April 2, 2015
I write this post with the assumption that the reader knows that the “Apple Watch” is not a chart in the Farmers’ Almanac to aid farmers with apple picking dates. No, it is a watch from the same company that sent Forrest Gump a letter about his stock options. Gump notes in the film that he “doesn’t have to worry about money anymore.”
On April 24, 2015 – people, I expect millions of them, will be wearing this device on their wrists. Certainly, some of them will be professors and students. By the way, according to the Farmers’ Almanac, the best day to pick apples is between April 2 and May 31.
Yesterday, in my Dramatic Theory and Criticism class, while the students were taking a midterm exam, I found myself 
thinking how our class might be different if we were all wearing an Apple Watch? Certainly, they would know what time it was, but what about the other possibilities?
• Could I actually monitor their heart rates on my watch or computer? I worry that when I hand out the exams the data stream might overload the network. Seriously though, it might be helpful to compare the data over time to discover how the stress levels compare from class to class and year to year.
• If I was giving a midterm with a time limit for each question, I could send out a vibration to their watches. Via the Taptic Engine in the watch the student would feel a vibration and know that it was time to move on to the next question. Sublime.
• During the days before the midterm the students could program their watches to send themselves a text with a study question that they would have to answer correctly in order to receive a pre-programmed reward (Many possibilities here for Starbucks and Taco Bell). Not the correct answer, the question repeats in one hour. Goodbye 3 X 5 flash cards!
When the midterms are graded, I could program my learning management system to send the results to each students watch. This would minimize that agonizing waiting time for the results.
As I ponder the possibilities and think about what model I am going to pick from my local Apple tree, I invite your thoughts on this topic.
How can you see the Apple Watch integrated into your classroom?
How might the Apple Watch improve student success?
Prof. David C. Pecoraro
We welcome your feedback to our work.
Email: General Information | Dr. Daniel de Roulet | Prof. David C. Pecoraro
Thank you!
Daniel & David
Apple Watch is Coming to Our Classrooms
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Dr. Sunil Deshpande
Even though the students have modern gadgets with them, they are not knowing the relevance of information with respect to your subject matter. Hence it is the job of teacher to remain update and ask to student to search information related to his subject matter in the form of assignment or quiz of mini project
Dr Shagufta Tahir Mufti
That they are not interested in the classroom anymore and that technology is failing the global academia to keep up breast with its compelling distractions
Dr Ralph Huntsinger
Worrying about SmartWatches reminds me of the old Civil Enginerring professor that banned calculators from his classroom and insisted that his students use sliderules… Very silly to not be in the new technical world ! Prof Dr Ralph…
Andrew Pasquinelli
I also teach in the CSU System. My technology policy is this: if your phone makes a sound for any reason, I will respond to it (text, call, snapchat, etc.). If you use some sort of device for note-taking, sit in the front of the room so I can see what the students behind you are paying attention to. Other than that, I do not police technology at all. I would say of my students will have their phones out of their desk ready at any time to use them (for whatever reason). To me, this is a practice in self-management. If students can get an A in my class, learn information they can apply to their life, and be on their phones in class, more power to them. However, each student needs to be able to learn their limitations.
Several years ago I had a student make an interesting point about texting and distractions. The student told me, “If I know I get a text message, I’m more distracted thinking about what it might be rather than just looking at it and deciding to respond or not.” I thought that was a fair point! The bottom line is students to learn how to manage themselves and mobile technology is a big part of life they need to learn how to manage (in all settings)..
Dr.Bhavinkumar Mehta
We cannot stop new technology from entering the classroom.We should take the class in such a way that interest in whatever we want to teach should not be ended and simultaneously they can get the points whatever we have to teach them.Now the way of teaching should be improved so that they will take interest in the subject.
David Pecoraro
Dr. Mehta – You make a very good point about where the quality of our teaching should be. Yes, we should not have to compete for their attention, they should want to pay attention to us instead of their electronics. Thank you.
Andrew – most definitely! The point your student makes is an excellent one. It should not be our job to monitor them. After all, when they in the work force, their boss should not have to monitor them!
“Compelling distractions” – those are 2 powerful (and accurate) words that I see manifest in my students on a daily basis. Thank you.
Thank you all! We shall soon be challenged by the Apple Watches in our classrooms, no doubt to be followed by other “compelling distractions” to follow. I challenge myself to discover how to embrace this technology and discover ways to improve student learning. Best to you all – David
Comments from the LinkedIn Group: Teachers Lounge
Bruce Pattinson
I’m sure teachers will invent ways to use the new technology as it permeates the classroom. I wonder how invasive these watches will become?