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A comment on School district builds own software to handle student data, defies doubters. Parent comment

Re:School district builds own software to handle student dat... by japhyr on Sunday January 20, 2013 @02:28PM (#5087839)
I was talking about a different project that I would like to see happen, but built using a similar development model. To be more specific, I'd like to see a dedicated curriculum development tool built. I;d like it to be high-quality and open source, so it can see widespread use in schools of every economic level.

I am not envisioning a simple plugin to a word processing tool; I am imagining a dedicated curriculum development tool that manages things like importing standards, and connecting detailed parts of a learning plan to bigger-picture summaries.

I in no way imagine such a tool being mandated for anyone; I simply imagine a tool that is powerful enough that people will see it used well by experienced teachers, and want to use it themselves.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:School district builds own software to handle student dat... by keithpeter on Sunday January 20, 2013 @03:33PM (#5088109)
"I simply imagine a tool that is powerful enough that people will see it used well by experienced teachers, and want to use it themselves."

Well, good luck, and if you have thought through the detail of this I would be interested to see the specification (in the Spolsky sense) for the system you envisage.

"I in no way imagine such a tool being mandated for anyone"

Of course everyone will have to use it!

Edit: parent poster is also a teacher, so he must know that anything that is suggested by management as a central tool will immediately become mandatory!

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:School district builds own software to handle student dat... by japhyr on Sunday January 20, 2013 @04:05PM (#5088229)
I am hoping to complete my MEd in December, and I want to complete an mvp of an os ed tool as my masters project. I wrote a bit about the tool I envision previously [1], and I recognize that the next step is writing a proper spec. That will be part of the masters work.

Nice to see another teacher on here!

[1] http://peak5390.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/why-do-programmers-...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:School district builds own software to handle student dat... by keithpeter on Sunday January 20, 2013 @04:17PM (#5088273)
Good luck with the more detailed specification. I shall read it with interest. In the UK we tend to have many small outcomes per lesson, and a second document called a scheme of work tracks the large arc of a year's work.
[ Parent | on HN ]