This is done until the first time that a student status has been changed at the end of class. Thereafter, the status is only changed at either the start of the end of class, not both. The teacher can double-click on a student picture, or name, and be taken to a screen that allows the teacher to see the attendance status of the student, and also to enter text comments, either good or bad, about the student. Such information is useful in assigning class participation grades at the end of the semester. This information is stored in a text file, one file per student, but these details are transparent to the teacher.
Automated support adds the date that the comment was entered.
Since multiple monitor support, as provided in Windows NT and Windows 98, is not usually available to teachers in class, the software allows the teacher to easily set secure background and foreground colors for information not to be displayed to the student. Typically, many projection systems do not display colors at the same color depth as computer monitors. For example, in the author's case, setting the foreground and background to near shades of dark gray, the text is still readable on the computer display, but merges to the same color of gray on the projected screen visible to the students. This avoids the problem of inadvertently selecting, say, the screen where scores are entered and allowing students to see other student scores, etc. The author's attendance policy, posted on the author's web system, goes as follows.