Advantages of Online Education

Online degrees have completely changed the possibilities for anyone wanting to study for a degree, as new technology has made these more accessible. The flexibility associated with online education has made it an extremely popular method of study for existing students, mid career professionals and many others who are looking to advance their career.A key advantage of online education is that it provides the student with the option of studying at the same time as holding down a job, and in many cases removes the need for travel. You can also decide the amount of time you will devote to your studying at times that suit you because of the flexibility offered within the method of delivery.As the concept of online education, which includes bachelor degrees, associate degrees, masters and doctorate degrees, was becoming more widely accepted, there was a significant amount of time and effort invested by the online degree providers to achieve accreditation of these courses. They wanted to ensure that the degrees that they offered would be treated equally with degrees where you attended classes in person.Initially, many employers were wary of accepting that degrees achieved by students through online study would be as robust as a classroom degree. However, as online education became more established as a method of delivery, and it was also introduced by many of the older educational institutions as part of their course offerings, the view of employers has changed dramatically.This has created a situation where enrollments for online degrees has increased significantly but before you enroll, you must check for sure that the program is recognized and accredited, to ensure that it will offer you the career opportunities that you are aiming for. You should also telephone potential employers that you want to work for to confirm that the online degree you are considering studying will be acceptable to them.The online education programs are usually tested and approved by state or national review boards and there are plenty of subjects to choose from, such as business management, law and healthcare. Now that this education delivery method has become established, it is generally recognized that there is little difference between online lessons and traditional coursework.It is also important to check that the online college offers downloadable lessons so that you can refer to them while doing your course work and these should be available at the time that suits your study schedule. If you think that at any time you may wish to transfer your mode of study to a classroom degree, you will need to be able to transfer credits to this, so you should also check that the credits you earn are transferable.There is no doubt that online colleges are continuing to develop their courses to improve these and meet the needs of both students and employers. This offers further flexibility to students, as the online degrees that they are offering are now accepted almost everywhere.

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Four Strategies Every Online Educator Needs for a Work-Life Balance

Online educators have been implementing the work-at-home model long before there was the 2020 crisis. Some referred to it as “teaching in your pajamas” – because of the nature of the job, which often meant for many, working a full-time position during the day while teaching as an adjunct during the evening hours. Those who are in a full-time position may still find themselves working during both daytime and evening hours, simply due to the needs of the learners and the requirements of classroom management. I’ve been in both roles over the past 15 years, and my ability to balance a professional and personal life has come about through time and practice.While the roles may have a slight variation from one online school to the next, the requirements are generally the same. To be successful in this role, you must decide to allocate enough time to complete your tasks, even if it takes away time from your personal life. I say this not to demean the position in any manner, rather it is said because teaching is not a position in which you can easily clock in and out from or establish strict hours for completing daily tasks. There are certain tasks, such as feedback and class discussions, which you can estimate time commitments to some degree. However, the time needed to be engaged with learners cannot be accurately estimated. From my personal perspective, I would rather be available, highly engaged, responsible, and easily available for learners, even if this means I am taking more time than it seems I should be allocating for that particular day. In fact, I do not even think about time as a factor each day. Instead, I developed strategies to help ensure I am balancing time effectively.What Does Your School Require?As an adjunct, there are typically specific due dates that are contractual in nature. These due dates are related to feedback and class discussions. This can create a sense of pressure each week, trying to meet those required deadlines. What you want to be certain you are aware of is the exact nature of your contractual requirements. There may be a Faculty Handbook, a teaching contract, or other similar type of document. I recommend you review these documents, along with school policies at the start of each term, to make certain you are well aware of what your school requires. There is often an unstated rule about those adjuncts who are not meeting the requirements and an inability to continue receiving new contracts or additional course assignments. More importantly, depending upon the severity of the requirements not met, failure to meet a contractual requirement could result in termination.Are You Taking on Too Much?I know of many adjuncts who are teaching for multiple institutions at the same time. As a faculty development specialist, I interacted with faculty who were teaching at five or six institutions at time. I cannot imagine trying to balance that many classes, at multiple institutions, all at the same time. What would make this even more complex would be also working full-time; however, I did not ask for personal details. There is a common understanding in this industry that many part-time adjuncts earn a living this manner, by teaching at multiple institutions, and I understand why. The competition for positions now is higher than ever. This wasn’t the case when I started in 2005 as the number of positions greatly outweighed the number of available faculty. If you are teaching multiple classes for multiple schools, you must be especially careful about how you are balancing your personal and professional lives.Then there is a completely opposite syndrome, those who intentionally take on too much and are not concerned about the quality of the tasks they complete. A couple of years ago I had a contract with a specialty online school to create their very first Faculty Development Center. Once I had it developed and launched, I began online training. As part of this project I created the first set of Faculty Standards and reviewed faculty classes. What I found was a common problem within the industry, faculty who teach to earn a paycheck. There were participation posts with comments such as “I agree” and feedback for written papers which included “Good job”. Unfortunately for the school, there were no standards previously in place, and quality control was never measured.How to Define a Work-Life BalanceThe tasks required for an online educator are not easily calculated, as to creating a time management plan. Therefore, when attempting to set up personal and professional time, it may not be easy to state which day or days to allocate for each one. There is another approach required and the following four strategies can help you adapt your unique position to find a sense of balance, which in turn will help you feel better prepared to complete your tasks, when you are required to do so. No one can function effectively at a non-stop pace. Everyone needs a break and this plan will help get you started.Four Strategies Every Online Educator Needs for a Work-Life BalanceThese strategies are meant to help you find a sense of stability with your schedule. Start with the first strategy as it provides a purpose statement for your entire plan and will create a vision to sustain the balance you are seeking.Strategy #1: Create a Professional Practice Philosophy StatementAs an online educator, you likely have a personal philosophy statement developed already. This statement is something different. This is a statement you are going to develop for you and you alone. It is a reconciliation, so to speak, in which you decide how much time you are willing to spend on your career each week. It is not meant to be shown to anyone, which means you are not going to be judged for your answer. You decide, and you determine now, what your limits for this job will be each week. Developing this type of boundary is important for establishing a balancing statement.Strategy #2: Create Your Schedule, One Week at a TimeNow that you have your Professional Practice Philosophy Statement, and you understand your professional time limit per week, you can create a schedule. What you will need next is a list of the contractual or required faculty duties for the week. Take the list and map it out for the week. You can allocate more time for significant tasks, such as feedback, and break down a task like that over several days. You may also need time for discussions throughout the week, along with classroom management. While this strategy may seem fairly obvious, the simple act of completing it, with a time limit having been established, can be very productive from a mindset point-of-view.Strategy #3: Stick to the Plan, When It’s a Valid PlanNow that you have a plan in place, you will find yourself more willing to stick to it. Now you will likely complete tasks on time as you know the deadlines established for yourself. More importantly, you understand why this plan was completed, and it was for your well-being, to ensure there is time leftover each week for your personal life. Now I would make a caution about this as well. If you decided to only allocate 10 hours, when the expectation is to spend 30 hours a week for your work as an adjunct, then a realistic plan has not been created and a disservice has been given both to the learners and your school. In addition, if there are valid reasons why you need to spend extra time on a specific day, then you should consider why that extra time would be a good investment in your career. In other words, always weigh the benefits of exceeding your daily plan when there is a legitimate reason.Strategy #4: Learn to Unplug When It’s TimeThis is perhaps one of the most challenging strategies for anyone who is an online educator, learning to unplug from technology. Even if you turn off the computer or laptop, it may still be possible to access the classroom and/or email from a mobile device, such as a phone. But at the end of a work day, you need your downtime. You have got to allow yourself some time to rest and recharge, for the sake of your well-being and mental health. This is also true for the personal time you’ve designated in your time plan. I cannot state I have always allowed full days off in my weekly plan; however, I at least allow blocks of time to stop and enjoy time with my family. Perhaps I’ll take my spouse to a movie, or take my family out to eat. The point is I understand why I’m working, based upon my own Professional Practice Philosophy Statement, and I know when I need to unplug. You need to do this as well, so you can come back to the computer or laptop refreshed.This is an Art, Not a ScienceLearning how to balance your daily and weekly tasks is an art, more than it is an exact science, and it will take some time and practice. If you have not been a remote employee before, this will require a new mindset. The best advice I can offer is to make certain you have a designated space to perform your teaching duties. I have my own home-based office, my command center, and when I step into this office, I know I’m there to teach. It is a place which allows me to easily become focused on the task at hand as it is distraction-free, and once I leave the office at the end of the day, I know it is time for me to begin to start my downtime. Was I able to become this well-disciplined right away? It did take time and practice as I had to learn how to rely upon myself, rather than arrive at my place of employment and later clock-out at a particular time, knowing my day was completed.When I first began teaching online, I checked my online classes all the time, then I gradually developed a rhythm. Now I know how to use alerts and respond in a timely manner, and I have a feel for how to manage the many responsibilities of an online class. Over time you will develop this type of innate sense as well. Most important of all, I keep in mind every day why I teach, which is more important to me than anything else. In a learner-centered environment, an educator must be acutely aware of the needs of their learners and ready to action. Therefore, my form of balance is unique, similar to the type of environment I teach in. The more dedicated you are for the learners you teach, the more likely you may need to adapt the strategies I’ve described as well. Instead of creating a Work-Life Balance, perhaps you will create an Educator-Learner Balance. Always take care of your learners and yourself.

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Outsource Accounting and Bookkeeping: Tips for Finding a Payroll Outsourcing Company

Searching for the Perfect ServiceFinding a reputable high quality and affordable outsource accounting payroll service can be tough considering how many service companies exist these days, but there are some things you can do to make your search easier.

A great place to start is by asking other business owners whom you trust for references. If they have been working with a payroll outsourcing company for a while, chances are they are doing a pretty good job.

It is also not a bad idea to look at online reviews of companies that interest you. Not everyone reviews the companies that they use, but you will usually find a few reviews that help you decide whether you should outsource accounting and bookkeeping services to them.

Knowing what services you need will also shrink the list of providers down quite a bit. It’s a good idea to make a list of everything you need before contacting them.
PricingPayroll services will save small businesses money in most cases, but it’s still a good idea to get the best price that you can for those services. Once you know exactly what you need from the company that you will eventually use, you’ll be able to narrow down the group of companies that match those needs and compare the prices.Some accounting outsourcing companies will charge their clients once per month, while others charge every pay period. It’s up to you to decide which type of plan works better for your business.Test It OutOnce you have narrowed down your choice to one or two companies, you need to find out if they really do provide what they advertise. While most companies won’t give you a month or two to test out their services, there are things you can do to make sure that you are going to get exactly what you need from the company.

It’s usually pretty easy to find current and past clients, so contacting them and finding out as much as you can (about the company you are considering for outsourcing) should provide some insight.

If the company gives their clients software to use, you should make sure that it is something that you fully understand before moving forward. This is a good time to see if the company’s customer service is up to par.

You want to get a feel for the company that you might potentially use so that you don’t waste time or money on them if they can’t provide you with top-of-the-line service.
Make Your DecisionThe truth is that there are plenty of great companies out there that you can outsource accounting and bookkeeping jobs to if you research. It’s just a matter of taking the time to make sure that you get everything that you need from them. Once you have gone over all of the steps above, you will have a great chance of finding an outsourcing company that you will be able to use for years to come.Copyright 2013 GWT Marketing. All Rights Reserved

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Keep These 5 Rules in Mind for Successful Commercial Designing

Who doesn’t want an excellent commercial design? Excellent commercial design is important to maintain the reputation and brand image of the company. As it is said, the first impression is the last impression, a good impression always attracts potential customers. It’s obvious no one would ever love to walk in a congested environment with bad lighting.

Bad design and interiors deteriorate the productivity of the employees. It can be a confusing task when planning a commercial designing project for the first time, hiring expert Commercial Architects Melbourne can be the best option to know about the latest trends and perfect matching designs.

This blog is about some basic rules to consider for making the commercial project successful.
Keep structures versatile

When it comes to transforming any commercial space, focusing on convertibility and keeping office interior decor versatile can be the best option. It can be done by implementing a versatile structure to spaces such as cafeterias, offices, and many more. Everyone gives preference to comfort hence, focusing on spatial and versatile design will help to complete commercial designing projects in an optimal way.

Consider the latest technology implementations

Technology plays a supportive role to enhance the commercial designing project. Moving forward with the latest technology is important to execute any business smoothly because technologies make the work much easier and comfortable for the employee as well as organizations. Implementing centralized and decentralized digital control is much needed in any commercial design.

Keep office aesthetics updated

Good aesthetics and interiors impact the overall representation of the office and make the place functional and attractive. Hire a reputed designer for modern décor and furniture ideas. Hiring a designer reduces half of the project stress and helps to meet the contemporary fashion and latest trends. They can help to choose the perfect theme that blends well with the office decor, atmosphere, and colour.

Provide personalized space to prevent congestion

Majority of customer prefers personalized space such as different seating to seat comfortably and do the personal work. Personalized space is one of the crucial factors for customer-based service offices such as hotels and cafeterias to provide an ambient and comfortable place.

Always keep safety first

Safety is the central feature of every construction and designing project. Hence, it’s the high-priority factor to keep the aesthetic and functional safety at the working place. It can be compromised for interior decoration and design purposes but it’s not at all affordable to compromise for safety purposes.

Following the above useful ideas can easily help in the successful completion of a commercial designing project in a safe and pleasing way. In today’s, modern construction, reliability, and comfort is also an equally important factor.

Final words,

It’s important to hire the experienced Building designer Melbourne to make the commercial designing project worthy. Hope the above rules helped you to scale up your interior designing projects with a better outcome. Follow the above tips for any renovation or remodelling project and surely you will get award-winning and achieve a better office experience.

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How Long Should A Laptop Battery Last And How To Increase the Battery Life

No matter how expensive your laptop is, its battery won’t last more than four years. According to experts, a new laptop battery gives you as many as 1,000 cycles. In other words, you can charge and recharge the battery up to 1000 times. However, many factors play their role to increase or decrease the lifespan of a laptop battery. For instance, the material used for producing the battery substance. So, if you want to ensure that your battery stands the test of time, given below are some of the tips that can help.

1. Install a good battery monitor

If you are looking for an alternative, you can choose from tons of third-party utilities. Basically, the software programs help you monitor your laptop battery. These programs have no compatibility issues with any type of laptop.

Using these tools, you can find out which programs are using most of the battery power. You can then close the unwanted programs to save battery power.

2. Install maintenance apps

You can use some manufacturer-recommended maintenance tools for maintaining your laptop battery. Based on the type of your battery, you will receive different suggestions. Apart from this, your operating system will come with a built-in utility that can help you keep an eye on your battery condition.

3. Maintain your device temperature

You should try your level best to ensure your laptop maintains its temperature. In summer, electronic devices tend to heat up, which negatively impacts the life of the battery packs.

Therefore, you should make sure that there is a little bit of space between the bottom of the device and the table you have placed your device on. Besides, the ventilation system of your device should be working properly. For this purpose, regular cleaning of your device is quite important.

4. Don’t use maximum brightness

When your screen brightness is at maximum level, your device will use the maximum power. So, turning down the brightness is the first thing you can do to save power. Also, it is not a good idea to keep the brightness at max level as it can have a negative impact on your eyesight.

So, by following these simple tips, it will be easier for you to extend the life of your laptop battery.

5. Change the power-saving settings

Before you do anything, go into the power options of your laptop. If you are using Windows operating system, you can go to the control panel to access the power options. The control panel can be accessed from the Start Menu.

Some users have MacOS. If you are one of them, you need to access Energy Saver, which is found in the System Preferences. If these values are set to default, your computer will use the least amount of power.

So, what you need to do is make small changes to the settings so that you achieve a balance between power and performance. For best performance, there is always the choice to connect your device to the AC outlet.

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The Best Ways I’ve Found To Make Money Online From Home

Have you been looking for a way to make money online without having to know much of the internet stuff? Wanting to work at home but don’t know how to do it? Here is the key gem: Between all the tricks on joining the craft beer movement, opening a gallery or being a tour operator, you will find clever advice that anybody can apply to make money online quickly.

The most basic way to make money online is through affiliate marketing. It is really easy. Basically you set up an ad for someone she is selling something and when they click through and buy it, you make money! Simple enough if you have no technical skill at all. Here are some simple tips on how to earn using affiliate marketing:

Drop-shipping is one of the most useful methods. You select a product in which you believe there is a demand and then drop-ship it to your customers in small quantities. You make money from the difference between what the stock costs and what you sell it for. For this method, it is important to note that you may need to make space for your inventory on your premises or perhaps wait until you have a build of an inventory before you can start drop-shipping; but the advantages make it a good choice for those seeking to make money online from their spare time.

Paid surveys are a great way to earn some extra cash. These can be accessed easily and there are many sites where you can get paid from spending your spare time. There is one site, though, which is said to pay $200 a week for twelve weeks straight – you can’t beat that kind of money making potential. With paid surveys, it is important to note that the sites are generally scams, and that you need to do some research to ensure you are making good money making opportunities.

Finally, a passive income generating method that can bring in money on autopilot is eToro’s Forex trading. This works by allowing you to invest on a demo account and earn money from the performance of the currencies being exchanged. The best thing about this system is that it allows you to do virtually anything and still see profits coming in. eToro has an average starting price of less than $50 and can generate an income of five figures in just a few months.

These are the best things I have found for making money online from your home. Though none of them are as good as, say, a paid-online course, they are much more affordable and can provide a valuable education to start earning money immediately online. With just a little research, you should be able to find a legitimate opportunity to get paid to learn the basics of making money in the currency markets. This is a truly remarkable opportunity.

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Finding the Best Business Idea For Your Home Based Business

How many home based business opportunities are available to you? If you want to make money online at home, you really have many options to choose from. The big question is – which one will give you the biggest chance of success? Is there a ‘one size fits all’ answer? The simple truth is that not every opportunity is right for everyone, and not every opportunity will bring you the greatest amount of profit.

So, what are some home business ideas that can make money online for you? The quick and dirty answer is: the one that best suits your particular set of needs. Make a list of your priorities, including a high income; a low-risk schedule; freedom; flexibility; work-life balance; independence; something in your range of skills and expertise; and interesting work that you have an interest in… You can take this list with you and talk to people who are working from home on the same things that you would be considering. Chances are that you will find some great niches that fit your standards and your desires.

But what if you want to get started right away? It’s easy to think that you can jump into a new business idea and be successful immediately, but this often isn’t the case. It takes many different things to make sure that you will be able to get through the hurdles and actually make it to a point where you are seeing profit. If you don’t work at it slowly, you will be setting yourself up for failure. Here’s the lowdown on some different things that you should consider as you create your own business idea:

First, you need to think about what you have to offer. If you don’t have any ideas as to what to do as a freelance writer, a lowdown on finding a niche is very important. Many beginners go into this completely clueless. But if you know that you have a skill that others are desperately seeking, you may be able to provide them with the service they are looking for without having to spend much time building up a website or getting traffic to it.

Another thing to consider is what kinds of products or services would best fit a niche that you would like to get started in. In this case, the lowdown on finding the best business idea for you would include taking a look at what you love to do and what you can offer others. If writing is not your strongest point, but you love to get creative, consider freelance data entry. Freelance data entry does not require a lot of startup capital, but you still need to have the skills that will allow you to be successful in this area. The best lowdown on finding the best business idea for you is to simply start looking at what you like to do and what you can offer others.

There are many other areas of freelance writing that you can explore in order to make the most out of your home based online business. Freelance writers are in high demand online. If you have the skills that are needed to do well in this field, there is no reason that you should not be able to find a great home-based online business that will give you the income that you want.

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Earn Money Writing From Home And Never Run Out of Ideas

Is it your dream to work from home as a writer and earn money from everything you write? That was my dream for years, and 20 years ago it became my reality.

One of the hardest things at first was to come up with ideas of what to write about. I started by doing freelance writing and I also set up my own website and I wanted to write and publish books. It was all a great plan, but it meant coming up with thousands of ideas.

At first I didn’t think it was possible, but it turned out that not only was it possible to come up with endless ideas for writing, but I ended up with notebooks full of ideas because I had more than I could ever use at once.

And I’ll tell you 3 things that helped.

1. I write fast. Once I’m into writing an addictive story or an interesting article – or series of articles, I get into a writing ‘flow’ and can write for hours. I never stop and second-guess myself. I just keep writing because fast writers are mega producers and never have time for writers’ block.

2. The more I write and the faster I write, the more writing ideas I have. Productive writers always get an abundance of ideas as they write. When I’m immersed in my writing, my creative mind goes into hyper-drive. Even if I started with only one or two ideas, once I sit down and start writing the ideas start flowing. And it doesn’t matter what I write. Even if I’m journaling or copying out someone else’s writing by hand (just for practice), it inspires ideas.

3. I love to write. Most days I’m excited and motivated to sit down and write. I hurry through other chores I have to do so that I can get to my desk and write.

At first, being a writer was hard because it’s not easy to work from home with no boss, no set hours and too many distractions. But once I got a writing routine, I found that once I sat my backside in my chair and started writing, it was easy to ignore everything and motivation arrived and kept me going.

So if you find yourself longing to write but stuck for ideas, just sit down and start writing. Write anything even if it’s just nursery rhymes you were taught as a kid, or open a book and start handwriting it out.

And if you’re like me you’ll find that even on days when you think you don’t feel like writing and the ideas just won’t come, sit down and write anyway, and before you know it you’ll be overloaded with ideas.

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