By Sharon White
The largest need in web technologies is seen in digital sciences teaching as they require much information which must be exact and clear for understanding. For example, modern math teaching can apply web technologies. With the realization that new methods of teaching math are needed to improve student comprehension, this investigation considers the use of a web-based activity for teaching students the basic premises of quadrilaterals. Given the fact that web-based activities can help students learn difficult mathematic concepts in a more concrete manner, there is a clear need to consider what has been noted about web-based applications in the process of teaching.
Considering first the overall benefits that can be derived from the process of utilizing web-based exercises to facilitate learning, researchers have noted that changes in pedagogy to ensure that learning experiences of students are commensurate with their real world experiences have created an environment in which educators are challenged to meet this goal. To this end, the use Internet-based curriculum can foster this need for development by providing students with the opportunity to engage in activities that utilize computer technology, a tool most students use for other aspects of daily life. In this manner, learning is facilitated though the process of making education a more realistic experience for the student.
Adding to the benefits that can be garnered from the use of web-based teaching, researchers have also noted that when Internet activities are used for learning, students are given the opportunity to discover and understand information at their own pace. In particular, experts have noted that the use of websites as a means for introducing new concepts can facilitate learning by enabling students to engage with the material in an individual manner that permits them feel comfortable with making mistakes and developing understanding.
The article was produced by the writer of masterpapers.com. Sharon White is a 5-years experienced freelance writer and a senior manager of application essays services support team. Contact her to get argumentative essays tips and biology essays tips.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Friday, December 29, 2006
For Learning Practical Skills, You Can't Beat Community Colleges
By Aldene Fredenburg
Years ago, my college German professor and I had a lively discussion about learning. He was extolling the virtues of a liberal arts education which, he told me, "isn't supposed to teach you to do something; it's supposed to teach you to be someone." I responded, "You may be able to afford to be someone, but I have to learn to do something.
Community colleges, often considered the poor stepchild of four-year colleges and universities, are expert in providing their students with practical skills that lead to often lucrative jobs. Students developing hands-on knowledge of communications or medical technology, computer software use and programming, and other skills routinely find entry-level jobs that pay much more than retail sales and other low-paid work, and have the added opportunity of quickly advancing in their chosen professions as they develop additional skills.
Of course, accredited community colleges do require their students to meet general requirements in standard college courses including English, math, and science; but the emphasis is most often on developing specific skills that lead to competency in a variety of professions. A good community college will also give its students a bird's eye view of the profession they're thinking of entering, often with paid or unpaid internships in related businesses in the community.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with a good liberal arts education, and this track is necessary for some professions requiring an advanced degree; but for students wanting specific skills leading directly, and often quickly, to well-paid work in a chosen profession, community colleges are often the perfect choice.
Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern New Hampshire. She has written numerous articles for local and regional newspapers and for a number of Internet websites, including Tips and Topics.
Years ago, my college German professor and I had a lively discussion about learning. He was extolling the virtues of a liberal arts education which, he told me, "isn't supposed to teach you to do something; it's supposed to teach you to be someone." I responded, "You may be able to afford to be someone, but I have to learn to do something.
Community colleges, often considered the poor stepchild of four-year colleges and universities, are expert in providing their students with practical skills that lead to often lucrative jobs. Students developing hands-on knowledge of communications or medical technology, computer software use and programming, and other skills routinely find entry-level jobs that pay much more than retail sales and other low-paid work, and have the added opportunity of quickly advancing in their chosen professions as they develop additional skills.
Of course, accredited community colleges do require their students to meet general requirements in standard college courses including English, math, and science; but the emphasis is most often on developing specific skills that lead to competency in a variety of professions. A good community college will also give its students a bird's eye view of the profession they're thinking of entering, often with paid or unpaid internships in related businesses in the community.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with a good liberal arts education, and this track is necessary for some professions requiring an advanced degree; but for students wanting specific skills leading directly, and often quickly, to well-paid work in a chosen profession, community colleges are often the perfect choice.
Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern New Hampshire. She has written numerous articles for local and regional newspapers and for a number of Internet websites, including Tips and Topics.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Value Oriented Education
By Naraginti Amareswar Reddy
There is a profound Indian view about teaching which declares that the first principle of teaching is that nothing can be taught. This paradoxical statement may seem at first sight incomprehensible. But when we look closely into it, we find that it contains a significant guideline regarding the methodology of teaching. It does not prohibit teaching, since it is stated to be the first principle of teaching. It does, however, suggest that the methods of teaching should be such that the learner is enabled to discover by means by his own growth and development all that is intended to be learnt. It points out, in other words, that the role of the teacher should be more of a helper and a guide rather than that of an instructor. This would also mean that the teacher should not impose his views on the learner, but he should evoke within the learner the aspiration to learn and to find -out the truth by his own free exercise of faculties.
The truth behind this role of the teacher is brought out by the contention that nothing can be taught to the mind which is not already concealed as potential knowledge in the inmost being of the learner. One is reminded of the Socratic view that knowledge is innate in our being but it is hidden. Socrates demonstrates in the Platonic dialogue, 'Meno', how a good teacher can, without teaching, but by asking suitable questions, bring out to the surface the true knowledge which is already unconsciously present in the learner. As we know, Socrates and Plato distinguished between opinions, on the one hand, and knowledge, on the other. They point out that whereas opinions can be formed on the basis of questionable sense-experiences, knowledge which consists of pure ideas is independent of sense-experience and can be gained by some kind of experience which is akin to remembrance. In other words, according to Socrates and Plato, knowledge is"remembered" by a process of uncovering.
Again, according to Socrates and Plato, virtue is knowledge. Therefore, what is true of knowledge is also true of virtue. just as knowledge cannot be taught but can only be uncovered even so virtue, too, cannot be taught but can be uncovered. But, here again it does not mean that there is no such thing as teaching or that the teacher has no role to play. It only means that the teacher has to be cognizant of the fact the learner has in him a potentiality and that his role consists of a delicate and skilful operation of uncovering what is hidden or latent in the learner. There is, indeed, an opposite view, which is advocated mainly by behaviourists, who maintain that the learner has no hidden potentialities except some rudimentary capacities of reflex responses and that anything and everything can be taught to the learner by suit- able processes of conditioning which can be designed According to the goals in view. Thus Watson claimed that learners can be trained to become whatever you design them to become. According to this view, everything can be taught, all virtues and values can be taught and cultivated by suitable methods of conditioning.
It is not our purpose to enter into a debate with behaviourism. But it is a fact that even behaviourism acknowledges that conditioning presupposes innate reflexes, and that the process of conditioning is dependent upon a reward-punishment system which, whether acknowledged or not, can be explained only if the learner has within him an innate drive towards some kind of goal seeking and fulfilment. In other words, even if we admit that external stimulation and conditioning are effective instruments of learning, it does not mean that stimulation and conditioning could work upon a subject that would be devoid of an innate capacity or drive to respond.
Moreover, the claims of behaviourism have been questioned by several rival theories of psychology. The school of mathematical logic, for example, rejects behaviourism and prescribes that the aim in teaching should be more limited and that the claims as to what can be taught should be more modest. It maintains that the aim of teaching should be to teach procedures and not solutions and that the methods should be so employed that the mental processes are taken in the direction of mathematical logic. The Gestalt psychology maintains that there are in the learner basic perceptual structures and schemes of behaviour which constitute some kind of basic unity. It underlines, therefore, the presence of an innate intuition in the learner and it prescribes intuitive methods based on perception, which are found largely in audio-visual pedagogy. Psychoanalysis has discovered an unimaginable large field of innate drives of which our active consciousness is normally unconscious. But Freudian form of psychoanalysis, which posited eros and than as the two ultimate but conflicting innate drives in man, has been largely over-passed by Adler, Jung and others. Modern psychic research is discovering in the sub-conscious a deeper layer which can properly be termed as subliminal, since it is found to be the seat of innate capacities of telepathy, clairvoyance, etc. As psychology is advancing, we seem to be discovering more and more of what is innate in the learner. At the same time, we, are becoming more and more conscious of the necessity to be increasingly vigilant about the methods which we should employ in dealing with the learner. It is, however, sometimes argued that there is a valid distinction between knowledge and values and that while knowledge can be taught values cannot be taught. But when we examine this view more closely,we find that what is meant is that the methods which are valid and appropriate in the field of learning in regard to knowledge are not applicable to the field of learning in regard to values. We may readily accept this contention, and we may insist on the necessity of recognising the fact that corresponding to each domain of learning there are valid and appropriate methods and that the effectivity of learning will depend upon an ever-vigilant discovery of more and more appropriate methods in each domain of learning. It is clear, for example, that while philosophy can be learnt by a process of discussion, swimming cannot be learnt by discussion. In order to learn to swim one has to plunge into water and swim. Similarly, the methods of learning music or painting have to be quite different from those by which we learn mathematics or physics. And indeed, when we come to the realm of values, we must recognise the necessity of a greater scruple in prescribing the methods which can be considered to be distinctively appropriate to this field.
One speciality of the domain of values is that it is more centrally related to volition and affection, rather than to cognition. And yet, cognition too plays a great role in the training of volition and affection. This point needs to be underlined because of two reasons.
Firstly, it is sometimes assumed that value-oriented education should be exclusively or more or less exclusively limited to certain prescribed acts of volition and that the value-oriented learning should be judged by what a learner 'does' rather than what he knows. In our view, this is too simplistic and exclusive, and we should avoid, the rigidity that flows from this kind of gross exclusivism.
Secondly, and this is an opposite, view-it is sometimes argued that learning is primarily a cognitive process and, therefore, value-orientation learning should largely or preponderantly be limited to those methods which are appropriate to cognition. In our view this, too, is a gross exclusivism which should be avoided. We recommend, therefore, that while methods appropriate to, volition and affection should be more preponderant, methods appropriate to cognition also should have a legitimate and even an indispensable place. This is reinforced by the fact that the striving towards values stirs up the totality of the being and cognition no less than volition and affection is or can be stimulated to its highest maximum degree, provided that the value-oriented learning is allowed its natural fullness. Instruction, example and influence are the three instruments of teaching. However, in our present system of education, instruction plays an overwhelmingly important role, and often when we think of teaching we think only of instruction. It is this illegitimate identification that causes much confusion and avoidable controversies. If we examine the matter carefully, we shall find that in an ideal system of teaching, instruction should play a much less important role than example and influence of the teacher. It is true that in the domain of learning where cognitive activities play a more dominant part, instruction through lectures and discussions may have, under certain circumstances, a larger role. But in those domains of learning where volitional and affective activities play a larger part, instruction through methods other than lectures and discussions should play a larger role.
In a system of education, where teaching and instruction are almost identified, there is very little flexibility where example and influence can play their legitimate role. Moreover, our present system is a continuous series of instruction punctuated by home-work and tests which accentuate the rigidity of procedure and mechanical adherence to schedule of time-table syllabi and examinations. In this rigid and mechanical structure, the centre of attention is not the child but the book, the teacher and the syllabus. The methods which are most conducive to the development of the personality of the child such as the methods of self-learning, exercise of free will, individualised pace of progress, etc., do not have even an elbow room. Indeed, if this is the system of education and if we are to remain content with this system of education, most important elements of learning will for ever remain outside this system, and we cannot confidently recommend any effective system of learning, much less any effective programme of value-education.
We envisage, however, that sooner rather than later, our system of education will change in the right direction. We believe that an increasing number of educationalists and teachers will come forward to break the rigidities of our educational system. We think that it is possible to make our system more and more flexible. And we maintain that with the right type of training imparted to teachers, a more healthy system of education will eventually be introduced and will become effective. While on this subject, we would like to make comment on our present system of examinations. Apart from a number of undesirable aspects of our examination system, the one which is particularly conducive to what may be called "anti-value" is the tendency which promotes the idea that passing of an examination and earning of degree is the aim of education. We recommend that radical measures should be adopted to combat this idea and to introduce such changes in our examination system whereby the educational process can remain unalterably fixed on the right aims of education.
We recommend a radical change in the examination system as a necessary condition of any meaningful value-oriented education.
It is sometimes argued that values can best be taught through the instrumentality of a number of subjects rather than through any specific or special subject, whether we may call it by the name of "moral education" or "ethics", or "value-education". We feel that there is a great force behind this contention and we readily recommend that a well-conceived programme of studies of various subjects naturally provide, both in their content and thrust, the requisite materials for value-education.
The question, however, is whether our current programmes of studies have been so carefully devised as to emphasise those aspects which can readily provide to teachers and students the required opportunities, conditions and materials for value- education. We feel that much work remains to be done before we can give a confident answer in the affirmative. But even if our programmes of studies are revised, there will still remain the specific area of value education which, in our view, should receive a special, although not exclusive, attention and treatment. In other words, we feel that there should be in the totality of educational programmes a core programme of value-education. This core programme should be so carefully devised that various threads of this programme are woven into the complex totality of all the other programmes of studies. And yet, the central theme of value education would not form a mere appendage of all other subjects but would stand out as the over-arching and the supervening subject of basic importance.
We further recommend that a suitable study of this core programme should form an important part of teachers' training programmes in our country.
There is a profound Indian view about teaching which declares that the first principle of teaching is that nothing can be taught. This paradoxical statement may seem at first sight incomprehensible. But when we look closely into it, we find that it contains a significant guideline regarding the methodology of teaching. It does not prohibit teaching, since it is stated to be the first principle of teaching. It does, however, suggest that the methods of teaching should be such that the learner is enabled to discover by means by his own growth and development all that is intended to be learnt. It points out, in other words, that the role of the teacher should be more of a helper and a guide rather than that of an instructor. This would also mean that the teacher should not impose his views on the learner, but he should evoke within the learner the aspiration to learn and to find -out the truth by his own free exercise of faculties.
The truth behind this role of the teacher is brought out by the contention that nothing can be taught to the mind which is not already concealed as potential knowledge in the inmost being of the learner. One is reminded of the Socratic view that knowledge is innate in our being but it is hidden. Socrates demonstrates in the Platonic dialogue, 'Meno', how a good teacher can, without teaching, but by asking suitable questions, bring out to the surface the true knowledge which is already unconsciously present in the learner. As we know, Socrates and Plato distinguished between opinions, on the one hand, and knowledge, on the other. They point out that whereas opinions can be formed on the basis of questionable sense-experiences, knowledge which consists of pure ideas is independent of sense-experience and can be gained by some kind of experience which is akin to remembrance. In other words, according to Socrates and Plato, knowledge is"remembered" by a process of uncovering.
Again, according to Socrates and Plato, virtue is knowledge. Therefore, what is true of knowledge is also true of virtue. just as knowledge cannot be taught but can only be uncovered even so virtue, too, cannot be taught but can be uncovered. But, here again it does not mean that there is no such thing as teaching or that the teacher has no role to play. It only means that the teacher has to be cognizant of the fact the learner has in him a potentiality and that his role consists of a delicate and skilful operation of uncovering what is hidden or latent in the learner. There is, indeed, an opposite view, which is advocated mainly by behaviourists, who maintain that the learner has no hidden potentialities except some rudimentary capacities of reflex responses and that anything and everything can be taught to the learner by suit- able processes of conditioning which can be designed According to the goals in view. Thus Watson claimed that learners can be trained to become whatever you design them to become. According to this view, everything can be taught, all virtues and values can be taught and cultivated by suitable methods of conditioning.
It is not our purpose to enter into a debate with behaviourism. But it is a fact that even behaviourism acknowledges that conditioning presupposes innate reflexes, and that the process of conditioning is dependent upon a reward-punishment system which, whether acknowledged or not, can be explained only if the learner has within him an innate drive towards some kind of goal seeking and fulfilment. In other words, even if we admit that external stimulation and conditioning are effective instruments of learning, it does not mean that stimulation and conditioning could work upon a subject that would be devoid of an innate capacity or drive to respond.
Moreover, the claims of behaviourism have been questioned by several rival theories of psychology. The school of mathematical logic, for example, rejects behaviourism and prescribes that the aim in teaching should be more limited and that the claims as to what can be taught should be more modest. It maintains that the aim of teaching should be to teach procedures and not solutions and that the methods should be so employed that the mental processes are taken in the direction of mathematical logic. The Gestalt psychology maintains that there are in the learner basic perceptual structures and schemes of behaviour which constitute some kind of basic unity. It underlines, therefore, the presence of an innate intuition in the learner and it prescribes intuitive methods based on perception, which are found largely in audio-visual pedagogy. Psychoanalysis has discovered an unimaginable large field of innate drives of which our active consciousness is normally unconscious. But Freudian form of psychoanalysis, which posited eros and than as the two ultimate but conflicting innate drives in man, has been largely over-passed by Adler, Jung and others. Modern psychic research is discovering in the sub-conscious a deeper layer which can properly be termed as subliminal, since it is found to be the seat of innate capacities of telepathy, clairvoyance, etc. As psychology is advancing, we seem to be discovering more and more of what is innate in the learner. At the same time, we, are becoming more and more conscious of the necessity to be increasingly vigilant about the methods which we should employ in dealing with the learner. It is, however, sometimes argued that there is a valid distinction between knowledge and values and that while knowledge can be taught values cannot be taught. But when we examine this view more closely,we find that what is meant is that the methods which are valid and appropriate in the field of learning in regard to knowledge are not applicable to the field of learning in regard to values. We may readily accept this contention, and we may insist on the necessity of recognising the fact that corresponding to each domain of learning there are valid and appropriate methods and that the effectivity of learning will depend upon an ever-vigilant discovery of more and more appropriate methods in each domain of learning. It is clear, for example, that while philosophy can be learnt by a process of discussion, swimming cannot be learnt by discussion. In order to learn to swim one has to plunge into water and swim. Similarly, the methods of learning music or painting have to be quite different from those by which we learn mathematics or physics. And indeed, when we come to the realm of values, we must recognise the necessity of a greater scruple in prescribing the methods which can be considered to be distinctively appropriate to this field.
One speciality of the domain of values is that it is more centrally related to volition and affection, rather than to cognition. And yet, cognition too plays a great role in the training of volition and affection. This point needs to be underlined because of two reasons.
Firstly, it is sometimes assumed that value-oriented education should be exclusively or more or less exclusively limited to certain prescribed acts of volition and that the value-oriented learning should be judged by what a learner 'does' rather than what he knows. In our view, this is too simplistic and exclusive, and we should avoid, the rigidity that flows from this kind of gross exclusivism.
Secondly, and this is an opposite, view-it is sometimes argued that learning is primarily a cognitive process and, therefore, value-orientation learning should largely or preponderantly be limited to those methods which are appropriate to cognition. In our view this, too, is a gross exclusivism which should be avoided. We recommend, therefore, that while methods appropriate to, volition and affection should be more preponderant, methods appropriate to cognition also should have a legitimate and even an indispensable place. This is reinforced by the fact that the striving towards values stirs up the totality of the being and cognition no less than volition and affection is or can be stimulated to its highest maximum degree, provided that the value-oriented learning is allowed its natural fullness. Instruction, example and influence are the three instruments of teaching. However, in our present system of education, instruction plays an overwhelmingly important role, and often when we think of teaching we think only of instruction. It is this illegitimate identification that causes much confusion and avoidable controversies. If we examine the matter carefully, we shall find that in an ideal system of teaching, instruction should play a much less important role than example and influence of the teacher. It is true that in the domain of learning where cognitive activities play a more dominant part, instruction through lectures and discussions may have, under certain circumstances, a larger role. But in those domains of learning where volitional and affective activities play a larger part, instruction through methods other than lectures and discussions should play a larger role.
In a system of education, where teaching and instruction are almost identified, there is very little flexibility where example and influence can play their legitimate role. Moreover, our present system is a continuous series of instruction punctuated by home-work and tests which accentuate the rigidity of procedure and mechanical adherence to schedule of time-table syllabi and examinations. In this rigid and mechanical structure, the centre of attention is not the child but the book, the teacher and the syllabus. The methods which are most conducive to the development of the personality of the child such as the methods of self-learning, exercise of free will, individualised pace of progress, etc., do not have even an elbow room. Indeed, if this is the system of education and if we are to remain content with this system of education, most important elements of learning will for ever remain outside this system, and we cannot confidently recommend any effective system of learning, much less any effective programme of value-education.
We envisage, however, that sooner rather than later, our system of education will change in the right direction. We believe that an increasing number of educationalists and teachers will come forward to break the rigidities of our educational system. We think that it is possible to make our system more and more flexible. And we maintain that with the right type of training imparted to teachers, a more healthy system of education will eventually be introduced and will become effective. While on this subject, we would like to make comment on our present system of examinations. Apart from a number of undesirable aspects of our examination system, the one which is particularly conducive to what may be called "anti-value" is the tendency which promotes the idea that passing of an examination and earning of degree is the aim of education. We recommend that radical measures should be adopted to combat this idea and to introduce such changes in our examination system whereby the educational process can remain unalterably fixed on the right aims of education.
We recommend a radical change in the examination system as a necessary condition of any meaningful value-oriented education.
It is sometimes argued that values can best be taught through the instrumentality of a number of subjects rather than through any specific or special subject, whether we may call it by the name of "moral education" or "ethics", or "value-education". We feel that there is a great force behind this contention and we readily recommend that a well-conceived programme of studies of various subjects naturally provide, both in their content and thrust, the requisite materials for value-education.
The question, however, is whether our current programmes of studies have been so carefully devised as to emphasise those aspects which can readily provide to teachers and students the required opportunities, conditions and materials for value- education. We feel that much work remains to be done before we can give a confident answer in the affirmative. But even if our programmes of studies are revised, there will still remain the specific area of value education which, in our view, should receive a special, although not exclusive, attention and treatment. In other words, we feel that there should be in the totality of educational programmes a core programme of value-education. This core programme should be so carefully devised that various threads of this programme are woven into the complex totality of all the other programmes of studies. And yet, the central theme of value education would not form a mere appendage of all other subjects but would stand out as the over-arching and the supervening subject of basic importance.
We further recommend that a suitable study of this core programme should form an important part of teachers' training programmes in our country.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Distance Education Master Degrees
By Kevin Stith
A master's degree is an academic degree that is awarded on completion of a postgraduate undergraduate program. There are various accredited colleges and universities that offer distance education postgraduate programs in accounting, paralegal, healthcare, business management, engineering, electronics, computer science, marketing, and hospitality management.
Distance education master's degrees are usually preferred by working individuals, or by those who do not reside in the same place as the university that offers the course. Distance learning master's degree courses offers quality, flexibility and an accrediated education, making them a viable option for working individuals wanting to acquire a master's degree.
Many universities provide a cutting-edge curriculum taught by experts. Distance learning master's degrees also give students complete control over the academic schedule and access to the Internet to take courses. Students can also join online study groups and converse with professors and peers at any time of day.
Universities offer these programs by providing study material and on-line counseling. Students can take exams online. This is important because students do not have to be present at a given time of the year and the schedules can be adjusted in case of work commitments.
Many online accredited universities and colleges such as University of Phoenix, Walden University and Capella University offer Master's degree programs in education, curriculum design, e-education, educational leadership and teaching. The Master of Education online degree is designed for teachers, corporate instructors, military trainers and others who share a passion for learning and a desire to be at the forefront of modern education. The master's degree in professional accounting (MSAC) provides specialized, graduate-level education to people seeking positions as professional accountants in industry, government and non-profit organizations. Online master's degree programs are also offered in organizational management, business management and security management. This degree equips experienced professionals, leadership experts and management educators with specialized knowledge, management skills and the strategic business focus they need to confront the challenges inherent in managing today's complex organizations.
A master's degree is an academic degree that is awarded on completion of a postgraduate undergraduate program. There are various accredited colleges and universities that offer distance education postgraduate programs in accounting, paralegal, healthcare, business management, engineering, electronics, computer science, marketing, and hospitality management.
Distance education master's degrees are usually preferred by working individuals, or by those who do not reside in the same place as the university that offers the course. Distance learning master's degree courses offers quality, flexibility and an accrediated education, making them a viable option for working individuals wanting to acquire a master's degree.
Many universities provide a cutting-edge curriculum taught by experts. Distance learning master's degrees also give students complete control over the academic schedule and access to the Internet to take courses. Students can also join online study groups and converse with professors and peers at any time of day.
Universities offer these programs by providing study material and on-line counseling. Students can take exams online. This is important because students do not have to be present at a given time of the year and the schedules can be adjusted in case of work commitments.
Many online accredited universities and colleges such as University of Phoenix, Walden University and Capella University offer Master's degree programs in education, curriculum design, e-education, educational leadership and teaching. The Master of Education online degree is designed for teachers, corporate instructors, military trainers and others who share a passion for learning and a desire to be at the forefront of modern education. The master's degree in professional accounting (MSAC) provides specialized, graduate-level education to people seeking positions as professional accountants in industry, government and non-profit organizations. Online master's degree programs are also offered in organizational management, business management and security management. This degree equips experienced professionals, leadership experts and management educators with specialized knowledge, management skills and the strategic business focus they need to confront the challenges inherent in managing today's complex organizations.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Going to College in India - A Cheap Option
By Eshwarya Patel
Many individuals are finding it a very cheap option to go to college in India. You may wonder how and why a third world country could be gathering steam in getting people to join but it is simple: cheap.
The official language of Indian colleges is English. Thanks to the British occupation of India. Therefore, there is no language problem for a foreigner to take courses. The schools in India are also now well known and respected.
IIT schools (Indian Institute of Technology) are to India what MIT and Caltech is to the United States. Your ability to go to these schools is exceptionally higher because you are a foreigner and college admissions consider a privilege to have you.
The only thing we recommend you make sure to do is make sure you find an area of India and get appropriate lodging. The lodging provided by schools are often subpar. But there are schools that are quite rich and have lush and vast parks and land. You can view pictures of the campus by looking online or even checking an Indian book database for information on it.
Applying to Indian colleges are not so painful for a foreigner but it is important to understand the Visa issue. You must get a Visa issue and acceptance to college will generally help you out very much. Another thing that is important to understand is that although they will speak English from within the college, you cannot expect that they will speak it outside the college. So don't be afraid to learn a new language.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
UK Education Fees And Expenses
By Sharon White
Moreover, fees may vary in case what students are applying to enter. There is a difference in fees required for national (British) and international students. Besides, there may be difference in expenses because international students will have to spend money on accommodation and travel. On the other hand, fees depend on what type of learning a student would prefer. Of course, part-time study hours would be cheaper and such kind of study would allow part-time job opportunities and therefore additional income to support accommodation, course books and special materials cost and some social activities. EU (European Union) nationals and non-EU nationals who are registered for a course of six months or longer can receive medical care including hospital treatment from the UK National Health Service (NHS). Much of this service is free. If a student is coming for less than six months and you are not an EU national he or she should arrange medical insurance, sometimes even before arrival in the UK.
Non-EU students generally there are five categories of fees on most UK colleges and universities. Category A for student fees refers to full time courses at Intermediate and Advanced levels and would require at least five thousand British pounds for one academic year. Category B means full time courses at Higher level. Category C means full time courses which may include BA (Bachelor of Arts) and BSc (Bachelor of Science) degrees at universities; this category may require at least 6 thousand British pounds a year.
International students may know about their classification in order to get visas. Some students may apply for study in the UK if they have been originally residents in the European Economic Area.
Moreover, fees may vary in case what students are applying to enter. There is a difference in fees required for national (British) and international students. Besides, there may be difference in expenses because international students will have to spend money on accommodation and travel. On the other hand, fees depend on what type of learning a student would prefer. Of course, part-time study hours would be cheaper and such kind of study would allow part-time job opportunities and therefore additional income to support accommodation, course books and special materials cost and some social activities. EU (European Union) nationals and non-EU nationals who are registered for a course of six months or longer can receive medical care including hospital treatment from the UK National Health Service (NHS). Much of this service is free. If a student is coming for less than six months and you are not an EU national he or she should arrange medical insurance, sometimes even before arrival in the UK.
Non-EU students generally there are five categories of fees on most UK colleges and universities. Category A for student fees refers to full time courses at Intermediate and Advanced levels and would require at least five thousand British pounds for one academic year. Category B means full time courses at Higher level. Category C means full time courses which may include BA (Bachelor of Arts) and BSc (Bachelor of Science) degrees at universities; this category may require at least 6 thousand British pounds a year.
International students may know about their classification in order to get visas. Some students may apply for study in the UK if they have been originally residents in the European Economic Area.
Sunday, December 3, 2006
Studying at Oxford University
By Richard Pettinger
I studied PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics) at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. I was fortunate to have a very good experience being taught by several of the top authorities. Some tutors were post graduates but they were also very helpful
At Oxford most teaching is done in tutorials with College professors. Usually the tutorials are 1 or 2 students per 1 tutor. This gives a unique opportunity to discuss essays and topics with your tutor. Often the tutor can be an expert in their particular field. I was quite fortunate in having many very good tutors sometimes your reading list had books by your own tutor. This was the case with Brian Harrison who taught me British social history since 1870.
The tutorials tend to last only 1 hour and you may only have 3 per week. So you are given a reading list the week before. It is then upto you to go and read the relevant books before preparing an essay. The tutorial is an opportunity to refine your arguments and understanding rather than be taught the material. It can be hard work getting through a long reading list. The trick is to be able to find the most relevant books. I used to read the introduction and conclusion before reading anything in between. It is good to learn the art of skim reading. Often you can find most of the answer in a small part of the book. In my first year I was using some A level textbooks to get a good overall standing before reading more complex books.
The tutorials may take place in your college but equally they may take place in other colleges, especially if your subject is specialised. I always enjoyed going to other colleges, especially colleges like Corpus Christi and St Johns.
In addition to tutorials the university also provides lectures usually during the morning. The standard of lectures in PPE were particularly good. But to be honest in my first year I never went to any lectures and I don't think I missed out on anything, (although I did only just scrap through Philosophy prelims). In the 2nd and 3rd year I do remember going to more lectures but only if they were good. The main thing with such a system of studying is that it requires a degree of self motivation.
I studied PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics) at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. I was fortunate to have a very good experience being taught by several of the top authorities. Some tutors were post graduates but they were also very helpful
At Oxford most teaching is done in tutorials with College professors. Usually the tutorials are 1 or 2 students per 1 tutor. This gives a unique opportunity to discuss essays and topics with your tutor. Often the tutor can be an expert in their particular field. I was quite fortunate in having many very good tutors sometimes your reading list had books by your own tutor. This was the case with Brian Harrison who taught me British social history since 1870.
The tutorials tend to last only 1 hour and you may only have 3 per week. So you are given a reading list the week before. It is then upto you to go and read the relevant books before preparing an essay. The tutorial is an opportunity to refine your arguments and understanding rather than be taught the material. It can be hard work getting through a long reading list. The trick is to be able to find the most relevant books. I used to read the introduction and conclusion before reading anything in between. It is good to learn the art of skim reading. Often you can find most of the answer in a small part of the book. In my first year I was using some A level textbooks to get a good overall standing before reading more complex books.
The tutorials may take place in your college but equally they may take place in other colleges, especially if your subject is specialised. I always enjoyed going to other colleges, especially colleges like Corpus Christi and St Johns.
In addition to tutorials the university also provides lectures usually during the morning. The standard of lectures in PPE were particularly good. But to be honest in my first year I never went to any lectures and I don't think I missed out on anything, (although I did only just scrap through Philosophy prelims). In the 2nd and 3rd year I do remember going to more lectures but only if they were good. The main thing with such a system of studying is that it requires a degree of self motivation.
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