Introduced this school year, Smartpass is a new form of hallway management. When students need to use the bathroom, go to the water fountain, visit the nurse’s office, etc. during class, they are to create an online pass that is timed and very specific. From an outside perspective, Smartpass seems very functional but in only a week, flaws have been pointed out.
I conducted a student survey on the positives and negatives of Smartpass and one student said: “ The concept is fine but it’s been one week and I already have problems with the website crashing.” This raises the question, will it only get worse? If the website keeps crashing, Smartpass is useless. Another student said, “it’s more of a distraction and adds unnecessary steps.” Filling out a Smartpass adds at least 2 mins to the process of getting out of class. This could become a problem when a situation is urgent.
Not all of the responses were negative, one student said “ It’s a great way to keep track of students and an easy way to schedule meetings with teachers.” Last year, administrators had difficulty with students spending too much time in the bathrooms and leaving class without a pass. Smartpass logs which students leave class, where they go, and how long they were absent. In the past, scheduling time with administrations and teachers has been over email and it is not the most efficient way. With Smartpass, notifications will be sent to the said teacher and the student that created the pass. This will be a guaranteed way of meetings going through.
The implication of Smartpass this school year has provoked all types of reactions. As the school year goes on, the acceptance of this app will grow but the drastic change from last year will take some students longer to adapt.