[Informatics] vceit.com lumbers towards 2016

Wed Dec 9 18:39:39 AEDT 2015

Thanks
 for the support
, Gordon.

I must admit it was a close call. I was very close to pulling the plug on
vceit.com, but after
*two* whole
consecutive and 
uninterrupted days of leisure I was crawling up the wall with boredom and
frustration.

And, coincidentally, the re-registration of the vceit.com domain came due,
so I had to decide whether to it renew or not. In a moment of

indecision, inertia, and habit, I renewed it. Then I felt re-committed.*

I seem to retain the gene shared by most active teachers: I complain all
the time, but I can't be fulfilled without deadlines, stress, change, and
persistent demands.

At least now I don't have
to suffer 
meetings, parent/teacher interviews, information nights, budgets, and bells
ringing every 45 minutes or so
;
but the local primary school's bell from 1km away still sends an atavistic
shiver
of dread 
down my spine.  Erghhh.**

At this point
I'm reading "Infinite Jest"***** by David Foster Wallace, and have come to
realise that any email that
has long and recursive
footnotes
******

*must *
end now
.

Mark

*[Time-poor readers may choose to stop reading at this point. Apologies in
advance for those who read on]*

*FOOTNOTES*

* "Hypothesis:

I
ndecision, inertia, and habit
are the reasons 
why many marriages limp along well past their use-by date." Discuss in a
multimodal online solution, using primary and secondary data. Identify
dependent and independent variables. Include a full bibliography using
Harvard, APA, Chicago, or IEEE styles.

**I think I've mentioned previously on this forum that since I retired, my
regular nocturnal nightmare is finding myself at school not knowing where
my class is or what I'm supposed to be teaching them.
In the most recent version of the dream, however, as I aimlessly wandered
the corridors looking for my classroom I shrugged and decided that if I
actually 
found the class I'd just give them dictation
 incorporating tricky words like "alcohol", "cemetery", "accommodation",
"quarter", "minuscule" *** and "it's/its" and "there/their/there" decisions
. That was from my days of teaching English, about 20 years ago
, when I actually decided things like that
. I think it means I'm nearly cured of teaching.

*** Yes, it's**** 'min*u*scule', not 'min*i*scule'. It took me years to
discover this.

**** "*It's*" is always an abbreviation of "it is" or "it has".
"
*Its"*
(without apostrophe) 
means "belonging to it". I used to get this wrong all the time.

*****

<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/%E2%80%8Bhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_Jest%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_Jest
<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/%E2%80%8Bhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_Jest%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B>

<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/%E2%80%8Bhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_Jest%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B>
 (1996). A long but jolly interesting read. Also see the related
film******.

******
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3416744
 - 'The End of the Tour' (2015)

******* I'd use in-text superscript referencing but I can't work out how
to do superscripts in gMail. That is one argument against cloud
applications compared to more comprehensive, locally-installed software
suites*******.

******* VCE Informatics U4O2 KK12: *"**the advantages and disadvantages of
using networks and cloud computing******** for storing and disposing of
data and information."*

******** Hey. I've just noticed the KK refers to "cloud *computing*" but
only references "storing and disposing" of data/info (like Dropbox). It
does *not* mention cloud *computing/manipulation *in the sense of online
*apps* like Google Drive spreadsheet/word processor, online image editors,
online Gantt chart creators etc. Are true online *apps* irrelevant to
"cloud computing"? This is a bit of a worry.

On 9 December 2015 at 16:26, Cameron, Gordon G <
Cameron.Gordon.G at edumail.vic.gov.au> wrote:

> Thanks Mark. I suspect many teachers will be thankful you haven't
> abandoned them. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I claim that yours is
> probably the most used IT resource that ever existed.
>
>
>
> *Gordon Cameron | College Pathways Leader*
>
> Sunshine College | Graham St Sunshine Vic 3020 | PO Box 165
>
> 8311 5234 | cameron.gordon.g at edumail.vic.gov.au
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au [
> informatics-bounces at edulists.com.au] on behalf of Mark [mark at vceit.com]
> *Sent:* Wednesday, 9 December 2015 4:05 PM
> *To:* Year 12 VCE Informatics Teachers' Mailing List
> *Subject:* [Informatics] vceit.com lumbers towards 2016
>
> Hi, Thrillseekers.
>
> I don't know how many of you are still afflicted with introductory
> Informatics classes
> , but 
> I've
> recently 
> been
> busy
> populat
> ing
> the
>  new (CMS-based) vceit.com
> Informatics theory page <http://vceit.com/wp/informatics/>
> ,
>
> by 
> recycling
> /
> adapting existing slideshows and creating
> new 
> slideshows
> for new KK 
> to
> give you a
> starting point
>  for 2016
> .
>
> Be aware that some of the recycled slideshows may not yet be 100%
> conformist to the new study design. I've been using the efficient NEIGE*
> model in re-using existing key knowledge resources.
>
> The new slideshows may need polishing and filling out, and I have to add *just
> enough* whimsical material to annoy those people who like to complain
> about their free resources.
>
> Mark
>
> *The NEIGE model.
> It's either French for 'snow', implying a crisp, clean and pure approach
> to problem solving,
> or it stands for "Near Enough Is Good Enough'. You can decide.
>
> --
>
> Mark Kelly
>
> mark at vceit.com
> http://vceit.com
>

-- 

Mark Kelly

mark at vceit.com
http://vceit.com
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