Re:The Apple Watch
by fphhotchips on Tuesday September 09, 2014 @08:35PM
(#8294243)
In fairness, and to think a little more about your throw-away joke than I suspect you intended, the 'push and forget' nature of a button as compared to holding up your hand is important in some situations.
The Software Carpentary workshops that I've worked with/seen, for example, use a post-it note system that signifies that a student has a question (or is done, depending on the colour of the note). This allows the student to continue trying solutions without holding up their hand looking for attention. When an instructor is available, they can go over and help.
The advantage of a button system, then, would be that you could gather data on which students were asking the most questions, how long they generally have to wait, etc.
Re:The Apple Watch
by gnarbarian on Tuesday September 09, 2014 @06:30PM
(#8293729)
I like the watch idea personally. Say you're riding your bike and you receive a text message. in order to see what's going on you will probably have to stop and take the phone out of your pocket. with a watch you can simply look at your wrist quickly.
As a daily bike commuter around Boston, this idea terrifies me. Multitasking is extremely dangerous while biking. There are already enough bikers out there who choose to distract themselves with earphones and music while biking. Reading a text message while weaving in traffic is a recipe for disaster. When you're on a bike, be on the bike.
Re:The Apple Watch
by gnarbarian on Wednesday September 10, 2014 @06:43PM
(#8299693)
I am a daily bike commuter in Anchorage where we have tons of dedicated trails. I can ride all the way to work 7 miles and I only have to cross a couple streets.
This would be fine. better than pulling my phone out of my pocket while riding (which is what I do now)
Reminds me of a joke I heard:
A local school board was trying to find ways to increase the efficiency of their schools. A local computer programmer had come to the board meeting with a proposal.
He suggested that each desk be equipped with a small button, that via wireless technology would light up a small panel on the teachers desk.
That way if a student wanted to ask a question, they could simply press the button which would light up say spot A17 on the panel. Then using a quick lookup sheet the teacher could then see that desk A17 is where John was sitting.
The teacher could then look up quickly and say, "John...you have a question?"