Digitization of attendance registration at the University of Stavanger
In recent years, the implementation of digital technology in educational institutions has become an important tool for improving the efficiency and quality of administrative work. One particular area where digitization has proven to be of great importance is attendance registration. Traditional methods such as paper-based lists and manual registrations have often been time-consuming and prone to human error.
In this article, we will explore how NOA Notice of Attendance has transformed attendance registration at the University of Stavanger, based on experiences from office manager Birgitte Tysdal at the Faculty of Educational Science and Humanities, and Per Johan Kolstrup, senior advisor at the Faculty of Social Sciences.
Efficiency journey
Prior to the implementation of NOA, the university used traditional and time-consuming methods for attendance registration. Birgitte described how they previously used paper sheets and Canvas' attendance function, which often resulted in inefficient and extensive administrative work.
– We think that this seemed to work only halfway. And the students have always had many questions about how much absence they have, and how do you calculate the attendance percentage, and how is it going? At our faculty, there is a lot of "compulsory attendance", in the sense that they have attendance requirements for their subjects, which generated many inquiries about attendance, presence and absence, says Birgitte.
Per Johan elaborated that they sent around participation lists, which led to complaints from students due to frequent misregistrations and time-consuming processes:
– I am the one who is responsible for registering mandatory activities and withdrawing students from the exam. We have two social work professional educations where there is a requirement for presence during skills training. We saw many years ago that we did not have sufficient control over this with lists that went around, so just before the exam we were told who should be withdrawn from the exam without enough insight into what the basis was. And the documentation basis was usually too inadequate in complaints cases. Then came the subject staff web with its solution, which involved scanning student cards. We tested it, and it worked well when I was present, but not a solution that could be self-propelled. At the same time, there were still some subject managers who doubted data so we used a half-way solution with the punch in-list in FS. And then we discovered NOA, but management said no every time with the argument that the subject staff web solution works well. No, it doesn't work well at all!
The introduction of NOA was a result of the need for a more efficient solution. Birgitte was inspired by experiences from colleagues at the University of Agder (UiA) and received funds for a digitization project. This laid the foundation for a more systematic and technologically forward-looking attendance registration.
– It started as a kind of project. We applied for digitization funds and it took a very long time before we got them. And then I learned that Per's department was well underway in finding out more about NOA.
Similarly, Per Johan saw the need for a smoother and more efficient registration method. Both employees pointed out that their previous lack of a system led to daily manual registrations, which made everyday life more difficult.
A smoother everyday life
The implementation of NOA was not without challenges. Birgitte highlighted some resistance to the introduction of new systems, mainly due to concerns about license costs and administrative routines. This was also pointed out by Per Johan, who experienced that the transition process was easier than expected, even with skepticism from some employees.
A major advantage of NOA was the significant time savings it entailed. Birgitte highlighted how the system saves time and resources. With NOA, they could manage mandatory attendance teaching more efficiently. Per Johan experienced that NOA provided increased quality assurance, as rapid feedback from students was made possible.
– In summary, the findings for the faculty I represent were that this works when lecturers have a positive attitude and want it to work, Birgitte reports.
A successful scaling
When it came to the expansion of NOA from a few to several subjects, the experiences were mostly positive. Per Johan reported that the process of scaling NOA to more courses went without significant problems. At the same time, he noted that it would have been useful with even more comprehensive functionalities, which NOA takes seriously and continuously develops in dialogue with its customers.
A consideration that arose during implementation was cost management. Birgitte expressed concern about the license costs and routines for counting actual users. Improvements in routines were suggested to avoid overruns and ensure that costs are kept under control. When NOA changed its pricing model in 2024 to invoice a license per semester per student and administrative user, the counter of active users was also extended to count only the number of lecturers who have actually logged in to NOA.
Data secure and smart tool
The benefits of NOA were extensive for both the administration and the students. Birgitte described NOA as a modern tool that saved time and resources, making everyday life more efficient.
– I did calculations in that project application on how many millions and time we would save, but we have not done actual evaluations of it. So I don't know exactly, but my study coordinators say that there are much fewer questions and inquiries about this, because the students see their own absence. But what is a little fun is that now they have tried NOA in one of the major subjects with almost 300 students, and it went very well. Most people managed to register without any problems. It is those volumes that are the big gain, I think.
At Per Johan's, it was pointed out that NOA provided extra security in the form of quality assurance, as error correction was handled quickly and efficiently.
– That function for the students to have a look in everyday life, that is a kind of quality assurance, because they react if something is wrong much faster than coming to me on the last working day in December and saying that something is wrong, says Per Johan enthusiastically.
The acceptance of NOA among users has generally been high. Birgitte noted that students were used to digital technology, which contributed to low resistance to using NOA. This was also supported by Per Johan, who emphasized the importance of the tool being user-friendly and intuitive to ensure the widest possible adoption:
– I think that NOA is a more modern digital tool that helps us in managing study life. Which is a smarter use of our time and our resources than we had before. So for me it is important that we have it, that it exists, that we use it. And I think that this has very little resistance to using this from the students' side, because they are used to using smartphones with digital registrations, and use the phone for everything. So I think it is logical that it is also used for this.
A valuable resource
The NOA introduction at the University of Stavanger has proven to be successful and NOA is seen as a very useful tool. With time savings, data security, increased quality assurance and high user-friendliness, NOA represents an important advance in digital tools for the educational institution. Although there are areas for improvement, there are clear indications that NOA should continue to be a valuable resource for attendance management.
