Here’s an interesting idea. The Mainichi Daily News is reporting that Japan’s Aoyama Gakuin University has distributed 550 iPhone 3Gs to staff and students so that they can use the phone’s GPS capabilities to monitor class attendance. In fact, the school will cover the basic charges so that the students aren’t required to absorb the extra financial burden.
That seems like an awfully expensive way to accomplish what my sixth grade teacher, Sr. Dolores, did by shouting, “Caolo!” and waiting for my “Here!”, but a major university has different needs (and budgets) than a tiny elementary school in Scranton.
We’ve seen similar large-scale iPhone adoption recently at University of Missouri’s Journalism School and Abilene Christian University. Good luck to everyone involved.