Syracuse University professor Jeff Rubin's Introduction to Information Technologies class has multiple Bluetooth beacons hidden around the lecture hall that connects with an app on students' smartphones to boost their “attendance points.” Rubin uses the Spotter app which according to their site is used at "over 30 schools."
It may seem odd, but it is just the latest in a technological trend on college campuses across the nation that use smartphones to track students more precisely than ever before. The technology also allows schools to monitor their students’ academic performance, analyze their conduct and assess their mental health.
“They want those points,” Rubin said to The Washington Post. “They know I’m watching and acting on it. So, behaviorally, they change.”
One school that recently began logging the attendance of students using the campus’ WiFi network is Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, and students have begun to speak out against the changes.
“We’re adults. Do we really need to be tracked?” Robby Pfeifer, a sophomore at VCU, said to The Washington Post. “Why is this necessary? How does this benefit us? … And is it just going to keep progressing until we’re micromanaged every second of the day?”
The system, developed by Degree Analytics, is currently used to track roughly 200,000 students at 19 state universities. The app uses algorithms to look for patterns in a student's behavior and automatically flag when their habits change.
A student-athlete who spoke with The Post under the promise of anonymity said the app is causing more headaches than it could possibly solve. With technical problems abound, the system has put more stress on athletes, who often face additional restrictions that average students do not.
“We can face repercussions with our coaches and academic advisers if we don’t show 100 percent attendance,” the anonymous student-athlete said. "It takes away from my learning because I’m literally freaking out, tapping everything to try to get it to work.”
Despite the backlash from students, Degree Analytics continues to push its technology to different campuses across the nation.
