Introducing aPlus+ Attendance, designed to address the inefficiencies and distractions of roll-calls and sign-in sheets. This tool’s advanced features streamline check-ins and simplify attendance management, allowing teaching teams to dedicate more time for impactful teaching and learning.
The Attendance Dilemma
Attendance tracking plays a crucial role in fostering student engagement and accountability, but the Classroom of the Future Initiative highlighted a challenge for faculty and TAs at MIT Sloan: Taking attendance is a lot of work, and it shouldn’t have to be. You face several hurdles:
- Time spent on roll calls and circulating sign-in sheets
- Difficulty in accurate attendance tracking, especially in larger classes
- Hours dedicated to post-class data entry and gradebook updates
Streamlining the attendance process can enhance the classroom experience for both faculty and students.
“My course has 80+ students, and it is at 8:30, so taking attendance at the start is not efficient. However, it is a major burden on me or the TA to identify students during class. It is doable, but it takes away from the flow of the course.”
—MIT Sloan Faculty
Introducing aPlus+: A New Way to Manage Attendance
After a successful pilot across 19 courses in the 2023-2024 academic year, aPlus+ Attendance is now available to all MIT Sloan courses in Canvas. It tackles your attendance-taking challenges head-on with its key features:
- Streamline Check-Ins: Eliminate time-consuming roll calls with student self-check-in via Canvas on smartphones or laptops, creating a more focused learning environment
- Choose How to Track Attendance: Whether you opt for a static or rolling code, you have the flexibility to select the option that best aligns with your teaching priorities and classroom needs
- Reduce Administrative Burden: Save hours on data entry with bulk attendance labeling and easy report generation, freeing up more time for impactful teaching
- Simplify Grading: Automate the process with optional Canvas Gradebook integration, syncing attendance data effortlessly
- Gain Insights: Access comprehensive reporting capabilities for data-driven teaching strategies
What Pilot Participants Told Us
The feedback from the pilot was overwhelmingly positive, with participants noting improvements in their attendance management:
“Easy to set up, run, and input additional comments/grades.”
—MIT Sloan TA
“The tool will be better than just regular Canvas attendance tracking for most faculty. It is useful.”
—MIT Sloan Faculty
Ready to Get Started?
- Register for aPlus+ Live Training
- Get a Student View of Self-Check-In
- Access the Quick Start Guide for MIT Sloan Teaching Teams
- View aPlus+ Attendance’s Instructor Guide
- Submit a Support Ticket
aPlus+ Attendance is not just an attendance tool; it is another step towards creating the Classroom of the Future, where teaching and learning thrive with evolving technology.
