MyEdgeMyEdge

By MyEdge

5 ways to create an amazing portfolio as teacher on the Internet

Online education is fast gaining foreground across the world. Far from the confines of the four walls and the classroom, teachers and students both are now resorting to the virtual classroom that has no barriers of time and space. Teaching online can be a very rewarding option for an educator. There are many online teaching opportunities that have cropped up in recent years. If you are attached with an online teaching website, you should also be aware of the need to have an updated and attractive teaching resume.

A digital resume that has the punch and the right degree of expertise, often makes for a recipe for success in online learning media. Here are tips that would make your resume or portfolio stand out and attract many eyeballs online:

  1. Choose a platform that allows you to combine many templates and widgets. Try and explore the tools available online and use it to make the most persuasive and compelling resume online. You can also upload your teaching artifacts and also the student work that has garnered the most grades. Ensure that while you put in glowing tributes about your achievements as a teacher, you also take permissions from the students and their parents when putting in the words of praise.
  2. Choose a good online website that provides online tutoring and has a broad student base across ages. A website such as MyEdge offers budding teachers and the seasoned hands to blossom as professionals in online learning. What and which online platform you choose is always crucial in catapulting a teacher from obscurity to greatness.
  3. While choosing to highlight your achievements as a teacher, make sure that you also keep it simple and clean rather than making it over-powering and boastful. You should create a simple design that attracts attention and not just a passing glance.
  4. Your online portfolio, should clearly have your photograph along with some of your students. A clear title and an “About Me” page are a must here. Next in appearance is your teaching philosophy that should be not more than one page while the content should be original. Ensure that your sample lesson plans and method of instruction is clearly specified.
  5. The online resumes that stand out clearly have an ending section that carries a testimonial page that has all the students’ remarks. How you are as a teacher has a lot of weight and recommendations along with testimonials make or break your online brand name. Your portfolio not only stands out as the business card but also is the coherent picture of who you are as an educator.

Finally, when you are prepping up your online resume, you should also include the instructional technologies you have mastered over the years on the online platform. Showcase your technological projects and how students have benefitted from them. This should be a comprehensive portfolio that will make the right noise on the web.

By MyEdge

5 Ways In Which You Can Attract New Students For Your Online Classes

Teaching online can be a rewarding experience if you have more and more students with each passing month. Thus, it is necessary that you attract all kinds of students to be a part of the online learning platform. As a teacher, you might need to constantly reinvent your methods and style of imparting knowledge. To command a long term following, here are 5 sure shot ways to attract the curious minds for your online classes:

  1. Build a community – As an online academic advisor, you need to create a sense of belongingness even if there is no collective or the physical presence of a classroom. One of the best ways to connect and engage, retain and help students prosper is through online open house sessions. These are very helpful for the students who read and study online. You should have a mix of your existing students as well as probable oneswho may join later.Once your online students discuss the study topics freely, the doubts of the hesitant ones will slowly fade away
  2. Stay in touch – If you are an online tutor, it is also necessary that you are in constant touch with your students and their parents. Congratulatory calls and even appreciation emails can be very encouraging for a student who is not in a physical class participating in the conventional way. You can send the plan of action yourself when new students join and call when required.
  3. Set the basics right – It is often observed that any learning session works better if there is an orientation preceding it. If you have an online learning plan where you introduce the student first to the basics of your teaching plan followed by an overall learning orientation to video conferencing, learning via the video and Internet, students feel much more excited and prepared for what is in store for them in the future.
  4. Build a positive word – Always have past students come over to your learning platform and encourage the newbies to do well. Sharing past experiences and testimonials often help in building student morale at the start of a session. If you have students who have greatly benefited from you as their online tutor then that by itself would bring in new students.
  5. Keep your resources handy – It is important that you also have a mentoring program in place. One that channels the new blood into the direction that will be rewarding not only for the student but also for you as a teacher. There should also be allied resource portals that can help students who are studying online to resort to books and materials online rather than going to a library physically. Networking with other teachers and students who are in the same area and have had previous learning experience is also a good way of finding a new pool of students eager to join the online platform.

By MyEdge

5 Reasons Why You Should Homeschool Your Child

Homeschooling is fast becoming a great option to tutor children. Child education experts and social scientists are among those who believe that children should not be subjected under the purview of the discipline and social conditioning of the formal school. The school, many conflict theorists believe has been at the forefront of “dehumanizing” the education needs of children of certain age groups. Without entering much into the pedagogy of this topic, homeschooling can have its fast returns for parenthood too.

In the U.S., homeschooling is legal and in some states, such an arrangement does require a supervision by a state actor or a social worker. In India however, the stress on homeschooling is essentially about being a part of the “virtual classroom” methodology. Parents are fast resorting to the virtual classroom mode that can be enjoyed by students from the comforts of the home. Though homeschooling largely refers to a study discipline being maintained at home, help and coaching from external sources is all the more important. Virtual classroom, thus, is a natural fit.

There are different methods in the virtual classroom mode where students can learn and excel at their respective school/ college exams. Some of these coaching are closely supervised online and require performance progress tests. However, there are various self-paced learning programs available as well to suit the needs of different students as per their aptitude. A lot of carefully planned and shaped educational tools and training programs have been designed to give homeschooling a regular boost.

In addition, a lot of study time gets wasted in commute, especially in big cities. Homeschooling gives an easy access to quality resources without moving out of the comfort of your home. You can get online with friends, evaluate teaching resources as per their cost and find customized solutions which are both compatible with your pocket as well as your learning needs.

Here are 5 reasons why homeschooling can be a great option for your child:

1. The public school or even the confines of the private school system can be really expensive for middle class parents, especially so in the United States. These schools inspire rote learning and cramming with little emphasis on critical thinking or even questioning. With large classes and fewer teachers, many of these schools are holding back effective learning that lasts with time. Children often are tutored to learn for exams and retain nothing thereafter.

2. Much of the formal educational system does not involve virtual classrooms or even learning remotely. In many rural classrooms in India, for example, children are not given the attention they need. Teachers don’t get paid and hardly ever attend class physically. Virtual classrooms or even online tutoring arranges the time for both a child and a tutor to be present at all times. Many tutoring companies arrange for kids to learn even in the vernacular. This promotes development of learning.

3. In homeschools, children are at the comfort of their homes. Parents too can participate and learn along with children. Best of the teachers from different cities can be contacted and their help can be sought. Websites that encourage remote learning and learning through e tutoring such as MyEdge.in have proliferated their operations. Virtual classrooms encourage young learners while even the greatest of teachers scattered geographically come together in one session to impart amazing knowledge.

4. Most of homeschooling involves self-motivation and inspiration. This encourages children to think outside of the box and do things on their own. Homeschooling counters the image of dependency on one source for learning. Learning thus becomes multi-mode. Also, teachers are unfettered and are not bogged down with minute administrative tasks that they do at formal schools. They can focus on knowledge sharing and enable children to master their interests.

5. Finally, you can attend to the individual needs of each child in homeschooling. There are education tools that enable this to happen. Social commentaries and other creative inputs also can interest the learner. The learner can feel compelled to learn inexpensively.

By MyEdge

3 Reasons Why Let Social Learning Be Your AdvantEDGE

Technology is broadly influencing education techniques and teaching mechanisms. Teachers who can download e books and also use new age digital media are fast realizing how social learning too is fast redefining how students learn. Social learning can safely be assumed to be the changing face of 21st century digital “Gen Next” learning.

What is social learning?

If social media are a set of tools used over the Internet, such as Facebook and Twitter, then social learning is an action that utilizes that special tool. Social learning is technology oriented learning that is frictionless and revolutionary. No questions, no furor or loud disagreements or even disruptions. Social learning can be through formal set ups or even informal. The virtual classroom via the Internet is one such informal set up. There are no pre-defined curriculum and no leaders. Topics often are generated organically by students and then ensues a discussion along with collaboration and later explanation by teachers. There are no strict rules and social tools and channels are used extensively in learning patterns.

Experts suggest how there has been a “gamification” of learning concepts and students and teachers both now enjoy studying in a different way by solving school problems in collaboration. Competition is about bettering one’s knowledge than about beating another. This is why the “social” has been infused in social learning and not individual learning.

An asynchronous continuity in Q&A:

Previously school goers believed if they asked a question in class, the answer would quickly follow suit from the teacher. In social learning this question and answer continuity is asynchronous. Social learning through social networks let students free from the division of time and space. Through digital learning new possibilities, multiple answers and many more theories could be found.

A new found confidence in collaboration:

Social learning is now all about collaboration. Students themselves can read and learn online and take up the role of a teacher to a fellow student anytime. The process of learning has now a new found confidence that is basically because of collaboration and communication. Because of discussions in social platforms, students can now themselves exchange comments and learn. In fact teachers no longer play the traditional roles. There in an interplay of both teacher and student roles.

Content can be grouped and filtered easily:

In conventional classrooms, teachers learn their chapters and prepare for class, whereas in social learning environments, this is not the case. You can browse through questions by subjects, topics, tone and source over the Internet in various social platforms and also download e books. You can tag and upload concepts and theories, explanations and angles. There are numerous videos and blogs that can be read and viewed based on filtering the search criteria. You can even look for research topics similar to yours and even connect with various individuals.

With traditional teachers clearly taking a back seat, many learning companies are taking advantEDGE of social learning technologies and delivering on teaching with a difference! MyEdge is one such website that uses social technologies and virtual classrooms for tutoring and mentoring students. Isn’t it a time for you to start as well?

By MyEdge

5 Tips To Be The Next Math Wizard

If you want to excel in Math, it’s something you can really do without breaking too much sweat. Fret not as this is not that tough! Math is really no sorcery and requires some healthy love for the subject along with some patience and hard work. Websites such as MyEdge also enable you to rediscover math like never before. Like many math wizards, you can also read a mathematics book in an online library (you can refer to LIVErary @ myedge.in) to first initiate the love for the subject for starters. Some of the popular Maths books available at LIVErary are Mathematical Statistics : A Unified Introduction (Fienberg, S.), International Comparison in Mathematics Education (Kaiser, Gabriele), Radical Equations : Organizing Math Literacy in America’s Schools (Moses, Robert P.), Mathematics in the Early Years (Clemson, David), Logic from A to Z : The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Glossary of Logical and Mathematical Terms (Bacon, John B.), Basic Mathematics for Economists (Rosser, Mike), Cult of Pythagoras : Math and Myths (Martinez, Alberto A.) among a hundred others.

Mathematics is no quixotic conquest and you don’t have to engross yourself in repetitive number crunching or even formula memorizing. The truth is that math like any other subject needs the proper love and right regimen that can help you conquer the stress and do well in the subject.

Here are 5 easy tips that can help you become a math wizard:

  1. Keep solving till you master: Math is all about practice. It is not a very oral subject that needs cramming or even memorizing. In fact math is all about doing well at the finer points. Practice does make you perfect and math unlike other subjects need perseverance and routine.
  2. Always work hard on your weaknesses: Mathematicians will tell you how, math needs problem solving with your grey areas. Your weaknesses may disqualify your strengths and nowhere is it most apparent than in Mathematics. Challenges need to be faced headlong, you need to solve problems interestingly.
  3. Work on solved examples: A good way to master math is to read the solved examples in algebra, arithmetic or even geometry. An academic had remarked previously how, one had to just practice and study worked examples. Additional problem solving is always good for you if you want to know how a theorem or a formula can be solved given a way. Different relationships in math need different methods. This makes for a unique problem solving method.
  4. Never give up till you finally crack it up! Many math problems require help, but some can be ingeniously solved with time and repeated efforts. If you have the time, try solving a sum on your own. Do not relax or give up if you don’t get the answer then and there. The key to your success lies in taking up the reins on your own and solving the sum.
  5. Try putting yourself in a problem solving position: Experts and math wizards will tell you how you can put yourself into another person’s shoes and then deliver explanations or the lessons. In other words, you become the teacher and that helps you put yourself in the learner’s shoes. While you learn the math problem, you also understand the sum by itself.
1 9 10 11 12 13 24
5 ways to create an amazing portfolio as teacher on the Internet
5 Ways In Which You Can Attract New Students For Your Online Classes
5 Reasons Why You Should Homeschool Your Child
3 Reasons Why Let Social Learning Be Your AdvantEDGE
5 Tips To Be The Next Math Wizard