“It’s getting better all the time,” the Beatles aptly croon in an old song and, yes, technology is proving them right.
About a decade ago in USC, for example, enrollees packed lunch and almost had to camp out at the hallways of the now-defunct EDP (Electronic Data Processing) just to be able to be first in the queue the next day. Grades were computed and recorded manually by teachers and sent to parents via snail mail.
Today, there’s one-stop enrolment process and teachers upload their grades using the ARIS software. Parents still get them by the snail mail but students now have a way to know their grades much faster than their old folks back home could get the envelope.
The administration has recently installed touch screen monitors that display grades, assessment, class schedule, profile, and other personal academic data. It works like an ATM machine. All you have to do is enter your ID number and let your finger run through the many options displayed on touch screen.
Right now, only one monitor is seen in each campus, so those next to you in the long queue may actually snoop behind your shoulder to size up your IQ or spy your landline number.
And while this digital oracle can make you preempt your dad’s sermon, the latter may also do the reverse when he decides to drop by the school to pay your tuition himself.
At the rate it’s going, technology seems to work in favor of your old folks. It won’t be long before this website will start posting your grades, class schedule, financial records, and other information for easy access to anyone who knows your ID number. So protect that code like it’s your dear life.
Meanwhile, touch screen technology is making the grade. Well, almost literally.
