High School
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NYC mulling pay-per-use phone lockers for students
In our formative years we were kept on the straight and narrow with wireless leashes, and we got in touch with our folks the old-fashioned way -- two cans and a string -- and that's the way we liked it. Modern high school students, though, have a decidedly different take on the best way to drop a line, ditching pay phones (or, heaven forbid, the principal's office) in favor of trusty cellphones. Yipes, seems we've got a little hiccup: New York City's public schools have recently started clamping down on its longstanding ban on wireless goodies on school grounds, leaving a healthy percentage of tech-savvy pupils in the lurch. Parents aren't too happy, either, noting that it's the most effective way to keep tabs on lil' Johnny and Susie from afar in the event of an emergency. School officials are responding with the standard arguments, distraction and the threat of cheating, and are coming to the table with a proposal to install lockers outside schools for the sole purpose of housing phones during the school day. Sounds to good to be true, right? A rare case of taxpayer dollars being put to exactly the right use at exactly the right time, you say? Well, there's a catch: thanks to the crushing cost of said lockers, students would likely pay 25-50 cents a day for the privilege of being separated from their technology for a few hours. Needless to say a legal fight seems inevitable, though parents, teachers, and the school board will try to iron things out on the 18th of this month with a little face-to-face time. Of course, they could just give in and make texting a school subject, but we're not really seeing that happen.
New Zealand high-schoolers to use "text-speak" on national exams
While Aussies are still debating whether or not texting should be a recognized subject in school, New Zealanders apparently have no qualms with the so-called "extension of the English language." High school students in New Zealand will be able to use "text-speak" on this year's written national examinations if they so desire, which should send old-fashioned scorers into fits of rage while trying to wade through a myriad of words lacking vowels. New Zealand's Qualifications Authority said that it still strongly discourages students from using anything other than "full English," but that credit will be given if the answer "clearly shows the required understanding," even if the students uses "lol" and "CU" to get there. It was noted that grammar-based sections would require actual words to be spelled out, removing that competitive advantage where it probably matters most. Nevertheless, it's yet another small step for texting, and a giant leap for the English language -- right?[Via Textually]
High school urges students to play and design video games
In your internal list of things that are unlikely to happen in the current span of civilization, it's entirely possible that "educational institutions urge students to play video games" is pretty high up, nestled snugly between "cactus and balloon become best friends" and "Duke Nukem Forever comes out." Well, with colleges lobbing gaming degrees left and right already, perhaps it's time to update the list. A new high school in Dayton, Ohio has decided to embrace gaming and use it as a teaching tool -- apparently, they have this crazy idea that games can teach you more than just how to slaugher prostitutes and decapitate aliens. The basic gist should be easy to grasp if you boast any familiarity with games or school. Preferably both. Many find traditional school work to be considerably less pleasant than the average video game (with some exceptions) and so Dayton Technology Design High School deemed it a good idea to incorporate games directly into the curriculum, tasking students with designing an educational game of their own and learning at every step of the way. It's an interesting idea, to be sure, though it likely has plenty of risks associated with it. A passion for games may very well enable more focused learning, but it could just as easily lead to distraction if it's not finely controlled. Just ask anyone who failed an exam because they simply had to take down that last colossus before they could go to bed.[Note: A golden star goes to the first commenter to politely raise his hand and identify the game the screenshot is taken from.]
