Graduation Announcements - Sending the Word Out of Your Achievement

Because high school and college students spend nearly half a decade studying, learning and growing into better and smarter people, the act of finally graduating can be a momentous celebration, which is why graduation announcements are often used by graduates and their loved ones to spread word of the milestone. The achievement of graduating is indeed a celebration, so it's really no wonder why graduates want to share their joy with their friends and loved ones. Graduation announcements offer a highly convenient way to do this, through personal messages, photographs and unique lines and elements that exude the graduate's personality.
When it comes to graduation announcements, there are many things you can do with them to truly make them your own. For starters, you can showcase your struggles through college or high school in a humorous way. You can maybe poke fun at all your hardships, and how graduation means that you have officially joined the ranks of the unemployed in this country. Whatever you do, whether you choose to take a serious or trendy route, make sure that your personality shines in your custom graduation announcements. You don't just want to tell them the good news of your graduating, you also want them to smile, maybe even laugh, and truly feel happy for you.
When it comes to graduation announcements, there are two things you can do. You can either send them out after the graduation ceremonies, or you can send them before you actually graduate. Obviously, the latter calls for a little more work. You need to include the details of the graduation ceremonies, including the time, date, and venue. You can also include the educational institution you are graduating from, and if you're graduating from college, the degree with which you will receive.
Once that's done, you can proceed to have fun with your graduation announcements. The important thing here is to let your imagination run wild. But before that, you need to select a theme first. Do you want to go for something lighthearted and funny? Or do you want your graduation announcements to be serious, maybe business-like in tone? If it's the former, than go ahead and be as creative as you want. If it's the latter, then you want your announcements to be formal, yet still show a hint of your joy and willingness to join the real world. Choose wisely, and don't forget to have fun.

When it comes to graduation announcement, there are many things you can do with them to truly make them your own.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debbie_F_Tilley

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Dear Uncle Ezra: Where's My Privacy?

I just returned from Ithaca, New York after attending the Institute for Computer Policy and the Law which is hosted every summer on the Cornell University campus. This summer, the Institute focused on the issue of privacy on college campuses and what educators need to do in order to protect it. Although discussions about privacy have never been out of vogue, they are particularly topical these days because social media are giving us unprecedented opportunities to reveal who we are online. And while these outlets are a boon for self-expression, they can, when wielded inappropriately, seriously, and sometimes permanently, damage reputations. Ten months ago on Sept 28^th, RutgerҀs freshmen Tyler Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge after his roommate surreptitiously streamed a live video feed of Tyler having sex with another male in their dorm room. The Tyler Clementi case serves as a reminder that student privacy is increasingly challenging to protect in an era of social networking and ubiquitous surveillance. If it wasnҀt the event which inspired ICPLҀs focus on privacy, it certainly could have been.

How should we as college administrators or college professors deal with this problem? We are after all in the business of building studentҀs reputations. But how best to help them in this age of hyper-connectivity?

FERPA, of course, offers some guidance (and attorneys at ICPL went over this at length). As university employees we need to be mindful of our studentҀs privacy as weҀre carrying out our jobs. But beyond FERPA, I left ICPL with the strong impression that we also need to be engaging with our students so that they too take up the conversation. ICPL held one of these conversations in a panel discussion that was reported last week in Inside Higher Education. You can read the full account there but for me the biggest lesson I learned was that students actually value privacy. Although there has been some talk that students donҀt care about it (a sentiment that would jibe with Mark ZuckerbergҀs pronouncement that privacy is dead) at least one student on the panel seemed to suggest that this is a misconception. Students may treat their own privacy (and that of others) fairly casually in their initial forays into social networks. But it doesnҀt take more than one bad experience posting too much of oneself online to inculcate more moderated sharing. So we can all sigh a bit of relief: it doesnҀt look like the next generation is inclined (at least not en masse) to duplicate the foibles of Anthony Weiner. Like the rest of us, they too are learning the art of discretion.

The ICPL conversation mostly emphasized the dimensions of privacy that are defined when we make choices about how much of ourselves to share online. When we produce content and share it with others we are of course redefining what of our lives is private and what is public in fundamental ways. But beyond this production oriented definition I wonder whether privacy awareness could also be enriched by broadening the definition of privacy to include the experience of seclusion and solitude and the particular psychological and intellectual spaces that are created when we moderate not only our production but our consumption of digital resources. Privacy, after all, isnҀt just about what we choose to share of ourselves online, but how much of our time we choose to spend in the company of others and how much time we choose to spend alone. These are the types of questions that William Powers takes up in HamletҀs Blackberry and William Deresiewicz in a Chronicle of Higher Education piece titled ӀThe End of Solitude.Ԁ On my campus weҀre promoting these latter conversations about privacy as well in a project titled ӀConcentration in the HumanitiesԀ in which we ask students to alternatively work in private and communal spaces and consider which ones catalyze better writing. When the definition of privacy is broadened this way we can (potentially) engage students not only by appealing to their long term interest in reputation but their more immediate interest in being better writers.

As one speaker mentioned on the last day of the conference the mission of the university suffers when students and instructors have to worry about excessive surveillance. When weҀre surveiled overmuch, students and professors feel constrained, and our interest in contributing to the marketplace of ideas diminishes. This is an important point. But itҀs also worth noting that the mission also suffers when our students and professors are so connected that they canҀt differentiate between their own thoughts and those of the digital hive. Discussions about privacy, are, ultimately, also discussions about identity and the extent to which we subscribe to individualistic or communitarian senses of the self. These senses of the self, in turn, give definition to competing visions of what a university education is for (Is it there to cater to the desires and ambitions of private wants and ambitions? Or is it there to cater to the broader needs of the community?) Privacy thus framed can then address the immediate pragmatic need to guard studentҀs reputations while at the same time broaching more fundamental problems about the nature of the self, what it means to be an educated person, and the missions of the university.

If the theme of this yearҀs ICPL talk was inspired by the Tyler Clementi case, it was especially fitting that the conference ended with a presentation on CornellҀs ӀDear Uncle EzraԀ which, in Ann LanderҀs or Dear Abby mode, dispenses therapeutic advise online to students who write in with their questions. When it was deployed in 1986 one of the early questions and answers was from someone contemplating jumping off one of CornellҀs infamous bridges. HereҀs the letter (and answer) quoted in full:

Dear Uncle Ezra:

WHERE IS THE BRIDGE THAT EVERYONE JUMPS OFF OF I AM CONSIDERING IT MYSELF.

Dear Considering,

Most people, at one time or another, consider suicide as an answer to their problems. As Ann Landers says, suicide doesn't solve problems, i t only passes them on from you to the survivors -- family, friends,loved ones, and other people who care about you.

Suicide is usually an attempt to deal with a crisis. The Chinese character for "crisis" translates into "dangerous opportunity." Suicide is a permanent solution, and eliminates other options. So if you're hurting so much that you are willing to pass the pain on to those who care, perhaps you could use this dangerous opportunity to try some other options first.

Ithaca and Cornell have a number of services specifically to help people in crisis. Call Suicide Prevention any time at 272-1616, go to Psychological Services in Gannett Health Center (255-5208), talk with a chaplain in CURW (118 Annabel Taylor Hall, 255-4214), talk with a friend, and use this opportunity to change your life for the better.

Problems have solutions. Your life has value. Please give it a chance.

Uncle Ezra

Clementi, who wasnҀt at Cornell, didnҀt get a chance to write directly to Ezra. And even if he had, itҀs sheer speculation to say that Ezra would have turned the course of events with any more success than the help that was offered to Clementi at Rutgers. But that speculation isnҀt my purpose here. I post the Ezra letter to show that the identity of the self in college can be a very fragile thing, whether weҀre talking about the college experience in 1986 or 2010, and that we, as educators and administrators, can help to nurture that self by helping students to think through their sense of selves as private, isolated (and sometimes lonely) individuals and their selves as shaped and defined by a larger community of (as Ezra puts it) Ӏfamily, friends, loved ones , and other people who care about you.Ԁ This isnҀt to say that the conversation will yield simple answers about privacy. After all, it appears that in one sense Clementi didnҀt have enough privacy. And yet, in another sense he might have been saved had he been less private about his suffering. Talks on privacy framed this way can, hopefully, deepen the conversation and bring our students into closer touch with the abiding questions that should be central in university life.

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We offer agent compensation packages. Please contact us at lagos@legendagroup.edu.my to get more information.
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Athletics and College Admissions

College Admissions: Top Tips for Athletic Recruits

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Monday, June 27, 2011

Cristiana Quinn, GoLocalProv College Admissions Expert

July 1 marks the time when many NCAA coaches are permitted to actively pursue rising seniors with phone calls and e-mails. Until this date, most Division I and Division II coaches** are limited to sending general program information and returning calls; they may not proactively contact recruits. This means that the floodgates open soon for talented athletes. It can be overwhelming and confusing for students and parents. Here are 5 things you need to know if being recruited is in your plan:

1. NCAA rules are strict and enforceable.

They vary by sport, but generally coaches may call an athlete once a week after July 1. In-person contacts and evaluation days at tournaments and camps are limited in number (a contact can be defined as any conversation beyond ӀhiԀ). After September 1, seniors in most sports may make up to 5 official (paid) campus visits. Calendars and exact rules for each sport can be found here. NCAA course requirements, minimum GPA and SAT/ACT scores are listed here.

2. Attitude and image matter.

Coaches want athletes who will take direction, work hard and be able to keep up academically. They want to avoid students who display arrogance, a lack of commitment, or they suspect could get into trouble on or off-campus. Most of all, coaches want athletes who want their college more than any other school. ӀShowing the loveԀ matters. So, follow-up on each coach contact if you are interested in a school, write thank you notes after you visit, and demonstrate your interest in the college and program.

3. Only pursue colleges that are a good match for you.

More than 70% of athletes who begin playing a sport in college are no longer on a team by senior year. They get cut, their grades fall below minimum standards, they lose interest, etc. So, make sure that the schools pursuing you are a good match for you academically and socially. DonҀt get flattered by coach interest at a less competitive college if you are an A student. Go after the coaches at the schools that YOU are interested in. Remember that in order to be recruited by the Ivy League and some other very elite colleges, you MUST meet the Ivy League Academic Index.

4. Ask coaches the tough questions.

This is one of the most important decisions you will ever make; donҀt go in blindly. Ask the coaches how many students graduate in 4 years. Find out what the training and travel demands are and how many students get cut or drop out of the program. Determine if there are restrictions on what you can major in or for studying abroad, and ask about tutor support. Most importantly, make sure that the coach style matches what you respond well to as an athlete.

5. Only sign a Letter of Intent or apply Early Decision (ED) if you are CERTAIN that the college is your 1st choice.

Most coaches will pressure recruits to apply ED if the college has an ED option, and they will ask the athlete to sign a Letter of Intent if the athlete is going to receive an athletic scholarship. This letter is a binding agreement and ends the studentҀs chances to consider any other colleges or offers. Signing dates are available here. Keep in mind that you need to have visited all your colleges and assessed your options before these dates hit׀because most coaches wonҀt pull for you in the regular decision round. The best chance for a coach to get athletes accepted is during early action or early decision.

Cristiana Quinn, M.Ed. is the founder of College Admission Advisors, LLC which provides strategic, college counseling and athletic recruiting services for students. www.collegeadvisorsonline.com.

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Related Articles

Financial Aid Myths

Paying for College: 7 Most Costly Myths and Mistakes

By Kathy Kristof | Jun 28, 2011 | 3 Comments

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WhatҀs the most expensive purchase youҀll ever make? If youҀre about to say Ӏa house,Ԁ stop and think for another second. Did your house cost $250,000 plus four yearsҀ wages? ThatҀs the cost of a private college education these days. The cost of public schools, while cheaper, is still likely to exceed $100,000 once you add in room, board, books and lost wages.

ThatҀs why college-cost myths can prove so costly, says Carol Stack, co-author of ӀThe Financial Aid Handbook: Getting the Education You Want for the Price You Can Afford.Ԁ These myths often lead to mistakes that can cost students and their parents tens of thousands of dollars.

What are the most costly myths and mistakes? How can you learn the truth about paying for college? HereҀs a guide.

Myth #1: You get what you pay for.

Many parents assume that the pricier the college, the more valuable the education. But, in reality, not only do some costly colleges not deliver the quality education they promise, few students pay the same rate at the same schools. You can liken the seats in a classroom to the seats on an airplane. Every person in the room is likely to have paid a different amount.

If you want to get the best deal on a college ׀ just like an airline seat ׀ youҀll need to do plenty of research, Stack says. Investigate schools based on your childҀs interests, the schoolsҀ graduation rates and their generosity with aid ׀ in addition to the sticker price. For detailed information about how to figure the net cost of attending a college, check out this related post: College Decision time: How to Find the True Cost.

Myth #2: If you get into a Ӏreach school,Ԁ you should go there.

This could be the most costly mistake a student could make, says Stack. The reason? Colleges give the most aid to kids who are in the top of their entering class. Kids who barely qualified to get into a school are not likely to be offered much other than loans, which could cause them to graduate mired in debt. To get merit-based scholarships and grants, your student should be positioned in the top 25% of those accepted by that particular college. The data on what grades and SAT scores each college requires is readily available on the web. If price is an issue, forget the reach school and go to a school thatҀs reaching for your student.

Myth #3: State schools are the most affordable.

Yes, your tax dollars may have been supporting your stateҀs public colleges and universities for years. Yes the sticker price of a state school may make it appear more affordable. But these schools still might be more expensive than a private school thatҀs willing to meet 100% of your Ӏneed.Ԁ Many incredibly expensive private colleges, such as Harvard and USC, provide so much aid to qualified students that their all-in cost can be considerably cheaper than the least expensive state school. Top students should never eliminate a college based on the sticker price. The net price ׀ the price after scholarships and grants ׀ is what makes a college costly or affordable.

Myth #4: You donҀt need to talk money until your student is accepted.

If you want to avoid disappointment and debt, youҀd be wise to have frank discussions about what you can afford early in the college application process ׀ possibly even before your student fills out applications. Good students should still apply to costly schools (as long as theyҀre good about meeting aid), but parents should explain any provisos involved in attending those institutions. To say: ӀWe can only afford XYZ school if you get scholarships and grants of at least $5,000, and if you get a job to pay all your incidental expensesԀ for instance, gives your child something to work with.

If the child is set on a school that doesnҀt provide enough aid, you can also suggest that he or she search for private scholarships at FastWeb.com to make up the difference. What you shouldnҀt do is dash hopes at the last minute, says Stack. ӀThere are books on how to talk to your kids about sex, drugs and alcohol, but thereҀs very little to tell you how to talk about money,Ԁ she adds. But with a decision this costly, youҀve got to find a way.

Sit down together and go through a budget. In addition to making college more affordable, itҀs a great life lesson for kids who are about to launch independent financial lives of their own.

If money is really tight, donҀt forget about the College Two-Step ׀ two years at a community college plus two at a four-year university. This little dance can cut college costs almost in half and allow your child to qualify for universities that would otherwise be a reach. (Many top-notch four-year universities have articulation agreements with community colleges that guarantee admission to any student who successfully completes two years with a minimum GPA.)

Myth # 5: If my parents wonҀt pay, IҀll get more aid.

If your parents canҀt afford to pay for college, you may qualify for more aid. But financial aid formulas are designed to ensure that families that have the economic wherewithal to pay for college, donҀt throw the burden to schools or taxpayers. The only way you get more aid when your parents are flush, is if you qualify as an ӀindependentԀ student. ThatҀs not easy to do. The most common ways to be ӀindependentԀ are to be older ׀ born before 1989 (for the 2012 school year); married; a grad student or a foster child.

Myth # 6: If youҀre not poor, thereҀs no reason to fill out financial aid forms.

There is no specific income or asset level that knocks you out of the running for financial aid. The ability to claim aid will depend on family circumstances and the cost of the chosen college. Even those who didnҀt qualify for aid in one year could qualify the next because, for instance, another child might enter college and make your family more ӀneedyԀ based on the aid formula ׀ or because you earned a little less or child is attending a more expensive school. Furthermore, if you want to be able to borrow at low fixed rates through the federal student loan program, you need to fill out the FAFSA form. Unless youҀre stupendously wealthy and couldnҀt care less about financial aid, go to fafsa.ed.gov and get cracking.

Myth # 7: I can pay someone to find scholarships for me.

Nope. If you want a scholarship, youҀre going to have to apply for it yourself. And legitimate scholarships never require an up-front fee. The companies that promise to get you scholarships for a fee are simple scams, according to the Federal Trade Commission. If you want help finding scholarships that you can qualify for, check out FastWeb, which is a free (though advertising supported) online scholarship search service. For the cost of clicking past a few advertisements, FastWeb will match you up with relevant scholarships and show you where to get information on how to apply.

If you pay a scholarship search service, youҀre wasting both time and money.

Read more: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/devil-details/paying-for-college-7-most-costly-myths-and-mistakes/4834/#ixzz1SBf9DPyr

8 Strategies for Starting Your College Application Process - The College Admissions Insider (usnews.com)

8 Strategies for Starting Your College Application Process - The College Admissions Insider (usnews.com)

What Makes a School Large or Small? - College Admissions Q&As (usnews.com)

What Makes a School Large or Small? - College Admissions Q&As (usnews.com)

North Carolina Eastern Tour (NCICU)

THE NORTH CAROLINA INDEPENDENT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (NCICU) EASTERN TOUR

JUNE 19 TO 24, 2011

After completing the NCICU Central Tour in 2010, I knew that completing the next leg of the tour would be valuable. On Sunday, June 19^th we began the Eastern Tour at Barton College in Wilson, NC. They wined and dined and entertained us with an amazing musical group. After spending the night in a Barton dorm, we shared breakfast, toured the Barton campus.

Barton is located in a lovely small town. Some of their unique majors include gerontology and an education major for deaf/hard of hearing. After our tour we then boarded our bus. Doug Neiry was again our bus driver. This would be his 20^th year as the tourҀs driver. Our college admissions counselors were again Zaire McCoy from Elon Univesity and Ernie Rushing from Methodist University. Zaire and Ernie provided us with a constant stream of beverages and snacks.

North Carolina Wesleyan in Rocky Mount, NC was our midday stop. They are actively rebranding their institution and hoping to eventually grow to 1,000 undergraduates. The worldҀs largest serpentine wall borders this campus.

Chowan University in Murfreesboro was our late afternoon destination. There is a variety of architectural styles on this campus which is part of a sleepy Southern town. One of their unique majors is packaging design within graphic arts. In 2013 they will introduce womenҀs lacrosse

Louisburg College in Louisburg was our evening destination. After dinner, we were treated to hotel rooms at the Days Inn. Tuesday morning began with breakfast at Louisburg and then a campus tour. Louisburg is the only two-year residential college in North Carolina. It is also the oldest two-year residential institution in the United States. It was founded in 1787, which is two years before Washington was inaugurated as President of the United States.

Louisburg is very strong in athletic participation. They also have a program modeled after Landmark College which serves the needs of students with learning issues.

Tuesday afternoon found us in Raleigh, NC at Saint AugustineҀs College. Founded in 1867 by the Episcopal Church to educate freed slaves, it is a HBCU. There are several unique majors: forensic science, Mandarin Confucius, and real estate management in the business department. Saint AҀs gets the ribbon for serving the best food! Shrimp salad, chicken salad, and huge brownies were served along with many other delicious dishes. The best Southern cooks must work at St. AҀs.

Meredith College, also in Raleigh, was our evening stop. It is an historic womenҀs college with many traditions. A palazzo in Italy was recently purchased and renovated for students who wish to study abroad in this area. A unique major for Meredith is environmental sustainability. They also have a program that allows students to work with autistic children.

MeredithҀs president shared dinner with us. As of the end of June, she is retiring.

Wednesday morning we went to Peace College, which is just down the street from Meredith. Their relatively new female president greeted us over breakfast. Peace is a womenҀs college that has transitioned to a four-year college. Their new buildings are lovely, bright and airy. Best of all is the fact that the new buildings blend with the architecture of the campus. The newest major at Peace is musical theater.

The new president has put several new initiatives in place on the campus. This includes four years of writing and English, a personal financial management course, a portfolio program, a required internship and statistics course.

Campbell University in Buies Creek is home of the Camels. This school is affiliated with the Baptist church. This school is a good fit for a home schooled student. Spread out on 850 acres, this campus offers diverse educational and athletic opportunities.

Mount Olive College in Mount Olive hosted us in the afternoon. They are located in the town as the pickle company of the same name. The strongest and largest major on this campus is science. A session with the chairman of this department was very impressive. Agribusiness is a unique major to this school.

The staff was very cordial to the group. Ollie the Pickle greeted us. We were treated to a variety of pickles. Before our departure we were served orangeade, lemonade or ice cream. All of this was graciously provided by an alumnus who has a successful food business.

Mount Olive was one of my treasure finds on this tour.

Methodist University in Fayetteville was our evening stopover. They hosted dinner for us at the Huskie Warehouse Restaurant. We were housed in some of their upper class men apartments for the night. Methodist is an institution that is growing in many ways. They are adding new Greek housing to their campus. In 2011 they will be constructing a state-of-the art nursing building that contains a simulated hospital facility.

There are many exceptional things at Methodist: an Honors program based on the Great Books, a golf management and tennis management major, and a unique environmental disaster management simulated lab.

Saint Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg was our lunch stop. They have an expansive 600-acre campus constructed around a series of large lakes. At one time this campus was built exclusively for wheelchair access for students. Due to recent financial and accreditation circumstances, they are in the process of merging with Weber International in Florida.

While on campus we visited the worldҀs largest science lab. After a lunch that was topped with the freshest, sweetest summer peach ever, we drove to the new equestrian center. In addition to having competitive equestrian teams, there is an equine business management and equine therapeutic major offered. The equestrian facility is first rate. After our visit to the horses, we boarded the bus. We were sent off with individual bags of homemade brownies and peanut butter cookies. Yum!

We once again headed back to Raleigh to visit Shaw University. This HBCU was founded in 1865. It is set within the city. Shaw is trying to recover from the devastation of a tornado that occurred in the spring.

Religion and philosophy are the oldest majors at Shaw. This is a school that will give anyone who wants an opportunity to attend college the chance.

The evening was spent at the ball park cheering on the Durham Bulls. Several counselors went on their own for other activities. I was among a small group who found a lovely, local Italian restaurant. We enjoyed good company, conversation and food.

Our tour wrapped up on Friday morning at Duke University in Durham. The Dean of Admissions spent some extended time with our group. We then toured the lovely campus. When you receive 30,000 applications for an entering class of 1700, you must be doing something right.

This was a week full of learning and interaction with colleagues. Once again I have found some gems to add to my ever-growing list of colleges. The tour next summer to the western part of North Carolina is reputed to be even better. I canҀt wait to see!!

You Say You Want a Revolution....

I'm finishing my 11th week teaching in the Canvas system. As an instructor who has taught extensively in Blackboard, Moodle and Sakai here are my current impressions of the product and the larger community:

Just when you had given up all hope that UtahҀs hotbed of digital innovation would produce an LMS of your liking, along comes InstructureҀs Canvas a system that promises to rock the industry off of itҀs clay feet. Plenty of people have already reported about InstructureҀs eminently usable interface and my own experience teaching a course in it over this summer semester is something I want to talk about a bit later.

But first a bit about Utah as that hotbed of LMS innovation ր itҀs actually true. After all, weҀre the progenitor of Novell and Wordperfect as well as plenty of more recent startups. So if you suffer from some sort of reverse provincialism ր thinking that really cool LMS innovations are only going to come from the coasts, or from Silicon Valley or from cities or universities with a reputation for a more cosmopolitan orientation, the Instructure product will lift that veil quickly. Use it as I have for only a few days and I guarantee that it will knock your teaching socks off.

This has not been easy for me to admit, because for years now IҀve been using and promoting Sakai and Moodle. IҀve been doing so because of their open, global communities and the promise that involvement with those communities would benefit my own universityҀs commitment to global outreach. Back in the summer of 2008, when Instructure made itҀs earliest pitches to me at TTIX it seemed implausible that a more locally situated organization, with a much smaller body of developers who were all concentrated in one area could compete with that value proposition.

And yet on a functional level, itҀs clearly competing. As Michael Feldstein has noted, Canvas has streamlined the number of clicks it takes to work in the gradebook ր that bane of almost all LMSs. But I donҀt need to repeat those accolades here. What I find most impressive about Canvas are two things: A design that looks spare but (like a very good waiter) presents functionality when and where you need it. And a design that draws students toward the activities they need to do in a course even when you might be a little forgetful. In this regard, Canvas is sort of like an executive secretary on speed. Once youҀve constructed and scheduled your assignments, Canvas will present prompts and course views that will keep even the spacier students on track and informed about what needs to be done, the consequences of not doing it, as well as the larger learning outcomes that are associated with each activity in the course. Do you get tired (or sometimes forget) to remind students of upcoming assignments or ones that might be past due? If you do Canvas will remind students for you. And if you sometimes wonder whether students understand or take into account the relative weight of different activities, Canvas presents easily accessible gradebook views that drive this message home. And for students who actually work prospectively, Canvas automatically generates a calendar with the courseҀs activities so that they can think about the courseҀs various commitments in the context of their other lives. Finally, for students who arenҀt just grade grubbers or scheduling fanatics, but who are actually thinking intellectually about the course, Canvas allows them to view a list of learning outcomes and to grasp how those learning outcomes are aligned with the various activities in the course.

While there is plenty to gush about in Canvas (and if you want to participate in the gushing subscribe to the listserv by sending an email to : sympa@lists.usu.edu?subject=sub%20canvas or come to Instructure's upcoming August conference in cool Snowbird, Utah) this isnҀt to say that I donҀt have a few reservations about moving to Canvas . IҀve worked for a long time with Sakai and Moodle and have developed many collegial relationships in those communities. And right now IҀm participating in an NEH grant that came my way in part because of the social and professional relationships that IҀve developed with those organizations.

So while there are plenty of nice things to celebrate in the Canvas product, this hardly means that we should all of a sudden forget these other associations or gloss over all of the contributions that these other communities have made, and are continuing to make to the development and refinement of the LMS.

It is in this context that I lament InstructureҀs use of the iconography of war and insurrection to suggest what is going on in the LMS landscape or the relationship between the various players. ItҀs best instantiated by their release a couple months ago of the following video which is a takeoff of AppleҀs 1984:

To some extent this is forgivable; Canvas really is the upstart David to BlackboardҀs entrenched Goliath. And it would be nice to see a bit of BlackboardҀs near monopolistic hold on the market eroded (or in the parlance of the day, ӀdisruptedԀ) by Canvas innovation. ItҀs after-all what Steve Jobs was trying to do 30 years ago when 1984 was released and I donҀt know anyone who seriously begrudges that marketing campaign. But one thing that distinguishes the Canvas-Blackboard narrative from the Apple-PC scene is that there are also a number of strong open source players in the LMS market including Sakai and Moodle. These organizations, in terms of their governance structures and their disposition to transparency and openness are at least as revolutionary as Instructure is. Moreover, while Instructure presents itself as something entirely new, one would have to put on some serious blinders not to see the many aspects of the product which are derivative of prior art. A good example of this is their modules tool which is an obvious copy of MoodleҀs. The product, despite the marketing campaign and the gush, has not emerged ex nihilo nor is it something entirely new. More accurately, itҀs a refinement of prior art in a field that many claim has largely been commoditized.

I suspect, as Canvas gains market share (which as early adopters of their product I and my institution seriously want) the adversarial nature of their marketing can be toned down and the intellectual debt which all of these LMS initiatives owe to each other can be more openly acknowledged. After all, itҀs universities to whom these organizations ultimately cater and itҀs from their feedback that these organizations learn in which way to innovate. And in so far as universities espouse the ideal of openness, proper attribution and spirited collaboration one would think that our LMS partners would ultimately align behind those values as well. HereҀs hoping they will.

How to Get a Good Education in the Accredited Online Colleges and Universities

When a student decides to continue his or her education, then everything changes and becomes very complicated. It is the time when a student must be sure in his choice of profession and be careful in searching of the future higher educational establishment. All the procedures which are connected with education are very complicated and difficult. Some time ago it was almost impossible to find proper higher educational establishment. The reason lies in the fact that there was no time to find it as students were to run from one college to another and from one university to another in order to be applied to the institution. And it was a great success if you took the program which you wanted. But the world doesn't stay and it moves further. With the invention of high electronic devices the search and application to the higher educational establishment has become more convenient. Nowadays there are a lot of online institutions which can give a proper education. These accredited online colleges and universities can provide different degrees in different fields. And after finishing such higher educational establishments you can be sure that you will get a good education and a good job in future.
Some years ago high school graduates and those people who worked but they needed a degree, were able to obtain the degree in two traditional ways. They could achieve their associate's, bachelors or master's degrees by attending the traditional full-time courses in the colleges or in the universities. They also had an opportunity to obtain the degree by taking the program in distance education courses by post or by mail. These kinds of education have a lot of advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that the education obtained in the college or university by taking the traditional courses gives the one hundred percent proper education which is appreciated by employers. But on the other hand these programs require a lot of time and efforts. Besides a lot of students don't manage to do all the assignments and tasks. In such cases the majority of students stop their education. They also often quit because they don't have enough resources to pay for their education or they don't have ability to take the program which they want in a college or university near their home.
But with the invention and introduction of different accredited online higher educational establishments it has become much more convenient and available to start and finish the education. In the last few years the majority of students begin to demand the online degree programs. As the result in last decade the number of students who would like to obtain the degree through the accelerated online colleges or universities has increased from some thousands in 1994-1995 to more than 120,000 in 2003. This huge number indicates the convenience and ease of the online degree programs in the accredited online colleges and universities.
The information of the government states the fact that in the middle 90s there were only 84 accredited online universities in the United States. But this number increased to 1200 accredited online universities which provide different online degree programs. Nowadays there are a lot of different online programs in different fields and they are available for all students who would like to get a degree by the online degree programs. The greatest advantage of the online degree programs is that the students can take not only one program. If the person has an opportunity to pay great attention to studies, then he or she can take more than one program and study simultaneously by two or more programs.
Another great advantage of the online degree program is that that the person can retrench a lot of money. The sum of money which is paid for the study by the online degree program in most cases covers everything from course material to online coaching and examination fees. When a person is getting his or her degree by the online degree program, then he or she studies at home sitting at the computer which has a connection to the Internet. In this case a lot of money is saved as he or she doesn't need to expend money on the way to the university or college. Besides the online degree programs provide a student with the flexible schedule. This gives students an opportunity to study in any time in which they wish or can study. These programs are very convenient for people who are lack of time or abilities to study by taking the full-time courses. They provide a person with the opportunity to choose the time when he or she can pay attention to studies.
With the involvement and the development of the internet, the searching of the online degree programs has become easier. Nowadays the number of the accredited online colleges and universities, which provide students with the online degree programs, increased and people can find the online higher educational establishment in almost all corners of the world. As the result of the contribution of such establishments, a lot of people try to take the online degree program, and this leads to the displacement of the traditional education. Nowadays more and more traditional higher educational establishments have become empty and have lost their prestige.
This article provides potential students with the information about accredited online higher educational establishments. Here you can find a lot of facts which describe the advantages and disadvantages of the online degree programs and the accredited online colleges and universities. This information can suggest you on the idea how to manage to do your future life successful. If you are very busy and you don't have time to study by the full-time courses in the traditional universities or colleges, if you have a job and you need to obtain a higher degree, if you have a family and children but you want to get a good education or if you just want to study in comfortable conditions, then the online degree program which is provided by the accredited online colleges or universities is the right choice for you. This is the opportunity to get a proper education and then to get a good job. While studying by the online degree program you can do a lot of things simultaneously with studies. So if you understand that this program is the best choice for you, then your aim is to find a proper accredited online college or university and start your education.

Choosing a course of study

Things to lookout for, when choosing a course in the University

Over the years students faces the challenges of choosing the right course of study for themselves.

We advise prospective students to note the followings: -

When choosing a course, you must think about two things. Firstly, what level of course you are looking for and, secondly, what subjects you are interested in.

When deciding which course to apply for, ask yourself the following questions:

Հ Which subjects am I good at?

Հ Which subjects am I interested in?

Հ Which career might I like to pursue when I finish the course?

Հ Studying which subject would help me get a foothold in this career?

Once youҀve answered these questions, you should have a shortlist of courses that interest you. Most subjects fall under one of these headings:

Science

First-degree courses in science are usually taught. Postgraduate programmes, such as PhDs and MScs, are more often research-based.

Arts

This includes humanities and modern languages. Undergraduate programmes usually lead to BAs, with postgraduate students being awarded an MA or PhD following submission of a thesis.

Clinical

Veterinary, medical and dentistry degrees are very popular. To get a place on a course you have to apply early and have good grades.

Law

Many universities and colleges offer courses in law, including degrees and CPE programmes (conversion courses for those who wish to practice as a solicitor or barrister, but whose first degree in not in law).

Call our students representatives now for more information