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This is what those OLPC laptops are for. 1)Pass one around. Use some flash based game, which is actually an aptitude test in disguise and measure performance o

This is what those OLPC laptops are for. 1)Pass one around. Use some flash based game, which is actually an aptitude test in disguise and measure performance on that. 2) Have a Webcam conversation with each (if 1500 is too many for your team, farm this task out. * ). See how they answer non generic questions and look for evidence for analytical abilities or quick thinking. I think some internet-based live-streaming solution is the way to go as there is no corrupting intermediary that adds noise to the evaluation process. *Would be cool to have a website where you can sign up to interview a student, something like MTurk, but limited to invited candidates?

markessien 18y ago
This is actually a good idea, but one could just use normal computers. The school has 30 PCs or so with an internet connection. All the same, you can't interview 1500 students over a webcam, and what can one learn in a 10 minute interview? It's like a job interview then, and they are a bit young for that... The best would be if there were some type of test that one could administer that does not show the same bias towards the wealthier students.
- ChaitanyaSai 18y ago
  I, of course, have never done this, but my hunch is that it should be easy to ask students questions that reveal some abilities. I am reminded of one of the studies cited in Gladwell's Blink about how you can thin-slice (speedily evaluate relative merit) a person's abilities in pretty diverse fields (speed-dating, classroom teaching) with only a 10 (or so) second video of the person. No test administered by classroom teachers can escape corruption, unless the teachers are themselves unaware of what constitutes a right answer.
drhowarddrfine 18y ago
And if they make it out of edible parts, the starving kids can eat it, or they could make it out of Kevlar so it can be a bullet-proof vest! OLPC is another dump of stupid money.

markessien 18y ago

This is actually a good idea, but one could just use normal computers. The school has 30 PCs or so with an internet connection. All the same, you can't interview 1500 students over a webcam, and what can one learn in a 10 minute interview? It's like a job interview then, and they are a bit young for that... The best would be if there were some type of test that one could administer that does not show the same bias towards the wealthier students.

ChaitanyaSai 18y ago
I, of course, have never done this, but my hunch is that it should be easy to ask students questions that reveal some abilities. I am reminded of one of the studies cited in Gladwell's Blink about how you can thin-slice (speedily evaluate relative merit) a person's abilities in pretty diverse fields (speed-dating, classroom teaching) with only a 10 (or so) second video of the person. No test administered by classroom teachers can escape corruption, unless the teachers are themselves unaware of what constitutes a right answer.

drhowarddrfine 18y ago

And if they make it out of edible parts, the starving kids can eat it, or they could make it out of Kevlar so it can be a bullet-proof vest! OLPC is another dump of stupid money.