" I have suffered the very same afflicion friend. You know what has helped me? Age. For some reason, when I hit my late twenties, I just started getting up earlier. "
This happened to me as well. I think most people just need less slepp once they're done growing.
I am currently in the process of founding a private secondary (grades 6-12) school, and have put a lot of thougth lately into how to integrate computers into teaching. The following ideas are desinged for younger students in what I suspect are much smaller (8-15 students) and more focused (ie, more teacher-led) environments. However, as I go, I'll make some suggestions for college use, and for english classes in particular.
1-If freshman are reuired to take an "intro to computing" class (at many universities they are) talk to the professor, and get a copy of the curriculum. That way, you have at least some idea of a lowest common denomenator for tech-literacy. (ie, don't require Word until the computer class has already taught it) This will save you at least a little time to teach enlgish instead of computer literacy. However, if there is not such a class, and the school as a whole decided to set you to teaching english inthe computer lab (as opposed to it being your idea, or the english departments) they may surreptitiously be trying to turn you into a computer teacher becasue they feel freshman comp is unecessary or inflated. complain loudly if you feel this is the case.
2-Post summaries of lectures in html, with links to a glossary and other useful side-notes. Make sure students can open the document and edit it, if they would like to take theri notes that way.
3-When you are speaking, make ABSOLUTELY sure that all the students can see you. Many students (especially the dyslexic ones, who likely are to be the ones who need yr class most) will not be able to follow a discussion without being able to see you. For this reason, it is not a good idea to require students to type and listen at the same time, as most students will need to look at either the keyboard or the screen as they type.
4-Try not to force students to read things form the screen. Instead, allow them to use printed copies if they can. Staring at a computer screen for extended periods of time is very bad for some peoples eyes, and can trigger migranes and even seizures in some people. (especially on low-quality moniters)
5-If the course is basically "how to write an essay" (which is what I understadn frshman englsih to be), your goal should be to help the students learn to use a computer as a tool to further that goal. However, some students will rpefer to use other means (I still write almost almost everyting out in compostition books, and then type it, and I'm a professional writer who reads slashdot)
6-Allow students to post theri writings for comment to a community forum, but do not require them to post "rough drafts". Many writeers do not really write rought drafts, but in fact kepp almost exactly theri original work thru to the final publication. Unless the function of the calss is to teach peer-review, getting comments form other 18 year olds can be an exceptionally cruel and emotionally traumatic thing to have to go thru, particularly if there is a wide skill-range of writers in the class.
I've never actually taken a compostiiton class (I went to Caltech, which didn't require one unless you couldn't test out of it. My grad school wanted me to take one, since i never had, but i managed to write my way into testing out of that as well.) However, I assume that most of class time is not actually spent on writing. for this reason, I do not think the computer lab setting is really very appropriate.
Good luck. Should you have any questions feel free to contact me.
Yes, the internet has made it easier for folks to get their music. Does this really help artists? I see how it could be a lot easier for an unknown band to get noticed, but how does it help them make money?
Here is an excellent essay/letter form sam Rosenthal, the owner of Projekt records (an independent label) on how napster helps unknown bands.
its probably time for a website to host a links database - just thousands and thousands of URLs, anyone can submit a link,no
testing would be done to even ensure it was a link. then instead of saying `get your decss source here` you`d say `check out link #139523 from the links site`
Hmmm...what you're suggesting makes a lot of sense. we want an easy way to describe the location of a piece of information . and we'd like this way to be standard across the whole internet. something like a UNIFORM (or universal) REFERNCE LOCATOR. hmmm...what an orignal and outstanding idea.
Here's a way to make it even more effective: make some small changes to the letter to make it into a petition. (You can see my version (in plain text) here.) Print it out and take it to work/school with you. (Assumedly, many of you spend great quantities of your time in geek-saturated areas. Leave it on the bulletin board, with a short note asking people to sign it. Come back in a few days, put it in an envelope and mail it. Tada! Instant activism.
abszero
(also, on a side note, the treaty, if broadly interpreted, threatens to render large sections of theoretical number theory illegal.)
I'm reminded of a Dennis Miller quote: "Think of the average person in America. Now realize that 50% of America is dumber than that." It's a pain, but we will have to deal.
In all fairness, the quote is not orignially his. The quote sprang form the lips of the immortal, immoral, J.R. Bob Dobbs. Remember, Bob has died for your sins--twice so far! Perhaps, however, you were confused into thinking Dennis Miller was an avatar of Bob. This seems quite likely, indeed. Hail Eris!
Uh... can you exsplain why the library of the United States Congress should care about access by people from other contries?
Because we can afford to.
Because reliable, cheap/free (beer), free(speech) access to information is THE breeding ground for democracy.
Because the more places in the world have access to this information, the safer the information is.
Because, once the information is avaliable electronically, there is little to no extra cost involved in providing it to foriegn people (at, least, those who read English).
Becasue the notion of providing the contents of the Library to the world is romantic and idealistic, and romantic idealists are not nationalist pricks.
I would also like to read paper over computer screen but when you think of all the paper that could be saved by putting bookd online i will put up with a little eye strain.
I can't presume to speak for the author of this, but perhaps what he (she?) meant by "paper could be saved" is that the existing paper copies could be archived and preserved far more efficiently, as they would need to be exposed to far less everyday wear and tear from being used.
Moreover, books (and other more perishable media) could be stored in more effectively "preservationist" environments if they had to be removed less frequently. (I don't know much about this sort of thing, but requlated temp/humidity and such has got to be good for books)
Please note that I'm not suggesting that, by any means, we make "real" books available only to the elite, or something like that. This seems to be what Billingsworth was afraid of. (or, at least, it seems a reasonable thing to be afraid of). However, as online holdings increase, fewer call will be made for tree-media materials. Let's face it, crummy screen or not, for "serious research" very little about tree-media can beat the searching, indexing, and exporting capabilities of a simple electronic format.
abszero --- "..it is insufficient to protect ourselves with laws; we need to protect ourselves with mathematics." Bruce Schneier, Applied Cryptography.
You seem to not have read the ACLU's position. (find it at http://www.aclu.org/court/cyberpatrol_motion.html) They are not taking the position that CyberPatrol should not block the sites containing cphack. There is no restriction in that (not that I'm defending censorware, but it isn't madatory (yet)) Rather, the ACLU's position is that the court injunction requiring such sites be taken down constitutes restriction of speech. In this light, your statements do not make much sense. Mattel is petitioning the court that no one be allowed to present material they find objectionable--this is clearly a restriction of speech, and it is on these grounds that the ACLU has become involoved.
Slashdot Mirror
"I'm not quite old enough for the Schoolhouse Rock stuff, but I've seen a few snips here and there (I'm not quite yet 30)."
You must have just midded it, becasue you're the perfect age. I'm 27, and I remember it perfectly.
" I have suffered the very same afflicion friend. You know what has helped me? Age. For some reason, when I hit my late twenties, I just started getting up earlier. "
This happened to me as well. I think most people just need less slepp once they're done growing.
I am currently in the process of founding a private secondary (grades 6-12) school, and have put a lot of thougth lately into how to integrate computers into teaching. The following ideas are desinged for younger students in what I suspect are much smaller (8-15 students) and more focused (ie, more teacher-led) environments. However, as I go, I'll make some suggestions for college use, and for english classes in particular.
1-If freshman are reuired to take an "intro to computing" class (at many universities they are) talk to the professor, and get a copy of the curriculum. That way, you have at least some idea of a lowest common denomenator for tech-literacy. (ie, don't require Word until the computer class has already taught it) This will save you at least a little time to teach enlgish instead of computer literacy. However, if there is not such a class, and the school as a whole decided to set you to teaching english inthe computer lab (as opposed to it being your idea, or the english departments) they may surreptitiously be trying to turn you into a computer teacher becasue they feel freshman comp is unecessary or inflated. complain loudly if you feel this is the case.
2-Post summaries of lectures in html, with links to a glossary and other useful side-notes. Make sure students can open the document and edit it, if they would like to take theri notes that way.
3-When you are speaking, make ABSOLUTELY sure that all the students can see you. Many students (especially the dyslexic ones, who likely are to be the ones who need yr class most) will not be able to follow a discussion without being able to see you. For this reason, it is not a good idea to require students to type and listen at the same time, as most students will need to look at either the keyboard or the screen as they type.
4-Try not to force students to read things form the screen. Instead, allow them to use printed copies if they can. Staring at a computer screen for extended periods of time is very bad for some peoples eyes, and can trigger migranes and even seizures in some people. (especially on low-quality moniters)
5-If the course is basically "how to write an essay" (which is what I understadn frshman englsih to be), your goal should be to help the students learn to use a computer as a tool to further that goal. However, some students will rpefer to use other means (I still write almost almost everyting out in compostition books, and then type it, and I'm a professional writer who reads slashdot)
6-Allow students to post theri writings for comment to a community forum, but do not require them to post "rough drafts". Many writeers do not really write rought drafts, but in fact kepp almost exactly theri original work thru to the final publication. Unless the function of the calss is to teach peer-review, getting comments form other 18 year olds can be an exceptionally cruel and emotionally traumatic thing to have to go thru, particularly if there is a wide skill-range of writers in the class.
I've never actually taken a compostiiton class (I went to Caltech, which didn't require one unless you couldn't test out of it. My grad school wanted me to take one, since i never had, but i managed to write my way into testing out of that as well.) However, I assume that most of class time is not actually spent on writing. for this reason, I do not think the computer lab setting is really very appropriate.
Good luck. Should you have any questions feel free to contact me.
sara at academy23.org
Yes, the internet has made it easier for folks to get their music. Does this really help artists? I see how it could be a lot easier for an unknown band to get noticed, but how does it help them make money?
Here is an excellent essay/letter form sam Rosenthal, the owner of Projekt records (an independent label) on how napster helps unknown bands.
Hmmm...what you're suggesting makes a lot of sense. we want an easy way to describe the location of a piece of information . and we'd like this way to be standard across the whole internet. something like a UNIFORM (or universal) REFERNCE LOCATOR. hmmm...what an orignal and outstanding idea.
abszero
Here's a way to make it even more effective: make some small changes to the letter to make it into a petition. (You can see my version (in plain text) here.) Print it out and take it to work/school with you. (Assumedly, many of you spend great quantities of your time in geek-saturated areas. Leave it on the bulletin board, with a short note asking people to sign it. Come back in a few days, put it in an envelope and mail it. Tada! Instant activism.
abszero
(also, on a side note, the treaty, if broadly interpreted, threatens to render large sections of theoretical number theory illegal.)
I'm reminded of a Dennis Miller quote: "Think of the average person in America. Now realize that 50% of America is dumber than that." It's a pain, but we will have to deal.
In all fairness, the quote is not orignially his. The quote sprang form the lips of the immortal, immoral, J.R. Bob Dobbs. Remember, Bob has died for your sins--twice so far! Perhaps, however, you were confused into thinking Dennis Miller was an avatar of Bob. This seems quite likely, indeed. Hail Eris!
Church of the SubGenius
abszero
Uh... can you exsplain why the library of the United States Congress should care about access by people from other contries?
- Because we can afford to.
- Because reliable, cheap/free (beer), free(speech) access to information is THE breeding ground for democracy.
- Because the more places in the world have access to this information, the safer the information is.
- Because, once the information is avaliable electronically, there is little to no extra cost involved in providing it to foriegn people (at, least, those who read English).
- Becasue the notion of providing the contents of the Library to the world is romantic and idealistic, and romantic idealists are not nationalist pricks.
- Becasue information want to be fucking free.
---abszero
I would also like to read paper over computer screen but when you think of all the paper that could be saved by putting bookd online i will put up with a little eye strain.
I can't presume to speak for the author of this, but perhaps what he (she?) meant by "paper could be saved" is that the existing paper copies could be archived and preserved far more efficiently, as they would need to be exposed to far less everyday wear and tear from being used.
Moreover, books (and other more perishable media) could be stored in more effectively "preservationist" environments if they had to be removed less frequently. (I don't know much about this sort of thing, but requlated temp/humidity and such has got to be good for books)
Please note that I'm not suggesting that, by any means, we make "real" books available only to the elite, or something like that. This seems to be what Billingsworth was afraid of. (or, at least, it seems a reasonable thing to be afraid of). However, as online holdings increase, fewer call will be made for tree-media materials. Let's face it, crummy screen or not, for "serious research" very little about tree-media can beat the searching, indexing, and exporting capabilities of a simple electronic format.
abszero
---
"..it is insufficient to protect ourselves with laws; we need to protect ourselves with mathematics." Bruce Schneier, Applied Cryptography.
You seem to not have read the ACLU's position. (find it at http://www.aclu.org/court/cyberpatrol_motion.html) They are not taking the position that CyberPatrol should not block the sites containing cphack. There is no restriction in that (not that I'm defending censorware, but it isn't madatory (yet))
Rather, the ACLU's position is that the court injunction requiring such sites be taken down constitutes restriction of speech.
In this light, your statements do not make much sense. Mattel is petitioning the court that no one be allowed to present material they find objectionable--this is clearly a restriction of speech, and it is on these grounds that the ACLU has become involoved.