Once you have created an Attendance activity, you can create a session(s) where students record their attendance (self-record). You can check their attendance after the session and adjust it if you need to.
Set up grade acronym, description, points and options specific to student self-recording attendance
By default, the status descriptions are Present, Excused, Late, Absent and the allocated points are 2, 1, 1, 0 respectively.
Click the Status set tab
To update an existing text/value, select the text box and enter a new text/value
To set up a new status, fill in the line starting with an * and click the Add button
Two options are specific to student self-recording of attendance:
Available for students (minutes) – Enter the number of minutes after the session starts that this status is available. If empty, this status will always be available, If set to 0 it will always be hidden to students. Refer to the screenshot
below for an example of how to restrict the first 10 minutes of the session for students to mark their attendance as Present
Automatically set when not marked – In a session's setting, if automatic marking has been set to 'Set unmarked at end of session', the selected status takes effect if a student has not marked their own attendance. Refer to screenshot
below for an example where students are marked as Absent if they have not marked their own attendance.
Click Update
Add session(s)
Click the Add session tab
There are two types of sessions: All students and Group of students. Ability to add different types depends on activity group mode (refer to step 6 under Create an attendance activity)
In group mode "No groups" you can add only All students sessions.
In group mode "Visible groups" you can add All students and Group of students sessions.
In group mode "Separate groups" you can add only Group of students sessions.
* If you want to link the sessions to the Student Management groups (for example, Tutorial or Practical), add your sessions using Group of students. This will also keep the list of students within the groups updated via the integration.
Click and hold the Ctrl key to select multiple groups.
Fill in details about the session you wish to record attendance for
Create repeating sessions
If you wish to create a repeating series of sessions (eg weekly tutorials), open the Multiple sessions tab, and tick 'Repeat the session above as follows'. Select the day the specific session repeats on (if a tutorial
session this will most likely be one day per week), frequency (Repeat every) and session end date (Repeat until):
Student self-recording options
To allow students to record their attendance, go to the Student recording section
Tick Allow students to record own attendance
Under Automatic marking, choose one of the following options
Disabled – Students will need to access the Attendance activity and mark themselves as Present
Yes – Students will be automatically marked depending on their first access to the topic
Set unmarked at end of session – Any students who have not marked their attendance will be set to the unmarked status selected. (Note: For this option, the unmarked status needs to be set first before you can add the session(s))
Under Student password, you can enter a custom password or tick Random password for the system to automatically create a random password. There is also the option Include QR code which displays a QR code containing a URL that students
can scan with a mobile device to take them directly to the page where they record their attendance (see instructions below – this happens just before or during class time)
Click Show more... to see more options
Under Require network address, you can restrict attendance recording to particular subnets by specifying a comma-separated list of partial or full IP addresses. Untick this option if it is not relevant
Under Prevent students sharing IP address, select Yes to prevent students from using the same device to take attendance for other students
Sessions with QR code enabled and password protected
For sessions where Automatic marking has been set to either Disabled or Set unmarked at end of session, the Include QR code option is ticked, and a password has been
entered manually or randomly generated, you can display a QR code containing a URL that students can scan with a mobile device.
To display the QR code:
Select the Sessions tab
The list displays sessions in the current week by default. To see all sessions, click the All button
Click the key icon next to the session
Click Show QR code
Note: The QR code is unique and specific for each session. When students scan the QR code with their mobile device, it takes them directly to the page where they record their attendance, and fills in the password for them too. They only need
to select the status 'Present' and record their attendance.
To view attendance:
Click the green icon next to the session
In this case, the remarks contain the text 'Self-recorded'. You can change a student's attendance status at this point if required
QR code scanner for mobile devices
iOS - iPhone and iPad devices running iOS 11 or newer has QR code recognition built into the camera app. More information at Scan a QR code with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
For older versions of iOS, search the app store using keywords such as 'QR code' to find free QR code scanners.
Android - The Google Lens app supports scanning of QR codes. Download it from the Google Play store.
Sessions with automatic marking
For sessions where Automatic marking has been set to Yes, students will be automatically marked depending on their first access to the topic. To view attendance:
Select the Sessions tab
The list displays sessions in the current week by default. To see all sessions, click the All button
Click the green icon next to the session to view the attendance
In this case, the remarks contain the text 'system auto recorded'. You can change a student's attendance status at this point if required
This entry relates to the Attendance activity.
