Using Attendance in D2L Brightspace

The Attendance tool in D2L Brightspace provides a convenient way to manage and track student attendance in a class. Features included are the ability to create class sessions, cause-for-concern alerts, and integration with D2L Email to communicate with students.

  • What is required: A D2L account

Why use the Attendance tool in D2L?

The Attendance tool provides a space for tracking participation in a class, enabling instructors to see the attendance status of all students during a session. Attendance data can be assessed to track student progress, including the total number of sessions attended, missed sessions, and each student’s attendance percentage. A cause-for-concern threshold can be set to glance when students miss a certain percentage of the class. Attendance can also be shared with students to enhance accountability and transparency of their participation. In addition to monitoring attendance, instructors can easily communicate with students from within the tool.

Getting Started

Terms to Know

  • Attendance scheme: A criteria status used to mark a session. For example, P (Present) and A (Absent) criteria statuses can mark attendance. The default System Scheme is P (Present) and A (Absent). Custom attendance schemes can be created to add other criteria statuses.
  • Attendance Register: A container for the attendance sessions. An attendance register is required to create sessions and set other options to track weekly participation in the class.
  • Cause for Concern (%): A percentage threshold that can be set to show an alert status on the Attendance percentage column when a student falls below it. This can be useful to quickly glance when a student has low participation in the class.
  • Sessions: A component of the Attendance Register used to create events to enter an attendance status. For example, a Weekly Attendance register would contain a Week 1 session, Week 2 session, etc.
Step 1: Creating the Attendance register
  1. Click the Course Admin link within the navigation bar menu.
  2. Click the Attendance link found under the Learner Management section.
  3. Click the New Register button and enter a name for the attendance register. (Example: Weekly Class Meetings.)
  4. Select an Attendance Scheme from the drop-down menu. Leave it on System Scheme when creating an Attendance register for the first time. A custom attendance scheme can be created using the directions on the Step 2 tab.
  5. (Optional) Enter a numeric value in the Cause for Concern (%) field to set an alert status when a student drops below a certain threshold. (Example: Enter 80% to set an alert status if a student misses 2 class days.)
  6. Leave the Visibility and Users options set with the default choices.
  7. Enter a Session name and description (optional). It is best to enter a generic Session name and avoid adding dates. (Example: Week 1 – Class 1, Week 1 – Class 2, etc.)
    You can add more sessions after customizing the first three sessions on the page. Enter a numeric value next to the Add Sessions field to create the remaining sessions after the first three.

    • (E.g., for a 10-week class with once-a-week tracking, you can add 7 more sessions.)
  8. Click the Save button to create the attendance register. Click the Close button to return to the main Attendance page.
Editing the Attendance register
  • Click the action menu icon next to the attendance register name and select Edit Register from the list.
  • Click the Save button to update the attendance register. Click the Close button to return to the main Attendance page.
Tutorial:
Step 2: Creating a custom Attendance scheme
  1. Click the Attendance Schemes tab found on the main Attendance page.
  2. Click the New Attendance button and enter a name for the attendance scheme. (For example, Custom Attendance Scheme)
  3. Enter a Symbol, Status Full Name, and an Assigned % in the fields provided. For example:
    • Symbol: P, Status Full Name: Present, Assigned %: 100%
    • Symbol: A, Status Full Name: Absent, Assigned %: 0%
    • Symbol: L, Status Full Name: Late, Assigned %: 50%
  4. You can add more statuses after customizing the first three statuses on the page. Enter a numeric value next to the Add Statuses field to create the remaining statuses after the first three.
  5. Click the Save button to create the attendance scheme. Click the Close button to return to the main Attendance page.
  6. Optional: To add a custom attendance scheme to an existing attendance register, edit the attendance register and find the Attendance Scheme option. Click the dropdown menu and select your custom attendance scheme from the list. Save and Close the attendance register after making this change.
Editing the Attendance Scheme
  1. Click the Attendance Schemes tab found on the main Attendance page.
  2. Click the action menu icon next to the attendance scheme name and select Edit Scheme from the list.
  3. Click the Save button to update the custom attendance scheme. Click the Close button to return to the Attendance Schemes page.
Tutorial:

Watch the video on how to create a custom attendance scheme.

Step 3: Using the Attendance register
  1. Click on the attendance register name from the main Attendance page to open it.
  2. Click on the enter attendance icon next to the session’s name.
  3. Select an Attendance Status from the drop-down menu next to each student to set their attendance for the session. This can be done one at a time or in bulk by clicking the Set Status for All Users button on the page.
  4. Click the Save button to confirm the attendance status for all the students. Click the Close button to return to the Attendance Data page.
  5. Repeat these steps to set the students’ attendance status for other sessions.
Tutorial:

Watch the video on how to use the attendance register.

Step 4: Adding Attendance as a Link in the navbar (Optional)

By default, the Attendance tool is not accessible to students. It must be added to the Links section of the course navigation bar (navbar) to be accessible.

  1. Click Links on the navigation bar menu.
  2. Click the New Link button to create a new link.
  3. Click [New Category] to create a new category and name it Attendance.
  4. Enter a name in the Title field, such as Attendance or Participation.
  5. Copy and paste the following line in the URL field.
    • https://online.pcc.edu/d2l/lms/attendance/view/attendance_list.d2l?ou={OrgUnitId}
  6. Leave the checkmark enabled next to the Open in New Window option.
  7. Click the Save button to confirm the change.

This link can only be accessed by the students in the course. As the instructor, you will continue to use the Attendance link in the Course Admin area.

Training Workshops

  • Using Attendance in D2L Brightspace – (36-minute duration) ITS Attendance workshop recorded on April 24, 2023. Topics discussed in the workshop are adding the attendance tool to the navigation bar, creating an attendance register, creating a custom attendance scheme, and using the attendance register.

Technical Support