edge Sign in is a kiosk web app that schools run on a tablet or computer at reception so that students, staff and visitors can sign in and out of the school site. The kiosk is configured and enabled from School Settings in edge; the sign in/out records it creates can then be viewed by staff in edge (see the Sign in Logs article). This article covers setting up the kiosk and how its records relate to attendance.
edge Sign in is a kiosk web app that schools run on a tablet or computer at reception so that students, staff and visitors can sign in and out of the school site. The kiosk is configured and enabled from School Settings in edge; the sign in/out records it creates can then be viewed by staff in edge (see the Sign in Logs article). This article covers setting up the kiosk and how its records relate to attendance.
What the kiosk records
Three types of people can sign in or out at the kiosk:
| Person | What is recorded |
|---|---|
| Student | Sign in/out date and time, an attendance code and reason, and (optionally) who signed the student in or out |
| Staff | Sign in/out date and time |
| Visitor | First name and surname, contact details, reason for visit, whether they are signing in a group and the number in the group, whether they require emergency assistance, and whether they agreed to the school's Health and Safety policy |
In the Kōhanga Reo/ECE version of the kiosk the same roles appear as mokopuna (child), kaimahi (staff) and manuhiri (visitor), and caregivers can additionally use a 4-character PIN to identify themselves — including to verify a month of their child's attendance (see the Sign in Logs article).
Setting up the kiosk
Kiosk configuration lives on the School Settings page (Setup area) in the edge Sign in section. You need access to School Settings to do this.
- Open School Settings and find the Sign in settings.
- Tick the option to enable Sign in for your school.
- Click to generate a Security Token. This secures the connection between the kiosk and your school's data.
- Copy the generated Sign in URL (a QR code is also provided) and open it on the device you will use at reception — the URL is unique to your school.
- Save the settings.
Screenshot: School Settings — edge Sign in configuration section with the enable option, security token and generated URL/QR code
Configuration options
The following options control what people see and must provide at the kiosk:
- Health and Safety Policy URL — a link to your school's H&S policy. The kiosk displays it as a QR code for visitors to scan. If left empty, visitors are directed to ask at reception for the policy.
- Attendance codes — choose which attendance codes students may select when signing in or out. The available choices are A, D, Q, V, X and Other. By default, Late (L) is used when a student signs in and Medical (M) when a student signs out.
- Log who is signing a student in/out — require the person signing a student in or out to be identified.
- Allow staff to sign classes/groups in/out — let a staff member sign a whole class or group in or out in one action.
- Always require a reason on sign-out — make the reason field compulsory when signing out.
- Custom colours — optionally set primary and secondary colours so the kiosk matches your school branding.
- Generate Caregiver Pin Numbers (Kōhanga Reo/ECE only) — creates the 4-character PINs caregivers use at the kiosk. The PINs can be exported to PDF from the Sign in Logs page.
How kiosk records relate to attendance
The attendance code a student (or the person signing them in/out) selects at the kiosk is recorded against the sign in/out log entry. These codes are advisory: a code submitted by the Sign in/out app may not be written to the attendance record if it is overruled by a teacher-entered code — the teacher's code takes precedence.
To help staff reconcile the two, edge emails the school's Attendance Officers each day the kiosk was used by students. The email lists who signed in or out, at what time, and the attendance code and reason selected, and prompts the officer to review the attendance records and make any necessary changes.
Screenshot: Example daily sign-in summary email received by an Attendance Officer
Viewing the records
All sign in/out activity is visible inside edge under People > Community > Sign in Logs. See the Sign in Logs article for who can see what, the available views, and exporting.