Statistics Tutoring - A Great Way to Learn

Raw Statistics: PBS @NewsHour (Photo: kate.gardiner)

by Liz James

Statistics is used everyday in a variety of scenarios and situations. Most of the time they tend to go unnoticed but research shows that a person is exposed to around five statistics a day on average, like this one!

A working knowledge of statistics will help students and adults understand data they come across and interpret it correctly.

Students often find statistics a bit difficult to learn which may be due to the profusion of graphs, charts and equations that this subject involves. Once you get used to it, statistics becomes much easier to understand.

One of the best ways to learn statistics is to apply the concepts to everyday situations. Luckily, statistics is one subject for which students will find loads of scenarios in which to apply newly learned principles and concepts.

Studying statistics can be made simpler when students spend time on the subject after each class. Going through the lessons as soon as you've learned them will help you learn quicker as the material will be easier to recall.

Practice as much as you can so that you can work on different types of questions. Focus on areas that you have difficulty solving. For example, if you find graphs confusing and are unable to plot data on them, spend more time solving problems which involve graphing.

Statistics is a part of many courses in college, like economics, sociology, the sciences, and math. Make an effort to learn the subject as well as you can, not just to pass high school math, but to help you with further studies as well.

Statistics tutoring is an option you can consider if you find the subject really tough. Finding a good tutor and scheduling regular tutoring sessions will really help you get ahead in stats.

Regular tutoring ensures that you practice regularly. You will also be more likely to go through lessons on a daily basis. Most statistics tutors also provide homework help so that you can be sure your work is correct. While some tutors are expensive, you can also find reasonably priced tutoring services that provide great value for money.

Online tutoring offers a great deal of flexibility in timing since students can schedule sessions whenever they want and ahead of time as well. There are a number of tutors for each subject so you will always have a tutor available to solve your problem or answer your doubts.

Know more about the Statistics Help. This article gives basic information about Online Statistics Tutoring. Next article will cover more Statistics concept and its problems and many more. Please share your comments.

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University or Business? Yale’s Singapore Partnership Violates Human Rights

by Dr Rosaria Burchielli, Senior Lecturer in Business Ethics at La Trobe University, The Conversation: http://theconversation.edu.au

Universities such as Yale need to respect the human rights of their staff and students (Flickr/Snap Man)

Yale university’s decision to set up a liberal arts college at the National University of Singapore (NUS) while accepting Singapore’s restrictions on students’ rights to free speech and freedom of association is outrageous.

Human rights organisations are rightly concerned. One group said in a statement that Yale is “betraying the spirit of the university as a centre of open debate and protest by giving away the rights of its students at its new Singapore campus.”

The partnership is another reminder that universities are now primarily profit-run, often multi-national businesses that will fully exploit the opportunities offered by globalisation with less thought for the needs of their students.

And it may not only be students whose rights are curtailed - imagine being a teaching academic whose lectures could be deemed unacceptable, or even illegal, at any time.

In this venture, Yale may well be violating international human rights conventions. The university needs to stop and look at the risks involved in such a partnership, as well as the message it sends to students, academics and society at large.

A University’s Code

Most commentators would agree that the role and contributions of a university relate to breakthrough innovations and creative impulses, nurtured on a balanced diet of existing knowledge and unfettered explorations.

A university venture accepting restrictions in speech and association fundamentally contradicts this aim. And in the context of creating a liberal arts college, it is nothing short of ludicrous: Liberal? Arts? Hello!

But if universities are going to act primarily as businesses they still need to consider their obligations. The UN’s Guiding Principles (GPs) on Business and Human Rights sets out the business risks of human rights violations.

The GPs refer to internationally recognised human rights, such as those expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

Business and Human Rights

But despite these GPs, business (and indeed many governments) are lagging behind on human rights. Current and past business activity has resulted in many human rights abuses with damaging effects on the environment and the well-being of individuals and communities. You only have to think of high-profile cases involving Union Carbide or James Hardie to be reminded of this.

Just because a business goes overseas, for example, does not mean it should not act according to the GPs. In fact, they were designed in the first place to deal with the governance challenges caused by globalisation.

The GPs state that governments have a duty to protect the human rights of their state’s citizens; that business has a responsibility to respect human rights in conducting their business activities; and that both states and business must put in place appropriate and effective mechanisms to remedy human rights abuses within their territories and jurisdictions.

Rights and Responsibilities

With an unimpressive human rights scorecard, Singapore has long been in the sights of human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International. Despite public condemnation, states of course enjoy their own sovereignty so Singapore pretty much does as it pleases.

However, the GPs “apply to all states” which are required to “take appropriate steps to investigate, punish and redress business-related human rights abuses when they occur”.

To read further, go to: http://theconversation.edu.au/university-or-business-yales-singapore-partnership-violates-human-rights-8464?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+30+July+2012&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+30+July+2012+CID_d3a689f88dec10d7aa02ec7793029f27&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=University+or+business+Yales+Singapore+partnership+violates+human+rights

GMAT Prep Courses Vs Private Tutoring

Tutor Sadie Houston speaks during a class at the New Choices For Youths Trust on February 3, 2011 in London, England (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife).

by Issa France

Students frequently ask me, "Should I take a GMAT prep course or get a private tutor?" Naturally as an independent GMAT Tutor, I strongly believe that private tutoring services have a distinct advantage over your typical prep course.

There are several reasons for why I recommend this. While most prep courses and teachers will help to a degree, there is only so much you can expect from a one size fits all approach. Since each person is unique, a tailored approach combining the individual attention of a private tutor with self-study will get you much better results.

Private tutors can devote themselves entirely to their student rather than spreading their attention across a larger class. Together the private tutor and student can decide how much time to devote to each topic and customize a strategy to achieve their target score.

They can help you with the basics and then go beyond and cover every scenario one is likely to encounter. Also covered will be the types of questions, how to manage one's time well and how to handle tricky questions. You will find that the slightly greater cost of having your own private tutor is well worth it. A good private tutor is more than simply a subject matter expert but instead an expert on the GMAT in its entirety.

Prep classes will appeal to both those that are weak on the basics as well as those who lack the motivation to work well on their own. Prep classes however can't ensure that you will do the homework after class and often GMAT books are just as good or even better for covering the basics.

If you ever have trouble with a particular area and need to go over it again then this is much easier to do with a private tutor, rather than in a large class format. And because you will be working with the same tutor all the time rather than possibly switching instructors as you might in a larger class, your tutor can get to know you and thus can quickly work with you to figure out what needs to be adjusted.

There is higher turnover among instructors at the larger prep companies due to the low wages and part time hours, but you don't need to worry about that when working with a private tutor.

The good thing about GMAT prep courses is that they force you to adhere to a set schedule which may help you stay disciplined with your studies. You also get to interact with other students in class and share ideas.

However, prep courses aren't tailored to your unique needs. The typical class is geared towards an average student looking for a mid-500 level score. If you're hoping to do better then you may find the instruction lacking.

Also since the course must appeal to a broad audience the classes will cover every math and verbal topic on the GMAT. If you are strong in one of these areas then you will be wasting some time going over things you already know rather than using that time to work on the areas where you aren't so good at.

The schedule might not always be convenient for you either. Things come up all the time that can get in the way. But if you miss a class or can't do the homework for a week then you will fall behind in the larger class format. Another common complaint as well is that the quality of the teachers can vary greatly among the larger prep companies.

The main question is whether they will give you special tricks and strategies. Be skeptical when reading the advertising from larger prep companies. The techniques that you will learn from prep courses such as Kaplan, Princeton Review, Manhattan GMAT and Veritas are often the same material you get from just buying their books. What you cover in the classroom might not add anything new so the extra cost for the in class work might not be worth it.

Various educational groups have criticized the these larger test prep courses and pointed out that there is little in the way of actual solid evidence to back up their claims of being able to get large increases in scores. For example, mock GMAT tests are often constructed so as to show scores that inflate once students take the actual GMAT.

Some students are convinced by such marketing to part with their hard earned cash but I've been a full time GMAT teacher for nearly four years so I know that there is no way to absolutely guarantee a specific score for students.

Although a prep course could conceivably increase your score by as much as 100 points, this is not common. The thing to remember here is that while the study and assistance you get will certainly help but you should always question the marketing material and promises you see: http://www.gmatstar.com

GMAT Preparation For International Students

I am not a native English speaker, however I was able to score a 780 on my first attempt on the GMAT exam; I understood that GMAT does not test your knowledge on facts or even language but challenges your comprehension and analytical skills.

When you understand that success on GMAT depends on how you think and your approach to problems rather than mere memorization you will be able to overcome any obstacles. Hence I specialized in teaching these skills for non-native English speakers by developing strategies and methods for the verbal section and techniques for the quantitative section.

Get Your Free Initial Consultation

Your skills will be evaluated. We will discuss what your needs are and how I might be of help. Regardless whether you choose to study on your own or with me, I will be giving you tips and specific advice on how to improve your GMAT score: http://www.gmatstar.com

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Create a Learning Climate to Foster Student Success

W. Edwards Deming (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

by Marv Marshall

If learning is what we value, then we ought to value the process of learning as much as the result of learning.

By nature, people are attracted to activities where they feel free of psychological or emotional pain.

Learning is promoted in a climate where people feel safe and cared for. The adage, "People don't care what you know until they know you care," is applicable.

When working with one middle school, William Glasser stated, "The teachers stopped almost all coercion-an approach that was radically different from the way most of these students had been treated since kindergarten. When we asked the students why they were no longer disruptive and why they were beginning to work in school, over and over they said, 'You care about us.'" (Phi Delta Kappan, April, 1997, p. 601)

This idea of communicating a caring interest to those with whom we work was first documented in a classic study on human relations and is known as the "Hawthorne Effect." It emanated from a study that took place in the late 1920s at Western Electric's Hawthorne plant near Chicago.

Researchers went into the factory to see if, by increasing room lighting for a group of employees, the productivity would increase. Improvements did indeed seem to boost worker output. But much to their surprise, when the researchers analyzed a comparable group with no change in the lighting, the productivity also improved.

Further study and analysis of this puzzling result showed that productivity increased because the workers were delighted that management was showing some kind of interest in them. The very fact that workers knew they were receiving attention motivated them to try to improve.

The workers felt that management cared about them and that they were valued. Similarly, a young person who feels valued by an adult reaps the benefit of the Hawthorne Effect.

People have difficulty understanding that someone cares for them when coercion is used. W. Edwards Deming, the American who showed Japan in the post World War II years how to improve quality, understood this. One of his core principles was to "Drive out fear." Deming understood that motivation, performance, productivity, and quality are optimum when coercion is at a minimum and when a trusting, caring climate is at the maximum.

People want to feel they belong. They ordinarily will not congregate where they feel uncomfortable. In a classroom where the teacher and class have a forced relationship, the student who disrupts the class becomes a hero. The reason is that a coercive climate is an adversarial one. In a climate of positive relationships, the disrupting student does not receive support from the other students.

There are as many kinds of relationships as there are people in the world. Voluntary relationships are chosen as, for example, between friends. However, classroom relationships are involuntary. Students are mostly assigned to their classes and thereby the relationships between teachers and students, and between students and students, are not chosen.

A classroom conducive to learning is one where good relations exist between teacher and student and among students themselves. In these classrooms where students feel emotionally and psychologically safe, involuntary relationships become voluntary ones. The reason is that students want to be there.

Where learning is promoted, certain activities are unacceptable. These include ridiculing, threatening, forcing, compelling, punishing, bribing, manipulating, blaming, complaining, putting down, nagging, and badgering. We rarely use these coercive tactics with our friends. Coercion is simply not effective in influencing others while trying to keep good relationships.

KEY POINTS

• Motivation is optimal when coercion is at a minimum and a trusting, caring climate is at the maximum.
• Involuntary relationships become voluntary when people are where they want to be. Learning is promoted in this type of climate.

Dr. Marvin Marshall is an American educator, writer, and lecturer. He is the author of Discipline Without Stress, Punishments or Rewards - How Teachers and Parents Promote Responsibility & Learning and Parenting Without Stress - How to Raise Responsible Kids While Keeping a Life of Your Own. Visit http://www.MarvinMarshall.com for more information.

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Home Schooling in High School: Making a Four-Year Plan

A Map of the Legality of Home schooling around the world. Based on Image:BlankMap-World6.svg. Green is legal, yellow is legal in most political subdivisions but not all or is practiced, but legality is disputed. Red is illegal or unlawful. Orange is generally considered illegal, but untested legally. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

by Maggie Dail

Before you begin home schooling your ninth grader, you and your child should sit down and plan out, in general, what you will cover over the next four years.

If you have already begun high school, making this plan should be a priority.

In the state of Washington, an independent home schooling family must complete courses that approximate the courses that the public school students in their school district must complete before graduation.

If you are home schooling through a private extension program, you are responsible to fulfill the graduation requirements of that private school.

Other states will have other guidelines, but they should be similar. Be sure and learn about those guidelines from your statewide home school organization. They often have that information on their web site.

Most states would have similar graduation requirements. This can also vary depending on what the student plans to do after graduation. First, find out your state's the minimum requirements for graduation. Second, find out what students planning on attending community college should do. Finally, find out the requirements for students who plan to begin at a four-year college.

Another variable is how credits are counted. Traditionally, a one-credit class in high school meets for 50 minutes for 180 days. These credits count 150 clock hours as one credit which is the equivalent of 50 minutes times 180.

Schools have diversified this standard, so be sure you know how they will be counted in your state or school district. For the purpose of this article we will assume one credit as 150 clock hours. College bound students should earn approximately six credits each of the four years of high school, or three each semester. Most classes are one credit, but some are one-half.

Generally, students are required to earn 3-4 credits (or years) of English and Math. History or related classes comprise 2.5 - 3 years, including State History (if not studied in Junior High or Middle School), American History, and World History (and / or geography, government, economics).

Lab Science and math based science is essential for those going into a related area in college. Students need two-three years of science. Other requirements or electives include physical education, health, occupations, foreign languages, and fine arts.

Other important considerations include:

• "What does the student plan on doing beyond high school?"
• If going to college, "what does the college require for admission?"
• Whether going to college, or not, "what job skills can the student learn to gain job experience and a means to help pay for college expenses?"

Home school families may get help on these steps with variations of these two:

1. Find a consultant that will help you in your initial planning and any time you need help.
2. Find a private school extension program to plan with you and provide a constant guidance and possibly accredited diplomas.

For general information, including your state laws, statewide home school organizations and resources visit: http://www.hslda.org

Maggie Dail operates the Center for Neuro Development in Lakewood, Washington along with her husband, Ronnie. The Center is affiliated with Academy Northwest and Family Academy. Maggie has worked with home schooling families for nearly 20 years and has taught for nearly 40 years.

Home school Testing and other services - on location or by Skype / Phone / E-mail - http://www.homeschoolhelps.com

Family Academy offers an online home school parent's course that includes more information about developing your own Unit Studies and much more: Able to Teach
http://www.familyacademy.org

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A History of Misinformation: Pyne Spreads Curriculum Myths

by Dr Louise Zarmati, Higher Degree by Research student, School of History, Heritage and Society. at Deakin University, The Conversation: http://theconversation.edu.au

On the ABC’s Q&A program on Monday night, Shadow Minister for Education Christopher Pyne was asked what the Liberal Party would do about the national (history) curriculum if they came to power.

Many of Pyne’s statements about the National Curriculum were incorrect. ABC Q&A

Pyne’s response simply served to reinforce my long-held view that two parallel worlds exist in the universe of history education in Australia.

One is the ideological world of politicians and journalists whose chief concerns are which history should be taught in schools and whether the agenda to construct the curriculum has been set by the radical-socialist left or the ultra-conservative right.

The other is the world of professional curriculum developers and practising classroom teachers who are faced with the everyday challenges of how to teach history in an engaging way to Australian school children in the compulsory years of schooling.

While those in the “first world” are busy arguing ideology and wrangling for media bites, those in the parallel world of curriculum development are quietly going about the business of carefully selecting topics and pedagogies that best suit the interests and needs of Australian students aged five- to sixteen-years who come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds and have varying levels of literacy, cognition and behavioural capabilities.

As a member of the “second world” and a writer of the kindergarten to Year 10 History and the senior Ancient History courses, I wish to correct the factual errors that Christopher Pyne and a number of journalists have been making for a number of years in the media on the subject of history in the Australian curriculum.

Error 1: the Australian history curriculum was written by one person

Pyne’s statement that the history curriculum “was certainly written by an ex-communist” implies that it was written by one person: the truth is it was written by hundreds.

In the best spirit of Australian democracy and federalism, the opinions of a range of educational stakeholders - teachers, principals, governments, state and territory education authorities, professional education associations, community groups and the general public have all been actively sought by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).

The first writing team, of which I was a member, was comprised of practising teachers (primary and secondary) and curriculum professionals from NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.

Feedback on successive drafts was provided by an advisory panel of over twenty experts in the field of history education and other interested groups, such as museums. The first draft was posted to the ACARA website and the public was invited to comment.

The comments were considered by the advisory panel and incorporated into the document if and when they were deemed appropriate. It is important to understand that curriculum development is an iterative process and that there has been a number of writing teams and versions of the document since writing began in 2009.

Error 2: the Australian History curriculum has a deliberate ideological bias

Pyne’s political perspective is that the history curriculum is the product of left-wing ideology. The derogatory epithet “ex-communist” echoes the opinions on the website of conservative education commentator, Kevin Donnelly and is clearly directed at Professor Stuart Macintyre, architect of the initial “Shaping Paper” for history.

However, the openly-democratic, consultative approach to curriculum development described above ensured that partisan politics and politicians were excluded. Because the curriculum was largely the work of curriculum designers and practising educators, no single political ideology was allowed to dominate the substantive knowledge base of the subject.

Writers and advisors were more concerned with pedagogy rather than ideology. Differences of opinion centred on such issues as at what age children are cognitively capable of understanding chronological constructs of time, such as “BC” and “AD”.

To read further, and about the other two errors, go to: http://theconversation.edu.au/a-history-of-misinformation-pyne-spreads-curriculum-myths-8413?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+26+July+2012&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+26+July+2012+CID_7f11ae0d96d8ab772acaecfaef186107&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=A+history+of+misinformation+Pyne+spreads+curriculum+myths

School Maths is Failing Children: a US and Australian Perspective

Education Nation (Photo credit: Gates Foundation)

by Professor Jon Borwein, Laureate Professor of Mathematics at University of Newcastle

and Dr David H. Bailey, PhD; Senior Scientist, Computational Research Department at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, The Conversation: http://theconversation.edu.au

Those that can’t do, teach - or so goes the famous saying. But what of those who want to do teaching? What of those who do maths teaching? Can we be sure the job they are doing is the best one for our children, or the training they are getting as teachers is adequate? Sadly, we cannot.

We, the present authors (Jon, from Australia, and David, from the USA) are research mathematicians and computer scientists. We are also the proud fathers of seven adult daughters, and a gamut of grandchildren of whom the the oldest is starting school.

Together with our spouses, we have attended a multitude of PTA meetings, sports games, concerts and science fairs. We have read almost as many report cards (and not all of them have been glowing).

But, at the end of the day, our daughters include PhDs, veterinary doctors, lawyers, teachers, web designers, postgraduate students and one senior undergraduate. We have also acquired four sons-in-law.

We have firm opinions, both as professionals and as parents. So what have we learned about teaching - and specifically about maths teaching?

Teacher preparation

This article was stimulated in part by a recent book on preparation of mathematics teachers for the classroom. While the book - Inequality for All: The Challenge of Unequal Opportunity in American Schools - deals with schools in North America, its message of uneven educational quality and uneven preparation rings true worldwide, albeit to differing degrees.

The authors of the book, William H. Schmidt and Curtis C. McKnight, approached the issue of teachers' knowledge of mathematics by asking a sample of 4,000 teachers in Michigan and Ohio the following question:

How well prepared academically do you feel you are - that is, you feel you have the necessary disciplinary coursework and understanding - to teach each of the following?

Teachers in primary school (grades 1-3) judged themselves to be well qualified only in mathematics topics they routinely taught their pupils. For even moderately more sophisticated topics, such as geometry, proportionality, and the beginnings of algebra, only 50% to 60% felt well-prepared.

What’s more, the coverage was surprisingly uneven. For basic geometry topics in one district, only a quarter of the teachers felt well-prepared, but in another 90% felt well-prepared.

In upper elementary school (grades 4-5), where topics such as decimals, percentages and geometry, variability across districts was even more pronounced.

Only a quarter of the teachers in one district felt well-prepared to teach decimals, compared with virtually all teachers in another district.

In middle school (6-8 grade), the situation was even grimmer.

The topics the authors chose (most of which are in the Michigan and Ohio standards for these grades) included negative numbers, rationals and reals, exponents, roots and radicals, elementary number theory, polygons and circles, congruences, proportionality, simple equations, linear equalities and inequalities. Here, only 50% of the teachers questioned felt well-prepared.

Fortunately, high school teachers are relatively better prepared, although there are concerns here too, particularly in more specialised areas such as 3-D geometry, logarithmic and trigonometric functions, probability and calculus.

Many US states are pressing to include probability and statistics in high school, yet less than half of the teachers surveyed regarded themselves as adequately prepared to teach the topic.

So why is teacher preparation lacking? The authors found that in grades 1-4, fewer than 10% of teachers have a major or minor degree in mathematics. This might be understandable, given the basic nature of the material. But this ratio remains even among 6th grade teachers! Even for 7th and 8th grade, only 35% to 40% had a major or minor in mathematics.

And in high school, only about half of 9th and 10th grade teachers had a specialisation in mathematics - only at 11th and 12th grade does the ratio rise to a more respectable 71%. Additional details about the Inequality for All study is given in this Scientific American blog.

To read further, go to: http://theconversation.edu.au/school-maths-is-failing-children-a-us-and-australian-perspective-8397?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+25+July+2012&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+25+July+2012+CID_b49002df34cf748462671bfce46b6c91&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=School+maths+is+failing+children++a+US+and+Australian+perspective

Benefits of Virtual Schooling

Virtual Learning Environments class with guest speaker George Haines (Photo credit: danceinthesky)

By Nicole Madison

Many people are aware of virtual schooling as an educational alternative. However, they might wonder just what makes it worthy of consideration.

As with other forms of education, cyber schooling offers unique benefits. Here are just a few of them to consider:

Individualized Education

Having educational options means families can make the best choices for their children. Each child has unique educational strengths, weakness, needs and preferences, and virtual schooling allows families and educators to address these differences.

In many cases, virtual schools allow families and educators to evaluate a student and provide a customized education geared towards helping the student learn and develop. With education individualized to meet his or her needs, a student may be more willing to learn and more likely to excel.

Learning Pace

A student's learning pace can prove a concern in any type of learning environment. In traditional classrooms, it is often important for students to adopt a pace that suits the classroom, so that no one lags behind others and no one gets too far ahead.

Adopting an average pace is often important, in such cases, to keeping the flow of learning consistent and preventing students from becoming bored and frustrated. In a cyber school, however, this is typically less of a concern or a non-issue altogether. Because virtual education programs can be adapted to meet student needs, they often allow students to work towards mastery at the pace that is comfortable for them.

Flexibility

Many students and their families appreciate the flexibility that cyber schooling can provide. Rather than requiring students to keep to traditional school schedules, many virtual schools allow students to create the learning schedules that best suit their lifestyles. Here, the point is not to learn at a particular hour but simply to learn.

Scheduling flexibility can prove helpful for students who have other interests to pursue on a regular basis. For instance, it may help students who are heavily involved in art, music, dance, and athletic activities. It might also prove beneficial for students who volunteer, work, or participate in internships. Sometimes family dynamics or travel schedules also make flexible scheduling a plus.

Guidance and Support

Often, families consider virtual schooling because of the support and guidance they can expect versus traditional homeschooling. For example, with cyber schooling, parents can benefit from the guidance of instructors and the support of counselors and mentors. Many schools also offer technical support, academic advising and tutoring help for students on an as-needed basis.

Oxford Virtual Academy offers effective, personalized virtual education for K-12 students. Visit the OVA website to learn more about this exciting educational option.

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When Courses are Free Online, What’s Left for Universities to Sell?

Hands collaborating in co-writing or co-editing or co-teaching in online education (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

by Andrew Norton, Program Director, Higher Education at Grattan Institute, The Conversation: http://theconversation.edu.au

When some of the world’s most prestigious universities - including Harvard and MIT in their edX venture or Stanford and Princeton through Coursera - start putting courses online for free, it tells you one thing for sure - whatever they are selling, it is not their course content.

Australian universities are watching the movement in online open education closely, and with another 15 of the world’s top universities joining the Coursera venture this week many are asking how they can compete. But first, we must ask a fundamental question - what is it that universities are really selling?

Selling points

Though content is clearly important to any higher education course, it is not necessarily distinctive to any particular university. In degrees oriented to particular professions, course content will tend to be similar between institutions - they all teach what is required for professional admission. Similarly, in many disciplines there is established basic knowledge that must be taught.

The detail will vary, but there must be considerable overlap between universities. The long-standing commercial textbook market reflects the fact that core course materials can be shared between institutions, and can also be used by people who are not enrolled in any course.

Online higher education course materials, however, offer more than just the textbook-like reading materials put online. They also have video lectures, sometimes from big-name professors from high-prestige universities. In theory, these videos could replace lecturers in Australian universities, who say much the same thing, but perhaps with less authority and eloquence.

Bare bones teaching

The potential for putting teaching online seems greater in Australia than in the United States, the source of most free online education. Australian academics show a relatively low interest in teaching compared to research. And reflecting university cost pressures, permanent university staff have played a decreasing role as university teachers over the past 20 years.

Casual and temporary staff do much of the teaching in Australian higher education. Universities sometimes contract out teaching altogether. For example, the private higher education provider Navitas delivers Curtin University’s business courses in Sydney.

Casualisation and contracting out of teaching suggest something rather surprising: that though teaching is an essential element of a university, in practice universities are happy to let people with whom they have only a slight employment connection do this work.

University teaching is barely a profession in the usual sense of that word, with most academics lacking formal teaching qualifications and student surveys routinely suggesting significant room for teaching improvement.

So although course content and teaching are critical to higher education, they are areas in which there are not only alternatives to university providers, but universities themselves are willing to let others do much of the work.

Certified skills

What universities have not and legally cannot outsource is the awarding of credentials. Qualifications are highly regulated by government. Anyone can organise and teach a body of knowledge, but only organisations that meet detailed government requirements can award qualifications.

It is this credential awarding power that lets universities package up and sell a range of other services to students, some of which they provide themselves, and some of which they can bring in from other organisations.

How safe is this qualifications-awarding power from cheaper competitors overseas? So long as employers recognise government-approved Australian qualifications above all others, this will substantially protect Australian higher education providers from international competition.

The question that nobody can answer yet is whether edX type courses will start to be valued in the labour market. Assessment is becoming more common in free online courses from the United States, but course content developed by Harvard or MIT will not lead to a Harvard or MIT degree.

As for Australian universities, the credential is core to what those two institutions sell students, and they will not give away or even sell such a valuable commodity to all who want to buy. Nor are these universities likely to offer Australia-specific courses, which will limit competition for Australian higher education providers.

To read further, go to: http://theconversation.edu.au/when-courses-are-free-online-whats-left-for-universities-to-sell-8134?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+23+July+2012&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+23+July+2012+CID_ff7c1e98d0ded8abffc9c64ef439c50d&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=When+courses+are+free+online+whats+left+for+universities+to+sell

Tips On How To Become Fluent In A Foreign Language

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By Hayden Barrett

Learning a new language doesn't need to be as hard as it seems. With a little patience and lots of practice, you could be fluent and offering your technical translation services in a foreign country in less time than you imagined.

Immersion

Many language classes use immersion because it's so effective at forcing you to learn new things. If you're in the country where they speak the language, this is easy to do, but you can do it in an immersion class as well. Learning through the immersion method forces you to think on the spot, which means that rather than learning the same thing over and over again, you're forced to develop your skills.

Imitation

While imitating a native speaker may make you feel a little foolish, it can help you learn a lot more of the language than you may think. You will pick up new phrases and words simply by copying people. It will also help with your pronunciation, as you will naturally learn the little inflections and intricacies of a language such as intonation and the differences in pronunciation of vowels and consonants.

Be a local

If you're in the country, getting involved with a community or the people around you and their culture and way of life will teach you how to think like them and will help your fluency. If this means watching shows or listening to music that you don't understand for awhile, it will all help in the long run.

Oddly enough, even imitating fashion and the culture can help you get more acquainted with the language. If you look, act and talk like a foreigner, it's harder for you to learn the language, as the default will be for native speakers to try to help you out by speaking English (assuming they understand it). They may even avoid talking to you, as they might be scared it will be a struggle.

Study the subtleties

Pick up new phrases or words by writing them down and studying them later. Learning grammar is always a good idea. Unfortunately, many native English speakers have not learnt grammar but it will help you understand why things are done the way they are (and hopefully not confuse you more!).

Practicing lots

Practice makes perfect, as they say. Practicing what you have learnt solidifies things in your mind. Even if you do not always have the time to speak or use the language daily, there are other ways of practicing. Read websites, or watch TV or movies. Getting acquainted with a language means finding as many opportunities as you can to use it.

Be an explorer

If you have a chance, get to a place where they speak the language. It will help with a number of these tips. Even if you can't travel, you can develop the mind-set of an explorer. Be curious about the world around you and try to discover new things about the language. This is almost how a child learns a language for the first time; they're often not scared of making mistakes and are very curious about their surroundings..

Blue South Australia - Translation for Business. Wherever the market, whatever the business, leading companies trust Blue South to deliver the translations they need; on time; on budget; professionally.

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Education Degrees Not ‘Cheap and Easy’: Pyne is Wrong on Teacher Training

Hi Readers,

Here is a very interesting article on the teacher training debate here in Australia which has recently been sparked again by Christoppher Pyne. What's your views on this? Please leave a comment.

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by Tony Loughland, Senior Lecturer in Education at University of Sydney, The Conversation: http://theconversation.edu.au

Opposition Education spokesman Christopher Pyne’s comments to the Sydney Institute this week provoked a new debate on teacher training.

Most of the educational community would agree, and have for at least the last decade, that teacher quality is the key to improving educational outcomes.

The educational community also tells me quite often, as a teacher educator, that I need to improve our teacher education courses so that our graduates might survive and thrive in the incredibly complex and arduous workplace of schools and classrooms.

There is always room to do better. But Pyne’s comments of “cheap and easy” education degrees attracting poor quality entrants to teacher education are inaccurate and insulting to all of the outstanding young people that I have the pleasure of teaching in both graduate and undergraduate education programs.

Pyne’s statements are also inaccurate because ATAR cut-offs only reveal part of the picture. Politicians of all persuasions have used the outlier minimum ATAR scores rather than considering the mean, median and maximum admission scores.

Yet the mean, median and maximum ATARs attracting offers to all of the University of Sydney’s Bachelor of Education degrees in 2012 were, respectively, 84.82, 86.32 and 99.75.

Even with the removal of Federal Government quotas allowing more students to study teacher education, in part to counteract the predicted shortfall in key teacher numbers, the lowest ATAR for admission to the University of Sydney’s teacher education programs was 80.3.

Even when considering the fact that entry scores for other institutions are slightly lower, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) already has a policy response in place.

Teacher education courses are accredited on the basis that they will produce graduates that have attained “levels of personal literacy and numeracy … broadly equivalent to those of the top 30 per cent of the population”.

To read further, go to: http://theconversation.edu.au/education-degrees-not-cheap-and-easy-pyne-is-wrong-on-teacher-training-8317?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+20+July+2012&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+20+July+2012+CID_be7f8aff1000afd17cabaf558b629431&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=Education+degrees+not+cheap+and+easy+Pyne+is+wrong+on+teacher+training

Why Parents Should Consider Homeschooling Their Children

Illustration of a lapbook on the subject of 'Space' used in a homeschooling course (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Gwen Nicodemus

People often ask me why I homeschool my children. "What are the benefits of home education?"

I have to temper my tongue when answering because the first thought that comes to mind is "Why shouldn't I homeschool my kids. It's better for them."

I strongly believe in the benefits of homeschooling. I think it's good for most children (whether or not it's a good idea for their parents is an entirely different question).

Most kids, say those who fall nicely in the center of the bell curve, will probably do fine in school. However, they probably could do better at home.

Why should you and your children settle for fine? Why? Many reasons make homeschooling a good idea. These are the most important ones.

True customization is possible

A teacher in a classroom cannot customize her teaching to each individual kid. (S)he doesn't have the time and probably doesn't have the ability. How could one person learn to excel at teaching kids with ADD, Tourette's, dyslexia, depression, PTSD, autism, and the myriad other problems people have? I don't see it. As a homeschooling mother, I only have to learn to teach around and with the problems my children have.

Learning can stay fun

Schools in the United States were not built to educate children. They were built to give future factory workers the minimum they would need to perform adequately in a factory. Future workers needed to know how to read, how to do some basic math, how to do repetitive boring tasks, and how to respond to bells and whistles.

As a consequence, schools in themselves are little factories churning out kids. Besides the fact that factory work isn't readily available in the United States anymore, this method of education stamps out the fun of learning.

Most homeschoolers don't do tons of worksheets. Once the kid has mastered a topic, (s)he goes onto the next topic. Every once in a while the parent might re-test the kid, be it with a formal test or in a sneaky way. Let's face it. Very few kids like worksheets, and worksheets are a complete negative and waste of time for dyslexics, which current estimates peg at 20% of children.

Instead of worksheets and bells, children can read, experiment and have fun. I did a worksheet-less math lesson with my children once where we calculated the cost of taking a trip to a convention in a different city.

The kids had to research carbon emissions for various forms of transportation and the cost of the transportation. They had to come up with different ways of eating during the trip and do a cost vs. nutrition analysis. They figured out the time/cost/environmental tradeoff. They had to find the cheapest way to make the trip and the most expensive. They had fun. They asked to do a similar math lesson again.

I can accommodate my children

My daughter is an excellent reader, but my son is dyslexic. My son is a whiz at math and strategy, and my daughter is less skilled with those tasks. My daughter is creative with physical things she can hold in her hand, like crafts. My son is creative with abstract ideas. I can accommodate them.

When we study a book, either my husband reads it to both children for bedtime stories or I have my daughter read it and hand my son an iPod with the audio version loaded.

Since worksheets are daunting, they don't show up in our curriculum. Since my daughter is creative with physical media, I can make her "tests" be something like "show me how this works by building something with Lego or modeling clay." For my son, I can have him draw me a picture, or if I give him enough time, he can explain his ideas verbally.

I can give my son more time to write, or I can let him type. Kids in classrooms typically don't have their own computer in front of them.

I can influence my children

I am the primary influence in my children's lives; similarly aged kids are not. Yes, they still learn silly kid jokes, but they haven't learned playground meanness. I can't stress how wonderful this is.

Read about my experience with my kids and a trip planning math lesson and at the end of the article you can download free instructions and a template for doing this exercise with your children.
Gwen Nicodemus is a freelance engineer/writer and a homeschooling mom.

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Teaching English in Mexico - Your Four Options

Mexico (Photo credit: sebpaquet)

By Philip Albert Edmonds-Hunt

As a foreign English teacher in Mexico, you really only have four different teaching options open to you.

However, first you will need to ask yourself some serious questions about your abilities to speak Spanish, and answer them with the utmost honesty.

Do you speak Spanish? What level is your Spanish? Could you explain an English class in Spanish? etc.

Options

1. If you do not speak Spanish, your only option is to work in one of the many Franchised English Schools, such as Harmon Hall, Quick Learning, Individual English, or Interlingua. They teach 100% in English, and offer their students no explication in Spanish. Working conditions are excellent, and teachers are usually either American or Canadian. Students get given an internationally recognized English certificate at the end of their course. Pay is usually very low, although these schools do tend to pay at the end of each day.

2. If you speak Spanish, then your options begin to widen a little. You may find work in one of the many Private Schools, where students pay for their studies. The level of education is high, as good teachers are attracted to the schools by the offer of better pay. Contracts are usually for one year, after which they may be renewed for a further period of time. You may be offered a house to live in as part of your contract, or have your rent paid, which could be worth up to several thousand pesos a month. Also the benefit of medical insurance is usually included.

3. Government Schools and Universities are another option, although these schools and universities are usually reserved for the lower grade Mexican English teachers. An excellent level of Spanish is required, as most of the teachers explain the English to their students in Spanish. However, the teachers level of English is usually very low, and it is normal for students when they finish school, still not to speak any English at all. It is usually very difficult to find work here if you are not Mexican, although not impossible.

4. Working from Home is your last option. Your Spanish level will need to be about 85%, as you will be expected to explain your English classes in Spanish. You get paid either by the hour at the end of each class, or in advance having charged for a block of classes beforehand. Mexicans are not very punctual, so be prepared for your students to either turn up late for classes, or not to turn up at all. It is common for students to cancel five minutes before classes are due to begin.

Note: To teach English in Mexico you have to be residing in the country legally. If you are in Mexico on a tourist visa, then you are not permitted to work. However, this is usually seldom respected by foreigners!

Philip Albert Edmonds-Hunt is from the County of Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom. He has travelled most of Europe, and he has lived in Spain on more than one occasion. Philip has also travelled much of the USA and now lives and works as a Freelance Writer and English Teacher in Mexico.

He is the owner of "The Oxford Quill," a small but reliable business offering a range of services such as, "Professional Article Writing, Proofreading, and Website Design." If you would like to read more about teaching English in Mexico, check out: https://sites.google.com/site/theoxfordquill/teaching-english-from-home-in-mexico

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Sick of Paying for Textbooks? Get Them Now, Free and Online

Textbook Stack (Photo credit: greenasian)

by Associate Professor David Glance, Director, Centre for Software Practice at University of Western Australia, The Conversation: http://theconversation.edu.au

In the same way that free open online courseware is threatening to disrupt traditional universities, open textbook initiatives such as OpenStax College from Rice University threaten to do the same to the traditional textbook market.

OpenStax College has taken five of the most popular topics taught in American universities and produced high quality peer-reviewed textbooks that are available for anyone to download for free.
OpenStax College aims to try and save students at least $90 million over five years by capturing 10% of the US textbook market.

But this is not the first open access textbook venture. Sites like Bookboon and Flat World Knowledge offer free online and downloadable versions of their texts with print versions available at a price. But the difference is that these sites have strong associations with publishers, whereas OpenStax College is run through a university.

Authors of textbooks in Flat World Knowledge receive a royalty on sales of printed versions of their textbooks, whereas authors contributing towards Rice University’s venture are volunteering their efforts. Bookboon funds open access through the inclusion of advertising in the books.

The move to electronic textbooks is something that students have adopted with gusto. In a summary of research at Indiana University over 1,700 students were surveyed for their attitudes and use of e-Textbooks: 87% of students reported reading e-Texbooks over paper versions, while 68% of students never printed any part of their texts, reading everything digitally.

The survey also revealed that the primary reading device was their laptops and only 1% used a mobile device or an e-Reader (this may be a reflection of the time of the study which covered 2009-2011, as iPads were relatively new in 2009).

In 2012, MIT teamed up with Flat World Knowledge to provide textbooks for their OpenCourseWare courses. Presumably this will continue with the edX venture.

With the average textbook costing between $50 and $300, the availability of free textbooks would be extremely attractive to students. There is certainly anecdotal evidence that students are resorting to using pirated copies of electronic textbooks to avoid the large financial outlay. Certainly, it wasn’t hard to find a pirated copy of the first textbook I looked for on the internet.

Given that free textbooks are available and that they are at least of equal quality as those available from commercial publishers, the question could be raised as to why they are not more commonly used by academics.

On the assumption that most academics would care about students having to pay for a textbook, there are probably a number of reasons they are not more commonly used. The primary reason is that academics don’t know they are available. Another reason might be time pressures in preparing a course.

To read further, go to: http://theconversation.edu.au/sick-of-paying-for-textbooks-get-them-now-free-and-online-8142?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+18+July+2012&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+18+July+2012+CID_70fab732bdf466609d33c49f1d2dc419&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=Sick+of+paying+for+textbooks+Get+them+now+free+and+online

Math Tutoring Online - A Way to Find Great Tutors

Mathematics (Photo credit: Terriko)

By Liz James

Irrespective of the fact that we use math everyday and that math skills are absolutely essential to have, math as a subject still does not enjoy much popularity.

This could be largely due to the fact that students are conditioned into thinking that math is a difficult subject and quite boring as well to boot.

The obvious solution here is to try and help students avoid forming that impression by focusing on how simple it can be. And math can be a bit tough for many students, especially areas like algebra and trigonometry which have to be explained clearly.

One of the best ways to help students learn math is to provide them with math help from an early grade. When students learn with a math helper, they have someone to work with and can clarify their doubts immediately rather than waiting for later, in which case they are most likely to forget.

Math helpers who can guide students efficiently can encourage students to develop a positive attitude toward math and help them stay interested in the subject. Students who find math a bit tough will need extra help and guidance.

Often, these are the students who are unable to follow what is being done in class and soon lag behind their classmates, thereby losing interest in the subject believing that they can't learn it anyway.

Timely math help can put an end to all these problems. Parents who know math well can help their kids by spending a couple of hours with them every evening, learning math. Parents and kids can review what was taught in class and try solving the homework together.

However most parents are not in a position to extend this help, either because they do not know the subject well enough themselves or because they are pressed for time. A qualified math tutor is the answer to your problem.

Math tutors work with students on a regular basis and help them understand concepts clearly and accurately. Online math tutoring is an easy and convenient way for students to access great tutors who are available around the clock.

Students who register for math tutoring online can choose the tutors they want to work with. Sessions are scheduled according to the student's convenience and you can also create a schedule for the entire week or month. Doing this helps students get accustomed to regular study time and study habits.

There are a number of resources online like practice worksheets and math games and quizzes which students can work on by themselves or with friends.

Know more about the math help. This article give basic information about Online math tutoring. Next article will cover more concept on math topics and its advantages and many more. Please share your comments.

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Seven Secrets of Stylish Academic Writing

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by Associate Professor Helen Sword, Associate Professor, Centre for Academic Development at University of Auckland, The Conversation:

Imagine that the editor of a widely-read magazine or, say, The Conversation has heard about your academic research and invited you to contribute an article.

But you only know how to produce stodgy, impersonal papers for peer-reviewed disciplinary journals.

How do you undo years of scholarly training and learn to write like a human being?

It’s a dilemma many academics face when engaging with print or online media for the first time, so here are seven tips to turn your jargon into energetic prose that anyone can understand.

Start with the title

The titles of academic articles are typically abstract, technical, and utterly uninviting, such as:
“Social-Organizational Characteristics of Work and Publication Productivity among Academic Scientists in Doctoral-Granting Departments”.

To send a more welcoming signal to potential readers, try phrasing your title as a question (“Why Are Some Scientists More Productive Than Others?”), a provocative statement (“Productivity Hurts”), a metaphor (“Productivity: Holy Grail or Poisoned Chalice?”) or other memorable phrase (“The Productivity Paradox”).

Wherever possible, opt for simple, concrete language. “Snakes on a Plane” is an inviting title; “Aggressive Serpentine Behaviour in a Restrictive Aviation Environment” is not.

Follow with an opening hook

“Scientific work takes place in organisations that may either facilitate or inhibit performance and within a larger, social community of science that may limit, constrain, or stimulate the development of ideas and actions.”

Yawn - you’ve already lost us. Follow up your engaging title with an opening paragraph that contains a question, quotation, anecdote or description: a vivid scene, a surprising fact. Toss your readers into the middle of a story that has already begun.

Tell a story

The stories we like best have real people in them. Consider making yourself the central character in a tale of academic challenge and discovery.

Alternatively, find another human face to focus on: the cancer patient helped by a new treatment, the student who confronted and overcame a conceptual roadblock, the artist who struggled to find an appropriate aesthetic form for conveying the horrors of war.

With practice, you can learn to craft an equally compelling story featuring non-human characters: seagulls, red blood cells, a theorem, a text.

Be human

Remember you are a human being writing for other human beings. Whether or not you employ the personal pronoun “I”, cultivate an authoritative yet conversational voice that invokes confidence and trust. Read a few paragraphs aloud to yourself or to a friend. Do your sentences sound as though they’ve been produced by a robot? Or can you hear a real person speaking?

Be concrete

Academics typically traffic in abstract language. Readers, however, grasp abstract concepts best when they are grounded in the physical world. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech vividly illustrates this principle: “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.”

King invokes a colourful landscape (the red hills of Georgia), stocks it with human characters (the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners) and gives those people something to do (sit down together at the table).

Not until the end of the sentence does he deliver the abstract noun at its heart. Brotherhood, King shows us, is not just an empty ideal but a place, an action, a shared meal.

To read further, go to: http://theconversation.edu.au/seven-secrets-of-stylish-academic-writing-7025?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+16+July+2012&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+16+July+2012+CID_d58c683f19320c9f8fab4ec09dd3c0b3&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=Seven+secrets+of+stylish+academic+writing

Are You Ready To Homeschool?

Motivations regarded most important for homeschooling among parents in 2007. Source: 1.5 Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2007 Issue Brief from Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. December 2008. NCES 2009–030 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Kris L Gardener

Let's face it, homeschooling is a huge step for anyone to undertake and it take lots and lots of preparation to get it right.

But don't despair, if you put in the effort and hours BEFORE you start on the homeschooling path, you'll be cruising along later on - promise!

Most people fail in the early stages of homeschooling because they simply haven't given each of the following points due consideration.

Don't make the same mistake. This is your and your children's future and day to day life that you're undertaking, so again, make sure you get it right BEFORE you start.

Personality & Patience

OK, I'll admit, this is the one I worried about most when I first decided to undertake homeschooling - 'Am I too hot-headed to do this'?! Well, yes and no ... if you're organized and know how to 'read' your children, you're halfway there already.

You will be spending a lot of time with your children once you start homeschooling and most of that time is going to be, by necessity, in a controlled and orderly arrangement. If you are able to be firm with your children, mean 'no' when you say 'no' and set definite rules for your homeschool, then you're well on your way to a successful homeschooling experience.

Your children may attempt to manipulate you into disrupting your homeschooling schedule, but you're just going to have to set very firm guidelines from the start and enforce them, so they know that homeschooling time is learning time, not acting out time.

Time

The good news is that despite my initial misgivings, this was the least of my homeschooling worries. The reality is that you will get as much done in a few hours as a regular classroom teacher would achieve in a full school day. No attendance records, no time wasted on discipline (we hope!) and it will be much faster for you and your children to complete a lesson, simply because the tuition is one on one, which will speed everything up.

The bad news is that you also need to spend time planning your curriculum, organizing lessons in advance and then cleaning up when you're done. Actually, I found all of this fun and a welcome part of my day, but we all differ, so take it into consideration.

Money

Homeschooling isn't free - you'll need resources, books, teaching materials. You can pick up second hand books on eBay or Amazon for next to nothing and there are a myriad of free resources on the web for homeschooling parents.

Sure, you can go crazy and spend lots of money on teaching resources and learning aids, but for the most part, everyday household items will suffice just fine. Don't forget your local library and other free community resources. This can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be.

Conclusion

Think seriously about your TIME, MONEY AND PERSONALITY before undertaking homeschooling. If you plan accordingly from the start and be HONEST about your capabilities, you'll set yourself (and your children) up for a rewarding and enjoyable homeschooling experience.

Don't think that you can't do it just because you're not the most patient person in the world, neither do you need to be. You just need to be organized, committed and keep in mind why you wanted to do this in the first place. From there, anything and everything good is possible.

Kris Gardener from Homeschool SetUp (http://www.homeschoolsetup.com/free-report.php) is an expat living in Thailand. She has homeschooled her children for several years. Homeschool SetUp offers practical advice and information for homeschooling parents.

Click on the link below to receive a free mini-course detailing the 10 most important steps to successful homeschooling.
http://www.homeschoolsetup.com/free-report.php
Copyright 2012 Kris Gardener.

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