Posts tagged with computer.

Computers, sneaky students and spying teachers

David Mitchell, May 21, 2010 at 3:22 PM

David Mitchell

(David is Kathy's 14-year-old son.)

My mom recently posted about a computer summer camp. At this particular camp, there isn't much traditional summer stuff, like roasting marshmallows and sing-alongs (the precursors to Xbox and MSN). Instead, campers play video and computer games together.

The great thing is, I don't have to give up sleeping in during summer vacation to go to computer camp.  Video game summer camp is already part of every student's curriculum.

 

It's called a library work period.

 

The beauty of a library work period is simple. It begins with finding the right computer: not at the end of the aisle, but not in the middle, either. Make sure the row is facing opposite the librarian's desk.

 

Any time your teacher approaches, you get busy researching and categorizing your references.

 

As soon as they're out of peripheral-vision-range, you start honing your Space Invaders skills.

 

The most important step is staying on the defensive. You have to navigate level 5 while still monitoring your teacher's (and the librarian's) patrol route. Remember to keep your facial expression in check. Librarians are skilled at distinguishing a 'hard at work' face and a 'just got the high score' face.

 

But now, it doesn't matter how quickly you can switch task bars: thanks to a new computer program at my school, there isn't any room for Space Invaders during a work period in the library. Librarians and teachers no longer have to slink in the shadows, ready to ambush any student who might be playing a video game. Using a computer, they can actually monitor the activities of every student in the library, even taking temporary control of a student's computer if they suspect something's up.

 

I find this computer program offensive. It means librarians and teachers are assuming students are playing video games when they should be working. The fact that 90% of us are either playing Space Invaders or instant messaging is beside the point. They're presuming guilt.

 

Okay, so maybe it's inefficient use of a work period to prevent an alien invasion when you should be researching a thesis essay. But procrastinating in the library used to take skill and reflexes. It was a fair match. Now it's a losing battle.

 

Not to mention, it's depriving students of an important learning experience. People say that my generation is oblivious: we talk too loudly on cell phones, we text message and listen to our iPods while riding on the bus, completely unaware of our surroundings. But playing video games in the library requires your complete attention. You need efficient risk-assessment skills: Is the librarian looking in my direction? Is Matt actually going to give me away, just because I beat his high score?

 

Forget computer summer camp. We need more library work periods, without spyware.

 

Tagged with school, computer, video, games, library | Comments (5) |

School used spyware to watch students outside of school hours

Kathy Dobson, March 10, 2010 at 4:59 PM

Kathy Dobson

 

Don't break any school rules - even when you're at home - because your teachers might be watching. Yes, spying on you, even in your own bedroom.

 

According to an article from PC World, after remotely activating a MacBook webcam, a Philadelphia-area school district took photographs of a student who was "engaging in improper behavior at home."

 

Yes, that's right. Improper behaviour "at home." As in, the school was actually spying on the high-school student in his own house.

 

The MacBooks were distributed as part of a school project, involving all 2,300 students in the school district. The webcams could be activated without the students' knowledge, supposedly as a "theft-prevention measure." The student in question was approached by a high-school official, who showed him the photographic evidence of his "improper behaviour."

 

Now the school board has a class-action lawsuit on its hands, which, according to the article from PC World, could even become a case of child pornography if the photographs turn out to be of a sexual nature.

 

In their lawsuit against the school board, the parents claim that "the indiscriminate remote activation of the webcams incorporated into each laptop was accomplished without the knowledge or consent of the Plaintiffs or the members of the class." Pretty scary stuff.

 

I can't imagine any of my own children's schools doing anything so sneaky and underhanded. The thought of anyone being able to secretly listen in and even watch as one of my kids hang out in their bedrooms is a very disturbing one. My kids have been lucky, I guess. None of their teachers or school principals are hypocrites, holding their students up to a higher standard of ethical behaviour than they do for themselves.

 

After acknowledging the fact that schools could use the Mac books' webcams as little spy cameras, the superintendent of the school district didn't offer any horrified apologies. Instead, he announced that the school board regrets "if this situation has caused any concern or inconvenience among our students and families."

 

Inconvenience? I wonder how he'd feel if some of the students in his district had been secretly spying on his bedroom? And then released pictures of anything they deemed to be "improper behaviour"?

 

The same thing should happen to the school officials involved in this shocking invasion of their students' privacy as would happen to those kids if they dared pulling a similar stunt. Yes, they should all be arrested and charged.

Tagged with student, computer, webcam, spy | Comments (11) |

Should laptops be banned in the classroom?

Kathy Dobson, February 4, 2010 at 10:47 AM

Kathy Dobson

When I attended university over 30 years ago, at Concordia in Montreal, I remember the beginning of each semester: the professor would hand out the syllabus, explain the course expectations, and briefly discuss the final exam. And whether or not smoking was allowed in the classroom.

 

Often, the answer was "yes."

 

It would seem completely bizarre to today's university students. A lecture hall filled with cigarette smoke? Heck, more often than not, the professor would light up, too.

 

For me, today's lecture halls present an almost equally bizarre image: Dozens of glowing screens fill the classroom, with the occasional power cord stretching across the aisle.

 

But is this technological advancement in the classroom actually a good thing?

 

My two oldest, who are in their second year at the University of Waterloo, actually prefer using a pen and notebook. They think that a laptop takes too much space, and that it's easier to just carry a couple of notebooks to school.

 

The part that I find hard to believe is that they aren't distracted by the constant hum of clicking keyboards as other students type their notes. I'm not so sure I'd be able to concentrate on a lecture if I were surrounded by dozens of busy laptops.

 

But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate and recognize the high-tech advantages today's students have gained.

 

Most of the classes that my two oldest have taken include an online component, where they can access practice tests, quizzes, course notes, and even a discussion board to communicate with other students, teaching assistants, and the professor. Some professors are embracing the technology as a way to communicate with students, inside the classroom and outside.

 

But some professors aren't.

 

According to a recent column in the London Free Press, some professors have actually banned the use of laptops in their classrooms, claiming they're too much of a distraction. One of my son's professors at the University of Waterloo doesn't embrace laptops in the classroom. He's even offended by them.

 

"He seems to think that students aren't listening to his lecture when they're using a laptop," my son explained. "He doesn't understand that students use laptops to take notes and keep up with the lecture." Right. Some of them really are listening, despite their laptops.

 

Of course, some of these students with their open laptops aren't exactly taking notes, trying to keep up with the professor. For every note taker, there's a Tetris player. Or an e-mail checker. Or a Facebook update. But does that mean professors should ban laptops in their classrooms? Maybe.

 

Or maybe not.

 

Those students who check their e-mail and play games during a lecture probably wouldn't suddenly become model note-takers if laptops were banned from the classroom, anyway. They would just find a different distraction.

 

Like maybe lighting up a cigarette.

 

 

Tagged with classroom, laptop, computer, ban, prof, distraction | Comments (19) |