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I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

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Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#61

Post by Cthulhu_ »

BadHumans wrote: post #3

Kids are getting scheduling via apps now? The best thing my school ever did for me was give me a paper planner and teach me how to use it. I've finally reached that "back in my day" age. It's a neat project though. I wasn't aware Soldered existed so this is a nice find.

Yup, however at the same time there's been an effort to give kids paper planners again as well. Of course, that's been completely ineffective as they still had the apps, all results are published there, and more importantly, last minute schedule updates are still in there too. The school frequently cancels lessons due to teacher shortages; I think they should offer alternatives then, at the very least so that the school days are the same every day. Having to check the night before or even right before leaving if there's any changes is a headache.

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#62

Post by rrr_oh_man »

Freak_NL wrote: post #54
sourcepluck wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I think it's debilitating, disempowering, wholly unnecessary, and that it would be easily solvable if there existed a will to solve it. It's a cultural issue, not a technical one, I mean. I didn't mean in the first message simply knowing the difference between tabs and windows and a few other GUI bits and bobs, those were meant to be an example of a larger point. The larger point being the notion that it's fun an…

Everything is an 'app'. No need to understand where the data goes, where it is stored, who owns it, what they know about you and what is shared with third parties, what is costs to provide such a service (even though none of its users seem to pay anything), how it is monetized, how dark UI patterns nudge you, how algorithms manipulate you, why you can get addicted to them. Just click on the friendly little coloured r…

> Just click on the friendly little coloured rectangle with the rounded corners. That's the app. That's all you need to know.

That’s the exact amount knowledge most users want.

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#63

Post by rrr_oh_man »

jeroenhd wrote: post #46
soysandwhich wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[dead]

You managed, good for you! Thankfully, we got it better, and kids these days have it even better. I don't see how that's a bad thing, every generation should strive to make things better for the next ones.

Is argue 'better'. Different, yes. More gadgets, yes. Better? I’m not so sure.

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#64

Post by simon_acca »

Very cool!

If someone is looking for something similar with less hassle, let me plug my friend’s product :) https://www.inklay.app/ I’ve been using it for the better part of a year now to show the weather, a dashboard and some comics and am very happy with it, it just works and looks great too

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#65

Post by jhrmnn »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #61
BadHumans wrote: post #3

Kids are getting scheduling via apps now? The best thing my school ever did for me was give me a paper planner and teach me how to use it. I've finally reached that "back in my day" age. It's a neat project though. I wasn't aware Soldered existed so this is a nice find.

Yup, however at the same time there's been an effort to give kids paper planners again as well. Of course, that's been completely ineffective as they still had the apps, all results are published there, and more importantly, last minute schedule updates are still in there too. The school frequently cancels lessons due to teacher shortages; I think they should offer alternatives then, at the very least so that the sch…

When I was in high school 20 years ago, the school published a big sheet of paper on the central notice board, updated each day. Heading there first thing in the morning and seeing whether some of your classes got cancelled was a nice social ritual.

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#66

Post by jeroenhd »

mfld wrote: post #11
jeroenhd wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is hardly new. My high school did this over fifteen years ago. This app just shows hour+subject+teacher+room number. Quite useful on days the hours/rooms get switched around because a teacher is on leave. Your paper planner won't inform you that your first hour is in another building tomorrow or that the teacher is ill (and yes, the schedules would change less than 12 hours in advance). It's hardly comparable. A…

Good points. However unlocking the phone in the morning puts my son on the wrong track: you would be surprised how much time one can spend checking animated gifs by using any text field that will inevitably be unlocked as well. Of course I will take full responsibility in case of bugs... So far it didn't happen.

I applaud your efforts to keep your son from being addicted to screens.

While I'd be more conservative in the setup (I'd probably go with a device without inputs that turns on just to browse to a website directly, making any browsing mistakes or changed layouts less impactful), I do wish there were better alternatives for parents than "hand your kid a smartphone".

In an ideal world, schools would use some kind of one-way messaging devices to get the benefits of modern technology without the addiction smartphones bring, but I don't think we'll see that any time soon. Perhaps something like a (locked-down) Remarkable e-Ink tablet with a cellular network connection to receive school notifications and schedule updates as well as for doing homework in could prove quite useful, but that also sounds way too expensive for schools at the moment and you'd need to lock it down so that it's no more distracting than a piece of paper.

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#67

Post by liotier »

Freak_NL wrote: post #54
sourcepluck wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I think it's debilitating, disempowering, wholly unnecessary, and that it would be easily solvable if there existed a will to solve it. It's a cultural issue, not a technical one, I mean. I didn't mean in the first message simply knowing the difference between tabs and windows and a few other GUI bits and bobs, those were meant to be an example of a larger point. The larger point being the notion that it's fun an…

Everything is an 'app'. No need to understand where the data goes, where it is stored, who owns it, what they know about you and what is shared with third parties, what is costs to provide such a service (even though none of its users seem to pay anything), how it is monetized, how dark UI patterns nudge you, how algorithms manipulate you, why you can get addicted to them. Just click on the friendly little coloured r…

> Just click on the friendly little coloured rectangle with the rounded corners. That's the app. That's all you need to know.

Systems evolve until they reach the maturity of elevators. Press the button, it goes to your floor. Some users might wish they could change the button LED color, make it blink to the elevator music's rhythm and swap the scheduling algorithm on the fly with their custom choice... I guess they are all here !

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#68

Post by modernerd »

A great hack that feels closer to Anjan Katta’s vision for what Daylight could become – that instead of VR or AR or projection, we end up putting high quality “natural” screens on more surfaces.

This classroom timetable shows the utility of that, and it’s not so hard to imagine it extending to other interactive or non-interactive uses (meeting room reservation, digital store pricing, bus timetables, etc.).

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#69

Post by dotancohen »

maccard wrote: post #58
BadHumans wrote: post #3

Kids are getting scheduling via apps now? The best thing my school ever did for me was give me a paper planner and teach me how to use it. I've finally reached that "back in my day" age. It's a neat project though. I wasn't aware Soldered existed so this is a nice find.

> the best thing my school ever did for me was give me a paper planner and teach me how to use it A sentiment I’ve heard a lot is “how will kids learn the value of money in a cashless society”. The answer, like with the paper planner is “unfortunately the world has changed”. Using a paper calendar or cash isn’t obsolete, but the real trick is learning to schedule/work with money. And in the modern day, you _must_ be…

Even if the money is in flying 747s (it isn't), learning to fly a Cessna at a younger age is still beneficial. Same with cash money and young children.

For what it's worth, I've been in the software field for decades - long enough that I prefer not to use it. My preferred barber loses my business because he only accepts appointments via his app. I'm not installing it, so I cut my hair somewhere else. He knows this, and he's busy enough that the loss of a single old customer isn't compelling enough to get him to waste his time scheduling appointments by phone.

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#70

Post by globular-toast »

AidenVennis wrote: post #53
globular-toast wrote: post #52

Is this a common thing? When I was in school the timetable was printed on paper and applied for the whole term. What are these substitutions and changes and why do they happen frequently enough to need daily updates? Does the kid have to memorise this in the morning so he knows why rooms to go to? I don't even think my parents were aware of my school timetable. Why would they be? That was my business. It seems a bit…

At least in The Netherlands, about 15 years ago when I was in high school, timetables where set for a whole semester, but absent teachers where quite normal meaning some lessons where canceled. Replacements where not always available and where usually only deployed when it was known a teacher was absent for extended time. As a teen this was great because sometimes you could stay in bed longer, be out earlier and not…

I went to school 20+ years ago in a school of 3000+ kids in the UK. There simply never were room changes for us. I don't get why you'd make the kids change rooms. Just set the timetable for the year, now the kids are going to be in those rooms at those times. Simple. Any changes, just make the teachers deal with it. In a system where the children outnumber the teachers ~30:1 and have smaller brains and smaller bodies this seems to make more sense to me.

As for cancelled lessons, I wish! That never happened. We had a substitute teacher every time. But the substitute came to the room we were already scheduled to be in.

The only reasons I can think for making the kids change is if there's a problem with the room itself or if the teachers are not interchangeable between rooms. But I would have thought teachers would find room changes easier now than back then, if anything (given the use of ubiquitous technology like projectors etc.).

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