General Article

Why Students Should Choose a Christian Based Education When It Comes to Selecting a College?

Why Students Should Choose a Christian Based Education When It Comes to Selecting a College?

When choosing a college many students lean towards an education that provides them with a strong spiritual foundation as well as an academic one. The importance of faith based learning has become more of a priority than before. Students are looking to expand their horizons, enhance their professional lives and strengthen their Christian beliefs. Students who want an emphasis on Christian beliefs are turning towards Christian based colleges when selecting a school for higher learning.

A college education is more than an individual choosing a major, earning a degree and preparing them for a professional career. It’s also about instilling values, morals and creating a confident, well rounded and mature adult to become a prominent member of society.

When it comes to choosing a college numerous parents and students look into schools with accreditation, high academic standards and more common than not, Christian based education. Christian colleges provide students with a learning environment very similar to non-Christian colleges along with the emphasis on Christian principles to assist in making each student functional Disciples of Christ. The purpose of a Christian education is to not only educate individuals in fields necessary for their professional lives, but to integrate the importance of their relationship with God.

Students who choose Christian colleges continue to strengthen their spiritual maturity as well as earn their desired degree. But it isn’t all about religion either. Many of these Christian based universities and colleges are accredited and offer honors programs, study abroad programs and leadership programs. Alongside their impressive range of academic opportunities, undergraduate and master programs, they also provide online programs for students who are unable to attend a normal class schedule, such as working professionals.

This flexibility of enhancing one’s adult education online allows for working students to further their education without leaving their current employment. Although financial aid is available for those who qualify the option of learning online assists with various schedules. Earning an online degree is very similar to the in-class environment. The same level of education, learning materials and faculty support are available to students earning an online degree, but on a more personalized schedule.

When choosing a college consider Christian colleges as they offer a wide variety of benefits to students, from their wide range of academic opportunities to their emphasis teaching Christianity. Take your faith and education to a higher level when choosing a college. Christian colleges provide individuals with a strong foundation in spirituality along with an exceptional education from an accredited school.

General Article

How to Be a Successful Adult Student – Overview of Five Attitudes

How to Be a Successful Adult Student – Overview of Five Attitudes

Being a successful adult student is significantly different from being a successful high school student, and it does no’t matter if you go directly from high school into college or if you are returning to school after some years of working. There are skills necessary for adult education, skills which, while helpful in high school, do not really become critical until you are continuing your education as an adult.

The difference between secondary education and adult education can be partially explained by the need to balance your schooling with other demands upon your time, your energy, and your time. Even if you worked in high school, such work was in addition to your schooling, but if you are attending school as an adult you need to balance work, and other forces, with your schooling.

The other major difference between secondary education and adult education is the difference in expectations, both by yourself and by your instructors. In high school, your teachers were willing to accept excuses; you were, in their eyes, a person developing your personality and skills. However, in adult education, you are assumed to have developed your life skills, your studying skills, and your classroom skills. While the instructor is willing to help you improve, you are assumed to be responsible for your capabilities.

One of the areas in which you need to have a developed capability is in your attitudes. The adolescent attitudes of high school are no longer acceptable, and your instructors are going to assume that you have the attitudes and principles necessary to learn as an adult. So the question naturally arises, what are those attitudes necessary for adult education? Let us explore them.

Having Goals

In grade school, it is acceptable if you have not really set your goals. After all, you are still growing, at least mentally, well beyond your teen-age years. However, by starting your education at an adult level, you need to have the ability to set goals. The instructor will not give your goals to you, although they would be glad to help you do it yourself. Without a clearly defined set of goals, the chances of you getting a post-secondary degree drop dramatically (approximately to 1 in 5, based on my personal observation). The reason for this is that without the goals to drive you the outside considerations of life become overwhelming.

Perseverance

As an adult learner, you will encounter subjects and classes which will be difficult, even if you could cruise through high school. These classes will eventually stretch you to your limits, for no matter how much you know, there is someone who knows more, and that someone is often teaching a class. Also, as has been said, life will continue to put challenges in your way. Thus, both in school and out you will be faced with reasons to quit your classes and quit your schooling. You must find the means to persevere, to continue on. This perseverance is often a combination of the drive provided by your goals and your belief in yourself.

Self-Belief

Adult education requires you to believe in yourself. No longer is the driving force external; the reason you go to school beyond high school must include the belief that you can do the work. This belief must be extended to include the belief that you will do the work. Maybe you do not see how to get it all done right away, but you must have the belief that you will find a way. Without this belief, you will become overwhelmed, and will very likely quit your schooling.

Be Open Minded

I very carefully did not use the word tolerant, although tolerance can be a valuable attitude. However, you must be open minded to the process of education. This means you must accept two premises which many people find hard: first, you must accept that your instructor knows more than you do, and second, you must accept the fact that you will (occasionally) be wrong. The first premise means that you need to listen to your instructor in the class; it does not mean that the instructor is better than you, only that they know more about the subject of the class than you do. The second premise is necessary for you to learn new things; as the saying goes, before you can be great you must be good, and before you can be good you must be terrible. Accept this premise, and learn from your mistakes.

Conquer Procrastination

The final absolutely required attitude for adult education is the overcoming of procrastination. The work of adult education cannot be done overnight, which is likely how you got through high school. The adult class will meet once or twice a week, and the assignments are designed to fill in that gap. This means that it is likely the assignments will take more than one study session to complete. The result of this premise is a need for planning and prioritizing, which are discussed elsewhere. Do not make the mistake of putting off the work of the class, for it is likely that you will not complete the assignment if you do so. The typical rule is that there will 1 hour of work outside of the class for every credit the class is worth every week; for example, a 3 credit class will typically need 3 hours of work outside of class every week. Do not be surprised if it takes more.

Other attitudes

The attitudes discussed here are not the only attitudes which will help you succeed as an adult student, but most of the students I have seen who have not completed their program of study have done so because they were missing one or more of these attitudes. Each of these attitudes is worthy of further exploration, and they are linked to other attitudes that will improve your chance of success. Each of them can be developed, if you choose to do so. Developing these attitudes is well worth the effort, and even if you feel you have the proper attitudes, recognize you can always improve. That is the best benefit of being human. I hope you choose to do so, and I look forward to your success as a continuing adult student.

Public Education

Computer Problems Can Kill Your Online Business

It has recently been brought to my attention that one of the major obstacles that some people have to making money online is a serious lack of computer knowledge and expertise that often leads to computer problems. Not so much that they are “computer stupid” as some have told me, but as I tell them, they are simply uninformed. I have seen a few get a brand new computer and boldly go out there with nothing to protect them from viruses, adware, malware and the mirad of things out there that plague us all.
They get out here on the net, totally uninformed that these dangers exist and want to get started in an online business. They figure it out right away that the internet is a golden opportunity to start up an online business with very little start up costs and they end up with computers so virused that they can’t do anything except stare at a screen offering them an anti-virus program that is actually a part of the virus that infected them in the first place, or their computer is so slowed down by adware that their brand new computer can barely move from one page to another.
Now that is good for me on the one hand, because as a side line, I fix their problems for a nominal fee, but on the other hand, you know it would be so much nicer for everyone if they never had the problems at all.
I’ve had to tell some that they needed to take their computer into a specialist to remove all of the virus from their computer before any anti virus program could be added to their computer. (After all, how many can I fix in a day?) A few of them I have cleaned myself, but more often than not, I have reformatted the hard drives and reinstalled windows for them and helped them to set up to not have the issue again. Some of the newest bugs out there are just that nasty.
When it comes to your anti virus program, personally, I hate the freebies. You know that some tools are only worth what you pay for them and if they are free and something goes wrong, you know that the freebie can’t afford a support desk to help out the customer.
My personal favorites for anti-virus programs are McAfee and Norton. They are still the top two out there and when it comes to anti-virus, personally, I wouldn’t mess around with anything less than one of the best. A good anti virus will take care of spyware, and adware plus have a good firewall to keep trojans at bay. I have found these two over the years to be all that I needed for all of the intrusion issues.
When it comes to my registry and other issues, I use some free toys, but I also use the reasonably priced things that there are out there. Cleaning your registry at least once a month is one way to keep things moving smoothly on your computer as the registry is the tool that tells your computer where the files are stored. It tells it how a file relates to a program and where to find it. Basically, the registry is a map your computer follows to a file or folder or dll that tells it either what to do next or what file to bring up for you. It would really be sad to try to bring up a picture of Aunt Jane and have a picture of Uncle George come up instead, as an example. Now what if you remove that program and the registry doesn’t get the changed? Or you moved all of your pictures from your hard drive to a back up system or another device? Using a registry cleaner will remove all of the invalid paths that can result and speed up your computer by the virtue that it is no longer searching or tripping over maps to files that are no longer in the same place.
In summary, it doesn’t matter if you are planning an online business or not. Take care of your computer with a great anti virus program and just some general maintenance tools. It will keep you happier with the performance of your computer, and save you and probably a good technician a lot of time being frustrated with a computer that has just gotten all kinds of mucked up.

Higher Education

The Natural Reason for Humans to Be Vegetarian

This article will only help you to understand the natural reason for you to be a vegetarian. It is not necessary for you to suddenly convert but at the same time read through and decide for yourself. I always feel it is good to be rightly informed – don’t you?
Personally I have been through certain religious ordains and rituals which demanded me to be a vegetarian and abstain even from tea/coffee etc. I followed the diktats for a brief period and then a question arose in my mind – why should I blindly follow rules laid down by a group of fear-inducing sects? I took maters in my own hands and ate and drank what I was comfortable with, till I realized I could do without red meat and other extraneous dishes.
I have been enjoying a non-vegetarian diet for quite some years now till I read a book recently. It is a storehouse of knowledge and the knowledge is natural, not some formula or dietician’s menu. The information is so real and so simple! It is amazing that it has not been presented to us before in its most pristine form. I am not propagating any writer or religion or sect or any particular diet – I still indulge in fish and chicken and eggs occasionally but realization has reduced my urge and is making my decisions about food more sensible.
The book is called “The Holy Science” written by Sri Sri Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri. At first glance the name and the book sound like some Indian sage’s holy diktats – but it is not so, believe me. This book does not in any manner profess to be Hindu religious sacred epistle. No, in fact it is quite a scientific revelation into life and human beings in totality. It is a slim book of 122 pages and the ones I am referring to are from page 77 to page 87.
Page 77 has these two headings – “What is natural living?” and “What is natural food for man?” As you read on you learn the most simple and realistic basics about human beings. Everything is laid bare in its truest form about our natural cravings, our essential formation, our constitution and physique and the various parts of our body and their original function.
The information is real and yet so simple that it hits you with a jolt. You may wonder – ‘why did I not understand this before?’ Take for instance the first heading – “What is natural living?” has the following as answer – “Living depends upon the selection of (1) food, (2) dwelling, and (3) company.” It goes on to say – “lower animals can select these for themselves by the help of their instincts and the natural sentinels placed at the sensory entrances…” But man is a superior being and to know our natural needs, ‘we ought to depend upon observation, experiment, and reason.’
The next heading probes more into how ‘to select our natural food, our observation should be directed to the formation of the organs that aid in digestion and nutrition, the teeth and the digestive canal.’ The next page gives a detailed explanation of the teeth in the carnivorous, herbivorous and frugivorous animals. Our teeth structure strongly denotes us to be in the frugivorous category of animals, which means we were meant to live on fruits, nuts, grains and vegetables. Animals from the lower category adhere to their inherent way of living, but intelligent humans seem to have veered from the natural and instinctive habit of eating, drinking and living. It has only helped us to live unnaturally for generations and develop all kinds of sicknesses and illnesses – which in turn shortened our healthy longevity.
If you want to be more informed you can always go through this book and maybe bring about a healthy change in your own and family’s life. People like me do not obey strictures and rules enforced with just a sense of religion or anything else – I would rather understand the truth and then rearrange my priorities. I now know the exact truth in its simplest form and am progressing in the natural path steadily. I just wanted to share my thoughts with you all – hope I made some sense.

General Article

Build Relationships With Your Students That Matter

Build Relationships With Your Students That Matter

Developing effective working relationships with adult learners is important for an instructor in any classroom environment. The adult learning process is an active, developmental effort that is dependent upon the student and the instructor being able to work together in a productive manner, for the purpose creating a learning environment that encourages the adult’s performance, engagement, and motivation in the class.

A productive working relationship helps the instructor convey expectations and feedback, facilitates effective communication, and allows adults to express their expectations, questions, concerns, and developmental needs. A transformative process occurs when adults believe that they have an active role in the learning process. These positive interactions are also likely to help adults feel connected to the class, which in turn can build a sense of community.

The relationships developed within an online environment carry a greater significance because the instructor and learner never meet. Without a physical presence online instructors must find alternate ways of developing their working relationships with adult learners. This challenge can also exist for an instructor in a traditional classroom, if adults only have an opportunity to interact with their instructor during the scheduled class time.

Instructors have an ability to develop a personal connection with the learners by addressing questions about the assignments, offering feedback about their performance, recognizing the learner’s contributions, challenging learners to do more, discussing resources that are available to meet their developmental needs, and offering strategies for completing their goals.

A strong working relationship with adult learners provides an opportunity for meaningful feedback to occur. Learners are provided feedback from their instructor and the level of feedback can vary from a letter grade to the number of points earned, or the inclusion of developmental comments. Depending upon the level of involvement of the instructor, feedback has a potential to become mechanical in nature and learners are likely to disregard that feedback. When an instructor has established supportive communication the adult learner is more likely to be receptive to the feedback provided.

When adult learners have developed a strong working relationship with their instructor they are more likely to be engaged in the class, express their ideas, be open to receiving new information, consider feedback provided, and evaluate their existing knowledge and experiences. Through these positive relationships, discussions, and interactions with the instructor and others in the class, adult learners are likely to find an environment that is conducive to learning.

General Article

A Variety Of Certificate Programs For In-Depth Studies

A Variety Of Certificate Programs For In-Depth Studies

The University of Maryland has a handful of certificate programs that allow individuals to specialize within a certain subject area. This is a great way to add on to your current degree or to use to help advance your present career. The university has a total of 10 different programs that students can choose from.

One type of certificate program offered to students is in African American Studies. It is a 21-credit hour program that allows students to achieve a specialization in African American issues. Students may choose to follow a concentration in either cultural and social analysis or public policy. This is a great way to enhance many different undergraduate degree areas and can help individuals further develop their scope of their educational journey.

There is also a certificate program in International Agricultural and Natural Resources. Within this program, students are required to relate their disciplinary knowledge along with their technical skills to the global agriculture and natural resources issues. It is also necessary for you to become familiar with a foreign language because you will be studying abroad as a part of your coursework. Students in the program are able to gain the tools necessary to understand the inner workings of the international level of agricultural development and production.

A certificate in Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, and Transgender Studies is also available. This is a great path if you are interested in pursuing a graduate program in an interdisciplinary field such as Gender Studies. Many individuals who want to begin a career in the non-profit arena also find this certificate program helpful in their pursuits. Within the program, students become familiar with the major concepts and vocabulary associated with the subject area.

Students are also able to take a program in Secondary Education. This is a great starting point for interested individuals who are not ready to make a commitment to a major degree program in the subject area. It can also be used as a supplemental program for those individuals who have already completed their Bachelor’s degree in secondary education. This program consists of four classes that are chosen from a pool of nine courses.

There is also a program in East Asian Studies. This is a 24-credit hour program designed to give students a thorough background in the culture and history as well as contemporary issues that face the countries of Japan, Korea, and China. Within the course of the program, you will partake in classes about language instruction, civilization, and other elective classes.

Students can also choose to enroll in the certificate program in Latin American Studies. This program allows students to earn an interdisciplinary certificate, and will give you knowledge in the international studies of Latin America as well as the Caribbean. You need to be able to demonstrate a competence in Spanish or Portuguese as a part of this program. There are a total of 21 credits that have to be met in order to receive your certificate.