May 21, 2013

Online exams accessible when needed

This could be good news for Home Educators wanting to do exams:

Online exams accessible when needed

JO MOIR

S
Lawrence Henderson

MAARTEN HOLL/Fairfax NZ

iSCHOOL: Wellington College’s Lawrence Henderson believes online NCEA exams would be popular.

Pupils may soon be able to sit school assessments online when they are ready, rather than waiting for the traditional exam period.

New Zealand Qualifications Authority chief executive Karen Poutasi has outlined what she says could be a “significant cultural shift for New Zealand” in a recent speech to secondary principals about the next decade in education.

“We can reach a position within eight years where most students will be sitting examinations using a digital device,” she said.

Secondary Principals Association president Tom Parsons said the system would be of huge benefit to intelligent pupils who were being held back in the classroom while they waited for end-of-year exams.

Teachers would manage pupils at different levels because it was already happening.

“Kids don’t always learn in a meaningful and quick way unless engaged, but why shouldn’t we remove the barriers so that they can do that learning earlier in certain areas.”

He said principals supported the idea happening as soon as possible, although the structure of the classroom and teaching style would need some changes first.

Dr Poutasi said the move towards online and on-demand assessments was a response to the technology shift already happening in schools…

Read more of the article  here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/8610984/Online-exams-accessible-when-needed

IDEA MAKES THE GRADE

The benefits of online exams at times of pupils’ own choosing will be huge for 15-year-old Lawrence Henderson and his peers.

“You would be able to tick off the subjects you excelled at and get them out of the way early, leaving you more time to study and prepare for the areas you struggled with,” said the year 11 Wellington College pupil.

Teachers were already battling to cater for a wide range of abilities, which could affect the pace of learning, Lawrence said.

“The more intelligent students get annoyed when it’s slow and then sometimes that can affect classroom behaviour.”

Technology was already a big part of learning at Wellington College after a “bring your own device” policy was introduced last year.

“Wi-fi was installed and it’s really good being able to do research for your individual projects, but we still do a lot of stuff with pen and paper, so it’s not too bad at the end of the year.

“But I think most students would be pretty happy to do it all online whenever you wanted,” he added.

“It would be different but I think everyone would see the benefits.”

Home-schooled students gain edge in US

Surveys show university students taught at home perform better than peers from conventional schools.

Watch the Video here: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/04/2013425019031918.html

Two million children in the US are taught by their parents or private tutors at home.

In surveys of standardised achievement tests over the past 20 years, home-schooled children on average scored about 30 percentiles above the median. And of those who went on to higher education, two-thirds earned a degree compared to just over half of their classmates.

Al Jazeera’s Tom Ackerman reports from Washington, DC.

NZ statistics: beyond homeschooling

So you were homeschooled. What do you think of that now, looking back? You can still have your say, but be quick… I am writing this up in the New Year so you have this week to complete the survey.
 Hi Guys, I am a homeschooling Mum of seven from Waipara, North Canterbury. We have been homeschooling for 25 years (only 6 more to go!). I am a foundation member of Canterbury Home Educators.
I am keen to generate some NZ statistics, and to find out what all our homeschooling children are doing now as adults. It would be great to have some quantitative “results” to share with parents who are contemplating the risk of homeschooling, to counter the worries of grandparents and to challenge statements made by education professionals.
Eventually, (say by mid 2013), I plan to write up the results and make them available to homeschool groups and anyone else who is interested. If you would like a copy of the results email me at j.taurewa@gmail.com with “beyond homeschooling” in the subject line.
The only requirement for this survey is that you have been homeschooled in NZ for at least one year, and have now finished your  secondary education.
Thank you so much to Oliver Fisher, for putting this on line, and Michael Redepenning, for coaching me on the editing process.
Thanks also to Brian. D. Ray, Ph D, who gave me permission to use his questions from “Home Educated and Now Adult”, 2004.
Please pass on this info to eligible folk you are in contact with.
sincerely Jenny Barkley.
There has been a fantastic response to this survey but Jenny doesn’t want to miss out on anyone who would like to be a part of it. So the survey is open for another week. Please fill the survey out today or if you, or your children have filled out the survey already please encourage your friends to fill it out. Thankyou.
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From the Smiths:

http://hef.org.nz/2011/craig-smith-26-january-1951-to-30-september-2011/

Updated 19 December 2012:  One year on (Craig Smith’s Health) page 7 click here

*****

Needing help for your home schooling journey:

http://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

http://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

http://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational:
http://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/

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Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill

Make a submission: Reject compulsory Early Education for 3 year olds

Cambridge Exams for homeschoolers

Are you interested in Cambridge exams but don’t know where to start?

There are several things you can do.

Firstly, request a copy of the Private Candidate Handbook which is available from the Association for Cambridge Schools in NZ – acsnz@ags.school.nz . This outlines the courses which our students can take as well as the relevant costs etc.

Also, if anyone is interested, Judith Tizzard and I have had a DVD produced with the help of a lovely homeschooling family which covers the basics of Cambridge – specifically from a homeschooling perspective.  Please contact info@cambridgeexamsolutions.co.nz if you are interested and we’ll let you know the details on how to obtain a copy.

There is also an email discussion group set up especially for those homeschooling families sitting the Cambridge exams (Judith and I are the owners/moderators of this email loop):

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NZHomeEdCambridde/  . Alternatively, send an email with “subscribe” in the subject header to NZHomeEdCambridge@yahoogroups.com .

Update: Two years ago there were only a handful of homeschoolers sitting Cambridge exams. This year there will be over 200. It is wonderful that we now have this option available to us. The new streamlined system for Private Candidates has been so successful that it is going to be used as an example for how similar systems can be introduced in other countries around the world.

Once again, Kiwi home educators led the way!

Kind regards,

Erena & Judith

Cambridge Exam Solutions Ltd – a non-profit organisation committed to providing and maintaining total, permanent and nationwide access to Cambridge Exams for homeschoolers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Smiths:

http://hef.org.nz/2011/craig-smith-26-january-1951-to-30-september-2011/

Updated 31 August 2012: Life for Those Left Behind (Craig Smith’s Health) page 6 click here

*****

Needing help for your home schooling journey:

http://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

http://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

http://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational:
http://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/

 

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Smiths:

http://hef.org.nz/2011/craig-smith-26-january-1951-to-30-september-2011/

Updated 6 August 2012: Life for Those Left Behind (Craig Smith’s Health) page 6 click here

*****

Needing help for your home schooling journey:

http://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

http://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

http://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational:
http://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/