30 May 09 Japan Hands Out iPhones for Student Attendance

Depending on how you look like it, the bottom-line is that Japanese students are getting iPhones for free. The intent for this is not to be charitable but to keep track on the attendance of students, most of which have been skipping classes.

Now if an iPhone would be used, you would think that these kids could still skip class. With an embedded GPS, the school can easily track the attendance of students who are unlikely to lend it to their co-students due to the stored information and private e-mails stored in it.

Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo is giving Apple Inc.’s iPhone 3G to 550 students in its School of Social Informatics, which studies the use of Internet and computer technology in society.

As a student, you would love to be among the lucky students who would be given a free iPhone. But if you are the type of student who would love to get into mischief and make it a habit to skip class, then perhaps you would pass.

Either way, you got to hand it to Aoyama Gakuin University for adapting technology. Blending technology with disciplining students is a good move considering the iPhone craze has gone beyond just being a simple handset or gaming device as we see it today.

(Source) WBALTV

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Tags: aoyama gakuin university, Apple, computer technology, free iphone, gaming device, handset, iphones, japanese students, lucky students, social informatics, tokyo, use of internet