4 Ways to Utilize Technology in Informal Education

Before academic institutions were established, informal education already existed. It takes on different forms and now, more than ever, proves to be a good way for any individual to learn. But first, we must define this concept.

Informal education basically covers every aspect of learning that doesn’t take place in a normal school setting. Homeschooling, or unschooling, is one of the most common forms of informal education. Going to far-flung areas where the youth can’t go to school is a common way to practice informal education in many third world countries. But for this article, we’ll be tackling a type of informal education that’s not given that much thought.

Self-learning is something any individual can do without needing direct help from teachers. With the advent of technology in the recent years, it’s even more possible to anyone with a computer. Learning extensively about Physics and Biochemistry is made possible due to all the resources provided by technology. Devouring books in local libraries is no longer the only choice to expand your knowledge. Technology offers more options on how you can explore and break the boundaries of human learning.

Download e-books. Isn’t it frustrating when you want to read a book so much but it’s in a library a thousand miles away from you, and it’s too expensive to purchase? Well, save yourself from scavenging in second-hand bookstores, because all of the books you can dream of can be downloaded online. Buy yourself an e-book reader or a tablet, and spend hours into the night learning about a new language or understanding the intricacies of human behavior. You can either download e-books for free on sites such as Free E-books.net or pay a small price in Amazon.com.Visit educational Youtube channels. Home of vlogging and viral internet videos, Youtube has more to offer than you can imagine. There’s a bunch of channels that focus on educational videos. Learn about Advanced Quantum Mechanics, Cosmology, and Technology Entrepreneurship on Stanford University‘s channel. How about Stylish Academic Writing from Harvard? There are also independent groups and individuals that offer tutorial on every topic imaginable. Just browse the Science & Education channels for more ideas. Youtube also houses thousands of tutorials about the most basic skills.Enrol in online courses. If you miss the standard format of education, there are online courses easily available online. What’s even better is that most of them are free. Be it self-paced learning, webinars, or group studies, every field of knowledge is covered in the numerous open education websites. Try Poynter’s New University and MIT OpenCourseWare if you want to learn from established institutions. If you’re looking for a certificate in finishing a course, The Open University deserves a shot.Communicate with other learners. Distance learning gives students a chance to explore options to learn from someone other than their teachers. If you’re learning a new language, it’s best to talk to someone who speaks the language. There are sites that offer chances for student to converse with native speakers. Often, these individuals only ask that you help them in learning English, too. This type of learning doesn’t just help you develop a skill but even assist someone to develop theirs. It’s not just through video calls, too, but joining forums and exchanging emails with other learners are good ways to learn about something.

These are merely four of the hundreds of ways a learner can utilize technology. But with these four, a boundless amount of knowledge is already at your disposal.
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About the author: Ella Myers is Creative Writing graduate from New York City. She’s a freelance writer for Bestessay, and by next year, she hopes to finish her romance novel.

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Dutch education system climbs up in the Universitas 21 rankings 2013

Universitas 21, a worldwide consortium of leading research universities, has issued the rankings of countries, which offer higher education for international students. Second year in a row these rankings evaluated various criteria of national education systems as well as their progress and global impact.

Compared to last year result, in 2013 the Netherlands improved its overall position by 2 places and was ranked 7th with 78.2 points, ahead of United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Germany, and France. United States and Sweden retained their first and second positions while Canada moved down by 1 place and let Switzerland to the 3rd place.

During this research Universitas 21 assessed education systems of 50 countries by 22 attributes, which were grouped into four main categories: resources (25%), environment (20%), connectivity (15%), and output (40%). First place in each category scored 100 points and the results of other countries were calculated as a fraction of the first place result.

Expenses of the government, private companies, and tertiary institutions spent on higher education define the resources category, which is calculated as an amount of funds per student. Among all categories this one has the highest impact on the output of higher education in a country. Here the Netherlands remained on the 9th place with 82.8 points, higher than France, Germany, and UK, while first three places belonged to Denmark (100), Canada (96.9), and Sweden (96.3).

In the environment category the Netherlands repeated last year success and became the top country in the ranking list. This category identifies how favourable policy and regulations are in a country and how efficiently national education draws assigned funds. Gender balance of students and staff is also taken into balance. The results are very compact here, containing 17 countries in a range from 90 to 100 points with New Zealand and United States on the 2nd and 3rd places.

Compared to 2012 value of the connectivity category in overall rankings was increased by 5% at the cost of even reduce of the environment’s value to include assessing of internet usage. Most important parameters here are still the number of overseas students and frequency of research publications, written in cooperation with international authors.

In the connectivity category Holland improved the result by 24 points since 2012 and was ranked 8th with 76.6 points, just after UK and ahead of US and most of European countries. Switzerland (100), Australia (96.7) and Singapore (94.4) became the first three leaders in this ranking.

Output category embodies such variables as quality and impact of academic research, presence of international universities, level of proficiency of staff and graduates, and employment rate. In this category the Netherlands concluded the first ten with the same scores (51.9) and position as in the last year ranking. Unquestionable leader here is the US, only two-third of this country’s points received UK(63) and Canada (60).

See the overall ranking list of the first 25 countries.

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