Althouse: "$1.1 million-plus Gates grants: ‘Galvanic’ bracelets that measure student engagement."

June 12, 2012

"$1.1 million-plus Gates grants: ‘Galvanic’ bracelets that measure student engagement."

Link.

But what if they're engaged in their own daydreams?

And isn't this basically a lie detector? And if so, won't students train themselves to fool the authorities? I'm sure the internet will be full of tips.

17 comments:

chickelit said...: Galvanize the opposition!; 6/12/12, 3:43 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: This could be the biggest thing since Microsoft Bob.; 6/12/12, 3:45 PM
Scott said...: He knows when you've been sleeping,
He knows when you're awake,
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good, for goodness sake!; 6/12/12, 3:47 PM
Original Mike said...: I'm only interested if I can inject current into the bracelets.; 6/12/12, 3:51 PM
Sorun said...: "That’s more than $1.1 million that could have been spent on things that schools actually need, such as books, teachers, librarians, etc."

There's a everlasting shortage dontchaknow. All of our money should go toward acquiring these things, along with unlimited numbers of police and firemen.; 6/12/12, 3:57 PM
Synova said...: It's to punish the teachers, not the students, but it's still beyond creepy.

Better use... Foxcom. Keep track of how "engaged" the workers are.; 6/12/12, 4:01 PM
Hagar said...: About half my teachers were absolutely cool with it if I nodded off in class. Much preferable to having me awake and instigating trouble.
And I am talking about the old country, not American schools.; 6/12/12, 4:08 PM
edutcher said...: Keep in mind, this is the man who brought the phrase, "robber baron", into the 21st century.

Considering how other things Microshaft work, this does not make me happy.; 6/12/12, 4:11 PM
wildswan said...: Well, if they also tape the teachers and synchronize the point at which students fall asleep with what the teacher was saying at that point - then maybe teaching will improve. And then also you could link "bored in class" with marks. Lots of students who do well in school are totally bored as the teacher drones on. I mean, why should we assume this must be aimed at students only?; 6/12/12, 4:43 PM
Anonymous said...: It turns:

blue: if a student is engaged in the subject matter being presented;

green: if the student is amused by the fact that the teacher has worn the same pants for three days in a row;

purple: if the student has figured out a dirty double-entendre based upon what the teacher just said;

red: if the student is becoming sexually aroused by the cute member of the opposite sex at the next desk.; 6/12/12, 4:44 PM
Anonymous said...: Kids are smart, new tech will only galvanize them to circumvent it. Teachers have history to circumvent the old techniques that kids use, but new ones for new monitoring will challenge them. Adding skin lotion to your wrist may be enough.; 6/12/12, 5:15 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: Wasn't there something like this in one of the old dystopian sci-fi novels? Except when a person was thinking too much it would make an irritating noise go off in their ears.

Glad to see Bill Gates is helping develop the technology to make this possible!; 6/12/12, 5:35 PM
jvermeer51 said...: This is why foundations by rich guys are bad. They waste so much money on garbage. Gates knows computers. Put all that money to work producing wealth in the area in which he knows something.; 6/12/12, 6:09 PM
Crunchy Frog said...: Wasn't there something like this in one of the old dystopian sci-fi novels? Except when a person was thinking too much it would make an irritating noise go off in their ears.

Harrison Bergeron.; 6/12/12, 6:40 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Original Mike said...

I'm only interested if I can inject current into the bracelets.

I was thinking the reverse: If the student engagement drops too low, the teacher gets shocked. I bet that would improve the quality of teaching.

Of course, you'd have students actively trying to be disengaged, which would probably be an interesting experiment all by itself.; 6/12/12, 7:29 PM
wyo sis said...: I used to joke that I'like to have a mental cattle prod. Be careful what you wish for.; 6/12/12, 7:37 PM
David said...: How about a bracelet for the teachers.; 6/12/12, 8:09 PM