Top Hat - Attendance Comments & Reports

To add an attendance comment in the Gradebook:

1. Select the cell of the student's score you wish to change. 
2. Change that day's attendance record for that student to
   • Attended (scored on the attendance record as 1 point), "
   • Absent (scored on the attendance record as 0 points) or "
   • Excused (which will drop that point from the student's overall attendance record). 
3. You can add your comment to a student's attendance record by typing them into the text field.
4. You can also add attendance comments to Attendance Report
5. To access a session's Attendance Report, hover over the total score column header and select the blue report icon.
   
6. Or, you can select View Attendance Report from the modal that appears after clicking the date column header.
   

In the Attendance Report you can view the details of each student's entry for the session including

• View Record (Attended, Absent or Excused)
• View Comments 
• View response time
• View summary information for the session (including total attendance)
• Sort by student name, record and response time. 
• Edit Students attendance record
• Add or edit comments.
  

1. Select the Edit button next to the title of the report (which is by default the date and time the attendance was taken).
2. Add the desired title and select Save.
3. The new title of the attendance session will show in the column header of that session; once you exit the report and return to the grid view of the Gradebook.
   

You can also export attendance comments as a .csv file. Select Export Comments at the top of the report.

As with regular attendance, students can use their laptop, smartphone, or tablet to submit the attendance code.

• If they are using a laptop, students will be asked to allow Top Hat to determine their location. 
• If they are using the Top Hat app on a tablet or smartphone, they will also be asked to enable bluetooth technology so that Top Hat can determine their proximity to other devices in the class.
• Students will receive a notification letting them know whether they were marked Absent or Present. 
• To learn more about the process for students see Student: Secure Attendance. 

• Students who submit attendance to Top Hat via SMS/text message will simply send a text with the attendance code as projected on the front screen to the region-specific SMS response number that is indicated.
• Students who access Top Hat by web browser or mobile application will be prompted to input the attendance code into the provided field.
  
• Students only get 3 attempts at entering the correct code (to prevent misuse of the system)