re Ariz. college using RFID for class attendance

[Dave Farber <dfarber () me com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Sunil Garg <sunil () sunilgarg com>
> Date: May 4, 2010 2:48:03 PM EDT
> To: dave () farber net, rforno () infowarrior org
> Subject: Re: [IP] Ariz. college using RFID for class attendance

> Implications of location-tracking aside, at the other UW (in Seattle), it's common for students to carry multiple 
> clickers and trade off which days they go to class with friends. It sounds like this will be even easier/undetectable 
> if all one has to do is walk into a classroom with 10 RFID-enabled cards in their pocket.
>
> -Sunil
>
>
> On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 11:40 AM, Dave Farber <dave () farber net> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> > From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
> > Date: May 4, 2010 2:31:54 PM EDT
> > To: List Infowarrior <infowarrior () attrition org>
> > Cc: Farber Dave <dave () farber net>
> > Subject: Ariz. college using RFID for class attendance
>
> > Ariz. college to position sensors to check class attendance
> >
> > Devices would be installed in underclassmen lecture halls; some say infringes on privacy
> >
> > http://badgerherald.com/news/2010/05/04/ariz_college_to_posi.php
> >
> > By David Brazy 
> > Tuesday, May 4, 2010 1:18 a.m. 
> > Updated Tuesday, May 4, 2010 1:19:04 a.m.
> >
> > Students at Northern Arizona University will have a hard time skipping large classes next fall because of a new 
> > attendance monitoring system.
> >
> > The new system will use sensors to detect students’ university identification cards when they enter classrooms, 
> > according to NAU  spokesperson Tom Bauer. The data will be recorded and available for professors to examine.
> >
> > Bauer said the university’s main goal with the sensor system is to increase attendance and student performance.
> >
> > “People are saying we are using surveillance or Orwellian [tactics] and, boy, I’m like ‘wow,’ I didn’t know taking 
> > attendance qualified as surveillance,” Bauer said.
> >
> > University President John Haeger is encouraging professors to have attendance be a part of students’ grades, but he 
> > added it is not mandatory and up to each professor to decide, Bauer said.
> >
> > Haeger added the sensors, paid for by federal stimulus money, initially would only be installed in large freshmen 
> > and sophomore  classes with more than 50 students.
> >
> > NAU Student Body President Kathleen Templin said most students seem to be against the new system. She added students 
> > have started Facebook groups and petitions against the sensor system.
> >
> > NAU sophomore Rachel Brackett created one of the most popular Facebook groups, “NAU Against Proximity Cards,” which 
> > has more than 1,400 members.
> >
> > Brackett said she chooses to go to class, and it is a right she hopes to preserve. She said not being forced to go 
> > to class is a part of the college experience.
> >
> > “I feel as though having students make it their own decision to go to class is part of the process of becoming 
> > mature adults,” Brackett said.
> >
> > Adam Kissel, director of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, said this is the first time he has heard 
> > of such a system.
> >
> > Kissel added if the school is strictly using the system for taking attendance in classrooms there would probably be 
> > no harm.
> >
> > Kissel said with enough sensors, the system could be used to track students’ presence on campus 24 hours a day, 
> > which would be a problem for students’ rights.
> >
> > “One thing that we find here at FIRE is that if the rule is there or the technology is there, the university will 
> > probably use it,” Kissel said.
> >
> > Brackett said she feels the sensor system is an invasion of privacy. She said in theory, with the recorded data, 
> > many people in the  university would be able to track students’ locations.
> >
> > “It’s just one more step in the wrong direction…. I am finding out the more I study this particular issue,” Brackett 
> > said.
> >
> > While some say the system is Orwellian, it is similar to an existing University of Wisconsin practice. Some UW 
> > classes use electronic clickers to take attendance and have students answer questions during class.
> >
> > UW professor Dana Geary, who uses the clickers for one of her classes, said the clickers do not seem to affect the 
> > number of students who attend class.
> >
> > Geary added the attendance grades were useful in helping her make decisions in grading for students whose grades 
> > were right at a boundary level.
> Archives       



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