Japanese University to measure student attendance via GPS enabled iPhones?

Tue, May 19, 2009

News

A Japanese University in Tokyo is taking an interesting, if not downright Big-Brother, approach to monitoring student attendance.  All students at Aoyama Gakuin University will receive a free GPS enabled iPhone, which will allow school administrators to see which students are in school and which are not.

The faculty began providing Apple iPhone 3Gs to all 550 staff and students Friday, using the GPS function to determine whether they are in school or not. The university will initiate full operation of the system in the autumn. The school also has plans to expand their use to setting simple tests and questionnaires, submitting homework and reviewing class video materials.

The university is to pay the basic charges itself, ensuring no extra financial burdens will fall on students.

Is this even possible?  Since when can you use the iPhone as a tracking device? I’m not sure how much credence to give this report, but I suppose crazier things have happened, especially in Japan.

via MainChi

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2 Comments For This Post

  1. Jared Says:

    Hung over from that party last night? Just let your studious friend take your iPhone to class for you and you are “present”.

  2. Jared Says:

    Hung over from that party last night? Just let your studious friend take your iPhone to class for you and you are “present” while you sleep it off.

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