Buffistechnology 3: "Press Some Buttons, See What Happens."
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Gris,
I'm not sure if this answers your question, but I think you have essentially 2 groups of needs: a) need to do broad research on educational outcomes across the students in the school; b) what information is useful to teachers for their students.
For a, I would actually use SPSS, STATA or other related statistical software for research at the school level.
For b, what kinds of things do teachers need? They may just need an excel sheet of key indicators. Maybe what you need is for them to generate their own reports (e.g. give them a web interface that allows them to select particular students and particular data points and generate tables or charts).
SPSS/STATA data can be stored as excel (you can import data into these software program from excel) and then you can run more complicated analyses - regressions, etc.
For part a, thanks, I'll definitely look into SPSS and STATA for any advanced statistical analysis stuff I do, for sure. I'm not sure how much of that I'll need - really, with a maximum student population of 300 across four grades, the sample sizes aren't usually so huge as to require complicated analysis.
For part b, that's exactly the sort of thing I'd love to offer.
I guess the main question I have is, what's the best way to STORE the information so that I can get it in and out in useful ways. It seems to me a database is the best bet, but should I go the simple route for me and use Access, or look into something else in order to make your part b work better?
There's definitely a way for Access to uhh... access SQL tables stored elsewhere. My company does that sort of thing all the time. But that's the extent of my knowledge.
Gris, you might want to research Moodle. It's an online program that is database driven and written for schools. It can be used for everything from online classes, to appointment setting, to grade management, to collaborative work amongst teachers, to various kinds of reporting and is highly customizable.
Gris,
you are right. with those sample sizes, excel (and access) should be sufficient.
Daniel, when i get home tonight, I'll see if it boots (its been years). If you pay shipping, I'm happy to give it to you. Would you want the yamaha 2x external burner with 2 gig drive?
Omnis, thanks, It's very tempting but I'm trying to focus on Mac laptops made after 2000, to update my skillset. Basically G3 and up.
I had a couple people with dead ones say they might be willing to send them to me, but I've still got to follow up on that.
As much as my greedy little subconscious wants another working mac laptop, I think the 5300 has a 14 inch TFT screen, I've got to get rid of a bunch of old stuff myself.
I've got to get rid of a bunch of old stuff myself.
I know that feeling all too well. Why is it so hard toss old gear? Oh, I know. Cuz ya look at it and say "I paid $xxxx for that, I can't throw it away".
Why is it so hard toss old gear? Oh, I know. Cuz ya look at it and say "I paid $xxxx for that, I can't throw it away".
It's hard not to think that (I have that problem with clothes), but a key thing in getting rid of stuff is asking "What would I pay for that today?" instead.
Of course, some things are naturally easier to get rid of because they are either easily recyclable or usable for someone else and you can feel good about getting rid of it. Tech gear is often neither.
but a key thing in getting rid of stuff is asking "What would I pay for that today?" instead.
Megan is wise! That will help. Rationalizing, it's a wonderful thing.
Of course, some things are naturally easier to get rid of because they are either easily recyclable or usable for someone else and you can feel good about getting rid of it. Tech gear is often neither.
Ya, the hard drives are the hardest part to just toss. They work fine. It's just they are SCSI drives, and nobody uses SCSI. And 2 GB. As ND said last night, flash drives are smaller with more storage than that.
So? anyone need modems? I think the last one was a 56k.
:: cricket echoing in an empty room ::
ok, then I guess it gets tossed in the pile for toxic recylce.
I recycled something like 15 56k modems about 4 years ago. The are just useless.
