What parents don’t know about University education?

Being a parent is hard work, first off juggling family time and a career can be extremely difficult, next is ensuring your child gets the best education at their school. Parents traditionally encourage their children to be the best they can be to truly max out their potential. But how much do parents really know about what happens behind closed doors? Are students getting the full educational experience that they deserve? Nowadays with the University fees at ridiculous costs, are students really reeling in the benefits of such high fees? I think the clear answer is no.

Whereas in school your every need is catered for, at University it is a different story, ‘independent learning’ is encouraged, meaning fewer lectures and less interaction with parents. Luckily speaking from experience I enrolled onto University before the new fees, so I ‘only’ have to pay £3,000 a year, and for that fee I get one lecture every other week. My parents were outraged when I informed them of this. At school, despite the learning perhaps not being perfect, you still have over 5 lessons a day and the emphasis is getting the student to learn as much as they can. At university where you pay to learn, parents do not know how much students are not getting. Sometimes on my course it felt like I was not getting taught how to be a journalist but instead how to pass exams and write essays. Parents should be careful when viewing what university their child goes too, many Universities are taking the easy route and instead of teaching students, they are left to fend for themselves, definitely not worth the ridiculous £9,000 a year right? Parents want the best for their children but how can a student maximize their potential with one lecture a week.

Chinese Tiger Moms: The Cub’s Struggle to Leave the Den

Every weekend, after a busy week of being in school and finishing off the last odds and ends of my degree, I reenter the world of the tiger moms. As an English teacher, I have weekly contact with them, and I dread it, like taking a plunge into an ice-cold pool. It is not because I am afraid of their views on me, but rather that they want to know what my perspective is on their child’s progress. Hmm, what can I say that will appease the somewhat terrifying tiger mom but allow me to come away without the sense of guilt that accompanies lying. “Oh, he’s getting there” (he couldn’t say anything at all last week), or “Well, he’s behaving a lot better this week” (he pulled down his pants and peed on the floor last week (this actually happened!!)), and quite often “She’s opening up so much more now” (she’s actually just moody and has started saying nasty things about me). A little distortion of the truth goes a long way in appeasing the tiger moms’ voracious appetite for success which they pilfer off the backs of their over-worked, under-played children.

A child is a big investment in any society; in the UK it is at least 18 years of hard work and patience for parents, raising their children until they are ready to fly the nest. Generally, after 18 years, parents usually are ready to offload their offspring, sending them out into the world on their own. Following graduation, and sometimes prior to, young adults are expected to earn their own money to pay their way. I have been no exception, where I have the need to be even more self-reliant than my British counterparts, being on my own in a foreign country. I have discovered that in China, the situation is quite different. To generalize, a child in China is probably at least a 25-year investment for their parents. This investment is compounded by two factors: firstly, the need to give ones child a competitive edge in a country of over 1.3 billion people; secondly, the one child policy currently in force across China leading to huge pressure to raise the ‘perfect’ child. This process and investment can lead to parents to take a very close-handed approach to their child’s upbringing, in some extreme cases parents will even follow their children to university to ensure that their living needs are met whilst they concentrate on their studies.

This pressure from tiger parent on their offspring takes its toll on these poor cubs. Often I have walked into a classroom full of children screaming their heads off in ecstasy at the opportunity of being able to ‘have fun’ for but a few minutes in their very full days. I like to ensure that my classes are as fun as they are educational. This is probably not enough to make certain that they will grow up to be well-rounded adults, but I hope they at least get a break from the tedium of their stressful lives. There children who thrive off this pressure, but I cannot imagine that they will be great socialites. Parental mollycoddling may produce academic genii, but I believe that it comes at great social, emotional and practical cost to children. It is of great concern to me that there are adult males and females out there of my age who cannot or may not be willing to wash their clothes, and of course, this does not just include China.

So, what are the returns on parental investments in their children? Well, usually, for an 18-year investment, as is common in the UK, it guarantees parents their children’s love and when needed, support both emotionally and financially. It also usually allows their children to live their own lives, without much interference or intervention from parents. In China, where the 25-year plus investment package is usually the chosen option amongst those who can afford it, returns are usually higher, with male children expected to assume the role of caregiver and parent, supporting a top-heavy family hierarchy on a salary that might only be enough to support a comfortable lifestyle for themselves; female children are expected to find themselves good husbands and to be good wives, this while perhaps working a full-time job themselves. Parents in the UK are not without hopes of having grandchildren, and expect that their children will be responsible to them after leaving home, but perhaps there is more room for deviation, which is reflected in social attitudes to different lifestyles, sexuality and some children choosing not to have children themselves, whereas in China, grandchildren are included in the dividends from their investment. In China, the traditions of previous generations spanning thousands of years cannot be wiped from memory in a single generation, but perhaps it is time for a reality check; current social trends indicate that this way of life in a modern China under the one-child policy is unsustainable.

I am sure that tiger moms, tiger parents wish nothing but for their children to be successful and happy, but it is about time that an objective approach is taken to children’s futures. What is truly best for ones child? What can one manage for oneself without creating extra pressure for ones child? Is it fair to expect ones child to be a source of income and care in return for fulfilling ones duties as a parent? I talk from the position of one who has yet to experience the joys and hardships of parenthood, and my commentary above is a generalization of many complex and varied familial and social situations, but boy, I do worry very much about the cubs that run around in my classroom every weekend. Can they take the heat? 

Resources: Online Education Society
Author: David Janke

Party Life Outweighs Studying in Online Education

Online education in the United Kingdom is starting to take over. Many students are reeling in the benefits of being able to learn when and what they want. Being a student is hard, balancing the workload, social events and the unexpected visit from your parents can be a struggle, this is where online education stands out. Giving students the option to choose a course of their choice and having the freedom to learn whenever they want 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is an enticing prospect.

Being able to learn from the comfort of your own home is an exciting positive from online education, with the UK’s university fees sky rocketing up to over £9,000 a year, online education is a cheaper more convenient way to learn these days.

University, of course, is about so much more than the teaching. There's the socialising, which many people associate in Britain as nothing more than drinking. There's the exciting prospect of living away from home and learning how to cook for yourself. You no longer have curfews, just pure freedom…

Great right?

No, because of these many disruptions, studies seem to slip past the radar, students concentrating on what drink they are buying before a night out seems to prioritise over an assignment. This is where online education comes in. With no timeline, students are free to still do all the exciting things they did before, with the added benefits of not struggling to wake up for a 9am lecture. 

Online education is a form of learning that puts the student in control; no longer do you have to worry about the distracting child in the classroom, no. You have the power to decide what you want to learn, no more boring early maths lectures. You make the decision on what course you want to do and when you want to learn it. The best thing about learning online learning is there is no timescale on learning, whatever the time, whatever the place learning never stops.

Why E-learning Is the Most Beneficial Way of Learning

E-learning is the start of something new, it is fresh, it is effective and it is popular. And for a good reason. If it is done right, it can produce great results by decreasing costs that you would normally pay on tuition and travel, and it will solely focus on improving your performance in the classroom. Also, unlike a one-time classroom session, the e-learning course is available for others; you can access material when you want giving you the power to control your study time.  This also includes the static e-learning course as well as any on-going conversations in networked communities.

Recently, I had a conversation with a friend who had not really heard of e-learning and it struck me that maybe the majority of the world may not realise the true value of e-learning.  For people to truly understand the benefits, they will have to try it out.  Understanding e-learning’s value helps you make the best decisions about when and why to use it.

E-learning is the computer and network-enabled transfer of skills and knowledge dedicated to teaching students material they may have missed out on in a classroom. E-learning applications and processes include Web-based learning, computer-based learning, virtual education opportunities and digital collaboration. Content is delivered via the Internet, intranet/extranet, audio or video tape, satellite TV, and CD-ROM. It can be self-paced or instructor-led and includes media in the form of text, image, animation, streaming video and audio. The use of technology of E-learning sets it apart from any competitors; the benefits of e-learning are there for all to see.

Benefits of Online Teaching

There are many benefits for teachers to switch to the cyber world, no longer do you have to deal with students who simply are in school for the ride and you can deal with the pupils who want to learn.

Teaching online has the potential to be a profitable income for those who enjoy spending time on the computer. The younger teachers who have grown up with computers may believe that teaching on the internet is the best method, especially with its popularity amongst young students.

Another benefit of teaching online is that in a distance learning course it is difficult for a student to avoid interaction with the professor. In face-to-face instruction a student can mimic learning by a head nod and a smile. When learning in an online course, the student has to explain his or her understanding in words allowing the teacher to have a clearer assessment of the student's knowledge of the course material, along with reading, writing and computer literacy skills.

Wherever and whenever you have Internet service, you can teach. This is a very convenient teaching position. You can effectively be your own boss, choosing your own hours and negotiating with the student one to one what hours are best for you both. Online teaching can benefit young and old, if you have teaching knowledge and you wish to share this, then teaching online is the platform that stands out above the traditional classroom scenarios.

Acadsoc Unique Online Tutoring Society

We, here at Acadsoc.com would like to welcome you to our unique online tutoring society. We offer an online platform for education that is unlike anything you have seen before. Whether you would like to teach or learn, you need not look any further. We work with over 200 high schools across the world and would love to welcome you to our community.

Our online education system welcomes people from all backgrounds, whether you have been through tutoring in the past or not. We are here to help.

With us you can begin to learn about anything you want, from language to science. We’re here for those more experienced in academia and those who would like to build on their learning.

We have built our community from the ground up, and it ranges from those in primary school education to those in University.