[K12OSN] OT - Student Entered Attendance System

Todd O'Bryan toddobryan at gmail.com
Sun Jul 6 01:11:35 UTC 2008


Actually, one of my students just wrote a similar system in Django for
a school in our district that requires students to come for 15
hours/week, but leaves the hours flexible. They haven't used it yet,
so I don't know how robust it is, but I could send you the code
(assuming you haven't already written it--I've been out of touch for a
while).

He let students either scan their id card or enter a username/password.

Todd

On Mon, Jun 23, 2008 at 7:58 PM, Huck <dhuckaby at paasda.org> wrote:
> as a matter of fact I bet(being a web programmer) that you could just write
> a simple 'check-in/check-out' module for Moodle...
>
> --Huck
>
> Jay Pfaffman wrote:
>>
>> Moodle knows what students are and has logging.  You could have
>> students log in to say that they were there (checking the IP of the
>> host).  How they'd say they were leaving is less obvious, but the
>> infrastructure that Moodle provides makes it a good starting point.
>>
>> On Mon, Jun 23, 2008 at 5:06 PM, Steven Santos <steven at simplycircus.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> I once worked in an after school program that faced a situation not
>>> unlike
>>> yours.  What they did was give every student what amounted to a poker
>>> chip
>>> with their name on it, a string through it (to hand around their neck)
>>> and a
>>> magnet on the back of it (later changed to Velcro).
>>>
>>> When a student came in in the morning (AM care), they would take the chip
>>> off the big board in the outer office.  When they entered a room, they
>>> would
>>> put their chip on the classroom board.  When they left to go to another
>>> room, they would take the chip off the board, and take it with them to
>>> place
>>> on the next board.
>>>
>>> In the case of an emergency, the teacher would just take the board off
>>> the
>>> classroom wall and have an accurate attendance. Another teacher would
>>> take
>>> the remaining chips off the main board to know who is not in school, and
>>> then they could do a quick comparison to get who is unaccounted for.
>>>
>>> that system has been in use in that program for over 25 years, and it is
>>> still in use today. Sometimes computers are not the best solution to
>>> these
>>> kind of problems.  On the other hand, this an RFID tag embedded in each
>>> of
>>> the chips and a reader in each of the boards may be another way to
>>> accomplish this AND be able to track it...
>>>  _____
>>>
>>> Steven Santos
>>> Director, Simply Circus, Inc.
>>> Email: Steven at SimplyCircus.com
>>>  Mail: 14 Pierrepont Road
>>>      Newton, MA 02462
>>> Phone: 617-527-0667
>>>  Web: www.SimplyCircus.com <http://www.SimplyCircus.com>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: k12osn-bounces at redhat.com [mailto:k12osn-bounces at redhat.com]On
>>>> Behalf Of Carl Keil
>>>> Sent: Monday, June 23, 2008 4:08 PM
>>>> To: k12osn at redhat.com
>>>> Subject: Re: [K12OSN] OT - Student Entered Attendance System
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Seems crude, but aren't you talking about an RFID warehousing system?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Mon, Jun 23, 2008 at 12:58 AM, Carl Keil <carl at snarlnet.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hey Kind Folks,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I've been asked to create something and I thought I'd pick
>>>>
>>>> the collective
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> brain before possibly entering into the wheel reinvention game.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Does anyone know of a computerized system for keeping
>>>>
>>>> track of attendance
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> that would function with the kids themselves (k-12)
>>>>
>>>> entering their own
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> comings and goings into the system?  As I sit down to
>>>>
>>>> design this I'm
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> imagining all kinds of data integrity nightmares with
>>>>
>>>> kindergarteners
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> clicking "sign in" and "sign out" buttons that are next
>>>>
>>>> their (or someone
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> else's) name.  This would be some sort of kiosk by the
>>>>
>>>> front door.  I'm
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> thinking that if I use a web interface (I am a web
>>>>
>>>> programmer), I'll use a
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> thin client for this.
>>>>>>>> This is for a free school, where kids can enter and leave
>>>>
>>>> the school at
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> different times.  There is no "home room" or designated
>>>>
>>>> check in time.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>  Right now, kids sign in on paper, but it is making
>>>>
>>>> reporting and tracking
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> trends difficult.  I'm toying with the idea of using
>>>>
>>>> facial (and possibly
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> voice) recognition software.  So, a kid comes in, sticks
>>>>
>>>> their mug into a
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> camera and clicks a button that either says they are
>>>>
>>>> coming or going.  If
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> the picture can't be recognized, it is stored and flagged for human
>>>>>>>> identification.  I have no idea how to do that though.
>>>>>>>> One other design problem is that we need some record of
>>>>
>>>> who's in the
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> building that we can grab if there's a fire or other
>>>>
>>>> emergency.  That's
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> where the sign-in sheet on the clipboard really shines.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Any brainstormy thoughts at all about pitfalls or
>>>>
>>>> solutions would be
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> helpful at this point.  Anyone else have a situation
>>>>
>>>> similar to this?
>>>>>
>>>>> There are many pitfalls, the biggest being smart kids - don't ever
>>>>> underestimate the ability of a four year old to deceive.
>>>>>
>>>>> Single scan (forget the in/out buttons, just have the current
>>>>
>>>> state ready)
>>>>>
>>>>> will tell you just that something got scanned, so there is a
>>>>
>>>> problem right
>>>>>
>>>>> there. The kids can scan in and -not- enter or leave.
>>>>>
>>>>> All the tokens not attached permanently can be exchanged ....
>>>>>
>>>>> Can you do something of a bit futuristic nature, since the future will
>>>>> happen soon? What I have in mind is "chipping" the kids with tiny RFID
>>>>> chips. Works for my cats. I had to change the design from a
>>>>
>>>> single scanner
>>>>>
>>>>> with the door mechanism to three scanners, so that I really know where
>>>>> they are. I've seen cats and kids change their minds and back out after
>>>>> opening the doors to go in -:)
>>>>>
>>>>> Of course the above was somewhat in jest, but there is no good solution
>>>>> without the use of biometrics, and even those can be fooled.
>>>>>
>>>>> One inexpensive way is to count heads going in and out - web cam,
>>>>> simple
>>>>> software. Make sure you push the video to an external server. In case
>>>>> of
>>>>> an emergency, you'll now -how many- kids are in, to find out
>>>>
>>>> -which- kids,
>>>>>
>>>>> you'd need to view the video. As far as I know, this is acceptable
>>>>> level
>>>>> of data for emergencies.
>>>>>
>>>>> Good luck, julius
>>>>
>>>> The first thing I asked the school's director was if it would be OK to
>>>> chip the kids.  This is exactly like herding cats, which, apparently,
>>>> you have some experience with.  I've since realized that even chipping
>>>> the kids and/or video surveillance won't work.  The kids at this school
>>>> have the option of playing outside if there is an adult out there to
>>>> supervise.  This isn't considered "checking out".  The kids really do
>>>> need to click or swipe something to signify their intention to
>>>> stay/leave.  Since these kids can't be relied on to bring ID badges
>>>> every day and tattooing bar codes is a wee bit too futuristic, I'm
>>>> heavily leaning towards fingerprint swipers.
>>>>
>>>> Can anyone recommend a linux friendly, affordable, USB, fingerprint
>>>> reader?  One that can read through gloves, mittens, masking tape and
>>>> layers of assorted jams and jellies?  My wife loves the idea of a hand
>>>> sanitizer station next to the finger print swiper, cut down on colds and
>>>> flus and track the kids all in one fluid motion.
>>>>
>>>> Thank you everyone for your help thinking this through.
>>>>
>>>> ck
>>>>
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>>
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