ePasses: Digital corridor passes
This year I piloted ePasses (through Remind) to explore potential options to traditional paper corridor passes using school issued and required agenda planners.
If you are curious about the logistics of using Remind for ePasses check out the logistics section at the end of this article.
Why try ePasses?
I noticed that traditional paper student agenda planners were underutilized, cumbersome, unsanitary, often misplaced, and alterable.
Here is a breakdown of the limitations of traditional corridor passes and how ePasses resolve each issue:
Underutilized - 90-some% of the traditional student agenda planners go unused. Most of this is the calendar. Most students prefer online or phone calendar options for tracking assignments and other academic responsibilities. Their digital calendars even offer reminders before due dates and events, whereas a paper calendar has to be looked at to remind onselff of anything. The other underutilized portions of the agenda planner (anything that is not the hall pass pages) contain school policies (accessible through the district website) and Reference information ie.units of measurement, periodic tables, etc. - all items that students now Google on a need to know basis.
Cumbersome - The agenda planner is a fairly hefty object at well over 100 pages considering that many students only use four pages. It adds to the already large amount that students carry around. Students have to remember to bring their agenda planner to each class, each day, just in case they may need to use a corridor pass. This causes many students to abandon carrying the item altogether. This results in teachers needing to make judgment calls - If a student does not have his or her required agenda planner but requests to visit the lavatory or another location, a teacher must discern if it is an emergency that deems a trip to the lav or elsewhere without the otherwise required pass. Almost all students have their phones on them at all times, which makes ePasses a better option.
Unsanitary - Where does one place the agenda planner when using the lavatory? Enough said! How about the exchange of germs during cold and flu season when students carry the planner around all day and need to touch it with both hands to fill out passes and then having teachers need to touch the object enough to sign it? What’s nice about ePasses (and all things paperless!) is that no one has to touch anything that belongs to someone else.
Often misplaced - There are students who say they haven’t seen their agenda planner since the first week of school. It may be at home, or the bottom of their lockers, or who knows?! But it’s not with them when hall passes are needed. This can result in discipline, money spent on replacements, inconvenience for teachers and students, confusion for hall monitors, requests for passes to be written on scraps of paper, denial of hall privileges, etc, the list goes on and on! Students rarely misplace their phones, so ePasses are a more convenient option, for everyone.
Alterable - I have noticed several unauthorized alterations to paper passes over the years: Recycling or reusing teacher signatures, change of time or destinations, etc.
ePasses cannot be altered. If you have concerns about attempts at unauthorized use of ePasses, see the logitstics part of this article.
The Logistics of Using Remind (formerly Remind 101) for ePasses
Teachers set up Remind accounts and students join.
Many teachers are already doing this for course reminders and information. It’s simple and user-friendly.
Teacher sends a pass to the student who needs to go somewhere.
Example: Jane Doe to Locker from Room 223
Remind automatically timestamps the pass and adds the teacher’s name:
Thu, May 7, 9:04 AM - Mrs. Metzgar
Is this more work or does this take longer than issuing a traditional hass pass?
No! And the ePass is legible enough for everyone to easily read!
*On Remind, teachers have to send messages to at least three subscribers at once. This is a safety feature, and what makes the ePass system beautiful.
The pass to any student also goes to two administrative devices. The administrative devices can be as simple as an iPod. These devices can be with hall monitors, or sit on a secretary’s desk, or remain with principals - infinite options there.
This feature makes the passes verifiable. You may have wondered what keeps a student from creating a Mrs. Metzgar account on Remind and issuing passes to friends. This feature answers that. A fake pass would not show up on the administrative devices, so each pass can be verified for authenticity if necessary.
All things considered, I highly recommend the use of ePasses over traditional student agenda planners, at least as an option. The small percentage of students who like paper calendars could still have the choice to purchase or receive a paper planner. Schools could order only the amount needed.
Why go paperless? Why not?!
