The Case for Online Learning

Pew Research recently conducted a survey in spring 2011. The survey consisted of a telephone survey using a nationally representative sample of adults ages 18 and older; and an online survey done in association with the Chronicle of Higher Education polling presidents of two-year and four-year private, public, and for-profit colleges and universities. The findings make a strong case for colleges and universities to embrace the online learning environment.

Among those who have graduated in the past decade, the figure rises to 46%. Adults who have taken a course online have a somewhat more positive view of the value of this learning format: 39% say a course taken online provides the same educational value as one taken in person, a view shared by only 27% of those who have not taken an online course.

Traditional universities consider new approaches

With the continuing problems of rising costs and unsatisfactory graduation rates, innovative web-based approaches to higher education are being piloted around the state of Texas winning over students and even faculty and administrators.

Revision and Exam Tips

Everyone feels nervous about taking exams. Here are some tips to help you make the most of your revision time and keep those nerves under control.

It’s important to remember that an examination is a test of learning, not memory. Examiners want to see evidence that you have drawn on your knowledge to develop a reasoned argument, rather than replicate course notes and textbook facts. Revision should be a process of consolidating understanding rather than cramming as much information as possible before the morning of the exam.

Contents

1. Study skills – how and where to study

2. Revision plan – the secret to exam success is planning

3. Last-minute revision tips – what can you do when time is short?

4. Dealing with exam nerves – don’t let the stress get on top of you

5. Exam tips – taking the exam

6. Exam tips – after the exam

Exam Techniques, Tips and Tricks

Part A) Preparing for an Exam

1) Revise actively.

Just reading through your notes is the worst possible way to revise.  Well, OK, perhaps not the worst possible, but it’s really not very good.  The more of your brain you can engage in the revision, the more you will remember.  Memory is not a box in one part of your brain that things are either in or out.  Memory is spread out everywhere: there’s verbal memory, visual memory, audio memory, muscle memory, all sorts.  The more your brain does with the information, the more you will remember.  

So don’t just read.  Make up poems and mnemonics.  Summarise the notes.  Set them to music.  Extract key points and write them down yourself somewhere – even if you’re just copying them out, this is better than just reading, since more of your brain is involved.  Make up quizzes and do them.  Write limericks.  Above all – do problems.  Make up your own if you run out.  Get active!

Compare and Contrast Essay Writing Tips

Compare and Contrast Essay Writing. The Outline

Definition:

In custom comparison essays, you take two or more things and discuss how they are the same and how they are different.

General guidelines:

• choose the most interesting topic from the list of comparison / contrast essay topics;
• chose two or more items, that need to be compared / contrasted in essay;
• look for common ground, on which you will be doing your evaluation (it’s hopeless to compare William Shakespeare and dumpsters);
• if you want to be even more specific, compare/contrast only one side of selected subjects;

Our tips on essay writing:

• When you write a custom compare and contrast essay, you can end up evaluating good and bad sides. There’s nothing wrong with it, but make sure that you know what you mean by “good” and “bad”.
• Don’t turn your custom contrast essay paper into a mechanical action in which you firstly state similarities, and secondly provide a list of differences.

10 Tips for Effective Listening Skills

Listening makes our loved ones feel worthy, appreciated, interesting, and respected. Ordinary conversations emerge on a deeper level, as do our relationships. When we listen, we foster the skill in others by acting as a model for positive and effective communication.
In our love relationships, greater communication brings greater intimacy. Parents listening to their kids helps build their self-esteem. In the business world, listening saves time and money by preventing misunderstandings. And we always learn more when we listen than when we talk.
Listening skills fuel our social, emotional and professional success, and studies prove that listening is a skill we can learn.
The Technique. Active listening is really an extension of the Golden Rule. To know how to listen to someone else, think about how you would want to be listened to.

While the ideas are largely intuitive, it might take some practice to develop (or re-develop) the skills. Here’s what good listeners know — and you should, too: