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How Vegan are Classrooms? The Truth Behind School Equipment

By
Manuela Willbold
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Vegan Classrooms

There’s often a thin line when it comes to discussing certain ideologies in the classroom.

Under UK Human Rights Laws, Veganism is a protected philosophical conviction, and every parent has the right to provide an education for their children that’s in line with their personal and moral beliefs.

Although vegan parents are certainly able to exercise this right to ensure that Veganism is a part of their child’s education – unfortunately, a large proportion of teaching materials contain animal products or are tested on animals.

If you’re concerned about how vegan your child’s classroom is, then this little guide has everything you need to know.

Animal Products in the Classroom

When we think about animal cruelty in the classroom – the first thing that comes to mind is animal dissection during science class. However, in most cases, instances of animal cruelty at school can be much more subtle.

Sadly, the majority of office supplies contain various animal products or have been tested on animals to ascertain how toxic they are. This applies to all kinds of supplies, from whiteboard markers to the boards they write on!

Try to keep in mind that in most classrooms, it’s not always possible to cater to everyone’s ideologies at the same time. Whilst you might not always be able to completely remove instances of animal cruelty in the classroom, it is good to be aware of when and where your children may come into contact with non-vegan items.

This way, it becomes easier to work with both your child and your school to find cruelty-free alternatives to common classroom items.

Green and Clean

Green and Clean ClassroomWhen we talk about Veganism in the classroom, it’s often tied in with discussions about being eco-friendly.

Indeed, there are a lot of environmental benefits that can come from switching to vegan alternatives. The environmentally-friendly nature of the vegan diet is one key example, but switching to green, cruelty-free class supplies, like Simply Glass Wipeboards, can actually reduce the overall waste output of the school, and improve its ‘recyclability.’

It can be frustrating as a vegan parent, especially when the teachers at your child’s school take a different view.

The best way to tackle this situation is to be as courteous and well informed as you can be. When you voice your concerns, try to suggest practical solutions that can benefit the school as a whole.

Being involved and helping inform others is the best way to enact change within your community, get creative with your child, and build up a good rapport with the teachers!

How can we Make a Difference?

Here are some ingenious but surprisingly simple ways to enact real change in your child’s classroom:

Choose bamboo rulers over plastic

Plastic rulers and pencil cases can contribute so much unwanted waste to our school environment. Bamboo options will not only reduce plastic in the classroom but will also bring down waste, as plastic rulers are notoriously fragile!

Switch your brands

Plenty of high street stationary titans like Pilot and Staedler are completely cruelty-free – so switching to these brands won’t hurt your bank or any animals!

Humane pest control

Pest control is a vital part of running a school. Try to suggest cruelty-free insect-catchers for the classroom so that staff-members can catch pests humanely, and demonstrate to children that life is valuable.

Cruelty-free hygiene solutions

Hygiene in the classroom is paramount! Suggesting a switch to cruelty-free products can reduce the carbon footprint of your classroom and stop harmful chemicals from being released into the environment – all while keeping your kids safe!

Find alternatives

Find alternatives to Common plastic products, such as glass whiteboards, and wooden toys.

Art supplies

Art supplies are known for including animal products – but there are so many cost-effective cruelty-free options on the market, so the use of animal products in art supplies is unnecessary and easily fixed!

Update your filing solutions

Using paper cinches instead of staples, and selecting recyclable plastic wallets are excellent practical ways to keep your classroom organised and eco-friendly.

Final Thoughts

Although you can’t control every aspect of the school environment, working with the school to make small changes, and being involved and informed can definitely help your cause.

By implementing a few small, cost-effective changes, you can really reduce the harm that your school does to animals and the environment!

Alternative Provision Innovation Fund: Transforming the Lives of Disadvantaged Children

By
Manuela Willbold
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Alternative Provision Digital Conference

The organisers of the Alternative Provision Digital Conference spoke with PRUsAP President Sarah Dove who shared her key insights into a pioneering initiative funded by the Department for Education: Alternative Provision Innovation AV1 project.

Julian-Thompson

The initiative aims to improve outcomes for children in alternative provision. In an exclusive interview with the Project Manager, Sarah Dove, they discussed the project’s achievements so far along with pioneering technological innovation to support those most vulnerable, their plans, and what is required to accomplish their major goals in transforming the lives of disadvantaged children.

Sarah Dove, President, PRUsAP & Project Manager, Alternative Provision Innovation AV1 Project

The Alternative Provision Innovation Fund Project was looking at whether telepresence solutions would support young people in returning to school. 90 AV robots were funded by the Department for Education.

We wanted to see whether this would assist in the reintegration of vulnerable children back into schools and if it would help them achieve their academic goals. An underpinning concern was around their emotional wellbeing and ensuring they were part of their school environment despite undergoing critical treatment as many children suffering from cancer or other life-threatening illnesses, as well as anxiety or depression, and patients within psychiatric in-patient hospitals.

One of the greatest challenges we faced was getting several academic organisations/schools to agree to take part in the initiative. This was a complex task as we had to on-board these schools all the way from Cornwall to Manchester, and beyond.

Sadly, during the project, several children passed away but even those that are no longer with us sought the benefits of the initiative as it enabled them to stay connected with their friends throughout all the turmoil they had to endure.

The biggest question we had to ask ourselves for these unfortunate children was not to do with their academic achievements but was simply ‘did they have fun?’ and the answer was ‘yes’. That was our greatest accomplishment, even though it is difficult to quantify.

Most children lived, attended school virtually, and did very well. At the start of the project, we assessed their personal wellbeing and that looked at their engagement with peers and staff and what we found was generally a substantial increase.

Overall, we saw children not only maintain their academic progress but also improve their emotional wellbeing. On top of this, we found that most pupils using these AV robots wanted to return to school full-time because they stayed connected to their friends.

The life of the project was 2 years, and we are currently waiting for governmental feedback from the Department for Education regarding information comparing this to other innovation-led projects to see how we fared.

In terms of next steps, we would love more funding, but it is also about making all solutions to absenteeism of vulnerable children within schools available and holding decision-makers accountable for implementing these.

COVID-19 has highlighted issues of isolation, but this is not a new story for these children. This has gone on for years and we can learn from these experiences and consider how we support children with medical needs in the future. We must use this information to drive forward change.

Join Sarah at this year’s Alternative Provision Digital Conference on Thursday 22nd April, broadcast live from Central London where she will be discussing Considerations Impacting Funding for AP.

Here is the full agenda:

https://bit.ly/3jVSapI. 

We are pleased to be able to offer 20% off registration for the conference. Use Discount Code UKEBZO-AP when you register.

Source: Sam Cartwright s.cartwright@insight-mail.com for www.westminsterinsight.com

5 Reasons & Solutions For Students Losing Interest while Learning Online

By
Shirley Owen
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0
motivate-and-support-children-struggling-with-online-learning-from-home

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students had to switch to online learning. These changes caught some of them off guard. Nobody expected to go remotely starting in 2020, but since circumstances required us to, there was no other option available.

However, you can see how students could be easily confused by the transition process. Some of them quickly adapted to the new routine, while others became discouraged and lost interest in studying.

Let’s see why that happened, and how we can improve the online learning system.

Reason #1: They Struggle to Adapt

Switching from in-person to online can be a struggle for many students, especially the early years and primary students. Not everyone has been exposed to computer-based learning from early on, so adapting to a new situation in such a short amount of time without any training can be challenging. Using Course Management Systems or CMS is something that should have been taught a long time ago in schools. However, most students did not take any classes on computer adaptability. Their mindset is not working this way. Naturally, they need longer to adapt to the new circumstances.

Solution: educating the young by developing computer-based mindsets and digital skills within each individual from an early age.

Reason #2: They are not Technologically Prepared

Most older students are good with computers, but they may not be tech-savvy. That being said, they are not properly prepared to handle technological issues. Unfortunately, online classes require a great deal of technological preparation and know-how. Not everything runs smoothly all the time, so “fixing software” or “hardware” becomes a necessity.

Besides that, not all students are good with PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, or Excel. Younger students never took any classes on these subjects. They are not prepared to use all of these programs, so they naturally become discouraged to learn online.

Solution: get students signed up for basic computer-based classes online, where they learn the necessary how-to’s.

Reason #3: They cannot Manage their Time Right

Another important issue is time management. Not all students are organized enough to finish their tasks on timemanaging-time-and-tasks-from-school-at-home-for-better-remote-learning or order to manage their work effectively. Most of them rely on teachers or professors to manage their coursework for them. With online education things have changed. Students don’t physically go to class anymore, meaning they can study whenever they find it fit. For some, this is absolutely amazing, and it works. For other whatsoever, this is a big setback. Time flexibility does not match their disorganized behaviour.

Solution: setting up a regular schedule where they can track their work. Setting reminders and checking deadlines constantly. Buying a planner and writing down all their assignments. Many learning management systems also provide student calendars where all their assignments and tasks are stored with reminders.

Reason #4: They experience Technical Issues

Some students don’t have access to the Internet at all or only very limited, especially students in third-world countries or more deprived areas. If they cannot get online, they cannot access their online classes. And even if they could get online, they wouldn’t know how to use a computer. This significantly impacts their learning and development while schools are closed and it counts as another form of school absenteeism really. These students will require much more learning support upon their return to school to ensure they won’t fail exams or assignments. 

Solution: finding out what these kids need and providing them with the necessary gear. Learning exactly how to educate them with alternative ways like learning packs sent home for example.

Reason #5: They cannot Find Self-Motivation

Having worked for a professional essay writing service for four years, I know that a lack of motivation can be a huge downfall, especially when you’re working or studying remotely. Enrolling in online classes might be exciting, but it’s definitely a burden from all perspectives. As I mentioned earlier, technical issues can pop up, a lack of education on certain subjects can interfere with the learning process, or adaptability can be an issue. Finding motivation among all that is not easy; for some students, it’s impossible.

They’re constantly asking why, and they never get an answer. In-person schooling boosts their confidence and answers these questions. When you’re at home alone without any teachers or classmates, you’re naturally not as motivated.

Solution: John Carey, teacher, argues, “Teach kids to develop a positive attitude towards online learning. Talk about the pros of learning remotely and develop a mature mindset on the issue. Encourage asking questions and answer them carefully and mindfully.” In a nutshell, give them reasons to want to learn online!

Wrapping Up

E-learning has become important in every country of the world. But as long as we don’t educate kids on how to learn how to study, these changes might be overwhelming. We need to look at the problems and find a solution for each. I hope this article helped in this sense. Let’s change the world for the better, shall we?

Author Bio:

Jessica Chapman is a writing editor from Chicago. She works for best essay writing service uk and engages with students. In her free time, Jessica is into sport and politics, and enjoys travelling.

 

8 Blogging Tips for Students and Beginners

By
Manuela Willbold
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0
how to monetize your blog as a beginner

There are a lot of success stories about making a good income from blogging.

If your blog is famous and it gets a lot of visitors, you can monetize it in a lot of ways. People will be willing to pay good money to advertise on your site. You will also be able to earn some decent money from displaying PPC ads.

If you are a student and want to generate a side income during your studies while working from home, writing about something you have a passion for is a worthy investment of your time.

Get started by following our 8 blogging tips for students and beginners and you’re on the right track.

1. Understand Your Audience

You should strive to understand your audience so that you can produce posts that they like to read. Every time you write a new blog post, you must promote it on social media like Twitter. On social media platform Twitter, ask your followers about their opinion on the blog post. This not only generates discussion on your social media, but it also helps you to gather ideas and suggestion for the next blog post. You must keep the conversation going until you have enough ideas. You can use these ideas as is or modify them for the new blog posts.

2. Write on Trending Topics on Social Media

Another way to get ideas for blogging is to write on trending topics on social media. To find out what is trending, you can follow and use hashtags or participate in social media chats that are relevant to your industry. Don’t just search on social media. There are also other social media platforms where you can do research and find out what people are talking about like Facebook or Pinterest.

3. Build An Email Subscription List

Starting from the first day, you should be building your email list with inviting welcome emails even if you are not yet selling anything. You are learning how to build your email campaign in the process when you do this. You need to get subscribed to a low-cost email subscription service to get started. Next, you must decide on the format of the email subscription box such as opt-in popups that appear after the visitor has been on the page for some time or smart lightbox popups which appear after the user has left the page. A feature box which requires the user to enter an email address before proceeding to the featured content is another option. You can test different calls to action in your email newsletter to see which one works best for you.

4. Include Call to Actions in Blog Posts

In all your blog posts, make sure that you include a call to action to encourage your readers to explore your content. When you want people to visit the related posts, don’t just put the links up, but describe the posts and give the reason why you recommend them to read it. In the last paragraph, you can request comments from the readers. The last paragraph is also the place where you post questions that can start a conversation and help your blog post to get a lot of comments from the readers. It shows that you care about your reader’s inputs.

5. Add Videos to Your Blog Posts

You can enhance your blog post with a video. For example, if you are writing a how-to blog Use social media, video, email marketing for bloggingpost, you can put a video tutorial in it so that people can watch and understand better the steps you are explaining. In every video that you post, you can use a video editor to include a call to action like adding annotations to encourage your viewers to watch other videos in the series. The CTA can also be an auditory request that encourages the viewers to take certain actions. You should be able to use the video editor to record the CTA with your microphone. Get more details on this service for Mac.

6. Give Away Freebies

You can give away some freebies as an incentive for people to come back and check out your blog. It is not necessary to spend money to get the freebies. The freebies can be obtained free from other sources. For example, you can contact people who are selling something to send some of their merchandise for free, and you will give them a link in return. They may ask for your blog stats so you must be prepared to show them proof from your analytics. You can ask the sponsor who tells you to write the post to promise a free sample of their products.

7. Write Catchy Headlines for Your Blog Posts

Every blog post you write must have a catchy headline and be reader-friendly to attract more readers. It must be a title that is specific and clearly explains what the content is about. You can use a bracket to add clarification if the title is not enough to explain the content of the blog post. You will want to keep the title of the blog post short to under 70 characters. If it is longer, it will get cut off in the search result on search engines. Short titles tend to get more shared on social media.

8. Keep the Blog Post Short

Lots of people say that long blog posts are the best as they get more scores from the search engine. However, the opposite is true. You should write a short blog post instead because they are the type of posts that people like to read. You also have to consider that people use smartphones and tablets a lot nowadays. People who have a habit of reading on a mobile device will favour short content since they cannot fix their attention for long. Short blog posts are also easier to cover as they narrow down a specific topic.  Generally, you need to keep your blog post to a minimum of about 300 words to get indexed by the search engines.

Get started today and become a top blogger. It’s not impossible as many students become blog writers that later build their career or business on their website. For more information about how to set up a blog step by step, check our ClickDo Blogging Guide or for WordPress bloggers check out this WP blog guide.

 

How

Top Strategies School Leavers can use to find a Job in 2021

By
Manuela Willbold
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0

Once the demands of revision and exams are over, most school and college leavers are faced with one important question – how to find a job? Will Potterton of Leavers Hoodies Company has this advice.

The final year of college or university is always a stressful and difficult time for students or school leavers. With exams out of the way and goodbyes said to teachers, lecturers and classmates, there’s little time to relax for those who have decided against pursuing further education. In a competitive market, there is no time to waste for those preparing themselves for the unknown world of work and their future career path.

Challenges for School Leavers

Job opportunities appeared strong for the 16-24 age group in 2018 with 43,000 fewer 16-24 year olds unemployed compared to the year before. However, the year 2020 has hit the UK economy hard with the Coronavirus pandemic and the following trends have emerged according to Youthemployment.org (data from October 2020):

  • The current number of 16-24 year olds in employment is 3.53 million.
  • There are currently 581,000 16-24 year olds unemployed.
  • The Claimant Count (for benefits) for 18-24 year olds stands at 529,000. This has increased 1,300 on last month, and an increase of 304,900 on last year.

Accordingly, job prospects for school leavers appear more challenging as the employment market remains fiercely competitive. Therefore, school and college or university leavers need to have a clear strategy in place for their job search.

The most appealing employers can still afford to pick and choose. This is why it’s important for those looking for jobs to be aware of how and where to search for jobs for school leavers and how to aid their search and application process. 

What to include in a School Leaver’s CV?

The CV is at the heart of your job application. If you don’t have a CV, or one that will make you stand out from the dozens of other school leaver applications an employer receives, you’ll have trouble finding a job. No matter how good your job search is, the CV gives employers a clear idea of whether your skills, written communication and experience are a good match for the role.

As a general rule, the standard headings for a school leaver’s CV should include personal details, employment history, voluntary work, skills and achievements. Employers won’t expect you to tick every box and have plenty of experience; you’re a school leaver after all. But include everything that you feel showcases your strengths: were you captain of the school hockey team? Member of a school committee? Or did you take part in extracurricular activities? Things like this should be included in your CV plus CV skills.  

Reed has a school leavers CV template which is ideal for getting it right. Once you’ve filled in the blanks to a generic template, get it proofread.

Social Media Detox

 

It’s true that social media brings huge opportunities to school leavers but it can also easily be the reason forsocial-media-for-school-leavers-careers employers looking elsewhere in their job search. In the modern age, recruiters are likely to look at an applicant’s social media accounts before inviting them to a virtual or personal interview. According to a 2017 survey by CareerBuilder, 70% of employers use social media to screen candidates before making a hiring decision.

If your social accounts are full of derogatory posts and problematic pictures, it won’t strike the right chord with employers. Cleaning up your social accounts is vital. You should run through your social media accounts and remove anything that would horrify an employer.  Instead, use social platforms to show off your digital skills and give employers a taste of your creativity and portfolio.

Where to look for School Leavers Jobs?

With an appealing CV to hand, where should a school leaver go to look for their first job?

Career Advisors

Your college career advisors should be a school leaver’s first port of call. If there are no career advisors in-house, they will at least be able to put you in the direction. They will help to choose a career path, advise on what jobs to apply for and point you in the right direction of career days and fairs.

Social Media Channels

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, 84 per cent of companies are using social media for recruiting and nine per cent are planning to use it. Posting job adverts on social channels is now the norm for companies so it’s important that you follow and interact with companies you’re interested in working for.

Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are great for sourcing opportunities but LinkedIn is likely to be the platform where employers will come to you. LinkedIn is the best way to interact and network with similar professionals and if you aspire to be in a professional role, creating an appealing LinkedIn profile is a must.

Browse Job Sites

The best place for you to find temporary, permanent, part-time positions in your local area is on one of the many job board websites. You can use these sites to also see what skills are desired for the jobs you are looking to apply for so you can then tailor your CV to include these.

It can be tempting to automatically send the recruiter your CV by applying with a click of a button, but it is better to tailor your application for each job you apply for. Read what the job desires and highlight why you match thesefind-jobs-for-school-leavers skills in your covering letter.

Make it easy for the employer to see that you tick all of the necessary boxes.

If you want to conduct a more focused search in a specific industry that you’re interested in, you can sign up to independent recruitment agencies. By having your name on file at the agency, you will be the first to hear about suitable opportunities that arise.

Freelance

Working freelance is a great way of getting experience whilst on the job search. Depending on the skills that you possess, there are a range of freelance websites that you can sign up to.

People per hour and Upwork offer varied work, from web development, design and content writing, to administrative tasks. If you’re looking to get into education then check out online tutoring and teaching jobs. And for journalists to be, www.journalism.co.uk is a site that allows editors to find and hire freelance journalists for one-off stories or ongoing work. Have a look around and see if there are any sites for the skills you are competent in. Read more about the vast possibilities for online work as a freelancer in these guides:

48 Home Business Ideas

35 Remote Working Jobs

Best Online Jobs

The future of work is digital and even the OECD recognises this stating on their website:

DIGITALISATION AND GLOBALISATION HAVE SPARKED RADICAL SHIFTS IN HOW WE LIVE AND WORK. THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) CRISIS HAS ACCELERATED THESE BEYOND ANYTHING WE COULD HAVE IMAGINED.

Every school leaver should carefully think about the industry and field they want to move into and its potential to survive or even thrive in this digital era. SeekaHost University can equip you with vital digital skills like SEO or social media marketing and more and you can learn more about why everyone should learn digital marketing there too.

About the author

Will Potterton is Director of leavershoodiescompany.co.uk, a company which provides high quality, personalised leavers hoodies to the teachers and parents of school leavers, as well as directly to the students themselves.

As a school leaver or trainee you should also consider moving into work from home jobs that many UK and London businesses now offer as a result of the pandemic. Go through the infographic below or read the full article on the London Business News blog for more information.
Please include attribution to www.londonbusinessnews.com with this graphic.

Top 19 London Businesses Offering Work From Home Jobs

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How to Teach Families the Benefits of Getting Fitter at Home

By
Shirley Owen
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0
Virtual-fitness-classes-help-families-stay-fit-during-lockdowns

Despite Coronavirus taking over most of the globe in 2020, it has actually been a year for some individuals to take back charge of their mental and physical health.

They have been able to do this due to the restrictions in place such as the government-induced lockdowns throughout the year and even into 2021 in some countries. Individuals have attempted to take this in their stride and use their time at home wisely by aiming to get fitter and healthier.

Even with the movement restrictions in place, all types of fitness trainers have moved online to teach over video. This has been working for remote workers and students at home, and more people are interested in the fitness profession and exercise programmes on offer. Even famous people started joining online fitness classes with fitness instructor Joe Wicks for live PE lessons made available on YouTube, where more than 790,000 households tuned in.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the US recommends that children aged 6 to 17 engage in at least an hour of moderate to vigorous exercise a day; pre-schoolers 5 years and younger should aim for at least three hours of active play over the course of the day.

So, let’s see what you can do to share your enthusiasm for fitness online to keep your community fit and healthy.

Online-fitness-classes-to-stay-fit-as-a-family-during-lockdown

Become a Personal Trainer

If you are interested in teaching people the benefits of getting fitter, a great way to do this is by taking a personal trainer course. Personal trainers are longed after, especially more so now because gyms and fitness centres are closed.

There are so many benefits of becoming a personal trainer for both the trainer and the client. For the client firstly, they can receive a fully tailored health and fitness plan to suit their requirements. This virtual one-to-one training can be great for those who lack some motivation or those who find it generally difficult to get going with exercise.

For the trainer, they have the opportunity to be self-employed and thus get to choose how they work and when they work. This is useful as the work can therefore be mostly flexible around the trainer’s life – this is why many students and people with part-time jobs become interested in this profession, especially if they exercise daily anyway.

TRAINFITNESS offer fitness courses to become a personal trainer and are highly recommended. Private companies like TRAINFITNESS tend to offer a pragmatic approach to teaching whereby they allow the customer to choose how they learn – whether they do it remotely online or in person.

This is a high-in-demand feature as it lets individuals train to suit their needs. While being taught about the physical aspects in the course, you would also be taught from a range of content about the body, to food and even business and enterprise. Personal training courses are a fantastic way to teach people how to get fitter while working around your schedule.

Become a Gym Instructor

A second way to teach people the benefits of becoming fitter is by becoming a gym instructor. Much like a personal training course, training to become a gym instructor – or fitness instructor in other words – is a great starting point in your fitness career.

A course in this category would predominately consist of health and fitness teaching, how to conduct a consultation with clients and you would learn effective communication skills. The benefits are much the same as becoming a personal trainer, however, gym instructors cannot rely on their own schedules to work around.

Ideally, you would become employed at a gym and work under their umbrella network. This is useful if you’re starting your fitness journey and don’t yet know the ins and outs of being self-employed. Despite this, taking a course like this is a great way to teach health and fitness with many gyms now offering online fitness lessons to their clients.

Become a Yoga Instructor

A final way you could help people become fitter is by training to become a yoga instructor. Again, the benefits of doing this are two-fold between the client and instructor.

For example, during the yoga practice, both the client and instructor are improving their yoga skills, becoming fitter, strengthening their physical and mental health, and learning about effectively communicating. This is useful as it provides both parties with the chance to be flexible in when they choose to do yoga. This is, in part, more beneficial than becoming a gym instructor because, alike personal training, yoga instructors can choose when they work as their job is fully flexible around their clients and personal life.

With yoga instruction, individuals have the choice to be self-employed or work for an external company, such as a yoga studio or gym. With that being said, the yoga work is certainly in demand as people are jumping at the thought of a mindful form of exercise. Due to the deliberate nature of yoga, it serves as a fantastic way for instructors to teach their clients the benefits of becoming fit and healthy physically and mentally.

Overall, there are many ways to teach children and families the benefits of getting fitter, and they extend far beyond this article. When choosing which career path to take, it is ultimately your decision to figure out what will best suit your talents, skills, daily life and passion. But all the suggested online careers can lead to a digital nomad lifestyle while working remotely from anywhere in the world.

4 Tips to achieve A Level Results in your English Essay

By
Laura Reid
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0
tips-to-achieve-a-level-results-for-english-writing-in-english-essays

Let’s be honest – everyone wants to be that A-level student that never struggles academically. But let’s face it.

There’s no definitive formula to getting A level results or A grades in your English essay. Because grades depend on various factors such as your English grammar and spelling, your writing style and appropriate academic referencing etc.

However, these four tips in this article provided by Tutor House are guaranteed to help you on your way to achieving an A for your essay.

1. Refer back to the Question

It’s easy to read an exam question, see the theme you were hoping for and immediately
jump into writing. But you’ve got to remember to read the question properly! If it helps,
underline the most important words in the essay title, such as the theme or the chapter
they want you to refer to.

Here’s an example question:
Compare and contrast the significance of parting in the following love poems.
You would want to underline ‘compare and contrast’ to remind yourself that they want a
comparative analysis in your essay. You can also underline ‘significance of parting’ as this is
the main theme you need to be looking out for.
Then, use these words in your essay. This is without a doubt the best way to signpost to
an examiner that you are answering the question. When analysing quotes, use the
language of the question to show that you are continuously focusing on the theme.

2. Be selective with Quotes you include

There’s no point including quotations which are purely descriptive. In English, marks areenglish-essay-writing-techniques-for-a-level-grades
gained for your analysis of the text, so you want to choose quotes which are rich in
content.

Let’s take this section from the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” which describes the Ewell family’s
house:
‘The varmints had a lean time of it, for the Ewells gave the dump a thorough
gleaning every day, and the fruits of their industry (those that were not eaten)
made the plot of ground around the cabin look like the playhouse of an insane
child: what passed for a fence was bits of tree-limbs, broomsticks and tool shafts,
all tipped with hammer-heads, snaggle-toothed rake heads, shovels, axes and
grubbing hoes, held on with pieces of barbed wire.’ (Chapter 17)

At first glance, this passage is a fantastic description of the dirty, ram shackled house which
the Ewells live in. If we dive deeper, there’s a lot more to dissect. For example, we can talk
about the juxtaposition of the Ewell family with the varmints which feed on the dump.
Harper Lee positions the Ewells as on a level with wild animals and in doing so reveals the
family’s standing in the social hierarchy of the town. The Ewells, like pests, are
troublemakers and are regarded with caution and disdain by the people of Maycomb.
The sprawling mess of a house has been built up over the years with all kinds of junk
until it looks nothing like a family home. We can compare this to the Ewell family
themselves. They’ve got numerous children who sprawl all over the plot, are so unkempt
they’re hardly recognisable and cannot be kept in check by the county administrators.

Quotes need to lend themselves to the themes and characters you’re discussing in your
essay. You want to be able to say ‘this quote highlights this character’s violent nature‘ or
‘this quote illustrates the theme of abandonment’, rather than just using descriptive
quotations to fluff out your sentences.

3. Create clear Points suitable for an English Professor or readers who never read the Text

Obviously, the person marking your English essay is going to be a professional examiner
and will know whether you’re writing a top essay and hitting the exam criteria. However,
you still want them to understand your argument and enjoy reading your essay.

Whilst you want to avoid description in your essay, it is important to make your points
clear and coherent. The best way to do this is to create a short plan before starting the
essay. Put down the key points you want to make and ensure that you refer back to this
plan whilst writing.

If you’re including these points and referring back to your argument in each paragraph,
you can’t go wrong.

4. Include relevant Criticism

To reach the top grade boundaries, you can include some criticism from relevant
authorities. Understanding the social historical context of plays, poems and prose is a
crucial part of getting an A in English Literature.

Most English teachers will get you to read critical reviews and provide you with some sources to
access quotes. You can also find criticism online using sites like JSTOR, which is a digital
library packed full of academic journals, articles and books.

You can search these online libraries for the texts and authors you’re studying; finding all
sorts of critiques and commentaries to add to your essays, however they would need to be reflected. You can also search by theme and find everything from essays on conflict like in “Romeo & Juliet” to articles on double
meanings like in “Much Ado About Nothing“.

Now you should be ready to become an A level student at least in the subject of English. You can find more English language and academic advice here:

How to prepare for English tests with popular free language-learning apps

Why One Should Invest in Learning Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning

By
MohammedTahir
-
0
learning artificial intelligence

In the digital world, you have probably come across the term artificial intelligence (AI) at some point.

There are plenty of AI items already on our markets, ranging from voice-activated devices to self-driving cars.

This area of computer science focuses on ways in which machines can actively learn from experience. This field has, in recent years, turned into an obsession in the digital world.

Therefore, numerous investors, as well as learners, continue investing their resources and time to learning more about artificial intelligence.

Below are some of the reasons for learning artificial intelligence.

1. AI’s presence is ever-expanding across industries

AI is present in almost every sector worldwide. Here are some examples of where and how AI is used:

  1. Banking and other financial institutions

    Most of the activities in financial institutions end up consuming a lot of effort and time from employees. This means there are high chances of human error occurring. Some of the roles that AI helps in are the feeding in of data, investing in stocks, and managing various properties. AI enhances precision, speed, and effectiveness of human efforts. Through the techniques learned in AI, it is possible to identify fraudulent transactions more easily.

  2. Healthcare

    Research shows that AI is applicable in the health sector as well. AI applications provide personalized X-ray readings and medicine. Additionally, these customized assistants can act as life coaches to help you keep track of when to take your medication or to exercise.

  3. Recommendation services for music and movies

    The entertainment sector is very crucial, owing to its extensive usage worldwide. Through AI, you get recommendations for your next film or song based on your browsing history and interests.

The banking sector, music/movie and health care are just some of the industries where the application of AI is in use.
Other areas where AI is in use are;

  • The manufacturing sector
  • The fashion industry
  • The automobile sector
  • The retail sector

All these sectors show the vast applications of AI and the numerous fields of study you can enter within AI.

1. Skills in AI may lead to a prestigious career

This career not only lands a great pay-slip but also a wide range of opportunities. This is because developing AI can be successful in two broad categories, engineering and programming. By properly balancing these two categories, you can advance your skill set in areas such as speech recognition technology.

There are numerous opportunities for making use of your AI skills in all sectors. Soon AI will most likely replace many humans in jobs. This will, fortunately, lead to the expansion of other job opportunities within AI. Therefore, it is wise to invest in learning AI or machine learning and be part of this transformation.

Many companies are shifting their focus to AI. They are investing heavily in research and development in artificial intelligence. Thus, increasing the demand for professionals skilled in AI and machine learning.

2. The rate of AI implementation is overwhelming

New AI products are introduced into the market almost daily. These new technologies make it hard to keep up with trends. Only a few satisfactorily meet the requirements to fill in existing gaps. This creates numerous opportunities in the field of AI. There is a need for more machine learning experts and data scientists.

Again, as these gaps in the job market become prevalent, new challenges also pop up. This creates the need for continuous education and training and increasingly more online training.

3. Rapid Data Generation

Advantages Of Machine LearningHumans generate over 2.5 quintillion bytes every day. Now, that’s a large amount of data. Several machines can handle this amount of data effectively. A large number of data is mostly due to social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Telegram. The emails we receive and send are also part of these vast amounts of data. The posts we view, like, share, or even comment on these platforms, are examples of the data constituting the large data amounts. AI makes sorting this data more manageable.

4. AI can play a part in disaster management

In cases where the disaster has struck in different regions or states, most people turn to social media in search of help or the latest news. Most share this information in the form of videos and photos. As these social media platforms contain AI-enabled programs, the news spread fast.

Thus, for those who are passionate about the environment, venturing into AI is an extremely useful opportunity. In this case, SaaS companies can follow Artificial Intelligence SAAS Market trends and can use AI for disaster management.

5. It makes you more employable in a competitive job market

By learning AI, you can increase your employability as you have more skills to offer potential employers, skills that will be extremely useful in the future. You can enhance your AI skills by enrolling yourself in an artificial intelligence short course & learn online.

By equipping you with these skills, you will be in a better position to fit in the constantly evolving digital world where you will also need digital skills.

Conclusion

You can never go wrong with investing your time and resources in learning AI, it is a field that is constantly growing. Most people already know about the critical role AI plays in easing daily activities. Therefore, when you venture into this field, as it expands, so does your knowledge and expertise.

E-SAFETY – How To Keep Your Kids Safe Online?

By
Manuela Willbold
-
2

Any idea what your child does online?

The thing is, they probably don’t even know and that’s why e-safety and digital literacy are key nowadays! Everyone using the internet should learn about managing and navigating themselves through cyberspace securely and safely.

What is E-Safety?

This term basically covers safety online, on the web or on the internet in terms of children’s safe and responsible use in connection with technology. E-safety is relevant for computers, smartphones, tablets and any other technological or digital device offering access to the internet.

E-safety covers many aspects of children’s conduct online such as inappropriate content, sexting, online porn, online games, livestreaming and video apps, social media sites and apps and parental controls. The NSPCC offer a variety of resources and tips for parents in all those areas. As a concerned parent you can contact the NSPCC and worried children can look for help and advice via the Childline.

In schools all staff are trained on e-safety as most classrooms are equipped with devices enabling web access. Therefore, the same should apply to all parents using internet-enabled gadgets with their children at home. However, most parents or carers are left in the dark about this important and vital aspect of the online world.

How to be Safe Online?

Fortunately, there’s a wealth of fantastic educational resources available for parents as well as teachers. Depending on your learner’s age, here are a few expert tips provided by iaps.uk on how to keep your child or student safe online:

• Check the age limit on social media platforms and messenger services:
• To set up an account on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter; Tumblr, Reddit, Secret, Snapchat, Pinterest, Habbo, Google+ your child or student needs to be 13 YEARS OLD.
• On LinkedIn their minimum required age is 14 YEARS and on What’s App it’s 16 YEARS.
• If their account is in your name or registered via your phone contract, you’re legally responsible for ANYTHING happening. The same applies for your child’s account, if they’re not over 18 years old yet.

You can find more legal guidance in the Prevent duty’s statutory guidance regarding online safety and radicalisation provided by the UK Home Office or the Department for Education’s (DfE) (2021) Keeping children safe in education (2020): statutory guidance for schools and colleges. All schools in the UK are required to follow this guidance and they should inform parents about how to implement some of it at home, especially during lockdowns as children are being home schooled mostly online.

As a parent you can ensure you’re in control by
• Creating a rule book for online use at home and outside
• Limiting screen time and when engaged with a gadget make sure you can get access easily, e.g. they’re not locked in their room
• Being consistent and explaining why these rules are important and what consequences can arise
• Downloading GALLERY GUARDIAN – if you are contracted to your child’s phone it sends an alert of inappropriate images
• Downloading OUR PACT – an app allowing you to switch off the apps on your child’s phone, and to a schedule
• Trialling CIRCLE WITH DISNEY – an application that claims you can manage all devices in your home setting time limits and turning off individual apps.
• Check these tips on Busythings for your child/student:


Why Early Intervention matters?

According to a Telegraph article from September 2017 quoted by iaps.uk
• 72% of 12 to 15 year olds have a social media profile,
• 42% of 8 to 11 years olds prefer watching You Tube to watching a TV set,
• 51% of 12 to 15 year olds use SnapChat,
• 32% of 8 to 11 year olds have a smart phone,
• 34% of 12 to 15 year olds have encountered “hate speech” on online in last year and
• 21% of 12 to 15 year olds play games with people they have never met.

These statistics clearly show that the internet offers many opportunities for children to be exposed to potentially harmful content or contacts. It is a great place for people to prey on vulnerable and naïve individuals while remaining anonymous. And being helpless or uninformed in such exploitive situations can lead to dangerous, humiliating and traumatic incidents.

Nobody wants their child or student to experience anything like this and that’s why every little piece of e-safety information matters. If your child is into gaming then you can read more about managing parental controls, age limitations and what parents need to know on the seekahost.co blog.

Support your child if they are being exposed online to:

  • Bullying: Children may experience being excluded from a game or a group on social media or messaging platforms by their friends. They may experience verbal abuse through criticism regarding gaming, social media posts or whatever public online activity they participate in. This can be upsetting for a child and they may not know how to deal with it emotionally or how to respond to it online appropriately.
  • Trolling, griefing and scams: Trolling and griefing can occur in e-games where players try to negatively impact other gamers and their game. Children may also be exposed to be tricked or scammed into purchasing in-game or in-app items through hackers or unknown people entering their game or connecting with them their platforms.
  • Grooming: Because e-games and online platforms often offer communication tools like live chats, messaging and chat functions, voice and video calls etc. younger children are in danger of being contacted by strangers. They may pretend to be a friend of a friend or somehow build a connection with your child to build trust. Children don’t understand how to identify potentially dangerous communications and could be manipulated to do things they don’t want to do such as connecting with strangers on different platforms, signing up to other accounts or even meeting someone somewhere in person, which could lead to them becoming dependent on that person and following their instructions blindly.

A way to empower your child or student and to learn managing an online presence safely and responsibly first hand is to start their own blog or online journal. Under adult supervision creating and running a blog can offer the learner many opportunities to improve their digital skills to become an educated digital citizen.

For more information on where to start with a blog check out the following:

8 Blogging Tips for Students and Beginners

How to Become a Blog Writer Even as a Student

Current Trends & Discussions in E-Safety for Children

Children are exposed to digital devices from a very young age and learning the digital skills to manage them responsibly is key to ensuring their e-safety and well-being online. Plus, it will be useful for their future career path as the future of work focuses increasingly more on digital work in most industries.

You can check the outlook provided by the OECD in terms of how work will be influenced by technology and what this means for employment, schooling, work training and higher education. Many retailers have been impacted by the pandemic and are moving online as more customers shop online. The same trend applies to other industries such as food, media and press, education and health care and many more. It is therefore key to start as early as possible to raise children safely online and equip them with digital skills required later on to protect their identity and financial future.

Most recently this topic has been discussed in a documentary called Kids On Tech, which shares intimate conversations with parents, teachers, neuroscientists, tech executives, child psychologists, and kids of every age from around the world in the hope that this film can help start a conversation about all the questions that remain unanswered with regards to technology use among children of all ages. You can watch the trailer here:

8 Most Pressing Challenges in Education Arising from the COVID-19 Pandemic

By
Jessica Chapman
-
0
COVID challenges in education

March 2020 is a historic month for the global education sector.

It was the month in which education was put on hold across 185 countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected almost all the world’s population of students. The urgency of the school closure with the almost immediate transition to distance learning meant that there was no time or room for preparing for and calculating the risks or threats that education might face.

Every crisis has its opportunities and challenges. The lockdown of schools due to the pandemic has resulted in new hurdles to delivering modern education, which will require governments and educators to manage adequately.

Challenges caused by Covid-19 in Education

1. Distance learning is not a tested and trusted approach yet

boy-wearing-medical-mask-attending-virtual-schoolDuring this is period, the focus for many countries and settings is distance learning, leveraging technology for online learning, or sending out learning materials. This approach is didactically questionable and solitary. It’s too passive for the students to sit quietly alone watching videos or reading online documents or presentations – something they aren’t used to. Passive learning is the most deprived way of learning, and it is what these students might be subjected to. In the end, what makes education matter is the element of human interaction. It is therefore vital that children speak to their teachers regularly and have somebody support them directly with the learning at home.

2. Educators are overwhelmed and require additional training

Teachers didn’t get any notice nor had a choice during the initial lockdown and had to move all their educational activities online. Many have been overwhelmed with this sudden change and settings were also not prepared for the shift. They had to subscribe to different online learning platforms, video conference tools, and had to use different materials and products to deliver a similar level of education as in class. Settings didn’t have time to train their staff on how to use online teaching tools and communication platforms, which has put immense additional pressure on the teaching staff. Many staff also struggled to get a better WIFI connection at home and adequate technical equipment from their employer to deliver online lessons. The same problem applied to some disadvantaged families, which made remote learning extremely difficult and clearly widened the attainment gap between different demographic groups.

3. Safeguarding and protecting students is harder

kids-waving-classroom-while-keeping-social-distanceOrdinarily, schools have a strict process for who can have access to children during school hours and activities like sports, etc. Some measures and legally required checks are put in place to prevent predators from having access to pupils. With learning moving online, there are new challenges to safeguard students on the internet, and schools and teaching staff are required to be trained in e-safety guidance. Education settings have to set up safe passwords and other secure authentication processes for families and teaching staff to work together in safe cyberspace.

4. The equality gap may widen with school closures

There has been development in the last few years to increase students’ access to connectivity and devices, so online learning was possible for most families and teaching staff. However, access to internet connectivity and digital devices is not something that all families have. This calls for alternative teaching methods to enable every student to access learning, no matter their circumstances.  The UK government has launched grants and schemes to help families gain better internet access from home and for digital devices for their children. More information about how to apply is provided on the government website: Get help with technology during coronavirus (COVID-19) – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). However, this support was not provided right away, and teaching staff and families had limited access to resources that should have been freely available. Hence, accessibility to education relies on material goods that are not equally available to all students.

5. Keeping students engaged online is tough

school-boy-yellow-shirt-taking-virtual-classes-raising-handIt is very important that schools can retain the engagement of students and this is harder the younger the children are with shorter attention spans. Being disengaged from the academic learning and system for a longer period can increase learning difficulties and reduce motivation to study. Because learning includes more than just reading a textbook or watching a presentation.  At school, students learn peer-to-peer interactions, building social relationships, how to develop social skills and be good citizens, etc. They learn to be part of a community and must not be disengaged. However, this is much harder to deliver online and parents and carers should therefore be part of the holistic learning process while children are taught remotely. Hence, teaching staff also need to provide guidance for families on how to best support their children at home.

6. End of school meal programs

School meal programs in many countries are what many kids rely on as the main source of their daily nutritious meals. However, with the home schooling enforced, many children were made more vulnerable. Suddenly, they relied on their parents and carers to provide all the meals and education at home. Children living under difficult circumstances where families are not intact or not affluent were certainly more disadvantaged by this lockdown. The negative effect of this on the kid’s ability to continue remote learning is more than many governments are willing to admit. And it took footballer Marcus Rashford to raise around £20 million for charity, to provide schoolchildren with food during the COVID-19 pandemic.

7. Public spending on education may be impacted

It is uncertain what the long-term impact of this pandemic is going to be on the education sector. However, there is likely to be a reduction in public spending on education as governments focus on the health sector and reviving the economy. According to the latest IFS annual report, school spending per pupil in England fell by 9% in real terms between 2009–10 and 2019–20.

8. Reduced international mobility for students

Many tertiary institutions have international students, and the pandemic has affected the continuity of learning for them and their legal and safety status. Also, there’s a change in the perception of value in studying abroad, and that experience of studying abroad is something that remote learning can’t replace. The students are now missing out on international exposure, international networking, and exposure to foreign markets, cultures, and languages.

Can Challenges be overcome?

Almost all sectors are affected by the pandemic, even though the health sector appears to be hit the hardest. However, this pandemic has laid bare numerous threats to modern education for the students, teachers, and institutions as a whole and they should be taken seriously. Governments, headteachers, educators, and parents are all in this together and need to find ways to improve remote learning and in-school learning equally in order to deliver the curriculum no matter the circumstances, covering vital future skills like math, English and many more. Because every child has the right to be educated.

 

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