- It makes it easier for students

OsloMet uses NOA for digital attendance registration on the first day of study: 

- "It is easier for students to report attendance where they are when they are asked to do so than to physically queue up on campus," says Royne Kreutz from the Section for Digitalization of Education at OsloMet. 

It is the first study day at OsloMet, and on campus we meet Royne Kreutz who works in the section for digitalization of education. This week, around 10,000 students will use NOA to register their attendance for the first study day. 

Royne's department is responsible for almost all the systems and tools used by students. These include NOA (Notice of Attendance) which provides the system for digital attendance registration, where the student receives an SMS with a unique link and registers their attendance in a simple way, just by entering a code. The attendance is then transferred to FS using the integration with NOA, saving the administration a lot of manual work afterwards. 

- The faculties, administration and, most importantly, the students - experience this as flexible and modern. And I perceive that the students find it timely,' says Royne.

- Our section is tasked with digitizing to meet student needs. The areas we see we can digitize, we will digitize, if it provides a better student experience. It is the students we are there for! 

- The pandemic gave OsloMet a boost in digitalization and in removing manual operations: Long queues of students became a challenge for the enforcement of infection control rules. This increased the pressure to make a change where we could avoid these queues. This is where NOA proved to be a very effective solution. 

But this has not always been the case for educational institutions. Not long ago, manual attendance recording with queues, pen and paper ate up students' time. 

Royne explains what the student experience of attendance registration used to be like: 

- We are not going back any further than before the pandemic. Manual attendance registration started for students in a queue, usually in the morning. Then there is usually someone at the other end asking for name and ID. That queue can get quite long. 

- Those who then registered the attendance of the students might have appreciated this meeting with the students, saying hello and being able to welcome them - it was nice. But this is only one side of the experience. On the other side of the experience is the student, who is standing in that queue, who may be in a bit of a hurry and have something to do, maybe the student has just got up in the morning - or it's the first day of study and a lot of other things that occupy you. Then they might see it in a slightly different way. 

Royne explains that the institution trimmed this manual variant to be as efficient as possible. 

- Maybe some got it done in half an hour. But we see that the expectations that students have are different and may not be as satisfied with this "half an hour" in line. 

By using NOA to register first-time attendance at the start of studies, this manual process is completely eliminated. Students are pre-registered in NOA's administration tool for lecturers and study administration, and students receive an SMS at the start of their studies, which, using a unique code, enables them to complete the attendance registration process themselves. 

- We have also received feedback that there is less to manage from the faculties. So that's very good. NOA has also improved and developed the system in cooperation with the experience of the educational institutions, which we appreciate. 

- This old way of queuing and paperwork, I don't think it has a chance in 2022. 

What is your experience with NOA so far? 

- In my department and role, we see all three sides: The organization, the faculties and the students. If we are going to have attendance registration first, then this is clearly the way to go. It's about being able to meet students and their expectations where they are. I think we do that here in a good way. The lecturers are very satisfied with the solution, and there is good feedback that the system works. 

- And finally: It is not our experience that is most important, but the students' experience. If the organization has to go the extra mile, it may be necessary to let over 20 000 students off the hook. This is where we get our money's worth!