Gympact is a Mobile app designed to encourage users to stick to their new year’s resolutions and go to the gym regularly. It works like this: you programme the days you intend to go. If you don’t go you pay a 5 dollar fine debited to your account. If you do go, you get a credit, maybe about 5 dollars too. The amount will depend on the fund of credit created by all the slackers paying fines! GPS technology allows you and the system to identify you are actually in the gym you have nominated.
In Spain, where I work, learning English falls into that group of typical New Year’s resolutions (go to the gym, lose weight, read more, drink less, organise the sock drawer etc). Incidentally I was told recently that the 23rd of January is the day that typically everyone gives up on these dreams and falls back into gloom and lethargy. Less than a week to go! Maybe it’s time for “EnglishPact” ™
A learner coaching app for English learners could feature not only a range of activities ideas and links for practising English, but also a “commitment feature” which allows the user to set goals for practising their English in terms of amount of time and/or specific activities and measure results, even paying a penalty for not reaching targets if they wish.
Would you buy it?
Learner Coaching ELT 
I’m not sure I’d spend money for a ‘thing’ to tell me off like that (I’d probably just get annoyed), but I might if it was a real person I was letting down -“I’m not so much angry as disappointed”. I think I’d be more likely to keep attending the gym if the coach was expecting me and would look disapproving at me the next time I slinked (slunk?) back onto the rowing machine. In fact, one of the most important roles teachers and coaches might have is this: being your external ‘conscience’ to motivate, approve… and sometimes -“God! What must she think of me?!”- disapprove.
[Dan]