Document Index

The Shortcut Guide to Managing Disk Fragmentation

Storing data on a disk has become less expensive and more convenient in modern times. But with that increase in storage capacity and decrease in price comes a problem of management. There are many common misunderstandings leading to operational inefficiencies when it comes to the management of disk fragmentation and defragmentation.

The Shortcut Guide to Managing Disk Fragmentation will help IT professionals, analysts, and engineers to understand the benefit of a holistic disk defragmentation strategy across the enterprise. The guide will examine how the pervasive problem of fragmentation affects a computer system and what approaches are effective in reducing these effects. Lastly, the guide will outline the mechanics of automatic defragmentation, and how to select and deploy an automatic defragmentation solution.

Microsoft Windows / Office 2007 Short-Cut Reference

Single-page PDF showing (all?) available keyboard shortcut keys for Windows XP and for MS Office 2007 (Word, Excel, etc.). A handy reference for anyone wanting to speed up their workflow.

Mac OSX Short-Cut Reference

6-Page PDF file showing a heap of useful shortcut key combinations for Mac OSX.

Reading Instruction in NZ Primary Schools

In common with other English-speaking nations (such as USA, Britain and Australia), New Zealand has a poor record of reading instruction in schools. A significant proportion of children leave school without good, functional reading ability.

Primary school teachers who wish to "upskill" their knowledge and strategies of beginning reading instruction have nowhere in New Zealand to turn. Colleges of Education, and most of the teaching population, are still welded to the much-discredited Whole Language Approach or Three Cueing System of reading instruction.

The Ministry of Education's new curriculum (2007) merely suggests that children should become good readers, with no assistance on how that may be accomplished. (As a matter of interest, this new Outcome Based Education curriculum, or Standards Based as the NZ MOE prefers to call it, has also been widely discredited in Britain and in Australia where it has been in place for 10 years or more. Western Australian teachers are fighting very hard to have it replaced by something more useful. But that's another story).

So, if you are a New Zealand Primary School teacher, where do you look for help in improving your skills and directly assisting your children become better readers?

We suggest that these research-based documents are a useful place to start. Originally one document, we have split it into chapters for shorter download times. Reading them in the order given is the most logical approach, but feel free to browse if you'd rather.

Find the Research-Based documents on Reading Instruction here.

Visual Perception Disorders in Children

There is an immense amount of research going on into why some otherwise-able youngsters still fail to learn to read.

Given labels such as Dyslexia or Specific Learning Disability, these children rarely receive the targeted assistance they really need in NZ classrooms.

This paper, nicely illustrated in colour, was written for the 2007 Conference of Teachers of Blind and Low Vision. It presents the latest findings of John Stein and others who are deeply involved in the neuro research field of child development.

The paper can be downloaded here (PDF : 720k)

Good Health

Written c1430, and presented in Middle English vernacular and spelling, this document contains advice for adults on how to lead a sober and healthy lifestyle. A second document contained in the same file gives similar advice to children.

Good fun for pupils in English classes as a quick look at how English language has changed since the time of writing, or for "translating" into modern idiom. Could be of interest to Health classes, too: does the advice given still apply in the 21st century?

The paper can be downloaded here (PDF : 44k)

Wikijunior Books

Having recently got under way, Wikijunior's stock of titles is not very large, but it already has some interesting topics represented in colourful PDF books that are free to everyone.

Download Wikijunior books here (PDF's)

Acquired Brain Injury: Teacher Resource Book

Brock University, Ontario, Canada.

ABI, or acquired brain injury, is any type of sudden injury that causes temporary or permanent damage to the brain. Damage that is associated with some kind of trauma to the head such as a concussion, a fall, or a motor vehicle collision is known as a traumatic brain injury. Injuries can also occur as a result of other factors, such as: anoxia (e.g., near drowning), toxicity, infection, or cerebral vascular accident (CVA, e.g., stroke).

No one knows how many children in our schools are suffering from an ABI. A fall from a bike results in a lump on the head that soon goes down and is no longer painful. Unfortunately, it is usually assumed that the child has made a full recovery. No thought is given to what has happened inside the skull and its effect on the child's personality, cognitive processes and learning.

This book is an important teacher resource, fully illustrated in colour, 145 pages.

Download the book here. (PDF: 3.7mb)