Users don’t know the terminology to describe the problem they have or to know what to look for.
Users haven’t studied the problem long enough.
Users don’t recognize details or signs which might aid in understanding the problem.
Users might not have easy access to the documentation, may not be qualified to understand it (because of language barriers or technical level), or they may simply not have the time or energy to use it.
Users might be unaware of the status of their computer/account/browser and/or they might be limited in their ability to obtain this information.
Users might have received incorrect or misleading information from someone else, or they might have made incorrect assumptions about the product.
Users may be familiar with one kind of product and lack the appropriate mental model for knowing how the product is supposed to work.
Users might have previous problems in the past and found it easier just to call technical support than to risk aggravating the problem when trying to fix it.
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shared by Vicki Davis on 28 Jul 08
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The Brute Thing: Leadership Day 2008::Connecting the Dots:: - 0 views
edtecheconomics.blogspot.com/...p-day-2008connecting-dots.html
best_practice education researcher_thoughtleader
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Nice Blog Post from Edwin Wargo about vision and leadership. I particularly like this phrase about school culture: "No matter how cool the technology tools, culture, I believe, will win the tug-of-war. There still may be a few trailblazers but systemic buy-in is likely to be minimal. I believe culture ensures the sustainability that Michael Fullan talks about."
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Why Users Don't Read Documentation | Idiotprogrammer - 0 views
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I love this article which talks about the most common problems when people call customer service. I believe that as I teach my students I should help them become technically fluent to minimize these problems and maximize their potential in this increasingly technical world. The most common problems are: * Users don't know the terminology to describe the problem they have or to know what to look for. * Users haven't studied the problem long enough. * Users don't recognize details or signs which might aid in understanding the problem. * Users might not have easy access to the documentation, may not be qualified to understand it (because of language barriers or technical level), or they may simply not have the time or energy to use it. * Users might be unaware of the status of their computer/account/browser and/or they might be limited in their ability to obtain this information. * Users might have received incorrect or misleading information from someone else, or they might have made incorrect assumptions about the product. * Users may be familiar with one kind of product and lack the appropriate mental model for knowing how the product is supposed to work. * Users might have previous problems in the past and found it easier just to call technical support than to risk aggravating the problem when trying to fix it.
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shared by Fred Delventhal on 21 Jun 11
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Because It Flew - Home - 10 views
usatodayeducate.com/...because-it-flew-home
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From Rapunzel to The Little Red Riding Hood, Beloved Children's Classics as Minimalist ... - 8 views
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Sarah's Musings: Starting to feel the Twitter love - 0 views
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The parties I have been going to are those of educators who are interested in web 2.0 where I feel I have little to contribute because I am at the stage of of learning about web 2.0.
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I think that majority of my followers in twitter would feel similar to this that they are just starting out and are worried that they don't have anything to contribute. That is also the reason why many people are reluctant to comment on posts. The sense that everyone knows more than them so what do they have to offer.
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The main reason for this lurking was that I didn't want to open my mouth and offend anyone, or waste people's time with trivialities.
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The key to Twitter is to see it as our own Personal Learning Network (PLN). Everyone has the right to use it how they want. If someone doesn't like how you use twitter than they can just go ahead and unfollow. Really it's no different from writing a blog. Similar etiquete but you are more likely to share the mundane in twitter. Twitter is also more like f2f conversations - if all you do is post links or ask for help you will never make the connections that make people want to conenct with you.
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Nevertheless, I try to minimize my personal and social comments and keep my messages to professional topics.
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The key to Twitter is to see it as our own Personal Learning Network (PLN). Everyone has the right to use it how they want. If someone doesn't like how you use twitter than they can just go ahead and unfollow. Really it's no different from writing a blog. Similar etiquete but you are more likely to share the mundane in twitter. Twitter is also more like f2f conversations - if all you do is post links or ask for help you will never make the connections that make people want to conenct with you.
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AJET 19(1) Boyle (2003) - design principles for authoring dynamic, reusable learning ob... - 1 views
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a learning object is defined as any entity, digital or non-digital, that may be used for learning, education or training. IEEE
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learning objects must be developed with potential reuse, and especially repurposing in mind. The principal aim of this paper is to explore and delineate principles underlying authoring for reuse and repurposing.
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This mapping suggests that each learning object should be based on one learning objective or clear learning goal.
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The principle of cohesion, however, indicates that there should be a separate learning object for each type of loop. An immediate advantage is that the tutor can select the order in which these learning objects are combined. A tutor dealing with experienced student may wish to deal with these in sequence; another tutor with a different group of students may intersperse these learning objects with object dealing with other features of the language.
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independently of the other (
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The learning object should, as far as possible, be free standing.
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YES! Can we please apply this to items as simple as Word documents and HTML? It would make things so much easier. This also reminds me of good pedagogical design principles BEFORE we had digital learning -- the same should be true for worksheets, handouts, textbooks, etc. It needs to be able to be changed.
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We must face the challenge of creating learning objects that are cohesive, decoupled and pedagogically rich. This design challenge is associated with the issue of 'repurposability' as we might expect rich learning objects to provide further options for adaptation by local tutors.
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n the Java language
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The project involves intervention in syllabus development, the social organisation of learning and the introduction of new eLearning materials. The eLearning resources are being based on the authoring of rich, reusable learning objects. This development provides the focus for the present discussion.
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The learning objects are being developed both to meet immediate pedagogical needs and to serve this larger goal. This produces extra pressure initially. However, it provides the potential to divide the eventual task among a number of contributing partners, exploiting considerable advantages of scale.
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A key challenge for the project is to resolve the tensions in a creative and productive way.
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A compound object consists of two or more independent learning objects that are linked to create the compound.
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They thus provide a basis for pedagogical richness that fully exploits the opportunities offered by the technology.
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they should be able to reconfigure this to shape their own compound object.
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main types of binding: navigational bindings through URLs and non-URL based content bindings. This design pattern deals with the issue of URL based bindings.
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learning object consists of a core and zero or more expansions. A default object is presented with the core with certain expansions added. These expansions aim to provide added pedagogical value to help in attaining the learning objective.
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the relationship between learning objects and the syllabus, course or other higher organising structure in which they are delivered.
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the syllabus navigation structure operates at a different layer of organisation for the learning object resources
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painful reading with the example of Java - but the point remains that all learning objects should be managed and designed with the purpose of being able to use them in the future in ways that are dynamic and reusable. This means de-coupling them and ensuring they are made of distinct pedagogical units.
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OLPC Human Interface Guidelines/Design Fundamentals/Key Design Principles - OLPC - 0 views
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the actual behavior of the activities, the layout of the buttons and tools, and the feedback that the interface provides to the children when they interact with it
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five categories of "bad things" software can do: damaging the laptop; compromising privacy; damaging the children's data; doing bad things to other people; and impersonating the child.
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without the use of menus, pop-up boxes, passwords, etc., as these approaches are meaningless to most people.
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When children know they have a fallback plan—a way back to the current state of things—they will much more frequently go beyond their comfortable boundaries and experiment with new tools and new creative means of expression
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Towards this end, a view source key has been added to the laptop keyboards, providing them with instant access to the code that enables the activities that they use from day to day. This key will allow those interested to peel away layers of abstraction, digging deeper into the codebase as they learn.
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shared by Ruth Howard on 13 Mar 10
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Hole-in-the-Wall - 19 views
www.hole-in-the-wall.com
education learning india holeinthewall hole-in-the-wall ict self-organising
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Now, more than ever before, it is critical to look at solutions that complement the framework of traditional schooling. Minimally Invasive Education™ is one such solution – a solution that uses the power of collaboration and the natural curiosity of children to catalyze learning.
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What Do School Tests Measure? - Room for Debate Blog - NYTimes.com - 1 views
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According to a New York Times analysis, New York City students have steadily improved their performance on statewide tests since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took control of the public schools seven years ago.
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Critics say the results are proof only that it is possible to “teach to the test.” What do the results mean? Are tests a good way to prepare students for future success?
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Tests covering what students were expected to learn (guided by an agreed-upon curriculum) serve a useful purpose — to provide evidence of student effort, of student learning, of what teachers taught, and of what teachers may have failed to teach.
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More serious questions arise about “teaching to the test.” If the test requires students to do something academically valuable — to demonstrate comprehension of high quality reading passages at an appropriate level of complexity and difficulty for the students’ grade, for example — then, of course, “teaching to the test” is appropriate.
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An almost exclusive focus on raising test scores usually leads to teaching to the test, denies rich academic content and fails to promote the pleasure in learning, and to motivate students to take responsibility for their own learning, behavior, discipline and perseverance to succeed in school and in life.
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Test driven, or force-fed, learning can not enrich and promote the traits necessary for life success. Indeed, it is dangerous to focus on raising test scores without reducing school drop out, crime and dependency rates, or improving the quality of the workforce and community life.
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Students, families and groups that have been marginalized in the past are hurt most when the true purposes of education are not addressed.
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lein. Mayor Bloomberg claims that more than two-thirds of the city’s students are now proficient readers. But, according to federal education officials, only 25 percent cleared the proficient-achievement hurdle after taking the National Assessment of Education Progress, a more reliable and secure test in 2007.
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The major lesson is that officials in all states — from New York to Mississippi — have succumbed to heavy political pressure to somehow show progress. They lower the proficiency bar, dumb down tests and distribute curricular guides to teachers filled with study questions that mirror state exams.
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This is why the Obama administration has nudged 47 states to come around the table to define what a proficient student truly knows.
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Test score gains among New York City students are important because research finds that how well one performs on cognitive tests matters more to one’s life chances than ever before. Mastery of reading and math, in particular, are significant because they provide the gateway to higher learning and critical thinking.
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First, just because students are trained to do well on a particular test doesn’t mean they’ve mastered certain skills.
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Second, whatever the test score results, children in high poverty schools like the Promise Academy are still cut off from networks of students, and students’ parents, who can ease access to employment.
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Reliable and valid standardized tests can be one way to measure what some students have learned. Although they may be indicators of future academic success, they don’t “prepare” students for future success.
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Since standardized testing can accurately assess the “whole” student, low test scores can be a real indicator of student knowledge and deficiencies.
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Many teachers at high-performing, high-poverty schools have said they use student test scores as diagnostic tools to address student weaknesses and raise achievement.
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The bigger problem with standardized tests is their emphasis on the achievement of only minimal proficiency.
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While it is imperative that even the least accomplished students have sufficient reading and calculating skills to become self-supporting, these are nonetheless the students with, overall, the fewest opportunities in the working world.
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Regardless of how high or low we choose to set the proficiency bar, standardized test scores are the most objective and best way of measuring it.
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The gap between proficiency and true comprehension would be especially wide in the case of the brightest students. These would be the ones least well-served by high-stakes testing.
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shared by David Hilton on 09 Jul 09
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BOOKS OF THE TIMES; Young Minds Force-Fed With Indigestible Texts - The New York Times - 0 views
www.nytimes.com/...d-with-indigestible-texts.html
censorship textbooks history teaching pc education articles
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As for the teaching of history, Ms. Ravitch argues, the sort of censorship being practiced today by textbook publishers can result in all manner of distortions and simplifications. For instance, to insist that depictions of women as nurses, elementary-school teachers, clerks, secretaries, tellers and librarians perpetuate demeaning stereotypes is to minimize ''the barriers that women faced,'' and to pretend ''that the gender equality of the late 20th and early 21st centuries was a customary condition in the past.''