Attendance Tracking


There are several ways to track attendance using Canvas and Zoom.

Attendance Tracking Using Zoom

We recommend this four-step process as the most straightforward solution for large, fully remote classes. The full process is described in Downloading Attendance Reports From Zoom Sessions (PDF)

Video: Downloading Attendance Report From Zoom

Video: Comparing the Zoom Attendance Report to Your Course Roster to Identify Absent Students

Tip: Click the double-headed arrow in bottom corner of video to enter full-screen mode.

Using the Canvas Attendance Tool

We recommend this simples solution if you are teaching a small face-to-face or remote discussion class.

Canvas has a built-in tool that you can use to track attendance. Recording the attendance is a manual process but it is easy to do. If you have identified the students who were not in class, recording that information in the Attendance tool will only take a minute or two. 

The Attendance is treated as an Assignment that can be included in your final grade calculations. You do not have to take attendance every class session in order for the tool to work. Grades are based on percentages. If you take attendance 10 times and a student was present 9 of the 10 days, then they will receive 90% of the total attendance points.

Video: Using the Canvas Attendance Tool

Using Canvas Quizzes to Track Attendance

Using Quizzes to track attendance gives you flexibility: you can do knowledge checks, give credit for attendance and participation, or get student feedback with this method. But this approach takes time to setup for each class meeting.

Video: Using Canvas Quizzes to Track Attendance