Google Open-Source Course Builder Launched

    It is already not news for Google released its open-source – course builder for most people have known about it on 11^th, September. But I still want to talk a little more about it.

    The newly released open source platform is an experimental version for online education which will give individual educators and universities the ability to create MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) of their own. It is another unexpected innovation of Google and we believe it will be a good tool for online education. Course Builder packages the software and technology to help users create their own online courses material including lessons, student activities and assessments to unlimited numbers of students. There’s also an avenue for live teaching or office hours: the obligatory Google+ tie-in lets educators announce Hangouts on Air sessions. In particular, if you got some knowledge on HTML and JavaScript, you will use it more familiar.

    A discussion forum has been set up for course builder and peter Norvig will be monitoring it to answer top question in two Google Hangouts on September 19 and September 26. Already schools like Stanford, Indiana University and UC San Diego are giving Course Builder a look. If you are interested in, keep an eye on it.

How About the Future of GCSEs

    As the first fall of the proportion of GCSEs awarded an A*-C grade, many arguments and complains are swirling around. Government and some experts of United Kingdom begin to consider the change of England exam system. And most of experts suggest pushing back the assessment age from 16 to 18 according to BBC news.

    GCSEs haven’t been very successful since their introduction because it is impossible to have single exam to cater for all abilities and there have been problems regarding their veracity. Any future plans will need to be based on a suite of qualifications catering for the many different pathways that students might want to follow. In my opinion, GCSEs may be slimmed down to allow pupils to cover more subjects for the current GCSEs can only let schools fit a limited number into the curriculum. Now most curriculum time is given over to examinable subjects and students have to make invidious choices between subjects since they cannot do everything, as many pupils are attending classes or education online to improve their academic skills. If we reduced the number of slots, students could study to a similar depth but in fewer topics.

The Future of GCSEs

    Children develop at different rates and different ages. They need to be free to step up or step down to suit their abilities as they develop. We do need to consider the different subject content, learning styles, home environments and contextual characteristics of students when designing assessment methodologies. The vast majority of young people now stay in education or training until they are 18. We don’t need a school-leaving certificate for 16-year-olds. Instead, we need a general test at 14 to check student progress and help guide subject choices. After that, students should combine academic and hands-on subjects and earn credits towards a high school diploma at 18.

    Anyway, different people have different opinions on this hot topic, but GCSEs is really important. It can be changed or improved, but you should not expect it to be instead. To focus your attention or energy on your academic, it will not be a tough thing to you.