The VetStage Foundation

What Should I Blog About? 10 Ways to Discover Your Perfect Niche

Many people want to start a blog, but they just can’t decide what to write about. If I had started a blog years ago, I would be in that camp. I just have so many interests, and there are so many possible topics to focus on that it would be paralyzing picking one topic.

How to write a blog post

When writing a blog post, whether it’s you’re guest posting for someone else or writing for your own blog, you’ll want to cover topics that bring value to your readers and fall in line with their interests, as well as your own. Rather than trying to find the perfect topic right away, start by jotting down different ideas that come to mind.

Once you find some interesting ideas online, think about the unique ways you can approach those topics. Consider the various ways you can play around with topic ideas to come up with something that isn’t only trendy and relevant, but that’s also original and fresh.

Refine your topic with keyword research

Part of writing a blog post involves keyword research. This crucial SEO practice is used as a marker to see which terms you can potentially rank high for in certain online searches.

Once you’ve chosen a direction for your blog post, you’ll need to figure out the chances of its success on search engine result pages – which ultimately means getting more eyes on your content. In order to succeed, conduct keyword research to find the most relevant queries for your topic.

You can find keywords for your own articles by using various keyword research tools. If you’re new to blogging, you’ll probably want to start with free tools such as Answer the Public, Ubersuggest, and Google Keyword Planner. Afterwards, you may want to upgrade to more advanced tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs.

While conducting keyword research, keep in mind that the more specific the phrase, the more closely it will match your audience’s intent. On the other hand, broader keywords tend to have higher search volumes – meaning more people are searching for them each month.

Think about the benefits of opting for a broader phrase, like “chocolate chip cookies,” over a more precise phrase, like “how to make chocolate chip cookies.” Choosing the right keywords means striking a balance between high search volume and high intent.

Once you’ve selected your keywords, you can use them to shape the structure of your content. Google those phrases to find out which articles have successfully targeted those same keywords, and spend some time browsing their content. This will give you inspiration for your own article in terms of what to include and how to structure it.

3 Reasons You Should Not Start a Blog

But after giving you those detailed instructions, which could save you hundreds of hours of wasted time, we also want to give you some good reasons why you should not start a blog. (Keep in mind that these reasons are just our opinions, and we do not pretend to offer them up as a collection of empirical blogging maxims.)

1. Money. You should not start a blog to make money. We need to get that out of the way first. If your primary objective is to replace your full-time income from blogging, forget about it. It doesn’t work that way.Do you think that Jimi Hendrix picked up his first guitar so he could “supplement his income”? No, he didn’t. Rather, he did it for the love of it, for the joy and fulfillment he received, and the income came thereafter—much later actually.
2. Notoriety. Don’t plan on getting “Internet famous” right away. Not every site grows as fast as ours did, but that’s okay. The truth is that we kind of got lucky. We found a great domain name, we cobbled together a logo and site design that people liked, we write fairly well, and our content connected with people in a unique way.We didn’t start this site to become “famous,” though. That’d be ridiculous. We started this site to become bloggers and share a message. Our popularity came as a surprise to us, and it was a result of a little luck and a lot of hard, passionate work.
3. Traffic. Not all traffic is good traffic, so don’t worry about getting thousands of readers right away. Spend your time producing meaningful creations and eventually the audience will show up if you are helping people solve problems. In other words, focus on adding value, not increasing traffic.

The funny thing is that all these things can happen. You could make a full-time income from building a blog. We do it, Corbett Barr does it, and so do many others. And you could become an Internet famous blogger like Leo Babauta or Chris Brogan.

But if these are the sole reasons you start blogging, you’ll be miserable because it will seem like a job. And if it feels like a job, you won’t be passionate about it, so you’ll either hate it or fall flat on your face (or both).

4 Blogging Resources

How do you make money blogging? How much do bloggers make? Can I make money blogging? Are blogs still profitable in 2022?

1. Creations. By building an audience who finds value in our message, we’ve been able to offer our three books and our documentary, Minimalism, to an audience who is willing to support our creative work. Consequently, all three books have been bestsellers and are now translated into more than a dozen languages; and thanks to Netflix, our documentary is available in 190 countries. (For more information about our book-publishing process, read this blog post series: How to Publish an Indie Book.)
2. Audience Contributions. Since we refuse to clutter our blog or popular podcast with ads, we depend on audience support to fund production of our podcast. With more than 5,000 supporters on Patreon and many others via PayPal, The Minimalists Podcast is fully funded with audience support, which means we’re able to pay for our podcast producer, filmmaker, and studio space without advertisements on our platforms.
3. Speaking. As we built our audience, many organizations, universities, and conferences began contacting us about speaking at their events. At first, we starting speaking for free just to build a name for ourselves. Then, we started charging a few hundred dollars per event. Now, we’re able to charge significantly more money because the demand for our talks is high.So far, The Minimalists have spoken at Harvard, Apple, Google, Allstate, SAP, SXSW, TEDx, and many other organizations. We speak about a wide array of topics, from simple living and “simple work,” to health, relationships, writing, publishing, social media, personal growth, and contribution—and it all started because we started this blog. (Anyone who is interested in hiring us to speak can visit our speaking page for details.)
4. Tours. Over the past eight years, The Minimalists, have embarked on eight speaking tours, including 2017’s 50-city “Less Is Now” theater tour, which attracted an average of more than 1,000 people a night, with considerably larger audiences in bigger cities. Our 2014 “Everything That Remains” bookstore tour spanned 119 cities in eight countries and attracted 75,000 attendees.
5. Writing Classes. I get countless questions about writing, so I’ve been able to transfer that skillset to help hundreds of students improve their writing over the years. I teach a four-week online writing class designed to improve the writing of people at any skill level—beginner, intermediate, or professional.
6. Amazon Links. If The Minimalists recommend a product like this photo scanner, and then a reader purchases that product, we receive a small commission for that sale at no additional cost to our audience. We’re careful about what we recommend, however, because, as minimalists, we want you to consume less and to consume intentionally.
7. Affiliate Sales. When we recommend services such as Bluehost and Constant Contact, we receive a referral fee. Once again, though, that’s obviously not why we recommend these services. Virtually every hosting company has an affiliate program, so we think it’s best to recommend the companies we use.

Through these various means, Ryan and I are able to earn a full-time income through blogging. But it’s worth noting that making money from your blog is not the best place to start.

While there’s nothing wrong with making money—which you can do through affiliate links, advertisements, and your own products and services—the best reason to start blogging is because you have something to express.

If you make money along the way, that’s great. In fact, if you help people solve their problems, you’re all but guaranteed to make money from your blog—eventually. Let’s just remember there are at least four resources that are more important than money: skills, time, energy, and attention.

That said, let’s not kid ourselves by acting as if making money is irrelevant—it’s not. Making money from our blog is simply not the primary driver for our creativity or why we became bloggers. Although people often think of money as the ultimate resource, it is the least important of the five mentioned above.

Money won’t necessarily improve your life, but it will amplify your existing behaviors. If you have bad habits, then more money will make your life considerably worse. And if you’re already a generous person, then more money can help you be more loving, caring, and considerate.

What does blog stand for? What does blog mean?

According to Wikipedia, a blog is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of “discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts).” The term “weblog” was coined by Jorn Barger on December 17, 1997. The short form, “blog,” was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog in 1999.

Source:

https://justagirlandherblog.com/what-should-i-blog-about/
https://www.wix.com/blog/2019/11/how-to-write-a-blog-post-with-examples/
https://www.theminimalists.com/blog/

Write to the job description

As a result, many of those whose CV is simply a basic year-by-year summary of job roles performed, may well be told by a recruitment consultant, that this is in fact far too basic a summary of a detailed career.

While it’s true that your recruitment consultant can help you remedy this, for instance via an extensive initial discussion, with additional detail provided by a customised cover letter. But still, the lesson is clear: take your CV more seriously.

These days the best idea seems to be to think of each high-priority job description as providing you with a set of must-haves that you should attempt to tick off through your CV. And as such, you should therefore try and break your previous roles into key projects and tasks, summarising the most relevant and positive ones.

Questions provide answers

Assuming you’ve landed an interview, now what? Carefully read through your CV and the job description again, and consider what jumps out the most. When you present it in person, you can amplify the CV’s plus-points, and speak to any relative weaknesses you anticipate.

Prepare for any major ones in advance: where a specific skill might be missing, consider showing evidence of how you’ve picked up new skills in the past. Or if it’s an area you don’t fully understand, read up on the subject now.

When you present it in person, you can amplify the CV’s plus-points, and speak to any relative weaknesses you anticipate. Prepare for any major issues in advance: where might a specific skill be missing?

Now that I’m in a position to conduct interviews myself, one thing that says a lot to me about candidates is the questions they ask me. Think about what you might like to know on the back of the interview: not only to try to get the job but also to work out whether you really want it.

Find out why the role is open. And ask questions that talk to the motivations of your boss. Assuming the skills match is there, one of the most important factors will be whether the two of you have good working chemistry — given that, the other gaps are fixable.

Lastly, when you’re doing your final review of all your materials — rechecking spelling and grammar, and making sure you have plenty of evidence of points you raised (links showing finished work can be invaluable) — also try to take a long-term view.

While you’re embarking on this moment of change, think about where you’d like that change to take you. Knowing what you want in life and the actions that will get you there can be the secret to making it happen.

How To Craft Your Career Narrative

John’s original Executive Summary was literally a wall of text riddled with motherhood statements that don’t actually say anything. The poorly formatted paragraph also repels hiring managers at first glance.

His new Executive Summary is far more concise, and embedded with various metrics. At a glance, you can tell just how significant John’s achievements are.

Include Your Most Impressive Achievements

ResumeWriter Tip: Customise your CV for specific job ads by adding in 2 to 5 relevant target keywords from the ad you are eyeing. This ensures your CV can be read by ATS Scanners, and lands in the recruiter’s hands!

Craft a Powerful Opening Line To Each Work Stint

Use Power Verbs To Write Great Work Descriptions

Stand Out From The Pack – Highlight Your Achievements

1. Start with a fascinating resume summary.

It’s common for fresh graduates to list their career objectives at the top of their resumes. However, for jobseekers with more work experience, a well-curated professional summary will be more effective in grabbing the recruiter’s attention. Career objectives are about what you want. By contrast, a professional summary talks about what you can do for the company.

When crafting your summary, it’s helpful to think about your “why.” What drives you? Why do you do what you do? Identifying your purpose, source of inspiration, or philosophy will help you make your summary more unique and personal.

It’s also helpful to put yourself in the shoes of the reader. What traits and skills do you possess that they might be looking for? Keep the job advertisement in mind as you write. At the same time, make sure your summary is no longer than 2-3 sentences.

2. Keep it simple and professional.

When it comes to job applications, good first impressions are critical. Using a silly email address like “ [email protected] ” may make the hiring manager think you’re not serious. If you’re a fresh graduate, now is the time to create an appropriate email address using your first and last name.

Your resume should also be visually appealing and easy to skim. After all, TIME reports that “recruiters spend an average of six seconds reviewing an individual resume.” Therefore, limit your resume to one page as much as possible. If you have an extensive employment history, make sure not to go beyond two pages.

Take note that while most people use “resume” and “CV” interchangeably, they’re different in terms of length and use . While a resume is usually only 1-2 pages long, a CV is a more detailed account of your education and work history. CVs are generally used in academia or research and can go well beyond 3 pages.

Whether you’re writing a resume or CV, be consistent with your formatting. Use professional fonts such as Arial or Helvetica, and make sure your font is no smaller than size 12. When using numbers, recheck decimal places or the number of zeros.

Once you’re done, proofread your resume for spelling errors. You may also want to reconsider including your photo. After all, how you appear on your social channels may have more bearing than how you look in a photograph. Thus, provide a clean and professional result when employers conduct their social media search.

Source:

https://content.mycareersfuture.gov.sg/write-cv-changes-life/
https://www.resumewriter.sg/blog/how-to-write-a-winning-resume-your-ultimate-cv-guide/
https://www.jobstreet.com.sg/career-resources/job-hunting/best-tips-on-how-to-write-an-effective-resume/

Early Reading & Writing Skills

Whatever else you may have planned to teach today, your children will be practising their literacy skills all day long. They will be speaking or listening, and maybe reading and writing as part of every activity that they do.

Combining aspects from different parts of the curriculum is recognised as good practice. You might be talking (CL) about the size (Ma) of the giant’s boots as you work together (PSED) to make a model (EAD). Combining activities makes sense for you and your planning as it’s an efficient use of your time and resources. More importantly, it helps children make sense of their learning.

Teaching literacy as part of other curriculum areas ensures that the skills children are practising will be set in a context, and have importance. Writing a letter to Father Christmas or replying “Yes, please” to a birthday party invitation brings its own rewards beyond the initial sense of pride in successfully putting words down on paper. Giving children a purpose for writing helps to build their confidence in themselves as writers.

Making learning as interactive as possible creates a sense of fun and involvement which will carry the children’s interest and enthusiasm in productive ways. It becomes part of children’s play, and it’s as they play that children challenge themselves and attempt more.

ACADEMICS

Writing is not a skill that students learn separate from other processes. It combines many complex activities, including categorizing, building key terms and concepts for a subject, measuring one’s reaction to a subject, making new connections, abstracting, figuring out significance, and developing arguments—to name a few. Our highest cognitive functions are developed and supported through active and interconnected use of language—speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

In practice, this means that reading (and speaking and listening) can be used as a springboard for writing projects, and writing can be used as a way to understand reading. A variety of informal, often ungraded, writing activities may be used, for instance, to help students understand that critical reading can be practiced through writing about reading and that writing projects can be strengthened through careful, critical reading. Classroom practices can be designed so that students use writing to read and reading to write. Writing courses consistently provide such integrated activities for students; however, in First Year Seminars and content-area courses, reading and writing can also be practiced together and sequenced effectively to support the learning experience.

Helping Students Develop Critical Reading and Writing Skills

“What our beginning college writers do not understand . . . is the view of academic life implied by writing across the curriculum, where writing means joining a conversation of persons who are, in important ways, fundamentally disagreeing. In other words, they do not see that a thesis implies a counterthesis and that the presence of opposing voices implies a view of knowledge as dialogic, contingent, ambiguous, and tentative.” (Bean, 18, original italics)

I. Common Traits of an Academic Writing Process (as summarized in Bean)

Academic writers are, therefore, usually driven by an engagement with the topic and with a sense that they are contributing to an ongoing conversation. Students who are new to this process are often afraid of it because their expectation is that in order to be good, their writing has to be good immediately. One of the things they need to learn is that writing as a process means work.

How Can We Help Students? (most suggestions drawn from Bean)

II. Common Traits of an Academic Reading Process (again, Bean as a primary source)

Academic readers, therefore, understand that reading is a process often requiring rereading or slow reading and that a difficult passage may become clearer as they continue reading. Good readers are not necessarily “speed” readers, though often students believe this is the case.

How Can We Help Students? (some suggestions drawn from Bean, Elbow)

1. Assign important readings more than once.
2. Require note-taking as part of a reading assignment, and ask students to use their notes during class discussion.
3. Do a “what it says” and “what it does” exercise: using a specific passage, have students explain the content (what it says) and then its purpose or function (what it does), for example, that it provides evidence or summarizes, and so on.
4. Make students responsible for texts that will not be covered in class. For example, I have placed some texts on reserve in the library, required that they be read on students’ own time, and then required that students use references to such texts as they deem appropriate in some of their writing for the semester.
5. Awaken interest in upcoming readings. For example, try an exploratory writing task during class that relates to some problem that students will encounter in the upcoming reading.
6. Sequence your readings so that students begin to see that all texts represent a certain frame of reference, that no text can provide the “whole truth.”
7. Help students understand cultural codes necessary for reading certain texts through reading guides or direct instruction.
8. Play the “believing and doubting” game: Peter Elbow (1973, 1986) suggests that we ask our students to be simultaneously open to and skeptical of texts as they read. We can thus ask our students to read empathically and join the author’s view and as devil’s advocates in order to raise objections to the author’s view.

More on Note-taking While Reading

1. mark relevant points during the first read of a text so that they can be returned to later: underline or make marginal notes if you own the book or use post-it notes if you do not.
2. read actively and critically, that is: relate new knowledge to prior knowledge, find patterns and connections to other readings, ask questions, and consider alternative viewpoints in marginal comments or on post-it notes.
3. use specific strategies while you read:
   survey: notice surface features to predict content (table of contents, chapter sub-headings, etc.)
   skim: get a quick overview
   identify main points: find and note main ideas
4. read complex material more than once, perhaps over a day or two so that you have time to think about what you’ve read.
5. read complex material using a dictionary and keep track of words that are difficult or new; keep a notebook of new words.
6. try to put complex information into your own words.

Self-regulation

The ability to self-regulate plays a big role in writing. When you set a goal for how many words a paper should be and then check the word count as you write, that’s self-regulation. If you get to the end of a sentence, realize it doesn’t make sense, and decide to rewrite it, that’s self-regulation.

Here’s another example. When kids get frustrated, they might give up on writing. But if they remind themselves that they’re making progress and can do it, that’s also self-regulation. Experienced writers do this naturally.

What can help: There are lots of strategies to teach self-regulated writing. You can teach kids to check each sentence of a paragraph once they’ve finished the paragraph. You can also encourage them to take breaks after writing a certain number of words.

Kids can also be taught to use positive self-talk to help with motivation. When writing, they could say to themselves, “It’s OK that this is hard because I know my effort will pay off.” The key to all these strategies is repetition and practice.

Source:

https://www.teachearlyyears.com/learning-and-development/view/early-reading-writing-skills
https://www.hws.edu/academics/ctl/writes_reading.aspx
https://www.understood.org/en/articles/6-skills-kids-need-for-written-expression

In the last two years of secondary education, which are called Year 10 and Year 11, starting at age 14, students prepare for GCSE exams that are taken after two years (General Certificate of Secondary Education).

British education system

The education system in the UK is divided into four main parts, primary education, secondary education, further education and higher education. Children in the UK have to legally attend primary and secondary education which runs from about 5 years old until the student is 16 years old.

Some primary schools are split up into Infant and Junior levels. These are usually separate schools on the same site. The infant age range (Key Stage 1) is from age 5 to 7. The Junior age range (Key Stage 2) is from age 7 to 11.

Year R (Reception) (age 4 – 5)
Year 1 (age 5 – 6)
Year 2 (age 6 – 7) The year when SATs testing takes place for Key Stage 1
Year 3 (age 7 – 8)
Year 4 (age 8 – 9)
Year 5 (age 9 – 10)
Year 6 (age 10 – 11) The year when SATs testing takes place for Key Stage 2

Challenges and Problems in Education

Academic Corruption

Even though rampant government corruption was one of the main causes of the Euromaidan Revolution, the level of and tolerance for corruption in Ukraine remains high, according to the anti-corruption watchdog organization Transparency International, which considers corruption a systemic problem in Ukraine, ranking the country 120th out of 180 countries on its 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index. Of the Ukrainians surveyed by Transparency International shortly after the Euromaidan Revolution, about one-third viewed bribery as an acceptable way of resolving problems with government agencies. Likewise, 44 percent of respondents in a 2017 survey by the I. Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Ukrainian Sociology Service believed that corruption had increased since 2014, while only 4 percent believed it had decreased. Forty-four percent of respondents thought corruption was the biggest problem in the country, while an additional 35 percent considered it one of the most serious problems. A sizable share of respondents—39 percent—were doubtful that it was possible to overcome corruption in Ukraine at all. In 2015 the Guardian newspaper called Ukraine “the most corrupt nation in Europe.”

As in several other post-Communist countries, Ukraine’s education system is among the sectors most affected by corruption. Its manifestations range from bribery in admissions to examinations fraud, the misallocation of funds, extortion, ghost teachers, and dissertation plagiarism. While corruption is believed to be most rampant and quickly spreading in tertiary education, particularly in the competitive medical universities, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recently detailed similarly endemic problems in the Ukrainian school system, from preschool to upper-secondary levels. The effects are a loss of educational quality, the “leakage” of critical resources, and low public trust in the system. Externally, corruption and quality problems affect the international reputation of Ukrainian education. Alarmed by frequent reports of corruption in Ukrainian medical schools, Saudi Arabia, for example, no longer automatically recognizes Ukrainian medical degrees.

Demographic Decline and a Shrinking Education System

Alongside other Eastern European nations, Ukraine has one of the fastest shrinking populations in the world. Measuring the size of Ukraine’s population is complicated because of the 2014 Russian annexation of the Crimea and the loss of control over the eastern Donbas region’s oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk, but even before these developments the number of people in the country declined by 6.7 million between 1993 and 2013. Low birth rates, high mortality rates, large-scale outmigration, and other causes contributed to the decline. The UN projects that Ukraine’s population will decrease by another unprecedented 18 percent until 2050, from 44.2 million in 2017 to merely 36.4 million.

The effect on the education system has been huge. According to UNESCO statistics, the number of tertiary students in the country dropped from about 2.85 million in 2008 to 1.67 million in 2017—a decrease of more than 41 percent that has led to the closure of hundreds of higher education institutions (HEIs). The total number, including universities and other types of HEIs, declined from more than 1,000 in 1996 to 661 in the 2017/18 academic year, per government data. Given the current demographic trends, more closures are likely. In the school system, population decline and outmigration from villages and small cities recently caused the government to create community “hub schools” to pool resources and combine pupils from different schools.

Dated Curricula, Lack of University Autonomy, and Other Problems

Ukraine is among the most educated societies in the world with a tertiary gross enrollment ratio (GER) of 83 percent (2014, UNESCO). Yet, many view the country’s academic institutions as inflexible and out of touch with labor market demands and societal needs. In this view, Ukrainian society has an unhealthy obsession with theoretical university education at the expense of more employment-geared education and training. Youth unemployment is high (19.6 percent among 15- to 24-year-olds in 2018) and far above unemployment rates of the general working-age population.

Other problems stem from the legacy of the highly centralized, rigid system of the former Soviet Union. For example, Ukrainian universities generally lack autonomy and initiative. While there have been heightened attempts to increase flexibility, widen autonomy, internationalize education, and make curricula more employment-relevant in recent years, the implementation of the 2014 higher education law, which is designed to increase university autonomy, has thus far been sluggish. Prominent critics like Sergiy Kvit, Ukraine’s former education minister and current director of its National Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, have lamented that the reforms have failed to produce adequate changes, most notably in terms of financial autonomy of public universities. State universities remain dependent on the government in a variety of crucial areas, including salaries for university staff, funding of research, and infrastructure development.

Organisation of the education system and of its structure

The educational system is divided into four levels: pre-primary, compulsory (single structure primary and lower secondary education), upper secondary and higher education. Adult education is also available and art schools, mainly music schools.

The pre-primary school level is intended for children up to the age of six, at which compulsory school begins. Education is compulsory for children for 10 years, from six to sixteen years of age. The upper secondary level normally includes sixteen to nineteen-year olds, but also older pupils. Anyone who has completed compulsory education, has had equivalent basic education or has turned sixteen is entitled to enrol in upper secondary education. Those who have the right to enrol in upper secondary school studies have the right to study in upper secondary schools until the age of 18 as a minimum. Students at the higher education level are generally required to have passed the matriculation examination, or its equivalent. In line with legislation on adult and continuing education, public authorities as well as private entities and organizations may provide this kind of education.

Pre-primary education is the first level of the Icelandic educational system. Pre-primary schools in Iceland all operate in accordance with the Preschool Act (Act 90/2008) and follow the National Curriculum Guide for Preschools 2011, issued by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. Pre-primary schools are for all children in the age group of 1-6 years old. Day care in private homes is an option for parents but is not considered to be part of the educational system.

The legislation for compulsory schools, the Compulsory School Act (Act 91/20 08) stipulates mandatory education for children and adolescents between the ages of six and sixteen. All pupils are to attend school full-time and attendance is mandatory.

The municipalities are responsible for providing appropriate education as decreed by law. The head teacher of compulsory school determines whether a pupil has concluded compulsory school education and is responsible for the pupil’s graduation from compulsory school. A pupil may graduate from compulsory school before completing the 10-year compulsory education, provided that the pupil fulfils compulsory school requirements according to description of learning outcomes in the National Curriculum Guide.

According to the Compulsory School Act, parents can teach their children at home, in part or totally, but they must apply for such exemption from their municipality. Children who receive instruction at home are exempt from compulsory schooling but must comply with regular evaluation and monitoring and undergo the nationally coordinated examinations. If the permission is granted, the municipality must make a contract with a compulsory school in the municipality concerning advice, supervision and various services. Home schooling is rare in Iceland and to be able have your children in home schooling, parents must be qualified with a licence to teach in compulsory schools.

Pupils have the right to have their special needs met regarding studies in inclusive compulsory school, and regardless of their physical or mental attainment. According to the Compulsory School Act, municipalities must ensure that specialist services are provided in compulsory schools, determine the organisation of such services and conduce towards providing the services within the compulsory school itself. Specialist services include support for pupils and their families as well as support for compulsory school activities and its personnel. A regulation on specialist services (Regulation no. 584/2010) describes what kind of specialist services both for pre-primary schools and compulsory schools should be provide.

Upper secondary education is not compulsory in Iceland. However, the framework legislation for the upper secondary school level (Act 92/2008) stipulates that anyone who has completed compulsory education, or has had equivalent basic education, or has reached the age of 16, is entitled to enrol in upper secondary school. Those who have the right to enrol in upper secondary school, also have the right to study until the age of 18. The upper secondary level normally includes the sixteen to nineteen-year-old students. All schools at that level are co-educational. Although upper secondary education is generally divided into general and vocational education, with some programmes of artistic study as well, it is mainly organised in a single structure with a variety of options.

According to the Upper Secondary School Act of 2008, pupils with special needs shall be provided with instruction and special study support. Specialised assistance and appropriate facilities shall be provided as considered necessary by the educational ministry. Pupils with special needs are to study side by side with other pupils, but in addition, many schools offer special four years lines of study where most of the pupils with disabilities are provided with education according to individual educational plans. All disabled students have the right to attend upper secondary schools and the financial crisis has not affected this provision.

Sources:

https://www.brightworldguardianships.com/en/guardianship/british-education-system/
https://wenr.wes.org/2019/06/education-in-ukraine
https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/content/organisation-education-system-and-its-structure-36_en
Education system

General upper secondary schools in Germany aim to prepare youngsters with the needed understanding to obtain the Abitur or other university entrance qualification. With a university entrance qualification they can apply for further academic studies in any German higher education institution, or apply for a professional education and training study course.

Education system

In ancient times, India had the Gurukula system of education in which anyone who wished to study went to a teacher’s (Guru) house and requested to be taught. If accepted as a student by the guru, he would then stay at the guru’s place and help in all activities at home. This not only created a strong tie between the teacher and the student, but also taught the student everything about running a house. The guru taught everything the child wanted to learn, from Sanskrit to the holy scriptures and from Mathematics to Metaphysics. The student stayed as long as she wished or until the guru felt that he had taught everything he could teach. All learning was closely linked to nature and to life, and not confined to memorizing some information.

The modern school system was brought to India, including the English language, originally by Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay in the 1830s. The curriculum was confined to “modern” subjects such as science and mathematics, and subjects like metaphysics and philosophy were considered unnecessary. Teaching was confined to classrooms and the link with nature was broken, as also the close relationship between the teacher and the student.

The Uttar Pradesh (a state in India) Board of High School and Intermediate Education was the first Board set up in India in the year 1921 with jurisdiction over Rajputana, Central India and Gwalior. In 1929, the Board of High School and Intermediate Education, Rajputana, was established. Later, boards were established in some of the states. But eventually, in 1952, the constitution of the board was amended and it was renamed Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). All schools in Delhi and some other regions came under the Board. It was the function of the Board to decide on things like curriculum, textbooks and examination system for all schools affiliated to it. Today there are thousands of schools affiliated to the Board, both within India and in many other countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

Universal and compulsory education for all children in the age group of 6-14 was a cherished dream of the new government of the Republic of India. This is evident from the fact that it is incorporated as a directive policy in article 45 of the constitution. But this objective remains far away even more than half a century later. However, in the recent past, the government appears to have taken a serious note of this lapse and has made primary education a Fundamental Right of every Indian citizen. The pressures of economic growth and the acute scarcity of skilled and trained manpower must certainly have played a role to make the government take such a step. The expenditure by the Government of India on school education in recent years comes to around 3% of the GDP, which is recognized to be very low.

“In recent times, several major announcements were made for developing the poor state of affairs in education sector in India, the most notable ones being the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The announcements are; (a) To progressively increase expenditure on education to around 6 percent of GDP. (b) To support this increase in expenditure on education, and to increase the quality of education, there would be an imposition of an education cess over all central government taxes. (c) To ensure that no one is denied of education due to economic backwardness and poverty. (d) To make right to education a fundamental right for all children in the age group 6–14 years. (e) To universalize education through its flagship programmes such as Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Mid Day Meal.” (Wikipedia: Education in India)

The School System

India is divided into 28 states and 7 so-called “Union Territories”. The states have their own elected governments while the Union Territories are ruled directly by the Government of India, with the President of India appointing an administrator for each Union Territory. As per the constitution of India, school education was originally a state subject —that is, the states had complete authority on deciding policies and implementing them. The role of the Government of India (GoI) was limited to coordination and deciding on the standards of higher education. This was changed with a constitutional amendment in 1976 so that education now comes in the so-called concurrent list. That is, school education policies and programmes are suggested at the national level by the GoI though the state governments have a lot of freedom in implementing programmes. Policies are announced at the national level periodically. The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), set up in 1935, continues to play a lead role in the evolution and monitoring of educational policies and programmes.

There is a national organization that plays a key role in developing policies and programmes, called the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) that prepares a National Curriculum Framework. Each state has its counterpart called the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT). These are the bodies that essentially propose educational strategies, curricula, pedagogical schemes and evaluation methodologies to the states’ departments of education. The SCERTs generally follow guidelines established by the NCERT. But the states have considerable freedom in implementing the education system.

The National Policy on Education, 1986 and the Programme of Action (POA) 1992 envisaged free and compulsory education of satisfactory quality for all children below 14 years before the 21st Century. The government committed to earmark 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for education, half of which would be spent on primary education. The expenditure on Education as a percentage of GDP also rose from 0.7 per cent in 1951-52 to about 3.6 per cent in 1997-98.

The school system in India has four levels: lower primary (age 6 to 10), upper primary (11 and 12), high (13 to 15) and higher secondary (17 and 18). The lower primary school is divided into five “standards”, upper primary school into two, high school into three and higher secondary into two. Students have to learn a common curriculum largely (except for regional changes in mother tongue) till the end of high school. There is some amount of specialization possible at the higher secondary level. Students throughout the country have to learn three languages (namely, English, Hindi and their mother tongue) except in regions where Hindi is the mother tongue and in some streams as discussed below.

The second central scheme is the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE). It seems that this was started as a replacement for the Cambridge School Certificate. The idea was mooted in a conference held in 1952 under the Chairmanship of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the then Minister for Education. The main purpose of the conference was to consider the replacement of the overseas Cambridge School Certificate Examination by an All India Examination. In October 1956 at the meeting of the Inter-State Board for Anglo-Indian Education, a proposal was adopted for the setting up of an Indian Council to administer the University of Cambridge, Local Examinations Syndicate’s Examination in India and to advise the Syndicate on the best way to adapt its examination to the needs of the country. The inaugural meeting of the Council was held on 3rd November, 1958. In December 1967, the Council was registered as a Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The Council was listed in the Delhi School Education Act 1973, as a body conducting public examinations. Now a large number of schools across the country are affiliated to this Council. All these are private schools and generally cater to children from wealthy families.

Both the CBSE and the ICSE council conduct their own examinations in schools across the country that are affiliated to them at the end of 10 years of schooling (after high school) and again at the end of 12 years (after higher secondary). Admission to the 11th class is normally based on the performance in this all-India examination. Since this puts a lot of pressure on the child to perform well, there have been suggestions to remove the examination at the end of 10 years.

Have you read?

Waking up early, catching a bus or ride, participating in morning and after school extracurriculars are huge time sinks for a student. Add to the fact that some classes start anywhere from 6am to 8am and you’ve got sleepy, uninspired adolescents on your hands.

Students in Finland usually start school anywhere from 9:00 – 9:45 AM. Research has shown that early start times are detrimental to students’ well-being, health, and maturation. Finnish schools start the day later and usually end by 2:00 – 2:45 AM. They have longer class periods and much longer breaks in between. The overall system isn’t there to ram and cram information to their students, but to create an environment of holistic learning.

There are fewer teachers and students in Finnish schools. You can’t expect to teach an auditorium of invisible faces and breakthrough to them on an individual level. Students in Finland often have the same teacher for up to six years of their education. During this time, the teacher can take on the role of a mentor or even a family member. During those years, mutual trust and bonding are built so that both parties know and respect each other.

Different needs and learning styles vary on an individual basis. Finnish teachers can account for this because they’ve figured out the student’s own idiosyncratic needs. They can accurately chart and care for their progress and help them reach their goals. There is no passing along to the next teacher because there isn’t one.

There is a general trend in what Finland is doing with its schools. Less stress, less unneeded regimentation and more caring. Students usually only have a couple of classes a day. They have several times to eat their food, enjoy recreational activities and generally just relax. Spread throughout the day are 15 to 20-minute intervals where the kids can get up and stretch, grab some fresh air and decompress.

This type of environment is also needed by the teachers. Teacher rooms are set up all over Finnish schools, where they can lounge about and relax, prepare for the day or just simply socialize. Teachers are people too and need to be functional so they can operate at the best of their abilities.

According to the OECD, students in Finland have the least amount of outside work and homework than any other student in the world. They spend only half an hour a night working on stuff from school. Finnish students also don’t have tutors. Yet they’re outperforming cultures that have toxic school-to-life balances without the unneeded or unnecessary stress.

Finnish students are getting everything they need to get done in school without the added pressures that come with excelling at a subject. Without having to worry about grades and busy-work they are able to focus on the true task at hand – learning and growing as a human being.

Qualifications of the German Higher Education System

Bachelor Degree – First German Higher Education Qualification

The first higher education qualification in Germany is the Bachelor degree. The standard period of study “Regelstudienzeit” in a Bachelor program is 6 semesters, or 3 full academic years. In Universities of Applied Sciences bachelor studies last 6-7 semesters, by also including the practical work. In German Colleges of Art and Music such studies last about 8 semesters or 4 academic years. In Professional Academies they last 3 academic years. In Fachschulen bachelor degree studies last 2 academic years.

Which Are the Offered Bachelor Degree Fields of Study in Germany?

Bachelor Study Fields in German Universities and Equivalent Institutions.

• Languages, Humanities and Sport.

• Philosophy.
• Theology.
• Archaeology and study of antiquity.
• History.
• Art studies/art history.
• Musicology/music history.
• Theatre studies/dramatic art.
• European and non-European languages and literature.
• Education.
• Psychology.
• Library science/documentation science/media studies.
• Sport

• Law.
• Social sciences.
• Administrative sciences.
• Economics.
• Political science.

• Mathematics.
• Physics.
• Computer science.
• Chemistry.
• Biochemistry.
• Biology.
• Earth science.
• Pharmacy

• Human medicine.
• Dentistry.
• Veterinary medicine.

• Agronomy.
• Forestry.
• Nutritional science.

• Architecture.
• Civil engineering.
• Geodesy.
• Electrical engineering.
• Mechanical engineering.
• Chemical engineering.
• Traffic and transport studies.
• Environmental technology.
• Mining.

Bachelor Study Fields in German Universities of Applied Sciences.

Bachelor Study Fields in German Fachschulen.

Bachelor Study Fields in German Berufsakademien.

Magister Degree – Second German Higher Education Qualification.

The second higher education qualification in Germany is the Master degree. It takes 2 -4 semesters to complete studies in a German master degree program. In universities and equal institutions as well as college of art and music, this period is mostly 4 semesters. In Fachhochschulen this period is 3-4 semesters.

To complete a Master degree, students must achieve 300 ECTS credit points also including the points received by the earlier qualification. To complete a Master degree, a student whose earlier qualification is a Bachelor degree, must achieve 360 ECTS points.

German Higher Education Programs Outside the Bachelor and Master Level

Diplom Examination

Some German study courses are completed by sitting a Diplom examination on a single study subject, leading to a Diplom degree, i.e. Diplom in Psychology or Engineering. If the Diplom is issued by the University Applied Sciences, usually it contains the phrasing “FH” included.

Magister Examination

Staatsprüfung – State Examination

For some study courses, a state examination must be undertaken to prepare students for a particular profession of importance to the public interest. This takes account for medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, pharmaceutics, food chemistry, law and teaching (education).

Church and Academic Examination

For students having completed a 5-year study program in theology subject, they’ve to sit a Church and academic examination before landing themselves in the profession. This takes account of jobs as a priest or a pastoral assistant.

Postgraduate Study Courses – Supplementary and Follow-Up Study Courses

Meanwhile or afterward completing bachelor or master studies, there’s an option of taking up additional 2-year long studies in support to the existing studies, or to specialize in a specific study field. These are known as postgraduate study courses.

Examination of Colleges of Art and Music

PhD Degree – Third German Higher Education Qualification

The third higher education qualification in Germany is the PHD degree. This is a program that is embraced by the most qualified students, and can be taken at German universities and equivalent institutions, in collaboration with non-university research institutes.

Admission Requirements of the German Higher Education Institutions

• Higher Education Entrance Qualification. To get admitted in any study course in any higher education institution in Germany, applicants must possess either “The Allgemeine Hochschulreife” commonly referred as “Abitur” or “Fachgebundene Hochschulreife”, or a foreign school-leaving certificate comparable to any of these two.German university entrance qualifications are obtained by successfully completing 12/13 years of schooling of a German secondary school, including passing the secondary school final examination.Abitur can also be taken by sitting the Abitur examination, by non-pupils or employed people of particular intellectual ability.Internationals whose foreign secondary school-leaving certificate isn’t recognized in Germany for academic studies, they’ve to follow a one year preparatory course and sit the examination for recognition. They have to also present their foreign secondary school-leaving certificate, proof of having passed the university entrance examination in their home country (if applicable), proof of having been enrolled in such university (if applicable), evidence of having passed certain modules (if applicable).
• Admission Exam. Some higher education institutions in Germany, especially arts and sport also require for their applicants to sit an admission examination, for examination of their understanding and aptitudes in the core subjects of the study field.
• German language command (for international students only). Most of the German higher education institutions, especially those with German-study program, require from their international applicants to have a good knowledge of the German language.Proof of German language can be provided also during studies by any of the following ways:

• German Language Diploma of the Standing Conference – Level II (Deutsches Sprachdiplom der Kultusministerkonferenz – Zweite Stufe – DSD II).
• German Language Proficiency Examination for Admission to Higher Education for Foreign Applicants (Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang ausländischer Studienbewerber – DSH).
• Test of German as a Foreign Language for foreign applicants (Test Deutsch als Fremdsprache für ausländischer Studienbewerber – Test DAF)
• German language examination as part of the Feststellungsprüfung (assessment test) at a Studienkolleg.

• Alternative proofs for refugee students. Refugee students unable to get their foreign university entrance qualification in their home country are allowed to provide alternative documentation for university admission. One of the ways is to sit an entrance examination. Or, a German language assessment test and probably enroll in Studienkolleg before taking the assessment test for recognition.

German Higher Education Study Courses with Nationwide Quotas

For some German higher education study courses there are quotas, if the number of applications exceeds the number of the offered study places. In such case the Foundation for Higher Education Admission “Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung” (SfH) and the respective institution together admit and disregard applicants based on a central allocation procedure.

German Higher Education Study Courses with Local Restrictions on Admissions

SfH possesses a joint database that easily compares student applications. If the student has been accepted in another higher education institution, the database frees a study place that can be given to another student.

German Higher Education Study Courses Without Restrictions on the Number of Applicants

For some other German higher education study courses there’s no limit set on the number of students to be admitted. As such, all the applicants who can comply with the admission criteria can enroll in studies free from any pre-selection process.

Sources:

https://www.gnu.org/education/edu-system-india.html
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/09/10-reasons-why-finlands-education-system-is-the-best-in-the-world
https://www.studying-in-germany.org/german-education-system/
Education system

As an international student coming from countries other than the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, you must know that you’ll need a student visa to study in the UK. If you’re aged 16 and you’re a resident of one of these countries you can apply for a Tier 4 visa (General student), the official student visa in the UK. Prior to this, you want to make sure you’ll have money to finance your stay there during your studies. When applying for a visa you’ll need to show you have enough money to cover your course tuitions and other expenses.

Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education

W.E.B. DuBois was right about the problem of the 21st century. The color line divides us still. In recent years, the most visible evidence of this in the public policy arena has been the persistent attack on affirmative action in higher education and employment. From the perspective of many Americans who believe that the vestiges of discrimination have disappeared, affirmative action now provides an unfair advantage to minorities. From the perspective of others who daily experience the consequences of ongoing discrimination, affirmative action is needed to protect opportunities likely to evaporate if an affirmative obligation to act fairly does not exist. And for Americans of all backgrounds, the allocation of opportunity in a society that is becoming ever more dependent on knowledge and education is a source of great anxiety and concern.

At the center of these debates are interpretations of the gaps in educational achievement between white and non-Asian minority students as measured by standardized test scores. The presumption that guides much of the conversation is that equal opportunity now exists; therefore, continued low levels of achievement on the part of minority students must be a function of genes, culture, or a lack of effort and will (see, for example, Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray’s The Bell Curve and Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom’s America in Black and White).

The assumptions that undergird this debate miss an important reality: educational outcomes for minority children are much more a function of their unequal access to key educational resources, including skilled teachers and quality curriculum, than they are a function of race. In fact, the U.S. educational system is one of the most unequal in the industrialized world, and students routinely receive dramatically different learning opportunities based on their social status. In contrast to European and Asian nations that fund schools centrally and equally, the wealthiest 10 percent of U.S. school districts spend nearly 10 times more than the poorest 10 percent, and spending ratios of 3 to 1 are common within states. Despite stark differences in funding, teacher quality, curriculum, and class sizes, the prevailing view is that if students do not achieve, it is their own fault. If we are ever to get beyond the problem of the color line, we must confront and address these inequalities.

Americans often forget that as late as the 1960s most African-American, Latino, and Native American students were educated in wholly segregated schools funded at rates many times lower than those serving whites and were excluded from many higher education institutions entirely. The end of legal segregation followed by efforts to equalize spending since 1970 has made a substantial difference for student achievement. On every major national test, including the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the gap in minority and white students’ test scores narrowed substantially between 1970 and 1990, especially for elementary school students. On the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), the scores of African-American students climbed 54 points between 1976 and 1994, while those of white students remained stable.

An Urgent Call for Advancing Equity

What is most concerning in all of this is the impact on the most underserved and historically marginalized in our society: low-income children and students of color. Even before the current crisis, the future prospects of a young person today looked very different depending on the color of her skin and the zip code in which she grew up, but the pandemic exposed and exacerbated long-standing racial and economic inequities. And the same families who are faring worst in terms of disrupted schooling are bearing the brunt of the economic downturn and disproportionately getting sick, being hospitalized, and dying.

Every organization that is committed to educational improvement needs to ask itself what it can do differently to further advance the cause of educational equity during this continuing crisis so that we can make lasting improvements. As we know from past experience, if the goal of equity is not kept front and center, those who are already behind through no fault of their own will benefit the least. If ever there were a time to heed this caution, it is now.

We hope that our nation will approach education with a new sense of purpose and a shared commitment to ensuring that our schools truly work for every child. Whether or not that happens will depend on our resolve and our actions in the coming months. We have the proof points and know-how to transform learning, bolster instruction, and meet the needs of our most disadvantaged students. What has changed is the urgency for doing so at scale.

Our starting place must be a vision of equal opportunity, and from there we must create the conditions that can actually ensure it — irrespective of how different they may look from the ones we now have. We need to reimagine the systems that shape student learning and put the communities whose circumstances we most need to elevate at the center of that process. We need to recognize that we will not improve student outcomes without building the capacity of the adults who work with them, supporting them with high-quality resources and meaningful opportunities for collaboration and professional growth. We need to promote stronger connections between K–12, higher education, and employment so that all students are prepared for lifelong success.

The pandemic has deepened inequities that threaten students’ prospects. But if we seize this moment and learn from it, if we marshal the necessary resources, we have the potential to transform our education system from one characterized by uneven and unjust results to one that puts all students on a path to bright futures.

The UK Education System Level of Courses

Postgraduate courses that lead to a Doctorate, a Master’s degree (Taught or Research), Postgraduate diplomas, postgraduate certificates of education (PGCE) and professional degrees. To enter this level, it is usually required to have a first degree (Bachelor).

Undergraduate courses which include a wide range of first degrees (Bachelor’s): honours and ordinary degrees, qualified teacher status, enhanced first degrees, intercalated degrees (first-degree students in specific study fields may interrupt their ongoing studies and spend a year studying a field related to their major study subject).

An undergraduate course it usually takes 3 years to finish, while Scotland makes an exemption because it takes 4 years to finish an undergraduate course. The higher education in the UK education system is having an extended number of universities that are offering 4-year undergraduate courses, also known as “sandwich courses”. This program includes one year in a workplace, usually in your third year.

Some British universities offer fast-track programs where you can obtain a Master’s degree at the undergraduate level. By contrast to traditional undergraduate levels, students in these programs can attend an additional year of studying instead of taking a Bachelor degree and then admit to a Master program. Besides, it costs much less than usual 3-year undergraduate courses, it’s normally much intense because there are shorten holiday breaks and the schedule is heavy.

Some of the more prestigious universities in UK offer postgraduate degrees. If schools offer postgraduate degrees, they offer Master’s Degrees (typically one year, sometimes two years if your degree is research-based) and/or Doctorate degrees (three-year degrees). These are only available if you have obtained a bachelor’s degree at an accredited university (not necessarily one in England).

In the United Kingdom education system, most syllabi are set by the universities which are offering them and are not controlled by the government or certain British educational institution. The only exception to this is teacher education programs, which the government has a lot of say over. The British government has established the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) to maintain those standards. Most countries have specific regulations for their teachers, so this isn’t any different than studying teaching in your home country. Because of their strict regulations and high standards for teacher education programs, the UK is considered to have some of the best teacher education programs in the world.

Even though the syllabi are set by universities, the Office for Fair Access (OfFA) in the British school system, has a lot of say on the admission procedures of each university. This office was created so that everyone who wishes to attend university in UK has the ability to do so. They also promote fair access to higher education, even for those who are attending university as international students. Fair access also includes those of different cultures, different races, different nationalities, and those who have disabilities.

UK Tuition Fees and Costs

The reputation of the British higher education goes hand to hand with its costs. Tuition fees may vary from university to university and in which zone of administration you’re looking at (England, Scotland, and Wales), so it’s always advisable to check the university’s website before making any further plan for your studies. For sure, to attend a British university you need a lot of money packed in, whether you’re a native or not, but since there are many scholarship schemes you can seek one.

International students are a substantial part of the student population in British universities. The UK is the second most popular study destination for international students following the US at the top. If you decide to be one of more than a million foreign students in the US, you’re definitely one step far from a guaranteed brighter future.

In the end, it must be emphasized that despite being hardly affordable, if you decide to study in the UK will surely worth the cost. The UK education system and its higher education degrees are valued by academics and employers all over the world.

The UK has a rich history of quality higher education and each university has great options for any student. If you would like some more information about England’s educational system, there is plenty of information available for international students at all of the following links.

Sources:

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/unequal-opportunity-race-and-education/
https://www.carnegie.org/our-work/article/what-changes-us-education-system-are-needed-support-long-term-success-all-americans/
https://www.studying-in-uk.org/uk-education-system-guide/
Education system

The UK education system

The United Kingdom is formed of four constituent countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. In practice, this means some aspects of everyday life differ depending on which of these countries you live in. This includes the education system, which is governed by each of the devolved nations.

Despite some similarities between these systems, a report by the Education Policy Institute (2021) found that the approaches to education differ significantly after years of decentralization. Understandably, a new arrival to the UK may find the whole system confusing. But don’t worry. This article will help clarify things, looking at:

TASIS

TASIS England is an American international school in the UK. The school follows an American curriculum for students from Pre-K to 12th grade, including the IB Diploma for older students. For a rigorous education for your children in the beautiful Surrey countryside, consider TASIS England.

The School System

India is divided into 28 states and 7 so-called “Union Territories”. The states have their own elected governments while the Union Territories are ruled directly by the Government of India, with the President of India appointing an administrator for each Union Territory. As per the constitution of India, school education was originally a state subject —that is, the states had complete authority on deciding policies and implementing them. The role of the Government of India (GoI) was limited to coordination and deciding on the standards of higher education. This was changed with a constitutional amendment in 1976 so that education now comes in the so-called concurrent list. That is, school education policies and programmes are suggested at the national level by the GoI though the state governments have a lot of freedom in implementing programmes. Policies are announced at the national level periodically. The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), set up in 1935, continues to play a lead role in the evolution and monitoring of educational policies and programmes.

There is a national organization that plays a key role in developing policies and programmes, called the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) that prepares a National Curriculum Framework. Each state has its counterpart called the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT). These are the bodies that essentially propose educational strategies, curricula, pedagogical schemes and evaluation methodologies to the states’ departments of education. The SCERTs generally follow guidelines established by the NCERT. But the states have considerable freedom in implementing the education system.

The National Policy on Education, 1986 and the Programme of Action (POA) 1992 envisaged free and compulsory education of satisfactory quality for all children below 14 years before the 21st Century. The government committed to earmark 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for education, half of which would be spent on primary education. The expenditure on Education as a percentage of GDP also rose from 0.7 per cent in 1951-52 to about 3.6 per cent in 1997-98.

The school system in India has four levels: lower primary (age 6 to 10), upper primary (11 and 12), high (13 to 15) and higher secondary (17 and 18). The lower primary school is divided into five “standards”, upper primary school into two, high school into three and higher secondary into two. Students have to learn a common curriculum largely (except for regional changes in mother tongue) till the end of high school. There is some amount of specialization possible at the higher secondary level. Students throughout the country have to learn three languages (namely, English, Hindi and their mother tongue) except in regions where Hindi is the mother tongue and in some streams as discussed below.

The second central scheme is the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE). It seems that this was started as a replacement for the Cambridge School Certificate. The idea was mooted in a conference held in 1952 under the Chairmanship of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the then Minister for Education. The main purpose of the conference was to consider the replacement of the overseas Cambridge School Certificate Examination by an All India Examination. In October 1956 at the meeting of the Inter-State Board for Anglo-Indian Education, a proposal was adopted for the setting up of an Indian Council to administer the University of Cambridge, Local Examinations Syndicate’s Examination in India and to advise the Syndicate on the best way to adapt its examination to the needs of the country. The inaugural meeting of the Council was held on 3rd November, 1958. In December 1967, the Council was registered as a Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The Council was listed in the Delhi School Education Act 1973, as a body conducting public examinations. Now a large number of schools across the country are affiliated to this Council. All these are private schools and generally cater to children from wealthy families.

Both the CBSE and the ICSE council conduct their own examinations in schools across the country that are affiliated to them at the end of 10 years of schooling (after high school) and again at the end of 12 years (after higher secondary). Admission to the 11th class is normally based on the performance in this all-India examination. Since this puts a lot of pressure on the child to perform well, there have been suggestions to remove the examination at the end of 10 years.

Linda Darling-Hammond

Even within urban school districts, schools with high concentrations of low-income and minority students receive fewer instructional resources than others. And tracking systems exacerbate these inequalities by segregating many low-income and minority students within schools. In combination, these policies leave minority students with fewer and lower-quality books, curriculum materials, laboratories, and computers; significantly larger class sizes; less qualified and experienced teachers; and less access to high-quality curriculum. Many schools serving low-income and minority students do not even offer the math and science courses needed for college, and they provide lower-quality teaching in the classes they do offer. It all adds up.

Since the 1966 Coleman report, Equality of Educational Opportunity, another debate has waged as to whether money makes a difference to educational outcomes. It is certainly possible to spend money ineffectively; however, studies that have developed more sophisticated measures of schooling show how money, properly spent, makes a difference. Over the past 30 years, a large body of research has shown that four factors consistently influence student achievement: all else equal, students perform better if they are educated in smaller schools where they are well known (300 to 500 students is optimal), have smaller class sizes (especially at the elementary level), receive a challenging curriculum, and have more highly qualified teachers.

Minority students are much less likely than white children to have any of these resources. In predominantly minority schools, which most students of color attend, schools are large (on average, more than twice as large as predominantly white schools and reaching 3,000 students or more in most cities); on average, class sizes are 15 percent larger overall (80 percent larger for non-special education classes); curriculum offerings and materials are lower in quality; and teachers are much less qualified in terms of levels of education, certification, and training in the fields they teach. And in integrated schools, as UCLA professor Jeannie Oakes described in the 1980s and Harvard professor Gary Orfield’s research has recently confirmed, most minority students are segregated in lower-track classes with larger class sizes, less qualified teachers, and lower-quality curriculum.

Research shows that teachers’ preparation makes a tremendous difference to children’s learning. In an analysis of 900 Texas school districts, Harvard economist Ronald Ferguson found that teachers’ expertise—as measured by scores on a licensing examination, master’s degrees, and experienc—was the single most important determinant of student achievement, accounting for roughly 40 percent of the measured variance in students’ reading and math achievement gains in grades 1-12. After controlling for socioeconomic status, the large disparities in achievement between black and white students were almost entirely due to differences in the qualifications of their teachers. In combination, differences in teacher expertise and class sizes accounted for as much of the measured variance in achievement as did student and family background (figure 1).

Ferguson and Duke economist Helen Ladd repeated this analysis in Alabama and again found sizable influences of teacher qualifications and smaller class sizes on achievement gains in math and reading. They found that more of the difference between the high- and low-scoring districts was explained by teacher qualifications and class sizes than by poverty, race, and parent education.

Meanwhile, a Tennessee study found that elementary school students who are assigned to ineffective teachers for three years in a row score nearly 50 percentile points lower on achievement tests than those assigned to highly effective teachers over the same period. Strikingly, minority students are about half as likely to be assigned to the most effective teachers and twice as likely to be assigned to the least effective.

Minority students are put at greatest risk by the American tradition of allowing enormous variation in the qualifications of teachers. The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future found that new teachers hired without meeting certification standards (25 percent of all new teachers) are usually assigned to teach the most disadvantaged students in low-income and high-minority schools, while the most highly educated new teachers are hired largely by wealthier schools (figure 2). Students in poor or predominantly minority schools are much less likely to have teachers who are fully qualified or hold higher-level degrees. In schools with the highest minority enrollments, for example, students have less than a 50 percent chance of getting a math or science teacher with a license and a degree in the field. In 1994, fully one-third of teachers in high-poverty schools taught without a minor in their main field and nearly 70 percent taught without a minor in their secondary teaching field.

Inter-Disciplinary Curriculum

One of the most exciting developments in the world of science today is the growing involvement of researchers in interdisciplinary collaborations, and the increase in cross-fertilization of ideas and research endeavors of people in different fields of science.. The benefits for cross-disciplinary scientific work are invaluable and the various application possibilities are promising not only for science but for many aspects of daily living.

These developments have direct implications for the education system. The tendency in our schools is to teach bits and pieces of information related to particular disciplines. In view of the cross-disciplinary trends, the curriculum can be integrated around topics that reflect the patterns, interactions, and interdependencies of the different fields. This can provide students with ways to study and attempt to comprehend the world around them through concepts and ideas that are less disparate or disconnected.

The growing inter-disciplinary collaborations and cooperative sharing of information from different fields and the efforts to find pragmatic solutions to global problems have further implications for education. There are important implications for the preparation of students to function and be productive in a world with diverse populations, different economic conditions, multitudes of cultural, religious and ethnic groups, and many other different factors. Furthermore, it is highly beneficial to begin early in the educational process to organize learning around problem solving, critical thinking, and dealing with issues arising from different fields of study and different aspects of real life conditions.

An integrated, inter-disciplinary curriculum links a variety of learning subjects as they are related to the topics of integrated curriculum units. The emphasis on connecting and synthesizing information around topics of interest to the students provides favorable conditions for the acquisition of knowledge from different disciplines through congruous concepts and ideas. Integrated curriculum units are chosen by the students with the teacher and involve teams of students working cooperatively toward common goals. Small groups, pairs, or individuals can work on relevant tasks and materials that can be shared with the other students and yield peer-to-peer learning. Experiencing the benefits of contributing to the goals of the unit by members of the team is empowering and gratifying and is also a beneficial way of preparing them for future functioning in the world. Moreover, the opportunity given to each student to capitalize on his/her strengths can become a strong motivating factor in pursuing further learning and further giving to others.

In terms of teaching strategies, an integrated curriculum encourages a multi-dimensional approach to the educational process and tends to combine regularly multi-convergent and divergent strategies of teaching. There are also various options in the way teachers are assigned to classroom teaching. Individual teachers may find it difficult to implement multi-dimensional strategies in teaching any class, even when small in size, but teachers can work in teams using different teaching strategies compatible with individual teachers’ particular capabilities, cognitive styles and personality characteristics.. They can also organize various teaching experiences with the assistance of volunteers, specialists, peers and others who could contribute to the teaching process. In terms of the structure and settings adapted to different teaching and learning conditions, there can be alternative places for learning, e.g. learning centers, laboratories, libraries, outdoors, community institutions and businesses, museums, and various organizations.

The structure and organization of the student body can be in the form of small and large groups; study pairs; and individualized study arrangements. Social alternatives are possible in heterogeneous groups with a great deal of interchange within them and between them and other groups. Clearly, student groups may vary in age, cultural and socioeconomic background, special interests and special needs.

Required subjects and basic academic skills some of which are taught in a convergentway, using, in addition to teachers’ didactic presentations, programmed instruction, multi-media technologies, computer programs, videos, and other techniques involving technological innovations.

A number of required subjects and academic skills can be taught in a multi-convergentway where methods of teaching are adapted to students’ different abilities, needs and interests. For example, different intelligences may be emphasized such as, linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, spatial intelligence, musical intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, and others.

Individually chosen projects where the students can work on topics they have chosen and where they could apply their strong skills and competencies, wherever they lie. Students can be encouraged to present their work on their project to the group in any way compatible with their tendencies. The students can present their work to their peers and teachers as an exhibit, as an oral presentation, as written material, as a play, a video, or any other means of communicating and disseminating information. Divergent teaching is the approach used for those individually selected, and often independently pursued, projects.

Resources:

https://www.expatica.com/uk/education/children-education/the-uk-education-system-106601/
https://www.gnu.org/education/edu-system-india.html
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/unequal-opportunity-race-and-education/
https://necsi.edu/changes-in-the-teaching-and-learning-process-in-a-complex-education-system

Rob Woodgate
Rob Woodgate is a writer and IT consultant with nearly 20 years of experience across the private and public sectors. He’s also worked as a trainer, technical support person, delivery manager, system administrator, and in other roles that involve getting people and technology to work together.
Read Full Bio »

How (and Why) to Tag Your Messages

The single biggest benefit of using tags instead of folders is that you’re not forced to pigeonhole an email into just one folder. With tagging, you no longer have to decide if that mail about a vendor issue on a client project goes in the vendor folder, client folder, project folder, or lessons learned folder. You just add the appropriate tags to the email, and then you can easily find it again, whether you want to find emails related to that vendor, client, or so on.

If you’re moving from a folder-based system to a single archive, tagging is the key to being able to find things afterward. You can tag in bulk, so if you have a folder for a client, you can tag every item in there with the name of that client before moving it into your archive. This way, you can be sure it’s easy to find again.

Categorizing in Outlook

In Outlook, tagging is called “categorizing.” You can create as many categories as you want, assign them colors, and then apply them to anything in Outlook—emails, calendar events, tasks, notes, and even contacts. This not only makes it easy to search but also highlights your Outlook contents with a color. For example, if you create a category for a project and give it a specific color—let’s say purple—you can tag every related item with that category. Without reading anything, you’ll know that every purple email, calendar event, task, note, or contact is associated with that project. Categories haven’t come to the Outlook mobile app yet, so you’ll have to do your categorizing in the client or the web app.

When categorizing your mail, you can categorize everything in a single folder by selecting all the email (using the Ctrl+A keyboard shortcut), and then selecting your category—or categories—of choice. You can even change your Archive folder view so that it groups mail by categories, which will mimic a folder structure. Then you get the benefit of tagging and the benefit of a folder view.

Labeling in Gmail

In Gmail, tagging is called “labeling,” and it works in both the web and mobile apps. Like in Outlook, you can create as many labels as you want (sort of—there’s a limit of 5,000, after which Google says you might experience performance problems, but few people ever do) and assign them colors. You can also create filters to label emails automatically based on whatever criteria you want.

Flagging in Apple Mail

Tagging in Apple Mail is known as “flagging.” Unlike in Outlook, you are limited to the existing seven flags, so there’s no getting away from it: Apple hasn’t done very well here. However, in their defense, they do push Smart Folders hard. Although those aren’t as simple or quick as tags, there is a system for you to use to group your email. We’ve covered Smart folders, and we know they work, but of the three email applications we’re covering here, Apple Mail is the least-suited to a single archive method.

Let’s Get Searching

Whether you’re using an email client (like Microsoft Outlook or Apple Mail), a web interface (like Gmail or Yahoo! Mail), or a mail app on your phone, search is your friend. Most of the time, a name or tag (or a combination of the two) will be enough to find what you’re looking for. You could search “Joe BBQ,” for example, to find that email from Joe about the barbecue he’s having next week, or “Project Alpha” to find all emails tagged with “Project Alpha.” But there are plenty of advanced—and easy—search techniques to help you find those emails buried a bit deeper in the pile of similar results.

Using Outlook Search

Outlook’s search capabilities used to be a bit sketchy, but those days are gone. Now, searching in the Outlook client, web interface, or mobile app is blazingly quick and accurate. The client contains the most powerful search tools, though, so that’s the place to go if you have a particularly refined or complex search query.

We’ve covered how to change the search locations from the current folder to other areas of Outlook before. You can also quickly find messages related to the current sender by right-clicking on the message in your inbox, selecting “Find Related,” and then “Messages in this Conversation” or “Messages from Sender.”

If you perform the same search regularly, you can create custom dynamic search folders to perform the same search each time you open them. These are particularly useful for finding new emails with specific keywords or particular properties, like size, attachments, or categories.

Use the More Choices and Advanced tabs to access additional criteria. The Advanced Find options are extraordinarily large, using properties you almost certainly didn’t know existed. For example, here’s a look at the Advanced > All Mail Fields that you can choose from.

Using Gmail Search

Unsurprisingly, Gmail’s search is fast and accurate in both the web interface and mobile app. There are a ton of keywords you can search against, like “from,” “to,” “newer_than,” “older_than,” “label,” and so on. Rather than requiring you to remember all of these, the web interface provides a dropdown filter, which we’ve covered in-depth before.

In mobile, you can enter your search term in the Search box in the same way, but, at the time of writing, the filter dropdown isn’t available. You can still go to gmail.com and open your mail there if you need advanced searching on the go. There’s a full list of Gmail search operators, all of which work in both the web interface and the mobile app. If you can master these, you’ll be a Gmail boss in no time.

Using Apple Mail Search

Apple Mail doesn’t have the same Advanced Find capability that Outlook does, but it does have one significant advantage—you can search for emails using Spotlight. If you’re a Spotlight user (and you should be), you can search for mail directly from there. You can also set up smart mailboxes, which are a bit like Outlook’s dynamic search folders.

Between tagging and searching, you should be able to locate most messages pretty quickly in any mail app. Outlook probably has the most effective tagging because it covers any item, not just mail, and Gmail’s search is second-to-none. Apple Mail can’t necessarily compete with either of these, but while its tagging isn’t great, the searching and automatic filtering are pretty good.

Rob Woodgate
Rob Woodgate is a writer and IT consultant with nearly 20 years of experience across the private and public sectors. He”s also worked as a trainer, technical support person, delivery manager, system administrator, and in other roles that involve getting people and technology to work together.
Read Full Bio »

Dynamic Tags to Use in Your Email Sends

Personal Information

Chances are you”ve received at least one marketing email from a company in which your first name was used in the body of the email. While this isn”t exactly the most innovative use of dynamic tags anymore, it”s almost expected these days. Maybe it”s just the marketer in me, but if I get an email that addresses me as “Hi there,” I”m pretty much guaranteed to send it to my trash bin. Pulling recipients” personal information into your email shows them you took the time to craft an email that is meant specifically for them. Here are several examples of types of personal information you can pull into your emails with dynamic tags. For example, if you owned a chain of restaurants, you could segment your send by location and send a targeted email that said something like, “Here are some specials we”re offering at the restaurants near your hometown in [city].”

Company Information

If you’re B2B company, there’s a good chance you’re already collecting some company information from your leads to help you qualify them. Why not use some of this intelligence to personalize your email messages ? For example, if you sold industrial coffee machines and your ideal customers were businesses across various industries, you could say in your email, “We know how stressful it can be in the [industryname] industry. Are your employees getting the caffeine they need to handle it?” Here are some other types of company information you could pull in through dynamic tags:

Social Media Information

If you have a particularly social media-savvy audience and know some of their social media account information, you could personalize your emails this way, too. For example, say you were running a social media campaign and you wanted to target Twitter users with large follower counts, considering they have the biggest reach. You could include something like, "Hi [twitterusername], We’re hosting a contest for some of our most social-savvy email subscribers. Because you have [followercount] Twitter followers, you’re eligible to participate!" Below are a few examples of types of social media information you can use in your dynamic tags:

Behavior/Activity

If your marketing database is hooked up to a CRM system , you’re likely collecting some juicy tidbits of information about your contacts’ behaviors and activity on your website. Use it to your advantage by mentioning their behavior and offering something that complements that activity. For example, you could say, "We’re so glad you signed up for our free trial on [trialstartdate]. Here’s a free guide to help you make the most of your free tools throughout the duration of your trial." Here are some other behavioral-focused types of dynamic tags.

Industry/Business-Specific

Do you ask for or collect any industry or business-specific information on your forms that you could use to personalize your email sends? For example, at HubSpot, we have a free tool called Marketing Grader , so we collect users’ individual Marketing Grades when they run a report. Therefore, we could incorporate users’ grades into an email send to all Marketing Grader users, which might look something like this: "We noticed your Marketing Grade of [marketinggrade] could use some improvement. Here are our top 5 ebooks on inbound marketing to help you give it a boost!" Here are some other hypothetical examples of types of dynamic tags a business could leverage (remember our ice cream example?):

A Word of Caution About Dynamic Tags

Before you go crazy with dynamic tags, it’s important to remember that their use needs to go hand in hand with segmentation , especially when you’re using tags that pull information not all your contacts will have. There’s nothing worse than an email with broken dynamic tags, and dynamic tags are guaranteed to break if your marketing database doesn’t have the information they require for the contacts you’re emailing.

In order to use dynamic tags effectively, make sure you segment your list to include only contacts for which you have that dynamic tag’s information. In other words, if you’re pulling in your contacts’ favorite ice cream flavor, make sure you only email the contacts in your database who have provided you with that information. (Tip for HubSpot customers: Be sure to set default values for your dynamic tags to pull in canned information for anyone who slips through the cracks! You can set these up in your Personalization Settings.)

Understand Email Tagging: The First Step to Segmenting Your Audience

A tag is a label composed of a few words to help organize and classify your contacts. Think of tags as virtual sticky notes about a specific subscriber that tells you more about their interests, likes, and behaviors.

Email marketing tags can be added automatically when a person takes action on your website, or interacts with your email, sign up form, or landing page. You can apply specific tags (or labels) to each of your subscribers to send more targeted broadcasts and trigger automated campaigns.

How to organize email lists

For example, Blog readers can be tagged by the type of content links clicked and subscription date. Customers can be tagged by the products they purchased, coupons used, and their location (city or zip code). Prospects can be tagged by the content they download, website pages visited, subscription date, webinar or event attended. Donors can be tagged by their donation tier.

What is the difference between an email list and an email tag?

An email list is a group of people who have opted-in for your emails because they have an interest in your content or products. You can set up one list and tag your contacts based on what you know about them. Or you can set up multiple email lists based on different sign up forms or landing pages.

The downside of having multiple lists is that you can have the same contact on different lists. For example, someone is on your product list because they brought a product, but they are also on a lead magnet list because they downloaded a piece of free content. If you send the same content to different lists, people on more than one list may receive duplicate contact.

How to segment using tags?

While there are many ways to segment your subscribers in AWeber, one of the easiest and most flexible ways to segment subscribers is with tags. You can search for subscribers who have a single tag, multiple tags, or any variety of tags. You can even search for subscribers who don’t have a specific tag.

To segment, apply a search filter to find a set of subscribers that have something in common. You can apply a segment to multiple lists or one list. Watch the video below for step-by-step instructions on a segment using tags.

How to personalize your emails using tags and segments

Tagging lets you send highly personalized email content and set up segments that let you deliver the right message to the right people at the right time. In fact, segmenting your list with personalized content can increase your conversion rate by 760%. But how do you use this information to drive your email campaigns?

Let’s say you are a non-profit. You could identify who donated last year and who did not. Then, send an email to each group. You can create two different email campaigns: one for those that sent you a donation and the other that did not. The first email in the series warms up your audience based on prior behavior before asking them for a donation in the second email.

Campaign #1: Sent to subscribers who donated last year

Campaign #2: Sent to subscribers who did not donate, but downloaded a guide

5 ways to use tagging in your email campaigns

1-Categorize your subscribers into groups

You can search for anyone that meets specific criteria and tag them all at once. For example, tag subscribers who haven’t opened an email from you in the past 30 days, anyone who clicked on a particular link, or those who joined from a certain web form or landing page.

If you have multiple sign up forms, you can apply different tags to subscribers when they fill out separate forms. This way, you’ll know all the content they are interested in to send them the right message.

If you add custom fields to your sign up forms or landing pages, you can collect additional information about your contacts’ interests and preferences. For each custom choice, a tag is added to that person so you can send more targeted and personalized emails.

2-Trigger personalized campaign automations

Let’s say you’re a food blogger who’s planning a webinar on the vegan diet. When you create your sign up form for your webinar, make sure everyone who signs up to your list receives the tag “vegan-webinar.” By tagging subscribers this way, you’ll know who joined your list and what content they’re likely interested in.

When the tag “vegan-webinar” is added to your list, you can set up an automated welcome series to trigger to let them know they are registered and what to expect. Since you know these subscribers are also interested in vegan-related content, you can send targeted information about other vegan resources, like a few free recipes to keep them engaged in your welcome email series.

3-Send personalized content in a broadcast email

After the webinar is over, you can send a one-time broadcast email to tagged subscribers with more content. Simply search for subscribers with the tag “vegan-webinar” in Manage Subscribers, create a new segment, and send.

Share an invite to download another bonus incentive, such as a vegan meal plan or promo code to purchase a recipe book. Add as many emails to your campaign as you need to maintain regular communication. Your subscribers will remain engaged with content they’re interested in, and you can nurture them to become loyal customers.

4-Create multiple campaigns in a single list

With Campaigns, you are not bound by a single automation series per list, and you can apply tags at any point during a sequence. Create multiple campaigns in one list, and trigger them with specific tags through AWeber web forms or landing pages.

When subscribers are tagged with a new tag, they’ll receive the appropriate campaign, even if they’re already subscribed to that list. Below, we’ll walk through when this might be helpful and how to set up tags to trigger your campaigns.

Let’s say every six months you also run a 30-day Paleo Challenge. This is a lead generation effort to get people on your main list through other means. It’s built for new leads, but you want existing subscribers to be able to opt in, too.

Sources:

https://www.howtogeek.com/426101/how-to-tag-your-emails-for-maximum-searchability/
https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33315/33-examples-of-dynamic-tags-to-personalize-your-email-sends.aspx
https://blog.aweber.com/digital-marketing-2/understand-email-tagging.htm

20 Best Free Educational Apps

With the advent of digital tools and the spread of technology, we are in an age where information is the most available it’s ever been, to anyone with a computer or a smartphone. Free educational applications abound, and entire courses can be found online. If you’ve ever had the itch to learn a language or develop your math skills, now’s the time! Here’s a quick list of 20 free apps that every lifelong learner should check out.

EdApp is a better mobile learning management system designed for today’s digital habits, delivering more engaging and effective micro-learning directly to learners anytime and anywhere. EdApp is an effective free educational app because it incorporates cutting-edge aspects backed by science, such as elements of gamification and spaced repetition. Some cool quiz games you can add include multiple choice, find-a-word, and fill in the blanks. Not only will you learn, but you’ll have a great time doing it!

CliffsNotes

Don’t you ever just look up at the night sky and wish you could know what constellation you’re looking at? Star Chart can help. All you have to do is point your phone toward the night sky, and the app will use a combination of GPS technology and 3D rendering to show you exactly what you are looking at. It’s a hands-on way that gets learners out into the real world, while also giving them the tools to understand what they are looking at.

Reading Eggs

Reading Eggs is the multi-award winning learning app that helps children learn to read. They will learn how to read using interactive reading games, guided reading lessons, fun activities and over 2,000 digital story books.

The lessons are presented in levels outlining your child’s learning path to keep kids engaged. You can take advantage of their special 30-day FREE trial offer and see how your child’s reading can improve in just weeks. Reading Eggs is a complete learn to read system for children aged 2-13 and covers the five essential components of reading: phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. Parents can see instant results in their dashboard and receive detailed progress reports, which shows exactly where their child is improving and where extra attention is needed. That makes it one of the best educational apps for academics on a budget.

Speech Blubs

Speech Blubs is a Speech Therapy application, created in cooperation with Speech and Language Pathologists, that uses voice controlled and video technology to develop speech articulation for young children with or without speech difficulties. The app has thousands of activities that aid over the practice of speech sounds in a fun and engaging way.

Improve your child’s speech in a fun and engaging way! Interactive videos, face filters, stickers, puzzles, mini games and tons of fun facts are what will keep your child engaged while improving their speaking abilities. Learn all about animals, dinosaurs, stars, vehicles, emotions and much more with this great app. Want to play guessing games? Practice speech through singing? Speech Blubs has some major improvements: new look, helpful parent’s section, new saveable face filters and access to the reading app ‘READING BLUBS’. Parents can now personalize the app, so that their child becomes the main hero of their speech journey. Download the app and join the supportive family of over 4M parents who rate the 4.6 in the App Store!

Augmented Reality Classroom Apps For Teachers

Augmented reality is changing the face of classroom apps for teachers, they can literally bring infinite possibilities into the classroom. I’ve tried to describe them in my reviews but I realised that it was tricky to adequately describe their depth with just words so I’ve included some YouTube clips so you can see how augmented reality works.

29. ChatterPix Kids

30. Curiscope Virtuali-tee

There’s also the option to explore with a VR headset but this doesn’t work in selfie mode and it might be a challenge to persuade a friend to stand still for a long time unless you’ve both got t-shirts and headsets.

31. Green Screen

32. Thinglink

33. Apple Clips

34. HP Reveal

35. Figment AR

Features To Look For In Educational Apps

Parents need to ensure that the application they select and download for their kids is actually beneficial. They may use a few tips to ensure that kids will be learning and using their time efficiently. Below are some of the features parents should look for in educational applications:

Customizable Settings

Speech and pronunciation

Parental control

Option for parental control should be present in the application, to control whatever the parents want. It could be something as small as the music of the game or something like preventing the kids from opening the lessons of higher levels so that you’re certain the lessons are age appropriate.

Systematic learning

An application should have a plethora of information, but nothing too overwhelming for kids. It should be organized and categorized into a systematic learning procedure combining live and recorded sessions.

Assessments and Feedback

It should have an option to test information. For young kids, it could be as simple as a question, whereas for older students it could be quizzes or mock tests. This provides quantitative feedback to parents and show them the improvement in learning.

Base Language

To ensure inclusivity, the application should have an option to choose languages the student is comfortable in. In underdeveloped countries, English language is not very common to students. They usually are fluent in their native languages and mother tongue.

Visual Enhancement Tools

Video-based content and gamified version of activities keep the kids engaged which is why parents should also try to find such apps. However, it should be noted that advertisements should be kept to a minimum, especially advertisements of other games and TV show promotions since they can be distracting for the student and negatively impact their learning.

Resources:

https://www.edapp.com/blog/free-educational-apps/
https://www.educationalappstore.com/app-lists/apps-for-education
https://www.educationcorner.com/35-incredible-classroom-apps/
https://myelearningworld.com/best-educational-apps-for-kids/

“I felt like it was time – I got to a point where everything I was doing felt monotonous. I learned as much as I could at this position while delivering amazing results. It was, however, time to switch to something new.”

10 Common Job Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

Interviews can be high stress, anxiety-driving situations, especially if it’s your first interview. A little practice and preparation always pays off. While we can’t know exactly what an employer will ask, here are 10 common interview questions along with advice on how to answer them. The questions include:

• Could you tell me something about yourself and describe your background in brief?: Interviewers like to hear stories about candidates. Make sure your story has a great beginning, a riveting middle, and an end that makes the interviewer root for you to win the job.
• How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?: Share an instance when you remained calm despite the turmoil. If it’s a skill you’re developing, acknowledge it and include the steps you’re taking to respond better to pressure in the future.
• What are your salary expectations?: Before you walk in for your first interview, you should already know what the salary is for the position you’re applying to. Check out websites such as Glassdoor, Fishbowl, or Vault.com for salary information. You could also ask people in the field by reaching out to your community on LinkedIn.

Resignation numbers have remained abnormally high in the U.S. between July 2021 and October 2021, with millions of Americans quitting their jobs — which also means there are millions of new openings up for grabs. If you’re entering the market for the first time, or just looking to make a change, use this guide to prepare for your next interview.

Could you tell me about yourself and describe your background in brief?

Talk about a relevant incident that made you keen on the profession you are pursuing and follow up by discussing your education. In the story, weave together how your academic training and your passion for the subject or industry the company specializes in, combined with your work experience, make you a great fit for the job. If you’ve managed a complex project or worked on an exciting, offbeat design, mention it.

Example: “I come from a small town, where opportunities were limited. Since good schools were a rarity, I started using online learning to stay up to date with the best. That’s where I learned to code and then I went on to get my certification as a computer programmer. After I got my first job as a front-end coder, I continued to invest time in mastering both front- and back-end languages, tools, and frameworks.”

How to Answer 14 Most Common Interview Questions [+ Sample Answers]

In this section, we’re going to go through 14 of the most common job interview questions and answers. We’re going to explain what the HR manager wants to see in you, as well as give you sample answers you could use.

1) Tell me something about yourself.

This is usually the first question asked in an interview, so it acts as your introduction. Make sure your answer is relevant to the position you are applying for. What you should be aiming for here is to present yourself as the ideal candidate for the job.

For example, at Company X, I led a project for migrating all operations data to a new data warehousing system to cut down on costs. The new solution was a much better fit for our business, which eventually led to savings of up to $200,000 annually.

The lab felt like home, which is why I’d love to work as a lab assistant. I am passionate, hard-working, and extremely responsible. I am also looking forward to putting to practice all the things I learned during my time at university.

2) How did you hear about this position?

So, mention his/her name and his/her position inside the company and give their reasoning for inviting or recommending you to apply for the position. Tell the hiring managers what excites you about the job opportunity or what exactly caught your eye.

“I heard from Jim Doe, my old colleague and college friend, that [Company X] was looking for a new sales director. He encouraged me to apply, saying that my experience managing a sales team at [Some Software Company] would be helpful for [Company X].

3) Why did you decide to apply for this position?

What the interviewer is looking for here is to see how passionate you are about the job or the company. After all, job performance is directly linked to job satisfaction. The happier you are about your position at the company, the more productive you’ll be.

When you’re talking to a person that’s passionate about something, you can pretty much feel them glow as they talk. And if you’re an HR manager who’s interviewed hundreds of people, this is a very good sign to hire the candidate.

Keep in mind, though, that if you don’t know much about the company or the position – that’s OK too. Just be honest and show your passion for the job. However, it’s always better to do your homework before going to an interview..

4) What are your biggest strengths?

There are two answers you could go for here: what your actual strengths are, and what you think the hiring manager or HR representative wants to hear. We would most certainly suggest you go with the first answer.

For this question, you would want to narrow your answer down to at most three strengths. Pick 1 or 2 skills that would help you really excel at the job, and 1 or 2 personal (more or less unrelated) skills.

My biggest strength is that I’m good at picking up new skills. I’ve worked a variety of different odd jobs – things like working as a waiter, house-keeper, cook, and a lot more (as you’ve probably seen on my resume).

As an event manager at Company X, we were organizing an IT conference for a client. There were a ton of last-minute hiccups – some speakers canceled and the catering company said they’d be late for the lunch break. On top of that, we were understaffed because 2 of our volunteer organizers got sick and couldn’t show up.

5) What is your biggest weakness?

It’s also good practice to mention how you are working towards overcoming this weakness and realizing how it affects you negatively. If you can, just balance it with a positive side effect: treat it like two sides of the same coin.

6) What do you know about this company/organization?

Well, I know that you’re one of the biggest investment banks in [town / state / country]. Company X pops up on news pretty often – I’ve read that you’ve invested in some of the hottest tech IPOs, and have several up-and-coming biotech companies in your portfolio.

7) Why should we hire you?

I’m extremely organized, having managed several project teams in my university. I led the organization of Event #1 and Event #2. This involved continuous communication with 12+ companies, 30 speakers, and 15+ sponsors.

8) What are your salary requirements?

The final number you tell them should incorporate all 3 of the points we just mentioned. Do you know for a fact that the company is doing well (and compensates employees accordingly)? You’d quote a higher salary.

How to prepare for an interview

Use these questions and example answers to prepare for your interview by making them your own and tailoring them to fit your experience, the job and the company you’re interviewing for. It’s important to get comfortable with what you could be asked and understand what a good response might be.

Much like preparing for a test in school, the best way to succeed in your interview is to study and practice. Research the company and the job, and practice your talking points until you feel confident about your answers. The more you prepare, the more likely you are to leave a lasting impression and outperform fellow candidates. Come equipped with examples of work from previous jobs, as well as ideas for the new job. Try and make the interview as conversational as possible by showing genuine interest in the job, company and your interviewer.

Sources:

https://hbr.org/2021/11/10-common-job-interview-questions-and-how-to-answer-them
https://novoresume.com/career-blog/interview-questions-and-best-answers-guide
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/top-interview-questions-and-answers

There are many types of content that are used in content marketing. Each requires different editorial strategies, content structures, governance, and marketing plans to be used in your content marketing initiatives. When deciding what content to create, consider all the different channels you might use. Today, people are constantly on their phones and other mobile devices. So your content should be easily viewable and readable on mobile just as much as on any other channel or platform.

Top Content Marketing Strategies + Trends And Challenges For 2022

86% of B2C marketers think of content marketing as their key business strategy, and as many as 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing to reach their customers.

In this article, we address the five most effective types of content marketing strategies, their best practices and where they stand in user journey.

We’ll also cover the advantages of content marketing as a part of your business growth strategy, the latest trends and the biggest challenges in content marketing for 2022.

What Is a Content (Marketing) Strategy?

A content marketing strategy is a high-level view of your content marketing goals, who your content should serve, how you’ll measure the success of your content, how you’ll distribute your content, and more. Quite honestly, it sounds a lot more complex than it actually is or needs to be. Essentially, a content strategy simply lays out the foundation of what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and who you’re doing it for.

Your content marketing strategy isn’t simply publishing content ad hoc or creating a content calendar. Instead, it’s a bird’s eye view of your content marketing program.

What content can you use in your content marketing strategy?

You can create and combine different content types based on your goals, budget, and target audience’s preferences. Let’s review some most common content types that you can utilize in your strategy.

Posts on social media

Everyone hangs out in socials these days, so posting your content there is a good idea. On each social media, you can reach different goals, so your content production depends on the platform you choose.

For example, Yoga and diet coaches often create educational and helpful content on Instagram, supported by well-looking photos. Check a post from midnshapeyoga. The model shows a specific yoga pose, while the text describes its advantages and gives tips on how to perform it.

Unlike Instagram, Facebook posts usually contain more text, and you may add videos longer than one minute. Here’s an example of a Facebook post from the yoga training industry.

Blog articles

Blogging is a way to communicate ideas more comprehensively to your audience. It takes more time and effort to produce detailed guides, instructions, service comparisons, etc.

To create relevant blog articles, you need to find out which keywords people use when searching for specific answers, and give them those answers in your content. Put all your knowledge and experience into your articles, because engaging and helpful content has better chances for ranking high on Google. It will be easy for users to find your site, and they will be more likely to buy from you.

Aside from educating and entertaining your audience, blog articles allow you to convert readers into leads. This format allows you to promote your business more naturally compared to internet advertising.

How to create high-quality content

The demand for high-quality content is growing every day. Your audiences are becoming more discerning by the minute, so if you want to keep their attention, you need to generate content that’s both informative and entertaining.

This means adding visual elements by showcasing images, videos, animations, infographics, or downloadable interactive tools. Or you can use the written word to curate content that’s interesting, informative, or thought-provoking.

The best way to learn what works best is to experiment with different kinds of content and see which ones are most effective at engaging your audience. A good rule of thumb is to provide more information than they expect. Remember, the more value you provide, the more likely your audience is to share with their networks.

Keep searcher intent in mind

Your content marketing campaign can’t succeed if you don’t take your audience’s desires into account. The best way to do this, as mentioned earlier, is through inbound marketing, such as researching what keywords people are actively using.

When creating content for search engines, think about how you can phrase what you want to say so that the content is both relevant and appealing to the audience it serves. Searcher intent can include a wide variety of keyword possibilities, but it often has questions that your content can answer clearly and concisely.

Once you’re in the mind of your target audience, you’ll quickly be able to see what types of content they’re actively searching for and which topics you need to cover to keep them interested. Once this is established, it will be simple to create a content strategy that keeps searchers coming back for more and generates high-quality leads and sales for your business.

Use proper formatting

When you study what makes well-structured text so easily skimmable, you’ll soon realize that applying these standards is essential for keeping readers engaged for extended periods.

How to make B2B content more engaging—like B2C content

B2B audiences now expect more of a B2C experience in the content they consume. According to Forrester, 60% of B2B customers prefer not to use sales reps as their primary source of information. In fact, 68% of B2B customers would rather do their own research independently online.

Historically, B2B content marketing sought a more professional and business-like tone, while B2C marketers could be flashier and more emotive. Now the walls between B2B and B2C are crumbling. TV and radio advertisements are still not the best fit for B2B audiences, but marketers can learn a lot from mass media B2C advertising about how to intrigue and engage customers.

References:

https://www.digitalsilk.com/content-marketing-strategies
https://elementthree.com/blog/what-is-a-content-marketing-strategy/
https://sendpulse.com/support/glossary/content-marketing-strategy
https://www.phoenix.edu/professional-development/blog/content-marketing-strategy/
https://www.oracle.com/cx/marketing/content-marketing/