Researching and Comparing Different Schools with Discover Business

Are you looking to work with money one day as an occupation? According to Pew Research Center, "among millennials ages 25 to 32, median annual earnings for full-time working college-degree holders are $17,500 greater than for those with high school diplomas only" (U.S News). Based on this, it is quite fair to say that a college education quite important and has almost become mandatory to enter the upper-middle class (where the upper-middle class is located is up to the discretion of your opinion). People who work with money are not an exception to this case. Having a tertiary education does not hurt and in fact, it is the best investment any person can make today. 

So college is important... now what?

Having gone through the modern-day process of selecting schools and then applying, I can definitely share a bit of information. Choosing a college is difficult nowadays because there are so many selections. Simply googling a list with college rankings is actually quite counterproductive. A list with rankings is simply the opinion of either a single editor or a group of editors. Their interests may not exactly fit your interests and what's best in their opinion may not be what's best for you. Selecting the best college you can go to is a long process with many, many variables to consider. For students looking to work with money, there is a dandy tool called Discover Business to organize facts about each school for you. 

On the website, there is an explanation for each business major and why it may be beneficiary for you to pursue a career in that field. 

Link: https://www.discoverbusiness.us/

Another useful tool they provide is a table with facts of each school offering business degrees. These facts are important to consider before attending a school because it is important to understand the expectations of how much the college can provide for you after graduation. 

Link: https://info.discoverbusiness.us/forms/purdue-university-global?lead%5Bprogram%5D=23395&lead%5Bsource%5D=WIDGET&publisher=discoverbusiness.us

Lastly, the feature above narrows down the specific school for a specific field in business. 

Obviously, the prestigiousness of the school is important. However, this is only half of the pie in terms of determining which school to attend. I highly recommend students to use this resource to create a list of schools they would like to visit/tour in person. The tools will always be available online and it is important to use it but NOT rely 100% on it. 

The Perks of a Play-in-the-Mud Educational Philosophy (Contribution by Bill Martin)

The Perks of a Play-in-the-Mud Educational Philosophy

Click here for Article

This first sentence grabbed my attention, held it up and shook it.

““Most American kids don’t spend large chunks of their day catching salamanders and poking sticks into piles of fox poop.”

The way I grew up during WWII, I stayed with relatives on the prairie farms and ranches of Nebraska.  Close to the earth.  Learning about horses, cattle, chickens, ducks and pigs, wheat, rye and barley from a very early age.  The last 7 of which usually ended up on our dinner plates.  Horses were used for plowing because gas was rationed or hard to get to put into tractors.  At one point, we journeyed into town for supplies in a horse-drawn, flatbed wagon.  Family dogs lived in little houses next to the house and were a siren alarm if something strange happened, were the hunters, guides, and protectors for family members.  They didnʻt EVER come in the house and certainly didnʻt sleep in our beds with us.  Things have changed in that regard, thankfully.

In a different scenario, I lived with my grandfather in the Black Hills of South Dakota where I was introduced to methods of geology and gold mining, to members and children of the Oglala Lakota, and tramping on mostly forgotten pioneer trails to the cabins of nearly forgotten “old-timers” who my grandfather knew.

I had an education in and out of the classroom.  Schools didnʻt teach what I learned from being “close to the earth” and how animals lived and moved around in the wilderness AND the farm/ranch. I saw baby animals being fertilized and born and knew about the “birds and the bees” long before I even started school.

As an adult, I became a licensed operator of a sailboat for hire.  I took children and teachers out on a working sailing vessel and showed them not only the handling of the “ship” but marine life under their feet and up close and personal.  Fish, whales, dolphins, sea otters, seabirds and their nesting areas.  The ways of wind and water.

WHY shouldnʻt preschoolers spend their day, or even PART of their day finding snails and minnows in a pond, seashells by the seashore, on a forest trail, or out on the prairie spying on Prairie Dogs? Touring a working ranch or farm?  Spending a day in a wilderness park with the people who live and work there?

Close to the earth rather than pictures in a book?

Learning about the world they will inherit and make changes to save it.

Learn about their world first-hand?

This is an eye-opening read about educating our next generation.

URL: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/04/early-childhood-outdoor-education/558959/

Contribution by: Bill Martin

The Beauty of URLs/the internet

It's October. College midterms are in full bloom. Homework is now cranked up to the max for students around the world. As a college student, I have realized the beauty of the internet and URLs! A bit weird to say actually. Anyhow, I just wanted to share some of the experiences I have had with homework in school so far. 

No Computer? No good. 

Something that has drastically changed over the last decade is that, without a computer, homework is practically impossible to do in college. Essays are submitted electronically via an online dropbox. Quizzes and sometimes even exams are done on the internet. Even homework written on paper refers to URLs that students have to visit in order to complete the task. 

PROs: 

I am a believer that this revolution of technology is a great thing for students. Homework assignments are now so much more interactive. For example, in one of my classes, Meteorology 201: Weather Analysis, every week we receive a problem set to complete as homework. Within this homework, there are dozens of links we have to click on to interact, then respond to questions. For example, we may be told to click on this satellite image and provide an analysis regarding the weather at that specific time frame. Another example is an interactive tool with clouds/moisture/water vapor imagery. 

By using technology, people who are "visual/do-it" learners can learn so much more! Personally, it is difficult for myself to learn simply via text. Seeing and then interacting solidifies my understanding of something tremendously.

Cons:

The increased use of technology has led to increased plagiarism. Often, students are unaware of the infraction and involuntarily plagiarize. This is a mistake very easy to make as a student when the internet is filled with all types of resources and a citation is left out by accident. With the benefits of the internet, comes a price.

Overall, college is a wonderful experience. The education methods have drifted towards more technology over the last decade and the quality of education has improved. With this post, I encourage educators around the world to increase technological interactivity within assignments. You will be shocked by how much the results can change!

Wolfram Alpha for YOUR Math homework!

Have you ever had a question on your math homework that you were stuck on forever and could never find a solution online? The "solution" to your problem is Wolfram Alpha! Wolfram Alpha is a very complex computer program where you "simply" type a question into the box and it spits out an answer and also computes step-by step directions for you. Take note that some step-to-step directions require the pro version.

The above is pretty much a random question I made up and plugged into Wolfram Alpha. They give you the solution, the plots and also alternate forms of the answer. These are all very useful when it comes to "verifying" your answer on an assignement.

The reason to why I decided to put "verifying" in quotations is because it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for students to know that this program should only be used as a guide to the correct answer and to check answers. Plugging in problems and pasting the answers into the assignment does a student no good in terms of learning the material. If the student is really stuck and cannot figure out the steps, the pro version is also a good option.

In addition to simply plugging in math, Wolfram Alpha also has a few fun features as well! For example, you could ask it pretty much any question that you would ask a person. (Well, not really... but you can get close.) In the above image, I asked Wolfram Alpha when the world would end and it gave me a perfectly scientific answer.

The takeaway from this is this posting is that Wolfram Alpha is a extremely powerful and fun tool to utilize. However, there shouldn't be any expectations to rely on this tool because the process of learning is more important than plugging in the correct answer. Have fun and post a comment below if you find any cool/funny responses from Wolfram!

URL: http://www.wolframalpha.com/

K12.com

I believe that, for many families with school-age children, this may be a useful full-time program or as a backup/additional study course.  Today and Tomorrow, this world we live in is going to require much more than just the “Four Rʻs”. Early start equals better results. Whether you prefer homeschooling, have issues with accessing a preferred School, a Special Needs student, or live outside access to a Public or Private school, or additional classes not offered in your area,  K12.com offers classes and career learning in “most” States.

If you have been looking for an alternative, K12.com offers online Free Tuition Public School classes and Paid Private School classes.
Assess your needs by investigating the security and safety of this online service.
Now enrolling for 2018-2019 Classes.
K12.com

By: Bill Martin

Minecraft Education Edition!

Minecraft is a sandbox video game where the player designs freely by using blocks of material. This game was released in 2009 and without a doubt it became one of the biggest video game hits in history. The concepts which govern the game are actually quite interesting and there is great potential for enhancing creativity in its gamers. However, since this game is usually bought by parents for begging kids, its perception is that it simply is a video game, and perhaps maybe even a bit addictive. 

Fast forward to November 2016, Mojang releases a new edition of Minecraft in which is designed for education. In fact, it was so specifically designed for education that users must have a Minecraft: Education Edition subscription to use the software.  Schools can actually buy this software using volume licensing. 

Why Minecraft Education Edition?

The million dollar question. In 2018, there are a plethora of educational resources online, but Minecraft Education Edition stands out especially because students have a deeper connection with this game. The first second they walk into the classroom, they will say, "YAY we're playing Minecraft in class today!". That's actually a very good thing to happen because if they're more passionate about something they are doing in class, then they will more likely be engaged. 

Source: https://education.minecraft.net/ipad

With these educational resources having such stimulating features, educators are bound to ask if students will be able to stay on task. However, Minecraft Education Edition is like any other educational tool nowadays. Educators are able to control what the students can or cannot do in the game. To explore even more feature of Minecraft Education Edition, click here!

Bring Nearpod into your classroom!

If you are familiar with this blog, you would notice there are tons of posts about classroom tools teachers can utilize. Today, I plan on sharing with the readers of this blog another excellent classroom tool by the name of Nearpod. In some aspects, Nearpod is actually similar to the Apple's Classroom App that was shared a few weeks ago on this page. However, as previously discussed, the Classroom App by Apple can be quite pricey for the school districts with limited tech budgets. On the other hand, Nearpod is excellent because all you need to do is create a free account to start using this tool.

What is Nearpod?

Nearpod is a simplistic online computer program which allows educators to create assessments or lessons easily. One of the objectives of the program is for teachers to "spend less time planning and more time teaching". Teachers in Nearpod have the ability to create interactive lessons in a matter of minutes by importing existing lessons then also adding additional custom interactive tools. Students are also given a voice by the program with a variety of classroom discussion tools. For example, Nearpod can provide a classroom poll in which students can vote and discuss their thought processes for an answer.

To see more of what Nearpod can do, click here.

For a brief video explanation of Nearpod, click here.

Nearpod is simply an amazing tool. The fact that it is a free-to-use program means that I highly recommend educators to simply experiment with it. There are no risks involved in testing out a new gadget for your classroom.

Enjoy!

URL: www.nearpod.com
Video URL: https://vimeo.com/129830045