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.