Working from home

Working from home

Pencil and paperOnline interactive
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Further Resources
This task is about retrieving information and making inferences from a text.
Warning for people who work from home
     Working from home saves on petrol but increases the risk of being lonely, a Victoria University social scientist says.  A Wellington Regional Council survey released this month said commuter traffic would drop by 15 percent if more people worked from home. More than 75 percent of 79 respondents to a questionnaire said they wanted to develop teleworking in their organisations.     But, Victoria senior lecturer in social policy, Judith Davey said that in her experience, teleworking had a downside. "I ran a business from home for several years. It was a very lonely, isolated existence."
  
     Some people thought it would be good to avoid being stuck in traffic jams, but human contact was a key part of daily working life, she said. Many teleworkers needed to travel into town, in any case, to meet business contacts.     Teleworking as an option for women with young children was another myth, she said. "What's so great about being at home trying to work with the kids there? I think men should think about what that's like before talking about it."
 
Read the newspaper article and answer the following questions.

Question 1Change answer

a)  List two advantages and two disadvantages of working from home that are stated in the article. 
Advantages  
1. 
2. 
 
Disadvantages  
1. 
2. 

Question 1Change answer

b)  Explain what 'teleworking' is, as used in the article.

Question 1Change answer

c)  What is the meaning of the word 'myth', as used in the last paragraph?

Question 1Change answer

d)  What does Judith Davey mean in the article when she talks about the 'downside' of an experience?

Question 1Change answer

e)  The article tells us about adults working from home.
     Now consider the issue of school aged children choosing to be educated at home.
     Give two advantages of home schooling and then two disadvantages.
Advantages
1. 
2. 
 
Disadvantages
1. 
2. 
Task administration: 
This task can be completed with pencil and paper or online (without auto-marking).
 
Copyright: 
Source: 'Warning for people who work from home', Evening Post, Wed, June 28, 2000. Permission granted for use.
Level:
5
Curriculum info: 
English, Making meaning, Reading
Key Competencies: 
Thinking
Keywords: 
article, news articles, comprehension, point of view, evaluating, think critically
Description of task: 
A newspaper article on working from home is the stimulus for this resource. The assessment focus is on looking at both sides of an issue, vocabulary and comprehension.
Curriculum Links: 
Links to the Literacy Learning Progressions for Reading:
This resource helps to identify students’ ability to:
  • infer ideas and information that are not directly stated in the text
as described in the Literacy Learning Progressions for Reading at: http://www.literacyprogressions.tki.org.nz/The-Structure-of-the-Progressions.
Learning Progression Frameworks
This resource can provide evidence of learning associated with
Making sense of text: processing system, sets 6-7
Making sense of text: vocabulary knowledge, sets 7-9
within the Reading Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Read more about the Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Answers/responses: 
 

Y10 (08/2000)

a)

Advantages

  • saves on petrol
  • reduces traffic/avoid traffic jams

Disadvantages

  • lonely/lack of human contact/isolated
  • distractions, e.g., children

easy

 

very easy

b)

People, who work from home relying on telecommunications, e.g., phones, modems, computers.

moderate

c)

A widely held but wrong idea or something said that is not really true.

difficult

d)

The bad side/the worst elements/the negative aspects.

easy

e)

Advantages

Any 2 of:

  • Flexibility.
  • Can control pace of learning.
  • Individual tuition.
  • Can explore outside set curricula.
  • Save on uniforms.
  • Save time [travelling].
  • Other acceptable answers.

Disadvantages

Any 2 of:

  • Lack of social contact with peers.
  • Learning can be unstructured.
  • Progress can be hard to measure.
  • Reduced opportunities for physical development, i.e., sport.
  • Other acceptable answers.

easy

 

 

 

 

very easy