reading computer

Readability: a simple solution for online course writers

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readability on computer courses

Do you write or prepare content for online courses?

Being aware of the readability of text destined for online students is an important consideration when writing and sourcing readings for online courses.

The Flesch-Kincaid readability test to your aid: and it’s in Word

The Flesch-Kincaid readability test is designed to indicate comprehension difficulty when reading a passage of contemporary academic English and is commonly used to assessed the readability of text.

Microsoft Word has the ability to calculate the readability of documents using the Flesch-Kincaid readability scale but this needs to be activated.

How to enable Readability statistics in Word

To enable ‘readability statistics’ open Word

Step one: choose Word from the Finder menu > Preferences

Word Preferences

Step two: Click on Spelling and Grammar

Word Preferences

Step three: Show readability statistics

Spelling and Grammar

Using the readability test in Word

To access the readability statistics, run the ‘Spelling and Grammar’ checker by going to: Tools > Spelling and Grammar.

Running the test

Note: First you must run the Spelling and Grammar checker. The readability score is displayed once the spelling and grammar check is complete.

Readability test results

Notice, there are two Flesch-Kincaid results here in Word. The best result to work on is the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease Score. The recommendation is to aim for around 60–70%. On the other hand, Word (at this stage) provides a false score for the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level.

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From vision to reality

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Life-changer posts are generally about individuals, but here's a whole school that's changing the lives of its students.

Point England School

There is always a lot of debate about the value of ICT in education, and the impact that it can have on teaching and learning. When the amount of time, effort, and money that is expended by schools implementing, maintaining and then throwing out and replacing ICT, it is easy to become cynical and wonder if, perhaps, the money could be better spent elsewhere.

Point England students show engagement

But every now and then you get a glimpse of what is possible with a clear vision, and a boot-load of energy and commitment.

On a recent visit to Auckland we were lucky enough to get a tour around Point England Primary. This is a decile 1A school in one of New Zealand's poorest communities, but they have a 1 to 1 netbook programme in place that would put most decile 10 schools to shame.

It isn't the technology that stands out, though. It is the fact that they have integrated the ICT into the teaching and learning process with purpose and meaning, and they have the research and the statistics to show that it is working for their students. It is the vision that most CORE staff have for schools in New Zealand, but here it is in reality.

I am a technologist through and through, but it wasn't the Ubuntu-based netbooks that impressed me, or the community-wide wireless infrastructure they are putting in place. It's not even the cloud-based Google apps learning environment, or the individual student blogs. All of these things are great. But what really impressed me and my colleagues was the the high level of engagement the pupils displayed as we walked around the school, and the level of confidence with which the children talked to us about their learning.

If you want to see for yourself, take the time to watch some of their School TV episodes, or browse around the class and student blogs.

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The Power of Purpose

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Goal

What’s your purpose?

A PLOT facilitation skills workshop several years ago challenged my thinking around planning workshops and dialogue with teachers. By starting with “the purpose”, facilitators and teachers are able to tailor their conversations and workshops around what is really important.

Everything we do, whether it be in facilitation or teaching and learning, needs to have a purpose. In planning a workshop or meeting it is useful to start by thinking about this. For example, What is the purpose of this workshop? Subsequently all the planning and material should relate to that purpose. This helps to keep the facilitator and participants focused.

When facilitating dialogue one-to-one, it is beneficial to talk about the purpose of the conversation before you start. For example, What would you like to achieve from our conversation today? This way you can listen to the expectations of the other person and focus the dialogue to suit these expectations.

Warning: This can sometimes mean you have to abandon your own purpose!

Teachers can also use the power of purpose when reflecting on a teaching lesson, or interaction with a child: What was my purpose, and did I fulfill this? This technique is also useful when you are reflecting upon new ideas or resources. What is the purpose for this resource? How would the children use it to fulfill this purpose?

To be purposeful in our facilitation and teaching is to be powerful.

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Another ‘age of discovery’ in primary school science (Jolly good fellows – Part two)

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Discovering science

Is there a downward trend in primary student attitudes towards science?

There used to be.

In 2008 a report by the National Education Monitoring Programme drew attention to the downward trend in attitudes of primary school students towards science.

In response to this, a new model was developed for the Primary Science Teacher Fellowships with the aim of developing a community of confident science educators. They would facilitate better science experiences and science learning outcomes for primary age students.

This is the second in a two part series on Fellowship programmes CORE Education is involved with. The first considered the CORE Education eFellows programme. This will consider…

The Primary Science Teacher Fellowship Programme

The programme is run by the Royal Society of New Zealand, and funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation. The Royal Society has for many years run a teacher Fellowship program during which teachers were seconded to science-based host organisations for periods of up to one year. The objective? To get a taste of what "real" science is like. And of course, this gets passed on to their students.

Nature of Science appreciation, curriculum development and leadership: goals of the course

The six-month programme involves three elements:

  • Work experience involving placements in a science-based organisation, working alongside people who use science in their everyday work. The goal is for teachers to gain an appreciation of the Nature of Science, and relate this understanding to the New Zealand curriculum.
  • Attendance at curriculum development days where teachers develop on their own schemes of work, using science facilitators to give guidance on how the science content could be improved.
  • Participation in a leadership program that has been tailor-made to help these teachers return to school and take on a leadership role in science.

Curriculum development workshops

CORE Education is involved in developing and delivering the curriculum development workshops, and facilitating an online community to support the programme. Our team is made up of Dayle Anderson of Victoria University, Wellington; Michael Fenton of the Open Polytechnic, and from CORE Education Brigitte Glasson and me.

The curriculum development workshops focus on teaching science through the lens of the overarching Nature of Science curriculum strand. This curriculum strand has four sub-strands:

  • Understanding about Science
  • Investigating in Science
  • Communicating in Science
  • Participating and Contributing.

Hands-on science activities suited to teachers, students, and schools

Primary Science Teacher Fellows engaging in science activity

The workshops involve plenty of hands-on activities, and consideration of the nature of scientific investigations, which is far wider in scope than just "fair testing". We also include at least one visit to an off-site organisation which can offer students a valuable out-of-the-classroom experience. In the past we have visited organisations such as Ferrymead Historic Park in Christchurch, and Kelly Tarlton's aquarium in Auckland.

Practical sessions during the workshops focus on simple activities that can be run at minimal cost to schools, and which are designed to encourage questioning and wondering about "why?" and "what if?" There is always a buzz of excited activity during these practical sessions—teachers excited about science!

It was a very full and stimulating couple of days. Thanks everyone.

2010 Primary Science Teacher Fellow after a Curriculum Development workshop.

We believe that it is important for teacher Fellows to be able to relate their experiences in their host organisations to the science curriculum, and to exploring science with their students when they return to the classroom. To this end, we encourage them to relate their experiences in their host organisations to the nature of science strand of the curriculum. We have noticed teacher fellows actively reflecting on this relationship in their posts to the Fellowship's online community, which currently takes the form of a Facebook group.

The end of the programme is only the beginning

At the end of the six months Fellowship, the teachers are expected to return to their schools and to play a leadership role in the development and nurturing of science within their schools.

CORE Education provides ongoing support for the 12 months following the Fellowship. This consists of two in-school visits by members of the CORE Primary Science Teacher Fellowship team, and two cluster meetings. We do this in order to provide support to the individual teachers, and to help them retain a feeling of being part of the greater science teaching community.

Is the programme successful? We'll find out soon.

Primary Science Teacher Fellows January 2011

We are currently working with the fourth group of teacher fellows. The total number of teachers who have been through this programme is approximately 60, with a further 12 to 13 in the second half of 2011.

It is important to evaluate the effectiveness of such a program, which is designed to have positive outcomes both for schools and for students. We intend to carry out an evaluation of the impact of the programme during 2011 to 2012.

I count myself very fortunate to be working with both the core E-Fellows and the Royal Society Primary Teacher Fellows. Both groups are made up of highly motivated and innovative teachers, who are stimulating company and a great pleasure to work with.

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Explosion of data

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Where do we put all this data!

There's certainly a lot being written at the moment about the significance of data in our lives. With the advent of advanced networks, virtualisation and cloud computing, massive (and cheap) storage etc., together with the ever-increasing demands for storing large, multimedia files, we're beginning to see a completely different perspective on data stemming from concerns such as…

  • what data do we need to store and manage?
  • how long do we need to keep it for?
  • where will it be stored?
  • what format(s) will it be stored in?
  • who can access it?
  • what about backup, support, failover etc.?
  • what can we do with it (combinations, mash-ups, visualisation etc.)?

Christchurch earthquakes highlight data issues

The recent earthquakes in Christchurch have brought many of these issues sharply into focus with several schools and businesses losing access to their data when their servers were lost or damaged in buildings. This infographic showing