cost schools a lot of money, especially in overtime payment, and violate labour governing laws, resulting in expensive litigation. Schools are centrally controlled by specific policies implemented from time to time by regulatory authorities. Quality assurance in education revolves around performance by teachers and students with the frequency both interact. Trade unions may capitalize on wrong attendance information, for instance, to defend their legal course in situations where they may feel teachers, staff and schools are being abused. An attendance system integrating payroll simplifies the process for regulatory authorities to undertake their mandate. With these tremendous benefits, it’s easy for schools to choose the best comprehensive attendance management application that provides a seamless workflow. Most of these apps are one-stop-shop that offers convenience, security, and efficiency while handling a vast attendance data record.

With the Hybrid learning model, an instructor delivers lectures to students live in a class as well as to remote students simultaneously. In other words, it involves both synchronous and asynchronous methods of learning. Teacher attendance tracking is directly related to the performance of students academically and attendance for teachers. Having this in mind there are some important tools required for this attendance tracking model of learning which include;

• Online class exercises
• Video conferencing
• Online discussion forums
• Pre-recorded video instruction for teachers
• Learning management systems

Honestly speaking, the internet has changed the way we live, work, learn, and become attentive. Research has shown most instructors are still giving lectures like it is 1992! Not to mention the internet has not changed the behavior of our elderly instructors in class. The lesson learned is that we must transform the education sector for teachers just similarly as the industrial age changed over a hundred years ago.

Advantages of having Teacher attendance app

• The app allows the capturing of student responses in real-time. During lectures, students can follow along in real-time. The attendance app in this category for teachers does not allow students to move ahead of the instructor. Students can respond to posed questions using visual graphs, heat maps, and word clouds.
• The app supports holding discussions whether anonymous or not. Real-time discussions are embedded in the lecture. Students can easily choose whether to participate anonymously ensuring comfortability when sharing thoughts depending on the sensitivity of the subject matter. For teachers, its quite flexible because they act as administrators.
• Supports asking questions and polling of students -To measure the understanding of students, the app allows embedding of interactive polling questions during presentations in line with the lecture.
• The attendance app ensures automatic grading and reporting of attendance tracking and participation in classes for teachers and students.
• Attendance tracking app tracks attendance securely and precisely. An instructor can easily perform attendance tracking by prompting learners to sign in to the app using a particular code. In this way, the app automatically assigns attendance grades for all users. Not to mention the app via GPS can verify the physical location of each user.
• After lecture time students can still access and download learning material. This allows assigning of offline quizzes and assignments which keeps the learning experience live.

Factors to Consider when Choosing Teacher Attendance app

1. Ability to use with ease

The best teacher attendance tracking app should be reliable for teachers and learners. It should be easy to set up, maintain and upgrade to a newer version. Furthermore, institutions should have access to technical support concerning the design. Risks and challenges should be identified before the purchase and installation of the software.

2. Students

Firstly, it is important to assess the prior learning approaches and how the technology will support in reducing the divide. Research should be done on whether the students have access to technology and the appropriateness of the technology.

3. Time and Cost

The development of digital learning material requires time and readiness. The app also comes with an additional cost for purchasing the technology. The instructional designer will also require funding for the development of materials and training of users.

4. Interaction

Estimating the time an instructor will be personally interacting with students and online interaction duration is an important factor to consider. It is important to have a good balance between student skills development and student comprehension. The interaction should be centered on student learning and development.

5. Issues in the organization

Without the organization’s support accessibility, funding cannot be available to purchase attendance tracking software. The institutional support should be accessible, helpful, and meeting the needs of the technologies in question. The institution should be willing to adapt and support the technologies being introduced. Considering the capability of the users is another area of concern. You might introduce technologies and unfortunately, all instructors are not capable of using them. An additional cost of hiring experienced trainers will be incurred hence straining the institutional funds.

6. Security and Privacy

External connections in learning are important. Determining the appropriate network and social media space to increase students’ networks among each other and connections with the outside community. Additionally, it is important to itemize the areas of learning and teaching for only registered users. Access to learning materials should also be restricted to registered users only. There are also other potential risks involved in using technologies that should be identified and prevention of breaching considered.

7. Teaching and Educational Factors

The outcomes of the learning model should be clear and vivid. Strategies to facilitate and give instructions to learners in class should be distinct. Content presentation and skill development characteristics should be outlined in regards to: online materials available, textbooks, audios, and streaming audios, videos, tutorials, and blogs.

Now that we have noted the factors affecting the choice of the appropriate app, we need to know how to evaluate these technological changes. It is of the utmost importance to understand the most effective technology in the classroom. Of course, this does not matter whether it is face to face or virtual.

 

How to Evaluate the Teacher Attendance app

Generally, this means the most important factors to understand before plunging an institution into the technological world.

1. Administrative access. Some apps may not allow instructors and students to download or access certain information on the internet. There is a need to define the rights of the administrators and users.
2. Bandwidth. This refers to the amount of data being transferred from one point to another. This not only depends on the type of app but also on the host computer. Some computers are more capable of transferring a huge amount of data compared to others. Specifically, the computers with better specifications are more capable.
3. Compatibility. Some technological apps may not be compatible with old generation computers. Only branded devices may be able to access some apps. When selecting these apps, it is important to consider this factor.
4. Copyright. Did you know information is available all over the internet but you can only access, share, and reproduce if allowed to! Students find it hard to include copyrighted citations in their homework and assignments. It is important to understand copyright concerns and information.
5. Privacy. Learning management systems are self-contained. This prevents students from sharing class work with the larger community in general. The setback in this particular function is that it does not allow students to see relevant projects online. Online digital tools collect various forms of data for free on online platforms. Always consider these privacy issues when determining the app to use for teacher attendance tracking.
6. Accessibility and availability of the students. Students might be available but not accessible at the same time. Contemporary students are referred to as “digital natives” which is not true for all students always. Some factors such as age, experience, and sociometric status usually have a big impact on access to digital tools and the internet. Instructors should not make assumptions about the abilities of student’s familiarity and access to technology.

Conclusion

Attendance tracking is the modern thing in online and semi online learning today. The attendance app allows the administrator to track the participation of the app users during class activities and classwork. This app tracks both student and teacher performance. To conclude, the app gives the administrator access to polling privileges and the ability to present the performance metrics for teachers and students as well. Generally, the app is lenient for teachers because they act as administrators mostly.