Idea: Students should be able to put money into an online account that goes specifically into buying things at the school, ex. cafeteria food, books, supplies, fundraisers etc.
Subject Area: Not really subject related, more about convenience.
Details: Basically, students would go to a website run by the TDSB where they would sign in to a personal, confidential account. They could deposit money into that account, and top it up any time. Whenever the student makes a purchase in the school, they would give a card supplied to them by their school upon activation of the account. They would have a pin number that they would enter to verify the purchase. The money would be taken out of the student's account.
Technology Needed: For this idea, we would need a website creation tool to make the website and a machine that reads cards, takes PINs and takes the money out of their accounts.
Pros: - more convenient for students
- money could not be lost
- students would not have to carry around loose change
- students would not have money stolen
- the card could be stopped at any time if it is lost or stolen
- it is secure with a PIN and a picture of the student on it
Cons: -if the network is down then students can't buy lunch and other things at the school
-if the website is down then students could not top up the card
What needs to happen: First, the website would have to be created, perhaps by IDC students. It would be important to make sure that the website is bug-free, because any bugs would hurt the system a lot. Then, we would have to train the lunch personnel and other people in the school how to take the students' cards and input them correctly into the machine so the transaction will complete. The students would probably have to have an assembly on responsibility with these cards. Also, the cards will have to be created.
Overall I think that it would be a cool idea that could eliminate some problems that are around right now that involve purchasing things at school.
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ReplyDeleteThis idea would be cool if we could actually implement it, but its really not realistic. The first issue I see is the problem of security. An IDC class couldn't create a website that I could trust to hold on to my money. That being said, the money involved in getting cards, card readers, scanners, and PINs would be very large and not something that we as a class could implement. The fact that students wouldn't be able to purchase food if the system crashed is also a pretty big fault. I'd rather use cash than be stranded without food for a day.
ReplyDeleteAlso, this idea doesn't really have anything to do with learning. It's more of a comfort thing. Even though it's a nice thing to think about, it doesn't have to much to do with the assignment.
This idea is cool, and is probably gonna happen in the future, but its really not something we could do as a class within the next 3 months.
Akiva, your idea is great! I think it CAN be realistic with a bit of tweaking. One of the main issues that I see with this idea is the IDC Student made website. I do not think that IDC Students would be able to program a website with enhanced security and no bugs. Sure we can ask our Grade 12 Programming class to help out, but regardless, the website would not be good enough for students to trust us with their money. If this idea WAS to happen, we would have students to manually provide us with money that we would personally put on their card. Alternatively, we would have to hire developers to write us a program that would keep everything in the right place. Regardless, this idea IS possible as many other schools go by this system.
ReplyDelete1)We/ nor our teachers have insufficient technology/skills for this idea to be implemented. This could be implemented fast and be worth it, if developers were paid to program us the website and the cards.
2)The idea is not academic based so doesn't enrich learning. Your idea brings convenience which is as important as learning.
Overall, I don't really see this happening UNLESS we get the right people to program everything for us. If we do get the program, it would not take long to implement this wonderful idea!