Category Archives: Education

How Social Media Certification Can Give You An Edge in the Job Market

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Currently, there’s a big disconnect between how many companies are using social networks, and how many companies feel that their usage is effective. Specifically, a report by Harvard Business Review found that while 79% are utilizing social media, only 12% feel they’re doing so effectively. Because most companies now understand the importance of social media but still aren’t sure how to properly utilize these channels, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they’re looking for employees who do. And if you want to be a job seeker who does have those skills, social marketing courses can provide the training you need.

Why is Social Media So Challenging for Businesses?

One of the reasons that social media is so complicated for companies across a wide spectrum of industries is because there’s a lot to learn. While sites like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ and LinkedIn have some similar characteristics, they each have their own unique traits. So just because a company has a successful presence on one platform doesn’t guarantee success across all of them. In order to reach that level, it’s necessary to really dive into each platform. With the help of social marketing courses, you’ll be able to do exactly that. Once you you receive your social media certification, you’ll have the skills and knowledge necessary to build a successful presence on each of the main social networks.

The Right Social Media Certification Can Boost Your Job Prospects

Since so many companies are now very interested in social networking, being able to put relevant skills on your resume can give you a significant edge. What’s really appealing about gaining these skills is you don’t have to drop everything you’re currently doing. Instead, you’ll be able to integrate this learning and training into your current schedule.

So whether you’ve got a job but want to start looking for a new one in the future, or your days are currently filled with a job search, you’ll be able to work towards your certification during nights, weekends and whenever else you may have downtime.

Another aspect that’s really appealing about investing in your social media education is the skills you’ll gain will be applicable to many different industries. That means instead of putting a lot of time into a single focus, only to discover that line of work isn’t the right fit for you, the resume boost you’ll get from social networking will be applicable regardless of where you decide to go.

Now is the Ideal Time for social networking Certification Training

Although there was a time when social media was regarded as a passing trend, the fact that multiple networks each have hundreds of millions of users and Facebook has over a billion has shown the business world that social network is here to stay. Whether you’re specifically interested in social networking jobs or just want to make your career outlook as bright as possible, social media marketing courses can help open a lot of doors for you.

Choosing Curriculum

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After seven years of homeschooling I still don’t this curriculum thing down. I’m always asking myself, “Is this the right thing?” However, it’s the first thing new homeschoolers ask me, so I thought I’d pin down some concrete ideas to help make choosing curriculum easier.

Many homeschoolers like to use a set curriculum in a box, but I am not one of them. I like to mix and match. Unfortunately, this causes a lot of my problems. Since I’m always looking for something, I’m always wondering if I should get this history curriculum or that one? But I don’t think I could ever stay with a box curriculum and I always urge new homeschoolers to break out of that box, even just a little bit. So this article is focused more on those who enjoy some structure in their day and like to use workbooks and textbooks as well as supplement items such as videos and literature to correspond to what is learned.

So, naturally, the first step is to ask yourself the following questions:

What kind of homeschooling parent are you?
Do you desire structure? If so, a lot of structure or a little structure?
Are you a first time homeschooler?
Do you prefer to have lesson plans laid out for you?

Ask yourself these questions and Google homeschooling terms like unschooling, school at home, relaxed homeschooler, eclectic homeschooler, unit studies, classical homeschooling, literature based homeschooling and whatever other name you can think of. Read about these definitions. You will find that many people don’t stick to one definition of their homeschooling style, but by reading about these different types you will be more apt to discover what you are comfortable with as far as curriculum choices.

You also need to ask yourself What kind of learner is your child? Do they learn better if they hear something over and over? What about visualizing the subject in detail? Do they learn more by doing something, such as building a castle out of legos instead of just seeing it in a book? If your child is very young you may not know the answer to this question yet, so what are you to do? The answer to that is coming up. For others, there are some online tests to determine your child’s learning type. Just Google “learning styles” for more information.

Next, ask what are your goals for your children, for education and for life? These goals are based on the age of your child, their strengths and their weaknesses. What do you want to improve? If writing is poor, you may want to strengthen writing but not with a curriculum heavy in writing. If reading is slow and difficult, a literature based curriculum may not be right for your child.

What do you want to focus on during their studies for the upcoming year? Most parents not using a set curriculum get worried at this point. Remember, there is no such thing as a perfect curriculum. Even public schools teach different topics at different times of the year. They also change curriculum almost constantly. Usually the only subjects that build upon each other is math and English grammar. The various topics that cover science and social studies can by taught in any order during the elementary / middle school grade levels. It’s not until high school that the subjects are split into U.S. Literature, Grammar, British Literature, Physical Science, Chemistry and Biology. It doesn’t matter if your 5 year old learns about frogs before dogs or flowers before sea creatures, so relax as you begin to browse through homeschool catalogs and websites and thinking about all the possibilities.

So, now you have your goals. You know what type of learner your child is and you’ve taken into consideration your child’s strengths and weaknesses. You have an idea of a possible sequence you would like to follow. Now it’s time to look at curriculum.

There is so much out there and it’s amazing to think of all the material available. There are a lot of factors to choosing curriculum, such as religious or secular? What is the cost? Is it complete or do you need to purchase other items? How much parental time is needed for planning and teaching the material? Is the language easy or hard to understand? If your child is old enough, have your child look at the material with you if you can get some sample pages or see the curriculum at a book fair. Can they read and understand the instructions? Do they find it interesting? Do they like the format?

The biggest factor of curriculum seems to be the cost. When at all possible buy used, especially if it’s a new item you’ve never used before. If it’s a complete curriculum, see if you can buy just 1 subject to try out. If you love it, you can buy the entire set the following year. Most homeschool conferences and book fairs are around the end of the school year, usually in April or May. Have your top picks chosen before you go, or at least an idea of what you need with you before you go along with your budget. Don’t let the salespeople or frilly packaging make you spend more than intended. If you can’t find what you want used, then buy it at the cheapest new price you can find. Some online searching can dig up some great small homeschool bookstores that offer great programs at reasonable prices. If you are able to do so, keep the books clean and in good shape, then resell them to get money for the following year’s curriculum.

I also read homeschooling blogs to get ideas for William. Everyone is so creative. Sometimes I’ll read a blog where a mom explains how she helped her child understand a topic. I’ll hooray a bit to myself and let the mom know that my son was having the same problem and I’ll try her idea to see if it helps. This sharing of information is one of the best things about the Internet. If you read about a curriculum that helped one child improve a weakness, then find the website, check it out and see if it may help your child overcome the same weakness. Get involved in a homeschool group in the local area as well and find out what members are using for their children. Browse their books if possible so that you can really see what the curriculum is like before you buy.

While homeschooling is a lot of fun, remember don’t try to do too much. I loved the idea of a classical education, but that was my idea of fun, not William’s. Other stuff can be added in with time. When school time gets to be frustrating for everyone that’s when it’s time to cut some things back – whether it’s the extra activities outside the home or extra subjects that just aren’t working.

And the final thought about choosing a curriculum – everything changes. What you pick now may not be
right next year. But don’t choose curriculum out of desperation. Even if you withdraw your child in the middle of a school year in order to homeschool you don’t need to buy something quickly. You can take some time to let your child depress from school while you research and learn yourself. You never want to make a purchase in a rush.

Learning English in the Philippines – A Holistic Pedagogy I

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Despite the meaningful role that education has played in the course of our experiences, educators still cannot come to terms with the definition of education beyond the technical. Educators and curriculum designers play an important role in the building of the human being who will tackle life head on. They are the role models who epitomize the integrity that their students have to live by.

Educators plant the seed that is re-echoed by future leaders of this planet. Also, as one enters the field of pedagogy, he must constantly reconcile the meaning of his calling with the responsibility to exercise integrity in his own life. An educator is called not to reshape the mold but to polish the created. * As Eckhart teaches, “God is not found in the soul by adding anything, but by a process of subtraction.” People living in the creation spirituality tradition learn how this is so. Subtraction can itself become quite an awesome game, a playful game, a ritual whereby everyone wins and no one loses.* Communication is an ever welcoming field for specialization and sub-specialization.

However, at the end of every day in the life of an educator, the ultimate test is to make their students more integrated persons. What makes a person “better”? Any language that is worth learning is never devoid of values and essence. Therefore, it is just right that the language educator imparts not only the skill in pronunciation, identifying symbols, decoding diction, organizing sentences.

The value of written and spoken materials is in how they are able to turn interlocutors into deeper thinkers who are more engaged, more relevant, more sensible. I once attended a trainers’ workshop where a foreign instructor was talking about parts of speech and conversation patterns. When I decided to use a sentence that somehow went beyond the depth of “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”, I was admonished for being too “religious” (he meant spiritual).

* Matthew Fox, Creation Spirituality, p. 91

Best Guitar Learning DVD

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Many new players often have this question when looking for guitar lessons on DVDs: “How to I Pick the Best Guitar Learning DVD?” In view of the amount of guitar DVDs available on the market today, this article was written with the purpose of providing you some insights of choosing a good guitar DVD course.

If you want to learn how to play the guitar but don’t have the time or money for a guitar teacher then you should consider a guitar learning DVD. It allows you to learn while in the comfort of your own home and at your time. Most tutors would create a set time that you would need to come each week to practice. If you are one that can learn on your own then a guitar learning DVD is perfect for you.

You want to make sure that the DVD you pick has structured lessons for a beginner if you are just starting out. How many lessons are on the DVD? If possible you could purchase a combo pack that would include beginning and intermediate courses at a discount. As an alternative, you can also look out for special deals during festive periods.

The best guitar learning DVD’s will allow you to play a simple song once you’ve completed all your lessons. You should demonstrate to your family and friends your progression level. If you cannot do that you will find that you aren’t having fun and become frustrated. When someone inquires can you play you can tell them yes and provide a performance.

What is the return policy of the company that you are purchasing your DVD from? If you find that it isn’t what you expected can you return it? Do they provide you with a contact number? You want to see what others have stated about their customer service level. If others were unhappy you might not want to buy from them.

Your dream of playing the guitar and starting your own band can still be a reality. Once you learn how to play. If you are taught to learn how play in a fun and entertaining manner it will be a breeze. It won’t feel like a chore and you’ll pick up the lessons quickly and easily. You will actually retain what you have learned. Once you pick the best guitar learning DVD that appeals to you your lifelong guitar playing dreams will come to fruition.

Maximizing Teaching and Learning Environments With Social Media and Science

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Teaching methodologies continue to morph into ways by which we design instructional modules for teaching and learning, colleges and universities who offer Teacher Education Programs, so too, must continue to model, design, and effectively refine teacher instructional programs and strategies that will foster the development of highly qualified teachers and learners. In the early 2000, several Colleges and Universities struggled to stay afloat. This was largely because of a weak economy due to the housing crisis according to most analysts. The economy, however; got better over time and yet still, there continues to be a large call to recruit and retain the brightest minds in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics or STEM Education. Simply put, there aren’t enough talented pre-service teachers to teach students in critical areas of science and math.

Designing a quality Teacher Education Programs, which delivered a cohesive sense of community, served all of its stakeholders and constituents well. The study examined emerging research and the significance of using social media as a collaboration tool to rethink, reshape, and recreate, teaching and learning environments between pre-service and post-service math and science teachers. Pre-service teachers came from one of the Historically Black College and Universities located in the Southeast. Post-service or veteran teachers taught middle grades students from a rural agricultural community. An interactive social media platform was used to help both groups collaborate, teach, and learn instructional strategies from each other. As a backdrop, each focused their instructional content using common core standards from math and science. Posts contained articles for discussion, interactive projects, pictures, images, and videos. Learners began to create, think, and share alike. Both groups surpassed a learning curve that produced positive outcomes for themselves and most importantly their students.

The Conceptual Framework for this Teacher Education Program take into account the knowledge, skills, and dispositions required for student candidates to possess before entering the real world of Teacher Education. Teacher candidates aspired to be among those proficient educators that already exists in schools all over the world. Colleges of Education affirms the importance of aligning its programs of study with each particular state’s professional standards. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, which is the profession’s mechanism to help establish high quality teacher preparation acerts the following goals for proficient status:

Five goals for the “Proficient Educator”

1. Demonstrates competence in content knowledge;

2. Uses effective pedagogical skills;

3. Uses technology appropriately to enhance learning;

4. Evidences a caring disposition; and

5. Has an understanding of and appreciation for diversity.

Although, many skills and technological divides were evident for many, the pedagogical skills of post-service teachers bridged the gaps of age and experience. Whereas skill in this digital divide narrowed, knowledge of the latest technology with post-service teachers was abundant due to time and protocol of recent program needs. By closing gaps and entrusting skillsets both groups were able to reach all students. With the use of social media knowledge gained by both groups made a lasting impression on students, parents, and administration.

Researchers suggest that it is important to look at social networks from more than simple communication or information-flow perspective. The interventions have more to do with helping groups know what the others know and ensuring safety and access among people. Cross, Parker, and Borghetti, 2002, suggested that we should began to focus less on communication and more on the knowledge-based dimensions of relationships that make them useful in sharing and creating knowledge.

The Digital Era

The Digital Era has allowed us to cross space and time, engage with people in a far-off time zone as though they were just next door, do business with people around the world, and develop information systems that potentially network us all closer and closer every day. Yet, people don’t live in a global world – they are more concerned with the cultures in which they participate Boyd, 2006. As to date, social media has evolved to become a powerful tool for education. Social Network sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Ning and tools such as Skype and Eliminate are connecting students to learning opportunities in ways that are engaging and exciting. Whether you teach in an elementary, middle, or high school class, or a traditional face-to-face or online college or university, social media can have a direct impact on student learning.

Smith 2011 posted that in 2011, 63.7 percent of US internet users used social networks on a regular basis, amounting to nearly 148 million people. Although the pace of growth will be less dramatic in the next few years than it was in 2009 and 2010, usage will remain strong and shows no sign of declining. People learn through observing others’ behavior, attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviors. Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action. Social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences Bandura, 1977.

Necessary conditions for Effective Modeling

Attention – various factors increase or decrease the amount of attention paid. Includes distinctiveness, affective valence, prevalence, complexity, functional value. One’s characteristics such as sensory capacities, arousal level, perceptual set, past reinforcement, affect, and attention.

Retention – remembering what you paid attention to. Includes symbolic coding, mental images, cognitive organization, symbolic rehearsal, motor rehearsal.

Reproduction – reproducing the image. Including physical capabilities, and self-observation of reproduction.

Motivation – having a good reason to imitate. Includes motives such as a past such as traditional behaviorism, promised imagined incentives, and vicarious seeing and recalling the reinforced model.

Middle grade learners tend to learn, yet communicate differently than any other level in the educational arena. Based on the social media method that was implemented for the project, criterion reference comprehensive test scores increased in both math and science content areas. In math there was a 2.4 percent increase and 9.6 percent increase in science. Researchers continuously try to find ways that are challenging, engaging, and relevant to middle level learners while ensuring that both students and teachers are constantly engaged in active learning.

In today’s culture a student’s learning environment is infused with lots of old and new technologies. Even the technological aspects and mechanics of a pencil has changed since it’s inception with the discovery of graphite in the 1500′s. Whether that technology involves the latest gaming systems, the coolest gadgets, or invitations to social media, students live in a culture that want to be engaged with those “things” that will motivate them and bring gratification to them instantaneously.

The learning environments for students both in school and at home should be seamless enough that when technology is a method of integrated learning, it should operate on a level in which both continue to grow. It should become a tool that students become more accustom to. It is advantageous and well worth the educational journey throughout teacher preparation. The students are already there; why not meet them on their playing field.

References

Bandura, A. Social Learning Theory, 1977;( http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htm; retrieved on 7/1/12.

Boyd, D., (March, 2006). G/localization: When global information and local interaction collide.”. O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference; San Diego, CA.

Cross, R., Parker, A., & Borghetti, S. (2002). A bird’s-eye view: Using social network analysis to improve knowledge creation and sharing. IBM Institute for Business Value, 1-19.

Smith, Anise. “Social Network Usage Growing Strong.” My Amplify. 18 March 2011.