Engage Attendance activities consist of a single question with a single response. Attendance activities can also be "geofenced." This lets you limit participation in the attendance activity to a geographic location (checked via GPS).
To create an attendance activity, go to the Engage Home page (Create & Manage Polls in Blackboard).
From the left-hand menu, expand CREATE and choose Attendance
If you don't see a menu on the left, look for a menu (3-line) button in the upper left. Click that to expand the menu.
By default, attendance items are titled "Attendance - " followed by the current date. To rename the attendance item, click and type into the bar at the top.
When choosing a name for your attendance activity, keep the following in mind:
- If you connect the activity to your Blackboard course site, you will need to select it by name from a list of all your unreleased activities on Engage.
- The name will be used as the column (or assignment) name in Blackboard's Gradebook / Grade Center.
- If you want to look up the activity in Engage's own Grades page, you'll need to identify it by its name.
Beneath the item name is the item question. It defaults to "What is the word of the day?" You may change this question if you like, but you are limited to 1000 characters. Then enter the correct response in the space below. The answer will not be case sensitive.
Because, in most cases, the focus of an attendance activity is on presence, most faculty will project, whiteboard, or announce the Correct Answer in class, after releasing the attendance activity.
To add geofencing, check the appropriate box.
When the geofencing option is selected, a map will appear on the right side of the screen.
To set the location of your geofence, click the map to drop the location marker in that new spot. You can move the map via click-and-drag (click down on your mouse's left-button and continue to hold it down while you move your mouse). The scroll-wheel on your mouse (or the equivalent gesture on a laptop touchpad) will allow you to zoom in or out. Use the radius slider or enter numbers in the Meters space directly to make the appropriate area larger or smaller.
Once you have made all the appropriate changes to your attendance activity, click the SAVE AND CLOSE button at the bottom of the screen.
To collect attendance scores (100 points) to Blackboard, you will need to add the attendance activity to your course.