Archive for the ‘online degree’ Category
Children – Your Advantage to Online Learning
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
You see, those beautiful bundles of joy you brought into the world can not only be helpful in your pursuit of an online education, but can also assist in your home’s upkeep.
Clean and refill spice jars. Take a look at your spice rack and you’ll probably find a bunch of jars filled with faded, gray-green flecks and powders. The food experts say to refill spices about every six months for optimum freshness and flavor, but if you’re like most people, spices stick around for years. This is a fun opportunity for kids to help out and experiment with new flavors. Have your kids dump out old spices, wash the jars and write new labels. Then, have them use a small funnel to refill the jars with new spices. A small piece of paper rolled diagonally into a funnel also works well.
- Increase the Fun: Slice several apples, and have your kids taste test sweeter spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice on the prepared fruit. Or invite your kids to try exotic spices like curry and turmeric in plain yogurt with pita.
Select gently used clothes and toys for donation. Next time you ask your kids to clean their rooms, ask them to do it with “giving” in mind. There are bound to be stuffed animals, dolls and games that can be donated to a local children’s home or charity. Give your kids a box or big bag to fill with gently used toys they no longer use. Similarly, kids can dig into their closets and drawers for clothing they’ve outgrown.
- Bonus tip: Take your kids with you when you make the donation.
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Managing Children and Studies
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
It’s difficult enough balancing kids with housework, so the thought of successfully pursuing an online degree may seem impossible. However, taking online education courses can actually be quite manageable for parents. If you think that children are always in the way of your education troubles, think again. It’s all a matter of proper children management. There are actually many ways in which having children could help you achieve online degree success. One of them is assigning them important roles in the house. Not only will you be able to concentrate on your studies, you’ll get to cut yourself some home chore slack.
Plan a dinner and shopping list. Give your kids dinner duty and have them peruse a cookbook or kid-safe recipe Web site. Have them stick Post-it® notes on or print out favorite recipes. Then have them vote on one entrée, one side dish and one dessert. Next, have your kids read through the required ingredients for the winning recipes and make a grocery list for needed items. Plan a night to cook together as a family.
- Increase the Fun: Ask a restaurant for paper chef hats for your kids to wear. After the dinner is cooked, have your children “play restaurant” and serve you.
Free choice chore duty. Kids like exercising some control over their choices. Have them be “Inspectors” and walk around the house with a clipboard, noting chores that need to be done. Then, have your kids hold a meeting and each choose two chores. After they complete the chores, let them inspect each other’s performance.
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Kids in Helping You Study
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
In addition to everyday tasks (dusting, sweeping, picking up toys), there are many fun and often forgotten jobs that will make your house sparkle and get you closer to earning an online degree. What are they exactly? Have your kids do the following chores while you are doing your school work:
Clean mirrors and windows. Cleaning windows and mirrors with a gentle spray cleaner such as Windex® is a fun way to keep kids busy. As long as the cleaner is nontoxic, kids can spray it independently and wipe smudged surfaces clean.
- Bonus tip: These cleaners can also be used to clean appliance surfaces, such as dishwashers and refrigerators.
- Increase the Fun: Buy markers specially made for writing on windows. Let your kids draw pictures on the windows and then clean them.
Organize the pantry. If your pantry houses old pasta, vintage gravy packets and an antique peanut butter jar, you’re not alone. But you can set your kids loose on tidying up this unruly space. First, make a simple sheet of instructions. Otherwise, your children will have a million unanswered questions when you’re trying to concentrate. The instructions can be as simple as:
- Take everything out of the pantry and put it on the kitchen table.
- Wipe out the pantry with a damp sponge.
- Throw away all open pasta packages that are nearly empty.
- Group the pantry items by type (soup, pasta, JELL-O®, etc.)
- Line up the items back on the shelves.
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Overcoming First Day Online Jitters
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
Doing new things can be unnerving at times. Even if you are enrolled in online education at the comfort of your own home and time, you can be easily agitated by the thought of it. The first day of online class is not as stressful as it seems. In reality, you should be confident because it actually is easy as long as you are prepared. Here are some advice that could help you overcome your first day online jitters.
Post your introduction and find a friend. Most online courses start by having the students write a short self introduction and posting it on the discussion or bulletin board. It takes time to get acquainted, so take advantage of it. Find someone in the class who you find interesting and send them a private e-mail using their school e-mail address. Let them know you like their posting and why. Keep it short and simple. (Hint: having a friend in an online class is important — you can compare notes, share thoughts and understandings of assignments, and be a little less alone in class.)
Take a deep breath! The first online learning experience can be a little intimidating for anyone, but once you get the hang of it, you will do fine. Colleges and universities spend lots of time and money developing online courses and the Web site — much more than they do for classroom-based courses —just so online students will have a great experience. Remember to ask questions, enjoy the experience and most of all, remember to relax and breathe! (Hint: deep breathing is a way to relax your body.)
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Online Course - a New Way of Learning
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
So you are embarking on a different way of learning — an online course. Good for you! But before anything else, you have to be sure that you are ready for what is ahead of you. Although studying online seems pretty easy, it should not be underestimated. Some preparations have to be made.
You must learn the layout of your online classroom. Check out the course Web site by logging into your course (or a demo course if your course is not available) and familiarize yourself with the space. Think of the space as a classroom. Click on all the links, check out the discussion board, the assignments page, the e-mail system, and anything else you can access just as if you were checking out the physical space of a classroom. Every online course is built in a course management system (WebCT, Blackboard, Angel, Desire2Learn, Sakai, etc. - some schools have proprietary systems). It is to your advantage to learn how to navigate the course before you begin class. (Hint: nothing adds to frustration more than having to learn how to do something or where to find something when you face a deadline.)
Try and scope out the course. Find the syllabus and read it. This will give you an idea of what you are going to study, how much reading there will be, what kind of assignments you will be doing, and generally acquaint you with the professor’s expectations. (Hint: knowing what to expect will help keep you focused and not overwhelmed.)
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