Online Education: The Reality

In an article posted on April 24 in Pandodaily, Franciso Dao laid out a compelling, but also short-sighted argument that technology and education pundits have oversold the potential of online education to the public. He points to the underutilization of existing free educational services like public libraries, and the low completion rates by students participating in online courses as examples of online education’s shortcomings. In particular, he blames the lack of "… a fixed structure and a sense of belonging that come from a student body,” for the low completion rate.

To write off such a democratic and universally appealing service like online education negates the accomplishments made by Sal Khan's Khan Academy, and the efforts of the Open University to increase the quality, and quantity, of its free courses. Moreover, online education is neither standardized nor unified, it is a patchwork of endeavours to offer education to people marginalized by an inability to find or integrate traditional education into their lives.

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BBC HORIZON: THE AGE OF BIG DATA

This episode is about data mining, and using that information to predict trends across many facets of our society , and how this information will impact our lives. I believe people need to think about the impact Big Data will have on academic institutions and children entering elementary school in the next few years. I expect schools will attempt to use the data collected from their early academic careers, perhaps even in the first few years of grade school, to dictate the academic needs of a generation before they even graduate from primary school. Insert a few years of test scores, enter a collection of numerical variables to represent personality traits, and tally up a record of web searches, then run it through an algorithm to assign an academic path for a student. Therefore, allowing school administrators to figure out admission targets 15 years in the future, economists to workout the make up of the workforce in 20 years, and give political strategist a look at the future power base in 25 years. Perhaps it will make things more efficient, but will students be unfairly assigned an academic future based on faulty assumptions and inadequate algorithms?

Achieve Success by Stepping out of Your Comfort Zone

You have two choices when taking on a project that you feel is beyond your expertise. You can succumb to the fear of failure and walk away or see it as an opportunity to challenge yourself and develop new skills.

Overcome your doubts by focusing on a successful outcome, developing a positive attitude and following a structured plan.

Here is a guideline to help you take on any task or project.

Get a firm understanding of what you are trying to achieve

Define the goal of the project and condense it to its core objective. It will give you a succinct idea of what actions you need to take to achieve this objective.

Also, take a cursory inventory of the milestones, people and skills that will be involved in reaching your objective.

Doubts come from facing the unknown. Encapsulating important information gives you an easy reference to keep you confident and focused.

Focus on the “what” and not the “how”

People clutter their brain with an over emphasis on maintaining a budget, delegating people and using complicated project management tools

Remove yourself from the “how” mindset and become a visionary. Sit back, take what you know from your early notes and come up with an image of what you want to accomplish. Visualize success.

Confidence in your abilities will come from focusing on the certainty of success, not the possibility of failure.

Feel confident about your work experience and talents

Skills are transferable and your unique qualities will strengthen any endeavour.

People define a great career by the ever-increasing amount of faith and responsibility given to an employee over many years of service. Consequently, you challenge an employee with tasks outside their comfort zone to test if they are ready to be leaders.

A new generation of executives and managers are becoming jacks-of-all-trades and masters of some. You may not be able to draw a straight line, but if having that skill is important to the project, odds are you will learn how to do it.

Maximize every interaction with your manager or client

A lack of feedback will magnify your fears. In most cases, you are building on ideas and products other people have already developed. Use that to your advantage and do not frustrate yourself by trying to reinvent the wheel. Instead, work with the people that have built the foundation of the project. In the end, they are your most critical audience.

Being dismissive and closed-minded makes your job harder. Take time to digest the material you have gathered, and come back to the decision makers to ask questions that are more specific. This helps guarantee you are making the right decisions.

Be aggressive but diplomatic in getting the answers you need. Carefully construct your questions and be adaptable to the answers even if it is not what you want to hear.

Commit to your plan of attack

People over think creative endeavours, they wander from one idea to another. However, they never take in to account the chaos this type of flip-flopping causes along the way.

Be flexible, but at all costs try to stick to your original vision. Once you are dedicated to the path and destination, your job is to delegate, manage and deploy to get there.

Contribute when you can and ask for help when you cannot

If you are not artistic, but more of a right brain thinker, you may feel sheepish about offering your opinion on aesthetic issues. However, try to remember that everyone fills different need on a team.

Ultimately, a good team blends the best of everyone’s talents, and what skill one person lacks the other brings to the project. Your job is to guide them, trust their input, offer your knowledge and lastly, help them flesh out your ideas.

Use the internet

Take your time and see what others have accomplished with similar projects. Inspire yourself with the achievements of others, but beware the many dangers of plagiarism.

Draw from the many assets your company has to offer

Make a general request across the company for help.

This type of crowd sourcing reduces cost by keeping everything in house. It also exposes internal talent, and brings in fresh ideas to any endeavour.

Remember, it is natural to be hesitant when presented with what first appears to be an overwhelming project. However, you can overcome this challenge by confirming your objectives, believing in your skills, drawing confidence from your experience and standing firmly behind your choices.

Five Reasons Students Might Consider Using Credit

In North America, students can apply for credit when they attend a post-secondary institution, even without verifiable income. The credit available to them ranges from low limit credit cards to education loans that can reach into the tens of thousands.

A person can use this to their advantage, credit decisions made as a student can make a considerable contribution towards the amount of capital and assets they can obtain after graduation.

1. You can leverage the benefits of a credit card without succumbing to high interest rates.The high interest rates charged by credit card companies are a result of a multitude of factors, but the greatest factor is the high default rate on these types of products.Be smart when using credit cards, use the interest free grace period after a purchase to enhance cash flow. An individual may not have the funds now, but as long as the balance is paid in full no interest will be charged.In addition, many cards carry a set of free insurances that may include a 90-day replacement warranty for retail items that are stolen, lost or damaged and an additional year of manufactures warranty on certain electronics and appliances.

   Please note that anything considered a cash advance on a credit card will incur interest from the day the transaction occurred. Also, people need to read the credit card disclosure for their particular card before making any purchases.

2. See a credit card as an opportunity to build a relationship with a financial institutionApplying for a lending product is a chance to discuss future needs and see what other valuable services the company offers.Companies want your business, so remember to ask if they have any special banking offers or discounts for purchasing multiple products.Furthermore, your loyalty to a company can lead to better lending and interest rates when buying a house or planning for retirement.
3. A long credit history can make you a more appealing credit customer
   
   Credit worthiness includes many variables, including repayment habits; the number of open credit facilities a person currently has, debt to income ratio and credit history.Even if a person never carries a balance from one month to the next, regular use of a credit card will contribute towards a positive credit score. In particular, lenders like to see credit cards that have been active over an extended period of time and show no late payments.Sadly, as a person gets older the lack of a credit history makes lenders see them as a risk and therefore applying for credit becomes harder once a person is no longer a student.Remember, a secondary user on a credit card gets no credit history benefit because the application is under the primary cardholder’s name.
4. Using credit facilities can prepare you for a more secure financial future after graduation.At some point, people will consider home and vehicle ownership. A decent credit history will offer more options when it comes to low interest rates and how much debt a credit company will allow someone to carry.Besides financial concerns, having an excellent credit history can affect a person’s ability to get a job or rent an apartment. Employers and landlords are now using credit checks to filter out candidates and unsavory tenants.As the job’s and renter’s market becomes more competitive a great credit rating might give a person a competitive advantage.
5. The use of credit products develops a sense of independence and responsibilityOptimally, it is wise to have one of three things before applying for a credit card. These include some savings, a job, or parents willing to cover debt expenses.Although, making minimum payments might be convenient, it makes paying off the card almost impossible. Minimum payments in the long run do not make economic sense, but it will keep a credit score clean.Over time, students need to transition financial responsibilities over from their parents. Paying for a credit card might be someone’s first reoccurring bill. It is an opportunity to develop good repayment habits and budgeting skills.

Although, using credit is not for everyone, applying for credit as a student can be an important milestone. Used wisely, even a student credit card can alleviate many future hurdles involved in asset acquisition and give a person a sense of responsibility before taking full control of their lives.