How Biometric Data Can Be Used to Enhance Learning?

One of the latest and most prominent technologies of nowadays, biometrics, has already proved to be a fast and reliable identification method. It uses advanced algorithms that compare specific biological measurements like fingerprints, height, and iris to confirm one’s identity. While progress cannot be stopped, this technology develops rapidly and enters various spheres of our life, including education. Biometric data provides schools and colleges with an opportunity to track attendance, learning efficiency, and safety of students. When used smartly, biometrics can improve the learning process. Let’s find discuss the main benefits of biometrics and ways they can improve college routine.

Ensuring a more protective environment

One of the main and most obvious concerns shared by society is the safety of the youngsters. Colleges and schools need more security and biometrics can serve as an efficient tool to improve the situation. First, with the help of special scanners, schools can identify every person, who enters the building. Keeping unauthorized people away from schools will make the environment significantly safer. Second, students’ relocation can be easily tracked by means of biometrics. This is especially the case for high school learners – being aware that their way to school and back home was safe is really important for parents and teachers.

Managing curriculum and time more smartly

Biometrics in schools can be used to track attendance with the help of scanners, which saves classroom time and provides accurate information about students’ presence. When students miss classes, it gets harder for them to deal with their tasks, so they start searching for the best essay writing service from Australia, Canada or the USA to get some help, which is quite natural. Learners need individualized guidance. Thus, with biometrics and tracking, teachers will know for sure what exactly a particular student has missed. This way, every person gets a chance to catch up with the materials. Teachers will have a better chance to help each student personally, improving communication and building individual approach to everyone.

Evaluating the progress in an independent manner

With the help of information gathered by biometrics instruments, schools can easily evaluate students’ results. As such, teachers can analyze the development of every child as well as their own learning strategies. Current strategies can be changed in accordance with the data received. All further adjustments may serve to help students move forward to their aims, which is the main priority forever school and college.

Identifying students’ engagement and problems

While uses of biometrics are all about Big Data technology, it can serve as a tool to make suggestions about the level of students’ engagements and reasons for their learning difficulties. Biometrics can help identify when students get frustrated, have a lack of interest, need support, or are bothered with some problems. Again, this is another way to treat every learner in a more individual way. The gathered information can help teachers to be aware of the concrete difficulties learners have. This way, they can come up with personalized learning strategies that will suit every particular student.

Downsides of biometrics used at schools

• Mistakes

Computer technologies, no matter how advanced, can make errors. This way, if someone’s data is confused with another person, significant problems may occur. At the same time, computer mistakes can be fixed easily, so this problem is less dangerous than it may seem from the first glance.

• Hacker attacks

Where we have software and hardware, we also have hackers. Not only hackers, but even learners might be tempted to access the data and make changes, including grades falsification. Technology can open the door for new ways of cheating and academic fraud, especially when it comes to distanced learners. Still, this problem is manageable. Advanced digital security measures can prevent unauthorized access.

• Confidentiality

Biometrics should enter students’ life to a certain extent only, but it might be hard to determine this extent. Is it ethical to track students’ location, social media activity, and behavior during tests? In some cases, this might violate learners’ confidentiality, so we have to find a perfect balance between security and right for privacy.

Schools can benefit from biometrics in many ways. This technology can improve students’ security, increase the level of personalization in learning, help teachers understand students’ needs and problems better, and manage curriculum in a smarter way. Teachers can use data to improve communication and take an individual approach to every student. Still, there are some ethical concerns and they should be taken into account. In general, one can suggest that biometrics will continue integrating into all spheres of all life, including education. As such, we are looking forward to seeing a real revolution in this sphere.

Author’s Bio:

Nicole Lewis is a blogger interested in the way technologies are being implemented in education. She researches the pros and cons of the process, trying to predict various tendencies and share her ideas with the audience. Her main spheres of interest are e-learning, distanced learning, and digitalized classrooms.