Last week I went to a Dida Assessment course (GCSE equivalent qualification). We spend 2.5 hours going through a level 1 paper then 2.5 hours going through a level 2 paper, both of which got distinctions. I asked the moderator how long he expected marking a paper to take and he recommended 1 hour. Even if it takes half an hour I have 100 of these to mark which means 50 hours work extra work next term (minus the 5 hours of Y11 per week who will have left and who’s papers I will be marking.)
Other news from the moderator
The walk throughs are up on the Dida site and should be useful. We used them extensively in the training (no doubt they will break this link, try searching for ‘getting the standards right’ or gtsr).
Copyright will be treated even more strictly in 2007 than in 2006. Students must act as though they were working as professionals for the organisation in question (ie. a Make Space club or for Unit 3 the London2012 organising commitee). So that means forgetting that the project is actually a school project. I assume that as the Make Space club is a non profitable organisation (as is the Make Space organisation) you can get away with using Flickr.com’s creative commons database. However I have doubts that for London 2012 you can use photos with the non commercial licence, as London 2012 is actually a limited company.
Arcane? don’t you believe it. I think we should be teaching our kids these things. Only problem is that your average GSCE student doesn’t want to know, they have be copying, and watched everyone else copy, images from the internet with impunity for all of their school lives. Try tell them that they can’t.
Here are some notes I took Assessment Notes
I re-read this because my other computer thought it was new!
EdExcel is an interesting case in how they deal with copyright through DiDA.
The specification of unit 1 says that candidates must understand and adhere to the law on copyright (or words to that effect as I remember).
The law on copyright is very clear – this project is not commercial – therefore you can use cc licenses if they are for non commercial use. But the law goes much further than that:
The use of copyrighted material in the setting or taking of an examination is perfectly acceptable as long as it is acknowledged. The literature that I have read on this aspect (though I am no lawyer) says that it is appropriate to apply this ‘examination’ clause to a phd. If that is so then surely an examination that is 100% lead by coursework would be covered by this clause.
As such, I see no reason why pupils cannot simply say in their e-portfolio that they have used the following copyrighted work under the terms of fair use in the 1988 Act. – Given the level of the qualification this should surely be acceptable.
- of course I do see one reason why you cannot do this – and that is that EdExcel probably doesn’t realise that the law allows it and therefore will throw out or mark down all the exam papers.
So therefore, it is a question of what the exam board will actually want/check. The reality being that you simply acknowledge everything that you use and make sure that it is obviously not copyrighted – saying where it comes from and that it is not copyrighted or you have permission. The chance that you can check all these is unlikely/impossible – the chance that edexcel will check is even less.
So the reality is that EdExcel will probably lead to far more cases of lying about permission with copyright because it won’t accept people copying for an examination.
If pretending to be in a company is part of the project then that should be explicitly stated and marks provided for how well you pretend!
But EdExcel only wants you to pretend when it suits them. Why not in your pretending as a pupil buy licenses to every online royalty free service. Or how about in pretending, doing what most businesses do and employing a freelancer for the tough bits – or subcontracting out the whole project!
EdExcel takes a narrow (corporate) view of copyright. The idea being that you simply cannot copy anything for any reason without either paying or getting permission. This is simply not true.
Personally, I told mine as fact what they could and couldn’t copy – and how to acknowledge. They weren’t that bothered either way. Most of them find ‘nuggets’ of copyright law quite interesting if interspersed occassionally. Some will even read that 1988 act if you tell them where to find it.
Most are astonished if you explain that it is illegal to copy a CD onto an ipod. (i think this is still the case – though read they are trying to change the law on this). They are also very pleased when you tell them that they can copy anything they like for criticism and review.
Just a note to advise that the DiDA Assessment Manager is now available. Schools can sign up for half price between now and the next half term break. See this fabulous database presented in part at bertotools.com which will also give you an opportunity to request further information.