Archive for the ‘Guest Posts’ Category

Four Easy Steps to Touch Typing by Adam Fort offers tips to improve typing skill for adults and children alike. In a day when efficiency can make the difference between success and failure, you can ill afford to be a less than proficient typist. With these tips, all you need is the commitment to practice.

Adam Fort

• Adam is an education strategist at ratatype.com. This project helps children and adults to learn touch typing via an Online Typing Test and lessons.

Introduction

• Fed up with how long it takes you to type an email or a document? Does your amateurish typing leave a lot to be desired? If typing efficiency is costing you valuable hours in productivity, maybe it’s time you start working on improving your touch typing efficiency. Computers or laptops have become an integral part of day-to-day life. From emails to presentations, from college assignments to office presentations, everything requires the skill of typing. Typing fast and accurately is a skill that proves absolutely invaluable for nearly every job. Follow these four easy tips to boost your touch typing speed and become a typing whiz.

Use correct techniques and position

• The first step is to use correct sitting position and keyboard positioning. It goes without saying that you work better when you are in a comfortable position. The same thing applies to typing. Choose a comfortable chair and sit straight with your back upright, and your eyes firmly fixed on the computer screen. If you slouch, you will get fatigued easily. Also, make sure the room has sufficient lighting and ventilation. (Doug: Also consider standing up like I do. You can now buy desks that go up and down so you can change positions while you work.)
• Position your keyboard in the correct position and use both of your hands for typing. Position your fingers on the home row keys. You should be able to move your fingers across the keyboard. With proper finger placements, you should be typing with all ten fingers including your pinkies. The goal of this proper hand placement is that you do not have to move your hands while typing. This way you can focus more on your touch typing accuracy and speed.

Avoid looking at the keyboard

• After you have positioned yourself comfortably, start typing. Assess your current typing skills so as to understand your typing speed and accuracy. This will also give you a fair idea about how much effort and time you need to put in improving your typing speed. The next step is to resist the urge to look at the keyboard while typing. While riding a bicycle, do you look at the pedals or road? Initially, it is hard not to look at the keypad. But, no matter how difficult it is, you need to eliminate the habit of looking down while you type. Adopt military level of discipline and look at the screen. Familiarize yourself with finger placements and let your mind guide your fingers to type correct keys.

Practice, Practice and Practice

• Just like in any other field, practice is the key to success. You need to remember that you can’t excel your typing speed in just one day; but you can definitely improve it drastically. However, it is important to practice in the right way. Practice as much as possible and do it with extreme patience. Make your practice more interesting by writing emails, chatting with your friends, or playing interactive typing games on internet. By the way, average typing speed is only 41 words per minute.

Use online typing tests

• The best way to practice your typing speed is by taking online typing tests. These tests are developed by typing experts and professionals for making your typing process smooth and fast. Some of these tests add extra remedial measures based on your assessments. These remedial lessons are individually tailored to focus on learner’s individual progress, and therefore speeding up and focussing the learning process. These online tests can be taken according to your comfortable timings. Ratatype.com, TypingTest, and TypingWeb for iPhone typing offer convenient ways to test your touch typing speed and accuracy. They also offer extra remedial measures that are tailored to individual’s progress and performance. These remedial measures are easy to understand and also help in keeping a track of progress. This allows the learner to speed up and focus the learning process.

Acquire the Skill

• Typing is not an inherent skill. It is an acquired skill, and with proper techniques and tools, one can improve his typing speed as well as accuracy. Apart from saving money and time, fast and correct typing offers several benefits. When your typing speed is good, you stay in a state of flow. This allows you to focus your energy on words and message, rather than on typing skill. Your mind works faster when you are typing without interuption. So, try the above mentioned four easy steps and you too can type like a professional.
• Doug: I may be hard to shift from the hunt and peck two finger approach, but it will pay off in the long run. An added benefit to typing faster is that you will end up writing more, which will improve your writing skill. The only other thing you will need is a skilled editor who gives honest feedback. This is the best way to lose bad writing habits. Thanks Adam.

Share this:

Technology Today: the Virtual Big Brother by Vaishnavi Agrawal offers a warning of how one’s Internet activity can result in negative consequences for anyone intent on even minor mischief. Her Big Brother metaphor is as scary as it is accurate. The good news it that the Internet has allowed me to collaborate with someone on the other side of the world (India).

Vaishnavi Agrawal

• Vaishnavi loves pursuing excellence through writing and has a passion for technology. She has successfully managed and run personal technology magazines and websites. She currently writes for Intellipaat.Com a global training company that provides e-learning and professional certification training.

Caring for Your Digital Fingerprints

• For last couple of years, it has often been suggested that you should not lie about yourself or your intentions online. You are not only leaving digital fingerprints on your device, but also on the device of every individual involved in the conversation. This also includes a number of other servers on the Internet. Considering the immorality of lying, one may argue that this particular advancement is not for the good. Under the veil of recreation, you may see information pertaining to a particular individual in immense quantity, which is more often than not voluntarily broadcasted. This means that we must consider the fact that our digital existence can supersede our organic one in many ways.
• For many of us, our digital lives make us seem better looking, more popular, better qualified, have a better profession and even a better lifestyle. This can make one wonder if it’s possible to fathom the relevance of this relatively redundant activity. I see that it is not just a matter of tangibility, but also of concentration and focus. Now the amount of time and energy that is dedicated to creating, maintaining, and sustaining a digital life eats away at the basic necessity of doing the same for the real one.

Share this:

What A Master of Science in Mathematics Degree Can Do For You by Chasie Dieter

If you’re wondering whether spending an additional year or two studying for a Master’s degree is worth it, the answer is an emphatic yes. A Master of Science in Mathematics degree can help you fulfill different career goals as such it would be best to invest time money effort into it. Please share this with any students you know so they can plan ahead.

Widen your Horizons

• With a degree in mathematics, employers realize your ability to apply logic, and think quantitatively. Jobs considered to be directly related to a math degree include aerospace engineer, meteorologist, research scientist (math), investment analyst, statistician, higher education lecturer, and secondary school teacher. A Master’s in math can also provide a way into financial accounting, insurance, banking, management services and consultancy, and information technology. Check some real data about engineering pay from the CNN Money site.

The World is Your Oyster

• The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, is a body researching higher education programs worldwide. In its January 2013 newsletter it highlighted an increasing demand for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates worldwide. The shortage of such qualified people, has prompted discussions within the American government as to whether making US visas available to those immigrants holding Master’s or PhD’s in STEM subjects, may attract greater numbers of graduates to enter the country. The Observatory maintains STEM graduates entering the US will need to increase by some 20-30% by 2016 to meet demand. This figure is expected to continue increasing over the coming years.

Major Shortages in the UK

• The UK’s Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is also concerned about the shortfall of people with higher level postgraduate qualifications in the STEM subjects entering the job market. They estimate that by 2020, with the changing job market, and economy improving, almost 50% of vacancies will be for higher skilled positions. Many businesses are already highlighting the difficulty in finding people holding Master’s or PhD’s in appropriate STEM subjects.
• With this concern over too few highly qualified postgraduates, even the UK’s House of Lords has become involved. In a recent report they emphasized the ‘significant’ role STEM postgraduates play in research and development, innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership abilities. The report continued that the government needed to take the lead in ensuring that students were fully aware of the opportunities available to them by continuing postgraduate studies to a Master’s or PhD in the STEM subjects.

Opportunities for Master’s in Mathematics have never been better

• Over the last few years, career opportunities for those holding math related degrees have increased enormously. The employment rates for graduates in all employment areas is very high, and the few who are unemployed are often undertaking further part-time or full-time studies. Here is one place Chasie recommends for this type of degree.

Chasie Dieter

• Chasie is an English instructor who is known for her passion for teaching. In addition to a strong grasp of the English language, her grammatical expertise as well as creativity and writing prowess made her one the most sought after instructors in her home city.  Chasie’s goal is to bring you thought-provoking articles that elicit deep thinking and analysis. You can reach her by email at chasie.mediainteractive@gmail.com.

Dr. Doug’s Comments

• Although you might think that the target audience for this post would be students or adults with four-year degrees, I suggest that you share this information with students of any age. The way most schools work, if you don’t start taking advanced math in middle school, your chances of majoring in engineering, math, or physical science are not too good. Thanks Chasie for a fine guest post.

Share this:

How Education Abroad Can Improve Your Career Prospects by Ebin Mathew makes a compelling case for spending sometime in another country as part of one’s formal education. Please share with any students you know. Also check out the writing service that Ebin works for.

The Big Question

• In this demanding culture and era, new tactics and experiences are required in order to raise the one’s prospects and chances of employment in one’s industry of choice. A major demand of this era is not just education, but diverse experiences as well. Many people wish to study abroad, since it is believed that it places an individual in a better position for getting employment and experiences than one can get studying solely from home. So just how does studying abroad improve one’s prospects?

What To Expect

• This question would better be answered by people who have already had this experience. They can tell us exactly what they saw, learned, and experienced that added to their education and experiences at home. More and more people are doing their best to earn a chance to study abroad, although not every person who goes abroad becomes a successful person upon returning. Researches indicate that many people travel abroad annually for higher education. So what should one expect while studying abroad, and how does studying there make you better?

Share this:

Four Ways the Internet Can Make You a Better Teacher by Jennifer Smith will help teachers and veterans use the Internet more effectively as they try to help students learn and engage in their own learning. Whether educators have time to attend a brick and mortar institution or utilize masters of education online to further their qualifications, there are always ways to improve as a professional. While it is written from the view point of a beginning teacher trying to jump start a career, it can help teachers and parents of any age. Jenna is a freelance writer who has been blogging since college. Her writing topics vary from frugality to fitness. When not writing you can find her walking her dog or playing tennis! Thanks Jenna

Follow Your Dream

• So you have dreamed of being a teacher since you were a little kid. Unfortunately, with education budgets being what they are, finding a school placement has been harder than you thought it would be. In the mean time, especially if you want to keep your teaching skills sharp, you can probably pick up a few tutoring gigs. You might even be able to parlay that into your own tutoring business.
• There are a few big benefits tutoring offers that traditional school placements do not:
  You can pick your own class size which is definitely not the case if you were planning on working in the public school system.
  You can set your own rates. Tutors can make more per hour than teachers.
  All of your classroom materials are completely tax deductible.
  To some extent, you can have class wherever and whenever you want.
  If starting your own tutoring business or just taking on a few tutoring clients is something that interests you, or if you already have a teaching job, here are a few things you can do to further hone your teaching skills.

Share this: