Offering less expensive tuition costs and more convenience are just two of the seemingly countless benefits online Texas colleges offer over brick-and-mortar institutions. Here are a few:

Manageability. If you attend one of the traditional Texas colleges, you have to plan your life around your preset class schedule. If you can’t make it to a class, you either have to get the information you missed from another student or plan on failing a section on the final exam. With online schooling, you’re free to attend classes at whatever time works best for you—after the kids have gone to school, after the rest of the family’s gone to bed or early in the morning, before you head off to work.

Flexibility. At a traditional school, receiving an important phone call during a lecture or having to leave for an appointment halfway through class is frowned upon. As an online student, interruptions aren’t an issue; you can put class on hold and return to it later without any dirty looks from the instructor. In fact, if you have a difficult time focusing on any particular subject for a length of time, you can always split it up into two or three sessions.

Comprehension. If you’re enrolled in a brick-and-mortar Texas college, you’re forced to progress at the discretion of the instructor. When getting an online education, you’ve got the luxury of progressing at your own speed. If you’re having trouble understanding a lesson, you can spend as much time as you want on it, «attending» class more than once or putting the lesson on hold so you can dig deeper into the subject through a plethora of online resources. This method of learning ensures that all students have the opportunity to equally comprehend what’s being taught. Conversely, if you feel you thoroughly understand a particular topic or are simply a faster learner than the other students, you’re free to jump ahead to the next lesson.

A World of Knowledge. Texas colleges have some of the best instructors in the country, each having been thoroughly educated in his or her respective field of expertise. But because online schools aren’t limited to hiring educators from the surrounding area, they boast some of the best educators in the world. And instead of just being educated in their fields of expertise, many of them have actually lived the lessons they’re teaching. Study a foreign language with an instructor who grew up speaking it and knows the culture first-hand; learn the culinary arts from a Paris-based chef; or earn a degree in geology with a scientist studying Jurassic sedimentary rocks in Israel’s Negev Desert. The possibilities are only restricted by the reach of the Internet—and the Internet reaches almosteverywhere.

Accessibility. Although online instructors can be based anywhere around the globe, students receiving a Texas online education find they’re often more approachable than traditional teachers. With such electronic conveniences as online chats, newsgroup discussions and instant messages, students have easy access to their educators for an enhanced learning experience.

Equality. Even in an advanced education environment, social factors like popularity, personality, style, age, gender or race can prove to be roadblocks in the learning process. Such personal dynamics are nonexistent in an online environment, where all students are treated equally and each is given a chance to provide input or share ideas. People who might otherwise never speak to each other can gather in chat rooms to discuss lessons and offer support to each other.

Resources. If you’re a student at one of the conventional Texas colleges, you have access to the school’s library, which allows you to check out books for a limited amount of time—providing someone else hasn’t gotten to the books you need first. As a student of an online school, you have 24-hour access to a virtual library comprised of a seemingly endless supply of materials gathered from around the world.

Article Source:  http://www.collegesintx.com/online-schooling-vs-traditional-texas-colleges.php

Today’s high-paced world has made people busier and less willing to commit their time to a traditional classroom degree program. As a result, online schooling opportunities outside of a university campus and school building have begun booming in popularity. Imagine getting the same educational courses for less money and from the comfort of your home. Sounds appealing, right? There are online schooling programs designed to be affordable and flexible enough to fit any interested student’s busy schedule, and covering the full range of subjects and levels you might want to study.

ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION

Every year, there are more people graduating from high school. Some of them go directly on to college and continue with their education, others go straight into the work-force or the military, and the remainder take time off to travel, volunteer, and do other things before applying to college and university. As its credibility and reputation improves, online schooling has become an attractive option for those looking to pursue higher education without having to quit their job, wait several years to save up, or relocate to near a campus. The programs offered through online schooling are very diverse, and the degrees offered now range from certificates to associates degrees, bachelor’s, master’s, and even doctorate degrees.

ONLINE VOCATIONAL SCHOOLING

Online schooling can be ideal if you are looking to refine your career skills and build your professional skill set without quitting your job. Vocational courses focus on a particular profession, allowing you either to transition into that field, or move up within it. There are hundreds of online programs that provide good career skills in a relatively short amount of time, taking from a few weeks to a couple of years. Career fields where vocational courses are offered include: medical assisting, aircraft and automotive technology, family and consumer sciences, business, marketing, culinary arts, and graphic design.

ONLINE SCHOOLING FOR HIGH SCHOOL AND THE GED

Obtaining a high school diploma or GED (General Education Diploma) is the first step toward landing a well-paying job and starting a career. A high school diploma or GED is essential for many entry-level positions – and if you have not yet got yours, you should know that there are many schooling programs now offering high school diploma study courses online. These courses cover all the subjects found on the exam, and simulate real exam questions as test preparation.

ONLINE HOME SCHOOL PROGRAMS

Online home school programs are useful curriculum enhancers for families who are homeschooling their children. They provide teaching resources and structured approaches to learning that can make the home schooling process simpler. Some online home schooling programs fall in line with state school requirements, so that credits are transferable, and it’s easier for the child to transition into a traditional school classroom, should that be desired.

FREE ONLINE COURSES

Many prestigious colleges and universities, foundations and organizations offer free online courses to the public. Not all of these courses provide transferable college credits. But what they do all provide is the opportunity to enhance your knowledge, in your own time, for free. This can be useful if you want to learn more about a subject before committing to pursuing (and paying for) a degree, or if you are simply curious about an area you know little about. Such courses can be in text, audio, or video format, and sometimes even in multiple languages.

Article Source:  http://www.onlineschooling.net/

1) Self-motivation:

We sometimes forget why we start or do things. Perhaps it was a higher wage, a better job, a different career, better grades, taking advantage of a scholarship… Reminding yourself why you are taking an online program will serve as a great self-motivator.

2) Goal-Oriented:

Because you can work at your own pace, you may be less likely to push yourself towards a deadline if it’s going to stress you out. After all, you started online schooling because it was convenient and allowed you to work at your own pace, right? Be careful, because this kind of thinking can prolong your program’s length to twice or three times what you were expecting. It is important to have self-discipline and to stick to your plan of finishing the program in a timely fashion.

3) Creativity:

Just because you’re at home alone taking these courses doesn’t mean it has to be boring! Take the time to be creative with the information you are learning. You have an advantage over traditional in-classroom students who do not have access to the Internet in the middle of a classroom lecture. Chat with your virtual classmates about the lecture knowing you won’t be interrupting the class. Look something up online if you think it will help you learn or remember a concept. Think of ways that will make studying more fun!

4) Cheating:

It is very tempting to cheat when you have an exam and haven’t studied for it. But guess what? At the end of the day, cheating on an assignment or an exam is cheating yourself of the opportunity to learn. Besides, online schooling gives you the opportunity to take the exam when you feel ready, so there is no need to cheat. Take the time to study and give the exam or assignment your best shot.

5) Organization:

Making sure you set up a really good study area at home will have a big effect on your overall productivity and efficiency. This means limiting distractions and procrastination tools, turning off the TV, and making the most of the time you have set aside for lectures and homework.

6) Procrastination:

If there is one thing almost all students can identify with, it’s procrastination. Procrastination is an issue whenever you have important things to do or big responsibilities to meet, and can think of more fun things you’d rather be doing. Identify those things that get you to procrastinate and aim to limit their effect during your study time.

7) Communicate Clearly:

Communicating clearly is an essential skill for everyone, regardless of your line of work. Online schooling is actually a good way to improve your written communication. Since you are limited to electronic communication, you have to learn how to ask questions and enunciate your own point of view clearly and succinctly.

Quitting:

Finishing your online program should be a given, not a goal. Unfortunately, there are too many online students who drop out when they realize their program is too demanding. Nobody starts something expecting to quit. So before you become a victim to the dangers of the infamous “Q” word, do everything you can to reap the benefits of completing your online degree – after all, what use is an unfinished degree?

9) Independent:

Learning to let go of your teacher’s hand can be a good thing. Why? You learn to make decisions on your own and to trust your intuition and own judgment. This is an important skill that will carry over to your job and be a good indicator of the success you will have.

10) Risk taker:

Being a risk taker means different things to different people. If it means taking the plunge and starting an accredited online degree, perfect. For some, it may mean communicating more in the class dialogue and correspondence or asking questions no one is asking. Perhaps it means cutting off some of your social activities in order to focus more on your online program. Whatever it is, if you think it will help you successfully complete your degree, do it.

http://www.onlineschooling.net

For online schools, the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) determines whether or not an online schooling program meets the requirements of a quality education. The Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. If you are interested in an online school that is not accredited by either of these two councils, then it is highly recommended that you look for another school. The best place to look to check that your school is accredited is the U.S. Department of Education.

The U.S. is also divided into six regions, each of which has a different regional accreditation body that oversees and accredits the degree-granting schools within that region. The six regional accrediting bodies are:

• Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
• Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
• North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
• New England Association of Schools and Colleges
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
• Western Association of Schools & Colleges

Selecting an online school accredited by one of these six regional bodies and by DETC will ensure the validity of your program, the transferability of credits between schools, and the credibility of your degree to different employers.

HOW IT AFFECTS CREDIBILITY AND QUALITY OF EDUCATION

Having a college degree from an accredited school is a statement to other schools, prospective employers, and the world in general that the education you received was a quality one. It gives credibility to the knowledge you gained over the course of your study. This credibility is very important when you are looking to enter the work force, as employers know that an accredited school can be trusted to offer a good education to its students.

HOW IT AFFECTS FINANCIAL AID

Enrolling in an accredited school can also make the difference between receiving financial aid and paying everything out of your own pocket. Schools accredited by the U.S. Department of Education provide financial aid to the many students who qualify for grants or loans. Non-accredited schools are not eligible to offer financial aid to their students.

HOW IT AFFECTS YOUR CREDITS

Paying attention to the kind of accreditation your school has is especially important if there is any chance you may want to transfer to a different school during your degree, or study elsewhere for a further qualification. If your first school is not accredited, then your new school is unlikely to accept the credits you have accumulated from your studies there. Even if it is accredited, it will need to be accredited by the same board as your new school if you want to be sure your credits will transfer. The best way to ensure you will be free to transfer credits is to attend only schools listed on the U.S. Department of Education’s website.

WHERE TO CHECK FOR LEGITIMATE ACCREDITATION

Accreditation is something almost all online schools claim to have, but not all accreditations are legitimate. It is very important to investigate the accreditation of an online school before you decide to enroll. You can protect yourself from fraud by simply checking that school’s listing on the website of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation or the U.S. Department of Education.

Article Source:  http://www.onlineschooling.net/

As it has become more popular, the media has started covering the good, the bad, and the ugly of online education. The following are some interesting tidbits people are discussing currently.

THE GROWING POPULARITY OF ONLINE SCHOOLING

According to a recent report by the Sloan Consortium, more than 3.9 million students took at least one higher education class online in fall 2007. This was a 12-percent increase over the previous year. Also, the growth rate for online enrollments is approximately 12.9 percent, compared to 1.2 percent growth for the general student population in higher education. Overall, the number of students taking classes online has more than doubled in the span of five years.

DIPLOMA MILLS AND THE PROBLEM OF REPUTATION

Along with the explosion of online colleges and universities has come the advent of fake schools online. While many legitimate programs exist on the Internet that are highly viable and well reputed, there are an increasing number of websites that function as “diploma mills,” peddling fake degrees to students. These are diplomas that can be earned quickly for very little money, and do not hold up on the job market because they are illegitimate.

As more people fall into this trap and try to seek jobs with these phony diplomas, employers and other schools are increasingly questioning the validity and reputation of any online degree, whether reputable or not. This means that potential students have to research the reputation of any school very carefully before enrolling in a program.

SCIENCE LABORATORY COURSES TAKEN OVER THE INTERNET

For students interested in marine biology whose school does not offer this class, or for those who want to observe a pig dissection in more detail than from the back of a classroom, the surge in science laboratory courses online is a popular option. With simulated labs and incredible technology, online students in vocational, higher education, home school, or GED programs can take advantage of many of the benefits of a real-life laboratory over the Internet.

Skeptics think, however, that mixing chemicals in virtual beakers or exploring virtual tide pools is not the same as a real-life laboratory experiment or field trip, and that students should not be able to earn course credit for such simulated lab classes.

CLASSROOM DEBATES SIMILAR IN ONLINE AND TRADITIONAL CLASSROOMS?

Detractors from online schools argue that the critical factor missing from Internet-based learning programs is the interpersonal interaction found in face-to-face discussion and debate in the classroom. Internet technology professionals, however, claim that there is little to no difference between the possibilities for debate in a virtual versus a real-life classroom setting. With the invention of video conferencing, simulated demonstrations, screencasting, and synchronous communication, online classes can emulate traditional classrooms better than ever before.

DIFFICULTY OF CONTROLLING CHEATING IN ONLINE EXAMS

The likelihood of students cheating on online assessments for distance-learning programs is much higher than in exams at traditional classroom-based schools. On a practical level, it is simply easier to cheat when no one can control who or what the test-taker brings to the exam, which raises questions about the long-term viability of educational programs based online.

The major issues regarding cheating during online tests include: obtaining test answers before an assessment begins, using hacker software to obtain passwords to databases with exam answers, referring to unauthorized materials during a test, unfairly retaking tests, and hiring other people as “stand-ins” to take exams. As with the issue of diploma mills, such problems work to compromise the credibility of online degrees in general.

ECONOMIC DOWNTOWN CAUSES SURGE IN ONLINE ENROLLMENTS

Rising unemployment rates in the current economic downtown are prompting more and more people to head back to school, and increasingly, to enroll in courses online. Obtaining a higher degree and more training makes you more desirable on the job market, and qualifies you for more positions. Because many of those who wish to study are already working, online courses are desirable because they can be easily tailored to a working adult’s schedule. It has even been reported that higher fuel costs are driving more people to take classes online, to avoid having to drive a car to a real-life campus to take classes.

FUNDING FOR ONLINE HOME SCHOOL PROGRAMS

Controversy exists over whether the state, local government, or individual families should pay for online home school programs. Some argue that it is a family’s choice to home school their children, and that it is thus their responsibility to fund their education. On the other hand, many believe that these students should have access to courses offered through public online virtual schools just like public school students, and that restricting home school students’ access to these programs is inappropriate. Another contingent worries about home school students draining resources from students in traditional schools. Who pays for these programs will have a significant impact on the cost and nature of public school systems in the future.

Jeanine Stewart spoke with students at the University of Washington’s computational linguistics master’s program (CLMA) to find out how effective online learning is for them. Their course is offered both in-class and online simultaneously, using the web-conferencing program Adobe Connect. This allows students to view the PowerPoint slides online, listen to the in-class audio, and submit comments as instant messages.

The program, currently in its fifth year, has received accolades for its online options. In 2009, program director and assistant professor Emily Bender received the Award for Distinguished Faculty Contributions to Online Learning from R1Edu, a consortium of the top 30 research universities.

When it comes to choosing whether or not to take a class online, the CLMA students are experts, as they make this decision every day. Here are the biggest factors that they consider:

THE ADVANTAGES:

FLEXIBILITY

“There’s no way I could do this if there weren’t the online option. I just couldn’t quit my job and go back to school,” said Scott Mantei, who works as a program manager for Microsoft.

Mantei can’t leave work in the middle of the day to go to class, as a range of people from program engineers to customers depend upon him for information throughout the day, and could miss a deadline due to his absence.

Many working professionals are in the same position. Going back to school can seem more of a career hindrance than a help if you have to quit your job to do so.

CONVENIENCE

Taking classes online also streamlines the learning process. “The process is definitely easier, because it’s really easier to turn in homework online and to get all the materials from one website,” Mantei said.

It is also much more convenient to turn on a computer than to travel across town, park, and walk to class. Avoiding the commute saves students money, time, and stress. Online students do not have pay for gas, deal with traffic, or worry about managing the logistics of getting a baby-sitter or arranging a carpool.

CLEARER COMMUNICATION

For online students, all the time spent on the class is spent with the content. There is no small talk with students before class or gossip after class, no commuting, just learning.

Even the process of asking a question in class is more direct, since students must express themselves in writing, without the help of body language or tone of voice, by typing their questions during the in-class live-chat sessions.

“I actually prefer when students type their questions into the window, because it’s easier that way,” said Emily Bender, faculty director of the program. Written questions are often more clearly worded than spoken ones, and seeing them written out makes them easier to address, she explained.

DISTRACTABILITY

Online students in this program can choose to view their courses later rather than live, which some say helps them focus better. Why? If they get distracted while watching the class, they can rewind.

“I think the fact that you can go back and review the material as many times as you need to has been a real help…I actually find that I pay attention even better online than in class,” said Mantei.

THE DISADVANTAGES:

LIMITED SOCIALIZING AND NETWORKING

All that small talk before and after class may not be necessary, but some students miss it when they study online.

Students who attend class in person have the chance to develop friendships with people who share their interests. Meeting other people in your field is invaluable, said student Glenn Slayden, a retired software-design engineer. After thirteen years working on his website from home, Slayden decided that not only did he need more education to progress, but he also needed a social outlet. Attending class in person has been important for establishing that.

“I’ve made some really, really good friends there, and one quite profound friendship,” he said. And having always liked school, attending in person is something he enjoys.

Being present has been important not just for building friendships, but also for establishing professional relationships. Last summer, a professor he had got to know connected him with a job at Microsoft. It was the ideal position for Slayden, who put his expertise in Thai machine translation to use for their renowned search engine, Bing.

MISSING THE VISUALS

The CLMA students have a choice, when viewing classes online: they can watch live, hearing the audio but seeing just the PowerPoint slides; or they can watch later, when a video is available, but it’s too late to add any comments or questions.

This means that the online students do not have quite as rich a class experience. For recent graduate Eduardo Alvarez, this was frustrating at times, as it was hard to understand how to make the phonetic sounds taught in his linguistics class without being able to see the professor’s demonstrations.

“Whenever the professor would make this sound or put his mouth in a certain position, it was impossible to see,” Alvarez said. “You can hear it from the professor, but it’s not the same.”

And if it wasn’t the teacher’s explanations he was missing, it was a student comment. There was a microphone available for students to use, but they did not always use it, resulting in a number of questions he never heard.

DISTRACTABILITY

Here’s the kicker! Distractability can be both a pro and a con. It all depends on whether you focus better online or in class. Some find that having other students around is distracting; others find it motivating. Some need the classroom setting; others need to be completely in the zone, focused on the screen in front of them.

For Alvarez, online learning is not ideal. “I get distracted easily with other things. Attending a class in person is more conducive to paying attention,” he said. “If I’m at home, my family is there, or if I’m at work, I get emails from work. I get distracted very easily.”

GETTING THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

Lucky for students of the CLMA program, they don’t have to choose whether they like online or in-class instruction better. They can attend class online one day and in person the next.

“It’s the best of both worlds,” said Erik Bansleben, the program development director in academic programs for professional and continuing education at the University of Washington.

“You have the convenience because you might have someone in Virginia who can go to UW and get a degree online, but at the same time, if you are local, you can choose to come to class and interact with the faculty in person, so to have that flexibility is a great benefit.”

Bender hopes that offering classes online will enable the program to attract students from all over the world. Right now, students are primarily local. But maybe a future advantage to this online learning program will be “the ability to network with people from all over the world.”

Jeanine Stewart is a freelance writer who has written for The Santa Maria Sun  and The Cipher.

http://www.onlineschooling.net

For all that talk of school being the «best time in your life», one of the most difficult results of school is simple school stress. Of course, school stress is not only brought on by classes, homework, papers to write, problems to solve, and the persistent need to keep up with reading. It is also brought on by the often taxing work of keeping up with friends, keeping up with life, keeping the parents happy, and rather onerous task of simply being young and trying to figure out what the heck you are going to do with the next, oh, 40 to 50 years of your life. Thus, it may very well be the best time in your life, but it is also one of the worst.

The biggest source of school stress if, of course, school itself. The constant press of classes and schoolwork never seems to be relieved and trying to keep pace with everything that is happening is nothing short of a Herculean task. Teachers are constantly loading you with piles of work that often seems to be mere busywork and all of it needs to be done yesterday. On top of that, you need to switch gears between any one of a number of different subjects, running the gamut from mathematics to literature to chemistry to history. And you need to be able to do it as rapidly as a Formula 1 driver navigating a series of S-curves. To call it taxing is not quite accurate. I think a better word would be extortionate.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem with school stress is that there is no way around all this work. It has to be done whether you like it or not, so at some point you need to actually sit down and do it. That is the bad news. The good news is that others have done it before you and it can be turned into a manageable duty.

Much as you are probably tired of hearing about it, the key to all of this is to prioritize your tasks. Figure out what needs to be done first, what needs to be done second, then third and so on. If you need to make a list of everything that needs doing so that you can then rate the priority, by all means do so. It is actually fairly therapeutic to make a list and it will help to reduce your school stress simply by putting everything in order. Then, when you finish a task, you can cross it off.

Once you have your prioritized list of tasks, it is time to get things done. While you are doing your work, do not think about your other tasks. Just keep your mind on what you are doing at the time. If it is physics equations, just do the equations and don’t ponder anything else. Keep focused and get through until the work is completed. Then, cross it off your list and move on to the next task.

Also, while you are attempting to concentrate on your work, remember to take a break every so often. Lean back and stretch your shoulders and neck every 15 minutes or so. About every hour, stand up and take a quick walk around the room. Just take your mind off of your work for a few minutes, then go back to it. This will give your already addled brain a rest, allowing you to get back into the swing full speed.

When studying, remember to study where you study best. Don’t read in bed if you are only going to fall asleep. Don’t sit at a desk where you don’t have space to spread out all the science books you need. Don’t sit in a chair that is so uncomfortable that you think more about the fact your rear end hurts than the work that is in front of you. Find a place where you can focus and stay focused until you are done. That way, your work will get done and you will have the altogether wonderful relief from school stress that only comes with having nothing more you need to do for school that evening.

However, this does not mean that you need to avoid all forms of entertainment while you are working. In fact, you can take a break for television or for computer games. Of course, this is only if you have the willpower to walk away from it after a set period of time (let’s say an hour) and return to your schoolwork. Though the relaxation breaks are nice, taking too many of them will just give you more school stress because you will suddenly realize that it is midnight and you haven’t gotten a thing done. If you need to avoid the television until after your work is done, then do it. You know yourself best, so do what works. And only if it actually gets work done.

As for the other concerns of life, well, it’s hard to tell you what you need to do. Just keep your schoolwork in front of you and try to make time for other pursuits. After all, there is more to school that just lessons, exams and homework and seeing friends is a great way to keep school stress at bay.

Even if classes are getting you down, school stress does not need to take over your life. If you learn to manage stress now, you will be able to manage stress much better throughout your life. Even if you get nothing else out of school, one of the most important lessons you can learn from school is how to handle stress. After all, school stress is still stress all the same.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/101031

Perhaps you read the newspaper to catch up with what’s going on in the world. You browse countless emails from colleagues. And you then read the books, reports, proposals, periodicals, and letters that make up an average day.

When you look at it, reading could be the work-related skill that you use most often!

It’s also a skill that most of us take for granted by the time we reach the age of 12. After all, it seems that if we can read and comprehend textbooks, then, surely, we must be good readers?

Maybe not. And, given the time that reading consumes in our daily lives, it may be a skill that we can, and should, improve.

But what does becoming a better reader involve?

It means getting faster and more efficient at reading, while still understanding what you’re reading. In this article, we’ll look at how you can do this, and how you can unlearn poor reading habits.

How We Read

Although you spend a good part of your day reading, have you ever thought about how you read?

How do your eyes make sense of the shapes of the letters, and then put those letters together to form a sentence that you can understand?

When you actually think about it, reading is quite a complex skill. Previously, scientists believed that when you read, both of your eyes focused on a particular letter in a word. Recent research shows this isn’t the case.

Scientists now believe that each of your eyes lock onto a different letter at the same time, usually two characters apart. Your brain then fuses these images together to form a word. This happens almost instantaneously, as we zip through pages and pages of text!

Advantages of Speed Reading

Many people read at an average rate of 250 words per minute. This means that an average page in a book or document would take you 1-2 minutes to read.

However, imagine if you could double your rate to 500 words per minute. You could zip through all of this content in half the time. You could then spend the time saved on other tasks, or take a few extra minutes to relax and de-stress.

Another important advantage of speed reading is that you can better comprehend the overall structure of an argument. This leads to a «bigger picture» understanding, which can greatly benefit your work and career.

Breaking Poor Reading Habits

If you’re like most people, then you probably have one or more reading habits that slow you down. Becoming a better reader means overcoming these bad habits, so that you can clear the way for new, effective ways of reading.

Below, we cover some of the most common bad reading habits, and discuss what you can do to overcome them.

Sub-Vocalization

Sub-vocalization is the habit of pronouncing each word in your head as you read it. Most people do this to some extent or another.

When you sub-vocalize, you «hear» the word being spoken in your mind. This takes much more time than is necessary, because you can understand a word more quickly than you can say it.

To turn off the voice in your head, you have to first acknowledge that it’s there (how did you read the first part of this article?), and then you have to practice «not speaking.» When you sit down to read, tell yourself that you will not sub-vocalize. You need to practice this until this bad habit is erased. Reading blocks of words also helps, as it’s harder to vocalize a block of words. (See below for more on this.)

Eliminating sub-vocalization alone can increase your reading speed by an astounding amount. Otherwise, you’re limited to reading at the same pace as talking, which is about 250-350 words per minute. The only way to break through this barrier is to stop saying the words in your head as you read.

Reading Word-by-Word

Not only is it slow to read word-by-word, but when you concentrate on separate words, you often miss the overall concept of what’s being said. People who read each word as a distinct unit can understand less than those who read faster by «chunking» words together in blocks. (Think about how your eyes are moving as you read this article. Are you actually reading each word, or are you reading blocks of two, or three, or five words?)

Practice expanding the number of words that you read at a time. You may also find that you can increase the number of words you read in a single fixation by holding the text a little further from your eyes. The more words you can read in each block, the faster you’ll read!

Inefficient Eye Motion

Slow readers tend to focus on each word, and work their way across each line. The eye can actually span about 1.5 inches at a time, which, for an average page, encompasses four or five words. Related to this is the fact that most readers don’t use their peripheral vision to see words at the ends of each line.

To overcome this, «soften» your gaze when you read – by relaxing your face and expanding your gaze, you’ll begin to see blocks of words instead of seeing each word as distinct unit. As you get good at this, your eyes will skip faster and faster across the page.

When you get close to the end of the line, let your peripheral vision take over to see the last set of words. This way you can quickly scan across and down to the next line.

Regression

Regression is the unnecessary re-reading of material.

Sometimes people get into the habit of skipping back to words they have just read, while, other times, they may jump back a few sentences, just to make sure that they read something right. When you regress like this, you lose the flow and structure of the text, and your overall understanding of the subject can decrease.

Be very conscious of regression, and don’t allow yourself to re-read material unless you absolutely have to.

To reduce the number of times your eyes skip back, run a pointer along the line as you read. This could be a finger, or a pen or pencil. Your eyes will follow the tip of your pointer, helping you avoid skipping back. The speed at which you read using this method will largely depend on the speed at which you move the pointer.

Poor Concentration

If you’ve tried to read while the TV is on, you’ll know how hard it is to concentrate on one word, let alone on many sentences strung together. Reading has to be done in an environment where external distractions are kept to a minimum.

To improve your concentration as you read, stop multitasking while reading, and remove any distractions. This is particularly important, because when you use the techniques of chunking blocks of words together and ceasing to sub-vocalize, you may find that you read several pages before you realize you haven’t understood something properly.

Pay attention to «internal distractions» as well. If you’re rehashing a heated discussion, or if you’re wondering what to make for dinner, this will also limit your ability to process information.

Sub-vocalization actually forces your brain to attend to what you’re reading, and that’s why people often say that they can read and watch TV at the same time. To become an efficient reader, you need to avoid this.

Approaching Reading Linearly

We’re taught to read across and down, taking in every word, sentence, paragraph and page in sequence.

When you do this, though, you pay the same attention to supplementary material as you do to core information. (Often, much more information is presented than you actually need to know.)

Overcome this by scanning the page for headings, and by looking for bullet points and things in bold. There is no rule saying that you have to read a document in the order that the author intended, so scan it quickly, and decide what is necessary and what isn’t. Skim over the fluff, and only pay attention to the key material.

As you read, look for the little extras that authors add to make their writing interesting and engaging. If you get the point, there’s no need to read the example or anecdote. Similarly, decide what you need to re-read as well. It’s far better to read one critical paragraph twice than it is to read another eight paragraphs elaborating on that same concept.

Keys to Speed Reading Success

Knowing the «how» of speed reading is only the first step. You have to practice it to get good at it. Here are some tips that will help you break poor reading habits and master the speed reading skills discussed above.

• Practice, practice, practice – you have to use your skills on a regular basis. It took you several years to learn to read, and it will take time to improve your reading skills.
• Choose easy material to start with – when you begin speed reading, don’t use a challenging textbook. Read something like a novel or travel-writing, which you can understand and enjoy with a quick once-over.
• Speed read appropriately – not everything you read lends itself to speed reading.
• Legal documents, the draft annual report, or even the letter you receive from a loved one in the mail — these are better read in their entirety, sub-vocalizations and all.
• If you need to understand the message completely, memorize the information, discuss it in detail, analyze it thoroughly, or simply enjoy the prose the way the author intended, then speed reading is the wrong approach. (Here, it helps to choose an appropriate reading strategy before you start.)
• Use a pointer or other device to help push your reading speed – when you quickly draw a card down the page, or run your finger back and forth, you force your eyes and brain to keep pace.
• Take a step back and use the material’s structure – this includes skimming information to get a feel for the organization and layout of the text, looking for bolded words and headings, and looking for the ways in which the author transitions from one topic to the next.
• When you start speed reading, it’s wise to benchmark your current reading speed. This way you can tell whether your practice is paying off, and you can impress your friends and family when you tell them that you can now read faster. There are many speed reading assessments online. One such assessment can be found at ReadingSoft.com.

The first Waldorf school was founded in 1919 to serve the children of employees at the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory in Stuttgart, Germany. As of 2011, there were 1,003 independent Waldorf schools, 2,000 kindergartens and 629 institutions for special education, located in 60 countries. There are also Waldorf-based public (state) schools, charter schools, and homeschooling environments; in addition, other state and private schools are increasingly using methods drawn from Waldorf education.

Pedagogy and theory of child development

The structure of the education follows Steiner’s theories of child development, which describe three major developmental stages of childhood, each having its own learning requirements, as well as a number of sub-stages. These stages are broadly similar to those described by Piaget.

• In early childhood learning is largely experiential, imitative and sensory-based. The education emphasizes learning through practical activities.
• During the elementary school years (age 7–14), learning is artistic and imaginative, and is guided and stimulated by the creative authority of teachers. In these years, the approach emphasizes developing children’s emotional life and artistic expression across a wide variety of performing and visual arts.
• During adolescence, to meet the developing capacity for abstract thought and conceptual judgment the emphasis is on developing intellectual understanding and ethical ideals such as social responsibility.

Waldorf education realizes an unusually and perhaps uniquely «complete articulation of an evolutionary developmental K-12 curriculum and creative teaching methodology.» its underlying principles continue a pedagogical tradition initiated by Comenius, Pestalozzi, and Herder  Its methodology encourages collaborative learning.

Pre-school and kindergarten: birth to age 6 or 7

Waldorf schools approach learning in early childhood through imitation and example. Extensive time is given for guided free play in a classroom environment that is homelike, includes natural materials and provides examples of productive work in which children can take part; such an environment is considered by Waldorf pedagogues to be supportive of the physical, emotional and intellectual growth of the child through assimilative learning.  Outdoor play periods are also generally incorporated into the school day, with the intention of providing children with experiences of nature, weather and the seasons of the year. Oral language development is addressed through songs, poems and movement games. These include daily story time when a teacher usually tells a fairytale, often by heart.

Aids to development via play generally consist of simple materials drawn from natural sources that can be transformed imaginatively to fit a wide variety of purposes. Waldorf dolls are intentionally made simple in order to allow playing children to employ and strengthen their imagination and creativity. Waldorf schools generally discourage kindergarten and lower grade pupils being exposed to media influences such as television, computers and recorded music, as they believe these to be harmful to children’s development in the early years;  this is consistent with the UK National Literacy Trust

The education emphasizes early experiences of daily, weekly and annual rhythms, including seasonal festivals drawn from a variety of traditions, with attention placed on the traditions brought forth from the community. Thus, though Waldorf schools in the Western Hemisphere have traditionally celebrated Christian festivals  such schools are now incorporating an increasingly wide range of cultural and religious traditions. Schools located where Jewish, Buddhist, or Islamic traditions are dominant celebrate festivals drawn from these traditions.

Elementary education: age 6/7 to 14

In Waldorf schools a child normally enters elementary education when she or he is nearing or already seven years of age. The elementary school centers around a multi-disciplinary arts-based curriculum that includes visual arts, drama, artistic movement (eurythmy), vocal and instrumental music, and crafts. Beginning from first grade, students learn two foreign languages from complementary language families (in English-speaking countries often German and either Spanish or French).

Throughout the elementary years, concepts are first introduced through stories and images, and academic instruction is integrated with the visualand plastic arts, music and movement. There is little reliance on standardized textbooks; instead, each child creates his or her own illustrated summary of coursework in book form. The school day generally starts with a one-and-a-half to two-hour academic lesson that focuses on a single theme over the course of about a month’s time and generally begins with an introduction that may include singing, instrumental music, recitations of poetry, including a verse written by Steiner for the start of a school day, and practice in mathematics and language arts.

An objective of most Waldorf schools is to have a single teacher loop with a class throughout the elementary school years, teaching at least the principal academic lessons; Waldorf teachers have been cited for their level of personal commitment to their pupils.

Waldorf teachers use the concept of the four temperaments to help interpret, understand and relate to the behaviour and personalities of children under their tutelage. The temperaments,choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic, and sanguine, are thought to express four basic personality types, each possessing its own fundamental way of regarding and interacting with the world.

Waldorf elementary education allows for individual variations in the pace of learning, based upon the expectation that a child will grasp a concept or achieve a skill when he or she is ready. Cooperation takes priority over competition. This approach also extends to physical education; competitive team sports are introduced in upper grades.

Secondary education

In most of the Waldorf schools, pupils enter secondary education when they are about fourteen years old. Secondary education is provided by specialist teachers for each subject. The education now focuses much more strongly on academic subjects, though students normally continue to take courses in art, music, and crafts.

Pupils are encouraged to develop their own independent and creative thinking processes. The curriculum is structured to help students develop a sense of competence, responsibility and purpose, to foster an understanding of ethical principles, and to build a sense of social responsibility.

Curriculum

Though most Waldorf schools are autonomous institutions not required to follow a prescribed curriculum, there are widely-agreed guidelines for the Waldorf curriculum, supported by the schools’ common principles. Government-funded schools may be required to incorporate aspects of state curricula.

The Waldorf curriculum has from its inception organically incorporated multiple intelligences. There are thus a few subjects largely unique to the Waldorf schools. Foremost among these is Eurythmy, a movement art usually accompanying spoken texts or music which includes elements of role play and dance and is designed to provide individuals and classes with a «sense of integration and harmony». The arts generally play a significant role throughout the pedagogy and Waldorf education’s unique integration of the arts into traditional content has been cited as a model for other schools.

Waldorf schools generally introduce computers into the curriculum in adolescence.

Looping

In the elementary schools, the homeroom teacher normally is expected to teach a group of children for several years. Traditionally teachers are expected to remain with a class from first through eighth grade, though an increasing number of schools are significantly reducing the duration of the loop. Looping has both advantages in the long-term relationships thus established and disadvantages in the challenge to teachers, who face a new curriculum each year. Such stability also requires all parties to maintain sustainable relationships, a frequently challenging task.

Origins and history

Rudolf Steiner wrote his first book on education, The Education of the Child, in 1907. The first school based upon these principles was opened in 1919 in response to a request by Emil Molt, the owner and managing director of the Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette Company in Stuttgart, Germany, to serve the children of employees of the factory. This is the source of the name Waldorf, which is now trademarked for use in association with the educational method. The Stuttgart school grew rapidly and soon the majority of pupils were from families not connected with the company.

At the invitation of Professor Millicent Mackenzie, Steiner presented his ideas on education at Oxford in the summer of 1922. Steiner gave twelve lectures at Oxford’s Harris Manchester College and other lectures of the Oxford Conference occurred at Oxford’s Keble College. The Oxford Conference from 15 to 29 August led directly to the proliferation of Waldorf education in Britain.

In the next few years schools began to open in many other locations (Hamburg, The Hague, Basel). The first school in England, now Michael Hall school, was founded in 1925; the first in the USA, the Rudolf Steiner School in New York City, in 1928. By the late 1930s, numerous schools inspired by the original school or its pedagogical principles had been founded in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Hungary, the USA, and the UK. Political interference from the Nazi regime limited and ultimately closed most Waldorf schools in Europe, with the exception of the British and some Dutch schools; the affected schools were reopened after the Second World War. There are currently over 1,000 independent Waldorf Schools worldwide.

Waldorf schools have traditionally been numerically clustered and culturally centered in Europe; the number of non-European schools has been slowly increasing, however, leading to a trend toward reinterpreting the formerly Euro-centric curriculum.

Governance

One of Waldorf education’s central premises is that all educational and cultural institutions should be self-governing and should grant teachers a high degree of creative autonomy within the school; this is based upon the conviction that a holistic approach to education aiming at the development of free individuals can only be successful when based on a school form that expresses these same principles. Most Waldorf schools are not directed by a principal or head teacher, but rather by a number of groups, including:

• The college of teachers, who decide on pedagogical issues, normally on the basis of consensus. This group is usually open to full-time teachers who have been with the school for a prescribed period of time. Each school is accordingly unique in its approach, as it may act solely on the basis of the decisions of the college of teachers to set policy or other actions pertaining to the school and its students. Waldorf schools have been cited for having a high level of teacher collegiality.
• The board of trustees, who decide on governance issues, especially those relating to school finances and legal issues.

Parents are encouraged to take an active part in non-curricular aspects of school life.Waldorf schools have been found to create effective adult learning communities.

There are coordinating bodies for Waldorf education at both the national (e.g. the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America and the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship in the UK and Ireland) and international level (e.g. International Association for Waldorf Education and The European Council for Steiner Waldorf Education (ECSWE)). These organizations certify the use of the registered names «Waldorf» and «Steiner school» and offer accreditations, often in conjunction with regional independent school associations. Some Waldorf schools are independently accredited by governmental authorities.

Social engagement

Waldorf schools seek to cultivate pupils’ sense of social responsibility, respect, and compassion; to develop their cooperative capacities; and to enable them to contribute to societal and cultural renewal; studies have found the schools’ pupils to be unusually oriented towards improving social conditions and having more positive visions of the future. Studies done in Germany and Sweden have found Waldorf pupils to be less xenophobic and less likely to be attracted to extreme right-wing political groups than pupils in other types of schools. The underlying educational philosophy has been commended for being based upon peace and tolerance.

Intercultural links in socially polarized communities

Waldorf schools have linked polarized communities in a variety of settings.

• Under the apartheid regime in South Africa, the Waldorf school was one of the few schools in which children of both races attended the same classes, despite the ensuing loss of state aid. A Waldorf training college in Cape Town, the Novalis Institute, was described by UNESCO as an organization which had a great consequence in the conquest of apartheid: «It has prepared the way and laid the foundations for a new and integrated .”
• In Israel, the Harduf Kibbutz Waldorf school includes both Jewish and Arab faculty and students and has extensive contact with the surrounding Arab communities; it also runs an Arab-language Waldorf teacher training. In addition, a joint Arab-Jewish Waldorf kindergarten, the first Arab-Jewish, bilingual and bicultural kindergarten in Israel, was founded in Hilf (near Haifa) in 2005.
• In Brazil, a Waldorf teacher, Ute Craemer, founded a community service organization providing childcare, vocational training and work, social services including health care, and Waldorf education to more than 1,000 residents of poverty-stricken areas (Favelas) of São Paulo.
• In Nepal, the Tashi Waldorf School in the outskirts of Kathmandu teaches mainly disadvantaged children from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds. It was founded in 1999 and is run by Nepalese staff. In addition, in the southwest Kathmandu Valley a foundation founded by Krishna Gurung provides underprivileged, disabled and poor adults with work on abiodynamic farm and provides a Waldorf school for their children.

Article Source: http://en.wikipedia.org

No so odd really.

Whether one is putting a laptop in every kid’s backpack, wiring the schools and changing the lesson plans to insure computer literacy or doing none of that — the Waldorf approach is age old. Thirty years ago Judy Caldwell, fresh out of grad school, was holding Waldorf workshops all over the state of Connecticut. Eventually she moved to California, and over the years the program morphed (they now have something called the HOT’s program which stands for Higher Order Thinking). Dr. Caldwell stayed true to her belief and did not let her own son watch television or have a computer until he was almost seven.

What is it about Waldorf?

Developed by German educator, Rudolf Steiner, Waldorf has been around since 1919. Waldorf Education is «based on a developmental approach that addresses the needs of the growing child and maturing adolescent. Waldorf teachers strive to transform education into an art that educates the whole child — the heart and the hands, as well as the head. »

The emphasis is on face-to-face communication and a strong personal connection between the teacher and the student. Waldorf «emphasizes creative learning with the goal of developing the child academically, emotionally and physically.» They also discourage using technology in the schools and advocate (in the home too) that «television and computers (be) strongly discouraged for younger children.»

The use of technology is not to be dismissed however, and while the evidence in favor of computers in schools is mixed, many experts believe that kids growing up in a digital world need the new tools of our age. They have computers, and cell phones and video games, Facebook, and Twitter — and who knows the apps that will demand their focus next? Thus the arguments for using technology are believed to be relevant and realistic: to reach more students, to keep more students engaged and to experiment with tools that are and will be used in today’s workplace. The arguments are compelling.

At the same time many children need, and parents want, their child to have a different experience in school where they can be assured that the «whole child» is educated, where art and music are integrated into the curriculum, and where one-on-one experiences are guaranteed. At least in Silicon Valley they say all this is worth $20,000 to $25,000 in education costs. (There is ample evidence that the Waldorf experience, maybe even Waldorf, can be offered under the public system at no additional cost. But that’s another story.)

The point you have to wonder about is whether delaying the use of technology until the 3rd or 4th grade has some merit.

Dan Fost, a writer based in San Francisco has observed that «The kids don’t need (technology), they learn the tech later, they build a great foundation for imagination and creativity, and computers are filling their brains with mindless junk that is often worse than anything we used to worry about from television.» But too much too soon also has other potential consequences according to Stephanie Brown, director of the Addictions Institute in Menlo Park, which runs an outpatient counseling and therapy program. «She’s starting to see kids as young as 10 who are hooked on digital media,» Fost says, «(and) the symptoms are strikingly similar to those of any other addiction.» Brown believes this leads to «compulsivity, cravings, irritability, sleep disorders … these kids build their day around their engagement with technology, and over time, they need more and more and just can’t stop.»

Maybe using technology isn’t an either/or proposition. Maybe we don’t need to choose one approach over another and as we rethink the curriculum — which we say we badly need to do — we need to find ways of avoiding the one-size-fits-all, standardized approach.