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Get a Degree in Your Own Home

July 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Obtaining secondary education is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your future. College graduates are more likely to get hired and promoted faster and more often than others who don’t have a college education. Holding a college degree can also boost your salary over those without degrees. One of the most flexible methods of obtaining a degree is by online education. Choosing an online college doesn’t have to be complicated if you follow a few simple guidelines.

Any online college that’s worthwhile will be accredited. Accreditation by reputable agencies, like the U.S. Department of Education or your state’s government, indicates a university worthy of receiving your money. Consider your long term plans before choosing a school’s degree program. Whether you’re looking into a bachelor degree at EarnMyDegree.com or any other institution, ensure that your credits will transfer and have value at other institutions if you wish to go further than your initial degree.

Once you’ve found some promising schools, take the time to do some investigating. Research how easy it is to get in touch with professors and other offices. Make sure classes aren’t huge; they should run the same size as any other college. One of the great things about getting your degree at home is you can start when you want. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Research whether your degree choice requires onsite meetings or lectures or if it can be completed totally online.

Choosing an online college can be simple, but make sure you put in the effort to find the right school for you.

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Online College Courses – One More Option

June 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
internet

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Online learning, from high school to graduate achool courses, has become an important and growing part of education around the world. There are a large number of websites on the Internet devoted to helping students find schools and courses that meet their needs. Surprisingly, there are a number of online high schools offering high school and college level courses, including state sponsored programs, individual high schools and universities.

Other sites focus strictly on colleges and universities while other sites list career or para-professional online learning schools as well. The number of schools listed at websites varies varies from 210 to over 300.  However, it should be noted that many of these schools may not be accredited and in the world of higher education, proper accreditation is extremely important for the validity and prestige of the degree or certificate conferred.  With that fact in mind, it is important to ensure that any online college or university considered is fully accredited.

There are also advantages to taking college or career related courses online. The biggest advantage is convenience, especially for those who are working part or full-time. Online learning gives students the freedom to fit course work into time periods that do not conflict with work and exposure to students from other areas. Students can also pace themselves, depending on the course material. Online learning may be less expensive, especially in terms of travel and books.  Cost is an important aspect that needs to be checked out thoroughly before committing to a program. Most importantly, it is important to recognize that online learning requires good time management skills, discipline and commitment to be successful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Education, Student Teacher Reviews, Study Groups Tagged With: , ,

Constructive Approach to Criticism in Creative Groups

May 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A woman and a man performing a high five. 

Image via Wikipedia

In a creative group setting, the idea of contributing with and learning from our peers births its own set of challenges. Among these challenges is the notion of providing constructive criticism within the group setting. Constructive criticism can make or break the group’s dynamic.

In a creative setting, members many times place personal pieces of their work on the line for others to see. It’s a process that takes an amount of trust and willingness of vulnerability. Communication is the foundation that any solid group can build on. When giving or receiving constructive criticism, it’s imperative to understand where each person involved is coming from. Any unresolved negative feelings between members might arise to affect the motivation of the criticism being given.

By pointing out positive aspects of a person’s creative contribution, it may help them to be open about where performance might be improved. A individual’s tone of voice or body language can reveal what they may not be saying. The idea of constructive criticism is to help one another to achieve better work. An earnest approach with eye contact, a non-aggressive tone and well thought out words is an effective way for someone to get their point across. Another aspect of this approach is to determine those opinions or guidance can be applied to best benefit the work at hand.

Leaving personal bias out of a peer group collaboration can be a difficult challenge to overcome. It can be tricky to get your point across without offense. Valid and useful feedback can propel creativity into directions that were hidden. Trust and mutual respect is key in any interpersonal peer setting.

 

 

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Maximizing the Benefits of Group Projects

March 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Students can learn much more than just class material from a group project, including team management skills, leadership, and creativity.  Here are several ways for maximizing the benefits of group projects for students.

  • Creative format
    Group projects that involve creative media, such as film, art, or cooking, can often get students more excited about the project.  Even simple presentations can elicit more participation and involvement rather than a simple worksheet, paper, or poster board.  Having a more creative format can also shift students’ perceptions of what the project should be like; if the project resembles many individual assignments in the class, then students will default to individual work, rather than group work.
  • Time to work in class
    Often times, students are incredibly busy with extracurricular activities, sports, and instrument practice.  Allowing a few minutes of class time for the group to meet and organize the project will greatly benefit students, as it will allow them to develop and implement a schedule for themselves.  At the very least, it will give them a chance to set up another meeting time outside of class.
  • Student evaluations
    Having the students evaluate each other can be a very useful way to maximize the benefits of a group project.  It will give the instructor a better idea of how the group worked together, and it will give him or her a better understanding of the work distribution for the project.  Ideally, students should also be evaluating the project itself, giving feedback for what could be improved for the next year.

With these techniques in place, students are ready to get the most out of their next group project.

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Methods of Conducting Peer Reviews

December 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Communications and discussions are greatly enhanced in any classroom with the help of peer reviews. A variety of methods can be adopted by teacher to carry these out.
General peer reviews are simple in form and the best method. These do not include any specific instructions but require an honest and unprejudiced review. Such reviews are for uninitiated teachers and students who are new to the concept.
Mini Groups
Mini groups comprise smaller groups of students. Each member of a group gives feedback to other members of his or her group. Such groups enable team bonding and effective learning.
Specific Questions
Students can have particular questions about their own papers they would like reviewed. They are encouraged to write down these questions at the beginning of the session and ask peers to take these into consideration while writing their review. This is a positive approach toward guided feedback that encourages students to have their work analyzed through questions and deliberations of their own.
Advanced Peer Reviews
Many advanced classes encourage paper writing as a mode of conducting peer reviews. This entails more complex and detailed peer reviews, requiring more lucid and effective communication. Such reviews may be saved for the latter part of the semester when students have got accustomed to writing peer reviews.
Questionnaires
A method of peer reviews that works well with uninitiated and shy students are questionnaires. These ensure reviews molded by teachers themselves. A set of questions can be set by the teachers, helping students compile their review.
Self-Evaluations
Perhaps the toughest yet most effective method of writing peer reviews is assessing one’s own work. This can be done based on some set questions such as ‘What is the biggest strength of your paper’, or’What grade would you give yourself for this paper’ and many other questions.
Peer reviews can be very beneficial for any classroom. The more a student writes, the more improved will be his or her communication.

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How to Create a Classroom Forum for Peer Review Online

December 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Computer usage among student groups goes beyond emails and instant messaging. If used appropriately, it can be converted to enhanced means of operation and collaboration.
Forums
Taking group communication a step ahead, forums can act as message boards. Posts by an individual invite comments or other responses from viewers. Moderated by teachers, forums can be a platform for students to communicate online and take active part in discussions and communications.
Nicenet
Nicenet is a free online tool that works as a class message board. It provides a secure forum to hold group conferences and share documents.
Nicenet: Steps for Teachers
Teachers can easily create a Nicenet forum within twenty minutes. Go to www.nicenet.org, click on “Create Class”. Create username and password, and class name. The optional name field should be filled so that students can associate with their teacher on the forum.
Teachers can now create topics of group conference, playgrounds for other conversations, and a “class key” that makes the forum secure.
Nicenet: Steps for Students
Student can visit www.nicent.org, and select “Join a Class”. They can then create a username and password, and join the class using the pre-created class key.
The teacher’s email address is used instead of personal ids of students to ensure security. Teachers should give students a demonstration of Nicenet to help them understand how to do group conferencing, share documents and post messages.
Class Wikis
Wikis allow online spaces to teachers and students to collaborate work easily. To create a class wiki, teachers need to create a username and password, name a wiki forum based on the class, and create a password the entire class can use. Teachers can decide the layout and create topics.
Students can access the wiki by entering the password given and create their username and password.
Online Collaboration
Online collaboration methods can truly allow for more positive education. They can widen the horizons for students by the range of opportunities and challenges offered.

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Mastering Your College Final Exam with these Study Group Tips

December 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Final exams are crucial for students to pass and that too with excellent grades. They cover course material studied during the term year, which may seem enormous but can be studied efficiently.
The Most Important Sentences
The key ideas or concepts are explained in either the title sentence or the key sentences, that is, the first few sentences of a topic. Going over these ensures students understand a particular topic or concept.
Useful Reviews
Tests, quizzes and homework assignments over the course in a year can be the source of many of the exam questions. Students should carefully review these before the final exams.
Study Cards
Flashcard from elementary school can be converted into index cards that can contain important terms and concepts or formulas. Information on these cards can help students remember material or sections during exams.
Study Group
Study groups help break classroom numbers into smaller groups of students. This activity enables better focus on students, thus helping them resolve individual queries and questions. It also enables discussions, per reviews and mock tests that can enhance their learning experience to a great extent.
Students in a study group can compare notes; help each other identify problems and their solutions, thus enabling them to work together for completion of assignments. When uncertain about any topic, they can seek guidance as a group.
Explain to a Friend
A simple yet effective way of learning is to explain what you have learnt to a friend or even a roommate. This gives the student a chance to explain the course in an unhesitating manner and also gauge what the areas not fully understood are. This can help ascertain those sections that need more concentration.
Conclusion
A wide variety of methods are available for students to prepare for their final exams. These not only reduce time spent on studying but also help in achieving quality results.

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Organize an Effective College Group Study

December 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Effective study groups often help college students reduce time spent in studying and organize their studies better.
Planning the Study Group
Getting together a study group also entails determining the place, date and time. It could also imply booking a study room, section of the library or other such venue.
Preparing Mock Test Questions
An effective method of initiating study groups is to ask each member of the group to prepare mock test questions that can then be answered during the meeting.
Allocating Topics
Different topics can be given out to different students of the study group so as to make each student an expert on a topic. The notes, material and research prepared by a student on his or her topic can be shared with the rest of the group, with important sections emphasized. While a number of topics can form part of the study group, only limited time needs to be spent by each student on researching all these topics.
Completion of Review Guides
Study groups often get review guides to be filled out before their meeting. These offer practice questions and introduce concepts expected to appear in the examination. Completed review guides can be discussed and shared during the study group meeting.
Study Groups: Enabling Better Understanding
Study groups offer students a comfortable environment to pose questions and understand topics in better way. They can also be useful in comprehending difficult sections of the course material. Students can prepare a list of all their queries and issues before arriving and discussing them during the meeting.
Not only do study groups help students grasp course material in a better manner, they also help them prepare more efficiently for the final exams. With the aid of review guides, mock exam questions and study group guides, students have the opportunity to fare better and learn more.

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Peer Reviews Improves the Essay Paper Experience

December 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Several students reviewing an essay make it even better.
Meaning of a Peer Review
It is a review session held in a classroom setting where students are asked to review each other’s work. Normally, instructors ask the students to just review and offer constructive feedback, whereas in some cases, special instructions are given to the peer group members.
Reason for Participating in Peer Reviews
In schools as well as colleges, peer review sessions are conducted by instructors.
Since, the students are working on the same kind of paper (say for instance an English essay) they know what is expected of each other‘s work. The students can give feedback that would have otherwise been given by the instructor. It’s not possible for the instructor to give immediate feedback as it takes time to sit and grade nearly 25-30 papers at a time. On the other hand, students can give quick and constructive feedback. The instructor can supervise the group members.
Students can learn how to give feedback as he can compare the essay with his own work. This helps him in identifying and providing constructive feedback. By giving and receiving feedback, students learn a lot
The feedback given by another student is easier to understand
How to Give Feedback?
- Being honest while giving feedback is important
-The tone of your feedback really matters. Be polite rather instead of sounding rude
-Offer constructive feedback that proves to be of great help to the receiver
-Give straightforward answers
- It’s important to respect each other’s work
Some students dislike the idea of peer review sessions. If they are new to the concept they might fear or be embarrassed to take part. It’ important to have a positive attitude and the thirst to learn, as most of the peer review sessions are useful to students.

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How Peer Study Groups can Help Reduce Student Stress

December 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Most people are under the assumption that leading the life of a student is easy but it’s not true, especially when students are under a lot of stress during exam time. To avoid stress, a student needs to study efficiently and well in advance, thus being organized. The following guidelines highlight on how to prepare for exams.
Avoiding Exam Stress
Being organized makes a student face his or her exams with confidence and stress free. It’s imperative to prepare a schedule and implement it in action. The schedule needs to be divided in order to dedicate enough time for revising, group studies, researching etc. Proper time should be allocated for resting, eating and sleeping.
During midterm and final exam preparations, students are under lot of stress. They should take enough time to relax their body as well mind. Stress has a negative impact on the students’ learning habits. Anxiety and depression makes the learning process difficult.
Self motivated students have good habits, thus succeed in preparing well for their exams.
Being Motivated
Students need to have a study goal and work towards achieving it. This ultimately inculcates good study habits, leading to improved results in exams. They should be focused on what they want instead of being bothered about what others expect put of them.
Improving Study Grades
Students can use the instructions or tips given by lecturers to write their exams effectively. Referring to past exam papers help a student in determining the most important questions that are repeated. Students can also make the best use of the available resources in campus.
Concentration
Listening to lectures and taking notes helps students to concentrate on their exams. It’s easy for them to recollect what they learned. How effectively students use their time in studying is really what matters at the end of the day.
The way students prepare for their exams affects the exam results. Improving study habits can bring better grades.

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