This blog was originally published by Gretchen Pawloski with Connie Blaszczyk on September 14, 2020 and updated by Gretchen Pawloski on May 3, 2021.
Designed for teachers, ServiceRocket's newest Google Classroom add-on, Attendance Taker for Classroom is FERPA-compliant, feature-rich and simple-to-use. Quickly track attendance, schedule and manage classes, share resources, generate reports and more.
In response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, teachers and school administrators had to quickly pivot from in-person to remote learning using online platforms like Google Classroom. And as any learning professional knows, that is no small task.
One thing that hasn’t changed in education is the need for accurate attendance records. In fact, it’s more important than ever. Yet this once simple task is far from straightforward in a remote learning environment. Given this new responsibility, many students falter. Some forget to sign in; others struggle to use various methods from class to class. The resulting inaccurate attendance reports can negatively impact your students and school.
Here at ServiceRocket, we heard firsthand from teachers about the need for more accurate attendance records for live or pre-recorded classes and assignments. As a leader in building global learning solutions for nearly 20 years, we knew there was a better way.
That’s why we designed Attendance Taker for Classroom specifically for teachers, to work across in-person, remote and hybrid learning environments. Since its launch in the fall of 2020, we’ve been working closely with teachers to improve features and usability and we think the results speak for themselves.
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Source: NPS survey of Attendance Taker for Classroom users February - March 2021
Over 40 million teachers and students around the world rely on Google Classroom, which integrates Google Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Gmail, to manage classes, assignments and communication. Attendance Taker for Classroom, extends and enhances these capabilities to make the work of teachers and teaching institutions easier, without ever putting student information at risk.
Integration with Google Classroom data and Google Calendar means daily tasks are automated -- and automation makes life easier. With Attendance Taker for Classroom, students, teachers and administrators benefit from a streamlined process. From scheduling classes, to tracking attendance, to sharing resources, to generating reports, you’ll spend less time on administrative tasks and have more time for teaching.
Attendance Taker for Classroom automates attendance by integrating with Google Classroom, giving students a simple and consistent way to sign in. The result is more reliable attendance records. This affordable app is compatible with any 3rd-party video conferencing platform, easily scales for class or school or district use, and is quick to implement.
To schedule a class, assignment or other event, teachers just select Google Meet or paste any URL—an online meeting, a YouTube video, a link to an assignment—into the app inside Google Calendar. Attendance Taker for Classroom handles everything you need to track that event.
Use Attendance Taker for Classroom’s auto-filled drop-down lists to select a few Google Classroom students or the entire class. Invites allow you to confirm the delivery and start of assignments, as well as mark check-ins with students.
When students sign in, their account is validated with Google Classroom and attendance is automatically recorded.
Attendance Taker for Classroom makes it easy to share important teaching resources. You can also track students' access to different kinds of online resources such as websites, articles, and videos. You can track access to just about any online resource, as long as it has an online link.
Attendance Taker for Classroom simplifies class management. Just choose from the list of scheduled classes and meetings to update any of the settings (such as description, time, and invite list) and click Update. The app will automatically confirm the change and send an updated meeting invitation. Canceling meetings is just as simple. These actions can also be done within Google Calendar, saving you even more time.
With Attendance Taker for Classroom, reports are automatically generated in Google Sheets and clearly formatted, with filters that let you select your view. Reports are stored in your Google Drive and easily shared with administrators.
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You can feel secure knowing that your information is used exclusively for generating attendance reports—nothing more. All your data remains with Google. Attendance Taker for Classroom just makes your job easier by integrating data between Google classroom, Google Calendar and Google sheets without storing any personal information.
Discover how ServiceRocket protects students’ personally identifiable information and complies with FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), is California Student Privacy certified, is listed in both the National Student Data Protection Consortium (SPDC) Resource Directory and with the Massachusetts Student Privacy Alliance (MSPA) and fully supports Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
As a single class or district-wide solution, Attendance Taker for Classroom is an effective way to record and report remote attendance. At just $10 a year for individual teacher use, it’s also very affordable. And with ServiceRocket’s online support team, you’ll quickly solve any roadblocks. Contact us to learn how Attendance Taker for Classroom can benefit your school or district.
Attendance Taker for Classroom makes tracking attendance, scheduling and managing classes, sharing resources, and generating reports quick and easy.
