Students seek Twitter restriction
Diligent students at Bournemouth University want to get their work done
University students are complaining they cannot get enough work done because fellow students are hogging computers to use Facebook and Twitter.
Bournemouth University Student Union has said some computers should be marked for academic use only.
Final year students who need to use university computers have said they cannot access them for important work.
But university officials say social networking sites are also sometimes used for legitimate academic reasons.
The Student Union says it will display polite notices on the computers, asking students not to spend time on social networking sites while others wish to work.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7976107.stm
Schools are 'employing bouncers'
Schools are employing bouncers to "crowd control" classes in teachers' absence, a union conference has heard.
A London teacher told the National Union of Teachers annual conference he knew of a school that had gone to an agency to recruit two bouncers.
One left after a month after falling out with staff but the other was still employed, he said - the school wanting someone "stern and loud".
The government said cover staff should only be used as a short-term solution.
The union wants all lessons to be taken by qualified teachers but says there are likely to be more cover supervisors taking lessons in future.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7995869.stm
'Personality tests' for teachers
Teacher training applicants in England are to face psychometric tests before being offered a place on a course, to ensure they are well suited to the job.
The Training and Development Agency for Schools is developing tests for skills such as communication and empathy.
The government asked for an assessment to be developed amid concern at a lack of "softer" skills among teachers.
But the Association of Teachers and Lecturers criticised the idea as an "expensive gimmick".
The Department for Children, Schools and Families requested a test which would "assess suitability to be a teacher", the TDA said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8120550.stm
Teachers spot trouble in a name
Teachers think they can tell which pupils are likely to play up by looking at their names, a survey suggests.
The poll of 3,000 teachers found more than one in three expected pupils with certain names to be more disruptive.
Pupils called Callum, Connor, Jack, Chelsea, Courtney and Chardonnay were among some of the ones to watch.
The online survey by parenting club Bounty.com found 49% of UK teachers made assumptions about a child when they first looked down the register.
But it is not all bad news, with 57% of the teachers surveyed saying the naughtier children tended to be more popular than their better behaved peers.
More than a third said the naughtiest pupils were often the brightest and the more sensitive.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8243684.stm
Tech addiction 'harms learning'
Technology addiction among young people is having a disruptive effect on their learning, researchers have warned.
Their report concluded that modern gadgets worsened pupils' spelling and concentration, encouraged plagiarism and disrupted lessons.
The study of 267 pupils aged 11 to 18 found 63% felt addicted to the internet and 53% to their mobile phones.
The research said technology drove a social lifestyle that involved a strong desire to keep in touch with friends.
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Three hours on the mobile
They found 62% first used or owned a computer before the age of eight, 80% first used the internet between the ages of five and 10, 58% first used a mobile phone between the ages of eight and 10 and 58% have had access to a social networking sites between the ages of eleven and 13.
Over half (53.2%) indicated they spent up to around 30 minutes a day on their mobile, while 17% said they spent at least three hours on their mobile. Just over one in five (20.2%) said they left the phone on in lessons - which is usually forbidden by schools.
Over 30% reported spending between one to two hours a day using the internet and 26% said they spent up to six or more hours a day.
On average, pupils said they spent between one and two hours on social networking sites each day.
Pupils said they sent more e-mails than they received and the majority said they sent and/or received up to 20 texts a day.
Over a third (39%) admitted that text shortcuts damaged the quality of their written English, particularly when it came to spelling.
And 84% openly admitted copying chunks of information from the internet into their homework or projects on a number of occasions.
Pupils said the internet was by far the largest source of information for such work, with over 90% saying they used it compared with 43% who said books.
Poor attention levels
Professor Andrew Kakabadse from Cranfield School of Management said: "Over 60% of the respondents admitted to being 'very' or 'quite' addicted to the internet, while over 50% are addicted to their mobile phones."
Dr Nada Kakabadse from Northampton Business School said modern technology, such as mobile phones and handheld computer games, was having an impact on pupils' attention levels.
"They are hiding these things under the desks so their concentration cannot be equally divided, they are not focusing on what's going on in class.
"They can't get motivated to read for a long period of time."
Dr Kakabadse said pupils were also getting into a bad habit of plagiarism.
"For their homework, instead of reading the book, they go on the internet and lift it, rather than reading it and understanding it and putting it in their own words."
She also raised concerns about the text-messaging abbreviations to which young people had grown accustomed.
"They have invented a new language. This kind of abbreviation they unconsciously bring into their assignments.
"So they will have difficulty communicating with others and making themselves understood. Of course, language should evolve but maybe not so quickly."
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8256490.stm
Curvy students 'perk of the job'
A university leader has caused controversy by saying curvy female students are a "perk of the job".
Terence Kealey, of the University of Buckingham, said lecturers were aware of females who "flaunted their curves".
In a tongue-in-cheek article for Times Higher Education Magazine on the seven deadly sins of academia, he advised academics to "look but not touch".
The National Union of Students condemned the comments as insulting and disrespectful to women.
Dr Kealey, a clinical bio-chemist and vice-chancellor of Buckingham University, likened the classroom to a lap dancing club and said admiring the curves of attractive students could help "spice up" marital sex.
In his article about the sin of lust, Dr Kealey wrote: "Most male lecturers know that, most years, there will be a girl in class who flashes her admiration and who asks for advice on her essays.
"What to do? Enjoy her! She's a perk."
Referring to characters from Middlemarch by George Eliot and The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury, he added: "She doesn't yet know that you are only Casaubon to her Dorothea, Howard Kirk to her Felicity Phee, and she will flaunt you her curves.
"Which you should admire daily to spice up your sex, nightly, with the wife."
Dr Kealey recalled the days when sex between student and tutor, in return for academic favours, could go by unchecked.
"Thanks to the accountability imposed by the Quality Assurance Agency [the university watchdog] and other intrusive bodies, the days are gone when a scholar could trade sex for upgrades."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8270475.stm
