A private Oklahoma university is requring all freshmen to use Fitbits

Private Christian school, Oral Roberts University, is requiring all 900 freshmen students to use a Fitbit this year.

The university says those who buy a Fitbit Surge will not be tracked via GPS, but their fitness activity will still be monitored at all times.

 

[dan330]

why??

I like promoting better health and better living.. and all that....
but to force it in this way.. if feels wrong.

they can lower your grades if you are not active enough??
is this NOT pushing your will onto others? what happen to my own personal time and what I want to do with it?

 

[Endda]

why??

I like promoting better health and better living.. and all that....
but to force it in this way.. if feels wrong.

they can lower your grades if you are not active enough??
is this NOT pushing your will onto others? what happen to my own personal time and what I want to do with it?

I think they can kick you out if you aren't active enough. Fitness is something that university has been doing for years. Until this year, they've been making students log everything. It makes me wonder how many got away with fake logs before this year

 

[Windroid]

I know Christianity says that God watches everyone all the time. But I don't think this is what "Doing God's work" is supposed to mean.

 

[Hadron]

George Orwell only had TV screens that watched you in your home. These people are going to monitor your heart rate....

 

[dorolisamelrose]

George Orwell only had TV screens that watched you in your home. These people are going to monitor your heart rate....

really?

 

[JtKc]

Lol. I find it humorous that theres a private university. That can be called. Oral Bobs university.
Also equal alternate variant
Oral will U.

ne carry on

 

[Hadron]

really?

Which one were you questioning?

- In Orwell's novel "1984" the TV screens in people's homes, which the state required you to have switched on, were monitoring devices.
- Fitbits record a history of your heart rate as well as step counts and other metrics. The original post states that "their fitness activity will be monitored at all times", which implies that this school will have access to the data. So yes, they plan to monitor their students' heart rates.

Given how very controlling this institution is with its students I might note that heart rate data can be used to monitor for other activities which the institution forbids, such as drinking and sexual activity. I don't know how they intend to use the data, but they could be a lot creepier with it than just "promoting healthy living" (which the institute demanding, and demanding the right to monitor, is pretty damned creepy already), and given this institution's record generally I wouldn't rule that out.

But then Oral Roberts' followers were always a mystery to me. After all, this is a man who tried to boost one of his fundraising campaigns by claiming, repeatedly, that God had told him that if he did not reach his target he would be "called home", and it always puzzled me that his followers didn't seem to find it just a little bit blasphemous that he was accusing the Almighty of demanding money with menaces...

 

[iBowToAndroid]

These people are going to monitor your heart rate....

Bingo ;-)