Week of March 18

“Freestyle Week”

Without any reading assignments or assignments this week , thank you Dr. Wang, I had to think about what I could write about that was related to technology. My husband helped me out with this. He is taking a business course and had an assignment on “new technology” in the banking industry. In reading over his paper I found out about a new technology called the “smart card”. This was the explanation he used in his paper, I am not sure how to cite my husband’s assignment, so I just giving him credit here. (Plus this website http://www.smartcardalliance.org) “The Smart card is a small device that resembles a credit card but contains an embedded microprocessor to store and process information. The smart card can carry all necessary functions and information on the card unlike the magnetic strip cards that need access to a database.” These cards are being use all over the world for things like health information, security, soldier’s dog tags, mass transit, and as a form of cash. I thought this was pretty interesting, but it also got me to thinking about uses for the “smart cards” in our schools. I first thought of security. Students and faculty could use these to get into the school, very similar to how many businesses have access cards or security badges. I am not sure if schools already have some type of badge system in place? If so, by putting it on a smart card it could be combined with other information. For example, a lunch card that could have a reoccurring amounts added. The “cash concept” could be carried onto other paid things like field trip money, book money, and ‘ticket’ purchases for school events, such as sporting events, plays or concerts. The smart card could also be used as a library card or a “check out” tool for multimedia objects we have learned about like cameras and ipods . Another idea I had was to have health information (such as allergies or medication) and emergency contact information put on the card. In addition, grades and even keeping up with tests scores from standardized test could all be kept up-to-date with the card. Of course, there would have to be some type of password or security procedure put in place for some information for privacy reasons. But overall, this could replace multiple systems with just the one smart card per student or faculty member.

It was interesting to me how reading an assignment for my husband to check grammar and spelling ended up spurring ideas about how this technology could be integrated into the school setting. I think this is just further proof that technology is all around us, everywhere we go we are surrounded by technology and it is constantly changing. This reinforces what we have been learning about in our textbook, that we want to facilitate our students to become lifelong learners.