Posts by lostcolony

Using 'AI-based software like Proctorio and ProctorU' to monitor online exams is a really bad idea, says uni panel

Re: Online exams do not seem like a good idea in general

So much this.

I never understood why so many tests in college tested -recall- ability. I.e., the thing computers are amazingly good at, and humans are really bad at. And which invariably I could cram for, and post test I'd remember nothing.

Pretty much every subject worth learning has ways to test for actual comprehension. For math, show your work. For literature, ask for how the material affected them. For sciences, apply it in some fashion.

I'm a CS major (shocking), and the classes that had tests were invariably the worst. The classes that had projects, however, were great. And as everyone who has ever worked on a group project knows, working together isn't a guaranteed recipe for success. If everyone is remote, too, there is no group peer pressure to 'work together', allowing others in the group to coast; you can just ghost people who aren't pulling their fair share.

Test for understanding; you can't google for it.

Ably blog claims company doesn't need Kubernetes to scale, surge in traffic takes down entire website

All the kids are above average

I always enjoy the argument of using standards. "Look, if you don't do things like everyone else you won't get to benefit from the wisdom of the crowds".

Being like everyone else is the literal definition of mediocre, non-exceptional, etc. You obviously shouldn't deviate just to deviate, but the logic that you'll do things better by just doing them like everyone else is not obviously true, and the idea that you'll somehow be better than average by trying to be like everyone else is obviously false.