Professional fitness is very important.

Today i met an old friend of mine in qualicel Arcade in Kampala and she seems to be doing well selling garments in her shop and it is even reflected in her appearance. She is also a colleague in the noble profession of teaching, actually we once taught in the same school and she is a very good teacher who left for business!!!, i have no problem with that because most people leave from profession to the other for the better. while interacting and discussing, i requested her to find a school and get into classroom for at least a day when she is free, but she was quick to remind me that you can not get "Good Money" through teaching ( of course she is not right). So i would like to say this: If you go to college and study to become a professional and that is to say a doctors, lawyers, teachers and other professions, you may decide not to practice that profession for several reasons but DON'T FORGET THAT PROFESSIONAL FITNESS IS VERY IMPORTANT. YOU MAY NOT PRACTICE THE PROFESSION FOR MONEY BUT FOR THE FACT THAT YOU WENT TO SCHOOL AND SPENT ALL THOSE YEARS AND MONEY TRAINING TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL AND THAT IS THE REASON YOU NEED TO PRACTICE YOUR PROFESSION ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE SOME TIME ON YOUR SCHEDULE. Am teacher, and even if i get another job i still want to remain teaching for professional fitness. Thank you and that is what is on my mind.

What teachers should talk to their students about safe use of internet in the classroom

Just as we teach children to be safe in the halls of our schools, crossing the street or driving a car, we must teach them to use the Internet safely. When you are teaching your students the safe way to use internet, the following questions should act as your guide. 
1. Do you treat others online with the same respect you would accord them in person?
2. Would your parents be disappointed in you if they examined your online behavior?
3. Does your online behavior accurately reflect who you are away from the computer?
4. Could your online behavior hinder your future college and employment prospects?
5. How could your online behavior affect current and future personal relationships?
I believe it’s your job as teachers to teach your students about digital literacy and ICT, equipping them with the tools to navigate an increasingly open digital world. This means making students aware of potential pitfalls and helping them to make good choices with current and emerging communication platforms.
What more can schools do to accomplish this goal? For starters, I propose rethinking content-filtering software that blocks access to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn on school computers. For designated periods, teachers and students should have access to these sites, which real-world professionals depend on for communicating and conducting business. Once students graduate, they will increasingly rely on social networking to market themselves and their abilities, and it’s unfortunate that not more teachers offer formal training on how to do this effectively.
I also feel strongly that more teachers should become familiar with social networking tools, especially if they wish to earn respect and credibility with this tech-savvy, digital-native generation. Students learn best with effective modeling, and what better way than leading by example? In my ICT class, for instance, I show students how I use Twitter to make connections with like-minded educators. I also show them what messages I write, how I write them, and the responses I elicit. I show them how Facebook and LinkedIn can be used to promote ideas, while attracting more followers.
Teach your students about the differences between "pretend" and reality on the Internet. Many students like to pretend to be someone else while online. They feel anonymous, and sometimes take risks. Students need to understand that other people can also pretend to be someone else while online and sometimes they do it to hurt people. Students need to understand that real world rules and values apply on the Internet as they do in real life. Students are asserting their independence and learning to make their own decisions. It is normal for them to be interested in love and romance, and to seek adventure. But their brains are not yet fully developed, and they are capable of making impulsive decisions without fully grasping the consequences of their actions. We have to teach our students what types of personal information they are never to share on the Internet for example information about name, address, phone number, email address, school they attend without the approval of their teachers. The teachers need to emphasize that exchanging information with others online can be dangerous.
Finally build awareness instead of fear as you and your students discover how the power of the internet can be harnessed for safe learning and communication.

Abdallah Ziraba.
ICT and Education
+256700129561

Key Challenges and Gaps of the integration of ICT in Education in Uganda

The successful use and integration of ICT in Education depends on a number of critical factors such as government commitment to ICT in general and ICT in Education specifically, national ICT infrastructure, enabling policies and strategies and  practical actions by the government to promote ICT in development in general and specifically in education. There is also need for a holistic approach to ICT integration which goes beyond the technological dimension to include aspects of policy and planning, curriculum and content, teacher training, maintenance and technical support and continuous monitoring and evaluation. The government of Uganda has endeavored to ensure that all those critical issues of integration of ICT in education are well thought about. However I would like to point out that we still have to put much emphasis in issues to do with teacher training, maintenance and technical support and monitoring and evaluation. The government efforts of providing computers to secondary schools through the Uganda communication commission rural community Development Fund is undermined when the schools cannot maintain them because of the high maintenance costs and lack of technical support.

The challenges in acquiring, deploying and using ICT effectively to address education challenges of access to education, quality of teaching and learning, relevance of the curriculum and equity in access, can be broadly grouped into two categories:

1. Inadequate national ICT and electricity infrastructure especially in the rural areas:

The telecommunication network has spread away from the main cities but the   internet costs are still high making it difficult for schools and other educational institutions to access or afford internet access. However, the telecommunications infrastructure in the country is improving rapidly in capacity and reach. And while Uganda has recorded enormous growth in mobile subscriptions, education has not yet tapped into this technology to deliver services to especially rural communities who have remained underserved owing to the challenges of cost, electricity and connectivity. The limited electricity supply network also greatly hinders the deployment of ICT to schools especially in the semi-urban and rural areas.

2. Limited capacity throughout the system and especially at the ministry of education and sports: Lack of capacity at all levels to integrate and use ICT effectively has been cited as a major concern during the situational analysis. These capacity constraints include lack of coordination of ICT in education activities, limited information sharing, limited skills for integration of ICT in education, ineffective organizational structures at the various education management levels to accommodate ICT integration in teaching and learning, lack of incentives and schemes of service for ICT trained personnel to reduce attrition, and resource constraints.

Observation and Conclusions

1. Despite the challenges outlined above, it must be pointed out that the strong government commitment to using ICT to address educational and other national challenges presents a unique opportunity for the educational and training sector, under the leadership of the ministry of education and sports to exploit the potential of ICT.
2. Teacher Colleges and universities in Uganda, with their impressive infrastructure, are also offering ICT training for trainees. Teacher educators have received training in the use of ICT for teaching and learning but all accounts suggest that this training is focused on basic ICT skills. When the teachers get into schools then they cannot integrate ICT in the teaching and learning very well.
3. The ICT in Education policy should be linked to the national ICT policy and vice-verse. In turn, national ICT policies should be rooted in the countries overall development plan.
4. ICT use is more common in urban private schools, while in government schools it is mostly confined to secondary schools where there is limited teaching of basic ICT skills and no integration into the teaching and learning process. About half of the government registered secondary schools in Tanzania are in rural areas with poor communication infrastructure

ZIRABA ABDALLAH NDIFUNA

LECTURER OF ICT IN EDUCATION IN ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY IN UGANDA

aziraba@educ.mak.ac.ug

THE ROLE OF THE MARKING GUIDE TOWARDS QUALITY ASSESSMENT. IMPLICATIONS FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN UGANDA

1.      Introduction

Assessment in schools has increased importance not only to the students and also the teachers but also the administrators, future employers and all stake holders of education. A fair assessment task is one in which students are given equitable opportunities to demonstrate their leaning (Lam, 1995).  Huba and Freed (2000,) define assessment as:-

The process of gathering and discussing information from multiple and diverse sources in order to develop a deep understanding of what students know, understand and can do with their knowledge as a result of their educational experiences; the process culminates when assessment results are used to improve subsequent learning.  

2.      Marking Guide:

Marking guide also called marking schemes in Australia and Uk are also referred to as rubrics in the USA. They are assessment tools that indicate the marking  criteria. They can be used in marking of students assessments (assignments, class participation, projects, examination or overall grades). They consist of the breakdown of marks available for an assessment. They may include model answers and show how marks are allocated for different aspects of a good answer. A marking guide can either specify the individual marks to be a warded or assign a group of marks to allow subjective and qualitative judgment to be made especially for essay type of questions

2.1   The benefits of the marking guide

The marking guide play an important role in criterion- referenced assessment ( whether individual students can achieve certain stated objectives).and many institutions of learning insist on their use. They explicitly explain how a student is graded and every mark is accounted for. This is beneficial to the teacher, student or the institution.

The advantages of a marking guide are;

a)      To academic staff

                                                              i.      Marking is both quicker and easier or reduces the amount of time the teacher spends on evaluating student’s work.

                                                            ii.      Preparation of the marking scheme ahead of time allows the teacher to review his or her own questions, to verify that they are really testing the material you want to test and to think about possible alternative answers that might come up.

                                                          iii.      Since the qualities of ‘good’ answer are predetermined and judgment applied to each assessment in turn, the judgment process is more likely to be free from bias (i.e fair).

                                                          iv.      Well drafted marking guides can minimize student questions about their results as the evaluation result is more transparent and informative.

                                                            v.      Students grow to trust assessment process where they are made transparent.

                                                          vi.      Teachers can communicate expectations for an assessment, provide focused feedback on works in progress and grade final products ( Andrade,2000;Goodrich 1997;Moskal,2003 Popham,1997).

                                                        vii.      Other people can use the same marking guide to mark assessment in case the setter is not available. 

b)     To Students

1.      Improvement in the quality of feedback when marking guides are made available after an assessment is completed. Students should be able to see where their answers deviate from the marking guides and thus how their work might have been improved ( Marzano,2002, Wolf and Stevens,2007).  

2.      Helps the students to recognize and match teachers’ expectations and encourage students’ autonomy ( Ramsden, 2000) there by promoting deep learning.

3.      Increase validity and reliability of assessment (Dunn,Morgan, O’Reilly and parry,2004 p17)

c)      To the School

1.      Assessment is objective and consistent thus helping in standardizing grading.

2.      Help in meeting quality assurance standards of the school.

Despite the advantages of a marking guide one objection to its use is that it makes academics vulnerable as students find it easier to challenge the grading decisions (Dunn, Morgan O’Reilly and Parry 2004 p230).

2.2   Qualities of a good Marking guide.

  

The following is check list for a high quality marking guide;

1)      Is the marking guide usable by the non experts?

A good marking guide should be able to be applied by any member of staff with sufficient knowledge to understand the answer.

2)  Does the guide allow credit for alternative good answers? All the reasonable ways of tackling the answer should be catered for.

3) Does the guide distribute marks according to the importance of each component of a good answer?.

4)  The balance of marks should be allocated to the most important points. It should not be possible to compensate for a bad answer by accumulating marks allocated to trivial point.

5)  Does the guide allow ‘consequential’ marks where an earlier mistake froe out the rest of an answer? It should not be possible for a student to make a mistake early in the question and then lose marks by proceeding logically and, in a sense, correctly down a  wrong route for example through a simple error of calculation.

6)   Does the guide make it quicker and easier to mark an assessment?. That marking guide should specify marking and not make the task more difficult.

7) Is the standard of marking as close as possible to that which will apply in subsequent assessment events?

 Marking guide constitute important elements of feedback for students. They indicate where marks are lost and won. This is only useful if practices are consistent so that what a student learns from one assignment feedback can be applied to the next.

Does the marking guide prevent students from ‘hedging’ their bets?

Student should not gain marks by putting down all they know on a particular topic and hoping the examiner will pick out the right things and reward them while ignoring the inappropriate or wrong things. Marking guides must therefore reward logical exposition and focused writing rather than ill informed regurgitation by speed writers.

Does the question point sufficiently towards the marking guide?  

When a marking guide has been prepared, review it and determine whether the question asked will lead the knowledgeable student to this answer. This will help to re-write the questions to remove ambiguities.   

2.3   Preparation and use of a marking guide

Draft marking guides should be prepared at the same time as the assessment is designed. Comparisons between what the students have been requested to do in the assignment and the associated marking guides will often highlight areas of ambiguity in the question or task. It will also facilitate judgment concerning the validity of the task (Does the marking guide represent a reasonable match with the Subject syllabus and the intended learning out comes?).  Marking guides should be sent to heads of departments with draft examination papers where appropriate for moderation.

Marking practices vary a lot with subjects. In some cases a marking guide will specify what a student will have to in order to be awarded each work. There is little room for the individual judgment. This is practical in some types of assignment such as numerical ones encountered in science and engineering. In arts where extended writing ( essays) are involved it may not be possible to specify precisely what a student will have to do in order to be awarded each mark. The marker has to exercise judgment concerning the extent to which each learning outcome has been demonstrated. The detail to be expected on the marking guide, therefore, cannot prescribed but must follow the potential variability of the answer.   

2.4   Marking guide for Essays;

The following outlines should be followed when preparing the marking guides for essay type of questions.

·         Make a model answer( outline answer)

·         Questions to consider are;

Ø  What key points do you expect in an answer? Can you prioritize them ( as a way of indicating a proportion of marks for each point)?

Ø   Should you allocate marks for other aspects of the work?

Ø  Does you model answer give an indication of the expected answer for different marking bands (i.e are there particular points that should affect the mark or grades awarded)?

·         A model answer may take different forms;

                                                                          I.            A list of factual content

                                                                       II.            A list of alternative interpretation to the set essay title.

                                                                    III.            A list of references or other sources.

·         Select the learning outcomes to which the assignment is testing i.e determine whether the marks awarded should be based solely on content (factual and illustrative) of the essay or whether some marks be awarded for structure and style.

  

Approaches to using a marking guide

 The following guidelines are helpful in the implementation of a marking guide;

a)      Review marking guide after examination. Once the examination has been done, read a few scripts and review the marking guide. You may sometimes find that students have interpreted your questions in a way that is different from what you have intended. Students may come up with excellent that may be slightly outside what you asked. Consider giving these students partial marks.

b)       You could start marking by giving an overall mark to a piece of work, based on an overall impression and then do detailed analysis against the marking guide. Alternatively you could start in an analytical way. Awarding marks for each part of the answer according to the marking guide and then seeing if the overall resultant marks feel right.

c)      For a large pile of work, especially exam scripts, you could combine the marking guide with following approach;

Ø  Read and assign a tentative grade to the first scripts before you start marking proper. This will give you a feel of the overall standards.

Ø  Skin through the scripts, sorting impressionistically into say five grade piles (for example ABCDE). Alternatively try to put them into rank order and the note where the grade boundaries fall.

Ø  Mark all the scripts.

Ø   When you have finished marking, check back with the first five you marked to make sure your standards haven’t drifted up or down.

Ø  Draw a few at random from the pile and mark them again. Check with your original mark. If you’re standard has not changed, WHY?

d)     When marking make notes on scripts. These will make in clear why you gave a particular mark.

Recommendations

It is not only the setting of assessment which affects their validity and reliability but also how they are marked (graded). In order to enforce the use of the marking guide and make it contribute to a fairer assessment in secondary schools in Uganda, the following recommendations are made;

a)      Before dispatch of the draft question papers to the Director of studies office in a school, the heads of departments should ensure that the subject teacher has provided, draft questions together with marking guide.

b)      After marking has been done by the subject teachers the heads of departments should receive scripts, marking guides, question papers, Midterm results (Examination file) from every subject teacher.

c)      Secondary schools may have to put in place a policy regarding use marking guide for all forms of assessment and a mechanism of monitoring its use.

d)     There is need for sensitization workshops for secondary school teachers on the use of a marking guide and its implementation.

e)      There is need for the National teacher training colleges in Uganda and the institutions of  higher learning to teach the teachers the pedagogical aspects of making a marking guide.

Conclusion

Marking guide can be used for all assessment including oral presentations, essays, course work, reports and final examinations. In addition to many benefits to the staff, Students and institutions discussed above marking guide also helps to minimize complaints about grading. Marking guides should be used for all assessments and the teachers in Islamic university in Uganda should devise means to make sure that students are familiar with them in giving feedback to enhance learning.

REFERENCES

Huba, M. a. (2000). Learner centered assesment on college campuses- Shifting the focus from teaching to learninng. Allyn and Bacon.

Lam, T. (1995, August monday). Fairness in performance assessment. chicago, United states of America. Retrieved April monday, 2012, from http://www.enric.ed.gov

Marzano, R. (2002). A Comparison of selected methods of scoring classroom Assessments.Applied Measurement in Education.

Moskal B, M. (2003). Recommendations for developing classroom performance assessment and scoring rubrics. Practical assessment,Research and Evaluation.

Popham, J. (1997). What is wrong and what is right with rubrics. Education leardership,55(2),72-75.

Ramsden, P. (2000). Learning to teach in Higher Education. London: Rouledge Falmer.

Ramsden, P. (2003). Learning to teach in Higher Education. London: Rouledge Falmer.

Wolf, K. S. (2007). The role of Rubrics in advancing and assessing Students learning. The journal of effective teaching , vol.7 No. 1,3-14.

How to choose a good nursery for your child

The long holiday is almost coming to an end and most of the parents have started the process of taking their children back to school. Importantly there are those parents who are taking their small young children to start school in 2014.It is the first day of school for the 3 year old and every parent may wish to take his/her child to the best school around, however It is usually a very hard to find a nursery that fits in with the standard and style of childcare that may help the child to develop and learn holistically.

As a starting point it's a good idea to ask friends, family and any other parents you know in your local area whether they have heard, or experienced, good or bad things with any of the nurseries near you as word of mouth is a really good starting point from which to begin investigating. 

It's important to start with the basics when narrowing down your search for a good nursery. The following criteria are absolute essentials and you should check that a nursery complies completely with these basics before it wins a place on your list of one of the nurseries you may take your “baby” to.

• Qualified staff - At the very least 50% of the nursery staff should be qualified with a relevant childcare qualification. Additionally, at least one member of staff should hold basic training in first aid and care. To be sure about this very important basic requirement, a parent has the right to ask the head teacher about his/her teachers’ qualifications and if possible even have a look at the staff profile and their qualifications.
•   Registration - By law all childcare providers that look after children under the age of 8 must register with the education department at the District level in the office of the District Education officer. (Read more about this in the early child development policy 2007).  So this is an important requirement and I request the parents to first check before entrusting their children with a certain given school.. Either ask to see the nursery's registration certificate in person or contact your local leaders about this issue
• Staff to child ratios - Generally the more staff and the smaller the group of children in their care the better. However, at a minimum you should look for a nursery that is able to meet the following ratios on all occasions.  For children aged 0-2 there should be a maximum of 4 children per adult, for infants aged 2-3 there should be a maximum of 10 children per adult care giver and for children aged 3-5 there should be no more than 15 children in the care of any one adult.
• Health & safety - It's vital that any nursery you consider provides your child with a clean, safe environment in which to learn, grow and develop; even on basic appearances a nursery should look well looked after and organized. The kitchen, bathrooms and play areas should be regularly cleaned and well maintained and toys and equipment should all be in good condition and there should be no visible hazards to your child's safety at all.
• Structured curriculum - Any 'good' nursery school should have a structured curriculum that allows time for learning as well as play. Ideally, a nursery should dedicate time throughout the week for physical activity (if they have an outside 'run around' space all the better), individual as well as group learning, quiet time and activities that allow infants to develop and express their creativity. The National curriculum development Centre has developed the Pre primary learning framework and it is a requirement for all the nursery schools in Uganda. Unfortunately some teachers and caregivers in some schools have not had the opportunity to access or look at this learning frame work and therefore lack a well structured curriculum.
• Security - You should be confident that any nursery you consider is able to provide a completely safe environment for your child. Check that there is no way for your child to either leave the building or for an unauthorized visitor to enter the building without being seen by a member of staff.

Once you've discovered whether a nursery meets the basic 'good nursery' criteria, then I advise parents to look at these important aspects of how to send their children to school. Things to consider include:

Cost - Obviously cost is going to be an influencing factor as to which nursery you choose for your child. I would like to advise the parents to be careful since some of the nursery schools are unnecessarily expensive. The challenge is that the Government has left Pre-Primary education to the private sector or individuals who are mainly business minded at the expense of pedagogy and professionalism.  While you will want to get your little one the best care possible it's important not to overstretch yourself financially as having a happy parent who isn't stressed and working the whole time to pay for nursery fees will be better for your child's development.

• Travel - The journey to and from nursery school will be an important factor to consider when choosing a nursery school.  A long journey will add travel time to your child. Most of the nursery schools provide transport facilities to the children which has saved the parents the burden of picking their children from school given their tight work schedules, however sometimes this arrangement is abused by making children who are as young as 3 years old to leave home as early as 5 am in the morning and to return home from school so late. This reduces the amount of time the parents spend with their little ones at home. Ensure any nursery school you consider is within a realistic distance.
• The menu - It's essential that any nursery you choose is able to provide a healthy, balanced meal plan for your child. A good nursery should include lots of variety in the menu as well as regular snacks and drinks. It's also a good idea to check whether they are able to accommodate any special dietary requirements.

The environment 

As any nursery you entrust with looking after your little one will be their primary carer for at least part of the day therefore it is important that you are happy with the environment your child will be left in as well as their approach to 'parenting'. It's a good idea to find out:

• What kind of space there is for your child to play in. Will they be able to spend time running around outdoors as well as playing inside?
• What approach the staff use for important elements of your child's care such as discipline, meal times, sleep, changing (some will require you to use reusable while others prefer disposables), potty training, education and play.
• Whether other parents are happy with the care their child is receiving.
• Whether the staff are happy in their jobs. Content, well looked after staff are less likely to leave and more likely to provide your child with a stable, enthusiastic level of care.

What extent of one-to-one time your child will receive from nursery staff each day, whether they practice daily reading and if a TV is ever used to entertain the children

As you prepare to take your children to the most important stage of learning t, I request that you carry out the basic checks such that you able to find a good nursery school that is able to create a happy interesting environment for your little one. It is a difficult decision to make but by making a good research, you will be able find a good nursery school that will suit your needs.

Ziraba Abdallah Ndifuna

Education Officer/Lecturer Islamic University In Uganda

Email: aziraba@educ.mak.ac.ug