Cempaka Belanda: Computers teach students how to write well

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.
They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."

"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,..... etc.)

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Computers teach students how to write well

NRC International, 30 December 2009 12:50, By Karlijn van Houwelingen

Dutch students completing their final exams. Photo Roel Rozenburg

A Dutch linguist has written a computer programme that is teaching children how to write texts at more than a hundred schools.

The programme, called TiO (Developing Language Education) offers students suggestions on how to improve their work while they are typing. TiO can detect errors and offers advice on how to correct them. The tips and tricks offered by the programme cover many aspects of writing, varying from style to the manner in which an argument is presented. TiO may suggest restructuring text for instance, or rooting out some weasel words. It may also propose adding an opposing point of view or warn the writer he or she has used an oft-misspelt verb.

The actual correction of mistakes is left up to the student. According to Ad Bok (67), the Dutch linguist who wrote the software, TiO allows students to learn organically, the same way toddlers learn how to speak: osmosis. TiO constantly exposes students to all aspects of good writing, teaching them how to apply themselves.

TiO comes at a time that independent learning is eyed with suspicion in the Netherlands. After a botched introduction of far-reaching education reforms focused on student-driven education in the 1990s, novelties that allow students to learn on their own are increasingly drawing fire.

In the two years since it was introduced, more than 100 schools have adopted the programme, including some primary schools and even a number of institutions dedicated to tertiary education. An additional 40 schools have expressed an interest in procuring the programme, Bok said.

The success of his programme shows what a sorry state the Dutch educational system is currently in, according to Bok. “The world outside of the classroom has become a lot more attractive since I went to school. But the educational system is still the same: one guy in front of a class with 30 children in it. I hear a lot of teachers saying they are having problems selling it to their students,” Bok said.

Not everyone shares Bok’s enthusiasm about TiO. Eight schools this year quit using the programme. Dockingacollege, a high-school in Dokkum, is one of them. The teacher responsible for the programme left and the software was abandoned. According to Margriet Leeuw, a managing director at Dockingacollege, TiO can only function if one teacher embraces and propagates the new method. “All other teachers thought the programme didn’t fit their teaching methods,” de Leeuw said. She feels the educational system is not ready for TiO yet.

Amos van Gelderen, a researcher studying language education at the University of Amsterdam, values the practical emphasis of TiO. She also expressed doubts about the recommendations for improvement the programme offered. “Too put it bluntly: the programme is shooting blanks. A teacher who is reading over a student’s shoulder can give advice. A computer cannot,” Van Gelderen said.

Ad Bok does not agree. “The programme has 400 tools at its disposal to improve the text. A teacher can never offer similar support, because he has to look after 200 students on average.” One of its great benefits is it takes some of the workload of teachers' shoulders, said Bok.

Dutch linguist and writer René Appel feels the programme does well in teaching students to constantly correct their text, but also fears that the constant reminders TiO offers might end up annoying children rather than teaching them “The programme breaks with all the current trends prevalent among young people,” Appel said. “Spelling and punctuation are considered unimportant in text messages and on MSN.”

The software has also led to new ways of cheating. A method for hacking the programme is readily available online through a Dutch social networking site frequented by high school students. Students have succeeded in pasting text into the application. Something Bok tried to prevent in his design of the programme. Still, this development does little to worry him. “Did you think there was no cheating in the old system?” Bok said. “Let the smart kids be smart."

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