The Internet of Things in Education : Tendencies and Assumptions

BY MELISSA BURNS

Education is an area where one expect innovations to take hold as soon as they become available – and at the same time one of the most conservative industries out there. To a considerable degree modern schools and colleges still keep on using methods and principles that have been developed centuries ago – and not always because there is nothing better.

However, with the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) and it finally seems that we are about to experience a serious paradigm shift – and education in five-ten years’ time may be something completely different from what we are used to. What will it be? Nobody knows. But at least we can see some tendencies and build assumptions based on them.

How Your College Experience May Change after Implementing the IoT in Education?

1.    Safety

Although it may be considered to be an invasion of privacy, schools and universities can use connected devices to monitor their students, staff, equipment and other resources, thus leading to a more safe environment outside of the classroom. It will make locating stolen devices quick and easy, students will be able to check on the location of connected buses to alter their schedules and spend less time in potentially dangerous locations, and if something happens to a student, the authorities will be able to take action sooner.

2.    Individualization of Education

The most valuable instruction is the one that is given personally, that is adapted to the needs and peculiarities of a particular person, that takes his strengths and weaknesses into account. Normally, teachers and professors simply don’t have the resources (primarily time) to do so when they have to pay equal attention to dozens if not hundreds of students. The rise of connected technology means that instructors will spend less time performing routine jobs like grading tests and more instructing students individually. If all the devices used in studying are connected to the cloud, it let professors gather information on the progress of individual students and help them modify their approach for each of them.

3.    Energy Efficiency

A school or university that fully “goes smart” – that is, introduces a web-based system to control all the mechanical equipment inside the building – will dramatically increase its operational efficiency. Moreover, it isn’t even necessary to build an entirely new building to fully introduce such a system – this effect can be reached even in older buildings through the installation of smart sensors where appropriate.

4.    Automation of Routine Tasks for Students

According to the 2015 data, more than 70 percent of American high school students have smartphones, and almost all schools in the country have Internet access. Students already use their mobile devices to perform a wide variety of tasks, many of them education related – note-taking, scheduling, finding information sources, research. Full integration with the IoT will simply mean that this practice will be accepted as legitimate, introduced as a part of the education process and optimized for maximum efficiency. Students will get an opportunity to spend less time performing routine tasks (like consulting dictionaries, looking for books, taking notes, etc.), and centralized scheduling will make it easier for them to keep track of all their activities and lessons.

5.    The Change in the Role of the Classroom

With the use of connected devices, students get access to almost identical resources at home and in the classroom. As a result, many of the tasks that recently only could have been done in class will be moved outside, with only the activities requiring active participation from students in groups remaining there.

These are just the most obvious applications of IoT in education – just like with most other things, technology will likely be used in ways we cannot even predict so far.

Melissa Burns graduated from the faculty of Journalism of Iowa State University. Nowadays she is an entrepreneur and independent journalist. Follow her @melissaaburns or contact at burns.melissaa@gmail.com

 

Insomnia or Lack of Sleep May Affect Your Studying Efficiency?

BY DAVID GUTIERREZ

College students are busy with classes, homework, social lives, and oftentimes, jobs on top of everything else. That doesn’t leave much time for sleep, so many college students end up getting less than the recommended 7-9 hours per night. Most students average somewhere closer to 6 hours, which is close to the recommended amount, but there’s a significant portion of the college community getting far less sleep than that.

Unfortunately, even an hour of missing sleep per night can add up, negatively impacting your study habits—and your college performance in general.

How Insomnia Affects Your Studies

Missing out on sleep regularly may not seem like a big deal if you’re able to get to class on time and muddle through with the help of caffeine—especially if the other members of your peer group are going through the same experience.

However, lack of sleep can affect your studies in multiple ways:

• Missing sleep—even one night of it—can interfere with your ability to focus. Your brain will have trouble staying on task, which means you’ll drift off in the middle of a lecture, and you’ll find yourself re-reading the same sentence, over and over again while studying on your own. It’s an incredibly inefficient way to study—and a frustrating one at that.
• Tiredness and sleeplessness are also associated with impaired memory, even if you take caffeine to counteract your feelings of exhaustion. That means you’re less likely to remember details you hear, see, or read about, which defeats the entire purpose of studying.
• To a lesser extent, missing out on sleep can impact your mood, which can, in turn, impact your performance in class. If you’re chronically irritable and/or depressed, you may refuse to go to class altogether, or skip out in the middle of a study group because you’re frustrated with the other people.
• Finally, don’t underestimate the impact that missing sleep can have on your health. You’ll be more susceptible to mental health disorders like anxiety and depression, and you’ll also be more vulnerable to colds and physical illnesses—which can take you out of school for days.

Identifying the Root Cause

There are many simple, practical tips for getting a better night’s sleep, but chances are, there’s one or more underlying root causes specifically responsible for your lack of sufficient sleep. Identifying and understanding them is the best way to improve your sleep habits.

These are some of the most common:

• Noisy roommates. If your roommates are night owls, they may disturb you while you’re trying to sleep. They may also bother you unintentionally; since stress is a leading cause of snoring, it’s entirely possible that one or more of your roommates could start snoring during their time at college. Either way, you’ll need to have an open conversation about how you can accommodate each other’s needs, potentially including finding a new roommate (in extreme situations).
• Overbooked schedules. You may also have an overbooked schedule, especially if you’re working in addition to being a full-time college student. If you have 17 hours of activities booked in your schedule for the day, that leaves you only 7 hours to get home, decompress, and get to sleep. If this is the case, it may be time to cut some activities.
• Insomnia and stress are highly correlated, so it’s natural to experience sleeplessness in high-stress situations, such as the week before finals. Take precautions to reduce and manage your stress load, such as physically exercising and meditating.
• Misplaced priorities. You may also be losing sleep simply because you haven’t made it a priority. You might prefer staying up late at night with your friends, or attending parties in addition to your already-packed workload. You have to make sleep a priority, or it isn’t going to work.
• Formal sleep disorders. In rare cases, you may be experiencing an inherited sleep disorder, independent of what you’re experiencing at college. It’s worth talking to a doctor to find out.

If you want to perform at your best and study more effectively, you need to get the full amount of the recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. That may require making some sacrifices, and rearranging your schedule, but ultimately, you’ll be able to learn more in less time, and you’ll feel happier, healthier, and more energetic. Don’t let something simple, like lack of sleep, prevent you from making the most of your college experience.

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.

 

Choosing the Most Rewarding Co-curricular Activity: Sports, Cultural Clubs Etc.

BY ANTON LUCANUS

There is no doubt that heading to college is a daunting experience for many students.
Aside from the sudden upheaval from your established daily routines, it also comes with new challenges of academia, different study workloads, practical assessments, and group projects. It’s easy to assume that with all this going on, getting involved in the social side of your college will have a negative impact on your performance and grades. However, that notion couldn’t be further from the truth.

Engaging with co-curricular activities outside of your studies provides great benefit for both practical and personal reasons. It can teach valuable life skills, like time management or team organization, which can be applied across all areas of life, as well as providing you with the opportunity to form life-long friendships and make useful connections.

The benefits for becoming involved with these types of activities continue long after graduation. According to Marilyn Andrews, former Pro-Vice Chancellor of Keele University in the UK, “Engagement with non-academic pursuits is not only beneficial to student development, but is known to be highly valued by employers.”

Participation in co-curricular activities has benefits outside of the realms of academia and employment too, with many researchers illustrating how being involved in non-academic, social activities can create more ethical and understanding students, building skills like intercultural competence and allowing students to understand people from different walks of life.

Most institutions have a wide variety of options. Sporting activities like track and field or basketball are popular. So are cultural clubs, such as a university Korean society, which focus on developing cultural understanding and appreciation. Most political alignments and religions are also represented by organizations amongst the student body. You could even join a University drama club and learn the behind the scenes of theatre production. No matter what your interests or major, finding a club or sporting activity you love won’t be too difficult.

One co-curricular activity that is becoming increasingly popular, and one that I chose during my degree, is running a student startup. Some friends and I built academic repository software to help researchers at our university share their data online (the website is still running today and we still keep it updated). Not only was the experience fun, it was also helpful for academics at the university and it taught us invaluable teamwork, managerial, financial and entrepreneurial skills that simply couldn’t be obtained by attending classes in a regular degree. We learnt to pitch ideas to others, work to a budget, calculate risks, and acquire users. If you have some success, a startup can even provide income to pay your loans and textbooks.

One of the most important things to remember during this time is that tertiary education is what you make of it. Being willing to step up and seize opportunities is an important life skill on its own. Of course, as with everything else in life, it always pays to use common sense. Don’t sign yourself up to ten different clubs and societies in your first week, or suddenly try to involve yourself a few weeks before the end of a semester. Both are sure-fire ways to get burnt out or make a bad impression. You don’t want your co-curricular activities to contribute additional stress to your daily life. Too often people think about co-curricular activities as indicators of success or stepping-stones to a high-paying job. Instead of adopting this attitude, let your choice of activity provide some stress-relief and a welcome change of pace from regular classes and homework.

Whatever activity you decide to pursue, it’s important to focus on quality over quantity. Ideally you want to choose something that is both relevant and interesting to your skills and studies. This is an opportunity to actively pursue your passions, so don’t focus solely on what will look good on your CV. Employers look to your experience outside of study to differentiate you from other candidates, gauge your personality, and to understand what sort of fit you might be for the company.

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 share the lessons learnt throughout his degree and to guide current students to achieve personal and educational fulfilment during college life.

 

 

For-profit colleges: closed campuses and unused student loans

BY SYLVIA KOHL

A growing number of colleges are experiencing revenue struggles and continue to close.

Although the number of colleges across the country has started growing since the early 1990s, it seems that now this trend is changing. The latest news shared on News Breakapp has confirmed that over 5% of colleges in the United States were closed or didn’t meet the criteria to take federal aid in 2016. Without any doubt, this is a radical change compared to previous years. These numbers are clearly showing that the college business sector (colleges that make a profit) is declining. These figures were revealed by the Institute of Education Sciences/ US Department of Education.

The problem is that small for-profit colleges are often tuition dependent, meaning they face challenges when student enrollment declines or even remain stable. Revenue decline often leads to low investments in academic programs and student life which in turn prevents colleges from meeting student needs. Consequently, colleges either lose students to other institutions or are not able to cover expenses.

Another problem is that a huge number of schools were practically forced to close their programs as the result of the threat of the previous administration’s gainful employment concept. This set of rules stopped the financial aid from for-profit college programs that have students who had high debt rates and low earnings.

More than 10% of these for-profit colleges (there are around 365 of them across the USA) were denied financial aid or they decided to close their doors for new students in 2016. Some of them, like the popular for-profit college, known as ITT Technical Institute, was forced to stop their activities right away and the students studying there were left on their own.

The worst part is that a huge number of these schools and colleges are on the brink of closure in 2017. For instance, dozens of colleges managed by EDMC are at risk. EDMC was one of the US largest for-profit college corporations not while ago. This company owns famous chains like Argosy Universities, Art Institute, and Brown Mackie College – these educational institutions are present in almost every US state. Today, EDMC has revealed that they are planning on closing dozens of campuses and sell most of the others.

The point is that most of the colleges in the United States get federal financial aid in order to stay open. While the large colleges can continue raising prices and finding big donations, small for-profit colleges that cannot meet the student’s desires – financial aid, access to student activities and job markets, – face financial pressures that can lead to low-enrollment of students.

Such a pressure that for-profit colleges face is a part of the nationwide budget cut. Almost all of the US colleges and universities suffered dramatic budget cuts after the 2008 recession.

However, the last thing a school wants to do is shut down. That’s why struggling for-profit schools are more likely to merge in future into a larger institution than close, partly because of the difficulty of closing a publicly funded institution. In the meantime, private colleges are more likely to close.

What Options Do Students Have?

 Closures can impact thousands of students who are not left with many options and stuck with student loans to pay off and have not received a diploma. The good news is that their federal loans can be forgiven.

Any student can qualify for a Closed School Discharge if your school closes while you are still enrolled or the school you are attending closes within 120 days after you withdrew from their program.

To do so, first of all, contact with your student loan servicer and find out how to apply for the cancellation. You’ll likely need to submit a copy of your academic transcript. Unfortunately, it does not apply to private loans. In this case, you can try to contact your bank and ask for a debt relief.

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tweet Your Way to an Internship and What Can Eliminate You

BY CASSIE TOLHURST

To tweet, or not to tweet: that is the question for socially active college grads and young professionals hunting for coveted internships in person and online. And if you think potential employers are searching for your presence online, too, you’re right.

In fact, a 2016 CareerBuilder survey reveals that 60% of surveyed employers look on social media sites to research job candidates and see if these applicants present themselves professionally. Additionally, 60% use social media to learn more about an applicant’s qualifications.

Employers aren’t just looking for your good qualities and personality, though. They’re also searching for reasons not to hire you. In that same report, 41% of surveyed employers say they’re less likely to interview job candidates if those people aren’t easy to find online. And out of 49% of hiring managers who use social media to screen job applicants, 43% say they have found content, such as evidence of drinking or drug use, that led them not to hire the candidate.

All of this means that if you want to nail that competitive internship, it’s time to brush up on your social media etiquette and clean up your profiles so you can make a positive and lasting impression. Here’s how.

 Post Your Way to the Top

 Ask just about any recruiter and they’ll tell you that social media can help you land a job. Follow these tips to clean up your accounts and use them to impress potential employers:

 

• Upload a high-quality headshot for your profile image. Make it easy for an employer to recognize you. Skip the group shots and use a professional headshot on all your social media profiles.
• Be active. If you want your social media accounts to help you land an internship, stay active on your public profiles. Post regularly and share content that relates to your ideal job industry or role.
• Sign up for alerts. Depending on your circle of friends, sign up to receive notifications whenever someone tags you in a photo or mentions you in a comment. It might just save you from finding your name or picture in an embarrassing post or picture.
• Curate your professional profiles. Unless you’re aiming for a job in social media, employers and recruiters don’t expect to find you on every platform. If you want to dedicate your Snapchat to content about your personal life, make the account private. You may also want to change your username to something less identifiable.

Avoid Social Media Faux Pas

 We’ve all heard the social media horror stories, from leaked images to viral reviews. When you’re applying for internships, there is such a thing as bad press. Avoid making these social mistakes:

 

• Publicizing personal information. You don’t need to share every detail of your breakup, date, night out on the town, or student loan debt.
• Featuring swear words, poor grammar, and slang. If you wouldn’t say it in front of your grandma, don’t post it on social media. Also, poor grammar and inappropriate slang could make you look unprofessional.
• Criticizing a business or individual. The last thing a potential employer wants to see is a candidate bad-mouthing a former boss or speaking ill of a business.
• Sounding like a robot. You’ll want to keep your drunk karaoke photos private, but don’t hide your personality. Post pictures from the half-marathon you ran or share a funny article about a TV show you love.

Improve Your Profiles

 Ready to dust off your social media profiles? You only need a few tools and a little time to get started:

 

• Get a reliable internet connection. Posting on social media, networking with recruiters, and applying for internships require a reliable internet connection. Make sure you have a reliable internet plan that meets your speed needs.
• Review your reputation. Want to see what’s posted about you online? Google yourself to see how you look online and remove any negative information you find.
• Update your privacy settings. Visit each platform’s privacy section if you want to make some profiles private or limit what the public can see.
• Add a professional email address. Make it easy for recruiters or employers to contact you. Create a Gmail account, using a variation of your name, and add that address to your social media accounts.

Social media has become a huge part of companies’ hiring processes. Rather than deleting or making your accounts private, use them to your advantage. Review your profiles, think about what you want your online persona to look like, and impress your future boss to land that must-have internship.

Cassie Tolhurst is a recent grad, freelance writer, and a wannabe world traveler. Her passions include the newest tech gadgets, what’s streaming on Netflix, and the latest rides at Disneyland.

 

Urgent Financial To Do List for College Freshmen

BY JANE HURST

This fall, you will understand all too well what people mean when they use the term, “starving college student.” By the time you pay for tuition, books, accommodations, etc., there probably won’t be a whole lot of money left over. This is likely going to be your first time taking care of your own finances, and you will have a lot to learn about budgeting your money so you don’t become one of those starving students. Today, we are going to look at some of the best financial literacy tips for college freshmen that will help keep you in the black.

• Find the Right Bank – Even if you already have a bank account, it is still a good idea to look into other banks that may offer better services for students. For instance, you need to make sure the bank has a branch near your school. Look for a bank that offers low ATM fees, low minimum daily balance requirements, online bill payments, etc.
• Set Up a Budget – As soon as you know what your expenses and finances are going to be, you need to set up a working budget, and make sure that you stick to it as closely as possible. Sure, there are going to be unexpected expenses once in a while, but if you have a good budget, you should have enough money to cover those expenses without putting yourself in a financial hole.
• Start Saving Money – Just because you don’t have a lot of money, doesn’t mean that you can’t start saving for a rainy day. You may not have much, but every little bit counts. Instead of buying that extra latte, put the money into your savings account. Over time, the small amounts are going to add up, and you will have some cash available when you really need it. Even if you are only able to put away $10 each week, at the end of a year, you will have $520.
• Be Responsible With Credit – There is no time like the present to learn how to handle credit cards. Establishing your credit now is going to go a long way toward helping you in the future, provided you keep up with your monthly payments and don’t go crazy with charges. The best credit cards have a decent interest rate, a low annual fee and other rewards. Don’t take the first card offered, because there may be a better offer from the next one.
• Save on Transportation – Chances are you really don’t need a car to get around. Most of the things you need are going to be on or near your campus, often within walking distance. Instead of spending money on gas, insurance, maintenance, etc., try other transportation options, including ride-sharing, walking, cycling and public transportation.
• Be Careful With Student Loans – It can be very tempting to take out more student loans than you actually need to cover all your expenses, because that extra money can come in really handy. The problem is, you have to pay it back at some point. Why put a greater burden on yourself than necessary? You are already going to owe money when you graduate, so it is best to keep it to the absolute minimum.
• Earn Money – These days, there are other options available for part-time work besides fast food places. You can find plenty of jobs that will work with your schedule, or you can make your own gig. Start tutoring other students for extra cash. Find online jobs that let you work on a flexible schedule, and work from anywhere. Don’t forget to look into on-campus jobs that fit in with your class schedule.

Byline:

Jane Hurst has been working in education for over 5 years as a teacher. She loves sharing her knowledge with students, is fascinated about edtech and loves reading, a lot. Follow Jane on Twitter.

Lessening the Sting of Student Loans: Debt Prevention And Relief

 

Melissa Brodsky

These days, the mere mention of going to college causes a kneejerk reaction: to become overwhelmed by the student debt that will most likely accumulate as you go through your degree program. Aside from going to a career school or community college, a higher education comes with an incredibly steep price; one that can make college quite cost preclusive to many. Going to college comes with many choices: where to go, what to study, and how the heck to pay for it. Student loans—and the debt crisis that tags along with them—don’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Here’s how to deal.

 Facts about Student Loans

$1.4 trillion. 44 million people. Those numbers represent the amount of student loans in the U.S, and how many borrowers owe back that debt. There’s a huge problem with that, especially when it surpasses America’s collective credit card debt by over $600 billion. Let’s break down the student loan debt crisis into numbers:

• As of 2016, the average student debt is over $37K
• Five percent owe well over $100K in student loans, and some total over $200K
• Over 70 percent of American students graduate with student loans
• Fifty nine percent of millennials have no clue when they’ll be able to pay off their loans
• One in four borrowers (11.2 percent) has defaulted on his or her student loans
• The top five states with the highest average student loan debts are New Hampshire ($36K+), Pennsylvania ($35K), Connecticut ($35K), Delaware ($34K), Rhode Island ($33K)
• The top three states with the highest student loans per capita are Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania
• The largest concentration of debt is between $10K-$25K, with over 12.4 million students owing

 How to Balance Your College Loans While Still a Student

Colleges and universities won’t be lowering their costs, which means students are going to have to learn to live with, and balance, their loans. For millions of students, it’s just a fact of life and part of their college rite of passage. However, there are quite a few ways students can lower their debt while they are still in college.

• Think about community college: No, not instead of university—think about taking some of the prerequisites through a community college. You’ll get basic credits out of the way in a much less expensive environment. It could translate to hundreds of, if not a few thousand, dollars saved before heading off to the university.
• Work-study program: Federal work-study programs are a form of financial aid that can help students alleviate the cost of college by working on or off campus at a designated job. Students in financial need are eligible for this type of program, and the money does not have to be paid back.
• Federal loans first: Generally speaking, federal loans have lower interest rates than private loans. So, when seeking out loans, look to the ones offered by the federal government first.
• Make payments on the interest: Usually your student debt payments aren’t expected until after you graduate from college. However, some loan companies allow for early payments to be made; it’s up to you to find that out through your loan company. If you’re permitted to, even small payments toward the loan will make a huge impact once it comes due.
• Make larger payments: If you can, consider paying a bit more each month to buy down the principal loan, much like a mortgage. Or, add a payment by sending a chunk from each paycheck twice per month. The more you pay, the quicker you pay off the student loan.
• Only borrow what you need: This one is kind of important. You may receive a reimbursement check once your school is paid off. If this happens, it’s because there was too much money, and you didn’t need it all. You are not obligated to keep this money, it will only add to the loan balance. You’re better off sending that check back to the originator. Just remember, the more you borrow, the more you have to pay back.

 Legit Ways to Get Your Student Loans Forgiven

Believe it or not, there are some things you can do that will actually forgive your student loans. These programs are completely legitimate, and almost half of loan borrowers qualify for different types of loan forgiveness programs but don’t even realize it because the options were never presented to them. These programs are strictly based on federal loans; private loans don’t have forgiveness programs.

Income Driven Repayment plans are for those wanting to get the payments of their federal loan lowered. These can not be used if there is a default of any loan, or if you have a ParentPLUS loan. These are all free to apply for.

• Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (REPAYE): All loan borrowers are eligible for this plan. You pay 10 percent of your discretionary income, but the loan is forgiven after 20 years.
• Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (PAYE): Similar in theory to REPAYE except the qualifying loans go back to 2007. You should file your taxes as “married filing separately” if you are married.
• Income-Based Repayment Plan (IBR): If you’re having financial hardship, this is the most common of the loan forgiveness programs. Loans from before July, 2014 will require payments that are not greater than 15 percent of your discretionary income. After July 2014, the loan repayment is less than 10 percent. Discretionary income is based on the size of your family plus your income taxes.
• Income-Contingent Repayment Plan (ICR Plan): Payments would be 20 percent of your discretionary income, with the loan being forgiven after 25 years. Your payments adjust with your income.

Other loan forgiveness programs:

• Volunteer work: Volunteering to work in the Peace Corps will defer your Stafford, Perkins, or Consolidation loans 15 percent per year with a max of 70 percent. One year in Americorps will pay off $4,725 of your student loan. And 1,700 hours in Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) will give you $4,725 toward your students loans.
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness: You can take advantage of this program if you work for employers in the government sector, not-for-profits that are tax exempt under Section 510 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and other types of not tax exempt employers, as long as they are providing certain types of public services. This program may completely forgive your loan after 120 months of repayment under one of the said types of employers.
• Teaching: If you’re a teacher working in elementary or secondary schools with predominantly low-income families, then you qualify to have part of your Perkins loan forgiven. The payment schedule for this is 15 percent the first and second years of teaching, 20 percent in the third and fourth, and 30 percent in the fifth and final year.
• Legal and medical studies: There are a variety of programs paying off part to almost the entire loan for both the medical and legal students loans. There are so many of these programs for both fields that it’s best to speak with a financial aid counselor to explore your options.

And a few more options for managing your student loans, especially if you don’t qualify for any of the above.

• Get your loans deferred. This means you’ll be allowed to temporarily stop payments on your loan for a certain amount of time, potentially without having any responsibility for the growing interest.
• Get a loan forbearance: The only difference between a deferment and forbearance is that with the forbearance, you’ll be responsible for the interest that accrues.
• Debt consolidation: There are many companies out there who will work with you to consolidate your debts, including your student loan.

Yes, the cost of college is astronomical. Unless you’re one of the lucky ones who is somehow able pay off your entire tuition, you’ll be balancing some hefty loans. Explore your options; there may be some relief available to you through student loan forgiveness programs.

 

Melissa Brodsky is a Content Strategist and Writer for Career Now Brands and CDL Marketing. We provide students with the largest school database, as well as information on different careers, programs, and schools. She may be contacted at melissa@careernowbrands.com.

How To Write Academic Papers: A Comprehensive Guide

BY SAMANTHA ANDERSON

The fact that the majority of students consider their academic papers as one of the most complex assignments does not seems surprising at all. Why is that so? Why are these assignments so complicated? There are a few main reasons. First of all, in order to provide a high-quality paper, one has to fulfill a whole list of subtasks, such as choosing the right topic, organizing the whole paper, finding relevant literature, conducting a research, etc… The actual writing is just one phase of the whole process. The problem with this phase is that it is not an easy task to provide the content that is concise and informative, but at the same time interesting and original. It seems that the writing talent is of great help in this process, but unfortunately, only a small percentage of students actually possess this kind of talent. Besides that, every academic term paper writing has to be done in accordance with a specific set of writing norms and rules (for example, APA or Chicago), so students should also get familiar with these.

The additional problem is that these obligations are very common, so they have a significant influence of the final grades. In the text below, a few tips and pieces of advice on how to provide a high-quality academic paper will be provided, so students should get familiar with these as they can be very beneficial for their future education.

Types of academic writing

Of course, there are different types of academic papers, depending on their content, research design, writing style, audience, etc… These are some of the most common types of academic papers.

            Research paper

This is one of the most common types of academic writing. This is a paper that requires the combination of creativity, research skill, and the knowledge of a particular topic. The creativity takes place at the beginning of the paper in which a student should elaborate the main idea of his research and explain why this domain is investigated. Although it is not always the case, these papers often include the actual research process, so a student has to collect his own data. This indicates that the research design has to be constructed. A research design contains information such as who will be the participants (i.e. the sample of a particular population), how the data will be collected, what instruments or questionnaire will be used, what kind of statistical analysis will be provided, etc… At the end, the results have to be interpreted and discussed.

            Essays

            Essays don’t include the process of collecting the data, but it does include the literature review, i.e. the process of collecting relevant information on a particular topic. Of course, one should only use academic and reliable sources of information (scientific books, articles, scientific papers, etc…). There are 4 main types of essays:

1. The expository essay (the elaboration and explanation of a particular topic or idea; for example, “The main postulates of the Roman law”)
2. The persuasive essay (the writer aims to defend a certain claim or a point of view; “Why smoking is harmful?”);
3. The analytical essay (the process of analyzing a certain domain, such as a work of art, some natural process, etc…; “The influence of Homer’s Iliad on poetry”)
4. The argumentative essay (elaborating why a certain point of view is more accurate than the other ones; “Why are non-physical forms of punishment more effective than the physical ones?”)

Academic proposal

This type of academic paper can be considered as a concise version of the scientific paper. It represents detailed and elaborated plan of the research. Another important thing to mention is that it is submitted before the actual research takes place.

Writing pitfalls

Although every student has his own style and specific writing issues, there are a few very common pitfalls.

Using complex expressions

A lot of students make mistake by thinking that they will make a positive impression by using complex expressions and complicated sentences. However, the truth is usually quite the opposite; this kind of elaboration can often represent the compensation for the lack of understanding a particular construct.

Forcing productivity

In the domain of writing, productivity is tightly connected to the creativity and inspiration, and the problem with these two is that they cannot be forced. Some students believe that they should finish their paper “in one breath”, so they force themselves to write even if they are tired. The best advice is to make a short break (preferably in a physically active manner) whenever a student feels that he is getting tired and losing his focus.

Writing in Second/Third person

Academic papers are almost always written in a third person. This way the content sounds more objective, as it can be seen in these examples.

Second person: You shouldn’t smoke because it is bad for you.

Third person: Smoking should be avoided, as it can cause serious physical consequences.

Citations and References

Every academic paper has to be written in accordance with a certain set of writing rules. The three of the most common ones are APA (American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), and Chicago. Considering that there are minor differences between these citation styles, only one of them will be further elaborated, as it is very simple to find the examples of other two citation systems online.

APA

APA is mostly used in psychology and education domain. Here are some examples:

In-text citation:

(Author, year of publication, page number); “People are not just on looking hosts of internal mechanisms orchestrated by environmental events” (Bandura, 2001, p.4)

Book:

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.; Amabile, T. M. (1983). The social psychology of creativity. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Article:

Author, A. (Publication Year). Article title. Periodical Title, Volume(Issue), pp.-pp.; Bruer, J. T. (1997). Education and the brain: A bridge too far. Educational researcher, 26(8), 4-16.

Writing assignments are considered to be one of the most complex academic obligations for a good reason. In this text, some of the main domains were elaborated and a few pieces of advice were provided. With dedication and these tips in hand, it is almost certain that every student can ensure a high-quality academic paper of any kind.

About the author:

Samantha Anderson is a passionate teacher. She found her destiny in developing new educational approaches. Which she kindly shares on the blog. Her free time is dedicated to writing college essays for students in order to help them find the real purpose of it. according to Samantha’s lifestyle, rock climbing is the best thing for relaxation.

4 Tips to Make the Most of Professors Office Hours

BY LAN NGO

In college, one of the best resources available is office hours, which are scheduled times when students can visit their instructors’ office to talk and ask questions.  Going to office hours is like having a weekly private tutor.  You’re already paying for it (or someone is), so make use of it!  Here are 4 tips to make the most of this great resource:

 

1. Go to office hours weekly

Put it in your schedule, and make it a habit to attend weekly. Start with the first one available in the semester to introduce yourself to your professor; you would probably be the only one there since it’s so early in the semester.  Some students feel that they’re intruding on their instructors when they go to office hours, but you shouldn’t feel that way. Often enough, all the other students are thinking that they’re bothering the professor as well, and so the professor just ends up doing other work.  Office hours are for you, so take advantage of that time.

More importantly, by regularly going to office hours (and being prepared for the occasion), you would be demonstrating your strong interest in achieving in the class.  Working with your instructor one-on-one, you can display your motivation, inquisitive nature, relevant skills, and critical thinking abilities.  These interactions may also improve your performance in the class.

 

2. Come prepared

Use the time with your instructor wisely. Come prepared with specific questions about readings, a problem set, etc.  Write a list of questions or mark the areas of concern neatly on your handouts and readings so that you can point to, for example, the exact paragraph in the book that you’re struggling with.  If you’re not having difficulties with the class, come with a question to expand your knowledge on the course’s topic.  Your instructor will appreciate your inquisitiveness and efficiency.

 

3. Make use of the TA

In some cases, particularly at large public universities, it’s incredibly difficult to get a time slot for office hours with your professor. How do you get around this issue? Turn to the teaching assistant, the TA. If you’re in a large, lecture-style course, you probably have a weekly discussion/recitation section led by the TA. Chances are good that the TA will get to know you well in such a small, intimate setting, and will therefore, make a great “tutor”.  Attend your TA’s weekly office hours if your professor’s office hours are full.

 

4. Engage in small talk

Unless your instructor is obviously in a rush, start with a bit of small talk and sprinkle some throughout your office hours meeting.  When I was teaching undergrads, I had weekly meetings with each of my students, and I learned a lot about them by chatting with them.  I learned much more than what we talked about in class: I learned about their lives back in their hometown, I heard about their experience rushing for a frat or sorority, and I learned about their stresses and happy points.  All of these made for a stronger relationship with my students, and made me even more driven to help them succeed and be healthy in college.  Because my students regularly talked with me, I knew when they got sick or were slammed with other coursework and needed an extension on their assignments.

Your instructor’s compassion can also later be converted to a solid recommendation letter when you need one.  By building a strong relationship with your instructor via office hours, your instructor would be happy to write a letter for you, and the letter would be personalized.

Office hours are a gem in college.  Seeing your professor or TA at office hours will help with your academics and can be a strategy for landing an strong recommendation letter.  Go ahead–mark your instructors’ weekly office hours on your calendar!

Byline: Lan Ngo, PhD is a Project Delivery Manager in the Learning Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is also an education lecturer.  Lan is the co-founder of www.yourcollegeadvisors.com

10 Strategies to Reduce Stress for Freshmen

LORRAINE McKINNEY

You are about to enter a new phase in your life: college. This is going to be a lot different from anything you have ever known, and if you aren’t careful, you could end up putting yourself through a lot of unnecessary stress. College can be stressful for anyone, but it is even more stressful for the freshman who is trying to get used to college life, get good grades, make new friends, etc. Here a few strategies that will help you deal with and reduce stress in your first year of college—and beyond.

 

1. Be Prepared – Being unprepared really puts a lot of unnecessary stress on a person. So, before going to bed each night, prepare a plan for the following day. Sure, there may be unexpected events, but the more prepared you are for what you know lies ahead, the less stressed you will be.
2. Don’t Forget To Eat – It is important to make sure that you are eating healthy. Always have healthy snacks available, so even if you can’t sit down for a meal, you can still get the nutrition you need to stay healthy. Also, don’t deprive yourself by dieting, as this can add even more stress.
3. Set Aside Relaxation Time – “No matter what relaxation techniques you are using, they aren’t going to help unless they become habitual, and creating a new habit can be the hardest part”, says an expert from Healthy But Smart. Make sure that you set aside at least 20 minutes each day for relaxation time. The more time you can spend relaxing, the better off—and more productive—you are going to be.
4. Avoid the ATM – Your finances can play a huge role in your stress levels. Create a budget, and try to only use the ATM once weekly, to withdraw what you will need for the week. This will help you keep better track of your finances and stay on budget.
5. Go Swimming – One of the most relaxing things in the world is to just lie back and float in the water. If your campus has a swimming pool, or if there is a public pool in the area, take advantage of it. During nice weather, hit the beach or a local swimming hole and let stress float away.
6. Take Time To Just Be – Sometimes, you just need to get out and focus on your senses and nothing else. Go for a walk by yourself, and instead of thinking about your stress, think about your surroundings. Forget about stress, even if just for a few minutes.
7. Keep a Journal – It is a good idea to start keeping a journal of the things that are bothering you. Better yet, find someone you can talk to—be it a friend, family member, professor, counselor, etc.—about whatever is stressing you out.
8. Try Relaxation Techniques – There are all kinds of relaxation techniques you can use to help you deal with and reduce stress. These include yoga, meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, visualization, deep breathing, tai chi, music therapy, art therapy, aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, massage and more.
9. Wash Your Hands – You are under pressure as a student, which makes you more susceptible to viruses. Make sure that you use proper hand-washing techniques, and carry a bottle of hand sanitizer with you at all times.
10. Get Lots of Exercise – One of the best ways to destress is to exercise. You can lose yourself in your workout and temporarily forget about whatever is stressing you out. After exercising, you will enjoy a much clearer mind, and you will be better equipped to deal with your stress more effectively.

Lorraine McKinney is an academic tutor and elearning specialist.