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 the experiences of office manager Birgitte Tysdal at the Faculty of Education and Humanities, and Per Johan Kolstrup, senior advisor at the Faculty of Social Sciences.
Efficiency journey
Prior to the implementation of NOA, the university relied on traditional and time-consuming methods for recording attendance. Birgitte described how they previously used paper sheets and Canvas' attendance function, which often led to inefficient and extensive administrative work.
- "We think that this worked and only works halfway. And the students have always had a lot of questions about how much absence they have, and how do you calculate the attendance percentage, and what is the situation? "At our faculty, there are a lot of 'compulsory' courses, in the sense that they have attendance requirements for their courses, which generated a lot of inquiries about presence, attendance and absence," says Birgitte.
Per Johan elaborated that they sent around attendance lists, which led to complaints from students due to frequent incorrect registrations and time-consuming processes:
- "I'm in charge of registering compulsory activities and withdrawing students from exams. We have two professional social work programs where attendance at skills training is required. We realized many years ago that we don't have sufficient control over this with lists being passed around, so just before the exam we were told who would be withdrawn from the exam without enough insight into what the basis was. And the basis for documentation was usually too inadequate in appeal cases. Then Fagpersonweb came up with its solution, which involved scanning student cards. We tested it, and it worked well when I was there, but it wasn't a solution that could run itself. At the same time, there were still some course coordinators who had doubts about data, so we used a halfway solution with the punch-in list in FS. And then we discovered NOA, but the management said no every time, arguing that the subject web solution works well. No, it doesn't work well at all!
The introduction of NOA came as a result of the need for a more efficient solution. Birgitte was inspired by the experiences of colleagues at the University of Agder (UiA) and received funding for a digitization project. This laid the foundation for a more systematic and technologically forward-looking attendance registration.
- It began as a kind of project. We applied for digitization funding and it took a very long time before we got it. And then I learned that Per's institute was well on its way to finding out more about NOA.
This was also the case for Per Johan, who saw the need for a more flexible and efficient registration method. Both employees pointed out that their previous lack of a system resulted in daily manual registrations, which made everyday life more difficult.
A smoother everyday life
The implementation of NOA was not without its challenges. Birgitte highlighted some resistance to the introduction of new systems, mainly due to concerns over licensing costs and administration routines. This was also pointed out by Per Johan, who felt that the transition process was nevertheless easier than expected, even with skepticism from some employees.
A major benefit of NOA was the significant time savings it brought. Birgitte highlighted how the system saves time and resources. With NOA, they were able to manage compulsory attendance more efficiently. Per Johan experienced that NOA provided increased quality assurance, as quick feedback from students was made possible.
- In summary, the findings for the faculty I represent were that this works when subject teachers have a positive attitude and want it to work," says Birgitte.
A successful scaling
When it came to expanding NOA from a few to several courses, the experience was largely 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 to have even more extensive functionalities, something that NOA takes seriously and continuously develops in dialog with customers.
One consideration that arose during the implementation was cost management. Birgitte expressed concern about license costs and procedures for counting actual users. Improvements in routines were suggested to avoid overruns and ensure that costs are kept under control. When NOA in 2024 changed its pricing model to invoice a license per semester per student and administrative user, the count of active users was also expanded to count only the number of lecturers who have actually logged into NOA.
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 made calculations in the project application about how many millions and how much time we would save, but we haven't done any actual evaluations of it. So I don't know exactly, but my study coordinators say that there are a lot fewer questions and inquiries about this, because the students see their own absence. But what's kind of fun is that now they've tried NOA in one of the large courses with almost 300 students, and it went very well. Most of them were able to register without any problems. It's those volumes that are the big gain, I think.
At Per Johan, it was pointed out that NOA provided an extra level of security in the form of quality assurance, as error correction was handled quickly and efficiently.
- This function for the students to keep an eye on everyday life is a kind of quality assurance, because they react much faster if something isn't right than coming to me on the last working day in December and saying that something isn't right," says Per Johan enthusiastically.
Acceptance of NOA among users has generally been high. Birgitte noted that students were accustomed 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 NOA is a more modern digital tool that helps us in our day-to-day management of studies. It's a smarter use of our time and resources than we had before. So for me it's important that we have it, that it exists, that we use it. And I think that there is very little resistance to using this from the students, because they are used to using smartphones with digital registrations, and use phones for everything. So I think it's logical that it's also used for this.
A valuable resource
The introduction of NOA at the University of Stavanger has proved successful and NOA is seen as a very useful tool. With time savings, data security, increased quality assurance and a high level of 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.
