Resources for Study Skills

I'm working on a Year 11 study skills program for next year, and this page of links has an extensive list of sites - some more useful than others, but a lot that are useful.  Worth a squizz.

Cheers

Ruth

Today... HSC All My Own Work (and tomorrow, and...)

Today I have been rolling Year 10 students through the library's computers to do HSC All My Own Work. Over 200 need to get it done.  As each one finishes, I'm sending for the next one.  Haven't sat down all day, my initials have been needed nearly 400 times (and are getting more baroque/scrawly by the time) and it's been madly busy.  Thanks be most students are co-operative; I wish I could say the same of the computers...I prefer such technology consistent rather than contrary! 

HSC AMOW will take up a lot of this week; except Wednesday afternoon, because Wednesday night is The Oscars, I mean, the Year 10 formal, and hair appointments, fake tans, facials, makeup and primping of all sorts and kinds (I read today that the industry around formals is now larger than that around weddings!) will of course take priority over anything else.  They do settle down a lot by the time the Year 12 formal rolls around...

If you're not in NSW, HSC AMOW is a program about issues such as copyright, acknowledging sources and so forth, and the site has information and quizzes.  All HSC students need to have completed HSC AMOW before commencing Year 11 work - our school aims to get 'em done at the end of Year 10, so they're ready to roll at the start of the next school year.

Cheers

Ruth
.

Google's challenge to Wikipedia

...is knol.  Authors are identified, but articles aren't screened.  There's a comment section, but not the same editing of articles as is possible with Wikipedia. 

Oh, and did you wonder about ads?  Yup.  Ads can appear on the page, and the author and Google share the revenue.  Which seems likely to influence the articles written - wouldn't you likely get more hits on an article about, say, breast augmentation than the battle of Thermopylae? 

Sydney Morning Herald article here.

From a teaching point of view, another resource which we need to discuss with our students for its benefits and limitations - not just let 'em use it blindly.

Keyboarding and handwriting

A thought provoking article in today's Sydney Morning Herald: Keyboard kids losing art of handwriting, by Gerard Noonan.

It covers a number of issues, including this one:

Barker's Dr Marks said: "The process of writing - whether it be by hand, or on a computer keyboard - is closely connected with the process of thinking. Research points to the fact that thoughts are generated, not merely recorded, through the process of writing. So my fear, in relation to the rise of abbreviated forms adopted by many when emailing, text messaging and instant messaging, is that the capacity for deep thinking, fostered through writing, will be eroded."

Citation machine

I haven't played with this one yet, but if it does what it says, it's a promising tool, especially for senior students:

Son of Citation Machine.

(I note at the end of the page that it 'enjoyed' major revisions. Isn't it nice to know websites can enjoy things?)