Take Attendance with Top Hat

Automated attendance with Top Hat is quick and easy! There are different options for taking attendance with Top Hat but however you choose to take attendance, a random 4-digit attendance code will be displayed on the projected screen in your classroom only. Students check in for attendance by submitting the attendance code, while logged into Top Hat. Learners can participate from any web browser, the Top Hat - Better Learning mobile app, or via SMS texts.

The data collected while taking attendance with Top Hat will be stored in the Top Hat gradebook where it can be easily reviewed, managed, synced with D2L gradebook, or exported to an Excel spreadsheet.  Continue reading to learn about the options for automating attendance with Top Hat.

Take Attendance Before a Top Hat Presentation

If you'd like to take attendance at the beginning of a Top Hat presentation, please follow the steps below. You can also launch attendance at any time during a presentation by selecting the blue button in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen to open up the slide drawer and then selecting the yellow attendance button.

Step 1

To do this, select the first slide in your presentation to display a preview. When ready to present, select the Present button in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

Step 2

Select Take Attendance to project the 4-digit attendance code. You'll see the number of students that have submitted the attendance code over the number of students that are enrolled in the course towards the bottom right-hand side of the window.

Step 3

When you are satisfied with the attendance figure for the lecture, select the Finish button in the lower right-hand corner of the window, which ends the window for students to submit the Attendance Code. To move on but leave the attendance open for submissions, you can choose Minimize and keep open.

Anytime Attendance

You can also take attendance on the fly without a slide presentation. To do so, follow the steps below:

Step 1

Select the Create button from within your Top Hat Course, then choose Take Attendance.

Step 2

When you are satisfied with the attendance figure for the lecture, select the Finish button in the lower right-hand corner of the window, which closes the window for students to submit the Attendance Code.

Secure Attendance (Geolocation)

As an add-on to Top Hat's standard attendance features, instructors can enable Secure Attendance, which involves utilizing students' location to verify their presence in a classroom or lecture hall. Secure attendance utilizes geolocation and must be enabled within your Top Hat course's attendance settings - it is not on by default. More important information about Secure Attendance can be found below:

• Top Hat does not track students' location at all times. Top Hat only pings students' location when they are participating in a secure attendance session.
• If secure attendance is enabled, it will be indicated on the screen with the attendance code.
• When secure attendance is enabled in a course, Top Hat will attempt to verify that students are in the classroom based on their geolocation when they submit the attendance code.
• In order for Top Hat to verify your location, students need to allow permission on their device or web browser's location settings.
• If location access is not enabled, Top Hat will prompt the student to enable it after submitting the attendance code.

Support

If you have any questions or concerns about Top Hat, please reach out to the UCATT Instructional Technology team at intech@arizona.edu, or Top Hat's support team at support@tophat.com.

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