盖茨拟推出“情绪手镯” 学生状态一戴便知

Amy

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.

The bracelets measure how well the skin conducts electricity, which varies with its moisture level.

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.

The bracelets are also so far unable to distinguish whether a heightened response is due to excitement or anxiety, and whether a drop in 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.

微软创始人比尔-盖茨正研制一款适用于学生的“情绪手镯”，来检测他们对上课内容有多感兴趣。比尔及梅琳达•盖茨基金会将花费110万美元（合70万英镑）测试皮肤电反应手镯，看其是否能够衡量出学生对授课内容的兴趣。这是盖茨评估并改进教师素质的项目的一部分，该项目还包括一些具有争议的举措，比如在课堂里安装摄像机。这种手镯可以测试出皮肤导电的能力，而这种导电能力在不同湿度下会有变化。人体的汗腺是受神经系统控制的，因此可以用皮肤电传导来衡量情绪反馈。美国一些教师和评论员则对这项研究计划持有异议。教育博客博主瓦莱丽-施特劳斯在《华盛顿邮报》的一篇文章中写道：“有些学校连电费都付不起，为什么还有人会花钱研究这个？”“对于用数据进行衡量和学校改革的痴迷已经达到了狂热的新高度。”教师安东尼-科迪在《每周教育》中评论到：“人为教学的好处就在于我们当然都是感性的。我们不需要皮肤电流传感器来检测学生什么时候昏昏欲睡，什么时候不感兴趣。我们环顾一下教室就知道了！”还有些人指出了这种手镯的局限性，比如通过手镯无法得知学生的反馈是针对老师的授课内容，还是好友的窃窃私语。目前，这款手镯无法区分出反馈效果增强是出于学生的兴奋还是焦虑，也无法分辨出反馈程度的降低是出于学生的放松还是厌倦。比尔-盖茨用于评估这款手镯的经费已经超过110万美元。克莱蒙森大学已接受大约50万美元投资（合32万英镑），用于开展一项初步研究，这项研究“将决定在学校和老师中间定期使用这种手镯的可行性和实用性。”美国时间与学习中心已接受了超过62万美元（合40万英镑）资金，与核磁共振成像进行比较，用来评估手镯的效用，并制定出评价学生在课上用心程度的等级标准。