Cassandra Phillips 1

Cassandra Phillips

Professor Beckett

English 101

11 February 2021

Technology VS Student Civil Rights

Have you ever wondered what life might be like if your every move was tracked and

made available to your employers or school? For many students, this has become a reality. As of

December 2019, dozens of universities are using programs such as SpotterEDU and Degree

Analytics to track their students’ whereabouts. They typically use WIFI technology rather than

GPS, using beacons across campus for the check-ins. These beacons are pinged when a student’s

phone uses the wifi near them. This notifies professors and other faculty of a student’s

whereabouts and certain habits. This is used for multiple purposes, such as attendance and

spotting abnormal behavior in students. However, this also presents quite a few negatives in the

eyes of students and educators alike. Tracking technology is not helpful for students on campus.

There are a few pros to a system in which students are monitored through digital tracking.

These can also be quickly shown as negatives. For example, it allows professors to take

attendance, which some classes use for grading. However, these systems aren't always accurate.

Sometimes, the systems don't log the students as present or mark them as late. "SpotterEDU’s

terms of use say its data is not guaranteed to be 'accurate, complete, correct, adequate, useful,

timely, reliable or otherwise.'" (Harwell) This can be remedied by talking to the professor or an

aid, but it's not very efficient if a class of 200 or more all has issues. It wastes valuable time of

both professors and students. It also seems to defeat the purpose of using it as an attendance tool.

One such incident was documented by a student; '“We can face repercussions with our coaches
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and academic advisers if we don’t show 100 percent attendance,' he said. But 'it takes away from

my learning because I’m literally freaking out, tapping everything to try to get it to work.'”

(Harwell). So not only can it wasted time after class, it can also waste valuable class time for the

students.

The system can also help show student behavior patterns. It can show how often a student

shows up on time to class, how often they spend time at certain areas of campus, and even how

much time they spend in their dorms. This can frustrate students, however. Many students may

not want to let the school know how much time they spend at the library or the student cafeteria.

This also doesn't take in to account different personality types. Some students may prefer to eat

and do their studying in the privacy of their dorms, or even off campus. Some may prefer to do it

in groups in a courtyard. So for this to show behavior patterns, one would need to know more

about each individual. Just knowing their location is only a fraction of behavior patterns.

There are also a few issues outside of these that students have. Many students feel like

they're being infantilized and treated like less than the adult that they are. They're being told that

they can't be trusted to show up to their own classes on time or study as much as required. This

can set a student up for failure after college. Another issue is that not everyone has access to a

smart phone. This leads to them not being able to use the technology being required by these

schools. They’re also typically not given a choice on whether or not to use this technology. Many

students may not like the thought that they can be tracked by the school as it strips them of

privacy. There are also some worries this may extend to high school campuses or possibly even

work places. "If these systems work so well in college, administrators might argue, why not high

school or anywhere else?" (Howell) Once again, this can lead to teenagers and young adults in to

feeling like they can't be trusted to show up and be productive on their own. Many students feel
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this isn’t productive in any way. “’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?’” (Howell). It

doesn’t add to the productivity of the student. It also isn’t practical for the real world, once

outside of college. In most jobs, there isn’t tracking to keep someone on schedule. They need to

learn to do things on their own.

Overall, there are many pros and cons to tracking students using technology. However,

the cons definitely outweigh the pros. It teaches students that they aren’t trusted enough to be the

adults they are. It infantilizes them and doesn’t let them learn about the consequences of not

showing up to classes when they need to. It can lead to a student feeling like the adults in their

lives don’t see them as adults. These technologies are also not always accurate. There are many

flaws in the systems and they can result in a student not learning when they should. It can also

lead to attendance records being inaccurate which hurts students. It doesn’t necessarily show

behavior patterns either. One needs much more data than just location to help a student who may

be struggling. It can also lead to a student becoming distrustful of their own phone. Overall,

tracking programs implemented by colleges and universities strip a student of privacy and do

much more harm than help. There are other ways to track student attendance and help those who

are in need of help.