Why can't schools in the US embrace things such as this?

[episodic]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8341886.stm

This is totally awesome. Why can't schools embrace technology here?

 

[moshquerade]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8341886.stm

This is totally awesome. Why can't schools embrace technology here?

"Sanne Yde Schmidt says teachers trust pupils not to cheat."

 

[episodic]

"Sanne Yde Schmidt says teachers trust pupils not to cheat."

If you read the whole thing, they are on a timed exam with proctors walking around, and the consequence is expulsion at what appears to be their senior year. . . and they have access to the whole internet - just not messaging to peers in the group testing. . .

Who would want Billy's answers when you can get it from sources online? Isn't this what the new information age was supposed to be about - accessing information and digesting and utilizing it? I mean - spend more time teaching math and let me look up the dang formulas when I need them? Even professional mathematicians and engineers look up information all the time - learn more about the processes and spend less time memorizing volumes of stuff that is easily found. . . this is true for history, science, reading, art, etc. . . it is all there - spend more time learning to access it and utilize it for our immediate needs. . . Imagine how much more students could learn if they didn't spend year after year turning through page after page in books that repeat the same info year in and year out. . .

 

[Kalmah]

It makes sense though. Remembering things is always great.. But sometimes your ability to do some quick research is just as crucial.

 

[Fenixgoon]

If you read the whole thing, they are on a timed exam with proctors walking around, and the consequence is expulsion at what appears to be their senior year. . . and they have access to the whole internet - just not messaging to peers in the group testing. . .

Who would want Billy's answers when you can get it from sources online? Isn't this what the new information age was supposed to be about - accessing information and digesting and utilizing it? I mean - spend more time teaching math and let me look up the dang formulas when I need them? Even professional mathematicians and engineers look up information all the time - learn more about the processes and spend less time memorizing volumes of stuff that is easily found. . . this is true for history, science, reading, art, etc. . . it is all there - spend more time learning to access it and utilize it for our immediate needs. . . Imagine how much more students could learn if they didn't spend year after year turning through page after page in books that repeat the same info year in and year out. . .

you can't have a kid look up 2+2 = 4 and expect them to become a scientist or mathematician though. some things simply need to be ingrained into memory by repetition. basic math, reading, etc. most definitely need to be taught strongly. as you get closer to college the process (and concepts) become more important than equations and whatnot. many of my teachers allow us to use notes for this very reason - you won't be able to memorize every equation, but you will be able to know where to look when you need something.

 

[Parasitic]

Resources like the internet are great and wonderful when placed in the hands of a student who understands class materials and is sufficiently intelligent enough to think on his/her own. For those students, having the web at hand works to their advantage, being able to look up different quotes to support his/her arguments in an essay, or constants and equations to help answer a complex mathematics or science question.

Unfortunately those students are dragged down by the rest of the student body, who aren't able to work creatively and exercise their intellectual. As a consequence, schools and teachers are forced not to trust students with that kind of freedom.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Sounds great! I'd simply ask questions that there is little or no information to be found on the intarwebs about. While failing anyone who used wiki as a source.

 

[TallBill]

I fucking hate that I have to handwrite essays for classes. It's fucking archaic. Using a computer I could not only write more, but easily edit and arrange my thoughts as they develop.

My history tests end up being fucking dumb too. Memorize 40+ terms, then end up writing a paragraph about maybe 5-7 of them.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I fucking hate that I have to handwrite essays for classes. It's fucking archaic. Using a computer I could not only write more, but easily edit and arrange my thoughts as they develop.

My history tests end up being fucking dumb too. Memorize 40+ terms, then end up writing a paragraph about maybe 5-7 of them.

Switch to Anthropology, you'll be glad you did unless, you're a history major. In which case, you have my condolences.

 

[TallBill]

Switch to Anthropology, you'll be glad you did unless, you're a history major. In which case, you have my condolences.

I am a history major

 

[oogabooga]

I fucking hate that I have to handwrite essays for classes. It's fucking archaic. Using a computer I could not only write more, but easily edit and arrange my thoughts as they develop.

My history tests end up being fucking dumb too. Memorize 40+ terms, then end up writing a paragraph about maybe 5-7 of them.

Having written who knows how many English finals, I really wish I could have typed them as well. I am 100% sure it would have been easier on the people grading it to have read as well.

The blue book should be retired.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

Heh, this reminds me that for my last physics exam we were allowed a sheet on which we could write anything we wanted. It was completely useless, I looked at it only once to confirm a constant. It seems that whether or not memorizing mass information (or even writing it all down as I described) gets you an A in a course is indicative as to whether or not that course is doing its job well. When I cram the night before an exam and manage to get an A, I am happy that I got the A, but also know that something isn't right. If it was a good test that actually tested my understanding and ability to use what I learned creatively, rather than test my ability to regurgitate information, I would have failed.

 

[Triumph]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8341886.stm

This is totally awesome. Why can't schools embrace technology here?

Ok so what's so awesome about an open book test? How about we test what kids have actually learned? I never understood how throwing a computer in a classroom automatically makes the education "better." It's bullshit. You know what makes education better? A teacher who cares about the kids, and parents who push their kids to learn.

"Sanne Yde Schmidt, who heads the project at Greve, says: "If we're going to be a modern school and teach them things that are relevant for them in modern life, we have to teach them how to use the internet.""

Since when do kids need to be taught how to use the fucking internet?

 

[Parasitic]

Since when do kids need to be taught how to use the fucking internet?

Judging by how kids text and write in weird shorthand and that jailbait underaged girls post near naked pictures on myspace these days, I'd say yes kids really need to be taught how to use the internet.

 

[TallBill]

Having written who knows how many English finals, I really wish I could have typed them as well. I am 100% sure it would have been easier on the people grading it to have read as well.

The blue book should be retired.

Without a doubt it would be easier to read/grade. It's 2009, holy shit, let's not throw out core educational values, but can we update the way we do shit?

 

[Parasitic]

I think for college exams in the humanities computer usage should be allowed. It's not like it's that hard for schools to program their instructional labs to turn off other internet uses and monitor all activities when the computer is logged in as "test taking mode".

 

[zerocool1]

Without a doubt it would be easier to read/grade. It's 2009, holy shit, let's not throw out core educational values, but can we update the way we do shit?

I think I saw an article about how penmanship/writing ability has significantly dropped with txting, e-mail, and IM, which is obviously not surprising.

I think it's a good thing in the sense of you are rewarded with not what facts/dates you can regurgitate on an exam but the context and significance. I don't think I learned anything from classes where it was all about regurgitation because the info was promptly forgotten once it wasn't needed. In the real world we are not rewarded for what we can remember but how we apply our knowledge on a daily basis.

 

[nageov3t]

I don't really see the value that it's adding to the test.

 

[waffleironhead]

All of my weekly quiz and a few of the midterms have been online thru blackboard. The quiz are take as many times as you want and they either keep the highest score or the last score depending on the instructor. The midterm was take from home with no time limit.

edit: tech school classes

 

[oogabooga]

I think I saw an article about how penmanship/writing ability has significantly dropped with txting, e-mail, and IM, which is obviously not surprising.

I think it's a good thing in the sense of you are rewarded with not what facts/dates you can regurgitate on an exam but the context and significance. I don't think I learned anything from classes where it was all about regurgitation because the info was promptly forgotten once it wasn't needed. In the real world we are not rewarded for what we can remember but how we apply our knowledge on a daily basis.

I know for me personally while I may not remember the facts I had to regurgitate, the application of those facts got progressively more advanced as my schooling went on. At first it was simple "do you know it" then it was "do you know it and understand it?" and it moved on to extrapolating (well, for me : bullshitting) less pre-defined and more reasoned analysis/points using those facts.

I'm not advocating turning education upside down, I don't know nearly enough about it to say that. But I do know just being able to type would improve things. Honestly, I'd have taken a typewriter though I imagine that'd have been distracting as well

 

[Parasitic]

All of my weekly quiz and a few of the midterms have been online thru blackboard. The quiz are take as many times as you want and they either keep the highest score or the last score depending on the instructor. The midterm was take from home with no time limit.

edit: tech school classes

We did homework online for my first semester general physics class in undergrad. Man the system was retarded and would only accept numerical or symbolic answers (work was not evaluated). We got three tries in submission before it was final and sometimes you would be stuck on this one question for hours and still get it wrong, and only after submission would you realize that because the software was too dumb to differentiate between .0006, 6e-4 and 6E-4, or even more ridiculous things like identifying a*b or ab as not being the same.

 

[TallBill]

I think I saw an article about how penmanship/writing ability has significantly dropped with txting, e-mail, and IM, which is obviously not surprising.

I think it's a good thing in the sense of you are rewarded with not what facts/dates you can regurgitate on an exam but the context and significance. I don't think I learned anything from classes where it was all about regurgitation because the info was promptly forgotten once it wasn't needed. In the real world we are not rewarded for what we can remember but how we apply our knowledge on a daily basis.

Oh I agree. For my last test I simply looked up each of the terms that I needed to know on wikipedia or in the text and memorized it the night before the test. I was able to put each term into context though because I had attended class regularly and had a good idea of what was going on.

 

[DrPizza]

What kind of questions were the four questions? I think some of you guys feel that the questions are at a very low cognitive level of functioning. Who cares if the students can use the internet, provided the questions are written at a much higher cognitive level, requiring analysis and other critical thinking skills.

Also - "Denmark is a country which has traditionally embraced modern technology." And the dumbasses don't have software such that they can simultaneously view what's on every students monitor? Seems that they're almost a decade behind in computer software for educational settings.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

You know what's the worst part of education? It's when a teacher says, "this is how it is. Don't worry about how we got there, just memorize it." All of the formulas and such should be given on a test - the emphasis should be placed on being able to do some simple math and knowing what's going on in a problem.

Similarly, students should be allowed to use computers when writing essays, since they can write far more in less time, and can edit/reorganize more easily. I've handed in some terrible essays that weren't even that long, simply due to time constraints. I can type 60 words a minute easily, whereas I can probably only write about 30-40.

Here's an idea: each school has a certain amount of laptops specifically for testing. The teacher takes as many needed for his/her class, hands them out, and tells the students when they can start. When done, the teacher tells the students to stop typing and save the document. S/he then goes around with a flash drive, watches the student save the file to the drive, and then they're done.

 

[thepd7]

Since when is learning to sift through information more important than thinking critically? Not sure the computers add any value there (I'm coming from an engineering degree perspective).