For financial aid tracking and reporting purposes, we need a way to collect attendance information on students enrolled in online-only courses who do not attend class at a set time on a daily basis.
With regard to tracking attendance for online courses, logging into the course on Populi does not meet the government standard for attendance. There has to be active participation. Simply showing the time tracking is not good enough because the Feds. do not count simply logging into a course. Here is a copy of the Federal guidelines (that were revised just this last April):
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34CFR 668.22 defines attendance as:
(i) “Academic attendance” and “attendance at an academically-related activity”—
(A) Include, but are not limited to—
(1) Physically attending a class where there is an opportunity for direct interaction between the instructor and students;
(2) Submitting an academic assignment;
(3) Taking an exam, an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction;
(4) Attending a study group that is assigned by the institution;
(5) Participating in an online discussion about academic matters; and
(6) Initiating contact with a faculty member to ask a question about the academic subject studied in the course; and
(B) Do not include activities where a student may be present, but not academically engaged, such as—
(1) Living in institutional housing;
(2) Participating in the institution's meal plan;
(3) Logging into an online class without active participation; or
(4) Participating in academic counseling or advisement.
(ii) A determination of “academic attendance” or “attendance at an academically-related activity” must be made by the institution; a student's certification of attendance that is not supported by institutional documentation is not acceptable.
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BlackBoard accomplishes this by having a weekly attendance roster with a series of check boxes the instructor can complete, something like this:
Joe College □ Submitted an assignment □ Participated in an online discussion □ Communicated with the instructor
Would it be possible for you to set something up that could accomplish this in Populi?
Thanks!
--Paul
