How Teachers Can Mark Electronic Attendance in Classrooms

last updated on 28 October 2025

Marking Attendance Manually		Receiving In-Class Responses
"Attendance" in Canvas Courses Enable the "Attendance" on the Course Navigation Set Up the "Roll Call Attendance" Assignment Mark the Attendance for a Lesson	Method	Canvas Quizzes with Access Codes Create a Quiz with Individual Question Set Access Code and More Quiz Options Deliver the Quiz in a Lesson	Microsoft Forms with Authentication Log In to the Account for Staff on Student M365 Create a Form with Microsoft Forms Download and Show the QR Code
Auto-calculation of Average Scores	Pros	Encouragement of Student Engagement and Motivation
Manually Marking Each Absent/Late Case	Cons	No QR Code for Student Access	Another M365 Account Required

You may MARK ALL PRESENT first, then change the badges of absent/late students after lessons (not suitable for large classes).
You should raise a CSC Work Request via your department's general office to request for creating a separate account (EID-f@staff.cityu.edu.hk) on the Student M365 as your optional staff account. Several processing working days are needed.

Marking Attendance Manually

"Attendance" in Canvas Courses

Step 1 - Enable the "Attendance" on the Course Navigation

In the Course Settings, click on the Navigation tab.
On the "Attendance" navigation item, click the icon (Options) and select the Enable option.
Click the Save button.

Canvas Instructor Guide:
How do I manage Course Navigation links?

Step 2 - Set Up the "Roll Call Attendance" Assignment

In the Course Navigation, click on the Attendance link.
1. After the first time you click, "Roll Call Attendance" assignment would be created automatically. Please do not delete it.
Click the icon (Settings) from the top right, then click the Roll Call Settings options.
- If you do not want the attendance assignment to count toward the final grade, enable the Do not count attendance toward final grade option.
- To specify a lateness percentage, move the slider bar. By default, the lateness bar is set to 80%.

Canvas Instructor Guide:
How do I use the Roll Call Attendance tool in a course?

Step 3 - Mark the Attendance for a Lesson

In the Course Navigation, click on the Attendance link.
The current date will be displayed by default. If you edit attendance records for a different date, please click the icon (Calendar) to select the date first.
You can MARK ALL PRESENT, then change the badges of absent/late students by the actions below.
- click once: Absent
- click twice: Late

Canvas Instructor Guide:
How do I take roll call using the Attendance tool?

Receiving In-Class Responses

Canvas Quizzes with Access Codes

Step 1 - Create a Quiz with Individual Questions

On the Quizzes page, click the + Quiz button.
Select the Classic Quizzes option.
Click on the Questions tab, then click the + New Question button.
Select the question type (e.g., Multiple Choice), set the point value, input the question and option/answer content.
Click the Update Question button.

Canvas Instructor Guide:
How do I create a quiz with individual questions?

Step 2 - Set Access Code and More Quiz Options

Click on the Details tab.
Input the quiz name and more information.
Enable the Require an access code option, then input the "Required access code".
1. (Optional) Enable the Filter IP Addresses option
  If you require students to take the quiz using computers in a teaching studio on campus, please input the IP Address with CIDR Block.
  If you require students to take the quiz using devices connecting to the campus Wi-Fi CityU WLAN (WPA), please input 144.214.0.0/24.
Set the quiz start time (Available From) and end time (Until) for the upcoming lesson.
Set the Due Date (Time) for marking the late students automatically.
Click the Save button.

Canvas Instructor Guide:
What options can I set in a quiz?
How do I assign a quiz and dates?

Step 3 - Deliver the Quiz in a Lesson

During the lesson,

Visit the Quiz page of the Canvas course.
Click the icon on the quiz item.
Or, click the quiz link and then click on the Publish button.
Show the access code in your presentation.

Canvas Instructor Guide:
How do I publish a quiz?

Microsoft Forms with Authentication

Step 1 - Log In to the Account for Staff on Student M365

If you do not have the email account for staff (EID-f@staff.cityu.edu.hk) on Student M365, please raise a CSC Work Request via your department's general office to request this account.

Open a different browser that has not been logged in by using @cityu.edu.hk/@um.cityu.edu.hk, or open the private/incognito mode of the browser.
Visit the Microsoft Forms, then click the Sign in button.
Input the EID-f@staff.cityu.edu.hk and click the Next button.
Input your CityUHK EID and password, then click the Sign in button.
On the next screen, select your preferred Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) method to verify your identity.
The user interface of Microsoft Forms would be shown. Click on the profile icon from the top right to check whether EID-f@staff.cityu.edu.hk is used.

Step 2 - Create a Form with Microsoft Forms

Click on the + New Form button.
Input the form title, then "Quick start with" question type to add question(s).
After completing the question creation, click the Collect responses button, then enable the "Who can fill in this form" options below.
- Only people in City University of Hong Kong - Student can respond
  - Record name
  - One response per person
Click the Preview button to check the form content.

Microsoft Support Guide:
Create a form with Microsoft Forms

Step 3 - Download and Show the QR Code

Before the lesson,
1. Click the Collect responses button.
2. On the pop-up, click the tab (QR code).
3. Click the Download button under the QR code.
During the lesson, show the QR code in your presentation.

Microsoft Support Guide:
Share a form or quiz with students in Microsoft Forms

Below is a screen example of Microsoft Forms being displayed from a student's mobile device.

Digital Learning Support