Tracking attendance with QR codes and Excel

A clever use of Excel is at the end of a paperless class attendance system used by a Filipino teacher.

Michael Angelo posted on Facebook how he’s switched to a paperless system for his classes.

The same system can be used for classes, one-off events or even to track physical items on loan.

All the elements are available cheaply or free to combine in whatever way works for you.

QR Code generator – making those square QR codes is simple with many online sites that can do the job.  Back in 2013, Office-Watch.com talked about making QR Codes and putting them in Word.  For Michael Angelo’s class, he let them make their own QR codes with different colors and designs.

The QR code contains simple text information in a consistent format like Dagg, Fred, 12345 (Last name, First name, Student number). Use a format that can be parsed out easily later (ie comma delimited).  Short text is best because it makes the QR Code easier to scan.

QR Code scanner – any mobile phone with the right app can scan QR codes and make a list of the code scanned, when and possibly where the scan happened.

Source:  Michael Angelo on Facebook.

Export to Excel  Any decent QR code app will have an Export option to either Excel or Comma Delimited CSV format.  In Excel you can maintain an attendance list in a table using filters, PivotTables and PivotCharts to manage attendance over time.

Source:  Michael Angelo on Facebook.