The user interface is clean, and very easy to use. It gives you a map of the calendar day broken down into a linear timeline, with bubble-like checkmarks at 15-minute intervals. You can customize the fields for the activities that you perform throughout the day, such as sleeping, working, taking a walk, watching TV, etc. You can also set daily and weekly goals for how much time you want to set as a target amount. BubbleTimer then tabulates how you are fairing with reaching your goals, with pie charts and graphs to give you feedback on whether or not you are spending your time wisely. You can even export your time-map into spreadsheet software for more advanced tracking.
I think this would be a valuable tool for a class project because students K-12 and beyond will find that if they want to be efficient and get ahead in this fast-paced world they will have to learn about time management. I propose an assignment where the students sign up for a 14-day free trial with BubbleTimer, and then for the next two weeks have the students map their daily activities. At the end of the two-week test, they could export their time-map and submit it as an assignment. This could reveal to the students how much time they spend achieving their goals, and how much time they spend being idle.
BubbleTimer seems like a really useful tool, and something I am finding could really help me with my personal time management, and hopefully help me to become more productive.
[BubbleTimer logo image]. (2010). Retrieved February 22, 2010 from: http://www.bubbletimer.com
Justin,
ReplyDeleteYou couldn't be more right. In today's crowded and busy world, I agree, time management is critical.
Again, this is a perfect case of realizing that many of the tools we might use everyday could be leveraged as valuable educational resources. Our young students are constantly bombarded with an array of stimuli. Texts, email, and social network status posts are buzzing in their collective pockets constantly. As such, I often hear that students can't complete assignments due to their busy schedules.
However, I would argue that in many of these situations, the concern actually involves time management rather than scheduling. Justin, spot on. This would be a very valuable educational tool. Cataloging one’s time over the course of several days can be a significant eye opener for young and old alike. And, as this system is cloud based, it would be much easier to update and manage than some other tools.
Well done, I’m going to look into this one!
-Scott
Oh, I like this tool, Justin. I am remembering one of our discussion posts in our first class, where we talked about time management. All of us admitted that in our day-to-day busy lives, it is a problem.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of incorporating this into a class assignment. I can see some value in using this in concert with my ShowMeWhatsWrong.com tool and the "Help Desk" activities. We could use your tool to chart the start and stop of the client tickets through the desk. In fact, now that I write the comment, I think that is a great idea and one I am going to pursue.
Thanks for finding this cool Web 2.0 tool!