Students to check out ‘Check-in’ for attendance
From September, all our taught students will be asked to automatically register their attendance at lectures and seminars using a new ‘Check-in’ function on an updated UniLeeds app.
Check-in does away with the need for paper sign-in sheets, saving students and colleagues time and effort signing, passing around and processing paper registers. It also helps schools identify and support those students who may have problems with attendance, and ensures that the University complies with legal requirements.
To access Check-in, students will need to download the new version of the UniLeeds app. This is compatible with Android and iOS mobile devices and can be accessed at www.leeds.ac.uk/Apps from September. Once downloaded students will need to ensure that Bluetooth and location services are enabled on their devices.
Check-in registers students’ attendance at timetabled activities by using low energy Bluetooth ‘beacons’ installed in all teaching rooms which interact with the app to verify their location. Students unable to access a device will check-in manually on one of the University’s campus-based PCs within 24 hours of the teaching activity.
“The University is committed to delivering excellent, inspirational learning and teaching, and an exceptional student experience,” says Professor Neil Morris, Director of Digital Learning. “Check-in supports our commitment to deliver the Digital Strategy for Student Education by offering flexible and innovative solutions using digital technologies.
“Check-in has already been successfully tested in the Leeds University Business School and the School of Dentistry, and is now being introduced across the whole University. As well as streamlining the way we collect information about our students’ attendance at their timetabled activities, from Semester Two onwards colleagues can also use the app to run in-class interactive quizzes and collect of end of module surveys and programme data.”
Technical support and advice about installing and using the UniLeeds app is available from IT Service Desk on 33333 or itservicedesk@leeds.ac.uk
Frequently Asked Questions for both students and staff are available, and a short ‘Check-in’ animation will also be launched for students in September; an extended version of the animation is available for staff to preview.
More information about attendance monitoring processes is available at the Student Education Service website pages. Queries about how Check-in will be used to monitor attendance in specific Schools can be directed to School Education Service Managers.
Posted in: Student education