I live about 2 hours out of Toronto (Canada's largest city), and there are a large number of Old-Order Mennonites in our area. They still use cash and cheques exclusively. (As well as horses and buggies for transportation.) I know there are many other similar communities across Canada, especially out west. I don't know if it is similar in Australia, or if it is, that the government would care. But it's an issue.

I'm afraid I respectfully disagree. Without trying to shame you for your opinion, I'll try to explain why I strongly believe the complete opposite of you.

Knowledge WAS power, that is true. In the time of Galileo, in which you have placed your argument, knowledge was hard to come by. One would have to hunt down the proper books, and spend countless hours reading through them to acquire the knowledge necessary for some task at hand. But we don't live in that world anymore. Now, a properly formatted Google search will instantly take you to several resources somewhat-related to what you need. Learning how to synthesize that knowledge into a solution is now where the time can be spent, instead of spending the hours finding and memorizing knowledge which will soon be out of date.

But, I get where you're coming from. It's hard to recognize that a fundamental paradigm shift in society has occurred, and even harder to change oneself as a result. I could have happily gone on teaching as my forefathers have, all the way back to Galileo. It certainly would have been easier! But we're not in Galileo's world anymore, nor will we ever be again.

I love the idea of having a lab which is offline, but at the (public) high school level that's unfortunately not an option for me.

My "online" tests/exams seem to involve all the same things you do, but without code writing. It's taken a lot of time and effort on my part to figure out how to do that -- as I still believe in the validity of tests/exams, just not writing code without an IDE. So, for example, I'll give them code and have them explain what's happening in English. Or I'll give them broken code and have them explain what's wrong or how to fix it. Or I'll ask what situations you'd use one construct vs another. I just don't like asking them to code in tests/exams. It seems like a skill that doesn't mimic the real-world, and to me that's what education is supposed to be preparing them for. Though, I realize that MANY disagree with me on that point.

Wow -- they're using these techniques at the job interview level! I had no idea -- thanks for sharing. The disadvantage of having become a teacher and leaving the programming industry, is that I've left the programming industry. So all my skills have aged, and keeping up has been a challenge. Thanks for the insight!

I like your idea on how to condition the students to take exams on paper with regular quizzes. Thanks for sharing!

I hear what you're saying, many of my colleagues initially react in a similar way (though with more professional language, mind you). They make the same initial, and faulty, assumption -- that my students aren't being taught the skills necessary to analyze information for its authenticity/relevance. If I could pick one skill which is most important in our world of FAKE NEWS and biases galore, it would be that.

Although I suppose we could stick to the government-supplied textbook model of information acquisition. Heck, it's worked for over 100 years, why change?

(NOTE: I don't know why an f-ing iPhone can't submit text properly, but here's my response properly formatted.)

Here's how I've adjusted my teaching practice for a world with smartphones:
1) All my tests are open book/note. In a world where you can lookup anything anytime, knowledge is no longer a valued commodity. However, using knowledge to solve problems is. So all my questions involve higher level thinking, with students able to use their notes.
2) My tests and exams are all done on computer through Google Classroom (when in a lab setting). So there's always a keyboard and screen.
3) I have my students write code in their assignments with an IDE, not on tests. Writing code without and IDE has always pissed me off. So, my tests/exams involve things like analyzing code, eg: here's some code, tell me what it does. Or, here's some code with problems, what are they and/or how can they be fixed? Or, when would you use a while loop vs a do loop? Or a local variable vs a class variable?

I must note that this form of teaching is entirely my own, after spending much time reflecting on how I think teaching and schooling must adjust for a world with instantaneous access to endless information.

This is not endorsed by my government (Ontario, Canada) or school board, and even many of my colleagues disagree. However, something has to change in education which still uses methods developed over a century ago for chalk and slate!

I do espouse these methods when possible, and continually strive to evolve my teaching for an ever evolving world, as I certainly don't think this is the final answer in education methodology. Any further ideas you have would be welcome!

At some point I would like to evolve my tests/exams to be "open Google", but frankly have no idea how that would work. However, that's my thoughts on next steps from where I'm at currently.

Hereâ(TM)s how Iâ(TM)ve adjuated my teaching practice for a world with smartphones: 1) All my tests are open book/note. In a world where you can lookup anything anytime, knowledge is no longer a valued commodity. However, using knowledge to solve problems is. So all my questions involve higher level thinking, with students able to use their notes. 2) My tests and exams are all done on computer through Google Classroom (when in a lab setting). So thereâ(TM)s always a keyboard and screen. 3) I have my students write code in their assignments with an IDE, not on tests. Writing code without and IDE has always pissed me off. So, my tests/exams involve things like analyzing code, eg: hereâ(TM)s some code, tell me what it does. Or, hereâ(TM)s some code with problems, what are they and/or how can they be fixed. Or, when would you use a while loop vs a do loop? Or a local variable vs a class variable? I must note that this form of teaching is entirely my own, after spending much time reflecting on how I think teaching and schooling must adjust for a world with instantaneous access to endless information. This is not endorsed by my government (Ontario, Canada) or school board, and even many of my colleagues disagree. However, something has to change in education which still uses methods developped over a century ago for chalk and slate! I do espouse these methods when possible, and continually strive to evolve my teaching for an ever evolving world, but I certainly donâ(TM)t think this is the final answer in education methodology. Any further ideas you have would be welcome! At some point I would like to evolve my tests/exams to be âoeopen Googleâ, but frankly have no idea how that would work. But thatâ(TM)s my thoughts on next steps from where I'm at currently.

Well... there's ASCII.

Am I the only one who thinks that Rage looks a lot like Borderlands, but without the variation in weapons? I haven't come across such a comparison yet, but it was the first (and still prevalent) thought I had upon seeing the trailer.

And what do you suppose happens when the people we put in charge of public safety say "terrorism is extremely rare" to explain why they did nothing to stop an attack just like the ones that already happened.

Well, if they were working on the problem the right way, they could then go on to explain how they are tackling the problem at its source by trying to improve freedom, education and living conditions around the world in a considerate, thoughtful manner so that people don't feel miserable and angry enough to want to blow other people up in the first place.

Something along the lines of ExtUSB is probably a better solution to that problem than a dongly adapter, but that would be very un-Apple like.

That actually depends entirely on which frame of reference you choose to view the problem in. It is therefore both subjective and inaccurate.

Except gliders are the very fuel it uses to grow and replicate! We're DOOMED!

If it has aviation-style plugs you probably can, but it's fairly expensive. Aviation headsets use high-impedance condenser mics that require a power source, so the adapters are not quite as trivial as one might hope.