Adults who want to pursue their education in various streams of their interest,always find that they need more time. Effective time management is essential to all such students. Their daily commute can be construed as a waste of time if not properly utilized. Some ways in which they can learn on the go is as follows. Carry an ipod to listen to your notes or lectures. Podcasts are made available on University websites and several other elearning sites in addition to the itune store. Podcast libraries are just waiting for you to use. Listen to educational CD's. Learning languages can be fun,if you listen and try to speak the language. English,French,Spanish,Hindi,......take your pick and begin learning today. You can also create your own notes,podcasts,blogs,wikis,slide presentations,and so on,.....whatever you are comfortable to study with,using the many tools that are freely available on the internet. Jane Hart has compiled the top 100 list of internet tools being used by educators and students across the world. Recommended Reading: Top 100 Tools For Learning in 2008
Creating and maintaining class blogs can be a very effective form of integrating technology in the classroom. Elementary schools can have one class blog with the teacher having one mail id and several user ids. middle and high school students can be encouraged to have their own blog. Blogging makes them learn perfect English. At once challenging and engaging,each student will learn the art of translating thought to his/her blog. Children can pursue their hobbies writing about their pets,friends,class, video games,soccer.They can also write poetry,learn to embed videos,slideshows,power point presentations,photos taken by them. Creativity is enhanced. When comments are asked for from the other students,teachers,parents and anyone from across the globe,they really work hard at everything with a positivity not seen before. They can use their blog to make their own notes,links,references,add audio,video-the list is endless. It is for the class teacher or subject teacher to make use of this excellent tool to constantly engage her/his students online,which they absolutely love anyway. Guidance and online safety measures are what the teacher must be willing to take up. Paul Hamilton enumerates what he found when he visited Mrs.Smith's 6 th grade class to check out their class blogs.
Flash cards are an useful tool for many students online,or in the classroom. All types of students have been seen to benefit from using flash cards to study. Visuals help study easier as they are retained in memory longer,especially those who use photographic memory in their study. A variety of subject topics can be studied using these flashcards and you can be more creative about it. Giving the students a chance to create their own cards makes it interesting as well.They can study out of it and share with their classmates. Or they can choose from the flashcard library if the topic they desire already exists,i.e., created by another user to share. One excellent FREE interactive website I came across that helps teachers and students to create,study and share your flashcards is the flashcard machine. Recommended Reading: How To Make And Share Flashcards Online How To Learn English Spellings
The World Digital Library is ready and is an excellent resource for educators and students. Cultural treasures from around the world are made available on one site and extremely useful for students on an assignment. The timeline makes it easy to find what you require from any time period,and it is available in many languages. Interactive geographic clusters is an attractive feature. Educators can use this as a one stop resource on world facts.
Teachers often complain of not having enough time to create engaging powerful presentations. The same is the case of businessmen or students or salesmen,and sometimes they would have jotted down the points as a Word document and saved it. Now just convert this Word document to PowerPoint. Would it be possible to make a presentation from it,in the least possible time,you wonder? Well,it is certainly possible,says Wendy of Aboutdot com. It is also possible to use a PowerPoint to convert to a Word document. So,next time you can use this neat way to save yourself some time and energy fretting. You may also view the videos that show you How To Convert PowerPoint to MS Word Document. It makes for easy printing.
Math teachers at the primary level will find this post particularly useful. Being creative,one can use Power Point in the teaching of basic math concepts. About dot com's guide Wendy Russell shows how to utilize this tool in teaching subtraction and shapes .You can even download the presentation template here for starters. Addition,multiplication tables are all easy to teach using PowerPoint as an engaging tool for students. Children with shorter attention span can certainly be made to learn this way since it is a fun experience and learning is an activity they do not realize is happening.
When teachers are asked to use technology in the classroom,they have to go beyond just using plain,boring PowerPoint presentations. Some teachers even lift these from PPT libraries and do not bother to use the edit option to make it more interesting for their class.There are several ways that a teacher can retain the interest of her/his class using the internet tools. Even PowerPoint presentations can be made more creative using the options of narrating with your own voice,embedding a related youtube video,using transitions. Making your own little video with Windows Movie Maker can add sufficient interest if you use some class pictures as well. Depending on the subject taught,the teacher can choose her students from the class as subjects for the story being read,or create simple presentations to explain math concepts. Story Maps can be created with PowerPoint. Multiple choice quizzes can be created with PowerPoint. If the teacher allows the students time to create all of the above on their own,they will not only make the learning experience fun,but will also retain what they are learning for a long time. Recommended Reading: How To Make Engaging Presentations Powerpoint Presentations Vs Slidecasts Free PPT Library For Teachers Powerpoint In The Classroom
Creative and attractive posters to display or to take part in a competition can be made easily using PowerPoint. Graduate students or high school students can effectively learn to use PowerPoint in various ways.Most students and educators make use of presentations in their seminars or projects,but few no the use of making large format posters. An excellent step by step method is followed for large format poster. The most important of all steps being setting up the page size before actually beginning to create your poster.The most common poster sizes from 36" x 48" all the way up to 48" x 96" can be created easily.
Parents push their children to perform to their utmost during exams,but it is also imperative that they adhere to certain principles themselves.Every child is unique and so is the parent! It goes without saying that a child possesses the genes from his parents and hence his intelligence level may be not far from that of his parents'. But,with hard work and better nutrition and excellent support any student can better his own performance and certainly be the best in school. Environment plays an important part as well. Parents need to understand that a supportive atmosphere at home is essential for optimal academic performance. Creating a quiet study corner or study room and making sure that there are no distractions from visitors,pets or phone calls is every parent's duty. Having a positive atmosphere at home at all times with free air circulation and sufficient lighting makes for a receptive study mind. Study skills are enhanced by listening to soft music at break times,and play activities or pursuing creative hobbies. In addition,prayer and meditation prepares one to concentrate. Parents and teachers are advised never to ever compare their childrens' academic performances or belittle one in front of another,sibling or friend. Negative impacts such as these take their toll in the long run. Recognizing each child's individuality is very essential during their growing years. Allowing 8 hours of sleep at night is most important for any student,exam time or otherwise. The brain needs to develop and function correctly for enhanced academic performance. Eating he right nutritional foods can certainly up students' grades. Providing proper nutrition at mealtimes,in the right proportions,not overeating,and eating peacefully and slowly,helps proper assimilation of nutrients which provide energy and helps develop and strengthen nerve tissues,of which the brain is the biggest organ in the human body. Students are advised to never miss meals especially breakfast. You are advised to read 10 Super Brain Foods For Your Kids where I have enumerated the various foods and discussed why and how to incorporate the top 10 foods for maximum benefit for all students. Recommended Reading: Improve Your Brain Power How To Cope With Exams Know Your Milk An Egg A Day
Homework is sometimes forgotten only to be remembered as your child is getting ready to go to school.Some students love to finish their homework while in school or while having a free period.This would leave them more time to play once they get home. Each student has a different work habit that must be developed into a fruitful habit particularly with academics. Homework and preparing for tests must be seen as a priority which the parents at home can nurture. Older siblings can help wherever necessary. One aspect of the student getting into the good habit of finishing all homework before beginning to play in the evening sometimes depends on the parent that needs to sit with the student. Not all age children are independent, and some subjects may require an adult's supervision. Students pick out their favorite subject first and end up trying not to do a subject they do not like. Sometimes, it is a particular teacher at school that they are afraid of presenting with an unfinished homework assignment,so they will even copy from another student to get the work done. With the internet being available in every home,some students are taking to the internet even to find simple answers to their queries. Being downright lazy to even try to understand a subject topic or taking down notes as the teacher dictates,they ask friends to email them as they get home. A great website with hot homeworkhelp links and calculators is homeworkhotline. Some excellent online resources are found for various subject topics. The sidebar also boasts of a host of Hot Homeworkhelp Links that have been collected over time and have been found very useful. Recommended Reading: Homeworkhelper Onestop Homeworkhelp A Comprehensive Online Reference Website
Math can be fun and engaging if the teacher is creative or if you find a great website that challenges you and at once engages you in the concepts you need to understand, teaching you the fun way without you even being aware of it. Many educators have endeavoured to bring out some excellent websites for the learning of math principles according to age/grade. An excellent collection of math-rich sites built around user-generated content,are found in the form of a slideshow presentation,compiled by Maria D of natural mathblog. School going and college students are sure to benefit,and math teachers looking for additional online resources as well.You are invited to add to the resources if you find an excellent math website. Recommended Reading: How To Master Complex Numbers How To Generate Math Equations How To Make And Share Flashcards Online Math Tool Interactive Websites
Pilots train in simulators and now,medical students are using Second Life to treat their virtual patients.A full service hospital in UK,Imperial College,London is now fully virtualized with their medical students creating and using their avatars to enter into the respiratory ward of their hospital and treating patients there. The students' avatars walk into the virtual hospital,report at the reception desk and put on the access badge,all akin to the real world scenario.They must also wash their hands before visiting a patient. The students work in pairs and use real-life patients' data to diagonise and treat the virtual patients.They can stroll along to the X-ray section if necessary. These students sit in the classroom and engage in virtual treatment online. E-learning has taken on a whole new meaning and gone on to the next level of hands-on experience for medicos. Recommended Reading: Second life In Education Educational Uses Of Second Life How To Use 3 D Worlds In E-learning Educational 3 D Video Game To Learn Biology
Bookglutton is a new tool where one can upload books, find and read books, join like-minded groups or friends to read with.Book reading can now be more fun simply because you get to enjoy reading a book either by yourself or publicly read with a group. You can also interact with others reading through the chat box or add your own comments to sections you are reading and you have the option to let it be viewed by you alone or by all. A whole new experience to reading a great book online.
Blogs can be used in the classroom in several ways to teach a language or to make it more interactive.Keeping the students engaged can be a daunting task particularly if the language to be taught is part of the academics and the students do not like the language.I have been experimenting with learners of all ages teaching English,Kannada and Hindi conversation and find that the levels of interest and the keenness to learn make all the difference in the progress made. Creating a blog to teach Kannada conversation was important to me since I found many professionals wanting to learn the language but not finding good resources online.Whether you are in USA or UK,or in Bangalore city,wanting to be able to speak Kannada is of utmost importance for many for various reasons. Over the past week,I have endeavoured to create a blog dedicated to teaching you Kannada conversation and fluency. Each blog post will have an English to Kannada translation of commonly used sentences pertaining to a particular topic or situation. Instead of reading on your own and not knowing if you pronounced it right,I have given an audio snippet from snapvine,reading out the same sentences at the bottom of the blog post.You just have to read along as you listen to the audio and practice till you perfect it. You may also add your voice comments at the end of the audio snippet,so you are welcome to use this feature to record the Kannada you are trying to learn and play it back. And then try it out! Before you know it,you will have mastered the art of conversing in Kannada. Recommended Reading: Learn Kannada How To Connect With A Voice Blog Creating a Talking Avatar
Schools are closing for the summer holidays.Students are extatic,while parents are wondering how to keep them occupied.Gainfully! With most parents working,finding a good nanny ,or a grandparent becomes imperative.But,how to keep the children engaged becomes a nightmare for some parents. Going on a holiday will engage them for a few days,but then they need FUN with their own age group,either indoors or outdoors.And indoors most certainly will be surfing the internet,and of course, networking on Myspace,Orkut,Hi5,Facebook. Creativity takes a backseat! Websites with games are a popular choice and educational games are given the go by.Every home computer is engaged with children playing computer games. An excellent website is All Terrain Brain which is loaded with interactives,videos,inspirational games which brings out the entrepreneural skills in 8-12 year olds. This website is the proud recipient of two prestigious W3 awards and certainly engaging for the children.
