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Kerry J

On national standardised testing on Flickr - Photo Sharing! - 7 views

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    A student's view on national standardised tests
Mark Boyle

edublogs: Angela McFarlane @ BLC07: Why do we build communities? - 0 views

  • I think eduBuzz.org has helped create not just this, but far more in terms of explicit reflection that wasn't there before. I'm wondering whether reflection is, in fact, a personal, private thing rather than a community issue, since often the community at large may not choose to be 'interested' in what you have to say. Take live blog posts, for example, written for the author more than the audience. The biggest problem of online communities, and we've seen this, too, in East Lothian and eduBuzz.org, is that novices in particular find it hard to filter information. Angela says that the problem is one students have, but so many of our teachers and managers also have trouble filtering what is important, what is of interest and might be important, what is of interest but might be a waste of time, and what is of no interest at all, personal or professional. Teachers and students are guilty of not knowing how to question the authority of an information source, other than to say blogs must be relatively poor quality and the BBC must be of relatively high quality (both, of course, had had their moments). And again, not just students but for many teachers, too, it is not cool to have an extensive vocabulary to express oneself. We see a resistance in students to use words to say how they are feeling beyond 'good', 'bad' and fine (and I'd be advocating the use of sites like We feel fine to both educate our students and help counter this claim to some extent), and we also see resistance from some teachers to use a more extensive vocabulary to think about teaching and learning. Finally, both teachers and students, because we over test, tend to not want to do anything that doesn't fit into the test. We cut and paste without engaging with material, we can take tests but cannot learn.
    • Mark Boyle
       
      From Diigo
Tony Searl

What is data science? - O'Reilly Radar - 1 views

  • how to use data effectively -- not just their own data, but all the data that's available and relevant
  • Increased storage capacity demands increased sophistication in the analysis and use of that data
  • Once you've parsed the data, you can start thinking about the quality of your data
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  • It's usually impossible to get "better" data, and you have no alternative but to work with the data at hand
  • The most meaningful definition I've heard: "big data" is when the size of the data itself becomes part of the problem
  • Precision has an allure, but in most data-driven applications outside of finance, that allure is deceptive. Most data analysis is comparative:
  • Storing data is only part of building a data platform, though. Data is only useful if you can do something with it, and enormous datasets present computational problems
  • Hadoop has been instrumental in enabling "agile" data analysis. In software development, "agile practices" are associated with faster product cycles, closer interaction between developers and consumers, and testing
  • Faster computations make it easier to test different assumptions, different datasets, and different algorithms
  • It's easer to consult with clients to figure out whether you're asking the right questions, and it's possible to pursue intriguing possibilities that you'd otherwise have to drop for lack of time.
  • Machine learning is another essential tool for the data scientist.
  • According to Mike Driscoll (@dataspora), statistics is the "grammar of data science." It is crucial to "making data speak coherently."
  • Data science isn't just about the existence of data, or making guesses about what that data might mean; it's about testing hypotheses and making sure that the conclusions you're drawing from the data are valid.
  • The problem with most data analysis algorithms is that they generate a set of numbers. To understand what the numbers mean, the stories they are really telling, you need to generate a graph
  • Visualization is crucial to each stage of the data scientist
  • Visualization is also frequently the first step in analysis
  • Casey Reas' and Ben Fry's Processing is the state of the art, particularly if you need to create animations that show how things change over time
  • Making data tell its story isn't just a matter of presenting results; it involves making connections, then going back to other data sources to verify them.
  • Physicists have a strong mathematical background, computing skills, and come from a discipline in which survival depends on getting the most from the data. They have to think about the big picture, the big problem. When you've just spent a lot of grant money generating data, you can't just throw the data out if it isn't as clean as you'd like. You have to make it tell its story. You need some creativity for when the story the data is telling isn't what you think it's telling.
  • It was an agile, flexible process that built toward its goal incrementally, rather than tackling a huge mountain of data all at once.
  • we're entering the era of products that are built on data.
  • We don't yet know what those products are, but we do know that the winners will be the people, and the companies, that find those products.
  • They can think outside the box to come up with new ways to view the problem, or to work with very broadly defined problems: "here's a lot of data, what can you make from it?"
Rhondda Powling

Educating Data | MIT Technology Review - 0 views

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    "In four small schools scattered across San Francisco, a data experiment is under way. That is where AltSchool is testing how technology can help teachers maximize their students' learning. Founded two years ago by Max ­Ventilla, a data expert and former head of personalization at Google, AltSchool runs schools filled with data-gathering technology. Information is captured from the moment each student arrives at school and checks in on an attendance app"
Rhondda Powling

The ChemCollective - 5 views

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    The Chemistry Collective is a collection of virtual labs, scenario-based learning activities and concepts tests, which can be incorporated into a variety of teaching approaches as pre-labs, homework, and in-class activities for individuals or teams.
Chris Betcher

Learning Curve - National Times - smh.com.au - 0 views

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    These are testing times for parents, students, principals and teachers. Share your experiences of schools and the education system with Anna Patty, the education editor for The Sydney Morning Herald
Rhondda Powling

ImageQuiz - 0 views

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    A website that lets users create image-based quizzes with ease. Upload your image, choose a title, and begin tagging the locations of the labels. Tagging works by drawing on the image to define what the quiz should test people on, and then labeling each of those tags. It is very easy to use and has a basic, simple interface and best of all - no signup required! This means you can get students to create their own quizzes without worrying about them having to create accounts and then forgetting the passwords
Steve Madsen

100 Useful Tools for Special Needs Students & Educators | Teaching Tips - 14 views

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    "This list of 100 useful tools can help anyone with a learning disability like ADHD, dyslexia or test anxiety, as well as students with visual or hearing impairments, use the Internet and other technology systems to help them with reading, math, organization, social skills, and more."
Chris Betcher

Kids robbed of playtime in pursuit of academic excellence - 3 views

  • Some schools and teachers are also contributing to a sense that children are "failing" kindergarten, and becoming anxious about how they would perform in NAPLAN tests
  • There is a perception we need to hurry up and get them smart. With the pressure to get literacy rates up implies what is happening in kindy is not good enough so we need to do more to hurry them up
  • It's robbing children of their childhood and parents are wasting their money as children are not developmentally ready at that age for formal learning
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  • It's like feeding children on vitamins instead of real food
  • Xander, my older son, hated kindy," the 37-year-old said. "He was bursting into tears
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    FEARFUL parents are unnecessarily sending pre-schoolers to early learning classes to give them an academic edge.
Pam Thompson

Birmingham Grid for Learning - Multiple Intelligences (Primary) - 0 views

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    Online MI test for primary students
Kerry J

Certiport | Home - Certify to Succeed - 5 views

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    Pre-service and in-service teacher and employee digital literacy evaluation tool. Educational Testing Services' iCriticalThinking (TM) Certification program is endorsed by the Global Digital Literacy Council and aligned with standards from the US's Association of Colleges and Research Libraries. "The core of the iCritical Thinking™ certification program is an outcomes-based examination that can  be incorporated into pre-service training and in-service development programs and used by administrators and education officials for consideration in teacher evaluation,training, placement, and advancement."
Tony Searl

Relationships and Uncertainty Matter Most: David Brooks in the New Yorker on Educationa... - 7 views

  • Brooks is arguing for a teaching that prioritizes inquiry, analysis, and process rather than mastering basic skills and learning the classics
  • inquiry based approach where students discuss and debate ideas, understand the importance of critically examining accepted wisdom, seek out new information and new sources and put them into the mix, construct their own answers and put them into play against other perspectives, deepening their understanding as they build their cases and accumulate more evidence for their point of view, yet still respectfully recognizing the possible validity of other points of view.
  • any environment where students and teachers are on the same inquiring side, exploring ideas and making meaning together.
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  • school effectiveness is measured solely by test scores on multiple choice tests, and not on whether students are deeply connecting with teachers or whether they are developing deeper understanding, a sense of nuance, a respect for multiple perspectives, a creativity that finds and then assesses many possible right answers.
  • how can we reconcile this January 2010 New Yorker Brooks with that December 2008 New York Time Brooks?
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    She stressed the importance of collecting conflicting information before making up one's mind, of calibrating one's certainty level to the strength of the evidence, of enduring uncertainty for long stretches as an answer became clear, of correcting for one's biases.
John Pearce

Free Technology for Teachers: Backup plans - some tips for teachers (guest post) - 1 views

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    "Every teacher is taught that back up plans are a must. Things change constantly in education and there are a variety of factors that can make plans change - computer breaks, internet goes out, file is corrupted, forgot your flash drive at home, you finish a lesson early with a class, your class has very low attendance due to a school activity or event (like AP testing, prom, etc), lesson runs long, students don't understand the material, class is interrupted by a fire drill. To deal with these issues, teachers must have back up plans ready to go and be flexible and organized. Here are some tips and resources for backup plans."
Nigel Coutts

Asking Why and Why and Why - The Learner's Way - 0 views

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    As children, we ask "Why?" a lot. It is a part of childhood, that special time when the many forces acting upon our cognitive development converge around a singular desire to ask "Why". It becomes the central focus of our conversational style, an incessant exclamation into the void which tests the patience of any nearby adult. But asking "Why" offers so much more.
Nigel Coutts

Questions to ask as we ponder the latest PISA results - The Learner's Way - 0 views

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    I am wanting to take a slightly different approach to this weeks post. The past week has seen the latest round of PISA results and the media has had a field day. Headlines have routinely attacked students, educators and education systems in equal measure. The Canberra Times reported that "Australian school scores plummet on world stage", the Sydney Morning Herald led with "Alarm bells': Australian students record worst result in global tests" and The Weekend Australian went with "PISA global educational rankings: Schools fail on maths, science". 
John Pearce

Facebook can serve as personality test › News in Science (ABC Science) - 1 views

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    "Companies who want to know more about prospective employees can learn a lot by checking their Facebook profiles, according to a new study. Jennifer Golbeck and colleagues at the University of Maryland surveyed the public profiles of nearly 300 Facebook users for information about their favourite activities, TV shows, movies, music, books, quotes, and membership in political or other organisations. They also looked at the "About Me" and "blurb" sections. The work did not include status updates or other data that is only available to users' online friends."
Nigel Coutts

Reflection from International Conference on Thinking ICOT - 0 views

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    If we teach our children to think then they will do better on the test and they will do better in life. This was one of the clear messages delivered by the presenters at the International Conference on Thinking (ICOT) in Bilbao, Spain.
Kerry J

myfuture MyGuide testing - 2 views

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    Get a sneak peek at the new myfuture My Guide career planner -- be a tester!
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    Get a sneak peek at the new myfuture My Guide career planner -- be a tester!
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