The recession-hit UK is seeing an unprecedented demand for university and higher education courses at a time when funding is being cut in many institutions. The Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS) recently published data showing that the number of applicants to UK universities had increased by 57,000 in the UK - owing to a number of individuals eager to make themselves more employable.
The UCAS data arrived soon after a report by the Commission for Rural Communities which called for a number of measures to be put in place in order to ensure that rural areas in the UK do not become excluded from digital development.
The Commission focused on four main priorities when conducting its report, they were: education and lifelong learning, business development, social and community cohesion, and equitable access to services. Of course, the importance of having high speed internet in every area of the country is a slot more than just inclusion.
According to an article at broadband-finder.co.uk, these were the exact sentiments expressed by broadband expert, Stephen Dodson at a Westminster eForum called 'Broadband for All?'. "It actually isn't about digital participation," he stated. "It's actually about tackling the big core social, economic, environmental [issues] and better service delivery."
To me, it seems that the multiple advantages to communities and individuals of having access to broadband, mean that we should push for more than two megabits per second. With the latest figures concerning the lack of places for students at university - for many who are located in rural areas it might be too little, and too late to help them.
So who will be the first to see the benefits? In his response to the Digital Britain report, Bishop Nigel McCulloch (Senior Church of England Spokesman) praised the plans but warned against the possibility of the scheme to turning into a postcode lottery. I would agree with this wholeheartedly, and suggest that as the government begins to implement Broadband for All, they first look to the education benefits of distance learning courses and online education - and make the first steps in working against the problems caused by the recession and lack of places available at our crowded universities.
Sarah Maple is writing for Kaplan about degree courses and education in general.
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'Non-Formal' Schools Aim to Fill Need in Kenya's Slums
Like many educators, you may already take advantage of podcasts in your classroom, but have you ever had your students do the creating? It's easy, and you'll be surprised what students learn from this technology...
The 40+ page report gives extensive data on use of blogs, listservs, podcasts and webcasts by American college students. Data is broken out by more than 16 criteria including gender, income level, type and size of college, mean SAT acceptance score of the college, and many other variables.
No Child Left Behind school performance mandates have compelled educators to find the most effective ways to help developmentally challenged students overcome their learning difficulties and meet NCLB testing standards. Successful practices supported by body and brain research have emerged. Listed below are proven steps that help students achieve their learning potential, and gracefully meet No Child Left Behind goals.
NCLB Step: Integrate primitive reflexes. Learning is more difficult when clusters of prenatal and infant primitive reflexes go unintegrated. These survival reflexes automatically control the muscles; they are supposed to be replaced with postural reflexes giving voluntary control over movement. When left unintegrated, primitive reflexes make writing, reading, spelling and math more difficult. Symptoms resulting from retained reflexes include tight pencil grip, torn papers, poor penmanship, letter reversals, incessant wiggling, slouching, clumsiness, restlessness, lack of focus, attention deficit, erratic eye control, and more. Neurostimulation activities can integrate aberrant reflexes, helping students reach No Child Left Behind goals more effortlessly.
NCLB Step: Fully develop movement patterns. Children need to build a strong neurological foundation upon which learning can be built. Putting infants on their tummy frequently during waking moments strengthens a baby's reaching, rolling, crawling, and creeping. Don't rush this; allow plenty of time for neural networks connecting both sides of the brain to strengthen - these pathways will eventually be used for reading, writing, talking, and spelling. Replace television and inactive playtime with frequent, full-bodied movement activities, leading to NCLB mastery.
NCLB Step: Fortify the vestibular system. Located in the inner ear, vestibular structures connect to the eyes, ears, tactile, muscle/joint, and attentional systems. Lack of frequent stop-and-go activities, rolling, spinning, bouncing and balancing weaken this vital system, resulting in many learning challenges. Students with a 'hypo slow' vestibular system may have a sluggish attentional system, lack muscle tone to sit still, and weak visual and auditory processing skills essential for reading. At times they require big, bouncy, angular movements to fully attend. Students with a 'hyper fast' vestibular system are easily overwhelmed visually and auditorily. They may need to calm themselves with walking, rocking, or swinging. A weak vestibular system and learning disabilities often go hand-in-hand. Neurostimulation through frequent, intense, enduring activities strengthen the system, helping students reach NCLB goals.
NCLB Step: Strengthen sensory input. Initial learning arrives to the brain through the senses. Enhancing this neural delivery system through art, music, sports, play, drama, and other sensory activities will help students sharpen visual acuity and auditory processing skills required for reading, writing, spelling and math. Students having problems receiving, perceiving, and responding to sensory input, require organized sensory integration activities designed to bolster their senses, allowing them to best achieve NCLB learning goals.
NCLB Step: Reinforce motor output. Academic performance skills such as writing, reading, talking, and keyboarding all require a fine-tuned muscular system. Motor planning activities (e.g., hopscotch, sport skills) improve children's ability to follow directions and solve problems. Hand-eye activities (e.g., catching a ball, assembling a puzzle) enhance the visual spatial system involved with spelling. Sequenced movements (e.g., Macarena dance) engage the cerebellum, strengthening automatic brain pathways needed to build implicit NCLB performance skills.
NCLB Step: Prime the body/brain. Pump neurochemicals that energize and calm the mindbody, creating optimal learning states. Large muscle movements create dopamine, a chemical essential to paying attention and carrying out frontal lobe functions needed to think. Serotonin, endorphin, adrenalin, and other chemicals can be produced through heightened physical activity to create feelings of well-being, raising focus, attention, motivation, and long-term memory. It has been estimated that 98% of the chemicals used by the brain to regulate feelings and manage cognition are produced within the body. Physical movement pumps these chemicals to the brain through the blood stream. Invigorated and focused - students have greater energy to pursue NCLB goals!
NCLB Step: Provide ample downtime. Essential! Learning consists of creating new synaptic connections between body/brain cells. These tiny gaps require downtime to fully adhere to the neurons they connect to. Balancing study time with downtime strengthens these new neural pathways. Reducing curriculum helps cut pack n' stack, piling on facts, always staying on task. More art, music, theatre, physical education, and other enriching downtime activities also help strengthen synapses, allowing students to master academics well beyond NCLB standards.
NCLB Step: Make leaning enjoyable! Many educators serious about reaching NCLB mandates have reduced leisure time learning activities allowing students to fully cultivate personal interests. Lock-step learning and hard discipline used to maintain control have reduced joyous, creative, celebrated learning. Making learning fun and relevant sparks the brain's pleasure-reward circuits. Motivation increases, helping keen students reach NCLB learning goals with maximum effort.
Summary: Achieving No Child Left Behind mandates requires developmental and motivational approaches, helping the most challenged students resolve their learning difficulties through well-planned physical activity. Integrating primitive and postural reflexes, building the vestibular, sensory and motor systems, and creating ideal learning states using downtime, primetime, and enjoyable activities will build new, durable body/brain networks, helping students reach their learning potential and achieve NCLB goals in the most pleasant, vibrant, and fulfilling ways.
Author: Jeff Haebig travels the country, shake, rattle, nÂ’ showing how movement is integral to building learning success. His work is featured on http://www.BrainBoogie.com
I think I asked this in a wrong category. Answer please.?
How to get through to teach in the States?
My husband is a qualified teacher in Trinidad and would like to migrate to the U.S. to teach. How would he go about doing that? What is the correct protocol in becoming a teacher? He'll most likely be in New York. Does he have to begin by finding a school which has vacancies and write to them or what? He has a visitors visa and has been to New York many times on vacation. He would prefer to get into Physical Education but he can pretty much teach anything or any grade as he's a Primary School teacher.
I have also heard that some schools in New York has Cricket on their Curriculum. If anyone knows about this can you let me know.
Thank you.
Hello!
Is you husband authorized to work in the USA? If not, both of you should read "How Do I Get A Work Permit "
Cricket started up in April of this year in New York High Schools due to the growing number of immigrants (like myself) from the Caribbean and South Asia.
16 locomotor, movement activities including the songs: Stretch, Stomp, and Clap; Monkey in the Middle; Give Me Ten; Ba Ba Bones; Side Slide; Raise the Ceiling; Stir It Up; Run and Walk; and more. Ages 3 yrs...
A companion video to the primer book, this demonstrates all the jump rope techniques included in the book. Students begin by learning to jump properly without a rope. Next, they learn to jump rhythmically, hold and turn the rope properly, and finally combine all the skills.
If you want to focus children's attention, you first have to capture their interest. Attention Games is filled with interesting and child-tested activities that can help children of all ages become better at focusing and paying attention...
Key Benefit: Used by over half a million readers, the best-selling Dynamic Physical Education for Elementary School Children offers the next generation of physical education teachers the best guide in step-by-step techniques for teaching physical education...
The book covers three individual Elementary Education tests, all under the Praxis II series:0011: Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment test0012: Content Area Exercises0014: Content KnowledgeThe book includes subject review chapters and a full-length practice test for each subject assessment test.
It's possible to teach English to every age group, from preschoolers through to adults. The chances are that if you join a language school, you may not have much choice and will probably get a mixture of abilities and ages. However, decide to teach at a state school or kindergarten and you'll be teaching a specific age group. If this is your first shot at teaching, the chances are you'll have had little, if any experience of different age groups. You may have strong ideas or feel unsure about the age groups you wish to teach; so getting a little experience will pay dividends.
Try ringing up your local school and volunteering your services as a classroom assistant. Interaction with pupils and observation of a qualified teacher should give you a much better idea of children's capabilities in your chosen age group. If you can't find a friendly school, try and contact local youth groups in your area, or contact the local scout/brownie group leader. This experience should give you more confidence, as well as impressing prospective employers.
Teaching preschoolers This is for the very active, and teachers who prefer kinaesthetic methods of teaching English. You need to have a sense of fun for this role, not to mention boundless energy! If you are employed full time at a nursery school or kindergarten, bear in mind that you'll probably be expected to multitask. Working as part psychologist, part nurse, part dinner lady, not to mention part language teacher, are all integrated into the role of a kindergarten teacher! It is a hugely rewarding but demanding role, and not for the faint hearted!
Teaching preschoolers at a language school is a less demanding role, as the parents usually tag along too! Prepare yourself well and make sure you arm yourself with a variety of songs, action games, puppets, toys and pictures. Remember: young children of two or three have a very short attention span, so you will need to keep your activities short and snappy. Plenty of variety and routine are the keys to successful lessons.
Teaching primary/elementary school children - Many English teachers are required in primary schools. Children of this age are full of enthusiasm, and enjoy learning. Make learning English fun by including games, songs and stories. Sometimes you may be required to team-teach with another class teacher. Remember: be patient, and don't expect all your ideas to be accepted immediately. Concentrate on building a good working relationship with your class teacher and then suggest new ideas gradually.
Teaching secondary/high school children - Teaching this age group can be challenging, as it is the age where children often become shy and self-conscious. It can take time and patience to establish a relationship with teenagers, so you shouldn't expect immediate results. No matter how hard they try to make you believe otherwise, teenagers of this age are still children, and enjoy competitive games! You'll need to show that you're willing to connect with their world and interests, and don't assume that pop groups and actors famous in the west are well-known in the country you're teaching in. Teaching teenagers can be particularly rewarding as many are desperate to speak to a native English speaker, and have a genuine desire to learn English.
Teaching University Students - This is a privileged position, and universities often expect teachers to have an MA in linguistics, although this is not always the case. You'll need a thorough knowledge of the English language, a love of English literature and be prepared to do a lot of marking! That said, this probably won't be your first teaching role!
Teaching Adults - There are many benefits to teaching adults. For a start, you won't have to worry about discipline as, having paid for the lessons, most adults are motivated to learn. However, even this age group has its disadvantages. Adults may have strong expectations and can even tell you how to do your job! In this case you need to be polite, but firm. Don't let an adult undermine your authority, or take control of a class. Adults may also be much more resistant to trying new ideas, and feel that games or role-play are childish! Introduce new ideas slowly, and don't be deterred if they don't work out first time round. Remember, many adults have experienced boring English lessons at school, so this is your opportunity to make learning a positive experience for them.
What should I do if the age range I've chosen isn't for me? Whichever age ranges you decide to teach, remember that establishing a relationship with a class takes time. Give yourself at least ten weeks before deciding that this age group isn't for you, and always give at least a term's notice if teaching at a school. Remember, finding a solution is always preferable, and if you don't get on with one particular class or teacher, there is always the possibility that you may be able to swap classes with another teacher.
Chris Soames - Onlinetefl provide fulfilling and life-changing language teaching experiences to anyone with a desire to get out there and make a difference for the better.
In the last year alone we have assisted over 5,000 volunteers to have a life-changing language teaching experience in 24 countries around the world.
If you're looking for a unique teaching abroad experience, look no further! Onlinetefl the perfect way to meet new people with our TEFL abroad & teaching jobs.
Contacts For interviews, images or comments contact: Chris Soames Marketing & PR Email: chris@i-to-i.com
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How would I find a tutor in primary education on the East coast of Scotland?
My children aged 10 and 8 need some tuition over the holidays to bring them up to the standard for their year. Is there a tutoring organisation or something similar which covers our geographical area?
..... and how long could I expect a tutoring session to last, and about how much would the fee be?
Check the tutor's credentials. Ask about training, experience, and references. It is important that the tutor is a certified teacher or has expertise in the subject being taught. Find out whether the person has experience working with students at your child's grade level. If the tutor is working with a child with a learning disability, it is essential that he/she has been trained to use appropriate techniques that can address the student's special needs.
Entry-level scientists can view it all with this durable, easy-to-use microscope that works with microscope slides and bug-corralling Curiosity Boxes. Includes battery-operated lighting (top and bottom) and a mirror for natural lighting, two interchangeable viewing stages (one for slides, another for Curiosity Boxes), magnifications of 10x, 30x and 50x and color viewing filters...
3 years & up. No cups, no brushes, just twist off the top and design with dots! The rainbow set includes red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. The fluorescent set includes purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and pink...
Keep busy for hours with this bright, vividly painted assortment of wooden beads. Each bead comes with oversized holes, and the included laces are longer for smaller hands. This classic collection of beads and laces helps children with hand coordination, dexterity and color recognition -- all while inspiring creativity...
If there's any game out there that normally makes little kids feel left out, it's Scrabble, the word game that's usually played by adults and older kids. But Scrabble Junior is a great way to introduce young children to the game and get them interested in how words are formed...
Summary:Teach a child letter sounds with Bob Books Set 1! With four letters in the first story, children can read a whole book. Consistent new sounds are added gradually, until young readers have read books with all letters of the alphabet (except Q)...
Summary:Bob Books Set 2: Advancing BeginnersBob Books Set 2 continues to build reading skills. Use of three-letter words and consistent vowel sounds in slightly longer stories build confidence. Children love the hilarious (and sometimes mischievous) stories and pictures...
Summary:Bob Books Set 3: Word FamiliesIn Bob Books Set 3, children progress gently into the next steps of reading. Consonant blends, endings, and a few sight words advance reading skills and create more complex stories...
0002 Unique and innovative, the ABC Tricycle uses primary colors and streamline design to appeal to smaller children. Its molded, tubular construction provides the durability of its fine Italian craftsmanship...
Given that this is the 5th anniversary of the Iraq war, there has been a lot written in review of the events. We all know the debacle that is Iraq. I'm going to focus on what the future holds. I think this is particularly important since 43% of Americans still think we can "win". I am an American, a Shia Muslim, and someone who opposed this war from the beginning. This is longer than my normal posts, but I thought the topic was important and I hope you get something out of it.
First, a little history. Iraq is not a "real" country. It is one of the many fruits of British colonialism, along with Israel & Palestine, Ireland and Northern Ireland, and Pakistan and India (where my family is from), to name a few. About a century ago, as the British Empire waned, their last resort to extend their rule was to sow discord among the natives. In Iraq, that meant fusing Sunnis, Shias and Kurds together under an autocratic ruler of the Sunni persuasion.
Everyone by now has heard of the three groups vying for power in Iraq: the Sunni, Shia, and the Kurds. The Sunni and Shia are the main religious sects of Islam, dating back to the death of Prophet Muhammed. The Kurds are an ethnic group spread across northern Iraq, southern Turkey, and western Iran. They are a people without a nation.
So what will the outcome be? To understand what lays ahead for Iraq, one has to understand the conflicting interests in the Middle East that will continue this bloodshed for some time to come.
There are basically four power players in Iraq: the US, Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. First, let's discuss Iran. Iran's primary goals are to achieve a strong Arab, Shia ally in Iraq, and become the dominant player in the Middle East. They already have a powerful influence over Syria and the Hezbullah-controlled parts of Lebanon. Iraq though, with its vast oil wealth and majority Shia population, would provide Iran with a lasting natural ally.
Saudi Arabia is the other main player in the Iraq saga. Their goal is to keep Iraq from becoming dominated politically by Shia Iran. Wahabbism, the official sect of Saudi Arabia, is vehemently opposed to Shias. Shias are viewed as heretics, even lower on the totem pole than non-believers. The bulk of the foreign Al Qaeda fighters in Iraq come from either Jordan or Saudi Arabia, and their mission is to do anything to keep the Shias out of power. Stemming Iran's regional influence is priority number one.
The Turks really don't have much of an interest in Iraq besides keeping the Kurds from declaring independence. Turkey is determined to keep this from happening so that the Kurds in southern Turkey don't get any funny ideas.
Beyond keeping oil out of the hands of the Chinese, America has no reason to be in Iraq whatsoever. This by the way is the crux of why we can not win, for we have no real definition of success. We have many ways to fail, and no ways to win.
So where does this leave us? Well, the Shia and Sunni both have deep pocketed backers, and can go on fighting indefinitely. The Kurds are the odd man out. People keep saying that Iraq will get divided into three countries, but the reality is that it will likely break into two. The southern country will be named Kufa, which is the real historical Shia nation.
Central Iraq has no oil, and therefore no oil wealth, so expect to see Arab Sunnis start to push strongly into Kurdish northern Iraq where there are vast oil reserves. In doing so, the Sunnis will find allies in both the Turks and Saudis. It is unlikely that we will go to bat for the Kurds. The resulting state will continue to be known as Iraq.
The only question left in my mind is when this will happen. The presence of American troops is slowing the process, but at some point, we will have to leave. To paraphrase Machiavelli, they live there, we're just visiting. Barring a great miracle of national reconciliation, Iraq will descend into a civil war similar to the one experienced by Lebanon, but on a much greater scale.
Focusing on Catholic primary schooling in France from 1830 through World War I, Curtis shows how religious education played a key role in transforming France into a modern nation. She finds persuasive evidence that the French Catholic teaching orders created the culture needed for the development of a modern educational system...
US $28.36
