humble3d Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Bill Gates spends $1.1 million fitting students with mood bracelets to see if their teachers are boring :rolleyes: By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED: 07:21 EST, 12 June 2012 Microsoft supremo Bill Gates wants to fit school students with mood bracelets to measure how interested they are in their lessons. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation is spending $1.1 million (£700,000) testing galvanic skin response bracelets to see if they can measure whether students find their teachers engaging. The move is part of the billionaire’s mission to evaluate and improve the quality of teachers, which has already included controversial initiatives such as fitting classrooms with video cameras. Watch out teachers: The bracelets are being tested to see if they can pick up when students are bored in classes The bracelets measure how well the skin conducts electricity, which varies with its moisture level. More... Teachers threaten an autumn of discontent: Unions join forces for strikes over school reforms Effective? The bracelets measure how well the skin conducts electricity, which can help assess emotions as is varies when people sweat Sweat glands are controlled by the nervous system so skin conductance can be used as an indication of emotional response. Some US teachers and commentators have been less than impressed with the plan. ‘Why would anybody spent money on this when some school systems can’t afford to pay their electric bills?’ Education blogger Valerie Strauss wrote in the Washington Post. ‘The obsession with measurement in data and school reform has reached nutty new heights.' Teacher Anthony Cody, writing in Education Week, commented: ‘The wonderful thing about having human beings as teachers is that we are naturally empathetic. We do not need galvanic skin sensors to detect when our students are drowsy or disinterested -- we can look around the room in an instant and know!’ Others have pointed out limitations with the bracelets, including that they are not able to tell whether a student was responding to their teacher or something a friend whispers in their ear. Big spender: Bill Gates has already given grants worth more then $1.1 million testing the bracelets The bracelets are also so far unable to distinguish whether a heightened response is due to excitement or anxiety, and whether a drop is response is due to relaxation or boredom. The amount Bill Gates has spent on evaluating the bracelets is already more than $1.1 million. Clemson University has been given almost $500,000 (£320,000) to run a pilot study ‘which will determine the feasibility and utility of using such devices regularly in schools with students and teachers.’ The National Center on Time and Learning was given more than $620,000 ($400,000) to assess the effectiveness of the bracelets by comparing them with MRI scans, and work out a scale that would pinpoint how engaged a student was in lessons. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2158142/Bill-Gates-spends-1-1-million-fitting-students-mood-bracelets-teachers-boring.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mastershake Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 ummmm okay they dont have better things to spend their millions on?? i could sure use some of that..gee kids find teachers boaring... nothing new there...most kids find school boring because of the ciriculum and how it lacks anything exciting i have family members who are teachers and they try to excite the kids but the system willnot allow them to deviate from the ciriculum very much so they are somewhat stuck in what they can and cant do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spootnack Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Kids find teachers boring because 99% of teachers are boring ! It's a very good idea. They should come here to test the teachers. A lot should be fired. PS: Go Bill ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizarre™ Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Students can only find teachers boring if they don't personally motivate themselves to listen.This would be the same as trying to lose weight without even exerting considerable amount of effort.There's no royal road to knowledge. If you want it, then go get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grouchysmurf Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 I can count the number of good teachers I have had in my life on two fingers.Teaching is NOT a job it is a calling. Too many of them however get burned out after the first 5 years, and then worry about compensation more than teaching. If society as a whole does not do more to invest in education, why should the educators care? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxhedroom Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 I can count the number of good teachers I have had in my life on two fingers. Teaching is NOT a job it is a calling. Too many of them however get burned out after the first 5 years, and then worry about compensation more than teaching. If society as a whole does not do more to invest in education, why should the educators care? Well said bro. All my fav teachers were actually passionate about teaching and enjoyed seeing kids catch on and learn stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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