They New York Times published an article about a program in Dallas, Texas where schools are attaching a GPS to kids with high truancy rate.
Jaime Pacheco rolled out of bed at dawn last week to the blaring chorus of two alarms. Then Jaime, a 15-year-old high school freshman, smoothed his striped comforter, dumped two scoops of kibble for the dogs out back and strapped a G.P.S. monitor to his belt.
I’m stunned.
I can understand tracing school equipment, such as a notebook PC, that is activated if the PC is lost. But tracking a student as punishment?
On the flipside, here’s a different type of tracking. Administrators using devices to access class and student information while they’re in the hallways. This isn’t new, but it’s a better example of technology in schools. iPod Touch, Blackberry or even Windows Mobile phones can be used to access school webpages.