Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
STUDENTS are being rewarded for turning off their smartphones to listen to lectures instead of answering texts and checking out their social media accounts.
The app, Pocket Points, was developed by a student at California State University, in the US and has now been implemented on campuses.
“If highly-trained PhDs can’t get kids to focus, surely the promise of hot cheese can,” said one commentator.
Its creator Rob Richardson says it’s a win-win-win for students, for professors, and for local businesses. The Chico State computer science junior and already the developer of two apps, says any good app creator is trying to solve a problem.
Luckily, a problem was staring Richardson right in the face last spring. “I look around in my class of 100 people or so and I see half the kids with their heads down and our initial name was going to be ‘heads up’ or something like that,” he joked.
“It hurts you as a student if you’re not paying attention, and also for a professor if they see their students not engaged in their conversations.”
Students open the app when the class begins, lock the phone and set it aside, at which time the account starts amassing points. These points can be spent with participating businesses, on anything from college-related goods to food.
It takes 20 minutes of ignoring the device to rack up a single point if you’re the only one using it, and according to an article about the app at Penn State University, 10 points will get a 15 per cent discount at the Student Bookstore (but only on clothing, not something dull like books), and 15 points bags you free cookies at a local store. So you can get fat instead.
The app attracted 3,000 users and 15 local businesses on board shortly after its launch. But not everyone is convinced, it’s a winner. Analyst Patricia Hernandez said: “I’m curious how this experiment turns out – I wouldn’t be surprised if someone figured out how to game the system, so that they can just get a ton of free pizza or something. That’s the thing about games: people like to optimise them, for maximum reward. For now, though, the app plan sounds promising.”
As reported in GulfWeekly recently, schools in the kingdom are allowing smartphones to be used as part of the learning experience and have special zones on campus to allow students to used their mobiles during break times.
