Focusable is a new service from the same people that brought us Swivl and Synth. Focusable is currently in a private beta (public beta to launch in August) so there isn’t a lot of information available about it. That said, what I’ve seen so far makes Focusable look like a promising new approach to online instruction.

The concept of Focusable is to help students focus on completing a learning activity (or series of activities). This is done through something that Focusable refers to as a flow. The flow includes a task, a timer, a reflection tool, and breathing (focus) exercises designed to keep students moving toward the completion of a learning activity. It appears to be different than just telling students to “set a timer and work for X minutes” because the flow uses very short timers followed by a reflection and a breathing exercise intended to get students to flow back into the assigned learning activity. 

You can sign up for beta access to Focusable on their homepage. It is there that you can also watch a short demo video of the Focusable concept. You may also want to read their announcement that introduces the Focusable concept and their article about the optimal learning experience. 

I’ve signed up for early beta access to Focusable because I’m curious to see how well their approach works. If it works nearly as well as they promise, it could be a great way to give personalized online instruction.