Homeschool and traditional students alike share some ideas about summer study. Mostly, the kids are against it. They want a break. A fun summer break. Yet all parents need to weigh the benefits of letting them relax with how much academic backsliding can occur over the summer. One solution might be to try an online summer study program. And I quote….

Have you noticed how much your child enjoys using the computer? If you haven’t, you should. Kids are constantly surfing the web. Whether they’re checking out a video game or chatting with their friends, they are (without a doubt) online. So, it makes sense to turn to the web for a fun alternative to summer school. Time4Learning’s website offers just that. A web based summer learning program that they won’t mind using. In fact, they might even like it!

Time4Learning’s Web Based Summer Learning Program might be your answer. Our learning materials take advantage of today’s technology by providing a convenient and web based interactive learning resource, helping children from preschool through elementary and middle school excel in their studies. Our web based summer program takes school-year curriculum and continues it on through the summer so that your kids can retain what they’ve learned, catch up on what they haven’t, and get ahead for next year.

OH, and I thought I’d mention a new blog that I just noticed with info on preschool activities.

Here are two items that might be of interest:

• Burning desire to study in the UK?  Details of the NZ-UK Link Foundation New Zealand Discretionary Awards.

• Mental Health Research Grants from the Vic Davis Memorial Trust. 

1. Leave No Stone Unturned - Find out all that you can about your career field. Being an event planner might look like fun on TV, but be sure to learn about things like typical hours worked, average salary, and any educational requirements.

2. Know Your Strengths - You might hate to admit that you’re the math geek among your friends, but if you’re good at it and you like it, why not make a living doing what you enjoy?

3. Have Patience - Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your new career won’t be either. Make your transition as smooth as possible by taking the time to get proper training and understand that you probably won’t start your new career as a vice president.
4. Get Educated - Know the educational requirements of your new career choice. Even if you think you are already qualified, introductory career education/training is always a great way to get started.

5. Be Social - If often helps to talk with people who already work in the career field you are interested in. They can often give you more personal insight. Plus, when you are ready to being work in your new career field, it’s always good to have connections.

Distance learning is an excellent way to learn more about a particular career field without leaving your current job or incurring thousands of dollars in education costs. You can study at home when it is convenient for you.

Whether you’re looking to start a new career or want to enhance your skills, you almost never go wrong with some solid career training/career education!

I read an interesting article contrasting how students learn vocabulary. In yesteryear, the flash cards dominated for learning vocabulary. Today, online flash games if not facebook or Iphone apps, dominate for teaching vocabulary. Yet I’m pretty sure that vocabulary flash cards, old paper cards, are not about to fall into total disuse.  What do you think?

And I quote:  Vocabulary flash cards are the traditional method for learning vocabulary. But today, interactive online vocabulary games are often used instead of flash cards to improve vocabulary for SAT, ACT, GRE and FCAT tests. 

The interactive vocabulary games are enhanced flash cards for vocabulary. They teach and drill on vocabulary like flash cards but in an engaging, entertaining format. Being more fun than vocabulary flash cards means the online interactive vocab games are more effective at engaging and teaching than vocabulary flash cards. English speakers and English learners alike build word power with interactive vocabulary games.

An interested alert vocabulary learner is a fast vocabulary learner.  Any vocabulary student will agree. Any teacher of English–or any other subject–can attest to this, and educational research confirms it: Vocabulary SAT, ACT, and GRE scores (marks) reflect this.
————-

The Vocabulary Learning Fun website has some more interesting learning articles about vocabulary:

Expand Your Vocabulary
GRE Verbal Tips
Improve Through Active Learning
Analogy Vocabulary
PSAT Vocabulary
Synonym Vocabulary
Connotative and Denotative Vocabulary
ESL Vocabulary

If you’re a Massey University student (internal or extramural) living on - or near - the Manawatu (Palmerston North) campus then our imminent career fairs are events you’ll probably not want to miss.  They are -

• General Expo (Manawatu campus) - May 5^th 2009 - 11.00 am until 3.00 pm in the Student Dining Hall and MUSA Coffee Lounge, Turitea.
• Agribusiness/Applied Science/Engineering/Science Expo (Manawatu Campus) - May 6^th 2009 - 11.00 am until 3.00 pm in the Student Dining Hall and MUSA Coffee Lounge, Turitea

For more information see:

• Career Expos

Crucially, if you’re planning to attend take time to look at the resources on how to prepare for the expos.  You’ll  find these under:

• Career expos - information for students and graduates

The National Center on Disability and Access to Education (NCDAE) is an information center and clearinghouse funded by the US Dept of Education and run by Utah State University’s Center for Persons with Disabilities. NCDAE focuses on distance education for students with disabilities. From their About page:

The National Center on Disability and Access to Education (NCDAE) monitors and promotes electronically-mediated distance education policies and practices that enhance the lives of people with disabilities and their families. The NCDAE is working to further the national agenda necessary to increase opportunities for participation of people with disabilities and addresses: (a) delivery of electronically-mediated content, (b) testing and assessment, and (c) administrative procedures such as registration for educational offerings.

NCDAE conducts policy research, develops tools, providea training and technical assistance, and disseminates information on distance education, technology, and accessibility.

Their website includes indepth articles, webcasts, and newsletters.  The webcasts are produced quarterly and include panelists from industry, education, and policy. They also have an RSS feed for accessibility and education.

A typical webinar screen window

Image above taken directly from Nielsen's 'Reading pattern eye tracking' study

The image above shows the eye tracking hotspots on three different web pages. Please see Jakob Nielsen’s website useit.com for more information.

I have taken my diagram of a typical webinar page and superimposed the Nielsen ‘F-shaped’ viewing hotspots to see where webinar viewers are most likely to be looking when participating in a webinar. (See below).

A typical webinar window with superimposed Jakob Nielsen eye scanning hotspots.

My conclusion is that people wander off to other activities because of the low degree of visual stimulation provided by a webinar site!

Reference
Nielsen, J. (2006, April 17). F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content:. Retrieved April 12, 2009, from useit.com: Jakob Nielsen’s Web site: http://www.useit.com/‌alertbox/‌reading_pattern.html

As a Scot now settled happily in New Zealand, I thought that this might be of interest to you:

Top British Scholarship up for Grabs

A scholarship for New Zealand’s top young graduates is now only weeks away from closing.

The Chevening Scholarship is for a year of postgraduate study at a British centre of Higher Education and is aimed at graduates with the potential to be future leaders.

The scholarship, worth £16,500, covers airfares, tuition and living expenses and the candidate will be selected by the British High Commission in Wellington

The scholarships are offered in over 150 countries around the world.  Applicants are asked to apply by 1 May 2009.

For more information visit:

http://www.chevening.com/how-apply

https://www.chevening.fco.gov.uk/CheveningApplications/CA_Start.aspx

For further information contact:
Chris Harrington,
British High Commission, Wellington
Telephone 04 924 2857
Mobile 029 924 2857
Email: Chris.Harrington@fco.gov.uk or bhcpress@xtra.co.nz