Scott Adams

Postcards from Buster

PBS Kids has one of the characters from the Arthur TV series traveling around the US writing a travel blog and creating video clips and songs to go with the series.
It is called Postcards from Buster and is well produced. I am going to use the website this afternoon in my instructional technology class. No RSS, but otherwise a Very Good Thing!

The New York Times > Education > Indiana Essays Being Graded by Computers

Posted without comment but so that my students will see it...

The New York Times > Education > Indiana Essays Being Graded by Computers

May 19, 2004
Indiana Essays Being Graded by Computers
By SOL HURWITZ

NDIANAPOLIS - In the computer lab at Warren Central High School in mid-May, Craig Butler, a junior, squinted at the question on his screen, paused to ponder his answer and began typing.
Craig was one of 48,500 Indiana juniors gathering in high schools across the state to take the end-of-year online English essay test. Unlike most essay tests, however, this one is being graded not by a teacher but by a computer.
Craig has already decided he prefers computer grading. "Teachers, you know, they're human, so they have to stumble around telling you what you need to do," he said at a practice session. "A computer can put it in fine print what you did wrong and how to fix it."
But his English teacher, Richard P. Dayment, wonders whether the computer is up to the task. "For the computer to do the subjective grading that's necessary on an essay, I'll want to see it before I have faith in it," he said.
Indiana is the first state to use a computer-scored English essay test in a statewide assessment, and its experience could influence testing decisions in other states. Eighteen states now require students to pass a writing test for high school graduation, and, starting%2

Metacognitive learning strategies

Metacognitive learning strategies

Learning is very personal and we all have preferences which can be used to our advantage. The idea behind "Learning, Your Way" is to help you assess your needs and to consciously choose strategies which work for you.
Many of the strategies presented may seem like common sense, others may be unworkable or unrealistic for your situation. Keep the ones which work, discard those that don't work for you. Continually assess how effectively the strategies you have chosen work for you. By building a larger repertoire of strategies to choose from, you can improve your success in difficult subjects or situations.

Digital Resume Format

How should students construct a digital resume these days? This post has some good suggestions.

Digital Resume Format

The Digital Resume Format
Much of the time and cost savings gained by having applicants submit their resumes electronically is lost if your systems can’t read them and you have to pre-process them by hand. An effective e-resume is more than a simple transfer of text from an applicant’s old resumes into an e-mail message – and it’s well worth educating your prospective applicants about the best ways to create and submit them.
First, remember that you want a machine to read the resume and be able to interpret and retrieve it successfully. That means the message has to arrive in, or be converted to a plain text format. Also, search engines tend to stumble over graphics, fonts, bullets, indents and strange characters – so very simple and straightforward documents are best. Here are some formatting tips you can make your applicants aware of, to streamline your own workflow:

· Use only Helvetica, Arial, or Times Roman Fonts

· Use 10, 12, or 14 Point Size Fonts

· Make sure the entire document is left justified

· Set margins for approximately 65 characters

· Use spaces or dashes to emphasize text

· No bullets

· No graphics · No wing dings or special characters

EDMD 3013

Fall 2003

SEED 3702

Spring 2003

EDMD 6313

Taiwanese class
Spring 2003

ECED 3013

Spring 2003

EDMD 6883

Spring 2003

Handheld Instructional Technology