This interesting article addresses some of the key issues regarding education. A careful reading of this material could make a big difference in how you think about education.
On-line education is in trend nowadays. In the future, students may have the opportunity to study at home with computers rather than go to traditional schools like what we are used to doing. And in some cases online education is the only way available.
The most common on-line form of education today is English tutorials. As of now, students and tutors use IM (instant messaging), headset and web camera as the path of communication and of education. Is this the better option?
People must prefer the traditional way because in a classroom setting, students can learn and socialize with their peers. Also, from the instructor, he or she can teach students many valuable lessons of life which cannot be learned through technology. It is like the question of doing research through the library or the internet. Both have advantages and disadvantages but traditional education has the numerous advantages over on-line education.
It seems like new information is discovered about something every day. And the topic of education is no exception. There are always fresh and new ideas about education.
Students learn better socially and academically in a classroom. Students are mostly young-aged. Therefore, they are generally interested in meeting and being with their peers. As they interact, it makes it easier for them to pay focus and learn. As social creatures, one could not just stay secluded and educate his own self. That is impossible! We live, grow, learn and succeed with people along the way.
Besides lecture materials, a classroom instructor teaches many other important life lessons. Students can learn and develop punctuality and good study habits. A teacher serves as a guide through education process which is a big part of life. Another important mission is to direct youth out of trouble. There is this bond between the instructor and the students which could not be built on-line. As the source of education, a teacher is not around just to introduce books and exams but also, he or she is selfless enough to share the lessons life taught her or him.
We must prefer to study at traditional schools and let us send our children there. It is because being around other people of our age or different ages gives us the opportunity to socialize and learn not only from the internet or books but from the society and from life. We could also learn other things which are important to education such as study skills. On-line education or any form of technology-based education is convenient. However, let us not risk quality. Long-term goals must always be prioritized.
And of course the other thing would be peer pressure and the competitive spirit of being the best in the classroom. A little competition is always good.
No matter how advanced technology would be- there will always be these things that would stay best if they would be maintained as is. One of these things is education.
Is there really any information about education that is nonessential? We all see things from different angles, so something relatively insignificant to one may be crucial to another.
I hope that reading the above information was both enjoyable and educational for you. The bottom line remains the same. I still believe that in my honest opinion, traditional education is the best, and always will be. But the most important thing is to get more education, any way that you can. Your learning process should be ongoing–the more you understand about any subject, the more you will be able to share with others. Your life will improve for you and your loved ones.
By: Bob Willoughby
Posts Tagged ‘Doing Research’
Adapt your Language to Different Cultures
December 5th, 2009One size certainly doesn’t fit all! Everyone has probably found himself in a situation of misunderstanding because of difference in cultures. These things happen all the time while interacting with people from different cultures and if you don’t take them in account, you can not fully understand what is said and done. Not to mention to sell something.
When serving online customers and trying to reach new markets, these variables become very important. Language, more than anything else is the heart of culture.* Assumptions about culture affect the way people communicate with each other. The culture dimension encompasses different ways in which people think, act or behave, including the interactions toward themselves, with their families and with other people. Different cultures have different values towards religion, society, politics and family, as well as towards allocation of time and all that reflects in their conversation styles. All these differences have to be noticed and used to enhance the communication with online customers.
How can your company notice those cultural differences?
There are basically two ways to do that. The first is from second-hand sources, by doing research on the countries you do business with. And the second one is to gain insights into them by experience – from conversations with people or visiting the country. To get the most of these efforts, the first-hand experience counts the most.
The research, besides basic information and statistics you can get, should also focus on the online-shopping preferences and characteristics of the nation. For example, to take into account the risk online visitors face when buying online, finding out which nations have greater financial risk (credit card fraud) opposed to product risk and similar. That can be done partly by a research on the safety of credit card payment in the countries you do business and find out which risks do they face. The length of Internet usage, the Internet connection availability and the technology are also very important things to take in account to interact properly to website visitors from a certain country.
The first-hand experience is probably wise to be focused more on the linguistic preferences, which often give clues about the behavior, manners and thinking of that particular culture. All of this should result in using a specific language to reflect what is learned. But language is much more than words and every language has linguistic preferences.
For example, the English use understatement and modesty; they are sometimes vague to avoid any confrontation and extremely polite. Spaniards and Italians on the other hand like to be flowery with their language, preferring eloquence and expressiveness over exactness. Germans are very logical in manner and words. Asians, including Japanese and Chinese, consider harmony an important virtue and will avoid confrontation at all costs. For that reason, they will often say yes to many things with the understanding of “Yes, I hear you” or “Yes, I understand”, and not necessarily “Yes, I agree.”
Much more things can be said on this subject. But you cannot step into the same river twice for it is always moving. And that is why, things that are moving so fast should be closely followed and updated practices should be used.
*Robert L. Stevenson, Global Communication in the Twenty-First Century
By: Dijana Dimitrovska
