An extract from a recent essay submitted to Deakin Uni. Imminence_of_e_assessment
Computer-based assessment comes in many forms and is adaptable. Online exams have been observed to have some typical impact on students and teachers. Relief of scarcity of devices is creating an opportunity for computer-based testing. Measures can be taken to minimise cheating on computer based examinations. eAssessment offers good schools opportunities to reform school reports.
Today I trialled XMind 3.1 side-by-side with Inspiration 9.
XMind
Inspiration
Webspiration is a browser-based, hosted version of Inspiration. Data is stored ‘in the cloud’ (ie. by the server) and easily shared with other users. Sadly, it is currently too slow for satisfactory use. (Doubling the CPU speed, RAM and broadband speed makes no difference; the bottleneck is presumably at the server.)
Kidspiration is a simplified version of Inspiration with a lower emphasis on text. For primary school users, it is the best of all options.
I have been in a school where the it was cheaper to add Microsoft Visio to the school’s site license than Inspiration. It is much easier to handle rearrangement of objects and links in Visio. Visio is obviously preferable for complex models, diagrams where dimensions are important, or knowledge that is not hierarchical. (In the mind-map programs above, data is organised as a tree.) However, Visio cannot compete with dedicated mindmap software for managing text.
Interesting: In the light of the Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study, I would amend every one of Susan McLean’s tips. The basic problem is that it can be hard to decide whether a problem should be treated as ‘cyberbullying‘, because the definition is so broad, while the consequences are so severe. However, here are some specific qualms, point-by-point.
SM: Do not get angry with your child – remember they are the victim and it is someone else doing the wrong thing.
Yes, don’t blame your child – but don’t label bully and victim either. Accepting the Victim identity can make the hurt deeper and longer-lasting.We don’t want the Bully label to become firmly attached either (because we don’t want to have a permanent bullying problem). Children who experience bullying are often engaged in similar behaviour themselves.
SM: Praise them for coming to you – this is a big step as most children are frightened to tell a parent about cyber-bullying.
Yes – but make sure they still feel in control of what will happen. Kids have reported that after disclosure to adults, bullying got worse more often than better.
SM: Save and store the emails, chat logs or SMS’s in case of police investigation.
Yes – but this is a critical point of decision. The easiest way to properly protect the records is to create new accounts and just ignore the old accounts. This takes enormous self-discipline: it is easier if someone else changes and keeps the passwords for you.
SM: Help your child to block and delete the bully from all contact lists.
No – do block, but check whether you need to keep people on your contact list in order to block them, before you delete.
SM: Do not respond to nasty emails, chats, SMS’s or comments – this is what the bully wants so ignore them.
Yes. If you have the urge to reply, send it to a dummy account, or some tolerant aunt (by arrangement, of course). But prepare emotionally for increasingly provocative challenges, when starting this step.
SM: Use the ‘report abuse’ button which all websites/applications have. Tell them the problems you are having and they are obligated to investigate.
Yes – if a recording or image is public, immediately ask for its removal, as it may reduce future distress. However, many websites do not have a ‘report abuse’ button, and of those that do, the response varies. Keep in mind that the website cannot fix existing relationships.
SM: Have some ‘down time’ without computer or mobile (do not do this as punishment, rather as some peaceful time where they are not being bothered)
Yes – but this is easier said than done.
SM: If unwanted contact continues, consider deleting emails, msn, hotmail etc and start a new account. Only give your details to a small list of trusted friends.
Yes – just make new ones, import contact lists, delete unwanted contacts and then ignore the old accounts. But do try to build a large, diverse support network. About a third of cyberbullying is by friends. (Yes, friendship is complicated in teenage.)
SM: Get a new phone number if being harassed on your phone. Report the problem to your phone company and insist on a new number for free.
Yes – but only if being harassed by many callers. It is much less socially disturbing to put a block or divert on a particular caller.
SM: Inform your child’s school. It is important that they know what is going on so that they can monitor any issues at school,
Yes – with your child’s permission. The school will want to take action, and you cannot guess as well as your child, how that will turn out. Most school anti-bullying programs achieve little in specific instances
SM: If ongoing report to the police. Each state has laws that prohibit online bullying and stalking. You don’t have to put up with it.
Yes – but this is a point of no return. If you involve the police, you may never be able to fix the relationships between your child and her social group. This step is indicated if it is too dangerous for her to stay amongst her group; the bullying is becoming physical or public.
The Generation Next approach unfortunately tries to draw clear black/white lines, between bullies and victims, and between bullying and social behaviour, which do not match the reality discovered in Australian research. Generation Next seeks to base decisions on objective truth, ignoring the internal and jointly socially constructed nature of the harm. Generation Next seeks to protect by isolating the child from her social world. This can be expected to exacerbate the harm and unacceptable behaviour in all but the very worst cases.
Parents need a different guide.
By now, most NSW schools have spoken bluntly to students about cyberbullying. Many students have seen and discussed the ‘Smart Online, Safe Offline‘ video and become frankly bored with talk about bullying. Perhaps we are at the stage where incidents should be handled individually, case by case.
Marilyn Campbell explains why cybersafety tips don’t work for cyberbullying. Partly, this is because a majority of kids in Australian schools have not personally been involved a distressing experience of cyberbullying, according to CHPRC. This may surprise you.
Alannah and Madeleine Foundation published a summary of relevant (research) literature in 2009. This is the basis of advice to parents: What should I do? Schools respond differently. Unfortunately, the best-proven response is not the most popular: perhaps the urge to punish and hurt bullies is irresistible.
Schools now run the risk of complacency, but competent schools also run the risk of looking complacent. If a school is responding to incidents well, staff should spend little time on handling cyberbullying, and most kids should not be worried about it.
'Child's Play.' Jacqueline Berl.
How well are schools handling it now? Are you aware of a particular incident? Did the school respond? Was it consistent with the school’s Behaviour Management Policy? Did it reduce the risk and future distress?
What happens to our brains in Year Eight, and is it inevitable?
Judith Baenen
I heard Judith Banaen (Middle Years Schooling Association travelling scholar) at a seminar for parents recently. She vividly described the typical enthusiastic and organised sixth grader; the brain-dead seventh grader; and the paranoid eighth grader.
I have heard parents (particularly home-schoolers) bemoan time wasted in year eight on “disciplinary issues” or classroom management. Many teachers are convinced that the curriculum for the two years, seventh and eighth grade, could easily be delivered in one, if kids were more focused. I have seen students’ frustration over their peers obsession with gossip and grooming.
These phenomenon are international. Baenen attributes this to physiological changes that occur roughly between 10 and 15 years of age, but I see two clues that the impact on schooling is largely socially constructed.
Firstly, if the phenomenon is physiological, it should be distributed over a five year age range. The main stress seems, however, to be concentrated in Year Eight for almost all students.
Secondly, the impact on teaching seems to be less severe in some schools (particularly elite private schools). I suspect that students in a more strongly teacher-driven classroom or cocurricular program spend less of their daylight energy and time on social and emotional development tasks. Presumably, the developmental task is delayed or distended for many students, into later years. Perhaps high achieving senior secondary students are sometimes ‘childish’ because they have put off some of the relational realignment work that others do in eighth grade.
Is this an argument for deschooling, or for stricter schools, or for the status quo?
HP claimed (and IDG agreed) that their OfficeJet 8500 printer would cost less to run than a small laser printer. Really? After twelve months, I can totally confirm: the actual cost of operating this home office printer was around 11 cents per impression.
Special case:
Caveat: The labour component is not reliable. The notional hourly charge rate was arbitrarily chosen, and the level of support required using old computers with Windows XP was much higher than the support required on recent MacBooks.
Technician pay rates are around $20 per hour (www.payscale.com)
17625 impressions (mainly A4 documents)
Total annual cost: 1 * 25 + 9 * 60 + 11 * 40 + 5 * 25 + 497 / 3 + 99 / 3 + 20 * { 6 / 3 + 25 + 2 + 2 } = 1948.67 (per annum)
Cost per page: 1923.67 / 17625 = $0.109 (per impression)
Assuming ink covers 5% of standard printed pages (a common assumption), a full page colour photograph would use twenty times as much ink: 20 * (9 * 60 + 11 * 40) / 17625 = $1.11. If (as I believe) my routine printing has lower coverage, the multiplier (20) should be higher.
Premium glossy paper: $20.00 / 25 = $0.80
Capital and labour costs at the same rate as standard printing: { 497 / 3 + 99 / 3 + 20 * ( 6 / 3 + 25 + 2 + 2 ) } / 17625 = $0.05
Total cost of a full-page A4 photograph: 1.11 + 0.80 + 0.05 = $1.96 per page.