Remember in high school when you needed to use the restroom or go to your locker for something? Teachers would give their students slips of paper that they would sign or they would have to sign the student's agenda that they would carry around with them. Now, technology is apart of this process in some schools. However, it raises some privacy concerns.
A high school in Virginia began the use of the app e-HallPass. The application allows students to request to leave the classroom in order to go to the restroom, the nurse's or principal's office, or somewhere else on campus. School administrators access the request and are able to approve or disprove based on who is and how many students are already out. E-HallPass tracks previous times the student has requested to leave class (to track patterns) as well.
Some students believe that this application being used by the administration of their school is invasive and unnecessary. One student has even begun a petition to get the school admins to stop using the application, claiming "e-HallPass invades privacy and deprives us students of things that should be basic human rights".
I have been out of high school for some time, so I have never heard of this application. Most of the time, I would just use the hall pass section in my school-issued agenda to get a teacher's signature if I needed to leave class. Because of this, I needed to do more research on e-HallPass.
Through the Eduspire Solution website, the software company that supports e-HallPass, there is a short and simple list of the application's uses. Things such as administrators having access to current hallway traffic, flagging "hall pass frequent fliers, pass abusers, and stem problem behavior", and reports of traffic at specific times. This list also includes a specific section on privacy, stating that the application does not need GPS or other location-tracking services in order to function. Schools that use the app also do not require their students to use their own personal devices.
I attempted to check out the app myself, but I wasn't able to get access as it is administered by school administrations. There is the option to demo e-HallPass. Unfortunately, I don't have time to schedule a demonstration this weekend and write this blog post as I am at a conference in D.C.
Although I couldn't access or demo the app, I found Eduspire Solutions' privacy policy. In the privacy policy, Eduspire Solutions says, "User data...used by our application may include user first and last names, user email addresses, user graduation years, and other related data that may be considered Personally Identifiable Information under relevant data privacy regulations and statutes". Eduspire Solutions continues to say that the gathered information is provided by the user through e-mail or other direct contact from the user. Advance notice needs to be given to the user prior to the transfer of personally identifiable information to a third party.
Eduspire Solutions does not sell information to third parties and is only shared with people who are "...working directly with Eduspire Solutions to support our software...". The information provided is only used in the context of e-HallPass (or another Eduspire Solutions application) and not for use of anything else. Information provided can be deleted at any time through a request by the original information provider, being the school or the school district.
Eduspire Solutions states that they do not share information with anyone besides a few select people working for Eduspire Solutions. These workers have special access and rights to obtain the user's identifiable information. There is a sentence at the end of this "security" section that specifically states, "Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, billing or customer service) are granted access to personally identifiable information".
Now, after reading this information and learning more about e-HallPass and the support system behind it, I can see where the student who created this petition against the use of e-HallPass is coming from. Students should not be tracked when they need to use the restroom, because it is a natural body function. They can't control when they need to use the restroom. If they need to go, they should just go.
Having said this, I don't think the use of e-HallPass is any more invasive than the use of a paper hall pass. GPS or other location-tracking is used for the app, so it's not like administrators are watching the student's every move. They can use the app to see what other students are out at that time, possibly to avoid altercations between students and to cut down on the amount of students out in the halls at one time. E-HallPass is a collective and centralized hall pass that administrators have access to.
So no, I don't think that e-HallPass is a bad idea. I'd even say that it's a great development for high schools. It cuts down on the use of paper in schools and it makes it easier for teachers and other faculty members to track who is abusing hall passes. Location is not needed to use the app and Eduspine Solutions says they keep their users' information private to their company and the workers.
I remember a couple months ago, there was a trend on Twitter where people shared the strangest objects they were given as a hall pass. To finish this blog post, I'll include some of my favorite additions to this trend below.
A high school in Virginia began the use of the app e-HallPass. The application allows students to request to leave the classroom in order to go to the restroom, the nurse's or principal's office, or somewhere else on campus. School administrators access the request and are able to approve or disprove based on who is and how many students are already out. E-HallPass tracks previous times the student has requested to leave class (to track patterns) as well.
Some students believe that this application being used by the administration of their school is invasive and unnecessary. One student has even begun a petition to get the school admins to stop using the application, claiming "e-HallPass invades privacy and deprives us students of things that should be basic human rights".
I have been out of high school for some time, so I have never heard of this application. Most of the time, I would just use the hall pass section in my school-issued agenda to get a teacher's signature if I needed to leave class. Because of this, I needed to do more research on e-HallPass.
Through the Eduspire Solution website, the software company that supports e-HallPass, there is a short and simple list of the application's uses. Things such as administrators having access to current hallway traffic, flagging "hall pass frequent fliers, pass abusers, and stem problem behavior", and reports of traffic at specific times. This list also includes a specific section on privacy, stating that the application does not need GPS or other location-tracking services in order to function. Schools that use the app also do not require their students to use their own personal devices.
I attempted to check out the app myself, but I wasn't able to get access as it is administered by school administrations. There is the option to demo e-HallPass. Unfortunately, I don't have time to schedule a demonstration this weekend and write this blog post as I am at a conference in D.C.
Although I couldn't access or demo the app, I found Eduspire Solutions' privacy policy. In the privacy policy, Eduspire Solutions says, "User data...used by our application may include user first and last names, user email addresses, user graduation years, and other related data that may be considered Personally Identifiable Information under relevant data privacy regulations and statutes". Eduspire Solutions continues to say that the gathered information is provided by the user through e-mail or other direct contact from the user. Advance notice needs to be given to the user prior to the transfer of personally identifiable information to a third party.
Eduspire Solutions does not sell information to third parties and is only shared with people who are "...working directly with Eduspire Solutions to support our software...". The information provided is only used in the context of e-HallPass (or another Eduspire Solutions application) and not for use of anything else. Information provided can be deleted at any time through a request by the original information provider, being the school or the school district.
Eduspire Solutions states that they do not share information with anyone besides a few select people working for Eduspire Solutions. These workers have special access and rights to obtain the user's identifiable information. There is a sentence at the end of this "security" section that specifically states, "Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, billing or customer service) are granted access to personally identifiable information".
Now, after reading this information and learning more about e-HallPass and the support system behind it, I can see where the student who created this petition against the use of e-HallPass is coming from. Students should not be tracked when they need to use the restroom, because it is a natural body function. They can't control when they need to use the restroom. If they need to go, they should just go.
Having said this, I don't think the use of e-HallPass is any more invasive than the use of a paper hall pass. GPS or other location-tracking is used for the app, so it's not like administrators are watching the student's every move. They can use the app to see what other students are out at that time, possibly to avoid altercations between students and to cut down on the amount of students out in the halls at one time. E-HallPass is a collective and centralized hall pass that administrators have access to.
So no, I don't think that e-HallPass is a bad idea. I'd even say that it's a great development for high schools. It cuts down on the use of paper in schools and it makes it easier for teachers and other faculty members to track who is abusing hall passes. Location is not needed to use the app and Eduspine Solutions says they keep their users' information private to their company and the workers.
I remember a couple months ago, there was a trend on Twitter where people shared the strangest objects they were given as a hall pass. To finish this blog post, I'll include some of my favorite additions to this trend below.
Also, here is what some of my friends had to say when I asked them what they used as hall passes in high school:
- A broken lunch tray
- A broken toilet seat
- A baby doll head (my own experience)
- A banana with "hall pass" written in sharpie
I think this is an interesting idea, and I feel like it fits right in with the trend of technology contributing more and more to the world of education. I think as the school uses the app more, it would be interesting to see if there's a way for the students to manipulate the app or "misuse" it. I also want to hear about what the kids think about it vs. what the administration thinks.
ReplyDeleteI do think it's at least a little bit of a privacy invasion: even if the data is only seen by those who "need to" see it within the company and can be requested to be deleted, it's a little weird that the app tracks the student's location in the school. I do understand why (if they go hang out in study hall with their friends instead of going to the bathroom, blah blah blah), but I still think it's a little extreme as a tracker of comings and goings.
Of course, with the advent of the e- hall pass comes the sad demise of the "look what I have to carry with me as a hall pass" memes, which is kind of tragic. I love seeing these memes: I think my favorites out of the ones you listed we're the banana one and the giant cutout of the teacher's head.
As much as the new hall passes are a fun way to put some humor into student and teacher's lives, I don't think students should be denied going to the bathroom or wherever they need to be without a "pass" of some sort. Ever since I came to college I really like the idea of getting up and going to the bathroom without stopping class and asking the professor for a signature to go to the bathroom. In my opinion, it distracts the entire classroom and lecture.
ReplyDeleteThe E-Hall pass is nice, but the last time I checked students in high school aren't allowed to have their phones on them? I think it is a privacy issue as well. What if a student has to go to the bathroom alot but the app says they have already gone, let's say 5 times throughout the day, the app will tell the teachers that they are abusing their pass rights. I don't really support this E-Hall pass.
Again, being in college I really support the idea of not having a pass or even ASKING to go to the bathroom at all. I think it is a private situation and high school students and teachers should start to follow this movement as well. There are downsides to this because high school students typically go to a public school where they do not have to pay unlike college students. They are more prone to abuse the hall pass.