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Technology Tools

Expand your teaching toolkit with technology tools. Find reviews of tech tools, gadgets and software that can be used in your classroom to complement and augment your curriculum.

Hear Comes GPS

Due to enhanced 911 regulations, recent changes in federal laws now require all new cell phones be equipped with one of two types of tracking technologies. Cells phones must have either a GPS chip (Verizon Wireless, Sprint and Alltel), or be able to use triangulation of at least three cell phone towers (AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile) to pinpoint locations.

In addition to being conceptually intriguing, especially to those of us born before 1986 without the technology gene, this GPS capability has spawned an entirely new area of social networking. Programs such as Buddy Beacon, Brightkite, Whrrl, and Loopt allow students (or anyone else for that matter) to know where their friends are geographically using cell phones or music players like the iPod Touch. Many websites, such as Yahoo’s Fire Eagle, also offer the ability to locate people via the Internet using either cell phones or computers. All of these programs allow tracking by invitation only, and the tracking feature can be turned off or on. So, students can use the GPS to rendezvous with friends after school hours, or to see which friends are going where and with whom. Likewise, parents can keep an eye on where their child, or at least their child’s cell phone, is and has been.

However, this technology is not without its critics. Location updates are often made by text messaging, and therefore, some parents have reported text messaging charges beyond their expectations. Likewise, there is a “Big Brother” element that makes some parents and kids uncomfortable. Students may invite people to track them who could potentially be dangerous, such as predators, jilted boyfriends or girlfriends, or estranged peers. In addition, there are now cases being adjudicated that involve the issue of whether or not law enforcement agencies are violating the privacy rights of people suspected, but not charged, of committing a crime by tracking their geographic location without first obtaining a warrant. Regardless of whether or not we are comfortable with this technology, and regardless of whether or not we want to use the technology to track our own kids, one thing is clear: ready or not, hear comes GPS…

Disclaimer: The Corporation for Educational Technology (Buddy) has no agenda other than the interests of K-12 educators. Technology product reviews render no financial incentive to our organization.

This article appeared in the ETC...and More! volume 2, number 3 newsletter and is published by the Buddy Project (Corporation for Educational Technology), in collaboration with the Hoosier Educational Computer Coordinators (HECC), Indiana Computer Educators (ICE), the Indiana Department of Education, and Promoting Achievement through Technology and INstruction for all Students (PATINS).