RFID Journal Staff asked 14 years ago Is it possible to embed radio frequency identification tags in student identity cards, to replace the magnetic stripe our school currently uses?
—Name withheld
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Yes, it is possible. Which specific type of RFID tags you should use would really depend on the nature of the data you wish to collect. The system you choose might be different depending on whether you want to know only that a student has entered the building, that a student entered classroom 207 at 3:14 PM, or that a student is standing outside the gym at this precise moment.
A Chicago-area high school began issuing RFID-enabled identity cards in 2008. According to staff members, this provided the school with an efficient tool for controlling and improving the flow of students who are allowed to leave campus during their lunch breaks (see Tagged High School IDs Improve Student Flow, Enforce Rules). This school chose an ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) system.
Some passive UHF real-time location systems (RTLS)—as well as most active RTLS solutions—could let you know where a student is located, in real time. Active tags are more expensive, however, and replacing them when students inevitably lose them could prove costly.
—Mark Roberti, Editor, RFID Journal
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