What’s next after 10th?

With the results of Class 10th looming large on the horizon, it is time for the students to take a call on the education stream they are going to pursue. Choosing the stream is a watershed event and the decision taken now will impact the entire future lives of the students. Hence, it becomes imperative that students and parents exercise utmost care at this point in time.
Career is a very important aspect of anyone's life. Choosing a career in a certain stream defines the future of a student. However, it is difficult for a student to choose a career path at the early age. Here is some guidance about how to choose a stream after 10th standard. There are various streams and career options available for a student in each of the streams.

Choosing a career in a particular stream or profession right at the beginning has a long lasting impact on a student’s future. It is very important for any student to choose carefully from various options available to him or her vis a vis his or her interest. Good judgment and right kind of aptitude coupled with guidance in the right direction to pick up a definite stream helps one in choosing the right career option. So from the very beginning a student should be careful in making choice of their stream. As soon as a student reaches 10th standard, some kind of pressure of choosing a career path linger in their mind. Because by then they are at the edge of completing their school life and it is peak time to choose ones career path than ever before.
Agencies responsible in choosing the right career options for a student:
Due to existence of variety of options coupled with cut throat competition in the professional filed makes one confused as to what to pick up as career options. There are mainly three agencies which are largely responsible for a student’s choosing a career path. These are namely the student himself, parents, teachers and career counsellors.

Role of a student: Though there are no definite tools which can accurately determine what career one should choose yet a few simple steps can help one to make a decision in the right direction.

• Jolt down the subjects of interests. The interest should be evaluated with skills necessary to pursue them in the longer term.
• Explore or test the chosen option. One should act in the best possible practical way to find out what really excites him or her.
• Consider external factors such as personal responsibilities and their priorities, financial strength to pursue the option and flexibilities in changing the path if in times of uncertainties one can change the career option with minimum obstacles.
• Attending career guidance seminars, educational fairs etc can also help a student in knowing the latest development in the outside world apart from the bookish knowledge.

Role of Parents and Teachers: Parents should facilitate in exploration of the right career option for their children. They can help their children by giving advices of successful people and their career growth and supportive instructions. But they should be unprejudiced to allow their offspring to follow their own dream. So students should always be given preference for their choice and at the same time it should be complemented by advices of the parents. Valuable advices and good wishes of parents help children to forward their step in new path of life.

 

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Trained to Lead

Proven leadership ability is a big deal and it is what sets one apart. It’s a race out there. Thousands of students have excellent grades and test scores, but what often secures an acceptance letter—is outstanding involvement in school clubs, athletics, or community organizations.

With a year or two before the college application process gets going, students have the chance to work their way up in a club or team, earning the experience and respect that will guarantee them a leadership role in college.
Even in college, student leadership is arguably the most beneficial extracurricular activity a person can perform. The experience gained from a leadership role will be valuable for a lifetime. Planning, decision making, communicating, and working as a teammate, are all skills that one builds as a student leader. Students must be taught how to be proactive and assume the status of an initiator.
As a student leader, you are in the unique position to make a difference on your campus. This is the moment to think big and to exert your voice from a position of influence. You can put into action, changes, that will impact the entire campus community and improve the student organization in which you are part.
There are several benefits of playing a leadership role as a student-
Boost college applications
A significant leadership role or two can make the difference between a decent application and a stellar one. Student leaders are “good problem solvers, promoters of school activities, idea-contributors, dependable, and persons who exemplify positive attitudes about life”—in other words, model candidates for higher learning!
Build self-esteem
Hard work, accomplishment, and recognition are vital factors in positive self-image. By taking on positions of responsibility at school and in their communities, students will feel genuinely good about themselves—which is just as important as looking impressive to admissions officers.
Invest in the future
Being a leader can benefit a student not only in high school and college, but in their professional life. People with leadership roles in high school are more likely to hold managerial positions as adults, earning higher incomes than those in non-leadership roles.
Therefore, students today must be educated to be good human beings and must  trained to be leaders.

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Virtual Learning Environment

A virtual learning environment (VLE) is a set of teaching and learning tools designed to enhance a student's learning experience by including computers and the Internet in the learning process. The principal components of a VLE package include curriculum mapping (breaking curriculum into sections that can be assigned and assessed), student tracking, online support for both teacher and student, electronic communication (e-mail, threaded discussions, chat, Web publishing), and Internet links to outside curriculum resources. In general, VLE users are assigned either a teacher ID or a student ID. The teacher sees what a student sees, but the teacher has additional user rights to create or modify curriculum content and track student performance. There are a number of commercial VLE software packages available, including Blackboard, WebCT, Lotus Learning Space, and COSE.

A virtual learning environment can also include students and teacher “meeting” online through a synchronous web-based application. The teacher is able to present lessons through video, PowerPoint, or chatting. The students are able to talk with other students and the teacher, as well as collaborate with each other, answer questions, or pose questions. They can use the tools available through the application to virtually raise their hand, send messages, or answer questions on the screen given by the teacher.

VLE Learning platforms commonly allow learner engagement and administration – managed access to learner information and resources and tracking of progress and achievement; and communication and collaboration via emails, notices, chat, wikis, blogs etc.

In principle a learning platform is a safe and secure environment that is reliable, available online and accessible to a wide user base. A user should be able to move between learning platforms throughout their life with no loss of access to their personal data. The concept of a learning platform accommodates a continuously evolving description of functionality changing to meet the needs of the user. 

VLE can help teachers and support staff manage and deliver a variety of daily tasks, including:

·         the creation of lesson plans using existing resources

·         allocation and marking of on-line assignments

·         discussion and support with students on line

 

The various interactive tools of VLEs can also support students with both class work and homework, and can cater for individual learning styles. For example, students can:

·         submit and track their assignments on line via a personal home page

·       contribute to and participate in discussions with classmates and other schools via the various tools

·         work at their own pace within and out of school

·         complete their worksheets and tests online for final submission and grading

·         attempt offline assignments with instructions and guides from the learning platform

Being able to work at their own pace is particularly beneficial to students. This allows the student to personalize their learning, to go back on lessons taught in classrooms and revise on their work, or if they feel confident they can progress to the next level or topic and prepare for lessons ahead. Doing so allows them to reinforce teaching and learning in the classrooms.

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Negative impact of putting pressure on kids

Negative impact of putting pressure on kids

Just take a minute and ask the following questions to yourself and try to be honest with your thoughts. (Don’t try to fool yourself) Have you ever had to do something compulsorily because your parents or friends wanted you to? Did you really want to do it yourself? Did you like it? Have ever regretted not challenging that thought?

I think that you might have been struck by lightning, isn’t it? Yes, if the answers of this small self assessment leave you gloomy and sulky, you, my friend, have been a victim of parental or peer pressure. The consolation for you is that, you are not the only one. There is a multitude of kids, teens and people who are bogged down by such pressures which eventually makes them really unhappy and depressed. But another point to think about is that would you like your child to be exactly in the state you are right now, unhappy?

In the world today, parental-peer pressure has reached unbearable limits. From parents this pressure is basically towards building a good career. Many times continuing the family ‘legacy’ is important for most parents. For instance, if you come from a family of doctors, chances are, you will be expected to become one, too, regardless of your capacity or inclination. When one or both parents are achievers, they don’t see any reason for their talents not to manifest themselves in their children.

Some average income earners force kids to excel beyond their abilities so they can avail of scholarship grants and minimize the cost of schooling in their budget.

What consequently happens is that-

1) Children can get easily frustrated.

Children under great pressure become very unhappy with one or two little mistakes. They may start blaming themselves for the slightest setback. They may start having sleepless nights. They will take every mistake of failure as the ‘end of it all.'

2) Children become misguided.

When the pressure is too much, the child no longer sees knowledge and the acquisition of knowledge as goals.

3) Children become fearful.

With expectations set high, children may fear punishment from their parents every time they fall short. If children have difficulty in certain subjects or areas, they need support and guidance early on. However, since they are afraid of ‘disappointing’ their parents, they will not come out and admit having issues.

4) Children may become socially isolated when bragged about.

Constant bragging of parents about their children to others may not always be well received. A child may develop either an unhealthy superiority or inferiority complex. The feeling of being better than everybody else, because a child was constantly drilled that he or she is can result in ostracism by peers. Similarly, feeling inferior to others may cause children to retreat into their shells.

5) Children measure self-worth with achievements.

When children hear their parents comparing them with others, it only translates to two messages: either “Mommy and Daddy love me because I am perfect,” or “They say I’m not as good as the other kids.”

6) Children may resort to drastic physical harms.

Being frustrated with the mounting pressure, children may even resort to committing suicide or on the opposite side, harming others through violent means.

Remember-

As a parent you must realise that you must let them learn at their own pace, and be there to hold their hand when they need it. Keep in mind that accomplishments in infancy, toddler years, and preschool years do not necessarily predict a child’s success in adulthood.

Just as parents do best, love and accept your children for whom they are. Allow them to be themselves and hit that road the way they see it. Each child is unique. Respect their ways of learning, growing, and thinking. Ultimately, children’s true measure of greatness depends on the guidance and values their parents give them.

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Pressure of Competitive Exams

Have you ever imagined how it would feel if you were in a no man’s land? Have you ever had a sinking feeling deep inside with no vision of the future and little hope of finding one? Have you ever felt breathless with excessive efforts and thought that they would not be enough? Have you ever felt the need to be accepted so that your existence could be acknowledged? - Heavy questions? Yes! Think of the trauma that one will have to go through to come up with such thoughts. This is the life of people who are one amongst the thousands who sit for a competitive exam for higher education in India.

School is a lovely place. Even though it has its own issues (tests, homework, exams, attendance, strict teachers etc) yet it is still a sanctuary which plays shelter to our childhood mischief and adolescent struggles. At the end of it we look back and find happiness in all the good and bad that happened there. But as soon as we set foot beyond the boundaries of school we find that we need to fend our way forward through a very hostile competitive environment, to find our next calling.

 Competitive exams are now a part and parcel of student life. They have become the step that leads to our career. Once common for medical and engineering or government jobs, they have now become mandatory for all post graduate and some graduate level courses. Government competitive exams for banking, staff selection, railways, etc. are vital to get jobs in the related sectors.

 In the pursuit of the dream career, students spend a lot of time and energy preparing for such competitive exams. On an average, around one year or more is spent in preparation. In an attempt of perfecting the skills required for succeeding in the exams, coaching classes are sort after. In all, not just time and energy, but money is also spent in this process.

 The pressure starts to mount under the many mock tests, question papers and not to mention the expectations of the family and peers. The gargantuan demands that parents have today really cut the self belief which students have in them before an exam. Actually the problem is that parents generally over stress on the fact that how important an exam is when they should actually make things seem more normal to their children.

 Records and results too show a large fail rate which further discourages students. The thought that thousands of students appearing for the exams and the need to outperform can also be intimidating. The atmosphere of approaching exams mount to such pressure that often candidates feel disoriented. Many times these insecurities, worries and inhibitions infest as physical issues like fever, nausea, sleeping disorders and dietary issues- all of which are sure to further dampen spirits.

The pressures to outshine these exams are high, but there are ways to tackle them normal human mind can easily clear competitive exams but you have to modify some basic strategies regarding preparation for exams.

 These strategies are listed below:

1. Self Belief: You should believe in yourself and your abilities. You should believe that can clear these competitive exams if you can perform to best of your abilities. Belief is everything and everything can be achieved through belief.

2. Knowledge: You should have proper knowledge about your concepts. We don’t have to acquire extra knowledge as conceptual knowledge is needed for competitive exams.

3. Time Management and Data: We can manage this time by preparing time table for each day. We also have to record weekly data which ultimately helps in representing our performance graphically.

4. Sharpness: A sharp mind has many advantages such as concept understanding, quick response to a tricky question and speed. The best method to sharpen your mind is to do as many questions as you can. Try to challenge yourself.

At the end one must understand that competitive exams should not be looked upon as us against many but us against ourselves. If we perform the best we can, our determination will bear fruit.
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Dr Sugata Mitra

Dr Sugata Mitra, a professor of Educational Technology at the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University, UK has bagged TED’s annual prize of $1 million that gives an exceptional individual the chance to conceive and launch a high-impact project.

 

Dr Mitra is well known for his “hole-in-the-wall” experiment that pioneered the concept of giving computer education to slum children. Dr Mitra said that he will use the prize money to launch a global initiative for self-directed learning toolkit for schools and families.

According to “My wish is to help design the future of learning by supporting children all over the world to tap into their innate sense of wonder and work together. Help me build the School in the Cloud, a learning lab in India, where children can embark on intellectual adventures by engaging and connecting with information and mentoring online,” he said.

Mitra developed the concept of the Cloud from his 1999 “hole in the wall” experiment, in which he carved a hole from his research center into an adjoining Delhi slum.

He placed a freely accessible computer in this hole, and found that groups of street children, with no prior experience or knowledge of English, could teach themselves how to use the computer.

For the next ten years, Mitra expanded on his findings and created a “granny cloud” – online moderators of retired teachers – who could Skype into learning centers and encourage children with questions and assignments.

Mitra also developed the concept of Self Organised Learning Environments which embraces a process where educators ask the kids big questions, leading them on intellectual journeys rather than asking them to just memorize facts.

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