If the schools realized that it's 2010, not 1810, and if teachers actually were a bit more passionated about learning than a corpse i'm certain cheating would drop a fair bit.
True. But some points:
Compare the class size to class sizes 15 years ago. As more and more states cut back on funding, there is not only a visible tuition increase but also a hidden increase by lowering services (increasing class sizes, cutting lab and discussion groups).
More and bigger classes means bigger workload for instructors. Lecturing is less time intensive than doing a good class (probably by a factor of 2-3 just in prep). In a 100 student class, cutting a paper or individual component and replacing if with true/false cuts 1-2 work weeks. Clickers suddenly become popular for participation grades. Tests are about easy verifiable facts not complex intellectual concepts (much easier to grade).
Instructors have the choice of cutting research time or teaching quality. If you cut your research, you will not be promoted, or not get tenure and find yourself in a part time position somewhere else soon. Research will give you recognition or at least help you move somewhere nicer with smaller classes, where teaching is better and some populist politician doesn't call you lazy after you just had a 70 hours work week.
Good teaching rarely gives you job security. Universities find it easier to evaluate research than to evaluate teaching. If they do take teaching into account, they want quantitative ("objective") evidence. The easiest way to get this are class evals. And evals reflect the majority opinion. If there are enough students that just want credits and not the content, guess what: A lecture with easy tests where you just have to remember the power-point slides might actually get higher marks than an intellectually challenging class.
As long as it looks good on paper, everyone in charge will be happy. This has of course always been true. But it has become more true in the age of truthiness. A campus that does good teaching is not spectacular. Developing classes that prepare students for tomorrow's world with "on-line components, somewhere in the "cloud" always is spectacular. Plus, it's also the market these online degree entities occupy right now. And since students are now "customers", who cares about actual content as long as having been to College will make you look flashy.
Bitter much? - Yep. And this is how it looks at the beginning of a new round of cutting, stream-lining, FUD-ing, and product value BS-ing. Maybe I should stop teaching and instead work somewhere were I can help shuffling some old ladies out of their foreclosed houses.
Can students do something? Well, they could open their mouth.
If half of your classes are lecture hall, write something for the student paper, interview professors about ideal classes, complain about not being able to learn in a large lecture hall class. The complains have to be systematic not about one particular class. If a couple people do that, maybe there will be better teaching instead of a new shiny building. Just make sure you come across as professional and as someone who values good teaching. Universities don' t care much about a few whiny students, but if good and knowledgeable students complain, the University's could lose their ranking in the future.
If you had a really good class, say so. Wait till the semester is over and you no longer have that particular professor, then write an email thanking for the class, mentioning the good things. If the professor wants to change things, she needs support. If some slackers didn't like the class to be different, mention that too and distance yourself. The email will end up in some committee discussion or the professors file.
But that couldn't' t work in the US. The Maerican approach is to pay employees as little as possible and then make sure they follow a scripted protocol.
You obviously don't see the benefits of this.
Since it is quite popular right now to play out technology in I/m-a-Mac/PC-style skits, I wrote one for you:
Messy, the message integration -a cool looking Hipster stands in front of a presentation console:
"Hi, I'm facebook's message integration. Cool, everything integrated and in one place.
Right now, User is giving a presentation of the monthly project update to Grumpy-boss and I help him find information faster.
Wait? Boss wants project stats? This is so cool, I can find that for you."
A farmer in dirty coveralls walks in:
"Hi neighbor, it' s Jim from Farmville. Just wanna let you know, that your tomatoes are about to wilt."
Messy: Ooopsy. Let's filter for "boss"
A slightly drunk frat boy walks in:
"You are so right! That guy's a total loser. But my boss is even worse than.. "
Messy cuts him off, hits a couple buttons.
A woman in lingerie and high black boots walks in:
"Hi. I am the pictures you downloaded last night."
Messy begins to sweat and starts hitting the console
An older woman in a raindeer sweater walks in:
"I'm an email from your mom. Who is that nice woman you just put on your facebook page?"
Just put people in an abandoned mine deep inside a mountain and detonate the entry.
Of course, you will have to spend a few millions to set up a geothermal power plant, so they have energy for light and can grow plants for food and oxygen.
But what you get are all the benefits you would get through colonizing Mars: A colony that can survive if something bad should happen to us. A freaky place for freaky scientists, the possible start of a new civilization, some odd relationships,...
Plus, you will save billions in transportation cost.
First, this is not about the Internet. It's about the American way of using it.
In other (Western) countries I could write things like "you are completely incompetent", but I can' t write "someone should drive by your house and teach you a lesson".
In the US I can write "Dr. Joe performs abortion and lives in 400 Main. To bad, if something would happen to him" but I can' t write something, some company's lawyer won' t like (well, I can if I have the money).
In other countries, companies are limited by law to what extent and what kind of information they can keep about me. Companies that do, have to provide that information to me.
In the US, I can't publish internal information about companies, but they can collect and sell anything they want about me. If I want to see what they have on me, I have to pay for that. (In at least half of the states I pay for the privilege to correct a false credit score).
Will Obama fix that? Probably not. Partly because he really isn't that radical, when it comes to change. Partly because, as soon as he starts talking about protecting privacy, some corporation shills will rephrase it to "limiting freedom" (of corporations), "regulating free speech" (of corporate persons), "taking away our rights" (for corporations to treat private information as they please and to not be accountable for anything).
People are getting apps that are frontends to websites - eBay, Facebook, Craigslist, NY Times etc.
True, but that only affects people, for whom the web boils down to a few sites. I admit that's most of today's web traffic. But the "old way" of finding interesting sites and reading other people's contribution is still there. And for this kind of web, the only useful interface is a browser.
And yes, I might start on slashdot. But unlike Facebook, there is no "slashdot-universe". With topics I find interesting I eventually end up on some non-apped website.
Blogs? IF there were a blog app, that would cover all the major blogs, and if all the interesting "plain" home pages switched to one of these blogs, yes, that would be the end of the html-based browsers. But then, my blog-app would be my browser.
can we get rid of the "hate" category of crime too?
If a crime is not directed at only the actual victim but against a larger group of people, that intention -be it hate or the intention to intimidate- should be taken into account.
I might not agree with how the label "hate crime" is used all the time, but it acts as a form of terrorism against minorities and should be treated as such.
I don't answer calls from unknown or out-of-area callers
And on the other end of the scale, there's the "very opinionated but very dumb"-demographic, who are very outspoken and can't wait to share their opinion on just about anything.
Slashdot Mirror
Ubuntu is only at Moldy Meercat, so there are 6 more years till the end of Linux.
If the schools realized that it's 2010, not 1810, and if teachers actually were a bit more passionated about learning than a corpse i'm certain cheating would drop a fair bit.
True. But some points:
As more and more states cut back on funding, there is not only a visible tuition increase but also a hidden increase by lowering services (increasing class sizes, cutting lab and discussion groups).
Lecturing is less time intensive than doing a good class (probably by a factor of 2-3 just in prep). In a 100 student class, cutting a paper or individual component and replacing if with true/false cuts 1-2 work weeks. Clickers suddenly become popular for participation grades. Tests are about easy verifiable facts not complex intellectual concepts (much easier to grade).
If you cut your research, you will not be promoted, or not get tenure and find yourself in a part time position somewhere else soon. Research will give you recognition or at least help you move somewhere nicer with smaller classes, where teaching is better and some populist politician doesn't call you lazy after you just had a 70 hours work week.
Universities find it easier to evaluate research than to evaluate teaching. If they do take teaching into account, they want quantitative ("objective") evidence. The easiest way to get this are class evals. And evals reflect the majority opinion. If there are enough students that just want credits and not the content, guess what: A lecture with easy tests where you just have to remember the power-point slides might actually get higher marks than an intellectually challenging class.
This has of course always been true. But it has become more true in the age of truthiness. A campus that does good teaching is not spectacular. Developing classes that prepare students for tomorrow's world with "on-line components, somewhere in the "cloud" always is spectacular. Plus, it's also the market these online degree entities occupy right now. And since students are now "customers", who cares about actual content as long as having been to College will make you look flashy.
Bitter much? - Yep. And this is how it looks at the beginning of a new round of cutting, stream-lining, FUD-ing, and product value BS-ing. Maybe I should stop teaching and instead work somewhere were I can help shuffling some old ladies out of their foreclosed houses.
Can students do something? Well, they could open their mouth.
If half of your classes are lecture hall, write something for the student paper, interview professors about ideal classes, complain about not being able to learn in a large lecture hall class. The complains have to be systematic not about one particular class. If a couple people do that, maybe there will be better teaching instead of a new shiny building. Just make sure you come across as professional and as someone who values good teaching. Universities don' t care much about a few whiny students, but if good and knowledgeable students complain, the University's could lose their ranking in the future.
If you had a really good class, say so. Wait till the semester is over and you no longer have that particular professor, then write an email thanking for the class, mentioning the good things. If the professor wants to change things, she needs support. If some slackers didn't like the class to be different, mention that too and distance yourself. The email will end up in some committee discussion or the professors file.
But that couldn't' t work in the US. The Maerican approach is to pay employees as little as possible and then make sure they follow a scripted protocol.
Just had a look into my fridge.
How can this be a fair test, if it doesn' t follow industry standards?
Can you think of another minority that forces every business in existence to go through extra expense to cater to them?
Male white men?
My braille is on the underside of my dick.
You meant to write brain
You obviously don't see the benefits of this.
Since it is quite popular right now to play out technology in I/m-a-Mac/PC-style skits, I wrote one for you:
Messy, the message integration -a cool looking Hipster stands in front of a presentation console:
"Hi, I'm facebook's message integration. Cool, everything integrated and in one place.
Right now, User is giving a presentation of the monthly project update to Grumpy-boss and I help him find information faster.
Wait? Boss wants project stats? This is so cool, I can find that for you."
A farmer in dirty coveralls walks in: "Hi neighbor, it' s Jim from Farmville. Just wanna let you know, that your tomatoes are about to wilt."
Messy: Ooopsy. Let's filter for "boss"
A slightly drunk frat boy walks in: "You are so right! That guy's a total loser. But my boss is even worse than.. "
Messy cuts him off, hits a couple buttons.
A woman in lingerie and high black boots walks in: "Hi. I am the pictures you downloaded last night."
Messy begins to sweat and starts hitting the console
An older woman in a raindeer sweater walks in: "I'm an email from your mom. Who is that nice woman you just put on your facebook page?"
Just put people in an abandoned mine deep inside a mountain and detonate the entry.
Of course, you will have to spend a few millions to set up a geothermal power plant, so they have energy for light and can grow plants for food and oxygen.
But what you get are all the benefits you would get through colonizing Mars: A colony that can survive if something bad should happen to us. A freaky place for freaky scientists, the possible start of a new civilization, some odd relationships, ...
Plus, you will save billions in transportation cost.
If you have a lot of files ending on ".dll", chances are pretty high that you have software on your system that might be harmful.
First, this is not about the Internet. It's about the American way of using it.
In other (Western) countries I could write things like "you are completely incompetent", but I can' t write "someone should drive by your house and teach you a lesson".
In the US I can write "Dr. Joe performs abortion and lives in 400 Main. To bad, if something would happen to him" but I can' t write something, some company's lawyer won' t like (well, I can if I have the money).
In other countries, companies are limited by law to what extent and what kind of information they can keep about me. Companies that do, have to provide that information to me.
In the US, I can't publish internal information about companies, but they can collect and sell anything they want about me. If I want to see what they have on me, I have to pay for that. (In at least half of the states I pay for the privilege to correct a false credit score).
Will Obama fix that? Probably not. Partly because he really isn't that radical, when it comes to change. Partly because, as soon as he starts talking about protecting privacy, some corporation shills will rephrase it to "limiting freedom" (of corporations), "regulating free speech" (of corporate persons), "taking away our rights" (for corporations to treat private information as they please and to not be accountable for anything).
Just imagine someone hacking into that system: Whatever the gift is, Amazon will send you a Reindeer sweater.
Great!
People are getting apps that are frontends to websites - eBay, Facebook, Craigslist, NY Times etc.
True, but that only affects people, for whom the web boils down to a few sites. I admit that's most of today's web traffic. But the "old way" of finding interesting sites and reading other people's contribution is still there. And for this kind of web, the only useful interface is a browser.
And yes, I might start on slashdot. But unlike Facebook, there is no "slashdot-universe". With topics I find interesting I eventually end up on some non-apped website.
Blogs? IF there were a blog app, that would cover all the major blogs, and if all the interesting "plain" home pages switched to one of these blogs, yes, that would be the end of the html-based browsers. But then, my blog-app would be my browser.
By doing such things as telling me to get off a highway by crossing the meridian, and exiting on the onramp for the opposite direction.
Are you sure that it's just poor directions? Have you done anything to piss off Google lately?
Don't buy a GPS systems from Atmos !
Spoken like someone who's never worked in the US.
- or like someone, who's worked somewhere else as well.
Six weeks unpaid maternity leave isn't quite 1st world standard.
Of course, the open one would probably cost more.
No,I think you'd get the open Internet for free. But:
End of unregulated free speech and happy controlled customers (formerly citizens).
Star Trek has known this for years.
I always wondered why 7of9 had to run around in this tight leotards.
Finally, a scientific explanation!
apple, Microsoft and Sun all have radically changed their widowing systems on many occasions
I knew it! Better stay with Linux then.
were the negative effects persistant?
No permanent side effects, as long as you wear a giant heat sink.
F# will be free, but you will have to pay for the full Microsoft F#$@ experience.
A good backend would have retained the user's IP address and then gone up to the "uses multiple browsers" high-risk rate.
I had no idea Harry Potter could be as bad for owls as Peter Pan was for crocodiles.
can we get rid of the "hate" category of crime too?
If a crime is not directed at only the actual victim but against a larger group of people, that intention -be it hate or the intention to intimidate- should be taken into account.
I might not agree with how the label "hate crime" is used all the time, but it acts as a form of terrorism against minorities and should be treated as such.
I don't answer calls from unknown or out-of-area callers
And on the other end of the scale, there's the "very opinionated but very dumb"-demographic, who are very outspoken and can't wait to share their opinion on just about anything.
Now you can use your iPhone to program your Arduino.