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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
Manuela Willbold
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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
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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
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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.

 

7 Ways to Tackle Student Absenteeism

By
Jessica Chapman
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0

Parents try their best to keep their children in school as much as possible, however, the Coronavirus pandemic has shown, according to statistics published by the UK government, that school attendance in state-funded schools in September was between 89-90% until October half term, where attendance then fell to 83% on 19 November.

Therefore, absenteeism is one of the problems that bother most parents and schools, especially in these challenging times.

Chronic absenteeism is on the rise and a few studies have led to the following results: Children who miss their classes will score lower in math and English skills and will have lower educational gain.

If the problem of absenteeism is not solved, it will prevent students from acquiring essential knowledge that will help them in their future careers such as academic writing at university.

Moreover, attending classes and going to school is not only about gaining information. It is also about developing soft and social skills, learning how to communicate and interact with other people.

If you are a concerned parent or teacher, you can check these 7 ways to tackle student absenteeism:

1. Improve Access to Technology

Now with the global pandemic under way, classes have shifted online. Students take part in online classes from the comfort of their own home, which may make the entire learning process too familiar. Absenteeism is on the rise, especially during online education.Students-require-access-to-internet-and-digital-devices-for-online-learning

However, some students miss the classes because they do not have the technology and digital devices necessary to take part. Providing them with the tools and access needed for education is essential and it can reduce student absenteeism. The UK government has launched grants and schemes to support disadvantaged families gaining better internet access from home and digital devices for their children to access remote learning provided by their schools. You can find more information about how to apply here: Get help with technology during coronavirus (COVID-19) – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

2. Highlight the Power of Mentors

Many students feel overwhelmed by school life and they do not know how to deal with the challenges that come with it. They will let themselves be defeated by these challenges if they do not know how to overcome them. This results in high rates of absenteeism and the students missing important lectures.

Students need to know that they can choose a mentor, from their teachers or family. They can even choose a colleague as a mentor that will support them when they will have tough moments. Mentors can boost the motivation and productivity of students and help them take part in classes. And if students require support in a particular subject, online tutoring services can help as well.

3. Healthy Habits

Some habits might hinder students’ motivation and will to learn and improve. These habits include having breakfast, drinking enough water, and reducing the time spent on social media.

Healthy habit adoption should be encouraged by parents and teachers alike. Most of the time, students do not realize that what they are doing is toxic. They need to understand that simple things such as having breakfast in the morning or exercising regularly can supply them with the energy they need during classes.

4. Extracurricular Learning

Most students have high rates of absenteeism because they are not interested in the information presented. While some information might be seen as useless, its benefits for the improvement of critical thinking skills cannot be overlooked.Students-blogging-as-extracurricular-activity-for-learning

Students that are encouraged to get involved in extracurricular activities such as going to art classes can change the entire perspective they have on learning. Photography, reading, or blogging can be some of the hobbies students can have to further their learning and nurture more skills.

Learn more about how blogging can be a fantastic extracurricular activity and its benefits on the eLearning Industry blog.

5. Early Intervention

One of the most efficient ways to tackle student absenteeism is to intervene early. This means that the school team or local authority will contact parents when students have missed more than their annual allowance without a good reason for their absence, e.g. health, and you can learn more about the legal legal action to enforce school attendance here: School attendance and absence: Legal action to enforce school attendance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

This allows all actors involved to intervene and reduce absenteeism. In extreme cases, parents will be required to show proof of reasons for their child’s absence and meet with headteachers, safeguarding leads and local community officers to avoid fines.

6. Communication

Communication is important and essential every step of the way and parents that have children with chronic absenteeism can begin by talking with them. Understanding what they go through, which is their perspective on education and school, and why they miss school is important. Parents can share the benefits of going to school, meeting with colleagues, and learning new interesting things and they can also intervene should bullying or any other negative experience prevent their child from attending school.Teacher-student-relationship-and-communication-improves-attendance

Communication should also come from teachers. Collecting feedback from the students to improve their learning and teaching methods can indeed reduce student absenteeism. Most schools provide pastoral care where a designated lead will offer support to the child and the family.

7. Positive Culture

Students often have high rates of absenteeism when something from school bothers them. They might not feel safe or they might not feel empowered. It is thus important for parents and teachers to work on this issue.

Creating a positive school culture where students feel valued and safe will lead to lower rates of absenteeism. And low rates of absenteeism lead to higher grades and more involvement and motivation for students.

Conclusion

How to tackle absenteeism is a topic of interest for parents, teachers and students. Students might miss classes for various reasons. It is important to understand what triggers absenteeism and intervene early.

Another essential ingredient is communication and the pursuit of hobbies, which give students a positive perspective on learning. It may be a challenging thing to do, but it is for the student’s good.

7 Effective Ways Digital Marketing Can Help the Education Sector

By
Manuela Willbold
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0
digital-marketing-education-services

The education sector is the keystone industry for any country.

Not only does it contribute substantially to a nation’s economy, but the education industry also grants educated, dutiful, responsible, and hardworking citizens. They can be an asset to any country.

The education sector has changed over the years, and today’s operating systems are vastly different from previous years. Educators used to frown upon students using technical devices. Now, they encourage them to use technology and expand their horizons. Moreover, a wide variety of educational fields have emerged and had further boosted the industry. Experts predict that the advancement of technology will continue to change the landscape of education and remote learning.

Education is Moving Online

The modern world is intensely competitive. An increasing number of educational institutes are coming forth, proposing different degree or certification programs and courses online. Excess of options is taking the competition to another level. Schools, colleges, and universities struggle to make their mark and attract students. The education approach has also changed. People no longer depend on newspapers and magazines to search for a suitable education institute. They use technology to get an insight into the market. On search engines they come across various institutes that they did not know existed via the world wide web.

Digital marketing has taken education promotion to another level. More and more institutions are using it to attract people and persuade them to enrol in their programs. Digital marketing is here to stay, and it is further growing by the day.

As much as digital marketing has boosted educational promotion, schools, colleges, and universities need to be careful with their marketing techniques. While devising the marketing techniques, they should keep the target audience in mind. Target customers for various education levels are different, and the higher education marketing strategies cannot be the same as a promotional technique of the elementary school level. Below we are giving an inclusive insight into how digital marketing makes a difference in the education industry in unprecedented times:

  1. Expanded Reach

Expanded Reach

Digital marketing has helped educational institutes reach a broader audience. The Internet has removed the terrestrial borders, and anyone can access information from anywhere. Digital marketing has boosted online education marvellously as people can enrol in foreign universities without requiring a student visa and attending traditional classes. It has allowed people to learn more about their preferred schools without visiting them.

Various institutions give a virtual tour and advertise their strengths and offerings, and it helps in attracting more people. Moreover, institutes can use social media platforms to boost their brand. There are multiple ways to go about this through Facebook Remarketing, an Instagram Business profile, LinkedIn paid ads – you name it. You can learn more about social media marketing on various websites like the ClickDo Blog.

  1. Personalized Approach

Personalized ApproachPeople feel a sense of familiarity and develop a fondness when some stranger addresses them with their names. Personalized advertising is not possible on other channels. Still, digital marketing has given schools and universities opportunities to reach a target audience on a personal level. Data-driven marketing and SEO tools provide an insight into your customers’ activities, and educational institutes can use these data to design personalized digital marketing campaigns by identifying your target group and designing specific posts and ads for them. The effect of personalized marketing is powerful, and it results in more students enrolling in your institution or more traffic to your website.

  1. Enhanced Communication

Enhanced CommunicationDigital marketing gives different platforms where educational institutes can interact with customers. Institutes no longer need to hire people who can respond to other people’s queries as technology has brought forward different devices. Besides, human beings answering questions require an extended human workforce, which means more money.

Institutes can install chatbots, and it will give instant replies to people’s queries. Chatbots are a software solution that has pre-installed answers, and it responds to people’s questions accordingly. Providing immediate solutions to problems is an effective way of attracting more customers. Email, social media, and websites are great platforms where universities and schools can reach out to people to enhance communication. Customer experience is vital in marketing, and improved communication helps educational institutes give target customers a seamless experience.

  1. Cost-Effectiveness

Cost-EffectiveVarious education institutes are on tight budgets and cannot afford to invest heavily in marketing. Therefore, digital marketing has outshone other marketing channels, as it has proven to be more effective and efficient. Educational institutes can send their message to even more people without spending huge amounts. For example, investing in social media marketing does not break the bank but can be more impactful, reaching far more people around the world that may be prospective students. Learning digital marketing for free adds a lot of value to any organisation and the SeekaHost University offers free courses in SEO, blogging and social media marketing and more.

  1. Measuring Results

Measuring ResultsPerformance tracking is crucial for marketing campaigns. Other marketing channels have time-consuming and complicated processes to measure marketing results. Digital marketing can give a detailed report like heatmaps in less time, and with fewer errors. Schools, colleges, and universities need to use the appropriate marketing tools and track their performance. Various software helps analyse results, and institutes can utilize these data to evaluate a campaign’s effectiveness and retargeting.

  1. Boosting Conversion Rate

boost conversion rateWhen it comes to the conversion rate, traditional methods of marketing have not proven to give high rates. However, digital marketing achieves a high conversion rate. SMS, emails, and WhatsApp messages generally get a response because they are private. Through different channels of digital marketing like video streaming via YouTube for example, colleges and universities can directly connect with their students. Institutes can utilize location tracking software and target customers, and it will allow them to determine audiences within their community.

  1. Building a Reputation

Build a ReputationEducational institutes need to build a reputation and earn a prestigious college or university’s badge, which can set them apart from their competitors. Reputed institutes provide students with better education and use advanced tools to enhance their learning. Prestigious universities get more applications of students. In previous times, institutes had to work hard to build their name. With digital marketing, the process has become relatively easy, and institutes can build their reputation by devising effective campaigns.

For example, suppose your institute caters to a specific field. In that case, your marketing strategy should revolve around it, and you can feature a reputed person of that particular field in your campaign. You can display the education ratings of your institute, and it will help in attracting more people. Institutes are in cut-throat competition, and an appropriate marketing technique can help you make a name for yourself. Digital marketing gives various platforms to publish students’ first-hand experiences. Their reviews will function as a magnet in pulling in people.

Education Needs Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is not a new concept, but it has progressed by leaps and bounds in the past few years. Various industries are venturing into its arena to expand their reach and give a boost to their brands. Digital marketing has made a major difference in the education sector, as people’s approach towards institutes has changed. They prefer taking a virtual tour of various institutes before zeroing down on one, investing substantial funds in their education. And in times of a global pandemic prospective students may prefer more flexible remote learning options. Hence, reaching people in education via the Internet is inevitable.

Are University Degrees More Valuable Than You Might Think?

By
Shirley Owen
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0
university degree value

It’s easy to wonder what’s the point in getting a degree nowadays, given that so many employers seem to value experience over education. However, while this might be the case, that doesn’t mean there’s suddenly no value in going to university.

Aside from the fact that you get to study a subject that you’re passionate about, you also graduate with a bunch of skills and other perks that could help you more than you know.

These are the kind of things that we’re talking about.

Job Satisfaction

Job Satisfaction

For years, studies have tried to prove whether people who go to university end up with greater or lower job satisfaction than those whose education finished in high school. Although the results frequently change, they always seem to favour those who went on to higher education. Regardless of the comparison, it certainly seems like university graduates find their jobs meaningful, with 86% of respondents saying as much in a 2020 survey. While satisfaction did differ depending on the area of expertise, most people still seemed happy post-graduation.

Plenty Of Skills

A degree isn’t simply a document that says you survived several years at university. It tells employers that you have a ton of skills that could be useful to them.

Degree Skills

For instance, an English graduate is obviously able to communicate effectively and consider things from multiple perspectives. Meanwhile, a history graduate knows how to analyse masses of data and effectively research fact-driven information. You pick up more skills from your degree than you may realise, and if you need proof of that, just take Developing a Student’s advice. They’re devoted to helping graduates flourish in the world of work, so their plethora of resources should be able to show you exactly what you can do.

Skills For Life

Skills For LifeLiving on the university campus makes the transition from home smoother. Busy students do not have to worry about their daily commute, grocery lists, or utility bills. There is more time for extra courses, clubs, or even side hustles compared to living in an apartment off-campus.

Campus social opportunities enable students to meet new people, which is an excellent way for first-year students to stave off being homesick. Most universities offer social programs, mixers, and activities that allow students to get to know their fellow students and network with them.

Universities also provide opportunities to get involved in campus activities through word of mouth and community bulletin boards that inform students about the events taking place.

Better Career Access

In some cases, if you don’t have a degree, you can’t get into the career of your dreams. That’s either because the job needs an even higher-level qualification that requires a degree for entry, or it can only hire those who continued their education after high school. Teaching is a good example of that, with the chances of entering this profession without a degree basically slim to none.

You can read more about the requirements here

How to Become an International Teacher teaching abroad?

How to get into teaching in the UK?

While there are plenty of jobs you can get without going to university, if your interests are specialised, this may be the only way to achieve your dreams.

Useful Contacts

There are plenty of teachers and lecturers who simply view their job as a paycheck. Thankfully, most of them aren’t like this, and they care about seeing their students do well. This is particularly the case in universities where many lecturers develop good relationships with their students as they help them flourish into successful graduates.

You might think you have better things to do with your time as a student than to bond with your teachers. However, given that these people are often established in their respective fields, they’re excellent contacts to have once you graduate. The same goes for any experts who may visit and give talks during your lectures. Just consider university your opportunity to start networking.

University Degrees Are Still Important

If you’re interested in going to university, you shouldn’t let future job concerns hold you back. There are plenty of ways that a degree can give you a leg up once you graduate, so even if you don’t have much work experience, your future will still be bright.

And if you are considering to study in London, you should check out those virtual tours of some of the most renowned universities in this city so that you get a feel for your university of choice and what it has to offer:

Top 5 London universities offering virtual tours

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