EPJ Web of Conferences 68, 0 00 38 (2014)

DOI: 10.1051/epjconf / 2014 6800038


C Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2014

The Development of a Web-Based Attendance System with RFID for

Higher Education Institution in Binus University
S. Kurniali1, Mayliana2

1
Bina Nusantara University, School of Information System, Jl. KH. Syahdan No.9, Jakarta Indonesia
2
Bina Nusantara University, School of Computer Science, Jl. KH. Syahdan No.9, Jakarta Indonesia

Abstract. This study focuses on the development of a web-based attendance system with RFID in a
Indonesian higher education institution. The development of this system is motivated due to the fact that the
students attendance records are one of the important elements that reflect their academic achievements.
However, the current manual practice implemented is causing such a hassle. Empowering the usage of the new
RFID based student card, a new web based-attendance system has been built to cater the recording and
reporting of not just the students attendances, but also the lecturers and taught topics in the class. The
development of this system is inspired by the senior management. And the system can be easily accessed
through the learning management system and can generate a report in real time, This paper will discuss in
details the development until the maintaining phase of the system. Result achieved is the innovation of
developing the system proved reliable to support related business processes and empowered the intention to
maximize the usage of the RFID card. Considered as a successful implementation, this paper will give an input
for others who want to implement a similar system.

1 Introduction
Considered as one of the biggest private university in
Indonesia, Binus has been in the higher education sector
for more than 30 years. And like any other university, all
of the on campus transaction like borrowing books and Fig. 1. Binusian Flazz Card.
student services required the students to show their
specific ID card, which is called Binusian Card. Basically 1.1. Binusian Card with RFID
it is to show the staff their student number and to make
sure the one who is holding the card is the rightful owner While since 2000 the university also had the experience
whose picture is on the card. of integrating learning management system (LMS) as a
Previously the card used barcode to make it easier critical part of their day to day teaching, learning, and
to input the 10 digits that form the student number into administrative processes. They even developed their own
any kind of system used in the university. But in 2008, LMS called Binus Maya in 2005 which can be accessed
the university partnered with one of the well-known through the internet. Empowering the LMS usage, over
private bank, BCA, to use their technology called Flazz time BINUS University reengineered many of the
Card as Binusian card. The Flazz Card uses Radio previous paper based administrative process to be
Frequency Identification (RFID) chip that can be used as integrated to Binus Maya, http://binusmaya.binus.ac.id/.
cash replacement. So, now the card as shown in figure 1, The management then came up with the idea of
not only functions as an identity inside the campus, but using the new RFID based card as an input to record the
also as a mean of payment [1]. students attendance. Previously the process rely heavily
to the attendance paper form where each student signed it
when they do attend the class. And then the academic
operational staff must input it to a desktop application for

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 EPJ Web of Conferences

every class transaction done. With over 200 classroom, 6 An RFID-based Auto-ID system is made up of a
class sessions every day, And with 40 to 70 students in unique identification number, which is assigned to a
one class session, making it a very hectic and prone to particular item, an identity tag, which is attached to the
inaccuracy process to do. However, this process is item with a chip capable of storing a unique identification
important because only students who attend most of the number, networked RFID readers, and data processing
class as ruled by the university can take the exams. systems that are capable of collecting signals from
This paper will discuss in details the development multiple tags at high speeds and of preprocessing this
until the maintaining phase of the web-based attendance data, and one or more networked databases that store the
system using the new RFID based card. Although the use product information [9].
of RFID systems in educational institutions is not new, it The value of RFID technology for managing
is intended to show how the use of it came to solve daily business supply chains has only been recognized in recent
problems in our university. years. The business press has since proclaimed that RFID
marks a commercial innovation with the potential to soon
replace barcode technology in the supply chains of
2 Related Theories numerous industries [10]. The RFID technology can often
reduce or eliminate manual labor requirements. So
Student attendance has strong correlation with overall, it provides faster processes, less inventory, less
understanding the course. The poor student attendance is efforts, and better quality which provide direct cost
usually followed by the lack of their understanding of the savings [11]. To measure the value of an RFID
course and it impact to their academic achievement in the investment, we have to understand the elements of the
business and customer-related benefits as well as the
end [2]. Most educational institutions' administrators are
costs, comprehensively [12].
concerned about student irregular attendance
[3].Therefore; student attendance record system is needed
by the higher education institution. Traditional approach 3 Materials and Methods
with paper and pen becomes difficult for the management The web-based attendance system was built with
to regularly update the attendance record and manually Prototype Model Approach, which consist of :
calculate the percentage of class attendance [4]. The more 1. Preliminary User Requirements
number of students and the more number of schedules 2. Specifications Design Implementation Testing
means it is more difficult to maintain and manage the 3. Demonstration to User
attendance records. 4. Refinements to System Requirements
For this reason, the automation of student 5. System Requirements Document
attendance records is needed by academic institution, for
example using biometric systems such as fingerprint
system. By using biometric systems such as fingerprint,
recording student attendance became faster and more
accurate than recording with paper manually. This Fig. 2. Prototype Model
biometric approach also has disadvantage like students
queuing to put their finger into fingerprint reader [5]. 3.1. Prototype Model Approach
Another solution for automation of student
attendance record system is by using Radio Frequency Prototype Model places more effort in creating the actual
Identification (RFID) technology. RFID enables wireless application instead of concentrating on documentation.
data collection by readers from electronic tags attached to This way, the application could be released in advance.
or embedded in objects, for identification and other Prototyping requires more user involvement and allows
purposes. RFID systems involve software, network and them to see and interact with a prototype allowing them
database components that enable information to flow to provide better and more complete feedback and
from tags to the organizations information infrastructure specifications.
where it is processed and stored [6]. A real time system is The presence of the prototype being examined by
implemented in conjunction with RFID hardware to the user and their feedback is used to improve the
record students attendance at class. RFID is a technology application. The final product is more likely to user and
that allows for a tag affixed on identity card to developer agreement. It starts with an initial planning and
communicate wirelessly with a reader, in order for the ends with deployment with the cyclic interactions in
tags identifier to be retrieved [7]. Students only need to between. Easier to test and debug during a smaller
place their ID card on the reader and their attendance iteration. Easier to manage risk because risky pieces are
time will be recorded immediately in database real-time, identified and handled during its iteration [13].
it more accurate than conventional [8].

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Prototyping is the rapid development and testing of

working models. It is an interactive, iterative process As seen, not only the system records the students
used during the design phase. It also makes development attendance, but also the lecturers. However, the system
faster and easier, especially when end user requirements enable the lecturer to correct the student attendance based
are hard to define and has enlarged the role of business on the real condition e.g. student come but didnt bring
stakeholders [14]. their ID Card. The system is also being used to record
progress of learning material taught on the class. Because
it also required the lecturer to fill in which topics that
4 Results and Discussion have been discussed at that time. This was previously
Below are the results and discussion derived from each done on paper based forms.
phases of the prototyping as can be seen in section 3. As soon as all the readers (Figure 4) installed in all
In the first phase which is the preliminary user classrooms, the implementation process could begin. A
radio-frequency identification system uses tags,or labels
requirement phase, we conduct the feasibility study to
attached to the Binusian card to be identified. Two-way
determine whether a new or improved system is a radio transmitter-receivers called readers (Figure 4) send
feasible solution to understand the business problems or a signal to the tag and read its response. The readers
the opportunities [15]. In this phase several meetings was generally transmit their observations to a computer
held with the senior management and process owner to system running RFID software. The tag's information is
discuss how the current process works and problems that stored electronically in a non-volatile memory. The RFID
arose. And then how the new process could solves the tag includes a small RF transmitter and receiver. An
RFID reader transmits an encoded radio signal to
problems. The results of these meetings were used to interrogate the tag. The tag receives the message and
compare the users preferences between the manual responds with its identification information (Student ID).
process and the proposed web-based system. From this, Student ID and their tapping time is recorded in database
we then moved to the second phase. and using by the web for lecturer open the web to mark
In the second phase, we analyzed the requirements student attendance. [16]
and develop the web-based attendance system design that Since some students and lecturers were still
covers user interface, data, and process according to the scheduled to get their new RFID based card, parallel
stakeholders priorities. The design also will be conversion approach was used. With old and new process
constructed in logical and physical view. Here, the scope are run simultaneously until everyone is satisfied that the
has also been identified. The system will only be used for new system functions correctly and the old one is no
all bachelor students in the regular program, could be longer needed [14]. Meaning the students still need to
accessed through the LMS, and could be integrated with sign the attendance paper form and tap in their card. And
the current backend system. The development of the new since it is common to have the least class transaction in
system then began. Along the way the system then was the compact semester, we decided that it was the best
demonstrated to get approval for the process designed time for the first implementation. The first socialization
from the management. The approved process can be seen was given to students and lecturers scheduled for the
on Figure 3. compact semester.

Fig. 4. RFID Reader

Fig. 3. Rich Picture of the New Process of Recording and

Reporting Attendance

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The real challenge actually started at the odd

semester, as it had the most class transaction. Even before
the semester started, socialization of the new system was
conducted during the new student orientation and during
the big meeting before class for all the lecturers.
Socialization was also conducted for the senior students
through the LMS and on class sessions.
Even though we had managed to improve the
system on the first implementation, certain scenarios
apparently are not covered in the original design. These
scenarios was overlooked because it was rarely happened
and only happened in certain conditions. And since the
number of class transaction increased so many times
compared to the compact semester, the initial prepared
increase in server capacity was still not enough. This
caused some technical issues and the system ran slow.
Fortunately this was only a glitch to the day to day Fig. 5. Web-based Attendance System Student List
operation. Since the students were still signing the
attendance paper form. We kept on monitoring the
system performance and solved every new problems that
arose. Then the system got updated almost an instance
after the solution was discovered. Updates were done
during the class breaks.
Even with many problems arise, strong
management support enabled the new system being
socialized appropriately to both students and lecturers
and new servers added. The academic operational staffs
were also continuously encouraged to use the new
system. All of these efforts apparently managed to
improve the system performance and lowering the users
resistance to use the new system.
In the end, after all of the students and lecturers got
the new RFID based card. The attendance paper form was
no longer needed to be used all the time. By that time the
new system was also accepted as part of the business as
usual in the university. The screenshots for the final Fig. 6. Web-based Attendance System Verification
version currently used can be seen below, on Figure 5
and Figure 6. 5 Conclusions
The study has revealed that the system makes the process
more efficient and time-saving. Since unless there is an
electricity outage or system failure, there is no need for
staff to input the students attendance manually using the
attendance paper form. The university also no longer has
to save so many paper forms to support the regular
internal and independent audit.
With such a large scale implementation, the
decision to first try the system on compact semester
where there were a few classes scheduled and using the
parallel approach is appropriate. Management
commitment also gives critical support to the success of
the new system implementation. This is also makes the
socialization process carried out appropriately to all of

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stakeholders (students, lecturers, faculties, and academic 13. R.G. Sabale, Dr. A.R. Dani, Comparative Study of
operational staffs). Prototype Model For Software Engineering With
Now, with the new attendance process runs as System Life Cycle (OSR Journal of Engineering
(IOSRJEN) ISSN: 2250-3021 Volume 2, Issue 7,
business as usual, the implementation of the system is
PP21-24 (2012))
considered a success. The system is also far more stable 14. J.A. OBrien, G. Marakas, Management Information
and mature compared to when it is first used. The web- Systems.09. McGraw-Hill. Irwin (2009)
based attendance form is also being used as a way to 15. J.A OBrien, Introduction to Information Systems :
capture any complaints from the lecturers related to the Essentials for the e-Business Enterprise.09.
facilities inside the class, as shown on figure 6. So that, McGraw-Hill. New York (2003)
related staff can fix things right away for the next class 16. S. T. Masleena, M. Gayathri, Evaluating Accuracy
of Inference and Benefits of Compression over RFID
session.
(International Journal of Computer Trends and
Technology (IJCTT) volume 4 , Issue 5, PP1158-
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