Presence: An Integrated Mobile Solution for Truancy Detection using RFID and Cloud-based Notification Services

Abstract

This study aims to use mobile and cloud-based notification services to detect truancy in students and notify the concerned party in a real-time basis. Attendance logs are captured by radio-frequency identification (RFID) scanners at the entrance and exit gates of the campus. Students’ identification cards are embedded with a chip that uses radio frequency to communicate data to a reader. The mobile application pulls data from the database through a web service to reflect whether or not the student gets inside the campus. The presence of the students in their respective classes is further checked by the faculty through a user interface. Parents and sponsors can check, at real-time, the presence of the students in the campus as well as in their classes. To handle fresh new information in a timely fashion, the system implements cloud-based notification services called Google Cloud Messaging for Android (GCM). Parents get immediate notification about the students’ missed classes, violations, and class suspensions.