Educators: Become an Advocate for Your Online Students

An online educator has many roles to fulfill for each class. They must provide guided instruction and meaningful feedback, manage and control classroom conditions, and facilitate the learning process. The most important aspect of educating students is meeting their developmental needs. When is an educator most effective with that task? When they develop a mindset that is student centered. That means putting the student first and considering their needs and perspective with every learning activity and interaction. It is an instructional strategy that is both supportive and nurturing. Willingness to Assist Becoming a student advocate involves demonstrating a caring and compassionate attitude, which requires taking and absorbing input from students and replying or responding with a willingness to assist them. This can be accomplished within the online class discussions and feedback provided for written assignments. When interacting with students during class discussions it becomes important to read, reflect, and respond with insight to students' posts, while building upon what they've written and engaging them in the course materials and topics. For written assignments, it means reading and not just glancing at students' papers and instead, highlighting key points and including comments that are meant to help further their thinking based upon your knowledge of the subject matter. Frustrated Students It can be challenging at times for an educator to maintain this type of posture, especially when students feel free to say anything without considering the tone of their communication and/or demonstrating a lack of respect for the educator's position or authority. However, all concerns, requests, and frustrations hold some degree of validity. There is something embedded within this form of aggressive communication that requires consideration. The student may be trying to get attention, even if it is a misguided attempt. Not all students know how to ask for help in a productive manner, which means the educator can use it as a teaching experience. Use Verbal Communication Another challenge for educators is providing assistance for students when they do not have the authority to change school policies. For example, there is often a strict late policy in place and it can be difficult to help a student who is fallen behind when they are not allowed to make up the work. As an advocate it then becomes necessary to guide the students and provide an explanation while demonstrating support as you guide them back on track. Make every response personalized and offer personal contact as you are able to, based upon your schedule. Why is verbal communication more effective? Because email replies can become lengthy and veer off track. A frustrated student can become more aggressive, which means it is better to communicate with a call to provide immediate assistance. Productive Personal Contact Personal contact with students can help diffuse conflict and allows you to get to the heart of an issue, while building working relationships. It demonstrates that you truly are an advocate for their needs. While communicating with the student through personal contact, ask open-ended questions to engage them in the resolution process. Develop steps for them to take and establish a follow-up contact timeframe. Create an advocacy log and record student names, their issue (in two or three words), and then a follow-up date to check in with them again. A Physician's Approach An advocate's approach to addressing students' needs can take a page from the work of a physician. A physician will generally demonstrate a proactive attitude, address symptoms and potential causes of issues, and suggest resolution methods based upon the needs of the patient. Educators can take the same approach and develop a process of making the rounds or checking in with each student on a regular basis, especially with those students who are losing progress or have been absent from class. A Proactive Advocate The advocacy process requires a proactive and responsive approach, instead of reactively addressing issues after they have escalated. This means assessing students individually by examining their classroom performance and academic skill sets, providing a diagnosis based upon root causes instead of symptoms, and providing solutions that support ongoing progress. An educator can prescribe resources, tools, techniques, and strategies that support success. The goal is to teach, lead, mentor, and guide students as an advocate for their personalized needs. Assist them in the learning process and develop your role as someone who takes a solutions oriented approach. As you become student focused you will find students become responsive and better engaged in the classroom and the learning process

The Online Degree in Business Administration - 10 Important Items to Remember

I spent several hours researching an online degree in business administration, and looking at offline programs as well. I've graduated with my degree, and I have found 10 things to remember and think about before you dive in. Getting a degree takes time, so picking a good school that will meet your needs can really help the process along. Take a fe vedic maths w minutes to think about these, and I also have some suggestions for places to look for programs you may like. 10 Things to Remember 1. The Benefit Why are you going to college? Will you get a raise? A promotion? What will an offline or online degree in business administration do for you? This become more important as you move through these items. If you expect to get a better job or a raise, that's great. Congratulations on having some ambition. As a secondary idea, you might look at what type of job you want, and see if you can tell how many people have the degree you want. You do this just to validate your plans. For instance, you don't see many Oceanology PhD's on salmon boats in Alaska. It's just not a requirement for the job. 2. The Bill How much will this cost? As you check out colleges and universities that offer an online degree in business administration or similar programs, jot down how much they cost per year or credit. The university I went to for my degree, an MBA, cost less than half of what another local university charged, and only about one third what a large online university would have charged. For me, the lower tuition and fewer student loans made a big difference. 3. The Prestige How much respect will your degree receive? When you walk into a job interview or write a resume and say, I graduated from so-and-so university, will you get the respect you want? To find out, look up reviews of the schools you are considering. Also, if you know anyone who has attended these schools, ask them how their degree was received. You can also call a few human resource departments if you want. 4. The Simplicity How hard will attending your school be? Will you have to log in 20 minutes early, or have special software? Not that any of these are bad things - you should just know ahead of time. Also, will these schools do everything online, or do you have to handle a bunch of paperwork by mail? Online is easier, usually. 5. The Time How long until you graduate? Is this a lock step program? I passed on a more prestigious program partly because of a lock step program. I couldn't skip a semester if I needed to, and I did need to later. I would have had to apply for reentry. 6. The Aid Does this university have arrangements for financial aid set up? Meaning, what kind of student loans can you use at this school? Also, does the school have access to any special scholarships, and will they help you apply? 7. The Program Do the programs for an online degree in business administration at the universities or colleges you plan to attend seem similar? Some schools require different things. Since I had an engineering undergraduate, I had to earn about 15 credits more than a business undergrad. I found that this was fairly common. If a school promises you graduation in a short time, when others say 2 years, or 4 years, you might want to look into it further. The school might not be legitimate, or might not be accredited. 8. The Flexibility The program I attended was offline, with online portions, and I was able to do part without any attendance. When I missed class, I could make it up. Helpful, since I traveled a bit for my job. What flexibility would help you? An all-online program will allow you to work on your classes anywhere, of course. You may want to see what flexibility you have in choosing classes, or how you turn in assignments. 9. The Access Do you know if you can talk to your professor outside of class? You will need access to various university functions now and then, and you'll have to talk to your teachers and class mates. Since you plan on an online degree, you will probably do most of your work through email and some on the phone. I did this for several assignments, and it works, you just have to keep on top of it. Getting an accredited business degree online will mean lots of papers, some presentations, and team assignments. Access to everyone will require to some juggling. 10. The Follow up When you finish that degree, whether in business or not, most people like some follow-up in the form of job search assistance. Most colleges and universities offer help when you graduate, but some will help anytime you need to look for a job. Will you get employment support to help you find that better job? Also, how many grads from the program get jobs right away? It's worth asking what the university offers. Just a few things to think about as you apply. I have found many great programs that offer an online degree in business administration, even from traditional schools. You just have to evaluate what will work best for you.

E-Learning Authoring Tools - Blackboards of the Future?

Remember that old, dusty blackboard that your teachers used to write on with colorful chalks that made you sneeze? It got replaced by a white board, with a black marker that you can magically erase. Just a few years ago, a teacher whips out new acetates to show images or graphs to further illustrate a point. The next year, you're awed at the PowerPoint presentation your professor prepared; it contains animations and moving graphics you thought you'd only see on TV or in that newly-invented Internet that contained a handful of websites. There are schools that still use these educational tools but they are all the predecessors of today's e learning authoring tools. Authoring tools are also known as authorware. They are special programs designed not for computer programmers, although they can certainly use it, but for educators to enrich their elearning or classroom experience. The program can create customized multimedia applications including graphics, audio and video that can be synched and sequenced to follow the lectures provided by the teacher. The easiest kind of tool is the rapid authorware. And the most commonly used rapid authorware is the PowerPoint, created by Microsoft. Authoring tools can be classified in many ways. For this article, let's classify them by availability. Open source authoring tools can be found all over the Internet. One of the most praised elearning applications online is the Moodle, but rapid e learning authoring tools are also available: CourseLab The program provides an easy WYSISYG (What You See Is What You Get) environment for educators who are not tech-savvy. It even includes an LMS (Learning Management Systems) for administrators and educators. The end product can be published in the Internet of burned in CD-ROMs. CamStudio Camstudio is a free screen capture program that also records audio. Screen capture is an essential tool especially for learning software applications like PhotoShop. Another key feature is the available format of the video which includes industry standatd, AVI and SWFs for streaming. Xerte For more intermediate to advanced educators, Xerte contains a suite of tools for creating interactive e learning courses. Depending on your creativity and tech-savvy, you can create sophisticated elements on your ecourse that you won't be able to do on ordinary rapid share tools like PowerPoint. LAMS The free program is brought to you by LAMS Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to research and development in learning. Learning activities are easily designed by teachers through an intuitive authoring environment. Audacity Audacity is an open source audio recording and editing program. Useful for webinars and elearning videos, audio is a key element in creating successful elearning courses. Paid e learning authoring tools abound the web, of course. And as expected they contain more comprehensive features and more dynamic elements. Articulate Their new Articulate Rapid E-Learning Studio '09 contains interactive content, assessment tools like quizzes, exams, and surveys for non-tech savvy educators. The price for all four programs: Presenter, Quizmaker, Engage, and Video Encoder cost around $1000. Adobe The name trusted in graphics and photo editing software came out with Adobe eLearning Suite 2 which contains nine programs: Captivate 5, Flash Professional CS5, Dreamweaver CS5, Photoshop CS5 Extended, Acrobat 9 Pro, Presenter 7, Soundbooth CS5, Bridge CS5, and Device Central CS5. The whole solution costs $1,799.

Home Tutoring For Your Child

Home tutoring is an affordable way to help your child realize his or her potential. Whether it's school work or some extra-curricular activity that you're interested in providing for your child, there's a tutor out there willing to help you. The great thing about the internet is that can find home tutoring for your child more easily than ever before. Home tutoring can be a lot more than just 'extra lessons'. The important contribution of home tutors is providing individual attention to boost your child's learning. There are a host of scenarios in which private tutoring can be a lifeline: Coaching for tests or exams. We all know how tedious revising can be. It's also possible to do it the wrong way. Tutors with experience in Private tutoring will help to keep your child to a revision routine as well as making sure that they are learning effectively. Exam or test prep will also help your child to learn what is expected in the test they are facing, which helps reduce nervousness and boost exam performance. For a variety of reasons, kids sometimes miss blocks of school. It could be owing to illness, moving from place to place or some other hiccup that interrupts the learning process. Home tutoring offers focused attention that will help your child to get up to speed. There are some subjects, like math, where once your child falls behind, there's little chance of them catching up without extra help. The detrimental effects can impair your child's educational progress for years to follow. Another domain where private tutoring can really help school-age learners is help with homework. As with revising for tests, kids can find it tedious and hard to stick to a routine. A private tutoring service that offers homework help can assist in instituting a homework routine. A good tutor will do more than that - they can even make homework fun! Children with learning disabilities can benefit enormously from the expertise of a trained tutor who specializes in personalized private tutoring. A child who struggles with a subject because of dyslexia, numeracy problems or concentration issues can develop a negative attitude to learning. private tutoring can address these problems. Though parents may be tempted to do it themselves, a trained person who understands the issues is often the best person for the job. Private tutoring isn't only about school work and boosting grades. These days all parents understand the importance of being well-rounded. That's why a lot of parents are part-time cab drivers, ferrying the kids to after-school classes of various kids. You can find private tutoring in a huge variety of subjects and leisure pursuits, from chess to cooking to art and music. It's something all parents can usefully consider. You may be able to find a home tutoring service by word of mouth. The internet will give you a great idea of the wide range of home tutoring services available in your area, in all sorts of learning areas.

Getting an Online Degree - An Alternative Tertiary Education For the Homeschooled Student

What is an online degree? Sometimes called an E-Degree, this is an opportunity to get a degree at home. Studying at home is not new to homeschoolers, and they tend to excel at distance education. Using the internet, you can study online, and earn your E-Degree. Choose your course with care, and you will have an online degree worth exactly the same as a conventional degree. You do need to watch out for scams and unaccredited schools, who will take your money and give you a useless piece of paper. However, with the right advice, you can know how to ask the right questions to choose the online degree program that suits your needs, and gives you the qualification you seek. One of the reasons people choose to homeschool is to reduce the influence of ungodly peers upon their children. Homeschooled students are brought up in a protected environment, where character and values can be taught without the negative pressure of peers constantly working against the parents' efforts. Statistically, a huge percentage of Christian young people who attend College will graduate with their faith destroyed. I have heard it stated at 90 percent, but I would hate to think it could be so high. Homeschool parents are right to feel concerned and hesitant to send their children off to College without some trepidation. While young people must be allowed more and more contact with worldly influences, and learn to stand in their faith on their own, the question must be asked very seriously about what is the best option for their lives. For some, completing their degree at home will be a viable, and even a wise alternative. Care must be taken, however, not to so isolate your children that they cannot cope in the world. We do have to live within our society, and a young person who is not allowed an increasing amount of contact with outside influences will be greatly handicapped in dealing with people and situations in his/her adult life. Christians are told to be "in the world but not of the world". While we protect our young children from knowing about the evil that is in the world, we must ensure that as they grow we expose them to it, in such measures as we know they can cope with, and then teach them why it exists, what the consequences are, and how to overcome it with the love of Christ. Their own self-control must be continually exercised and self-governing encouraged. They need to learn to make wise decisions and how to stand strong against foolish but persistent friends, colleagues, or acquaintances. If the youth culture at your local College is not something you want to be involved in (or want your son or daughter involved in, if you are the parent reading this), then if tertiary education is something you prayerfully believe you should pursue, then E Learning is certainly an alternative worth looking into.

Dental Hygienists, Career Path, Salary!

One may notice the woman standing behind the doctor, assisting him in what he needs whenever one visits a dental clinic. The dentist is the one that usually performs and specializes in diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and pulls your tooth. On the other hand, we have the unsung, dental hygienist, which usually assist doctors and is part of a dental team in a dental surgery case, along with a dental assistant and a dentist. They keeps us advised concerning the potential sicknesses that our teeth might be developing, and how to keep our dental health in perfect condition! How Much Is The Salary? A professional and licensed dental hygienist earns almost as much as a licensed medical doctor would. On the average the salary is around $65,000-$69,000 annually, starting with the lowest salary being about $43,000 and could earn to as much as $92,000. They can enjoy financial compensation and benefits depending on the institution at which they serve and the location of the institution. This means that the salary and benefits also depend on what state he/she is serving which can greatly affect the salary range in the USA. Career Path Licensed dental hygienists are those who passed the licensure examinations. They perform numerous tasks both in accommodating the dental specialist and the clinic in evaluating oral forethought cases and are ready to perform fundamental dental strategies which make them flexible in their field. For the most part they are females as the dental specialist may incline toward one and resulting from the fact that patients are used to having a male dental practitioner and a female dental hygienist. Every state has its specific particular regulations and obligations. Numerous individuals are now acknowledging this career. Guys are now additionally thinking about this career, and to supply the required dental management. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook is looking very good. It is expected to grow by 38% over the next 10 years! The reason for this large growth is as the population in North America ages, doctors will need more and more dental hygienists to assist them in their work. The focus of this job lies within a strong dedication towards the well being of patients and their dental health. Usually a dentist comes analyze your work before letting the patient go so you must be alright with constantly getting evaluated.

What Are the Schools With Online Degree Programs?

Interested to know what are the schools with online degree programs? Are you thinking of earning a degree online? Now that you have decided to earn a degree, an online one as a matter of fact, you will need to know what schools offer these online degrees. To get a listing of online colleges, you just have to type in the keyword in the search engine of your browser and then you will have a list of different schools that offer online degrees. That does not stop there though you can go in the websites of the top colleges and universities to check if they offer online courses. As online schools are gaining popularity, the tops traditional schools and universities are now offering online courses. If you already have an online college in mind that you want to enroll at, it is imperative that you check out the credentials of the prospective online college that you have set your heart on. Make sure that they follow the standards set by the accrediting agency. There are a lot of online colleges offering online degree programs, only a few are accredited. You must thoroughly check if the online college you want to enroll in is truly accredited. After all it will be your name, money and efforts that will be at stake here. It will be such a waste to find out in the end that the online college you choose to register with is a false one. Such a disappointment that you will find this out and then you knew that you could have avoided it because information about accredited online colleges is very public. Start with an online degree program today. Boost your career and have a better life. Finding out what schools offer online courses have never been this easy. Thirsting for more information about what are the schools with online degree programs?

Why Internet Courses Are So Popular

Online education as grown tremendously over the past few years. Whether we are talking about students going back to school or professionals completing their continuing education requirements; internet course offerings are at an all time high. Students and professionals value online courses for many reasons. They are convenient, easy to complete, and save the individual time. These are three factors that all professionals take into consideration when making a decision. Online classes are convenient because they can be completed from anywhere with internet access. You do not have to be online at a specific time to attend a class. You also do not have to travel anywhere and sit in a lecture hall. Whether they are self study, correspondence courses, or online interactive courses you have the flexibility to complete the classes on your own time. Many of the online courses also allow you to log in and out at your digression. So it is ok to start a course, take a break, and then finish at a later time. Most online platforms are easy to navigate through. Whether you are using Moodle, WebCT, or Blackboard; as long as you know how to surf the web you should be able to complete at online course. This is very important. Some students and professionals are not aware of the simplicity of taking an online class. As long as you receive a username and password to log in you are ready to start. There are usually many links on the homepage which allow the student to choose what they are looking for. All assignments are submitted online via email or through a discussion board posting to make it easy for the student. Finally, we will discuss one of the most important factors of an online course; saving time. Time is very important to students, professionals, and pretty much everyone. If you choose to continue your education through the internet you can avoid traveling to a class, parking, and sitting through a lecture. These tasks seem fairly simple, but can actually be very tedious. If the class or University is 25 minutes away for example, an hour of your day will be spent commuting to class, parking, and walking. For most adults returning to school an hour is a long time! As you can see, there are many benefits to online courses. The internet has evolved over the years to make life easier for individuals all over the world. Take advantage of technology and don't be left in the dust!

Full-Time and Part-Time MBA Programs

Within the variety of existing MBA programs are two types of training: full-time and part-time MBA programs. Full-time programs last between 12 and 21 months. On average, students per week 15 to 20 hours tuition and on top is a study of about 30 to 40 hours. The latter consists of reading cases and preparing presentations, negotiations, simulations and a series of online learning tasks. Almost all students in full-time program and pursue a career switch after their job there is to be terminated. This is in contrast to part-time students who put up their jobs. These courses are generally longer because the number of contact hours in full-and part-time programs similar. The differences in age and experience of the participants in a part-time programs are quite large. The part-time programs ranged from age 28 to 50 years. There are different program styles to bring justice to all students. Traditionally, there are evening programs, weekend programs and modular programs. Increasingly, we see a hybrid part-time program in which companies play an active role in the continuing education of their employees. Whether a full or part time program more suited to an individual participant depends on personal circumstances. Would anyone choose a new direction in his or her career or is just further develop deeper? Will someone change employers or even grow in a company? Will someone remain at home or a new perspective on management development from abroad to work? What does an MBA mean for you? The MBA has a strong reputation, but a program can only build on the skills an individual already has. How well the reputation of an MBA program is, it can never completely change someone. An MBA designed to broaden the factual management capacity that people already possess. And the challenges in business you attract, if you can handle the uncertainties that decision making and managing people bring with them like, then an MBA can help you develop your skills and abilities. What have you studied before, where did you work, how successful you were and how an MBA can fit into your overall career.

A Great Help Is Homework Help

The proper work done is ensured by good writers as well as experts. The errors are minimised. A homework help serves the students in the form of some institutes that provide homework help or there are websites that teach online. Normally they are present in form of different packages that charge a few bucks and sometimes they provide help for free. Online libraries are also available now a day to help the needy students. The way of thinking also matters. For some parents and children doing homework is a hectic piece of work and very troublesome. But for many, doing homework means adding more to the knowledge and go to the depth of the topic and gaining more and more knowledge. Homework are given to the students to enhance their knowledge, so when a child comes from the school at that time, everything taught in the school is fresh and if he or she sits with the tasks then they will get a clear picture of what they are reading or writing. For such conditions homework help is the best solution as it helps in successful completion of homework and gives a lot of new information. One can learn time management also. There are plenty of websites launched that provide this facility and encourages the students as well as their parents to explore more into the knowledge, hence making homework a joyful experience. To complete all the assignments in time the children need help. Here homework help is required. The students who want to do well in academics for them it is a miracle. It increases the performance of the students. A little bit of help and they can complete their home work with great ease and with interest. This thing also saves their time. It guides the students in a systematic as well as synchronised way that develops the habit to be productive and on time.