Lynn University To Track Student Attendance by iPad Location
Next spring, Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL, will pilot Core Principle's Class120, technology that monitors class attendance by "pinging" the location of students' iPads. (The insitution's iPad initiative provides an iPad mini to all students on campus.) University administrators hope the implementation will help boost student performance by improving attendance rates, citing data that Lynn students who miss one quarter of their classes per semester have a 68 percent chance of earning a grade point average below 2.0.
"If we can help students continue some of the great behaviors that they learned in high school—like attending class — until the moment they graduate and eventually become employed, then we're doing our job," said Lynn President Kevin Ross in a press release.
Class120 uses geolocation technology and proprietary campus mapping to detect a student's smartphone or tablet in class. If the device is not found at the scheduled class time, the system can send e-mail or text alerts to designated individuals. (The app does not provide actual location information at any time other than the scheduled class.) A dashboard view allows professors and administrators to track student attendance in real time.
Lynn's Class120 pilot will supplement traditional attendance monitoring, which requires weekly reports from faculty and regular reviews by administrative staff.
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Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at rkelly@1105media.com.