Attendance Tools in Canvas
Canvas provides multiple options for tracking student attendance, depending on your needs. Whether you prefer a manual check-in system or an automated attendance record based on student activity, Canvas offers built-in tools to support different instructional approaches.
This guide focuses on two built-in options for tracking attendance in Canvas. Other methods, such as third-party tools, methods, and integrations, may also be available but are not covered here.
Compare Attendance Tools In Canvas
Feature
Roll Call Attendance
New Analytics - Online Attendance
How it Works
Instructors manually mark students present, late, or absent within the Attendance menu in a Canvas course.
Tracks attendance automatically based on Instructor-defined activity criteria (e.g., course access, discussions, submissions). Attendance is taken within the New Analytics menu in Canvas,
Pros
- Provides a structured attendance register.
- You can assign attendance as a grade in the Gradebook with an automatic grade book column.
- Supports a customizable seating chart for in-person courses.
- Allows instructors to adjust lateness values.
- Exports attendance reports to a .csv file at the course and account levels.
- Students cannot access the tool directly but can view their attendance score in Grades.
- Automates attendance tracking in Canvas without manual input.
- Customizable 'attendance' criteria set by the Instructor (e.g., page views, submissions, discussions)
- Provides insights into student engagement.
- Offers filtering options by student, section, and date.
- Useful for monitoring online participation.
Cons
- Requires manual marking for each student.
- May not be ideal for online courses.
- Does not automatically assign attendance as a grade.
- Attendance is based on standard course access, which may not reflect varying views on 'actual' participation.
- Data updates every 24 hours, so recent activity may not be immediately reflected.
Ideal for...
Face-to-face or hybrid courses where instructors need direct attendance tracking and grading.
Online or hybrid courses where engagement-based attendance is preferred.
Attendance Resources
Roll Call Attendance
Use the following resources to learn more about using the Roll Call Attendance tool in Canvas.
New Analytics - Online Attendance
Use the following resource to learn more about using the Online Attendance tool within the New Analytics menu in Canvas.
