I’m not really sure what to say about the Teacher’s Report Assistant. This piece of free software – Quote ‘produces professional sounding, individualized report cards in the shortest possible time.’ Unquote.

It does this by allowing the teacher to select from a number of templated comments. You know the sort of thing – ‘x’s work has not been up to standard lately.’

Judging by the testimonial on the site it appears to be quite a popular tool, so am I missing something here? Is this a sensible piece of programming which automates a very tedious and repetitive task, or is it an abrogation of the teacher’s responsibility to show some sort of relationship with their pupils? I’m confused. [via Chris Pirillo]