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Smart Classroom(Opinions)

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KaRyu

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In our university, we have 1 hour for every course each day. Attendance is checked before starting the lecture which takes about 5 mins usually more of that course. With that:

We would like to create a Smart Classroom. This smart classroom will be able to:

1. Check the attendance of every student/ professor entering the door of a specific classroom using RFID.
2. Monitor everyone who leaves that room to prevent cutting classes.
3. Check the ratio of student:RFID
4. Send a text message to a student about their number absences and the specific consequences
5. Record the time at which that student entered the room and classify if late.
 
Or stop requiring attendance. If a student does not care enough to attend forcing attendance is not all that useful. Is it?

In our university, attendance is a requirement. There is a limit on the number of absences for students.
 
Do students already have RFID ID cards? What if a student gives their ID card to another student in a class, so they're logged in and out even though not present? I've found university students very clever when it comes to real world challenges...like getting around "the system". ;)

Ken
 
Sounds more like a prison than a university :). In my Uni days students attended because they wanted to learn. There was no roll-call or other checking of attendance.
 
yes they have RFID cards already or we can provide them with a customized version. yes we also thought of that already thats why we need your opinion so we can improve the system that we are going to use :)
 
Don't really understand the need for attendance confirmation. Tests (they do still give tests, I assume...) prove learning, not attendance.

Even beyond that, having skipped many lectures myself, the whole concept strikes me a "mothering" of the students. Screw'em if they fail.

That aside, other than requiring a sign-in with a live attendance taker and a photo ID for the student, I can't think of a single RFID related solution that can't be thwarted.

For instance, let's say the student actually shows up, on time, as evidenced by the RFID tag data, for the class. What's to prevent them from leaving early? Wrapping the RFID in aluminum foil will prevent the system from noting the early absence.

Please be honest, and please explain for us to whose benefit would such a system accrue? I would think that the whole learning process is an option, not some draconian requirement...
 
yes they have RFID cards already or we can provide them with a customized version. yes we also thought of that already thats why we need your opinion so we can improve the system that we are going to use :)

It looks like you two are working on this project together. KaRyu has had several projects discussed here. Is THIS the project you have chosen?

Anyway, if you want to improve your system, putting up thicker walls and bigger bars to keep the students in is not the way. Any system of mandatory attendance can be defeated. How many students are in the class?

Here are some suggestions in no particular order:

1) Get better professors so the students will actually see an advantage to attending class.
2) Raise the standards for passing so a student cannot just guess his way to a passing grade.
3) Prohibit cheating (I discussed that on another post of KaRyu's) and have serious penalties for those who are caught.
4) Make having a university degree a valuable asset in your country -- not just someplace to put people so they are not "unemployed."

I suspect many of us responding to this type of question have taught at the university level or certainly have experience as students at that level. From the teaching standpoint, you can tell which students attend and which do not, if you pay attention and care about them. You don't need a bludgeon to make them come to class, and an occasional cut is no big issue. Part of life is learning to manage conflicting priorities.

John
 
Maybe assigned seats with short range RFID transceivers at each seat. Or, a much cheaper "honor system".

Ken
 
Without wishing to offend anyone, I'm sure we've all cut class before and for some students there's not a solid correlation between attendance and learning. Nevertheless to see if this solution is right for your students, in your class, why not have a trial run. Tell the students the system is in place but do not implement it! See how the kids react over the test period, how the class sizes change, if there are tangible improvements which you're aiming for. If you feel it is having a positive effect by all means, keep going forward. I suspect though it wont have some of the longer lasting benefits mentioned by the points raised in the posts above. There's a well known saying, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it swipe its RFID card and drink it. I might have made that up :)

Megamox
 
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If students already have RFID cards all you need is a reader at the door with the needed software. Should not be much of a project.

I still feel forcing attendance is a waste of time. That is what tests are for. Given what I have heard regarding cheating at some universities I would put my efforts into fixing that.
 
If the students are going to be treated like animals they might as well be microchipped like animals :D. That should prevent cheating by students swapping/borrowing IDs.
 
I think we'll see a day where people are chipped, just like my bull terrier.

Then the goverment will know even more about you.
 
I thing the phones with GPS is already doing that. ;)

Kenm
 
Sounds like the Gestapo attitude to me.

Students pay big $$$$ to attend class if they want to waste their time and money that is there own problem. If students still act like 5 years old children they don't belong in college to begin with.

When I was in college the first day of class professors tell the class, if you want to skip class it is your choice you paid for this if you choose to waste it by not showing up it is your choice. I am not your baby sitter.
 
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If students already have RFID cards all you need is a reader at the door with the needed software. Should not be much of a project.
Doors are those large things where many people can pass at the same time, and they can be held open. You would need tourniquet instead of every door for this to work.

In my school attendance to lectures is optional and attendance to "classes" or tutorials is compulsory (or some percentage), but only some of the teachers take note who was there, and there are only 24 people max, so checking presence against a list is very easy.
 
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You can make the problem as easy or hard as you like.

If students know they must swipe their cards to get credit for attending I would expect the smart ones to form a line to use the card reader on the way into class. The size of the door does not matter.
 
Big brother attitude. :p

He is also trying to check if professors are in the classroom so the burden of checking is at a level above them.

For this purpose they are treated the same as the students.
 
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