WAEC postpones English Language exam, fails to give reason

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has postponed the English Language examination scheduled to hold on Saturday, September 22, till September 29, 2018 for private candidates.

The examination body revealed this on its official Twitter handle, @waecnigeria.

The tweet reads, “English Language papers will be written on September 29, 2018. Please, go to our registration site (http://registration.waecdirect.org) and download the timetable.”

Although the examination body did not state clearly, the postponement of the paper may not be unconnected to the Osun State gubernatorial election scheduled to hold on September 22, during which movement within the state would be restricted.

Meanwhile, WAEC had in July released the result of the 2018 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for internal candidates.

The exam body said a total of 786,016 candidates of the 1,572,396 that wrote the examination had five credits and above including English Language and Mathematics.

Statistics of the result showed that a total of 1,213,244 candidates representing 76.84 percent obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five subjects with or without English Language and or Mathematics.

Educational technology

Introduction
 Educational technology,
sometimes shortened to EduTech or EdTech, is a wide field. Therefore, one can find many definitions, some of which are conflicting. Educational technology as an academic field can be considered either as a design science or as a collection of different research interests addressing fundamental issues of learning, teaching and social organization. Educational technology as practice refers to any form of teaching and learning that makes use of technology. Nevertheless, there are a few features on which most researchers and practitioners might agree: Use of technology is principled: Technology means the systematic application of scientific knowledge to practical tasks. Therefore, educational technology is based on theoretical knowledge drawn from different disciplines (communication, education, psychology, sociology, philosophy, artificial intelligence, computer science, etc.) plus experiential knowledge drawn from educational practice. Educational technology aims to improve education. Technology should facilitate learning processes and increase performance of the educational system(s) as it regards to effectiveness and/or efficiency. In this short introduction we will try to give a preliminary definition of the field. 1.1 Other definitions Educational technology is a very wide field. Therefore one can find many definitions, some of which are conflicting. Technology means the systematic application of scientific or other organized knowledge to practical task. Therefore, educational technology is based on theoretical knowledge from different disciplines (communication, psychology, sociology, philosophy, artificial intelligence, computer science, etc.) plus experiential knowledge from educational practise (Natalie Descryver) Educational technology is the use of technology to improve education. It is a systematic, iterative process for designing instruction or training used to improve performance. Educational technology is sometimes also known as instructional technology or learning technology. (Wikipedia:Educational_technology) The study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources. ([1]) A definition centered on its process: "A complex, integrated process involving people, procedures, ideas, devices, and organization, for analyzing problems, and devising, implementing, evaluating and managing solutions to those problems, involved in all aspects of human learning" ([2]) "One definition of Educational Technology is that it is a systematic, iterative process for designing instruction or training used to improve performance" (Encyclopedia of Educational Technology) Lachance et al. (1980:183) also focus on the the process idea: la technologie éducative en tant que processus systématique intégrant les diverses fonctions du processus éducatif. Elle vise, d'une part, à analyser des problèmes reliés à l'enseignement et/ou à l'apprentissage et, d'autre part, à élaborer, implanter et évaluer des solutions à ces problèmes par le développement et l'exploitation des ressources éducatives (cited by Lapointe, 1991). Educational Technology (Information Technology) according to International Technology Education Association Teaches with technology (uses technology as a tool) Primarily concerned with the narrow spectrum of information and communication technologies Primary goal: To enhance the teaching and learning process Terminology issue: Educational technology is a field. A educational technology refers to a technology that is particularly suited for education plus its usage/range of applications maybe. See the educational technologies article and the category educational technologies. See also: Instructional technology and elearning which sometimes are used as a synonym,s sometimes not. 1.2 Incomplete definitions Technology that is used as tool in education ... it's not just technology Using multimedia technologies or audiovisual aids as a tool to enhance the teaching and learning process. International Technology Education Association ... it's not just multimedia Field of education centered on the design and use of messages and physical support conditioning pedagogical situations and learning process. [3] ... it's not just conditioning 2 Goals of Educational Technology Educational technology research always had an ambitious agenda. Sometimes it only aims at increased efficiency or effectiveness of current practise, but frequently it aims at pedagogical change. While it can be considered as a design science it also addresses fundamental issues of learning, teaching and social organization and therefore makes use of the full range of modern social science and life sciences methodology. "Technology provides us with powerful tools to try out different designs, so that instead of theories of education, we may begin to develop a science of education. But it cannot be an analytic science like physics or psychology; rather it must be a design science more like aeronautics or artificial intelligence. For example, in aeronautics the goal is to elucidate how different designs contribute to lift, drag maneuverability, etc. Similarly, a design science of education must determine how different designs of learning environments contribute to learning, cooperation, motivation, etc." (Collins, 1992:24). Technology is therefore both a tool and a catalyzer and it can become a medium through which change can happen. Educational technologists would not therefore consider the computer as just another piece of equipment. If educational technology is concerned with thinking carefully about teaching and learning, then a computer has a contribution to make irrespective of its use as a means of implementation, for the design of computer-based learning environments gives us a new perspective on the nature of teaching and learning and indeed on general educational objectives. (O'Shea and Self:

Poll: States With Walkouts See More Support for Raising Teachers’ Pay

A GROWING NUMBER OF people support higher pay for teachers and more funding for public schools, according to a new poll that finds a shift in public opinion following a wave of teacher walkouts in six states where educators protested stagnant pay and inadequate school resources.

That's one of the key findings in the 2018 EdNext poll, which the Harvard Kennedy School's Program on Education Policy and Governance conducted for Education Next, a nonprofit journal formerly funded by the Hoover Institution.

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The wide-ranging survey offers some insight into Americans' mixed views on education. While there is growing support for raising teacher pay and spending more on public schools, backing for charter schools and school voucher systems has also risen slightly, while opinion on the Obama-era Common Core state academic standards has stabilized at 45 percent.

Poll figures indicate that the highly publicized teacher strikes may have helped move the needle on public opinion about teacher salaries and school funding.

When respondents were given information about the average teacher salary in their state, 49 percent indicated that salaries should increase, a 13 percentage point jump from last year's poll. In that same group, 44 percent indicated salaries should stay about the same and 7 percent said teacher pay should decrease. Support for more pay was higher, at 67 percent, among respondents who were not told the average teacher's earnings in their state, indicating that some may underestimate what teachers are earning.

As with other issues, some division could be seen along partisan lines, as 59 percent of Democrats said that pay should be increased compared to 38 percent of Republicans, though support increased among both groups.

The jump in support was even more pronounced in the six states – Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma and West Virginia – that saw large-scale teacher protests. There, 63 percent of respondents said salaries should be raised.

Though the study's researchers report that the walkouts "seem to have lent new urgency to teacher demands for salary raises and increased financial support for schools," they note that multiple factors, including a stronger national economy, may be behind the uptick in support for higher pay.

"Those six states appear to have been fertile ground for an effort to raise teacher pay, with residents more likely to support such an effort, even in 2017," the authors wrote. These higher levels of approval could reflect the fact that each of the states ranks in the bottom 10 nationally in terms of teacher compensation."

Proponents of school choice may have also regained some ground in 2018.

Support for charter schools grew by 5 percent in 2018 to 33 percent, just one year after a substantial drop-off in support. The difference was made up almost entirely by Republicans, 57 percent of whom supported the formation of charter schools, compared to 36 percent of Democrats.

Expanding school choice has been a point of emphasis for Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who was a longtime champion of the charter system in her home state of Michigan.

In the same vein, school vouchers systems, in which public funds are used to help parents enroll their children in private schools, saw a 9 percentage point increase in support from last year, with black and Hispanic respondents, at 56 percent and 62 percent respectively, much more likely to support vouchers for low-income families than white respondents, at 35 percent.

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Marijuana is already a multibillion-dollar business in the U.S. that’s drawing attention from some lawmakers eager for tax revenue and investors looking for profits. So far, however, some of the biggest insurers are taking a pass.

Allianz SE, Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. are among large insurers that aren’t covering marijuana-related businesses. Even as U.S. states increasingly permit the use of pot for medicinal or recreational purposes, the federal government has held fast in keeping weed illegal. That’s driven off name-brand insurers and left the field open for smaller firms.

“The whole conversation of cannabis crosses the desks of the most senior leaders of the insurance community as they determine whether or not they want to play in this game,” said Tom Fitzgerald, global broking officer at insurance broker Aon Plc. “There’s not every insurance company in the world anxious to write this stuff, at least not yet.”

Pot is big business, with consumer spending on legal cannabis estimated to reach $11 billion this year and $23 billion by 2022, according to a June report by Arcview Market Research with BDS Analytics. Recreational use of marijuana is now legal in nine states and Washington, D.C., while medicinal weed is permitted in more than 25 states and the nation’s capital, according to the National Conference of State Legislators.

Only a Handful

“Just a few handful of carriers” will write policies for cannabis-related firms, said James Nelson, a retail insurance broker and owner of New Growth Insurance in Alameda, California.

Growers want protection against crop loss and other business coverage, and weed distributors and retailers need insurance as well. The companies have long known that U.S. banks won;t let them open accounts because of the federal law, and now they’re finding it difficult to buy insurance.

One of the smaller firms diving in is Continental Heritage Insurance Co. Ohio-based Continental, which also sells surety products like bail bonds, was licensed this year in California to offer coverage for marijuana-related businesses, including product liability.

“We have a history of basically seeking out markets that a lot of the larger companies tend to ignore,” said Continental Chief Executive Officer Charles Hamm. “We believe cannabis is one of those areas that has a great deal of potential.”

Federal Risk

The fear of the federal government stepping in is overblown, according to Dave Jones, the California insurance commissioner. Recreational pot became legal in California, the biggest U.S. state, this year.

“There’s no risk of federal intervention and a very important upside for the insurance industry to participate,” Jones said in an interview. Marijuana is “a very large and growing industry that needs insurance.”

Hartford, based in the Connecticut city of the same name, said it’s abstaining from the industry, and “that is unlikely to change” while the federal ban is in place.

“We do not underwrite any business that sells, grows, transports or distributes marijuana or products derived from marijuana cannabinoids,” the company said in an emailed statement.

A spokeswoman for Allianz, Europe’s largest insurer which also has operations in the U.S., said it currently doesn’t offer coverage. Nationwide said in an emailed statement that, while it also avoids pot-related policies, “we continue to evaluate the market opportunities and challenges on this issue.”See also: Cannabis ‘gold rush’ to boost retail in Canada

As more states legalize marijuana, more carriers will come into the market, said Matt Porter, vice president with Cannabis Insurance Professionals, a division of Brown & Brown Inc., in Carpinteria, California. Another large market will be opening up later this year when recreational marijuana becomes legal in Canada on Oct. 17. And as the industry matures, insurers will be have access to more stats such as loss histories to help make underwriting decisions.

“They’ll want some actuarial data to back it up,” Porter said.

For now, smaller insurers are filling the gap. Hamm of Continental said that while no one knows how big the cannabis insurance market is going to get, his company will be there.

“We believe in this line of business absolutely,” Hamm said.