Education loans

Loans are available to students and parents to provide them with funding after all other financial aid options have been reviewed. Unlike other financial aid such as scholarships, awards and grants, loans are borrowed money that must be repaid with interest. Do not borrow more than you need!

Federal loan programs

Concordia participates in the U.S. Department of Education's Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program in order to provide students and parents the very best options in educational loans. To be eligible for federal loans the student must be a U.S. citizen or an eligible noncitizen.

Please visit www.studentaid.ed.gov for a complete student guide on all financial aid programs from the U.S. Department of Education including the FFEL program.

Federal Stafford loan

Federal Stafford Loans are low-interest, long-term loans. Both subsidized and unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans have the same terms and conditions, with one exception: Unsubsidized loan borrowers are responsible for interest that accrues during all in-school, grace and deferment periods; for subsidized loans, the federal government pays the interest on behalf of the borrower while the student is in school and during the grace period. In order to be eligible for Stafford Loans, a student must file the FAFSA.

Federal Perkins loan for Undergraduate Students

The Federal Perkins Loan is a need-based loan administered and awarded by Concordia. Because the Perkins Loan funds are limited at each school, they are only made available to students with the highest financial need. This loan does not accumulate interest while the student is in college and payment is deferred until after the student ceases to be enrolled in school. In order to be eligible for Perkins Loans, a student must file the FAFSA.

Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)

PLUS Loans are federal education loans available to the parents of dependent, undergraduate students. To be eligible for the loan, the borrowing parent must have satisfactory credit. There is no minimum or maximum income requirement. The maximum amount parents may borrow on a PLUS loan each academic year is the cost of attendance minus other financial aid received by the student.

Alternative loan

Alternative (private) loans are credit-based loans from private sources available to assist families with educational expenses. Eligibility for alternative loans is not based on need. Alternative loans should only be considered after reviewing all other financial aid options.

Check with the lender of your choice for details or view the list of alternative loans offered by Concordia’s proposed lenders.

Choosing a Federal Student Loan Lender

The student loan market presents the consumer with a wide variety of lenders to choose from. While some of the terms of a Federal Stafford Loan or a Parent PLUS Loan are prescribed by federal law, the actual student loan experience a consumer receives is likely to depend on a variety of factors such as: the lender selected by the student and/or parent borrower, repayment options offered by the lender and/or loan servicer, the responsiveness to customer concerns/questions by the lender and/or servicer, etc. In light of the ever-changing benefits offered by the large array of student lenders in existence today, the Concordia's financial aid office cannot possibly guarantee you, the student loan borrower, that your lender selection will yield the most desirable student loan experience for you.

For this reason, Concordia University, Nebraska has developed a Proposed Lender List in order to assist our students and their parents in their lender selection.

Borrowers have the right and ability to select the education loan provider of their choice, are not required to use any of the lenders on this Proposed Lender List, and will suffer no penalty for choosing a lender that is not on this Proposed Lender List. If you wish to use a lender that is not on this Proposed Lender List, please contact the Financial Aid Office finaid@cune.edu for application instructions.

EDUCATION PLANS AND PLANNING

There are two distinct classifications of simulation models, depending on either the model’s specificity (generic vs. country-specific) or its approach (demographic vs. financial model). These classifications, however, should not exclude the variety of many other subcategories that can exist in between.

Generic vs. country-specific models: Generic models are sometimes called “ready-to-use” models, and country-specific models are often called “tailor-made” models.

The generic approach is used in designing simulation models which contain components common to a majority of education systems. They do not correspond, therefore, to any particular country’s education system. With careful adaptation, such models can however make it possible to approximate the pedagogical, physical, and financial consequences of a policy.

The country-specific approach is used in order to assess the consequences of a particular country’s education policy options, and to identify, in greater detail, the development actions required to implement the stated policy. Country-specific models take into account the structure and specific details of an individual country’s education system.

Generic models have the advantage of being operational as soon as the baseline data and main objectives are inputted, but have a limited power as detailed programming tools. In contrast, “tailor-made” simulation models, designed on the basis of close collaboration between decision-makers and specialists reflect a particular country’s situation and its educational policy, but such models require a much longer time to prepare and to verify.

Demographic vs. financial models: The second classification is between “demographic” and “financial” models, with multiple variants in between. These two types of models are designed according to two opposite methodological approaches: financial models use public spending on education as the decision variable, and demographic models estimate educational expenditure as the result of the simulation.

In the financial or budgetary models, one is first concerned with determining an acceptable budget ceiling for education as a proportion of the State’s overall budget. The computer calculates backwards to obtain likely enrolment targets. In the demographic models, the enrolment-related targets (independent variables) are laid down a priori and the computer calculates the resultant, necessary financial resources.

In reality, the principal simulation parameters ─ the enrolment and budget parameters ─ are interdependent. Whichever modelling approach is used, the options concerned in the initial scenario undergo several changes before leading to a balanced result. The search for a scenario that corresponds to the policy, leads the planner to repeatedly test different options for the two types of principal variables which are considered either as causes or consequences. The final decision is made by considering the implications of each parameter, and the scenario to be adopted finally results from a reasoned choice of the possible variables to be applied, both upstream and downstream in the course of the calculations.

For instance, in demographic models, the financial resources calculated as requirements for achieving the enrolment targets may prove unsustainable within a certain macro-economic and fiscal framework. In this case, one needs to review the parameters of input mix (student/teacher ratio, class size, textbook/student ratio, etc.) until one achieves a feasible expenditure level. With financial models, the budgetary ceiling specified as the decision variable for a certain level of education may not make it possible to achieve a policy goal, such as an adequate teachers’ training. In this case, one would adjust the aforementioned parameters of input mix in order to reduce the education costs per pupil to train more teachers.

Photo Collage

How to Make a Photo Collage

Making a digital photo collage is not as difficult as one might think. It’s really very simple with most photo editing software. It just takes a little time and patience. Even basic photo editing software that normally come with the purchase of a digital camera or printer. A very good photo editing software is PhotoShop Elements and older versions of it, which are perfectly fine, often come included with a new digital camera, printer or scanner.

Photoshop Elements 2.0 is the software I have used for my step by step guide, How to Make a Photo Collage.

The basic steps in making a collage are simple. The first step would be to open a blank document in your photo editing software. Your blank document should be the size you want your finished photo collage to be, example, 8x10 and of a resolution of 300 for good printing quality.

Next choose your pictures, keep it to about 10 pictures or less to begin with, till you are used to working with a lot of pictures so as not to be overwhelmed. Open them and drag them into your blank document.

Next resize the pictures as necessary. A tip, hold down the shift key as you drag from a corner to resize the picture, holding the shift key will keep the proportions of the picture so as not to distort the image. You can resize back bigger or smaller as needed as you work to decide the layout o the photo collage. Move the pictures around to see what looks letter where, try to create some balance, perhaps choose a focal picture to place in the middle and be larger than the others. But the focus does not have to always be in the middle, see what works best with the pictures you are using.

Now comes the most difficult part, the blending. For this we use the eraser tool. Choose your eraser tool and the size you want based on the size of your pictures. You want a blurred edge eraser for better blending. Erase the hard edge on each picture first then one by one, blend into each other, resizing the pictures where necessary. This is not something that can be taught, you have to just jump in and try it, if you make a mistake you can always delete the layer of that picture and open the picture again and drag it back in and try again. Use the step backward tool as well to undo any mistakes when you can.

You’ve made a photo collage, time to look around and make any final touches and adjustments. Save your document as a PSD, the default Photoshop Elements file type and then save it again as a jpeg so you can print and/or share it. Keep the PSD file in order to make any changes to your photo collage as you cannot change or adjust the jpeg file, it is just a copy.

See, was that so hard? For an illustrated step-by-step guide you can print and use to help you along the way please visit my website.

Detroit Schools Partner for Engineering Success

The Detroit Schools has partnered with local universities to get students thinking about careers in science and engineering. Students at different levels of the Detroit Public Schools are being targeted in a statewide effort to get more women and minorities enrolled in engineering programs. One program that makes this its mission is the Detroit Area Pre College Engineering Program (DAPCEP).

The Detroit Area Pre College Engineering Program

DAPCEP works with area students in three main ways. It partners with local public school teachers to design a curriculum that encourages creative thinking in the sciences. To fulfill this goal, DAPCEP sponsors science fairs, field trips, and university seminars for students and teachers.

DAPCEP also runs a Saturday program in conjunction with local universities and corporations to provide enrichments activities for students in grades 4 – 12. These activities focus on different aspects of math, computer science, engineering, physics, chemistry, and communication skills.

In addition to its programs during the school year, DAPCEP brings local public school students into universities for summer programs. Some of the summer programs are residential, with students living on campus for a few weeks and getting a real taste for the college life. Other programs provide transportation to and from campus.

University Partnerships
DAPCEP’s list of university partners is certainly impressive.
• University of Detroit Mercy
• Michigan State University
• University of Michigan Ann Arbor
• Wayne State University
• Lawrence Technical University
• Oakland University
• University of Michigan Dearborn
• Michigan Technological University

The Little Engineer Program

In addition to their very successful middle school and high school programs, DAPCEP also has something for smaller learners. Its Little Engineer Program is for students in grades K – 3. These Saturday classes for both children and their parents focus on teaching and learning math, science, pre-engineering, and reading.

How to Join DAPCEP

The selection process for DAPCEP can be daunting for parents anxious to give this opportunity to their children. DAPCEP holds an open house each fall for prospective students and parents. Students must maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average in all their school subjects. Other factors, such as attendance, and taking certain academic subjects in the regular school curriculum, such as physics, chemistry, and higher level math, also play a role in student selection. For many programs, students also need letters of recommendation from their math and science teachers.

Summer Course Offerings

DAPCEP’s university partnerships are providing a range of summer courses of Detroit area students. Here are some highlights:

• Watershed Investigators (University of Detroit Mercy)
Students will investigate local water quality in a series of real – world experiments.

• How Math Rocks Our World (Tabernacle)
Students will see how their math and science skills compare with other students around the world, in particular China and India.

• Wireless Integrated Microsystems (Michigan State University)
Hands – on activities and presentations from nine different engineering majors offered at the university.

• Engineering Intensive Workshop ( Michigan Technological University)
Students choose two areas of study, ranging from Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Aided Engineering, Computer Programming, Material Engineering, Chemical Engineering and others.

All of the DAPCEP programs emphasize the Detroit Area Public School District’s commitment to ensuring that students have the opportunity to explore many challenging areas and gain further insights into the college experience.

Software Engineering

Software Performance Engineering For Banks And Financial Institutions
Introduction:

Performance is one quality of software that can make or mar it. Poor performance can cause major losses. Hence, performance is an integral part of the various functions of Banks and Financial Institutions. Financial Institutions invest heavily in IT products and services for their better survival. Performance Engineering reduces TCO for IT and optimizes application performance.

Software Performance:

Software performance problems usually occur due to a fundamental misunderstanding of dealing with performance objectives. The idea is to tune for performance after getting the functionality right. Performance problems are complicated and require extensive code changes. Systematic planning and predicting the performance of the emerging software throughout the development process help in managing software performance properly.

Software Performance Engineering:

Software Performance Engineering is a systematic, quantitative, software-oriented approach to manage software performance proactively. Software Performance Engineering helps in recognizing problems early in development and corrects them.

The three measures of performance are Speed, Scalability and Stability, in which discrepancies may occur. Performance Engineering is all about solving a problem to achieve a desired and beneficial outcome.

The Cost of Performance Problems:

1. Ncreased hardware & development costs.

2. Cancelled projects.

3. Damaged customer relations.

4. Lost income.

5. Reduced competitiveness.

The Growth of Load Testing market:

Large development and implementation costs and the risk of losing of brand equity escalate the cost of application failure. According to Newport Group research, the hourly cost of downtime per million dollars of daily-generated online business revenue can range between $9,500 and $27,500,

Importance of Performance Engineering for Banks and Financial Institutions:

The services like loan, card, insurance, ERP and many more provided by banks and other financial institutions are subjected to improved Software Performance Engineering. Testing Banking Systems help to benchmark applications for users, predict the application’s performance, fix problems in early stages, enhance the speed and response time of applications, prevent customer annoyance and loss, and get the most cost effective investment plan.

Testing Banking Applications require performance-engineering services such as Load and Stress test, End-to-end Transaction Testing, Architecture Benchmarking, Capacity Planning, Simulation/ Performance Prediction, Endurance Testing etc.

ReadyTestGo’s Performance Engineering Services:

ReadyTestGo’s Performance Engineering Services offer unbiased and unlimited testing of the software, besides offering anytime, over the net and lab testing services. Our consultants possess significant expertise in web servers, databases, networking and more. Our 20,000 sq.ft. Lab at Chennai, co-hosted at San Jose and Singapore is equipped with world-class hardware, software and testing tools for diagnosing and solving problems.

Process Overview:

Any performance engineering process should ensure repeatability, consistent delivery, complete coverage and a strong feedback mechanism to leverage knowledge. Figure 1 illustrates our approach to performance engineering.

Approach to Performance engineering:

To get proper utilization of Performance Engineering, test for common performance bottlenecks and transactions must be conducted. Creation of re-usable test scripts and tracking defects to closure are some way to make it happen.

Server Testing:

Server Testing needs to monitor Web, Application and Database Servers very well.

Performance Test Runs:

Performance Test Runs include:

Baseline and Diagnostic Test Runs, and Enhancement Test.

Monitoring:

Server Side and Client Side Monitoring are crucial for finer performance measure.

Reporting:

Testing Banking Systems is followed by the submission of a test report containing ReadyTestGo’s primary client and server side observations, its analysis of the correlated client and server side data and it would attempt to identify any and all bottlenecks in the application.

The graph in the following figure depicts a typical client and server side co-relation showing that the web site under test failed to scale beyond a user load of around 55 concurrent users due to high CPU utilization. It also shows that user processes were the primary contributors to the high CPU utilization observed and that CPU utilization by the Kernel and the I/O subsystem was nominal.

Difference Child's Life Education

Make a Difference in a Child's Life with Abacus Education

Speak of Mathematics and chill runs down through your spine. And same is the story when it comes time to teach mathematics to our children. And you as a parent / tutor are not at fault. Today's schooling system teaches a very ineffective method of learning math, rote memorization of times tables. We all wish our children could perform calculations quickly. And we all know the only way quick calculations are done if performed mentally. And once again we think of rote memorizing tables. Well, that is not the case anymore. Today centuries old technique of Abacus education has been revived and the materials are available easily. I am sure by now you are thinking - Why Abacus?

One particular use for the abacus is teaching children simple mathematics and especially multiplication. The abacus is an excellent substitute for rote memorization of multiplication tables, which some young children find daunting. The abacus is also an excellent tool for teaching other base numbering systems since it easily adapts itself to any base.

Children naturally have vast potential of energy and brain power. But most parents do not know how to tap into the depths of these young minds in the right way and thus fail to realize and nurture these young minds to their fullest potential.

When children use both hands to move abacus beads in arithmetic calculations, it stimulates cells in both the right and left sides of the brain. This results in quick, balanced whole brain development, leading to greater mental capacity. Using the abacus, a child can do all arithmetic calculations up to 10 digits without relying on an electronic calculator.

Using the abacus also:

-Fosters a greater sense of numbers.
-Helps develop an intuitive understanding of numbers through their concrete representation.
-Fosters one's trust in the process of calculation by enabling one to observe it in action.
-Manifests the concept of decimal places and the progression of units by tens physically.
-Instantly accomplishes addition and subtraction when numbers are placed on the abacus.
-Improves understanding of compounded numbers (through the use of supplementary numbers for 5 and 10).
-Helps in developing the beneficial qualities of concentration, patience, and endurance.
-Fosters one's confidence in calculation.
-Uses a left to right calculation method, which makes quick estimation and rounding off possible.
-Works on the decimal rather than fractional system, an easy progression to digital systems.
-Develops mental calculation, which is the ultimate resource.
-Develops the right brain tremendously.
-Leads to greater mental capacity.
-Expresses large numbers simply and easily.
-Provides a sense of achievement as one's proficiency improves.

With abacus, you can help your child achieve more than just math skills. You can boost your child's confidence, provide a sense of achievement, promote intuitive thinking, enhance problem-solving capability, enhance creativity, and improve concentration and mental endurance.

Find out more on why abacus education is increasingly popular in many countries like Malaysia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India, Singapore and elsewhere. The abacus has become valuable teaching tool in schools, tuition centers and community centers, and is used by home schooling parents around the world.

This gift to your child will result in big rewards down the road. It is about time you make a decision to enhance the quality of your child's life. Make a difference in your child's life - today!

Nursing Education

Nursing Education – The Importance Of Critical Thinking

In the nursing profession, more now than ever, the ability to think critically is essential. The responsibilities of a Registered Nurse have increased over the years. In correlation with this increase in responsibility comes the additional increase in educational prerequisites and core requisites required to achieve a degree in Nursing. The ANA (American Nursing Association) Standards has set forth the framework necessary for critical thinking in the application of the “nursing process". The nursing process is the tool by which all nurses can equally become proficient at critical thinking. The nursing process contains the following criteria:

1. Assessment

2. Diagnosis

3. Planning

4. Implementation

5. Evaluation

It is in the application of each of these processes that the nurse may become proficient at critical thinking. It is important to look at the components that describe critical thinking in nursing, The table below lists components that define the critical thinking process. There is much more that goes into critical thinking than what is listed in the table. The table is a rough draft of the process.

CRITICAL THINKING COMPONENTS

Entails purposeful, informed, outcome focused thinking, that requires careful identification of specific problems and other physiological and psychological factors that affect the clients position on the health and wellness continuum.

The process is driven by the client, the client’s family and other health team members who are also collaborating in ensuring essential client care.

Specific educational knowledge base and level of experience in applying that knowledge in client care. (Nursing School to graduate nurse to experienced nurse) As the level of experience of the nurse increases so will the scientific knowledge base that the nurse applies.

Proficiency in the application of the institutions standards, policies and procedures.

Application of the humanistic standards of caring in conjunction with the nursing process, to holistically treat the clients response to an actual or perceived illness.

Constant evaluation and re-evaluation of the nursing process to determine the clients level of wellness

Nurses learn critical thinking via application with experience. Experience is the best teacher. But it is equally important to know that the process is being applied correctly. Many institutions will ensure that this pathway is followed by enlisting new nurses in a eight to ten week orientation program. During this time the new nurse will learn about the polices and procedures of that institution and what type of documentation is used for charting purposes. Also, the new nurse will have an experienced mentor who they will follow and who will evaluate their performance as well.

Documentation is an essential part of the critical thinking process for the nurse. Every institution places emphasis on documentation. It is said, “that if it is not documented, then it was not done". Since the nursing process is a scientific process. In scientific research, all things are documented. In this documentation, researches can look back to see if the results were due to interventions and whether or not the interventions were successful or have to be altered. The documentation process helps the nurse accomplish the same goals. Many times procedures are used that have unproven efficacy.

In it is this framework of critical thinking and documentation that such procedures can be either continued or eliminated, depending on the efficacy of the research. In other words, does the procedure actually improve, help or otherwise jeopardize the client’s health. An example of the critical thinking process and scientific reasoning is in the efficacy of taking a rectal temperature of new born infants. Currently, this procedure is still widely accepted. However the scientific approach is to ask the following, is the procedure safe, is it necessary, and can an axillary temp be used in place of the rectal temp? In answering these questions, the nurse can better evaluate whether the efficacy of taking a rectal temp on a infant should be continued.

This is just one example of how the critical thinking process is used within the nursing profession. The scientific approach using critical thinking helps the nurse develop evidence based practice. It is through “evidence based practice" that the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) rates the performance of hospitals. Further research is still continuing in delineating the intricacies of the nursing process and the integration of critical thinking. All health care professionals are encouraged to pursue this type of research in their practice to ensure the quality of client care and enhance the validity of their profession.

Learn more about nursing education at The NET Study Guide.

The nursing entrance test study guide provides nurses the assistance they need with the nursing entrance test. The nursing study guide helps nurses.

Medical education

Medical education is education related to the practice of being a medical practitioner, either the initial training to become a doctor (i.e., medical school and internship) or additional training thereafter (e.g., residency and fellowship).

Medical education and training varies considerably across the world. Various teaching methodologies have been utilised in medical education, which is an active area of educational research.

Entry-level education

Entry-level medical education programs are tertiary-level courses undertaken at a medical school. Depending on jurisdiction and university, these may be either undergraduate-entry (most of Europe, India, China), or graduate-entry programs (mainly Australia and Canada), or second entry degrees (United States).

Generally, initial training is taken at medical school. Traditionally initial medical education is divided between preclinical and clinical studies. The former consists of the basic sciences such as anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, pathology. The latter consists of teaching in the various areas of clinical medicine such as internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, and surgery. Increasingly, however, medical programs are using systems-based curricula in which learning is integrated, and several institutions do this.

There has been a proliferation of programmes that combine medical training with research (MD PhD) or management programmes (MD MBA), although this has been criticised.[1]

Post-graduate education

Following completion of entry-level training, newly graduated doctors are often required to undertake a period of supervised practice before full registration is granted; this is most often of one year duration and may be referred to as "internship" or "provisional registration" or "residency".

Further training in a particular field of medicine may be undertaken. In some jurisdictions this is commenced immediately following completion of entry-level training, whilst other jurisdictions require junior doctors to undertake generalist (unstreamed) training for a number of years before commencing specialisation.

Example of medical education systems

Presently, in England, a typical medicine course at university is 5 years or 4 years if the student already holds a degree. Amongst some institutions and for some students, it may be 6 years (including the selection of an intercalated BSc—taking one year—at some point after the pre-clinical studies). All programs culminate in the Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree (abbreviated MB BChir, BM BCh, MB BCh, MB ChB, BM BS, MB BS etc.). This is followed by 2 clinical foundation years afterwards, namely F1 and F2 similar to internship training. Students register with the UK General Medical Council at the end of F1. At the end of F2, they may pursue further years of study.

In the US and Canada, a potential medical student must first complete an undergraduate degree in any subject before applying to a graduate medical school to pursue an (M.D. or D.O.) program. Some students opt for the research-focused MD/PhD dual degree, which is usually completed in 7-8 years. There are certain courses which are pre-requisite for being accepted to medical school, such as general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, English, labwork, etc. The specific requirements vary by school.

In Australia, there are two pathways to a medical degree. Students can choose to take a five or six year undergraduate medical degree Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS or BMed) straight from high school, or complete a bachelors degree (generally three years, usually in the medical sciences) and then apply for a four year graduate entry Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program.

Postgraduate education

Postgraduate education (synonymous in North America with graduate education, and sometimes described as quaternary education) involves studying for degrees or other qualifications for which a first or Bachelor's degree is required, and is normally considered to be part of tertiary or higher education. In North America, this level is generally referred to as graduate school.

The organization and structure of postgraduate education is very different in different countries, and also in different institutions within countries. This article sets out the basic types of course and of teaching and examination methods, with some explanation of their history.

In some programs in the traditional German system, there is no legal distinction between "undergraduate" and "postgraduate". In such programs, all education aims towards the Master's degree, whether introductory (Bachelor's level) or advanced (Master's level). The aim of the Bologna process is to abolish this system.

Types of postgraduate qualification

There are two main types of qualification studied for at the postgraduate level: academic and vocational degrees.


Degrees

The term "degree" in this context means the moving from one stage or level to another (from the Latin "de-" + "gradus", through Old French "degre"), and first appeared in the 13th century.


History

Although systems of higher education go back to ancient Greece, China, India, and Africa, the concept of postgraduate education depends upon the system of awarding degrees at different levels of study, and can be traced to the workings of the medieval Islamic madrassahs and European mediæval universities.

The origins of the postgraduate degree, specifically the doctorate, dates back to the ijazat attadris wa 'l-ifttd ("license to teach and issue legal opinions") in the medieval Islamic legal education system, which was equivalent to the Doctor of Laws qualification and was developed during the 9th century after the formation of the Madh'hab legal schools. To obtain a doctorate, a student "had to study in a guild school of law, usually four years for the basic undergraduate course" and at least ten years for a post-graduate course. The "doctorate was obtained after an oral examination to determine the originality of the candidate's theses," and to test the student's "ability to defend them against all objections, in disputations set up for the purpose" which were scholarly exercises practiced throughout the student's "career as a graduate student of law." After students completed their post-graduate education, they were awarded doctorates giving them the status of faqih (meaning "master of law"), mufti (meaning "professor of legal opinions") and mudarris (meaning "teacher"), which were later translated into Latin as magister, professor and doctor respectively.[1]

The practice of postgraduate education was later adopted and expanded in the universities of medieval Europe.[1] University studies took six years for a Bachelor degree and up to twelve additional years for a master's degree or doctorate. The first six years taught the faculty of the arts, which was the study of the seven liberal arts: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music theory, grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The main emphasis was on logic. Once a Bachelor of Arts degree had been obtained, the student could choose one of three faculties — law, medicine, or theology — in which to pursue master's or doctor's degrees. Theology was the most prestigious area of study, and considered to be the most difficult.

The degrees of master (magister) and doctor were for some time equivalent, "the former being more in favour at Paris and the universities modeled after it, and the latter at Bologna and its derivative universities. At Oxford and Cambridge a distinction came to be drawn between the Faculties of Law, Medicine, and Theology and the Faculty of Arts in this respect, the title of Doctor being used for the former, and that of Master for the latter."[2] Because theology was thought to be the highest of the subjects, the doctorate came to be thought of as higher than the master's.[3]

The main significance of the higher, postgraduate degrees was that they licensed the holder to teach ("doctor" comes from the Latin "docere", meaning "teach"; "magister" is Latin for "master", and is also the root of "magistrate").


Definition

In most countries, the hierarchy of post-graduate degrees is as follows:

1. Master's degrees (Postgraduate)

These are sometimes placed in a further hierarchy, starting with degrees such as the Master of Arts and Master of Science, then Master of Philosophy, and finally Master of Letters, and a DEA in France. In many fields such as clinical social work, or library science in North America, a Master's is the terminal degree. In the UK, Master's degrees may be taught or by research: taught Master's include the MSc and MA degrees which last 1 year and are worth 180 CATS credits (equivalent to 90 ECTS European credits), whereas the Master's by research degrees include the MRes (Master of Research) which also lasts 1 year and worths 180 CATS or 90 ECTS credits (the difference compared to the MA/MSc being that the research is much more extensive), and the MPhil (Master of Philosophy) degree which lasts 2 years (and is often granted to failed doctorates).

2. Doctorates (Postgraduate)

These are often further divided into academic and professional doctorates.
An academic doctorate can be awarded as a PhD (Philosophiæ Doctor), or as a DSc (Scientiae Doctor). The scientiae doctor degree can be also be awarded in specific fields, such as a Dr.sc.math (Doctor scientiarum mathematicarum, Doctor of Mathematics), Dr.sc.agr. (Doctor scientiarum agrariarum, Doctor of Agricultural science), etc. In some parts of Europe, doctorates are divided into the PhD or 'junior doctorate', and the 'higher doctorates' such as the DSc, which is generally awarded to highly distinguished professors. A doctorate is the terminal degree in most fields. In the United States, there is little distinction between a PhD and DSc. In the UK, PhD degrees are often equivalent to 540 CATS credits or 270 ECTS European credits, but this is not always the case as the credit structure of doctoral degrees is not officially defined.
Typical professional doctorates include the Juris Doctor and Medicinae Doctor, as offered in the United States.

In the UK and countries whose education systems were founded on the British model, such as the U.S., the master's degree was for a long time the only postgraduate degree normally awarded, while in most European countries apart from the UK, the master's degree almost disappeared. In the second half of the 19th century, however, U.S. universities began to follow the European model by awarding doctorates, and this practice spread to the UK. Conversely, most European universities now offer master's degrees parallelling or replacing their regular system, so as to offer their students better chances to compete in an international market dominated by the American model.[4]

In many countries, the master's degree is an undergraduate degree instead of a graduate degree.


Honorary degrees

Most universities award honorary degrees, usually at the postgraduate level. These are awarded to a wide variety of people, such as artists, musicians, writers, politicians, businesspeople, etc., in recognition of their achievements in their various fields. (Recipients of such degrees do not normally use the associated titles or letters, such as "Dr".)

Non-degree qualifications

Postgraduate education can involve studying for qualifications such as postgraduate certificates and postgraduate diplomas — normally held to be lower than degrees. They are sometimes used as steps on the route to a degree, or as part of training for a specific career, or as a qualification in an area of study too narrow to warrant a full degree course.

National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) was founded in 1954 to accredit teacher certification programs at U.S. colleges and universities. NCATE is a council of educators created to ensure and raise the quality of preparation for their profession. NCATE is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as an accrediting institution. NCATE accreditation is specific to teacher education and is different from regional accreditation.

Founding Organizations

Five national education groups were instrumental in the creation of NCATE:

1. The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE, which formerly accredited teachers colleges),
2. The National Education Association (NEA),
3. The National School Boards Association (NSBA),
4. The National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC)
5. The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).


Coalition of Organizaitons

Today NCATE is a coalition of 33 member organizations of teachers, teacher educators, content specialists, and local and state policy makers. All are committed to quality teaching, and together, the coalition represents over 3 million individuals. The professional associations that comprise NCATE also provide financial support and participate in the development of NCATE standards, policies, and procedures.

Teacher education

Teacher education refers to the policies and procedures designed to equip teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the school and classroom.

Teacher education is often divided into:

* initial teacher training / education (a pre-service course before entering the classroom as a fully responsible teacher);

* induction (the process of providing training and support during the first few years of teaching or the first year in a particular school);

* teacher development or continuing professional development (CPD) (an in-service process for practicing teachers).

The process of mentoring is also relevant.

There is a longstanding and ongoing debate about the most appropriate term to describe these activities. The term 'teacher training' (which may give the impression that the activity involves training staff to undertake relatively routine tasks) seems to be losing ground to 'teacher education' (with its connotation of preparing staff for a professional role as a reflective practitioner)[1].

Initial Teacher Education

Organization

Initial teacher education may be organized according to two basic models.

In the 'consecutive' model, a teacher first obtains a qualification (often a first university degree), and then studies for a further period to gain an additional qualification in teaching; (in some systems this takes the form of a post-graduate degree, possibly even a Masters).

The alternative is where a student simultaneously studies both an academic subject and the ways of teaching that subject, leading to a qualification as a teacher of that subject.

Other pathways are also available. In some countries, it is possible for a person to receive training as a teacher under the responsibility of an accredited experienced practitioner in a school.

Teacher Education in many countries takes place in institutions of Higher Education.

Curricula

The question of what knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and skills teachers should possess is the subject of much debate in many cultures. This is understandable, as teachers are entrusted with the transmission to children of society's beliefs, attitudes and deontology, as well as of information, advice and wisdom.

Generally, Teacher Education curricula can be broken down into these blocks:

* foundational knowledge and skills--usually this area is about education-related aspects of philosophy of education, history of education, educational psychology, and sociology of education
* content-area and methods knowledge--often also including ways of teaching and assessing a specific subject, in which case this area may overlap with the first ("foundational") area. There is increasing debate about this aspect; because it is no longer possible to know in advance what kinds of knowledge and skill pupils will need when they enter adult life, it becomes harder to know what kinds of knowledge and skill teachers should have. Increasingly, emphasis is placed upon 'transversal' or 'horizontal' skills (such as 'learning to learn' or 'social competences', which cut across traditional subject boundaries, and therefore call into question traditional ways of designing the Teacher Education curriculum (and traditional ways of working in the classroom).
* practice at classroom teaching or at some other form of educational practice--usually supervised and supported in some way, though not always. Practice can take the form of field observations, student teaching, or internship (See Supervised Field Experiences below.)

Supervised Field Experiences

* field observations--include observation and limited participation within a classroom under the supervision of the classroom teacher
* student teaching--includes a number of weeks teaching in an assigned classroom under the supervision of the classroom teacher and a supervisor (e.g. from the university)
* internship--teaching candidate is supervised within his or her own classroom

These three areas reflect the organization of most teacher education programs in North America (though not necessarily elsewhere in the world)--courses, modules, and other activities are often organized to belong to one of the three major areas of teacher education. The organization makes the programs more rational or logical in structure. The conventional organization has sometimes also been criticized, however, as artificial and unrepresentative of how teachers actually experience their work. Problems of practice frequently (perhaps usually) concern foundational issues, curriculum, and practical knowledge simultaneously, and separating them during teacher education may therefore not be helpful.


Quality Assurance

Feedback on the performance of teachers is integral to many state and private education procedures, but takes many different forms. The 'no fault' approach is believed by some to be satisfactory, as weaknesses are carefully identified, assessed and then addressed through the provision of in service training.

Language education

Language education includes the teaching and learning of a language. It can include improving a learner's native language; however, it is more commonly used with regard to second language acquisition, that is, the learning of a foreign or second language, and that is the meaning that is treated in this article. As such, language education is a branch of applied linguistics.

History of foreign language education

Although the need to learn foreign languages is almost as old as human history itself, the origins of modern language education has its roots in the study and teaching of Latin. 500 years ago Latin was the dominant language of education, commerce, religion and government in much of the Western world. However, by the end of the 16th century, French, Italian and English displaced Latin as the languages of spoken and written communication. The study of Latin diminished from the study of a living language to be used in the real world to a subject in the school curriculum. Such decline brought about a new justification for its study. It was then claimed that its study developed intellectual abilities and the study of Latin grammar became an end in and of itself. "Grammar schools" from the 16th to 18th centuries focused on teaching the grammatical aspects of Classical Latin. Advanced students continued grammar study with the addition of rhetoric.[1]

The study of modern languages did not become part of the curriculum of European schools until the 18th century. Based on the purely academic study of Latin, students of modern languages did much of the same exercises, studying grammatical rules and translating abstract sentences. Oral work was minimal; instead students were required to memorise of grammatical rules and apply these to decode written texts in the target language. This tradition-inspired method became known as the 'Grammar-Translation Method'.[1]

Innovation in foreign language teaching began in the 19th century and, very rapidly, in the 20th century, leading to a number of different methodologies, sometimes conflicting, each trying to be a major improvement over the last or other contemporary methods. The earlist applied linguists, such as Henry Sweet (1845-1912), Otto Jespersen (1860-1943) and Harold Palmer (1877-1949) worked on setting principles and approaches based on linguistic and psychological theories, although they left many of the specific practical details for others to devise.[1] Unfortunately, those looking at the history of foreign language education in the 20th century and the methods of teaching (such as those related below) might be tempted to think that it is a history of failure. Very few who study foreign languages in U.S. universities as a major manage to reach something called "minimum professional proficiency" and even "reading knowledge" required for PhD degree is comparable only to what second year language students read. In addition, very few American researchers can read and assess information written in languages other than English and even a number famous linguists are monolingual.[2]

However, anecdotal evidence for successful second or foreign language learning is easy to find, leading to a discrepancy between these cases and the failure of most language programs to help make second language acquisition research emotionally-charged. Older methods and approaches such as the grammar translation method or the direct method are disposed of and even ridiculed as newer methods and approaches are invented and promoted as the only and complete solution to the problem of the high failure rates of foreign language students. Most books on language teaching list the various methods that have been used in the past, often ending with the author's new method. These new methods seem to be created full-blown from the authors' minds, as they generally give no credence to what was done before and how it relates to the new method. For example, descriptive linguists seem to claim unhesitantly that before their work, which lead to the audio-lingual method developed for the U.S. Army in World War II, there were no scientifically-based language teaching methods. However, there is significant evidence to the contrary. It is also often inferred or even stated that older methods were completely ineffective or have died out completely when even the oldest methods are still used (e.g. the Berlitz version of the direct method). Much of the reason for this is that proponents of new methods have been so sure that their ideas are so new and so correct that they could not conceive that the older ones have enough validity to cause controversy and emphasis on new scientific advances has tended to blind researchers to precedents in older work.(p5)[2]

The development of foreign language teaching is not linear. There have been two major branches in the field, empirical and theoretical, which have almost completely-separate histories, with each gaining ground over the other at one point in time or another. Examples of researchers on the empiricist side are Jesperson, Palmer, Leonard Bloomfield who promote mimicry and memorization with pattern drills. These methods follow from the basic empiricist position that language acquisition is basically habits formed by conditioning and drill. In its most extreme form, language learning is basically the same as any other learning in any other species, human language being essentially the same as communication behaviors seen in other species. On the other, are Francois Gouin, M.D. Berlitz, Elime de Sauzé, whose rationalist theories of language acquisition dovetail with linguistic work done by Noam Chomsky and others. These have led to a wider variety of teaching methods from grammar-translation, to Gouin's "series method" or the direct methds of Berlitz and de Sauzé. With these methods, students generate original and meaningful sentences to gain a functional knowledge of the rules of grammar. This follows from the rationalist position that man is born to think and language use is a uniquely human trait impossible in other species. Given that human languages share many common traits, the idea is that human share a universal grammar which is built into our brain structure. This allows us to create sentences that have never been heard before, but can still be immediately understood by anyone who understands the specific language being spoken. The rivalry of the two camps is intense, with little communication or cooperation between them.[2]

Economic implications of Education

It has been argued that high rates of education are essential for countries to be able to achieve high levels of economic growth. [22] In theory poor countries should grow faster than rich countries because they can adopt cutting edge technologies already tried and tested by rich countries.[citation needed] But economists argue that if the gap in education between a rich and a poor nation is too large, as is the case between the poorest and the richest nations in the world, the transfer of these technologies that drive economic growth becomes difficult, thus the economies of the world's poorest nations stagnate

Sociology of education

The sociology of education is the study of how social institutions and forces affect educational processes and outcomes, and vice versa. By many, education is understood to be a means of overcoming handicaps, achieving greater equality and acquiring wealth and status for all (Sargent 1994). Learners may be motivated by aspirations for progress and betterment. Education is perceived as a place where children can develop according to their unique needs and potentialities.[23] The purpose of education can be to develop every individual to their full potential.[citation needed] The understanding of the goals and means of educational socialization processes differs according to the sociological paradigm used.

Education in developing countries


In some developing countries, the number and seriousness of the problems faced are naturally greater.[citation needed] People in more remote or agrarian areas are sometimes unaware of the importance of education. However, many countries have an active Ministry of Education, and in many subjects, such as foreign language learning, the degree of education is actually much higher than in industrialized countries; for example, it is not at all uncommon for students in many developing countries to be reasonably fluent in multiple foreign languages, whereas this is much more of a rarity in the supposedly "more educated" countries where much of the population is in fact monolingual.

There is also economic pressure from those parents who prefer their children making money in the short term over any long-term benefits of education.[citation needed] Recent studies on child labor and poverty have suggested that when poor families reach a certain economic threshold where families are able to provide for their basic needs, parents return their children to school.[citation needed] This has been found to be true, once the threshold has been breached, even if the potential economic value of the children's work has increased since their return to school.[citation needed] Teachers are often paid less than other similar professions.[citation needed]

A lack of good universities, and a low acceptance rate for good universities, is evident in countries with a relatively high population density.[citation needed] In some countries, there are uniform, over structured, inflexible centralized programs from a central agency that regulates all aspects of education.

* Due to globalization, increased pressure on students in curricular activities
* Removal of a certain percentage of students for improvisation of academics (usually practised in schools, after 10th grade)

India is now developing technologies that will skip land based phone and internet lines. Instead, India launched EDUSAT, an education satellite that can reach more of the country at a greatly reduced cost. There is also an initiative started by a group out of MIT and supported by several major corporations to develop a $100 laptop. The laptops should be available by late 2006 or 2007. The laptops, sold at cost, will enable developing countries to give their children a digital education, and to close the digital divide across the world.

In Africa, NEPAD has launched an "e-school programme" to provide all 600,000 primary and high schools with computer equipment, learning materials and internet access within 10 years. Private groups, like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are working to give more individuals opportunities to receive education in developing countries through such programs as the Perpetual Education Fund. An International Development Agency project called nabuur.com, started with the support of American President Bill Clinton, uses the Internet to allow co-operation by individuals on issues of social development.


Internationalisation

Education is becoming increasingly international. Not only are the materials becoming more influenced by the rich international environment, but exchanges among students at all levels are also playing an increasingly important role. In Europe, for example, the Socrates-Erasmus Programme stimulates exchanges across European universities. Also, the Soros Foundation provides many opportunities for students from central Asia and eastern Europe. Some scholars argue that, regardless of whether one system is considered better or worse than another, experiencing a different way of education can often be considered to be the most important, enriching element of an international learning experience.[24]

Psychology

Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools as organizations. Although the terms "educational psychology" and "school psychology" are often used interchangeably, researchers and theorists are likely to be identified as educational psychologists, whereas practitioners in schools or school-related settings are identified as school psychologists.[citation needed] Educational psychology is concerned with the processes of educational attainment in the general population and in sub-populations such as gifted children and those with specific disabilities.

Educational psychology can in part be understood through its relationship with other disciplines. It is informed primarily by psychology, bearing a relationship to that discipline analogous to the relationship between medicine and biology.[citation needed] Educational psychology in turn informs a wide range of specialities within educational studies, including instructional design, educational technology, curriculum development, organizational learning, special education and classroom management.[citation needed] Educational psychology both draws from and contributes to cognitive science and the learning sciences.[citation needed] In universities, departments of educational psychology are usually housed within faculties of education, possibly accounting for the lack of representation of educational psychology content in introductory psychology textbooks (Lucas, Blazek, & Raley, 2006).

Philosophy

John Locke's work Some Thoughts Concerning Education was written in 1693 and still reflects traditional education priorities in the Western world John Locke's work Some Thoughts Concerning Education was written in 1693 and still reflects traditional education priorities in the Western world

The philosophy of education is the study of the purpose, nature and ideal content of education. Related topics include knowledge itself, the nature of the knowing mind and the human subject, problems of authority, and the relationship between education and society.[citation needed] At least since Locke's time, the philosophy of education has been linked to theories of developmental psychology and human development.

Fundamental purposes that have been proposed for education include:

* The enterprise of civil society depends on educating people to become responsible, thoughtful and enterprising citizens. This is an intricate, challenging task requiring deep understanding of ethical principles, moral values, political theory, aesthetics, and economics, not to mention an understanding of who children are, in themselves and in society.[citation needed]
* Progress in every practical field depends on having capacities that schooling can develop. Education is thus a means to foster the individual's, society's, and even humanity's future development and prosperity. Emphasis is often put on economic success in this regard.[citation needed]
* One's individual development and the capacity to fulfill one's own purposes can depend on an adequate preparation in childhood. Education can thus attempt to give a firm foundation for the achievement of personal fulfillment. The better the foundation that is built, the more successful the child will be. Simple basics in education can carry a child far.[citation needed]

A central tenet of education typically includes “the imparting of knowledge.” At a very basic level, this purpose ultimately deals with the nature, origin and scope of knowledge.[citation needed] The branch of philosophy that addresses these and related issues is known as epistemology. This area of study often focuses on analyzing the nature and variety of knowledge and how it relates to similar notions such as truth and belief.

While the term, knowledge, is often used to convey this general purpose of education, it can also be viewed as part of a continuum of knowing that ranges from very specific data to the highest levels. Seen in this light, the continuum may be thought to consist of a general hierarchy of overlapping levels of knowing.[citation needed] Students must be able to connect new information to a piece of old information to be better able to learn, understand, and retain information.[citation needed] This continuum may include notions such as data, information, knowledge, wisdom, and realization.

The ideal or holistic education [Cf: Conceptual Stress-Understanding and Management: Dr. Shriniwas Kashalikar] is conscious evolutionary transformation that aims at holistic health i.e. simultaneous welfare of one and all. This requires conscious development of fitness of one's body, refinements of instincts, broadening and profoundness of emotions, blossoming of intelligence and liberating perspective of universal oneness. Besides, cognitive, affective and psychomotor the productive domain also must be nurtured for this.

History

The history of education according to Dieter Lenzen, president of the Freie Universität Berlin 1994 "began either millions of years ago or at the end of 1770". Education as a science cannot be separated from the educational traditions that existed before. Education was the natural response of early civilizations to the struggle of surviving and thriving as a culture.[citation needed] Adults trained the young of their society in the knowledge and skills they would need to master and eventually pass on.[citation needed] The evolution of culture, and human beings as a species depended on this practice of transmitting knowledge.[citation needed] In pre-literate societies this was achieved orally and through imitation. Story-telling continued from one generation to the next. Oral language developed into written symbols and letters. The depth and breadth of knowledge that could be preserved and passed soon increased exponentially.[citation needed] When cultures began to extend their knowledge beyond the basic skills of communicating, trading, gathering food, religious practices, etc, formal education, and schooling, eventually followed.[citation needed] Schooling in this sense was already in place in Egypt between 3000 and 500BC

Process

Curriculum
------------------
An academic discipline is a branch of knowledge which is formally taught, either at the university, or via some other such method. Functionally, disciplines are usually defined and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, and by the learned societies to which their practitioners belong.[citation needed] Professors say schooling is 80% psychological, 20% physical effort.[citation needed]

Each discipline usually has several sub-disciplines or branches, and distinguishing lines are often both arbitrary and ambiguous. Examples of broad areas of academic disciplines include the natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, social sciences, humanities and applied sciences.

Learning modalities
--------------------------
There has been a great deal of work on learning styles over the last two decades. Dunn and Dunn[5] focused on identifying relevant stimuli that may influence learning and manipulating the school environment, at about the same time as Joseph Renzulli[6] recommended varying teaching strategies. Howard Gardner[7] identified individual talents or aptitudes in his Multiple Intelligences theories. Based on the works of Jung, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Keirsey Temperament Sorter[8] focused on understanding how people's personality affects the way they interact personally, and how this affects the way individuals respond to each other within the learning environment. The work of David Kolb and Anthony Gregorc's Type Delineator[9] follows a similar but more simplified approach.

It is currently fashionable to divide education into different learning "modes". The learning modalities[10] are probably the most common:[11]

* Kinesthetic: learning based on hands-on work and engaging in activities.
* Visual: learning based on observation and seeing what is being learned.
* Auditory: learning based on listening to instructions/information.

It is claimed that, depending on their preferred learning modality, different teaching techniques have different levels of effectiveness.[12] A consequence of this theory is that effective teaching should present a variety of teaching methods which cover all three learning modalities so that different students have equal opportunities to learn in a way that is effective for them.

Teaching
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Teachers need the ability to understand a subject well enough to convey its essence to a new generation of students. The goal is to establish a sound knowledge base on which students will be able to build as they are exposed to different life experiences. The passing of knowledge from generation to generation allows students to grow into useful members of society. Good teachers can translate information, good judgment, experience and wisdom into relevant knowledge that a student can understand, retain and pass to others. Studies from the US suggest that the quality of teachers is the single most important factor affecting student performance, and that countries which score highly on international tests have multiple policies in place to ensure that the teachers they employ are as effective as possible.

Technology
Technology is an increasingly influential factor in education. Computers and mobile phones are being widely used in developed countries both to complement established education practices and develop new ways of learning such as online education (a type of distance education). This gives students the opportunity to choose what they are interested in learning. The proliferation of computers also means the increase of programming and blogging. Technology offers powerful learning tools that demand new skills and understandings of students, including Multimedia, and provides new ways to engage students, such as Virtual learning environments. Technology is being used more not only in administrative duties in education but also in the instruction of students. The use of technologies such as PowerPoint and interactive whiteboard is capturing the attention of students in the classroom. Technology is also being used in the assessment of students. One example is the Audience Response System (ARS), which allows immediate feedback tests and classroom discussions.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are a “diverse set of tools and resources used to communicate, create, disseminate, store, and manage information.”[15] These technologies include computers, the Internet, broadcasting technologies (radio and television), and telephony. There is increasing interest in how computers and the Internet can improve education at all levels, in both formal and non-formal settings.[16] Older ICT technologies, such as radio and television, have for over forty years been used for open and distance learning, although print remains the cheapest, most accessible and therefore most dominant delivery mechanism in both developed and developing countries.[17]

The use of computers and the Internet is still in its infancy in developing countries, if these are used at all, due to limited infrastructure and the attendant high costs of access. Usually, various technologies are used in combination rather than as the sole delivery mechanism. For example, the Kothmale Community Radio Internet uses both radio broadcasts and computer and Internet technologies to facilitate the sharing of information and provide educational opportunities in a rural community in Sri Lanka.[18] The Open University of the United Kingdom (UKOU), established in 1969 as the first educational institution in the world wholly dedicated to open and distance learning, still relies heavily on print-based materials supplemented by radio, television and, in recent years, online programming.[19] Similarly, the Indira Gandhi National Open University in India combines the use of print, recorded audio and video, broadcast radio and television, and audio conferencing technologies.[20]

The term "computer-assisted learning" (CAL) has been increasingly used to describe the use of technology in teaching.

Higher education

Higher education, also called tertiary, third stage, or post secondary education, is the non-compulsory educational level that follows the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school, or gymnasium[citation needed]. Tertiary education is normally taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as vocational education and training. Colleges and universities are the main institutions that provide tertiary education. Collectively, these are sometimes known as tertiary institutions. Tertiary education generally results in the receipt of certificates, diplomas, or academic degrees.

Higher education includes teaching, research and social services activities of universities, and within the realm of teaching, it includes both the undergraduate level (sometimes referred to as tertiary education) and the graduate (or postgraduate) level (sometimes referred to as graduate school). Higher education in that country generally involves work towards a degree-level or foundation degree qualification. In most developed countries a high proportion of the population (up to 50%) now enter higher education at some time in their lives. Higher education is therefore very important to national economies, both as a significant industry in its own right, and as a source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy.

Adult education

Lifelong, or adult, education has become widespread in many countries.Adult education takes on many forms, ranging from formal class-based learning to self-directed learning.

Alternative education

Emotional/Human education

As academic education is more and more the norm and standard, companies and individuals are looking less at normal education as to what is deemed a good solid educated person/worker. Most well-educated and successful entrepreneurs have high communication skills with humanistic and warm "emotional intelligence".

In certain places, especially in the United States, the term alternative may largely refer to forms of education catering to "at risk" students, as it is, for example, in this definition drafted by the Massachusetts Department of Education.

Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, is a broad term which may be used to refer to all forms of education outside of traditional education (for all age groups and levels of education). This may include not only forms of education designed for students with special needs (ranging from teenage pregnancy to intellectual disability), but also forms of education designed for a general audience and employing alternative educational philosophies and methods.

Alternatives of the latter type are often the result of education reform and are rooted in various philosophies that are commonly fundamentally different from those of traditional compulsory education. While some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientations, others are more informal associations of teachers and students dissatisfied with certain aspects of traditional education[citation needed]. These alternatives, which include charter schools, alternative schools, independent schools, and home-based learning vary widely, but often emphasize the value of small class size, close relationships between students and teachers, and a sense of community

Systems of formal education

Education systems are established to provide education and training, often for children and the young. A curriculum defines what students should know, understand and be able to do as the result of education. A teaching profession delivers teaching which enables learning, and a system of policies, regulations, examinations, structures and funding enables teachers to teach to the best of their abilities. Sometimes education systems can be used to promote doctrines or ideals as well as knowledge, which is known as social engineering. This can lead to political abuse of the system, particularly in totalitarian states and government.

* Education is a broad concept, referring to all the experiences in which students can learn something.
* Instruction refers to the intentional facilitating of learning toward identified goals, delivered either by an instructor or other forms.
* Teaching refers to the actions of a real live instructor designed to impart learning to the student.
* Training refers to learning with a view toward preparing learners with specific knowledge, skills, or abilities that can be applied immediately upon completion.


Systems of formal education

Education systems are established to provide education and training, often for children and the young. A curriculum defines what students should know, understand and be able to do as the result of education. A teaching profession delivers teaching which enables learning, and a system of policies, regulations, examinations, structures and funding enables teachers to teach to the best of their abilities. Sometimes education systems can be used to promote doctrines or ideals as well as knowledge, which is known as social engineering. This can lead to political abuse of the system, particularly in totalitarian states and government.

* Education is a broad concept, referring to all the experiences in which students can learn something.
* Instruction refers to the intentional facilitating of learning toward identified goals, delivered either by an instructor or other forms.
* Teaching refers to the actions of a real live instructor designed to impart learning to the student.
* Training refers to learning with a view toward preparing learners with specific knowledge, skills, or abilities that can be applied immediately upon completion.


Primary education

Primary school in open air. Teacher (priest) with class from the outskirts of Bucharest, around 1842.
Primary school in open air. Teacher (priest) with class from the outskirts of Bucharest, around 1842.

Primary (or elementary) education consists of the first years of formal, structured education. In general, primary education consists of six or seven years of schooling starting at the age of 5 or 6, although this varies between, and sometimes within, countries. Globally, around 70% of primary-age children are enrolled in primary education, and this proportion is rising.[2] Under the Education for All programs driven by UNESCO, most countries have committed to achieving universal enrollment in primary education by 2015, and in many countries, it is compulsory for children to receive primary education. The division between primary and secondary education is somewhat arbitrary, but it generally occurs at about eleven or twelve years of age. Some education systems have separate middle schools, with the transition to the final stage of secondary education taking place at around the age of fourteen. Schools that provide primary education, are mostly referred to as primary schools. Primary schools in these countries are often subdivided into infant schools and junior schools.


Secondary education

In most contemporary educational systems of the world, secondary education consists of the second years of formal education that occur during adolescence.[citation needed] It is characterised by transition from the typically compulsory, comprehensive primary education for minors, to the optional, selective tertiary, "post-secondary", or "higher" education (e.g., university, vocational school) for adults.[citation needed] Depending on the system, schools for this period, or a part of it, may be called secondary or high schools, gymnasiums, lyceums, middle schools, colleges, or vocational schools. The exact meaning of any of these terms varies from one system to another. The exact boundary between primary and secondary education also varies from country to country and even within them, but is generally around the seventh to the tenth year of schooling. Secondary education occurs mainly during the teenage years. In the United States and Canada primary and secondary education together are sometimes referred to as K-12 education, and in New Zealand Year 1-13 is used. The purpose of secondary education can be to give common knowledge, to prepare for higher education or to train directly in a profession.

Education

Education encompasses both the teaching and learning of knowledge, proper conduct, and technical competency. It thus focuses on the cultivation of skills, trades or professions, as well as mental, moral & aesthetic development.[1]

-Formal education consists of systematic instruction, teaching and training by professional teachers. This consists of the application of pedagogy and the development of curricula. In a liberal education tradition, teachers draw on many different disciplines for their lessons, including psychology, philosophy, information technology, linguistics, biology, and sociology. Teachers in specialized professions such as astrophysics, law, or zoology may teach only in a narrow area, usually as professors at institutions of higher learning. There is much specialist instruction in fields of trade for those who want specific skills, such as required to be a pilot, for example. Finally, there is an array of educational opportunity in the informal sphere- for this reason, society subsidizes institutions such as museums and libraries. Informal education also includes knowledge and skills learned and refined during the course of life, including education that comes from experience in practicing a profession.

The right to education is a fundamental human right. Since 1952, Article 2 of the first Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights obliges all signatory parties to guarantee the right to education. At world level, the United Nations' International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966 guarantees this right under its Article