Recently, we have highlighted the increasing number of IoT-based applications that have found the perfect place to display their utility on university campuses. From indoor navigation to environmental monitoring to staff & student safety and more, simply carrying a small IoT-enabled badge creates a number of ways to improve campus life.
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This time, we’re going to quietly step inside the lecture hall and hope no one notices our interruption to say a few words about automated attendance tracking.
Automating attendance tracking via badges
When students in a class are issued smart badges, the entire time-wasting process of taking attendance becomes unnecessary. The badge itself is silently broadcasting a message that says “I’m here” and that signal is registered in gateways in the classroom, auditorium, lab or whatever space the class is meeting in. No scanning codes, no signing in virtual attendance logs — just show up and the badge does the rest.
As long as a specific identity is correlated with a badge, everything about the student’s presence (or absence) is automated. Come in late? The badge knows. Leave early? Yes, the system will see it. Sorry – you can’t fool the digital attendance takers.
Think about how much time, effort and paperwork this saves instructors. Many professors already resent having to bother with documenting attendance and letting IoT do the work is a welcome relief for them. With automated attendance taking, when their class starts, the class starts, not several minutes’ worth of calling out names and waiting for responses.
The precision of smart badge-enabled attendance tracking removes all doubt if, for example, attendance is a variable considered when assigning grades or a condition of a student’s enrollment. No human error, no lost records – an easily accessible and shareable digital history from a system that scales up to any-sized need.
In the bigger picture, the data generated by an automated attendance system can easily be integrated with dedicated apps with any number of functionalities.
For example, automated messages can be generated and sent to students who miss class with important notifications about what was covered, exam dates, etc. Absence information can be automatically sent to academic advisors to keep them informed of students in danger of failing a class. If attendance is a condition of a scholarship, the relevant individuals can be altered when a class is missed and have any-time access to full attendance histories.
University students may continue to uphold their reputation for less-than-perfect attendance, but with automated attendance tracking systems enabled by smart badges and IoT, documenting every minute they’re where they are supposed to be is easier than ever before.
Contact us today to learn how we can help you automate attendance tracking in your school or college, and improve overall students’ experience and safety.
You may also like our recent article about Indoor Wayfinding 101 – Why Campuses Everywhere are Offering Digital Guidance.