What is it?
Attendance tracking systems are technologies that are used to capture participation in an event or series of events. Some systems collect attendance through manual input in a form, while others utilize readers from mobile devices, such as swiping of their IDs, to body-identification software like fingerprints and eye scanners. Once an individual marks themself as checked in, their information is captured and recorded in a database which administrators can later use to run reports. Attendance tracking systems can provide institutional insight into services, providing answers like:
- Who attended the event?
- How long did they stay?
- What is their affiliation to the event?
- How often does the individual attend these events?
- How often do they attend other events in the institution related to this one?
How does it work?
Attendance System Setup
Before beginning to track attendance electronically, most systems require setup with target information. For classroom attendance tracking, the information required is generic enough that faculty can program with little help from administration. For example, setting up the dates and times of classroom sessions, class roster, and marking times that are considered “on-time” versus “late”. Blackboard Attendance and iClicker Attendance allows faculty to set up their course information within a few minutes.
Some attendance tracking systems, however, will require a much longer setup process. For example, CBORD CS Gold is an in-house attendance system that will require departments and UMIT staff to meet, demo, plan, and setup the attendance system specifying what data they want to collect and how they will to collect it. There is also more flexibility for the types of events that can be captured and who it can capture - from routine workshops to sporting events.
Readers & Checking In
The technology that participants will use to “check in” is typically known as a reader. There are software-based mobile readers that only need an app, browser, or bluetooth to enable check-in. There are also hardware readers, which include ID scanners that can restrict entry into doors, for example. CBORD supports a number of compatible hardware and software readers.
iClicker Attendance allows students to use the iClicker Cloud app to check in to their class. iClicker also allows faculty to restrict the location using geofencing to ensure students are within a certain distance of their classroom.
As of now, the Blackboard Attendance feature does not have a check-in technology or reader feature. The instructor is still required to collect attendance through traditional methods, such as sign-in sheets or roll-calls. They would then enter the attendance information manually after a class session.
Why is it significant?
Accreditation
Many accreditation bodies and programs have specific attendance policies that must be met by institutions. For example, some programs may require a number of hours in clinicals or facetime with an instructor. Using attendance tracking can help ease the burden of manually taking attendance and ensuring that reporting information is met timely and accurately.
Predictive Data
Attendance tracking has been seen as a key data point for interpreting student academic performance and level of academic engagement. Higher education institutions have invested in attendance tracking for predicting and confronting student retention. Coupling attendance data with other data points, like missed assignment deadlines, can indicate a student is struggling, and can allow instructors and advisors to intervene before a student drops out.
What are the downsides?
Privacy and Data Infringement
One of the most important dilemmas of attendance tracking is how to ethically collect, use, store, and disseminate the data collected. The insight that can be gathered is often touted as a method for early intervention. However, sometimes there is little information on how this data is stored and used by institutions.
Time Consuming
One major downside of attendance systems is that most systems require significant manual input from the instructor after an event or in order to utilize the data in their teaching. Instructors who opt to use attendance tracking systems should carefully weigh their options and decide if the benefits of these systems outweigh the time used to implement them.
Where is it going?
Engagement Outside of Class
It is possible to consider attendance tracking not only for within the classroom, but outside of classroom spaces. Wide applications of attendance systems that gather records of student participation in campus services and social events can provide a larger picture of overall engagement. It can assist institutional stakeholders, aside from solely academically-focused departments, in making decisions about services that support students.
Automation
As the technology continues to grow and expand, we can see a trend in companies that are looking to reduce the administrative side of attendance taking by offering products that do not require students or faculty to "check in" at all. For example, TealPass (see School of Law example) uses a beacon to automatically check students into class by communicating through the bluetooth on their devices.
What are the implications for teaching and learning?
Attendance tracking is part of a larger conversation about learning analytics. By tracking attendance, faculty may be able to understand what information the student has been exposed to and what was missed. Collecting attendance information can provide institution insight on both student behavior and the services the institution provides. It can help form a picture of the individual student - how often they go to class, how often they reach out for help, or the holistic student body - how often do students attend class, what percentage of students from a class attend tutoring services.
Fighting Absenteeism
Faculty who include attendance requirements in their syllabi in an effort to emphasize the importance of participation hope that tracking attendance will encourage students to attend class. Attendance tracking systems therefore can alleviate the burden of manually tracking student participation, while still providing a platform to account for student attendance.
Some faculty, however, may feel as if mandating attendance does little to engage students. Furthermore, some feel like students, especially in higher education, should have to autonomy to be able to decide whether they want to attend classes. They argue that students who do not wish to attend class may engage in behaviors, like falling asleep or using their phones, that distract students who are actually interested in attending classes.
