Education plays an important role in the economy of any country across the globe. Not only does the country with an educated population increases the potential and productivity of a nation, but it also produces skilled labor that can effectively undertake difficult tasks with ease due to enhanced critical thinking and literacy. The World Bank considers education as the primary tool for future developments in various communities and social settlements across the world, and it has been dedicatedly working to improve education-related activities since 1998. This also entails various forms of learning funded by world governments and approved by the Educational Global Practice. From 2011 to 2016 more than $10 million have been invested to improve educational facilities. In this post, we would like to share with you how modern-day teaching methods have improved over the years and their evident benefits for the college students who acquire them.
Augmented Learning
Perhaps is rightly the most popular and on-demand format of modern-day teaching methods that are increasingly gaining popularity among many educators and pupils across the planet. Augmented learning offers students a conducive and cohesive learning environment that adapts to their needs and requirements. The learning and teaching method emphasizes stimulation through experiences and discovery. Mostly all augmented learning practices utilize rich media and the aid of technological gadgets and tools such as games, graphics, images, puzzles, visual tools, etc. It is with the interaction of such factors in the learning environment which may also lead augmented learning to be labeled as interactive learning.
What are the benefits?
This type of learning offers various forms of engagement and interaction for the students that are tailor-made to suit their own particular set of requirements. As such interactive and augmented learning offers the following benefits:
Students are more motivated to attend their classroom sessions and are less bored.
Interactive classes can offer avid forms of engagement during the learning process with the help of augmented reality and virtual reality applications and tools.
Students are able to grasp even the most challenging concepts with ease and at a much swifter pace.
Learning can be catered towards specific child needs and thus it is highly customizable and can be personalized as well.
The learning method boosts the student’s creativity and curiosity factor making them more open towards acquiring knowledge and information that is shared with them.
Distance Learning
This has become a widely used mean to acquire learning for many students that are located in remote places and localities where it is extremely hard to travel for them to a local or nearby educational institution. In the UK alone, we find students nowadays acquiring distance education and learning through online correspondence courses that can entail various subjects and topics while some of them also offer specializations in particular fields of study and specific areas of interest. It is considered as one of the most popular forms of modern teaching methods where students can acquire online education and one of the most widely used platforms is known as MOOCs (massive open online courses). Majority of these learning methods are conducted using the World Wide Web or other types of network technologies and thus they are commonly referred to as distributed learning or e-learning.
What are the benefits?
As a new and reformed form of modern teaching method, distance learning can offer students the following benefits:
Students are empowered to set their studies and learning schedules to their own pace and understanding.
It removes geographical and traveling barriers, and no matter wherever you are situated, you can always continue your education with the help of the internet.
Students can acquire diversity in skills and courses offered as compared to full-time degrees.
It is also less costly and inexpensive when compared to full-time educational learning opportunities.
Students can acquire learning and education for postgraduate and professional level courses as well.
The quality of learning and education offered is quite high and the standards are well maintained.
Students are also allowed to engage with other students during online classroom sessions.
Students can plan their learning regimens along with their other daily chores and duties without any hassle due to the flexibility offered by distance learning.
Spaced Learning
This is a more advanced form of learning in which highly condensed and concentrated form of information and knowledge is shared with students in a particular format that was developed by Dr. Paul Kelley, a neuroscientist who was investigating at that time regarding the methods of long-term memory retention. The method of learning involves the teacher bombarding students with highly saturated content that is repeated at least three times with a 10-minute break in between where students are distracted by the use of a physical activity and involvement. This method has been effectively reviewed by many news reporting activists and major international journalism including The Economists, The Independent, and The Sunday Times with each reporting it as a successful method for empowering students to get prepared for their national exams in much less time without the use of any traditionally known teaching method.
What are the benefits?
While spaced learning may be misunderstood by some as being unstable for some unknown reasons, the majority of the intellectual community across the globe has termed it as a highly successful approach towards modern day teaching methods. It offers students the following benefits:
Enabling students to plan ahead of their schedule and meet deadlines
Allowing students to retrieve the information that they have learned during the day
Encouraging students to revise and revisit previously mastered concepts
Providing students with valuable relief time and mental relaxation
Empowering students to engage with difficult concepts and assimilate knowledge
We hope that this post was able to offer you some deeper understandings regarding how modern-day teaching methods are benefiting students and enhancing their learning curves. With the progress in technology and means of communication as we have observed over the past decade, we all are very excited regarding the future possibilities and prospects concerning the evolution of education as we speak. Author Bio:
Garret Jacobs is an educationist who has offered her professional tutorship services for reputable universities across the UK. In his free time, he likes to write and offer coursework writing service and consultation for higher education students.
In this era of misinformation and untruths, plagiarism has become a significant problem, abetted by a surge in options for students to cut corners, including growing numbers of online essay-writing services (“paper mills” or “essay mills”) and increasing online content from which to cut and paste.
Lisa Boutin-Vitela
Whether they entirely cut-and-pasted from one source with no or few alternations, used a combination of short cut-and-pasted sections from multiple sources, or copied from a source and then modified by replacing words with synonyms, students are claiming someone else’s writing and ideas as their own and not providing attribution.
Recent data about plagiarism and paper mills is concerning. There are more than 1,000 paper mills in existence. Students can easily request ghostwriters or connect with paper mills.
The percentage of students who admit to cheating ranges between 50 percent and 90 percent (the percentage varies in different studies). A recent study of 24 leading UK universities documents a dramatic 30 percent increase in academic misconduct cases between 2014-15 and 2016-17.
Julie Trager
So, what can college instructors do? In our own visual and cultural studies courses at Cerritos College, we have found that insisting on a culture of integrity in the classroom has helped to curtail incidents of plagiarism. Because we prioritize academic integrity in our classrooms, our students come to value honesty. Near semester’s end, few students dare to plagiarize. Throughout our courses, we encourage self-expression and students come to appreciate their voices being heard.
To achieve this, we have changed the design of our assignments to increase student confidence in their writing through practice and feedback. Instead of assigning one substantial research project, we divide it into smaller tasks over the course of the semester, enabling students to develop their own ideas through multiple low-stakes assignments. We build towards a final research paper through preliminary assignments, such as an annotated bibliography, outline and thesis statement, and rough draft so students receive feedback and refine their writing, research and citation skills.
We require students to submit each assignment through the plagiarism-detection software Turnitin. This software includes built-in grading features and automatic grammar, spelling and style-checking features, so students can receive feedback more quickly and we can streamline our grading processes.
With full-time California community college instructors teaching five classes each semester, the automatic checks provided by plagiarism-detection software help provide more feedback to students. Students become more informed and confident writers by reviewing their similarity score (their similarity to available online content), grammatical and spelling errors, as well as individualized feedback from the instructor.
We conduct in-class writing workshops, critiquing assignments and discussing as a class how to synthesize research into original analysis and how to give credit to research sources. These workshops are helpful in developing writing skills since the desire to plagiarize often comes out of insecurity and lack of writing skills. These workshops hold students accountable for the originality of their writing not only by us but also by their peers. This technique does not focus on penalizing but rather on instructing how to write responsibly and ethically.
Despite these efforts, a few students still submit written assignments created by copying portions of Wikipedia articles, blog posts and freely available online essays. Living in a culture that blurs fiction and truth, these students are often unaware of the illegality of their actions or do not feel shamed by cheating because of contemporary society’s lack of ethical standards. We work individually with these students.
First-time plagiarism usually results in zero points on the assignment and the opportunity to make up points through a rewrite. For repeat offenders, the plagiarism-detection software makes it easier to track and document their plagiarism. At Cerritos College, our options following an incident of plagiarism include: reprimand, a grade reduction, requiring that the work by redone, or referral to the Office of Judicial Affairs.
We emphasize the importance of original writing to help students develop confidence and personal integrity because these traits can help them no matter their academic or career goals. In a world where these traits seem to be in short supply, these lessons are more essential than ever.
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Lisa Boutin-Vitela is assistant professor and Julie Trager is professor in the Art and Design department at Cerritos College in Norwalk, California. Trager and Boutin-Vitela are partners in starting the “Let’s Write and Turn It On” campus-wide initiative to emphasize the importance of integrity, writing and technology at Cerritos College.
Many colleges and universities now offer online courses, either as part of their normal curriculum, or as free classes available to the public. Sites like Coursera and edX bundle many of these classes together, making it easy to find information on almost any topic you can imagine.
But as a student, how can you tell which of these courses are worth taking, and which ones to avoid?
Strengths and Weaknesses of Online Courses
First, you should be aware of the inherent strengths and weaknesses of online courses in general:
Most students who gravitate toward online courses do so because of their convenience. Many don’t have set hours—instead you can watch lectures and do homework at your own pace, so long as you’re available to take exams.
Online courses are oftentimes (though not always) less expensive than in-person courses. This makes them a viable alternative for students trying to save money, or graduate with less debt.
Social opportunities. Unfortunately, online classes also have fewer opportunities for social interactions. That means you won’t have access to as many study groups, or the interactive discussions you might otherwise have in class.
Individual help. Online courses sometimes involve dozens, if not hundreds of people. That means your professor won’t have the time or inclination to give you one-on-one help. If you get stuck on a given subject, you might be on your own.
If you have the option to take an in-person course for the same time and monetary costs, it’s likely worth it. Otherwise, you’ll have to balance the time and cost savings with the necessary sacrifices associated with online classes.
Authority and Certification
Next, consider the authority and certification of the offering party of each online course. If you’re taking an online class through your main university, you shouldn’t have to worry about this. Otherwise, you’ll need to do some due diligence.
Start by investigating the university or organization offering the course. If you recognize the name, that’s a good sign. Otherwise, look for online reviews and how prestigious or accomplished the university is. It shouldn’t take long before you have a clear indication of the organization’s value.
Next, consider whether the online course is certified by a third-party organization. For example, Quality Matters (QM) certifies online courses for their course design, and since 2006 has certified more than 6,000 individual courses.
You may also want to evaluate the lecturer or professor associated with each course. A quick Google search should help you verify the authority’s credentials, and whether they’re truly an expert on the subject. You may also be able to find samples of their public speaking or educational abilities.
Cost and Value
Even if a course appears to be offered by a high authority and a prestigious organization, that doesn’t mean it’s worth the cost. Free courses are tempting, since you might think the cost is zero, but you also have to consider how many hours you’ll spend watching videos, taking quizzes, and studying. The total cost of an online course will be the total monetary price and the total number of hours you’re going to spend on it.
There are many factors to consider here. Having a degree, or a professional certification will, on average, net you a higher average salary over the course of your lifetime. If you aren’t getting a formal degree or certification, the ultimate value of the course may be lower. You may also consider practical skills you take away from the course—for example, if you become skilled in repairing bicycles, you may not only have more job opportunities at bike repair shops, but you’ll save money on your own bike maintenance in the future.
Syllabi, Coursework, and Opportunities
If you have access to the syllabus and coursework for the class before you sign up to take it, look it over. You’ll get a better sense for the time demands of the course, and what types of things you’ll learn along the way. Depending on the course, you may also be able to find specific opportunities that may be available to you after taking the course. For example, the course description may imply that you’ll be able to get an entry-level position in a specific field after taking it, or may direct you to more advanced learning opportunities when you’re finished. These possibilities should add to your evaluation of the course’s prospective return on investment (ROI).
You won’t always have the opportunity to delve into the details of an online course before you start taking it, but it’s crucial to take those critical steps when you’re able. Online classes aren’t always worth the cost or time to take them, but they can also be incredibly valuable opportunities to progress your education. Learn to tell the difference, and you’ll never walk away disappointed.
Sylvia Kohl is an IT teacher with more than 8 years of professional experience. Her main spheres of interest are e-education and she convinced that learning process doesn’t stop after years in school and university.
It’s no surprise the website design and development are flourishing job markets currently. According to the United States Department of Labor, the field is growing by 15 percent each year since 2016 — which is faster than average.
And that makes sense, considering the increasingly stronger emphasis on online businesses. Global e-commerce sales are projected to reach $4.5 trillion by the year 2021. That’s more than a 246 percent increase.
What’s more, 71 percent of small businesses understand the importance of having a professional website. This proves the importance of a digital presence and demonstrates that the need for website designers and developers exists.
Ultimately, website designers and web developers score great jobs — whether they are agency-related, in-house roles or freelance opportunities — because they continually hone their skills and learn the latest trends.
One of the best tricks an aspiring web designer can employ is practice, practice, practice. Whether they’ve been in the industry for 5 minutes or 25 years, top designers are always creating.
So, if you’re also hoping to break into this arena, take the time to build your portfolio — even if they’re just mock websites. Play with new techniques, create faux website redesigns, and ensure you are continually building upon your skills.
In addition to constant practice, the best designers and developers are always learning about the latest trends. There are tons of websites that compile the best website and app designs, complete with analyses of each element and case study-like insights into its effectiveness.
Plus, new trends, techniques, strategies, coding languages, and hosting platform are always emerging. The top experts learn these tactics before they are mainstream, and know how to incorporate them into their projects from the get-go.
Great web designers and developers also learn how every design element, strategy, layout and placement can influence conversions and website traffic — and by understanding this, they can better ensure the success of their client’s brands.
Finally, search for inspiration anywhere and everywhere. Design is a creative industry and combines visual beauty with strategic information to captivate consumers and achieve a specific business growth goal. Professionals who are always on the lookout for how they can improve will ensure their client’s business improve simultaneously.
Annabel Monaghan is a writer with a passion for education and edtech. She writes education and career articles for The College Puzzle with the aim of providing useful information for students and young professionals. If you have any questions, please feel free to email her at annabelmonaghanwriter@gmail.com.
Despite competition from improved colleges in Southeast and East Asia, the US is still an attractive study prospect for international students.
Every year, over a million immigrants are granted permanent residence in the US, according to Department of Homeland Security numbers. It works out to 328 immigrants for every 100,000 people living in the US.
Young people, from less developed countries, in particular, are competing to get a foothold in the American education system, which they believe is the passport to a successful life. As former US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, once said, “In America, with education and hard work, it really does not matter where you come from; it matters only where you are going.”
According to the Institute of International Education headquartered in New York, around 583,000 international students enrolled in American colleges and universities during 2006-2007. The admission numbers increased over the years, and the year 2015-2016 was the first time that admissions topped one million students.
However, 2017 admissions of international students showed that the US is losing its popularity among the world’s students. Only 400,000 international students received US visas in 2017, which amounted to a 17% drop in admission from 2016, and a significant 40% drop from 2015.
Many reasons are attributed to this decline. One of the biggest hindrances is the current US administration’s immigration policies, which is turning the American Dream into an “American Nightmare.” Visa applications are being scrutinized and combed over minutely and international students are compelled to leave the US after graduation because work visas are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. Many US colleges believe that these restrictive policies are making education in the US unattractive to students around the world.
Hence, the increase of improved colleges in Southeast Asia and East Asia.
However, there is hope yet to overcome this seemingly insurmountable barrier. It’s called PassRight, an organization focused on disrupting the current US visa process through transparency and efficiency, serving as a dashboard for visa applicants. As PassRight CTO , Gal Talmor, said, “With PassRight, you can see the whole case: You have access and guidance to the correct forms, documents, and questionnaires. You can follow the steps, backtrack, move things around, and feel confident in the decision-making process. Transparency of the process makes it easier and more empowering.”
The visa process aside, US colleges are becoming too costly for many international students, with colleges increasing their tuition to make up for drastic budget cuts from state funds for local students. On the flip side, more colleges in countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia in Southeast Asia and South Korea in East Asia, are increasing their international student enrolment. However, when it comes to International students in the US, the problem is not just the price but the eligibility for applying for a work visa. According to Liran Rosenfeld, CEO of PassRight, the only way for foreign graduates to get a work visa is the H-1B lottery. That’s not a safe route to pay off student loans. What if you’re not selected in the lottery? What’s next? According to Rosenfeld, the only other option is the O-1 Visa for those who are extraordinary. The criteria for O-1 visa is related to students who are doing more than just to study. The important thing is to know what the O-1 criteria are, in order to try and achieve those.
PassRight considered the O-1 Visa company is helping students understand what to do in order to qualify for the O-1 Visa by the time they graduate and ready for their OPT year. The OPT is the last chance to work hard and try to get eligibility for the O-1. StudentIt appears these Asian colleges are doubling down on efforts to woo international students disenchanted with western college procedures. Along with low tuition and low living costs, these Asian countries are adapting their education systems to attract larger numbers of international students. For instance, Malaysia is making the visa process easier with the aim of increasing its international student population to 200,000 by 2020, while Japan is aiming for a 60% increase in international students, hoping to enroll 300,000 by 2020.
Despite the blossoming conveniences and improved global rankings of Southeast Asian colleges closer to home, the US still holds allure as the golden Land of Opportunity for many international students. For instance, over the past year, the number of Nepalese students studying in the US has shown a phenomenal increase of 18%. Nepal now ranks 12th among top 25 countries sending students to the US for higher education.
Former US President Barack Obama once said, “When we study together, we learn together, we work together and we prosper together.”
Byline – Anton Lucanus is the Director of Neliti. During his college years, he maintained a perfect GPA, was published in a top cancer journal, and received many of his country’s most prestigious undergraduate scholarships. Anton writes for The College Puzzle as a means to guide current students to achieve personal and academic goals.
A student loan can be a real millstone around your neck. The monthly payments can feel crippling, and you don’t want to get into a position where you aren’t paying it off at all – but watching the interest build instead. The best course of action is to take care of it quickly and get it paid off, so you don’t spend most of your working life worrying about it. But how can you achieve that? Here’s what to do.
Work more than full-time
It goes without saying that you will need some income coming in to pay off your loan. But what most students don’t realise is that just getting a job usually isn’t enough. Unless you’re going straight in to a Wall Street position or taking over a successful company, your salary as a new graduate won’t be high enough to start making an impact. What you need to do is start working as hard as possible, using your spare time to earn even more money. A great way to do this is to join the sharing economy. You could become an Uber driver on weekends and evenings, for example.
Don’t start spending
There can be some temptation to start spending a little more when you do get that income coming in. You might want to move to a larger home, start a gym membership, buy more expensive groceries, and so on. instead, it’s better to keep living on as small a budget as possible. Don’t go for luxuries, and if you feel the need to treat yourself, just make sure it only happens once in a very long while. Keep your subscriptions down unless they are genuinely going to save you money. Living this frugal lifestyle will allow you to save most of what you earn, and use it to pay the loan off.
Increase your payments
Rather than allowing yourself extra money that could sit in your bank account and form a temptation, get the money going directly to the loan company. Increase your payments and you’ll quickly start to pay off more and more. This is something you can do easily so that you don’t have to think about how and when to pay back more of the loan, but can just watch it happening. A great thing about this tip is that you can also calculate how long it will take you to pay the loan off – and compared to how long it would take at the standard payment rate, you’ll see you are going much quicker.
Watch out for fees
Some student loan companies will use tricks to ensure they always get more money out of you, whether through interest on the loan or through fees that are charged on early payments. Read the terms of your loan carefully and see what kind of fees can be incurred, and try to create a system that avoids as much of the extra charges as possible. If you are going to pay it all off in a lump sum, you may find that the fees become negligible compared to the interest that would have been charged over the monthly payments for a longer period of time, so it can still be worthwhile.
Working as much as possible, keeping yourself in a frugal lifestyle, and paying back as much as you can on a regular basis are the real keys to paying off your student loan early. If you follow these tips, there will be a big bonus waiting at the end – once the payments are done, you can live in a more luxurious way immediately!
Alex Lawson is a Financial Team Leader and a blogger, working together with other experts at Brighter Finance. Whenever not working on another project or helping customers with their financial issues, Alex may usually be found online, reading money-related blogs and sharing his tips with other experts.
Your admission essay plays a deciding role in defining whether you get accepted to the college of your choice or not. However, with all the importance attached to this task, it is amazing how little consideration would-be students put into writing it and especially into choosing what they intend to write about. Many of them make a grave mistake by merely choosing a particular topic – in this article, we will teach you how to avoid some of the worst of them.
1. How awesome a person you are
Writing an essay summarizing your accomplishments is a bad idea for two reasons. Firstly, it breaks one of the most important rules of storytelling, which is just as functional in an admission essay as it is in a movie: show, don’t tell. Reading for a few thousand words about your diverse accomplishments may summarize your achievements, but it is also just plain boring. If, however, you choose a particular example and demonstrate what kind of person you are through it, it is another matter entirely.
Secondly, people bragging about their achievements are annoying, even if these achievements are genuine and laudable.
2. Tragic experiences
Tragic experiences are invariably extremely personal and require very careful handling to write about well and effectively without making it look as if you beg for sympathy. You may find a free essay or two to learn the ropes from, but even so, you are rather unlikely to get any bonus points for your choice of subject matter.
3. Highly divisive topics
No matter how passionate you are about such matters or how sure you are about your being right, avoid highly divisive topics like the plague. Their very nature means that it is very hard to be neutral about anything written on them, and you never know who is going to read your essay and what their views are.
4. Funny topics
Here is the thing: you are not nearly as funny as you think you are. And there is nothing more pathetic than a person trying to be funny and show off his wit while failing drastically to do so. Some applicants believe that by adopting an overly familiar, humoristic tone of voice can win points with the admission board, but nine times out of ten they greatly overestimate both their sense of humor and the board’s readiness to perceive it. So make this a rule of a thumb – a funny episode or a joke are okay as long as you are sure they work. Trying to be funny for the funniness sake – not so much.
5. Volunteering
Many students naturally drift towards describing their experience during volunteering missions. However, you should understand two things: firstly, if you do so, you probably do it for the lack of something better and more interesting to write about, which is by definition a not very promising sign. Secondly, it is one of the most boring, clichéd and overused admission essay topics going around. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the majority of essays the admission board gets to deal with consists of samey descriptions of samey volunteering experiences and forced exhortations of how much it influenced the life and views of the applicant. Give them a break, choose something else, anything else.
It is surprising what a huge percentage of admission essays are written exactly on these topics – applicants just keep on making the same mistakes over and over again. This, however, means that you can win yourself quite a few bonus points just by steering away from some of the worst choices.
David Gutierrez has worked in the field of web design since 2005. Right now he started learning Java in order to get second occupation. His professional interests defined major topics of his articles. David writes about new web design software, recently discovered professional tricks and also monitors the latest updates of the web development.
The ability to speak a foreign language is a commodity that is becoming all too rare in the Western world. This is due, in part, to a lack of emphasis on the study of foreign languages in schools, especially at the college level.
Currently, less than 10 percent of Americans can speak a language other than their native tongue fluently. In the U.S., individuals who speak English are notoriously monolingual. In Europe, by contrast, half of the population has the ability to speak another language and 80 percent of students are conversational in at least one other language.
Most American universities have some sort of minimal language requirement that varies depending on your particular major. Many students are able to opt out of this requirement by taking a placement test, or by providing some kind of proof of language competency.
However, some universities are beginning to remove this option, meaning that all students, regardless of their language competency, will be required to study an additional language. It’s not hard to see why, as in an increasingly globalized economy multilingualism is an asset to all students.
Employability
One of the most valuable traits an employee can possess is the ability to speak a different language, especially in the workplace. In fact, research shows that the ability to speak a different language translates favorably in the workplace environment. In fact, it may be a make-or-break factor when applying for positions in an oversaturated and competitive job market.
“In our globalized world, it has become even more essential in the job market to know another language,” argues one Penn State student. “Companies and businesses have a natural desire to expand their existing networks. Having fluency in another language gives an edge on any resume by showing employers potential to converse with an entirely different group of people. Employers would be more apt to send a prospective employee abroad if he or she shows proficiency in another language.”
Not only is the ability to speak a foreign language objectively useful to employers, it also comes with a number of cognitive benefits that are helpful in the workplace environment.
For example, some studies indicate that students who receive instruction in a second language are more creative and better at solving complex problems, are able to multitask more easily, and can better communicate with the populations they serve.
Building Empathy and Cultural Competence
Recent statistics have shown that America is becoming increasingly more diverse, and the data reveals that growth among racial and ethnic minority populations outpaces that of Caucasians. In other words, we live in an increasingly multicultural and diverse world.
Learning a new language gives you the unique opportunity to immerse yourself in a different culture. This, in turn, helps you to be more empathetic and socially aware of the experiences and ideas of people who come from different cultural backgrounds than you do.
“Communicating isn’t just about talking. It’s also about listening and hearing the other party. Without both avenues, communication hasn’t been accomplished,” notes the Communication Department at USC Annenberg. “This is especially true when you encounter a language barrier. You can have someone translate another person’s words or thoughts and have them translate yours in return, but have you truly come to understand each other?”
“There is a buffer there that prevents you from completely connecting with someone from a different culture. If you can communicate with a person in their own language, you’re eliminating that buffer. You’re understanding each other, promoting empathy and connectivity.”
Through learning a new language, students are often taught to critically think about the stereotypes they have surrounding a different culture, especially when it relates to food, appearance, conversation styles, social dynamics, or even simply understanding the intention and thought-process of non-native speakers.
“Speaking Spanish not only allows me to communicate with Spanish-speakers but it helps me better understand the intent of non-native speakers when they are speaking English, and to be more patient with errors,” writes Liz Reisberg for Inside Higher Ed. “Anyone who has communicated in a second language has, at some point, been tripped up by false cognates, embarrassed by words in a foreign language with multiple meanings, or horrified to discover the effect of a slight mispronunciation was to express something unintended. If you have struggled with another language you are more likely to hear more than words when listening to someone who is not a native-speaker of English. You listen for subtleties in the context that help you infer what the speaker is trying to say, even if it hasn’t been expressed clearly.”
Expanding Educational Experience
While there are infinite reasons to study a new language, many students choose to study foreign languages not only for the vocational and cultural benefits, but do so simply because they want to enrich their educational experience.
Languages are a part of a traditional liberal-arts curriculum, and give students the opportunity to connect with the humanities in a way. Languages are a great way for students to expand their educational experience, just as taking a history, archaeology, or biology class would, while providing them skills that are instantly useful and practical in the world outside of the classroom.
Given the numerous benefits present when it comes to studying foreign languages, it’s time that universities are beginning to make them a requirement for graduation.
Danika McClure is a writer and musician from the northwest who sometimes takes a 30 minute break from feminism to enjoy a TV show. You can follow her on twitter @sadwhitegrrl
Gaining a college or university degree is becoming stupidly unaffordable.
The cost of university accommodation alone – be it on campus or off campus – can be incredibly daunting to the first-time home leaver.
According to one research study, which compared the cost of on-campus housing across a number of different colleges and universities, McGill University (Quebec) had the most expensive on-campus housing, averaging out at $1,885 per month. It was followed closely by the University of Toronto at $1,807, Queens’ University at $1,654, and Trinity College at $1,588. These costs sit higher than the average cost of renting a private home in some of the world’s most coveted destinations, including Bondi Beach, Australia, and downtown New York, Unites States.
These excessive costs are perhaps why universities have increasingly come to play a part in the housing business. From 1976 to 2013, it seems the inflation-adjusted rate of increase in college-provided housing prices was about 72 percent, compared with less than five percent for housing in the broader community. It has been said that such massive increases in price suggest universities are monopolising on their power to be able to influence nervous, timid, high school graduates to take up university-provided accommodation, extorting high room rates wherever possible. Usually, students are inclined to believe admissions teams that insist the best accommodation option is that provided by the university, and – faced by a daunting number of new and unexplored prospects – newcomers to university usually attempt to seek out no other option.
Campus board rates have equally risen in terrifying ways – in many campuses, more than the cost of food in restaurants or grocery stores has risen, in fact.
But of course it’s the actual cost of instruction that sends real shivers down the spine of a wannabe graduate.
In the United States, where the cost of higher education is not born by government but instead is privately borne by students and educational institutions, college tuition fees have increased as the value, quality, and quantity of education options has increased – on a growth trajectory that has become increasingly controversial. This controversy mostly stems from the sad reality that higher education investments are severely tax disadvantaged compared to other investments, but despite this state support for public colleges and universities has fallen by a whopping 26 percent since the 1990s. The resultant privatization of higher education is placing huge amounts of pressure on private institutions to survive and continue offering the same high levels of quality instruction to students, with minimal external support from government.
As an example, to undertake two semesters at the University of Vermont as an undergraduate in 2018, the on-campus cost for a Vermont local would be US$33,804, while the same would cost an out-of-state resident US$58,450. Multiply that amount by roughly four and you have the total amount you would be in debt as a college graduate, without factoring in your socialising, gym membership, transport, health insurance (e.g. iSelect) and meals outside of college. No wonder the prospect is terrifying to some.
But there are ways to prepare for the incoming onslaught of bills you will be faced with as a university student, here are just a few:
When drawing up a list of potential Universities or colleges, to apply to choose a public university as your number one choice. Generally, these are the most affordable options.
Opt to live off campus: generally, the cost of living off campus, and cooking one’s own meals, is much cheaper than living on campus and paying for university provided meal plans. If you want to embrace the best university life has to offer, why not spend first year living on campus and move out for your second year? This way you will get the best of both worlds.
Seek out financial aid packages and scholarships – right the way through university: It is well worth exploring the different types of aid, tuition assistance, grants, scholarships and payment options available to help finance students’ higher education. And don’t stop searching once you have begun studying, scholarships and grants are available for students right throughout their college years. Never give up trying if you believe you may be eligible. The biggest single source of aid in the United States is the federal government —in the form of college loans ($68 billion worth in 2013)
Cut down on textbook costs: do this by buying second- hand at campus bookstores and garage sales, renting textbooks for a semester, downloading e-books and selling used textbooks once finished with them.
Find and use student discounts wherever possible: Apple, Amazon Student, StudentRate and STA Travel are just some companies offering amazing deals to those students still attending university.
Avoid private loans wherever possible.
If desperate, consider attending community college: some states in the US even cover these classes free.
Opt to attend University in-state (if in the United States): choosing to state just one state over can add a monumental amount to total cost of gaining a degree. If possible, remain in-state to be eligible for cheaper tuition fees.
Embrace life hacks to cut your monthly expenses.
Give up alcohol: just think how much money could be saved by simply dropping this one behaviour.
Annabel Monaghan is a writer with a passion for education and edtech. She writes education and career articles for The College Puzzle with the aim of providing useful information for students and young professionals. If you have any questions, please feel free to email her at annabelmonaghanwriter@gmail.com.
