Tap, Tap, and Away: Parents’ Perceptions toward RFID Use in St. Mary’s College, Quezon City

Abstract

St. Mary’s College, Quezon City has recently introduced a new monitoring technology to the Marian community; the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) which serves as a mode of tracking student attendance efficiently. Parents of the Marian students will be able to receive e-mail notifications from the school to inform them of the time their child has entered and exited the school. SMCQC’s implementation of the RFID is still fresh and foreign to the eyes of the Marian community; therefore, this study aims to discover the perceptions of parents toward RFID use in SMCQC. Quantitative research was done with this study, for it can cater to a larger sample, with a descriptive research design as it seeks to describe what exists in a particular phenomenon where only little is known. The researchers have gathered meaningful standpoints from the participants and have categorized the collected data into groups. This was possible through the use of answering a survey questionnaire. The researchers discovered that, as regards to the level of satisfaction of the parents on the RFID, parents are generally satisfied in terms of the attendance monitoring (30%), security of students (41%), and value for money garnering forty-four percent (44%) of the total respondents; however, regarding their satisfaction on the timeliness of communication, a tie between the respondents who are satisfied and not satisfied was formed at twenty-eight percent (28%). Even with the parents’ positive perceptions on the new system, twenty-one percent (21%) said that they did not receive an e-mail at all from the beginning of the implementation of the RFID; the reporting was also inconsistent and not updated. Many respondents suggested that the RFID will be better if the notifications are sent through SMS instead of e-mail. The researchers recommend the Administrators of the school to invest in another research and planning on the RFID for the next school year. Also, consider sending the notifications through SMS for not all parents, even guardians, have access to the internet. The researchers would also like to recommend the Center for Campus Security and Safety (CCSS) to consider having a new system provider that is more effective and reliable. Furthermore, for future researchers, we recommend continuing with the evaluation of the RFID because changes in the system are expected to occur.