Japanese college giving away free iPhones, using them to track students' attendance
By Laura June 
posted May 22nd 2009 11:06AM
posted May 22nd 2009 11:06AM
Nearly 500 students and faculty at Aoyama Gakuin University in Japan will receive free iPhones as part of the school's new Mobile & Net Society Education and Training program. The trial, which is set to begin this fall, will use the iPhone's built in GPS function to determine if the students are present, and use that information to replace traditional methods of taking attendance. The university's announced a deal with provider Softbank Mobile to provide the phones and basic services to all students and staff at the school for no charge. The school also plans on rolling out simple tests and homework assignments using the device. So... is there an app for that, or what?[Via Digg]
Ever considered that compared to Japanese phones, the iphone looks like it should be in a museum?
I love how iPhonerulez is resorting to racism to prove the iPhone's "superiority"
Damn. Poor kids. I wonder what they did to be punished like this?
if its true.... then we have the location where all the old unsold iphones go :)
Maybe they can buy their phones from Russia, I hear they are having a problem selling them over there.
Or maybe since Apple are having problems selling them in Japan too - just like every other non Japanese manufacturer - these are spare inventory and Softbank are trying to create a buzz by putting them on campus?
this whole idea is ridiculous. what part of sitting in a lecture should be evaluated on one's final grade? shouldn't the results matter, and however they got there (aside from cheating) irrelevant?
seems like a waste. Though using the iphone to receive updates from teachers, assignments, and even having teachers able to add items to your calender would be pretty sweet. They have it online already but just an easier way to access it while mobile would be cool.
The iPhone has A-GPS or assisted GPS, so it uses a combination of GPS, cell-triangulation, WiFi, and Big Brother to find out where you are.
When you consider that an "ultra-portable" device like a mobile phone can be used for more things than is practice for a netbook or laptop, it's an ingenius distribution method.
You don't have to carry around books, you can watch or review lectures, take polls while in class, etc etc... in your pocket.
For all the whiners who don't uderstand and complain, this is actually taking it to the next level.
And so therefore, place yourself in such a class where they do these things and then judge.
I'm sure those people in Japan, or Standford or where ever they've given out iPods/Touchs or iPhones aren't complaining...
Even from comments above, people who've done something similar (even the clickers) know and are familiar with the concepts and accept and embrace it (imperfect as some seem).
Face recognition software for roll call, since only the phones are in the room.
well...the gps only works outdoors, so I guess they wouldn't really know if you were in the classroom.
Well the iPhone doesn't have an autonomous/standalone GPS receiver like say your Garmin or BB Bold. It uses a data to download in it's location in relatively real time. So as long as they have a data connection they can get their location.
"Quizdom" remotes do the same thing, we use them at my school and they're like 30 bucks. Freshman year we had a rotation where one kid from our hall would take all our remotes and answer questions. Japan used to be so smart. FAIL!
lol just hack it and get away all the time =, but im not sure if this is lucky or not
dude, do you mind bringing my phone with you to class?
this is what will happen , people will give there phones to other people attending lol
My daughter's getting a free iPhone as part of her scholarship to the U of MD. Don't think they'll be using them to take attendance.