Could RFID make a difference in my school?
28 12 2006![]()
OpenBeacon is a free design for an active RFID device which operates in the 2.4GHz ISM band. The device contains a unique serial number, but may have other information. OpenBeacon is designed as a transceiver device and therefore both transmits and receives radio waves. The intention of this project is to offer a wide range of use cases such as visitor or item tracking and wireless remote control with a free self-contained and low-cost RFID design.
My dream use of RFID would be for my students to have a locator chip for their homework assignments, their pencils, paper, and textbook. Maybe if parents had to pay for RFID tracking devices on all their kids stuff, they would not try to use the excuses “I don’t have a pencil”. Reading the description of The OpenBeacon hardware that is used to locate volunteer attendees at this year’s CCC conference in Berlin, started me thinking this morning.
One of the project’s leaders, Milosch Meriac, explains the motivation to create the system was to make obvious what is normally hidden in how our technology tracks us. Also– track Quinn Norton (ID 254135) and Wired Digital’s Aaron Swartz (ID 254260), two of nearly 1,000 participants wearing RFID trackers for the duration of the congress.
I have read discussions online about the issues with RFID chips in student ID badges and how easy they would be to clone and be abused by students, and invasion of privacy, but this technology seems to have a different possible application for classrooms. Nordic Semiconductors and Phillips have a technology that may someday help teachers and students. From reading the descriptions on Nordic’s site, they are developing a way to use lasers to connect motion sensing devices and computer mice. One of their application notes describes a low level radio protocol that gives protection against disturbing traffic in the 2.4 GHz band like WLAN and frequency hopping systems like Bluetooth, Cordless phones, etc. A list of applications that they have already dreamed up are as follows:
- Wireless mouse and keyboard
- Wireless joystick
- Wireless headset
- Sports equipment
- Remote control
- Personal Area Networks
Wireless joysticks could be used to integrate with whiteboards and HD monitors. Wireless headsets, I am not excited about, because kids are kids, and if they can find a way, they will not be listening to a scholarly discussion of Plato or biochemistry if their favorite Rap star or country music can be piped in. Sports equipment, hum this might be a way to help society combat obesity, and monitor drugs. Oh hello- invasion of privacy again!!! That would never work. Remote control is interesting. Maybe a court appointed probation officer could carry a monitoring device and when a youth offender’s blood pressure exceeded a certain level indicating stress, the probation officer could remotely control a speaker and remind the felon of his next court date…this is too good…I could think of some better responses to the remote control, but that would not be very professional of me. But on a positive note, intervention in crucial for some folks to succeed. Last on their list is PAN, personal area networks. Keeping up with their work. Students that need organizational skills may benefit from Nordic’s technology. Place an RFID tag on each assignment, project, notebook, textbook, and pencil could help them locate their stuff. Can you see the veterinarian’s expression when they locate an RFID chip in a stool sample of a school kid’s dog? “The dog eat your homework again?”
I have enough physics background to realize that this could be used in schools and to know I do not know enough about all this to be an expert. However, it has me dreaming about how this technology may change the way my grandchildren’s kids classroom may look and replace our current networks and devices.
The latest device in Nordic Semiconductors extensive portfolio of 2.4GHz wireless IC’s merges high speed with ultra-low power and ultra-low cost. The new nRF24L01 will enable ultra-low cost and power applications such as wireless desktops and intelligent sports equipment. The chip is a perfect fit for advanced multimedia solutions like Voice over IP (VoIP). This is possible through the innovative MultiCeiver solution in which on-chip hardware supports up to six simultaneous wireless devices.
Will this be coming to a classroom soon?
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Categories : Science Teaching


