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Pay pros for lessons on sucking less at video games
Losing to a 12-year-old in Super Smash Bros. can be a real downer, but there are a few ways to prevent that. You can challenge kids who aren't as good, practice and improve on your own, or, if you have a few bucks to spend, get a video game tutor from Japanese company GameLesson.
GamerTrainer offers tutoring for WoW gamers
Having trouble making your way through Stranglethorn Vale? Can't quite figure out how to farm all that gold for your epic mount? Maybe what you need is a tutor! GamerTrainer is a site that claims to provide tutors for gamers who need a little extra personalized help with their games, and right there on their list, among Halo, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Call of Duty is our very own World of Warcraft. It'll cost ya, though -- $130 for five hours is as cheap as it comes per hour, going all the way up to $30 for one hour of personalized training. And just because you pay, it doesn't mean you'll actually get help -- "Mister_Llanowar" is apparently standing by to give you some helpful tips, and for all you know, he's just another 13-year-old who's really good at ganking with a 70.As you might have noticed, we're a little skeptical -- there's nothing you couldn't learn from these trainers that you couldn't pick up on, say, sites like the one you're reading right now (we've got you covered on STV and raising all that mount money). Not to mention that the whole point of a game (any game) is to sit down, mess around with it, experiment and explore, and pick it up on your own -- having someone tell you personally what to do and where to go is the exact opposite of fun.And if you still disagree, hey, call me up. I'll be happy to sit down and play with you on Skype for a measley $30 an hour. I call all disenchants, though, so if you don't need those greens, they're mine!
Emotion-tracking rings to assist in distance learning
Let's face it, not all of us will have the luxury of attending a school where we get to construct massive LEGO machines or learn how to become savvy in SMS, but a developing technology that tracks student emotions could help tutors and distance instructors alike in keeping kids focused while learning. Co-developed by Essex University's Vic Callaghan and Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Liping Shen, the emotion-tracking tutoring software can analyze physical signs to keep track of a student's attention span, their level of understanding, and even the amount of stress a certain lesson produces. Aimed to help tutors become more effective and to add another layer of "personal" to distance-based education courses, the software would receive information about a student's "heart rate, blood pressure and changes in electrical resistance caused by perspiration" via a sensor-laden, Bluetooth-enabled ring worn on one's finger. The information can then be assessed to determine a student's interest level and frustration level, but a decibel meter to measure snoring isn't likely to be included. If all goes as planned, the team intends on testing the system out in "real learning scenarios in China" to further tweak their creation, so it won't be too long now before an interest-tracking ring will become as necessary as pencil and paper a stylus and a tablet PC come class time.
