Bringing technology into school: NFC-enabled school attendance supervision

Near Field Communication Technology (NFC)-enabled attendance supervision trial was arranged at a primary school in Finland during the fall 2008. Total of 23 pupils between ages of 6 and 8 participated in the trial with an emphasis on security. Pupils marked their arrival at and departure from school by touching a smart card reader device or an NFC-enabled mobile phone with a contactless smart card. Teachers did not need to mark pupils' absences or delays in the backend system leaving thus more time for teaching and also enabling parents to receive real-time information on children's attendance. This paper analyzes the data related to the adoption and design process of a novel technology in a school setting. Information about user experience was obtained by using a variety of data collection methods. The findings were analyzed from the viewpoint of three end-user groups, namely children, parents and teachers. Children, as well as their teachers, became very fast familiar with the login/logout process, and the attendance supervision was soon integrated into their everyday school routines. Our analysis shows that a technology-supported attendance supervision system can bring value for all end-user groups.