Archive for December, 2008

Amelia Turner asked:


Many working individuals are returning to continue their college study either offline or online. Most of working individuals are pursuing their career related degree either for the purpose of preparation for job promotion or career advancement. If you have worked for quite some time, returning to college may required some time to adapt yourself to the new learning curve and get yourself to success complete your degree program.

For a working adult that goes back for study, you may find that the greatest challenge for you is find your time to work, live and allocate time for study. Here are 7 tips to maximum your time allocation for study and successfully complete your degree on time.

Tip #1: Bring a long your book where ever you go

For a working adult who is taking courses, time is really constraint for you; you must smartly and fully utilize any free time available. Time spent waiting in line and in the car or time left after lunch hour can be your study time. Hence, always bring along at least a book with you where ever you go so that you can fully utilize any leisure time for your study.

Tip #2: Keep a recorder in your handbag or suitcase

After reading a chapter or a book some time a new idea or solution may come across your mind, if you did not record it immediately, you may not be able to recall it later. Hence, always keep a recorder in your handbag or suitcase so that you can use it to record any new idea, assignment draft or solutions to homework or assignment. If you do have recorder, at least bring along papers and pen, but recorder is very useful if ideas flow and you can’t write thing down.

Tip #3: Bookmark important point with post-it note

Once you have finished a chapter, try to summary it into point form and write these points in post-it note and paste it on the top corner of that chapter. These post-it bookmarks will save you a lot of time when you need re-read for examination preparation.

Tip #4: Learn to say “NO”

While pursue your college degree, you should reduce time waited on entertainment and shopping. Sometime, you need to learn how to say “No” when you friend ask you to go out for movie or other entertainment so that you can spend more time for study. Of course, you can’t eliminate totally your entertainment time else your life will be boring, just reduce some hours so that you can allocate more time for your study.

Tip #5: Find a study environment that is comfort to you

If you are a kind person that can be interrupted during your study time, then you should find a quite place such as library for study, and during your study time, switch your cell phone to silent mode so that your won’t be interrupted by any incoming calls.

Tip #6: Write down notes or highlight important points

While reading a chapter, write down important notes on that chapter or use highlighter to mark the parts that are important so that it will ease your revision and preparation for examination.

Tip #7: Find time to rest & exercise

Don’t let yourself to go exhausted. Effective time management to allocate enough time for rest and do a bit of exercise so that you keep your body health and your mind always in refresh condition to absorb the most from your study.

Summary

In order to face your greatest challenge of college degree study and allocate your time effectively for work, live and study, you need to make micro-changes on your living style so that your have the maximum time to study and complete your degree program on time.



Estelle

FloridaJewishAcademy asked:

A 6 week course beginning Nov 13 by the Jewish Learning Institute. Register Today www.ChabadFlorida.com/JLI
Kabbalah to Navigate Your Inner World

Danice

PANESSITO73 asked:

I want to create awareness about adult education and its importance for the community.

Lonneke

Landmark Education asked:


Everyone at some point has experienced an impasse in communication; those frustrating occasions when it all breaks down and people want to get up and walk out. Just look at a sample of recent headlines: “Peace Talks Breakdown” or “Labor Negotiations at a Stalemate” or “Negotiations Fail to Result in an Accord”. When the stakes are high and people are afraid they have something to loose communication becomes strained and people stop listening to one another. Usually this is while claiming that the people on the other side of the table are actually the ones who are not doing the listening. We get so concerned and fearful about getting other people to hear what we have to say, we become unwilling to hear what they have to say.

Indeed, listening seems sometimes as if it is a rare happening among human beings. We can’t really listen to another person speaking if we’re preoccupied, or if we’re trying to decide what we’re going to say when the other stops talking, or if we’re debating about whether what is being spoken is true or relevant or agreeable. Listening, in other words, is being accessible and open to what is being said.

At Landmark Education we contend that listening has an amazing power. It gives life to what is being spoken. You might even say it is with the listener that both the speaker and what is spoken exist and come alive. Think of how inspired and enlivened the elderly can become when you sit down and have an extended conversation with them. Think about what happens when someone is really listening to you. Ever notice that you become funnier and more playful when someone laughs at your jokes? What about when a child recognizes that adults are actually listening to them? Their whole demeanor shifts. In the programs of Landmark Education, you find yourself with a new ability to listen to others. You find yourself inspired by the people you have in your life. When you truly listen to people you discover the best of what they have to offer.

Speaking, meanwhile, can be something more than talking, more than the exchange of symbols or information, more than saying what you really think. In speaking we can share ourselves; we can evoke experience in others. Speaking is where our ideas become clear and possible. It is where others are expanded by our time spent with them. It allows for the futures we create. Speaking lives in poetry, in the appreciation of another, in idle conversations that pass the time, in great theories and books that give rise to wonder and thought.

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Speaking allows for “who” and “how” we “are” in the world. It is what gives voice to all that is possible in being human. In our ability to speak and share we have the ability to shape the world we live in.

In the courses of Landmark Education you find that true communication is creation. It has the power to shape, determine, and alter the course and quality of our lives. It moves people. It generates experience in others. It not only delivers information to others, it actually transforms their ability to hear. True communication transforms both the speaker and listener.

The Landmark Forum suggests that what it is to be human has its own domain and that domain is one of language—of communication, of conversation. Through communication —the realm of language, of conversation—each of us has complete access to ourselves, to others, to the very essence and possibility of what it means to be human.

This is the essence of what Landmark Education is about and what The Landmark Forum provides.

Copyright © 2007 Landmark Education. All rights reserved.



Yukihiko

LiteracyCoordinator asked:

Meet some of our tutors, our teachers, and our students. Learn why Adult Education & Literacy at Ozarks Technical Community College is so valuable of a service! Find out how we can help you, and how you can make a difference!

Greta

konekoxox asked:

Oct.14 (Tokyo)

Correna

planegenius asked:


I have wanted to play the guitar all my life. My parents got me a guitar a couple years ago, and some books. I have tried maybe three different forms of lessons, all start off at different places. Where is the best place to start when learning to play? Also, got some money now, any advice on some good software or book (idiot proof) to teach me how to play? I really do want to learn this, I’m just kinda overwhelmed. Any other advice welcome please.

Thanks!

Simon-Cheuk

Ben Welch asked:


Going back to school can be intimidating, especially if you’ve been away for a while or, most especially, if you never went. Don’t worry - a little anxiety is perfectly normal. You might be concerned about being in a new environment or about the intellectual challenges school will bring. Maybe you worry about having enough time. Whatever your concerns, there is one thing you should not worry about - namely, the application process. This essay discusses three parts of the application process and explains why applications should not interfere with your academic goals.

SAT and ACT Scores

For many high school students, one of the most intimidating aspects of applying for college admission is taking the SAT or ACT. For millions of these college-hopefuls, these exams determine their fate - where they get in and what, if any, financial aid they will receive. The question is: if high school students get worked-up over these exams after being in an academic environment for most of their lives, then how should you - an adult student - feel about the prospect of taking these tests after being away from school for years? The answer: you should not be concerned in the least.

The fact is that many adult education or continuing education programs do not require tests like the SAT or ACT for admissions. Administrators realize that test results for adult students will likely prove inaccurate and are not necessarily good predictors of academic success. Granted, some programs may still require the SAT or ACT. If so, it may be a good idea to enroll in a prep course that caters to adult students. Just remember that these tests are not as important for adults as they are for high-school-age applicants, and test scores will ultimately be weighed against other factors, such as relevant work experience and other intangibles, which most adult students have in spades.

Essays

Unlike test scores, essays will probably be required with every college application. The good news is that essays provide adult students with an edge. The reason is that adult students have a great deal of real-world experience, which is great fodder for essays. Essays are designed to tell the admissions committee who the applicant is, what they are capable of, and how their unique life experience will contribute to their success as a student. And because adult students have a broader range of experience to draw from, essays are far more advantageous for them than for high-school-age applicants. Just let your work speak for itself.

Transcripts

Although essays will inform the admissions committee that you possess certain intangibles, such as experience or desire, the committee will also want to see numbers. As such, part of the application might include a high school transcript or GED scores. Committees realize that just because an applicant earned a poor grade in a class fifteen years ago, it doesn’t mean they’re doomed to the same fate now. What they are looking for is a broad academic picture. Thus, adult students in reasonably good standing shouldn’t have any problems, even with a few questionable marks here and there. Students whose transcripts are lacking are not doomed either, but they may need to show evidence of academic progress in other areas, such as work or perhaps in a non-credit continuing education course. Remember that if grades and transcripts don’t tell the real story, you simply need to find another way to demonstrate your academic potential.

Back in high school, academics were the focus of your life. So even though applying to college may have been frustrating and time-consuming, it was at least familiar. Applying as an adult, however, forces you to engage in the sort of work you may not have done in a long time. But the truth is the application process will probably be easier now than was when you were a teenager. The important thing is to play to your strengths and provide an honest assessment of your academic potential. Let the admissions committee take care of the rest.



Arielle

BeInspiredSAES asked:

Be Inspired by Emma Wilson a Stockton Adult Education Service tutor, promoting in-store at Borders Teesside Park, Thornaby, inspirational short art courses, coming soon to Judges Country Hotel in Yarm, Stockton-on-Tees.
One-day Art Courses:
Saturday 17th May 2008
Starting 9.30am — 4.30pm
Only £35.00 concession £30.00
Afternoon tea is provided
Please quote class code: NFC129

Two-day Art Courses:
Saturday 21st June (on location at Judges Country Hotel) and Saturday 28th June (at Kiora Hall, Stockton-on-Tees)
Starting 10.00am — 4.00pm
Only £38.00 concession £33.00
Please quote class code: NFC137

Comments from learners last year:
“It was great value for money and we would recommend this day to anyone!”
“I wanted to do something for me, before I returned to work.”

Corny

John Kersey asked:


An introduction to adult education - and the role of the private sector in it

The concept of postsecondary education aimed specifically at adults has a long and at times controversial history.

In the nineteenth-century, institutions began to offer programs that would form the foundations of contemporary night school and distance education offerings. These programs led to the concept of the “external degree”, whereby a student could prepare at teaching colleges or privately for a degree which was then earned by sitting formal examinations audited by the degree-awarding university.

The external degree concept offered opportunities for the working adult, who had perhaps missed out on a chance to attend university after leaving school, to obtain a qualification that would otherwise have entailed an impossible compromise between campus attendance, career and family responsibilities. This was the beginning of a revolution that would go on to embrace non-traditional education and much else besides.

During the 1990s, the number of external degree programs on offer from private providers increased sharply with the advent of the Internet, and those programs began to concentrate on distance learning and correspondence instruction as their modes of delivery. This has resulted in a wide choice for consumers and a spectrum of offerings in terms of their program type, cost, delivery methods and quality.

In this paper we will give an overview of some universal considerations of adult postsecondary education, and then examine the role of the self-regulating private sector in fulfilling them.

Adults seeking education

Some of the many types of adults seeking postsecondary education include the following:

? Working adults seeking an award to consolidate experience and education gained through informal sources, or through formal sources that has not led to an award;

? Working adults seeking to update their skills and move up to the next educational level, often through a graduate level degree or diploma;

? Working adults seeking to change career;

? Adults who are taking a career break or who are unemployed and seek to improve their prospects in the workplace;

? Adults who do not work but want to study in furtherance of their interests, hobbies and enthusiasms;

? The retired and those who want to “finish what they started”;

? Those who seek a title that has personal and professional significance to them and offers a competitive advantage in the marketplace, such as a professional doctorate.

Adults seeking educational opportunity do not fit into as easy categorization as do school-leavers. The main reason for this is that, except for those who are seeking to change careers, many will be already experienced in their fields and seeking to study either to consolidate this experience (”to validate what I know”) or to move ahead to the next level, often via a graduate-level program. This means that although adults will often have very clear aims as to what they want to achieve and how to achieve it, those aims will be precisely focussed and will differ a good deal from one person to the next.

Offering educational programs to this constituency is therefore not a simple matter. Motivated adults show a wish to customize their program to include exactly what they want and need and no more, and an understandable wish to reach their goal through the most economical and efficient route. Although a school-leaver is often happy to see their college experience in terms of four years of varied and sometimes digressive academic life, the adult learner rarely has the patience or willingness to sit through classes repeating what they already know. They demand an individualized educational experience that is tailored to them and them alone.

The challenge of educating adults

Many institutions seeking to serve adults are faced with difficulties in meeting these needs. Where an institution is large and has a substantial bureaucracy, it cannot easily individualize the educational experience, and instead must serve the needs of the majority over those of the individual. Furthermore, accreditation agencies and government overseers of education do not generally take kindly to program individualization, regarding it as impossible to assess and therefore as inherently difficult to subject to consistency measures and standardization - the core aims of such bodies. Perfect programs for such institutions are those that follow a set pattern and where everyone does the same thing at the same time or chooses from a limited range of options. These programs are also the most readily commodified as a set “product”.

One reason why private providers have met with such success in serving the adult market is precisely because they are free from the control of government and quasi-government regulators, and can therefore pursue program individualization. In short, they are capable of evolving new program methodologies that meet the needs of the market directly. This is controversial since it threatens the vested interests of public sector providers, who have instead been determined to restrict the market only to what they were prepared and able to supply. In the process, the public sector has sought to attack the freedom of the self-regulating sector and to either restrain that freedom or destroy the competition altogether, often using arguments about quality as a cover for its actions. Such arguments have uniformly failed to make the distinction between diploma mills and legitimate self-regulating schools, instead acting anti-competitively to exclude both.

The result of this policy has been that the self-regulating sector is now extremely small compared to its heyday ten and more years ago. Many private institutions have accepted public sector control or have been driven out of business as the public sector has persuaded legislators to act to reinforce its commercial monopoly. However, legitimate individualized self-regulating sector options do remain for the discerning consumer so long as he or she is prepared to work to seek them out, to assess them carefully to establish whether they meet their needs, and to see behind the false arguments provided by public sector opponents in order to discredit them.

Where can the self-regulating adult education sector meet market need?

The justification for the self-regulating sector in postsecondary adult education is in its unique ability to meet market need. There are several key areas in which it can do this, by offering:

? Programs at a more affordable cost than public sector controlled institutions;

? Programs that are individualized and tailored to the student rather than being constructed according to the social engineering preferences of government, or the conservative outlooks of mainstream academia and its accreditation agencies;

? Program methodologies that are flexible and designed on nontraditional principles of empowering the student as the center of their own learning;

? Greater flexibility in admissions, including open enrolment policies, based on what the applicant can prove they can do rather than the possession of a specific credential;

? A smaller, less bureaucratic approach that imposes fewer costs on the student and embraces technology fully rather than being tied to outdated campus-based models, thus actively promoting the evolution of the university concept into the Information Age;

? Progressive and experimental programs in specific program areas and in interdisciplinary modes that are not offered within the public sector;

? Openness to the transfer of credits at the graduate level, in contrast to almost all public sector institutions;

? Programs at the doctoral level by totally non-residential study;

? An openness to ideologies that are no longer welcome in much of academia, which has become dominated by authoritarian and politically correct ideas;

? Transnational and cross-cultural philosophies of education rather than being restricted by the educational norms of a single nation or system;

? Education that resists restrictions that are the outcome of vested commercial interests, that work against the interests of students and that serve as a block on progress within the postsecondary sector;

? Direct accountability to the market (without intermediaries) and facilitating consumer choice within diverse options.

This is a long list, and it could be a lot longer still. Where there is a need, or a gap in the market, the self-regulating sector exists to fill it. If there were no need - if the public sector were perfectly responsive and performed to a level where it met demand - there would be nothing more for the self-regulating sector to do other than compete on price and quality (which in themselves would, of course, be valid criteria). As the situation stands, the self-regulating sector is excellently positioned, not only to highlight the multiple areas that have gone wrong within our current system, but also to offer real solutions to that crisis.



Fausto