(I've taught science/math for past 15 years): In primary and secondary education any sort of curving is (and should be) looked down upon if not outright disallowed. If the average student scores an 94% on a test it should either be considered that the students learned the material or the teacher wrote too easy of a test. To tell a student that their 92% is worth a C because of how well other students did is poor practice because it shouldn't matter how well those students do - all that matters is how well the tested student meets the desired outcomes. All of my courses are graded on a pure percentage basis and if I write a poor exam (too easy) I record that for the next year; if I write too hard of an exam I either allow some form of a retake (it was a fair test but students didn't hold up their end of the learning bargain) or I scale the grades up (I wrote a poor exam that was too hard).
You complain about how students are taught by telling them the problems and answers. I've taught for the past 13 years in science and as soon as you do any reasonable inquiry you get complaints from both student and parents.. HE WON'T TELL MY SON THE ANSWER. Damned if you don't...
We're talking from two different sides of the issue, in addition to the fact that I'm talking about secondary education for which I have over 10 years of experience in addition to Ed credentials and graduate work in education.
You seem to talk about what you would like (all teachers to have a math ed degree, or that two teachers be assigned to a course), whereas I'm talking about the reality that:
a.) people who teach math 80% of the time have no better than a BA in math which means that not only do they have limited experience in upper level mathematics but their knowledge and application of mathematics is limited in addition to a basic and weak background in science
b.) even when people get a BA in math and then get a MA in teaching - the methods courses are weak and ineffective, barely providing what they need to teach the content let alone applications.
c.) schools cannot afford to have two teachers assigned to a single course, let alone teachers that are in high demand like math and physics as there just aren't enough qualified candidates out there.
d.) you underestimate the benefit of higher level mathematics when teaching. I would say that for secondary education linear algebra and high level calc are not enough - rather I would prefer the teacher have those courses in addition to upper division applied math courses in modern topics of science. I have seen numerous "math ed" teachers struggle with applications of mathematics beyond what is provided in the text - often teaching incorrect science or doing poor methods in modeling.
I have a graduate degree in physics and teach both physics and calculus and can give you a reason why science and math aren't taught in a more connected way: You can't find the teachers that know both subjects well enough. Math teachers vary from minors in math to BA's, much less often BS's and rarely an MS. In all of those cases they have only the basic science requirements of their degree, which do not qualify them to teach science and since finding an applied math experienced teacher is such a rare white elk sighting your only hope is finding a science teacher who can teach math. By and large, the only science that has such an ability will be physics.
Nearly every physics degree'd teacher that goes into teaching will be certified to teach math, this is because fulltime physics teaching positions are quite rare. Even so, at a large university (University of Washington) consider that only 30-50 BS physics majors graduate each year, of of which those who actually go into teaching grades 9-12 is probably 5 or less.
This means in a state like Washington, you are producing single digit BS Physics majors into the teaching profession annually. My friend and I, who both have our MS in physics were the only applicants for our jobs (physics teachers) that actually had degrees in physics - everyone else was either a minor or a degree in some other science field. This is in two good schools the Seattle metro area too - so you'd think you could find more than one qualified applicant with such a high population density. Now consider the situation anywhere outside of a large metro area and it gets even more grim on both the math and physics sides of things.
As someone who actually teaches kids I think many of the comments above are spot on. The focus of the question should be "how can she play and learn to read" vs "how can she play and not have to read". I'm also in agreement that at 6 she should be reading single syllable words by sight at a minimum. Considering kindergarten is the new first grade where kids are expected to be reading at age 5 - I'd place a 6 year old that can't read at below average.
I understand and agree for the most part. Its not every time that I can stop the other player or find something else to do and to be honest it those times don't make me happy. The death system in WoW is a million times more forgiving than the other game I play (Eve Online) - yet at least in Eve I can kill and remove a threat where in WoW they just respawn.
I don't know if there is an easy answer to your question other than not playing at all until a new game/solution comes out. Personally I just take the system for what it is right now, as it does provide a decent amount of fun for $15, and hope for a greener pasture in the future. I try every MMO out there as it comes out (in trial format if I can) and as soon as the fast playstyle of WoW is matched with the worldliness of Eve then I'll drop both games and switch.
'To me it always boils down to "ruin someone else's day."'
To be honest, your approach to the PvP server is wrong. When you start a character on your server you should think - "at any point in my character's existence I may run into other players that have the sole objective of stopping me from doing what I want to do." If you can get past that statement then you are ready for a PvP server. Thats it.
When I run into a situation where I'm stopped from my immediate objective either I try and find a solution (which is a challenge and what I see as the point of a PvP server) or I find a new immediate objective that gets me out of the current situation. For example, if my corpse is being camped either a.) I need to kill those that are camping me or b.) find a new place to hunt. When you approach the game that way I think you'll find PvP to be alot more acceptable and less of a grief situation.
You don't have to pay for the Live! service if all you want to do is download content/patches/videos/demos or whatever. The only time you have to pay is if you want to play multiplayer.
PCIe.. The e stands for 'express'. PCIexpress is a newer format and is the way PCI/AGP is going now. In fact, getting AGP video cards is getting more and more difficult.
Beyond the fact that this really isn't an Xbox hack but packet tunneling, your comment is misleading... It should say "play a system link/lan game over the internet." With the tunnel software it isn't exactly like playing with Live features without a Live subscription (no matchmaking, downloads, scoreboards, etc.)
Although there is a reason why they won't, there is no reason the company couldn't roll out a system whereby a less hard-core player could pay by the hour and those who want unmetered access pay the $15 a month.
The company has access to every online metric for their product, I'm sure they could determine a decent per-hour rate. I'd still be subscribed to World of Warcraft right now if that was the case. This way if a casual player gets alot of free time and wants to go hard-core all they have to do is upgrade their account for the month.
The reason why the above will probably never happen is because companies like Blizzard most likely make a metric-ton of money off of very inactive accounts that are maintained by card debits. For example, if you aren't paying attention you might miss your payment date, thus you've already paid for the month (one where you many not be playing). Or you may not be playing alot this month but plan on it next month, so rather than start and stop payments you just let the month ride...
As a high school teacher myself I can say close to 25% of kids have an ipod of some format. I'd say between 30-50% of kids have a music player going at some point during the day. Heck in just my classes alone I know of a handful of kids that already have video ipods.
As a teacher at a high school I can understand your complaints about the soda machines but there is a "solution" of sorts. At my school we changed the options in the machine from pop to a juice selection. Remember Coke owns more drinks than, well...Coke. Blame the administrators for not exploring their options fully.
In regards to AO, heck if they'd extend the offer to past accounts so I could reactivate my old account under the new scheme I'd do it. Right now, I don't see a point in playing up a new character when I have decent ones that already exist. Like others have said, in this case I dont think the immersion is broken as bad since this is a futuristic game with billboards already in place. As soon as I see my Orc in World of Warcraft carrying a shield with a Ford symbol on it, then we've got a problem.:)
What I would like to see in a game. No PvP except maybe in arena's with very clear rules and no cheats.
Horizon's doesn't have a lick of PvP, arguably one of the best crafting systems available, housing, etc. Its tanking big time. Most likely due to depth of content and too many bugs in a production game.
If anything, your statements prove not that the developers dont get it, but that they have to continue making games that suit many types of people and hopefully the type they get are those to continue with the game. Considering subscription fees, MMO's have easily the potential to outstrip money made from Sim's (offline) expansions. Also consider they can offer expansions themselves.
I think Raph Koster (lead developer of Star Wars Galaxies) has said it best in that there are so many facets to develop in making a game (housing, quests, pvp, crafting, etc.) that its really hard to do using the latest technology (good graphics, sound and client speed) without busting a major budget. With so many MMO's on the market, people have room to be finicky (many offer a free trial sooner or later) and will not stand to have buggy products even at launch (Anarcy Online, WWII Online, AC2, Horizons). Those games all died at launch, due to bugs, even though it could be argued that AO and maybe AC2 are/have developed into decent games.
Considering Artifact (developers of Horizons) is filing for bankruptcy you can see all of their financial dealings.. (since it is published as a part of the chapter 11)
For example, they have 101k in salaries per month and about 200k in other expenses. That means even with that $250k a month coming from subscriptions they are in the hole at a minimum of $50k per month (and thus the bankruptcy). You should note that this is also after they have laid-off/fired employee's and taken salary/benefit cuts.
It isn't cheap to produce a MMO, and it is even worse when you don't do good business (Artifact has has a shadow over the company throughout its existence).
Puh-leeze. The "science" part sounds like something from Star Trek: The Next Generation
Hmm.. When I was in grad school for physics, you'd see titles like the one you make fun of tossed all over the place in papers and presentations. For example....Lanthanide Doped Wide Band Gap Semiconductors: Intra-4f Luminescence and Lattice Location Studies.
They cannot really learn in a classroom or even by reading a book. But put them to work doing those certain things they can learn, and they learn more, and faster, than they would in school.
As an educator, my opinion on why you and so many people like you experienced the above, is that the vast majority of people lean by doing not by reading or being told what to do. Thus the reason for your success and learning in the work environment vs academic.
Traditional teaching involves a person standing at the front of the room as the source for knowledge. As a teacher this is easy to do, just "pour" the knowledge in - but it has been shown time and time again that its the least effective.
This is why we see so many new materials related to "inquiry" learning. The problem now is to produce good inquiry material.
What suprises me here are all of the posters stating how Napster no longer has 'cred' and should be allowed to just die. Why? Slashdot of all places is where I'd expect and hope people would see the value in competition and market/product choices for consumers.
I don't see how we as consumers are served by letting iTunes run the market. This isn't a debate on which service is better, but rather if we should be excited about one of the services trying to expand its market options.
I think the NGage suffers from the same problems of convergence as PDA phones and probably limits itself to a similar, albeit smaller, market slice. Meaning, the people who buy PDA phones are those who would like to have both features but aren't particularly tied to the bonuses that the individual products can provide.
I think PDA phones have it better in that the features provided are easier to do and less likely tot leave you wanting a stand alone device. Consider the gaming mentality though, gamers want faster, better graphics and more options. I definitely think this convergence device will (and has) have a hard time catering to that crowd.
So in follow up, can Nokia maintain the product with such a small market segment? Considering the price of development (anyone know what royalties Nokia is tossing out?) I doubt they can maintain any sort of decent game library.
Like others have noted I've gone with the phone/PDA combo. Although my phone is larger than other phones and has a smaller screen than PDA's, it does both jobs well enough that its pro's outweigh these con's (for me). I really hope that the phone/PDA trend continues and it seems to me to be a logical convergence for these type of devices.
Although I was never a standalone PDA user, my needs as a multi-classroom teacher have driven me to one with an on-demand internet connection. Now I can check my email from all of my accounts etc. between classes when getting on a computer at school is just not possible. Not only are they slow, but I have to make sure the previous teacher is done with it.
A variety of freeware apps have made the PDA a highly usable device from what I used to define as a tech trinket. With Plucker I schedule web page download/conversion and push it to the phone. This covers my daily news needs. With Directory Assistant I can look up addresses, directions, maps and telephone numbers.
The phone has SDIO card support, in addition to MP3 playback. I use my Neuros for MP3's but its nice to know the phone could act as a temp replacement for my MP3 habits.
Finally, although it did cost money, Snappermail is what I use for email as it not only can render html email but it also handles attachements quite nicely and can schedule email download (will wake up the PDA if needed). If I schedule it right, not only are all of my news needs met, but so is email and I don't have to invoke the internet connection and wait for the update as its already been downloaded.
Just my two bits on why I feel PDA's still have a future.
Considering 99% of the time that such convergence devices have lower quality components - I'll never go as far to just purchase the device, I'll still buy individual components that I need.
For example, the XBox/PS2 can play DVDs, without progressive scan etc. and often are more finicky in general DVD playback.
The XBox can also do jukebox type activities... Sans playlists, song ratings, multiple file formats and ID3 tag sorting.
The multifunction device might work for the unwashed non-technical masses, but I'd like to have all of those features and more in my entertainment system.
Slashdot Mirror
(I've taught science/math for past 15 years): In primary and secondary education any sort of curving is (and should be) looked down upon if not outright disallowed. If the average student scores an 94% on a test it should either be considered that the students learned the material or the teacher wrote too easy of a test. To tell a student that their 92% is worth a C because of how well other students did is poor practice because it shouldn't matter how well those students do - all that matters is how well the tested student meets the desired outcomes. All of my courses are graded on a pure percentage basis and if I write a poor exam (too easy) I record that for the next year; if I write too hard of an exam I either allow some form of a retake (it was a fair test but students didn't hold up their end of the learning bargain) or I scale the grades up (I wrote a poor exam that was too hard).
You complain about how students are taught by telling them the problems and answers. I've taught for the past 13 years in science and as soon as you do any reasonable inquiry you get complaints from both student and parents.. HE WON'T TELL MY SON THE ANSWER. Damned if you don't...
We're talking from two different sides of the issue, in addition to the fact that I'm talking about secondary education for which I have over 10 years of experience in addition to Ed credentials and graduate work in education.
You seem to talk about what you would like (all teachers to have a math ed degree, or that two teachers be assigned to a course), whereas I'm talking about the reality that:
a.) people who teach math 80% of the time have no better than a BA in math which means that not only do they have limited experience in upper level mathematics but their knowledge and application of mathematics is limited in addition to a basic and weak background in science
b.) even when people get a BA in math and then get a MA in teaching - the methods courses are weak and ineffective, barely providing what they need to teach the content let alone applications.
c.) schools cannot afford to have two teachers assigned to a single course, let alone teachers that are in high demand like math and physics as there just aren't enough qualified candidates out there.
d.) you underestimate the benefit of higher level mathematics when teaching. I would say that for secondary education linear algebra and high level calc are not enough - rather I would prefer the teacher have those courses in addition to upper division applied math courses in modern topics of science. I have seen numerous "math ed" teachers struggle with applications of mathematics beyond what is provided in the text - often teaching incorrect science or doing poor methods in modeling.
I have a graduate degree in physics and teach both physics and calculus and can give you a reason why science and math aren't taught in a more connected way: You can't find the teachers that know both subjects well enough. Math teachers vary from minors in math to BA's, much less often BS's and rarely an MS. In all of those cases they have only the basic science requirements of their degree, which do not qualify them to teach science and since finding an applied math experienced teacher is such a rare white elk sighting your only hope is finding a science teacher who can teach math. By and large, the only science that has such an ability will be physics.
Nearly every physics degree'd teacher that goes into teaching will be certified to teach math, this is because fulltime physics teaching positions are quite rare. Even so, at a large university (University of Washington) consider that only 30-50 BS physics majors graduate each year, of of which those who actually go into teaching grades 9-12 is probably 5 or less.
This means in a state like Washington, you are producing single digit BS Physics majors into the teaching profession annually. My friend and I, who both have our MS in physics were the only applicants for our jobs (physics teachers) that actually had degrees in physics - everyone else was either a minor or a degree in some other science field. This is in two good schools the Seattle metro area too - so you'd think you could find more than one qualified applicant with such a high population density. Now consider the situation anywhere outside of a large metro area and it gets even more grim on both the math and physics sides of things.
As someone who actually teaches kids I think many of the comments above are spot on. The focus of the question should be "how can she play and learn to read" vs "how can she play and not have to read". I'm also in agreement that at 6 she should be reading single syllable words by sight at a minimum. Considering kindergarten is the new first grade where kids are expected to be reading at age 5 - I'd place a 6 year old that can't read at below average.
I understand and agree for the most part. Its not every time that I can stop the other player or find something else to do and to be honest it those times don't make me happy. The death system in WoW is a million times more forgiving than the other game I play (Eve Online) - yet at least in Eve I can kill and remove a threat where in WoW they just respawn.
I don't know if there is an easy answer to your question other than not playing at all until a new game/solution comes out. Personally I just take the system for what it is right now, as it does provide a decent amount of fun for $15, and hope for a greener pasture in the future. I try every MMO out there as it comes out (in trial format if I can) and as soon as the fast playstyle of WoW is matched with the worldliness of Eve then I'll drop both games and switch.
'To me it always boils down to "ruin someone else's day."'
To be honest, your approach to the PvP server is wrong. When you start a character on your server you should think - "at any point in my character's existence I may run into other players that have the sole objective of stopping me from doing what I want to do." If you can get past that statement then you are ready for a PvP server. Thats it.
When I run into a situation where I'm stopped from my immediate objective either I try and find a solution (which is a challenge and what I see as the point of a PvP server) or I find a new immediate objective that gets me out of the current situation. For example, if my corpse is being camped either a.) I need to kill those that are camping me or b.) find a new place to hunt. When you approach the game that way I think you'll find PvP to be alot more acceptable and less of a grief situation.
You don't have to pay for the Live! service if all you want to do is download content/patches/videos/demos or whatever. The only time you have to pay is if you want to play multiplayer.
PCIe.. The e stands for 'express'. PCIexpress is a newer format and is the way PCI/AGP is going now. In fact, getting AGP video cards is getting more and more difficult.
Beyond the fact that this really isn't an Xbox hack but packet tunneling, your comment is misleading... It should say "play a system link/lan game over the internet." With the tunnel software it isn't exactly like playing with Live features without a Live subscription (no matchmaking, downloads, scoreboards, etc.)
--AlphaDecay
Although there is a reason why they won't, there is no reason the company couldn't roll out a system whereby a less hard-core player could pay by the hour and those who want unmetered access pay the $15 a month.
The company has access to every online metric for their product, I'm sure they could determine a decent per-hour rate. I'd still be subscribed to World of Warcraft right now if that was the case. This way if a casual player gets alot of free time and wants to go hard-core all they have to do is upgrade their account for the month.
The reason why the above will probably never happen is because companies like Blizzard most likely make a metric-ton of money off of very inactive accounts that are maintained by card debits. For example, if you aren't paying attention you might miss your payment date, thus you've already paid for the month (one where you many not be playing). Or you may not be playing alot this month but plan on it next month, so rather than start and stop payments you just let the month ride...
--AlphaDecay
As a high school teacher myself I can say close to 25% of kids have an ipod of some format. I'd say between 30-50% of kids have a music player going at some point during the day. Heck in just my classes alone I know of a handful of kids that already have video ipods.
--AlphaDecay
As a teacher at a high school I can understand your complaints about the soda machines but there is a "solution" of sorts. At my school we changed the options in the machine from pop to a juice selection. Remember Coke owns more drinks than, well...Coke. Blame the administrators for not exploring their options fully.
:)
In regards to AO, heck if they'd extend the offer to past accounts so I could reactivate my old account under the new scheme I'd do it. Right now, I don't see a point in playing up a new character when I have decent ones that already exist. Like others have said, in this case I dont think the immersion is broken as bad since this is a futuristic game with billboards already in place. As soon as I see my Orc in World of Warcraft carrying a shield with a Ford symbol on it, then we've got a problem.
--AlphaDecay
What I would like to see in a game. No PvP except maybe in arena's with very clear rules and no cheats.
Horizon's doesn't have a lick of PvP, arguably one of the best crafting systems available, housing, etc. Its tanking big time. Most likely due to depth of content and too many bugs in a production game.
If anything, your statements prove not that the developers dont get it, but that they have to continue making games that suit many types of people and hopefully the type they get are those to continue with the game. Considering subscription fees, MMO's have easily the potential to outstrip money made from Sim's (offline) expansions. Also consider they can offer expansions themselves.
I think Raph Koster (lead developer of Star Wars Galaxies) has said it best in that there are so many facets to develop in making a game (housing, quests, pvp, crafting, etc.) that its really hard to do using the latest technology (good graphics, sound and client speed) without busting a major budget. With so many MMO's on the market, people have room to be finicky (many offer a free trial sooner or later) and will not stand to have buggy products even at launch (Anarcy Online, WWII Online, AC2, Horizons). Those games all died at launch, due to bugs, even though it could be argued that AO and maybe AC2 are/have developed into decent games.
--AlphaDecay
Considering Artifact (developers of Horizons) is filing for bankruptcy you can see all of their financial dealings.. (since it is published as a part of the chapter 11)
For example, they have 101k in salaries per month and about 200k in other expenses. That means even with that $250k a month coming from subscriptions they are in the hole at a minimum of $50k per month (and thus the bankruptcy). You should note that this is also after they have laid-off/fired employee's and taken salary/benefit cuts.
It isn't cheap to produce a MMO, and it is even worse when you don't do good business (Artifact has has a shadow over the company throughout its existence).
--AlphaDecay
Puh-leeze. The "science" part sounds like something from Star Trek: The Next Generation
Hmm.. When I was in grad school for physics, you'd see titles like the one you make fun of tossed all over the place in papers and presentations. For example....Lanthanide Doped Wide Band Gap Semiconductors: Intra-4f Luminescence and Lattice Location Studies.
--AlphaDecay
They cannot really learn in a classroom or even by reading a book. But put them to work doing those certain things they can learn, and they learn more, and faster, than they would in school.
As an educator, my opinion on why you and so many people like you experienced the above, is that the vast majority of people lean by doing not by reading or being told what to do. Thus the reason for your success and learning in the work environment vs academic.
Traditional teaching involves a person standing at the front of the room as the source for knowledge. As a teacher this is easy to do, just "pour" the knowledge in - but it has been shown time and time again that its the least effective.
This is why we see so many new materials related to "inquiry" learning. The problem now is to produce good inquiry material.
--AlphaDecay
I call bullshit.
I say, have a helping of "sense of humor".. No go ahead, take two helpings.
-AlphaDecay
Which means you can't extend the memory storage beyond the present 128MB RAM (with backup battery) and approx 15MB flash.
Actually Sandisk makes a SDIO WiFi card with 256MB memory on it: Connect Wi-Fi SD Card
--AlphaDecay
What suprises me here are all of the posters stating how Napster no longer has 'cred' and should be allowed to just die. Why? Slashdot of all places is where I'd expect and hope people would see the value in competition and market/product choices for consumers.
I don't see how we as consumers are served by letting iTunes run the market. This isn't a debate on which service is better, but rather if we should be excited about one of the services trying to expand its market options.
Just my two bits on the user reaction here.
--AlphaDecay
I think the NGage suffers from the same problems of convergence as PDA phones and probably limits itself to a similar, albeit smaller, market slice. Meaning, the people who buy PDA phones are those who would like to have both features but aren't particularly tied to the bonuses that the individual products can provide.
I think PDA phones have it better in that the features provided are easier to do and less likely tot leave you wanting a stand alone device. Consider the gaming mentality though, gamers want faster, better graphics and more options. I definitely think this convergence device will (and has) have a hard time catering to that crowd.
So in follow up, can Nokia maintain the product with such a small market segment? Considering the price of development (anyone know what royalties Nokia is tossing out?) I doubt they can maintain any sort of decent game library.
--AlphaDecay
Like others have noted I've gone with the phone/PDA combo. Although my phone is larger than other phones and has a smaller screen than PDA's, it does both jobs well enough that its pro's outweigh these con's (for me). I really hope that the phone/PDA trend continues and it seems to me to be a logical convergence for these type of devices.
Although I was never a standalone PDA user, my needs as a multi-classroom teacher have driven me to one with an on-demand internet connection. Now I can check my email from all of my accounts etc. between classes when getting on a computer at school is just not possible. Not only are they slow, but I have to make sure the previous teacher is done with it.
A variety of freeware apps have made the PDA a highly usable device from what I used to define as a tech trinket. With Plucker I schedule web page download/conversion and push it to the phone. This covers my daily news needs. With Directory Assistant I can look up addresses, directions, maps and telephone numbers.
The phone has SDIO card support, in addition to MP3 playback. I use my Neuros for MP3's but its nice to know the phone could act as a temp replacement for my MP3 habits.
Finally, although it did cost money, Snappermail is what I use for email as it not only can render html email but it also handles attachements quite nicely and can schedule email download (will wake up the PDA if needed). If I schedule it right, not only are all of my news needs met, but so is email and I don't have to invoke the internet connection and wait for the update as its already been downloaded.
Just my two bits on why I feel PDA's still have a future.
--AlphaDecay
Considering 99% of the time that such convergence devices have lower quality components - I'll never go as far to just purchase the device, I'll still buy individual components that I need.
For example, the XBox/PS2 can play DVDs, without progressive scan etc. and often are more finicky in general DVD playback.
The XBox can also do jukebox type activities... Sans playlists, song ratings, multiple file formats and ID3 tag sorting.
The multifunction device might work for the unwashed non-technical masses, but I'd like to have all of those features and more in my entertainment system.
--AlphaDecay