Harvard Law offering first free online course

The new phenomenon seen nowadays in higher education around the world is the online open courses, also known as MOOCs. So, what is MOOC?A MOOC is an open online course that can be pursued by the masses through Internet. In a MOOC, the course materials are uploaded by a University, college or institute through portals like edX, etc.These portals allow students from across the world to enrol into a course of their choice free of cost and access the course material of institutes like Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, University of British Columbia, and University of Melbourne, University of Toronto.

The good part is that while doing a particular course, students may be given assignments and exams to complete and at the end of the course certificates of course completion are also granted.So all those students who want to upgrade their skills into specific fields, this is probably what you can check out. Also, the courses available on MOOCs are plenty. Be it medicine, law, computer science, business and management, Business Administrationn and social sciences, everything is available and that too for free.It is estimated that close to 400 courses are available through MOOCs, and the lists are growing. Each course takes around 600 hours to convert to be online ready, and cost the university approx $45,000.

As per The Horizon Report of 2012, Higher Education Edition predicts how emerging technologies in education will have an impact in the next five years globally. People will increasingly expect to work, learn and study, at anytime and anywhere. MOOCs will allow this.In Kenya, there is rising access to the Internet owing to broadband technologies. The Internet is also becoming more affordable. The University of Melbourne in Australia signed up to Coursera in Septemb,er and in just over two months, it had more than 52,000 enrolment.Now the question arises, why are universities interested in sharing their courses with the world for free?Having their course material available to all, universities get to interact with students of caliber, who otherwise do not participate in such classes. Such an experience also opens up new theories, arguments and reasoning.Also, students are unable to make it into top institutions get to feel how things are taught in such institutes.

online courses are changing study

When the first movable-type printing press began churning out books in 1439, knowledge that belonged to an elite few flowed to masses of hungry learners.This year, something similar happened. Select courses taught at places like Stanford on subjects like physics were offered for free online, meaning that a level of education once available only to Ivy League-level college students is now an option in places like Pakistan, Ghana and Tibet.These courses, called Massive Open Online Courses make education cheaper and more accessible, but some say they have potential to undermine the current profit model.

"This transition to digital learning is as significant as when we first began to learn from books, said Karen Cator, director of the U.S. Office of Educational Technology. "Now we have a whole new opportunity to learn, with expert explanations, simulations and models of complex ideas. It's interesting and exciting, and it also needs continued research.Online classes have been around for decades, providing a convenient, if rather dull, learning environment for correspondence courses and basic education. MOOCs have much more going for them: the ability to turn a Harvard professor's best course into a global learning community via the Internet, usually at no cost to the learner.To get an idea of what a typical MOOC is like, the nine-week Introduction of Astronomy course available through the Coursera website at coursera.org is a good place to start. The class is taught by Duke University physics professor Ronen Plesser, whose video course introduction paints a glowing picture of a splendorous universe. Tests and assignments are graded automatically, and the course workload takes six to eight hours per week. No college credit is given, but students can pay to get a certificate proving they completed the course.

In the past year, interest in MOOCs like this one have exploded. Upstart companies that provide the classes have seen dramatic growth. Coursera, one of them, has 2 million subscribers and partners with schools like Stanford, Princeton and Johns Hopkins Universities to provide content.MOOCs have been around for at least five years. One of the first people to create one was Utah State University professor David Wiley, who found a way to invite people all over the world to interact within a 2007 class he was teaching on the USU campus, via the Internet.In Canada, educational technologists David Cormier and Bryan Alexander hit upon a similar idea at around the same time, and christened their online learning community a "MOOC"  Massive Open Online Course in 2008. A buzzword was born, albeit one that sounds like a coughing cow when pronounced.

Wiley's first open online class adapted the community-driven idea behind open source software and applied it to educational content, creating a learning environment where everything happened online.You put so much work into building a course and getting it ready to offer, and you have this feeling that there are a lot of people in the world whose lives would be blessed if they had a chance to learn some of the things you are teaching," Wiley said. "It turns out to be very little extra effort to put it all online, and do it in such a way that anyone can participate.Endless replication of a good teacher's work creates tantalizing possibilities, said Cator: "Every teacher doesn't have to do the whole thing over themselves. We will have the best-of-the-best playlist of lectures and interactions, and we'll begin to understand which are most helpful for different kinds of students."

Gilman International Scholarship for study abroad

Shawnee State University student Melissa Collins, the daughter of Sherman and Sherri Collins, of Franklin Furnace, has received a $4,500 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study in Morocco.The scholarship is a Congressionally-funded program sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State and is administered by the Institute of International Education through its office in Houston, Texas.

Collins will attend Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco.Studying abroad is going to be a life changing experience for me, and I am very excited,” Collins said. “I hope to get to know a lot of the local students and other internationals at Al Akhawayn.The program provides scholarships to students who study abroad, including students from diverse backgrounds and students going to non-traditional study abroad destinations. The scholarship will pay for fees, tuition, room and board, airfare, books, local transportation and insurance.The Gilman Program is the largest undergraduate study abroad scholarship in the nation, now awarding over 2,300 scholarships annually. In 10 years, the Gilman Program has received more than 31,000 applications and has awarded more than 8,800 scholarships to students studying in 125 countries and enrolled in nearly 950 U.S. institutions.Collins is the second student at Shawnee State University to receive the scholarship in the past few years. Jonathan Phillips, of New Boston, received the scholarship in spring 2010.

First free online course offerd by MSU

Learning how to turn complex technical terms into plain English is the subject of a new online course at Michigan State University.
The Foundations of Science class makes the tongue-in-cheek promise that students will learn "to speak mumbo jumbo" and amaze their friends.
The East Lansing school says the class is its first free Massive Open Online Course and debuts in May 2013.
Stephen Thomas (Zoologist) says he and course co-creator Julie Libarkin seek to help students improve their critical thinking skills and make better decisions.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is providing $50,000 to fund the course, which will be offered worldwide. Michigan State says Thomas and Libarkin hope the class attracts at least 10,000 students.

Open Free online courses

In the fall of 2011, a free online course was offered by Stanford University on the subject of artificial intelligence. The instructors were world-renowned experts in their field and this massive open online course, or MOOC, wound up with an unprecedented enrollment of 160,000 students and ushered in a new era of virtual education.But what if artificial intelligence isn’t your thing? The good news is free resources are rapidly coming online for business owners and entrepreneurs, covering topics ranging from leadership to innovation to startups. Here’s a look at some of them:

Take the challenge: One recently launched offering is the 21 Day Leadership Challenge.The challenge features management consultant and New York Times bestselling business author of Tribal Leadership Dave Logan in a series of 3-minute videos delivered via email. Each video contains both information and a homework assignment, most of which take about 20 minutes to complete, with a few one hour assignments mixed in. The three-week program promises greater confidence, along with a better ability to light a fire of enthusiasm under tribe.

Leading innovation: Coursera is another major player in this space, with 33 university partners, including Cal Tech, Columbia, Duke, Princeton, Stanford and UC San Francisco. Coursera offers the class Grow to Greatness: Smart Growth for Private Businesses,” which starts in January 2013, or Leading Strategic Innovation in Organizations,” which starts in February 2013. The classes are offered by the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University respectively, and require a four to eight-hour workload per week.The long and the short of startups: If you’re looking for a quicker hit of learning and inspiration, consider the free videos available at StartupSchool.org from Y Combinator’s annual program. This year’s lineup included Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Pinterest founder Ben Silbermann, and famed angel investor Ron Conway. Each video is about 30 minutes.

And if those talks put you in the mood to join the startup scene., consider visiting www.Udacity.com to register for “How to Build a Startup. The course is presented on demand by Steve Blank, the co-author, along with Bob Dorf, of “The Startup Owner’s Manual.” Blank’s book and “Business Model Generation by Osterwalder and Pigneur are the suggested, but not required, texts. Enrollment is fast and allows you to participate in discussion forums, view the 8 lectures, and track your completion percentage via a progress meter.Whether you are looking at a slow end-of-year season or contemplating your new year’s resolutions, it might behoove you as a leader and entrepreneur to jump onboard the MOOC bandwagon.

Free information technology courses

Two Bay area schools are teaming up with the Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance to offer free information technology courses.Drawing from a U.S . Department of Labor grant, the classes are offered at Hilsborough Community College and St. Petersburg College. Administrators say the training is a response to an increased demand for information technology hires.

We're looking at skills gaps. What does industry need? And how can we feed them the workforce that they require in order to get their business done in Tampa Bay? said Rachel Gelbmann, a program director with the Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance.Entrance into the classes is competitive. To be accepted, applicants must meet certain eligibility requirements, in addition to passing either a computer literacy test or college placement test.

Online courses speeding catching city's fancy

Studying abroad and getting an international tag of reputed institutes on their resumes is a dream of many. But a few are able to realize it. However, with advancement of technology and the world turning into a global village, students studying in city colleges and even working professionals are getting hooked to online courses offered by foreign universities like Harvard, Stanford and MIT to get certificates and enhance their knowledge.From colour theories to mythology, sociology and healthcare, several websites such as coursera.org and udacity.com are offering online courses from foreign universities such as Harvard and Stanford as well as Indian institutes like IIT Delhi and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The courses are catching fancy of many. Several universities like Massachusetts Institute of Technology also have opened courseware that allows students from across the world to attend online classes (www.ocw.mit.edu). One can study everything  from cryptography to epidemiology  absolutely free.

Jalaj Jain, an engineering student of SGSITS, has found fancy of doing courses that can enhance his knowledge and expertise. He said, Technology has made it easy to enhance your expertise and I am enjoying doing it. I have enrolled for various computer Science related online courses. You can sign up and get enrolled and choose topics of your choice.Preeti Mukati, a maths teacher at a city-based school said, "There are several sites that offer online courses from these universities. I have signed up for some other certificate courses in education, mathematics and accounting. Once you sign up, you are informed in advance when the course will begin so that you can free up your time.Working professionals who have got school-going kids, loans to pay and finding no way to take a break to pursue a course in the university are finding the online courses a right option. Kshitij Sharma, who runs his own company, completed an MS in Computer Science from Minnesota several years ago and has now signed for a course from Wharton on operations management, which he believes has helped him run his business better. "Honestly, I don't find too much of a difference between actually being there on campus and doing the course online. In fact, I think I am more focused now," says Sharma.

Though there are various international universities that are offering online courses, the ministry of human resources and development too has come up with a concept of online courses.Dr Narendra Chaudhary, a senior professor of IIT-I said, The ministry has developed the concept long ago where engineering students can enrol and choose courses of their choice to update their knowledge. Even working engineers too upgrade themselves through such courses.

universities search at free online courses to complement conventional

 Michael Hwan didn’t have to pay for the Stanford University computer science and Economics and Management Science course he took online. The class on gamification  applying game techniques beyond games from the University of Pennsylvania was also free.Hwan earned a psychology degree in 2011 from Arizona State University but was thinking about going back to school. Instead, he signed up for two free online classes offered by Coursera, a company founded by Stanford professors that partners with dozens of universities to provide what are called massive open online courses, or MOOCs.

“I definitely feel like it puts the student in control of what they really want to learn,” Hwan said.These free online courses feature lessons by instructors from recognized universities. The courses are available to anyone with Internet access. Most MOOCs have no size limits, so tens of thousands of students are able to enroll in the same course.Arizona’s three public universities are moving to expand online degree options and the availability of online courses, but officials said they are exploring the potential of MOOCs to complement those efforts.None currently offers classes through Coursera or edX, another major MOOC initiative founded by Harvard and MIT, but Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University are working toward implementing MOOCs of their own. The University of Arizona is evaluating options to build on a series of early MOOCs it offered through iTunes U several years ago.

Northern Arizona University President John Haeger said that the school is trying to decide which courses it should offer as MOOCs. Haeger said he hopes NAU can begin implementing these types of courses by the summer or fall and that the university will discuss options with Coursera and others.Haeger said while MOOCs are disruptive to traditional models of education, they could potentially be beneficial to both universities and students.It offers the university a way to change its delivery system, and, in effect, it could lessen the cost of an undergraduate degree, which is in the students’ best interest, Haeger said.ASU is planning to debut a MOOC of its own in August, according to Phillip Regier, executive vice provost and dean of ASU Online.

Regier said ASU’s MOOC will be distinct from what other schools have offered. The course won’t replicate content of an existing ASU class but instead will span multiple disciplines, he said.It will showcase all of the areas around ASU and what the university does in terms of knowledge-creation,” Regier said.Regier said that the course will likely be offered on ASU’s own platform, rather than through an organization like Coursera. He added that that ASU has no plans to offer credit for the free course initially, or to offer existing ASU classes for free online.The University of Arizona offered a series of entrepreneurship courses for free on iTunes U in the past few years. Mike Proctor, dean of the Outreach College at University of Arizona, said the university is evaluating how it might be able to build upon that experience.

We’re not close to inking a deal with anybody,” Proctor said.Proctor said he thinks MOOCs have the potential to be both beneficial and disruptive.They might be both,” he said. “Time will tell how that plays out.Students who successfully complete a MOOC through Coursera or edX can earn a certificate of completion, but the American Council on Education is evaluating a way to determine credit equivalency for some Coursera classes, a step toward enabling students to earn college credit for these courses.ACE President Molly Corbett Broad said if the organization can determine credit equivalency, MOOCs have potential to break through barriers to college access.The MOOCs make it possible for the issues of time and location to be removed as barriers to a completion of a degree,” she said. “And because they are free they also address the escalating costs of higher education.Coursera co-founder and co-CEO Daphne Koller said that MOOCs, including those offered by Coursera, can provide education for people who are held back from going to school by financial, geographic or family reasons.We actually believe that this has the potential of increasing the number of people who get degrees in the United States,” Koller said.

University Announces today that it will open its first permanent international education site in Italy

Kennesaw State University will open its first permanent international education site in Montepulciano, Italy, enabling the expansion of the study-abroad programs the university has conducted in that historic Tuscan city for the past 15 years.Under the rental agreement approved this week by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, Kennesaw State will occupy 4,000 square feet in the soon-to-be restored and renovated historic Fortezza Poliziana beginning in fall 2014. Funding for the $520,000, 25-year agreement will be provided by private donations and the Kennesaw State University Foundation.This represents a major milestone for Kennesaw State’s international initiatives and our commitment to providing students high-quality, global learning opportunities, said KSU President Daniel S. Papp. Not only have we found a long-term home for one of our fastest-growing study-abroad programs, we are expanding the Kennesaw State brand internationally an exciting development as we approach the university’s 50thanniversary.

This week, Kennesaw State also earned the distinction of being named among the top campuses in the nation for student participation in study-abroad programs.  The Institute of International Education, in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, annually publishes the Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange.  The just-released 2012 report ranked KSU 8thamong the country’s top 40 master’s degree-granting institutions in study-abroad participation. During the 2010-2011 academic year, 734 Kennesaw State students studied abroad.Kennesaw State’s study-abroad programs in Montepulciano have grown from serving eight students in 1998, to 76 in 2011.  Nearly 1,100 students and faculty have participated in study-abroad programs in Montepulciano since the program began. Participants include Kennesaw State’s students and faculty, as well as students and faculty from other University System of Georgia institutions with whom KSU partners.

To date, Kennesaw State officials have rented four classrooms in an unused wing of an elementary school outside of Montepulciano’s city walls to provide the program’s offerings. The Montepulciano study-abroad programs typically include courses in art, history, Intelligent Software Systems,literature, Italian and political science,Social Sciences,Master of Landscape Architecture through two regularly scheduled five-week summer sessions and occasional shorter fall sessions.  An intensive, 12-week foreign language program also is scheduled to begin in fall 2013.When finalized, the agreement will provide space in the Fortezza Poliziana for five classrooms, a program office, residential quarters for the program director, and a teaching kitchen for a proposed culinary program. The new facility will allow the program to offer longer, regularly scheduled fall sessions, shorter sessions during the May and August mini-mesters, as well as short-term courses during December.

Thomas H. Keene, Kennesaw State professor of history and a study-abroad program director in Montepulciano, is ecstatic about the plans and prospects for the new space. “The classrooms in the Fortezza will be a massive upgrade and will offer considerable advantages, including the safety and security of being in the central city,” Keene stated.The development of the rental agreement followed a visit to Kennesaw State University’s Georgia campus last February by officials of the City of Montepulciano and representatives of a consortium of more than 80 wine producers  the Consorzio Del Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano. The visit resulted in a resolution to complete negotiations with the University and the Kennesaw State University Foundation to provide the financial incentive to undertake the renovation and restoration of the Fortezza.  The rental agreement is the catalyst that will launch the project to restore the historic 18thcentury fortress.

When the project is completed, Kennesaw State and the wine consortium will each occupy most of an entire floor with common spaces reserved for public events, conferences and exhibitions, including those staged by Kennesaw State’s study-abroad faculty and students.We are honored to be a part of this historic partnership that will provide a phenomenal setting for our students to learn and engage globally, with the added benefit of witnessing our partners in this endeavor restore an important historical landmark in Italy’s beautiful Tuscan region,said Papp.Currently, University officials are considering proposals for a Great Books Honors Program in Montepulciano; as well as a program of non-credit short courses in art  painting, drawing, photography, print-making  and in Italian cooking, wine-tasting and art history, among others.The programming possibilities for this site are virtually limitless, said Keene, who has co-ordinated KSU’s Montepulciano effort from the very beginning.  “It presents a great opportunity to attract even more students to study abroad, and also allows us to offer these incredible learning experiences to our alumni and the larger community.

Most popular study abroad destinations

The University works in association with the Institute for International Studies and the Kentucky Institute for International Studies to offer students a ‘world of opportunities’ with its study abroad programs, held in the summer and during each semester.The Institute for International Studies provides support for international students and scholars, Murray State students studying abroad, international visits and community education.

Murray State also works with the Kentucky Institute for International Studies, a non-profit organization which strives to establish high-quality, low-cost, academically sound study abroad programs for students. The KIIS options for semester programs this year are to Caen, France, Regensburg, Germany or Segovia, Spain during the spring semester and Merida, Mexico during the fall semester.Pallavi Thadhani, a graduate from Murray State with a Masters in Business Administration from Corozal Town, Belize, studied abroad in Paris, France and London, England from January 2-January 10, 2012. He said his experience changed his life for the better in many ways.This was an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life, Thadhani said. “I learned so much from executives of many world-renowned organizations and individuals on my study abroad trip. This trip required the MBA students to be open-minded and accept challenges and situations as they were presented. This experience definitely confirmed my dreams of aiming for a job that includes international traveling.”

KIIS offers thousands of dollars in scholarships each year. For its summer programs, KIIS provides one $500 scholarship for each program and in the fall and spring they provided one $750 scholarship to each program.Murray State encourages students of all fields to study abroad, especially students with majors and minors in a foreign language. Students studying a foreign language are encouraged to attend one of the many summer programs offered, which include countries such as China, France, Spain,Sweden, Tanzania and others. The programs range from 4 to 6 weeks in length.Bonnie Higginson, vice president of Academic Affairs, said she has seen many lives change as a result of study abroad programs.

For many students a study abroad experience can be life changing because they are immersed in another culture and have to step out of their comfort zone as they adjust” Higginson said. “I’ve seen a number of students who have even changed their career goal and career paths.Don Robertson, vice president of Student Affairs, said the study abroad programs are one of the best opportunities at Murray State.One of the things that makes Murray State very unique is its array and variety of opportunities” Robertson said. “I think it is very important that students have the opportunity and that they take advantage of it because we are a very multicultural world and studying abroad will better prepare them for it.

DO the maths on study resource

The rapid rollout over the past year of massive open online university courses, or MOOCs, illustrates how university education is becoming a global commodity. While ­Australian universities face pressure to launch online courses, the Gillard government is aiming to increase the quality of university teaching and research. One of the goals listed in the Asian Century white paper released in late October was that 10 of our universities would be in the world’s top 100 and our school system would be in the world’s top five by 2025.

But universities are struggling to accommodate the surge in student numbers since the government relaxed restrictions on place numbers in 2010 as a result of the Bradley review in 2008. The Gillard government argues that funding for ­universities has increased. An Ernst & Young report released in July showed funding per student was $2000 higher in 2013 than in 2008. But the government will not loosen the ­antiquated regulations on fees that universities can charge ­students. Instead the talk is about extra government spending on education, such as the $6.5 billion in extra funding that the Gonski report recommended for schools.

Former head of the Commonwealth public service Mike Keating has raised the provocative idea that rather than increasing schools funding, we should cut it. Mr Keating’s belief that we are wasting money on schools and should divert the funds to vocational training has some support. Labor MP and former ANU economics professor Andrew Leigh and ANU researcher Chris Ryan showed in a 2009 study that despite a 10 per cent increase in real per-child school ­expenditure between 1975 and 1998, which paid for smaller class sizes, literacy and numeracy performance declined.As the gap between tax revenue and spending widens, it’s time to re-examine such ideas, because finding extra funds to deliver on the education goals in the Asian Century white paper will be difficult indeed. In July, Fred Hilmer, the University of NSW’s vice-chancellor and chairman of the group of eight universities, said if his university could charge students in better paid professional courses such as law and medicine 25 per cent more, the university would raise $30 million a year.If the government is serious about creating elite universities and high quality schools, it should change the present system of capping university fees and give them more market flexibility.

Students believe their career prospects would have been improved by a stint working or studying abroad

Many people believe their career prospects would have been improved by a stint working or studying abroad, a poll has suggested.Almost four in five UK adults (79%) have not lived or studied overseas for six months or more, according to the British Council survey.Of these, more than a third (34%) said they believed that they would have had better job prospects if they had done so.

The survey, which questioned 2,114 UK adults between October 5 and 7, found that young people were most likely to feel they had missed out.More than half of the 18 to 24-year-olds who had not lived abroad said they believed their careers would be better if they had done so.Dr Jo Beall, the British Council's director of education and society, said: The good news is that this poll shows people are beginning to recognise how vital international skills are for enhancing their career.Research last year revealed that more UK employers look for international awareness and experience above academic qualifications.But the bad news is that not enough people in the UK are taking opportunities to gain international experience. That needs to change if the UK will successfully compete in the global economy.

Dealine for Paris application due Thursday, Nov. 1; other trips coming up

Tiffany Brown traveled to China this summer, and hopes to expand her horizons further next year.
In China, we climbed the Great Wall, visited the house of a master of kung-fu, took a dragon boat ride and visited four different cities, said Brown.The people were so friendly and treated us like celebrities.Brown recommends the study-abroad program to fellow students.It gives you a different opportunity to experience something that you can’t get from a book, she said. “It shows you the world in a whole new light. I did not have a low point while there.

Brown hopes to travel again.In 2013, UDM students will have the opportunity to travel to Brazil, France, China and Italy as part of the study-abroad program.We are partnering with Marygrove for the France trip, said Lara Wasner, director of Language and Cultural Training. “This is a great opportunity to work together and we hope that there are more opportunities to travel together in the future.The Brazil program, begun in 2005, has rotated through the College of Liberal Arts and Education, giving different faculty members an opportunity to teach, she said.The Italy program runs every summer through the College of Architecture, she said.I first visited China in 2010 and took ten students there last summer.

Two obstacles  time and money keep many students from participating, Wasner said.We want students to have an international experience at their time at the university,” she said. “Many students are not able to participate in the whole semester abroad, so the faculty-led trip is a great option, as students can learn and engage in cultural activities in the places that they are visiting.I do everything in my power to make this happen for students, she added.We have sponsorship forms, which helped one student pay for their entire trip. Financial aid can also be used. We want to make this happen for you.”

Last summer, Wasner and a group of students, faculty and alumni traveled to Cuba.Shelly Payne was among them. She said the experience changed her life.In the beginning, I didn’t want to go, but my mom forced me,” said Payne.I later learned that I have some Cuban lineage. I knew that Cuba existed, but I didn’t understand the whole essence of it. It is engrained in us not to like Cuba, but traveling there opened my eyes.The people are just like us so it made me wonder what the whole disagreement between our two countries was about,” she said.The people were so friendly and I loved dancing at the Buena Vista Social Club.With restrictions once again tightening regarding travel to Cuba, the program will not be running in 2013.But Wasner said that she looks forward to running it again in the future.Payne said that she plans on traveling to Brazil in 2013 and would also recommend studying abroad to anyone.I had no low points while in Cuba,” said Payne. “It was the experience of a lifetime. You don’t really gain a lot of knowledge if you are stuck in one place. It makes you a better person and a better teacher. If you do the trip right and go there for educational reasons and are open to opening yourself up, you will enjoy it.”

China scholarship 18,000 to study abroad in 2013

China will send 18,000 people to study abroad in 2013 under a government-funded scholarship program, the China Scholarship Council (CSC) announced on Tuesday.Those who are sponsored include 6,000 for graduate degree study, and 12,000 for undergraduate degree study or to take roles as senior researchers or visiting scholars, the CSC said at a conference in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

The number of scholarship recipients next year will be 2,000 more than in 2012, and more than double the 7,500 in 2006, according to the CSC.Currently, over 24,000 Chinese citizens are studying abroad under the program.The CSC said more than 98 percent of sponsored students and scholars have returned to China on time over the past five years, after they finished their study abroad.The program has become an important way for the country to foster talents in various fields, sources with the CSC said.

Uiversities offer free online courses

Top US universities have started offering free online courses and certificates, challenging the expensive on-campus way of studying and allowing international students to get US education straight from their computers.Universities including Stanford, Princeton and Columbia, are signing on with new online venture Coursera with classes varying from Finance through to Sociology and Statistics – all of the online classes are taught by the universities’ teachers.

The project is still to overcome some scepticism about the quality of online education as: doors are wide open for cheating,” said Michael Winckler mathematician at Heidelberg University.At the same time MIT, Harvard and University of California, and Berkeley are uniting and offering online courses under a non-profit venture called edX.Enrolling more students through MOOCs may cut costs by enabling universities to outsource coursework on the internet, while fewer students would need campus housing.However, instead of college credits, the students enrolled on the online classes receive certificates of completion, which do not lead to a degree.University of Washington is the first US school to provide credits using a MOOC learning platform – for a fee.Could this initiative change the face of the contemporary education? Anant Agarwal, president of edX called it “the single biggest change in education since the printing press.The enthusiasm about the free prestigious online courses is not in question. Over 1.7 million people have already signed up for Coursera.

Heep Yunn School sees 26 Form Five pupils drop out of its diploma course this year

As many as 13 per cent of the second batch of pupils taking the new secondary school diploma course at an elite school have left for overseas studies because some lacked confidence in the new curriculum, the school's headmaster said.Heep Yunn School principal Lee Chun-hung said 26 Form Five pupils had this year left the school to study overseas, leaving 167 pupils sitting for the Diploma of Secondary Education - introduced last year as part of the city's far-reaching education reforms.

In the first batch of diploma takers, only three pupils left for overseas studies.Other elite schools said there was no obvious trend in their schools of diploma students leaving to study abroad.But Lee said he expected the trend at Heep Yunn School, in Ma Tau Wai, Kowloon, to continue, noting that the number of pupils taking international examinations at the school was also increasing. More than 100 pupils took the International General Certificate of Secondary School and the General Certificate of Education last year, more than double that the year before.Some are not confident of taking the diploma, and plan to come back to Hong Kong and enter university through means other than the JUPAS, said Lee. "Not so many in the first batch went abroad, perhaps because they had less information.

But Nancy Chan Woo Mei-hou, principal of King's College in Western, drew a different picture.She said in her school, more than 10 Form Five pupils from the first batch who studied under the diploma curriculum went abroad, but fewer did so from among this year's Form Six pupils.Lee said 90 per cent of Heep Yunn School's pupils who sat the first diploma exams had entered undergraduate programmes, with most admitted to local universities through JUPAS. Many went to the University of Hong Kong, with the pupil who got the school's best diploma result doing a law degree at the university.Lee said the school would have to work harder on Chinese, as more than 10 per cent of its pupils failed to attain the lowest grade to enter local universities.The school - which has just become a direct-subsidy school, meaning it receives government funds but acts largely as a private school - admitted one pupil from the mainland last year. Lee expects more mainland pupils to approach the school amid a trend for mainland parents to seek places for their children in direct subsidy schools. The pupils face are subject to the same admissions criteria as local ones.

Graduate and post graduate courses

Campuses in the West have for long been attracting youth in India and Indoreans too are in the race. While studying in famous institutes of US is still a dream of many since past several years, better opportunities in Canada, Australia and New Zealand are attracting youth for the last couple of years. In the last five years, there is a rise of 200-250 students moving abroad.According to city-based experts, who cater to the need of students who wish to go abroad, availability of scholarship, work permit followed by citizenship are encouraging students to move to Canada, Australia,Austria and New Zealand. Nitin Goel, founder and director, Indian Institute of Careers and Higher Education (IICHE) said, Though most of the students still prefer US to study under graduate and post graduate courses, of late Canada followed by Australia and New Zealand are attracting students from the city."

He said that in last three years more number of students have started moving abroad for studying under graduate courses as there is consistent rise in number of students taking Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).However, going by the trend, it has come to fore that students have shelved their dream to study in UK because of costly education as well as stringent laws and unemployment. Overall number of students going abroad from city is almost consistent since past few years but UK has witnessed downward trend mainly due to strict laws and non-availability of jobs,said Goel.As per the estimated figures, nearly 1,200 to 1,500 students make beeline for institutes abroad every year. Approximately, 700-800 students go to US for higher studies including UG, PG and PhD courses while 200-250 students choose UK. Though UK is still the second favourite destination of students, number of students moving to Canada, Australia and New Zealand has seen a rise with 50, 70 and 40 students respectively moving to these countries.

According to a recent study conducted by one of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), there has been a steady annual rise of 7% Indians travelling overseas for a degree. More than 53,000 Indians went abroad in 2000 and at the end of the decade, the count shot up to 1.9 lakh. Prashant Hemnani, founder and director of Globalizers, a coaching institute said, "There is 10-15% rise in number of students travelling abroad for higher education. Earlier, people used to worry about the cost of education but actually the cost is not high in comparison to the rewards that foreign education offers."

Free, high-quality online courses available

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. Edward Hess, professor at the University of Virginia’s Dard­en School of Business, is teaching a “massive open online course starting in January on Coursera – the free online education platform founded this year by two Stanford University computer scientists. So far, more than 26,000 students have signed up.I usually teach 120 or 130 students a year, says Prof Hess. “Do you know how many years I would have to live before I could teach that many students?”High quality global journalism requires investment. His class, on how to help a private business grow, is among the first MBA-level moocs offered on Coursera. It is, he says, “an opportunity to help lots of people learn from each other and become more successful.Meanwhile, the Wharton school at the University of Pennsylvania began its first free online course on Coursera in August. The course, on gamification – the application of digital game design techniques to non-game problems, such as business  attracted 81,631 people, with 9,244 completing the course earlier this month. It will be run again soon.

The promise of Coursera and platforms like it – including edX, a joint online education partnership run by Harvard and MIT, and Udacity another Stanford start-up that offers moocs in computer Science ,software design and Software Engineering– has been lauded by the higher education community. By bringing high-quality college and graduate-level moocs to a wider audience, these platforms could help provide life-long learning opportunities. High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. These platforms also have a potentially dramatic impact on business education: not only in the way schools deliver a traditional management degree, but also because moocs may in time become direct competitors to schools’ specialised programmes. As these platforms try to make money, they could offer executive education, custom programmes for employers and other programmes for MBAs – courses that have typically been very lucrative for schools.

If business schools want to continue to make good money with standard off-the-shelf open programmes they [had] better learn to deliver them online, says David Bach, senior associate dean for executive MBA and global programmes at Yale School of Management. Managers’ time away from the office has become the main training cost firms try to minimise, and with Coursera and others that cost can now be zero, he adds.Several schools have attempted on­line education in the past without much success. In 2003, Fathom, Columbia University’s for-profit on­line learning platform, closed just a few years after launch, while AllLearn, a venture backed by Princeton, Yale and Stanford, lasted three years.But this new breed of web-based systems is different, says Daphne Koller, co-founder of Coursera. “We are at an inflection point,” she adds.

Prof Koller says that technological advances, including the improved quality of cloud computing, the reduced cost of streaming video and the capacity to create user-friendly custom content, have made it easier and less expensive to deliver courses online. “And on the sociological side, there is a generation of students that has grown up utilising technology for education and social interaction. This is natural for them,” she adds.Business schools have long emphasised classroom debate as a learning tool, but many classes are still taught by lectures. The arrival of Coursera, edX and Udacity may change that.Both Udacity and edX recently an­nounced aagreements with Pearson Vue, a provider of testing services, giving students the option of taking a final, proctored (certified) exam. Pearson Vue is owned by Pearson, which owns the Financial Times.These new platforms could essentially “flip” the classroom: rather than going to class and sitting through long lectures, students will watch them in their own time as homework. This will allow them to rewind parts of the lecture and go over material they find more challenging. It also frees up class time for group discussion or experiential learning. Salman Khan, founder of Khan Academy, the free online education platform, is the pioneer of this model.

This development could help level the playing field between top business schools with large endowments and those with fewer resources, Prof Kol­ler adds. “The flipped classroom creates more time for relationship-building. It allows those smaller colleges [and business schools] to do what they do better than anyone else and that is to get to know their students; to see what their needs are and to help them along.Jeffrey Katzman, chief learning of­ficer at Colorado-based Xyleme, which sells education tools to universities, says the new platforms recruit “superstar” teachers. “They put a very high production value on these courses and they’re investing a lot of money into the curriculum.The rise of these platforms also poses competition to lower-tier programmes, which will have difficulty justifying their prices in the face of free online courses from top schools. A recent report by Moody’s, the credit rating agency, warned that the platforms also posed a threat to for-profit universities.

Outside the traditional MBA, these platforms could alter the way business schools deliver specialised courses for employers and working professionals. Such programmes are considered cash cows. But as Coursera, edX and Udacity add more business courses, moocs present companies with an ap­pealing and cost-effective alternative.Executive education may evolve from a residential model to a desktop one, says Anant Agarwal, president of edX and a professor of computer science and engineering at MIT.Online learning is a useful technology for executives,” he says. “When you have a job, it’s difficult to get away for a week or two weeks. But if you had the opportunity to do a class at night or weekends on your computer, it opens up a whole new world. It becomes much more attractive and much more convenient.Prof Agarwal says that charging companies for these classes is one way to monetise edX, which is a non-profit but needs to be self-sustaining in future.The campus experience is a unique experience and a very valuable one, he says. But online learning is a rising tide that lifts all boats.”

University offers five new and diversified and affordable online courses to students around the world

Ashbery University is now offering an additional five new online degree programs that adds to an already extensive portfolio for students around the world. The University has over 1000 programs with 70 majors that have drawn more than 45,000 students globally in the last two years only.The launch of five new programs is part of the University’s initiative to enable students to pursue their education in the fields of their choice. These new programs include Master’s in Social Sciences,Master in Photonics, Doctorate in Applied Arts, Master’s in Performing Arts, Doctorate in Performing Arts and Doctorate in Occupational Safety and Health.

Ashbery University has been a pioneer in online education for decades, and we feel honored to expand our study programs in an attempt to benefit our students around the world," said Ashbery University Director, Michael A. Phillips.According to the Director, the University launched these programs based on students’ pressing requests, which it had been receiving for the past several years. He added that the University also inducted competent and well experienced faculty to develop relevant and up-to-date courses in keeping with the latest developments. Nearly 1,000 students have so far enrolled on these five programs.Dr. Phillips further added that due to the constant evolution of the global academic trends and a rising demand for the same, the University felt the need to introduce these online programs. Last year a large number of potential students had inquired about these majors directly from the University as well. These inquiries came in from over 50 countries such as United States, United Kingdom, Australia, U.A.E, Saudi Arabia etc. who expressed interest in one or more of the recently offered programs.

Like other programs the University offers, the new programs are designed keeping in mind the specific needs of today’s students. Designed by experts of various fields of study, the programs are highly relevant, interactive and up-to-date. Students learn through updated video clips, interactive lessons and quizzes and can also provide instant feedback through the student forum, which has also been updated for better interactivity. At the same time, students can also help each other through online discussion forum, comment on ongoing threads and ask what’s on their mind.The administration at Ashbery University predicts that the enrollments in these newly introduced programs will increase further by year end. Dr. Philips, the Director, welcomes students’ feedback on the program, which will help improve the quality of course content and delivery modes.

Study abroad in different countries

 Muslims living overseas practise cultural and religious traditions during the holy month of Ramadan more devotedly than their counterparts at home, a newly released study said.Specifically, Muslims living and working overseas said that their actions during Ramadan changed after arriving in their host countries, with half of respondents (50 per cent) saying they fasted more and two in five (41 per cent) practised sharing and giving more.The Western Union-sponsored study ‘Traditions of Ramadan by Global Citizens of Muslim Faith’, was conducted in July by the Nielsen Company and covered Muslims of 11 nationalities living in 12 countries in the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, the United States and Western Europe.

The study found that despite being away from family and loved ones, 96 per cent practised fasting, 89 per cent prayed, 78 per cent engaged in iftar or evening meals to break the day’s fast and 75 per cent read the Quran during Ramadan.The study covered around 550 Muslims emigrants originally from the Middle East and North African countries of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia and the Asian countries of Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.A majority of Muslims (94 per cent) shared their wealth during the month of Ramadan, by giving away money, known as zakat while five per cent of them shared by giving away food and clothing.Two out of five surveyed said love of family and friends, along with dedication to work, were the key factors motivating them to fast, pray and share their wealth.

The respondents were residing in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East; Malaysia and Singapore in Asia; the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria,France in Europe; and the United States.The study said zakat obligation was most commonly fulfilled through sharing with people who are known to the giver locally or overseas (65 per cent). Arab Muslims are more likely to share with people they know locally (42 per cent) than overseas (29 per cent), while the reverse was true for non-Arabs     

Campaign trips abroad by Obama, Romney a study in contrasts

 Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is here to begin his seven-day, three-country foreign trip, a trip that is different in scope and focus from his rival's trip four years ago.President Obama, then a senator, visited eight countries Kuwait,Austria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Germany, England and France over eight days.  Romney’s doing a much smaller tour over one week, focusing on England, Israel and Poland.  John McCain stopped by Jordan, France, England and Israel in 2008, when he was the Republican running for president.

These trips, typical for a nominee in election year, take the candidate off their domestic campaigning but showcase their reception and leadership on the world stage.Obama in 2008 and Romney this year each picked late July to travel, while McCain's trip was much earlier in the year, in March just after he had clinched enough delegates to win the nomination.Romney is looking to home in on strong U.S. allies, kicking off with an emphasis on the so-called special relationship with Britain. He’ll also attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics and meet with athletes, which political observers expect to be a moment to highlight his leadership and work running the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.  The presumptive Republican nominee prefaced the trip with a speech in Nevada at a conference of the VFW, saying, “I am not ashamed of American power. I take pride that throughout history our power has brought justice where there was tyranny, peace where there was conflict and hope where there was affliction and despair.”  He was making an apparent reference to Obama’s 2009 foreign trip, which critics dubbed as an “apology tour” of American strength. 

Romney starts his day Thursday meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron, Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne.He then heads to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, the leader of the opposition party and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Romney has been friends with Netanyahu since the 1970s, when both were in Boston and recruited by the same consulting firm.Iran is expected to be the main issue the two will talk about, and the Obama campaign in particular will be watching to see if Romney definitively calls for any military action. Netanyahu's and Obama's relationship has been somewhat tenser, so this could be a chance for Romney to appear a stronger ally to Israel.Netanyahu was cautious about wading into American politics, telling Fox News on Sunday, “I will receive Mitt Romney with the same openness that I received another presidential candidate, then-Senator Barack Obama, when he came almost four years ago, almost the same time in the campaign, to Israel.”

The prime minister has asserted Israel's right to pursue military action to handle Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and Romney has said he doesn’t think Obama has done enough to back Israel's right to defend itself. In December at a GOP debate, Romney said, “I'd get on the phone to my friend Bibi Netanyahu and say, ‘Would it help if I say this? What would you like me to do’?Romney will give remarks in Israel before heading to Poland, where he’ll also give a speech.  Those are the only two formal remarks expected.In contrast, Obama gave a major speech titled “A World That Stands as One” in Germany to 200,000 cheering people in front of the Victory Column in Berlin's Tiergarten Park. He also gave several press conferences on his foreign swing and interviews with all three major broadcast networks, who flew out to sit down with him.Romney will also do some interviews but will not be giving any press conferences.

Obama was criticized for the length of his trip, with some saying he was running for president of the world instead of the United States. He started his trip visiting troops and commanders in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq and benefited from Prime Minister Nuri al-Malaki endorsing his Iraqi troop withdrawal plan ahead of his trip. Of course, the trip came while the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were still a front-and-center political issue, while now the campaign is mostly about the economy.Romney will round out his trip in Poland, visiting the historic port city of Gdansk and then to Warsaw. He’s expected to highlight Poland as an example of economic and Democratic values. It also can’t be overlooked that making Poland a star is setting up Romney’s positioning and comparison to Russia, which Romney once called the United States’ biggest foe.Romney is not expected to make any major policy announcements on this tour and will stick to focusing on listening to other world leaders.He’s also holding fundraisers in London and Jerusalem. Obama did not raise cash on his trip, but the Romney campaign was quick to point out Obama still used his foreign trip as a tool to ask for cash, asking for donations online after his Berlin speech.

Work-education abroad sets business students apart

 As a third-year commerce student at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business, Marcel Glaesser spent an academic semester at the University of Mannheim last year. After completing his studies in Germany, he decided to stay longer and landed a six-month contract with BMW in Munich.The coolest thing is that I got to do so many things,” he recalls, citing marketing-related assignments that included preparations for the company’s annual meeting held in a stadium, complete with a display of prototype cars.His experience typifies a growing trend among undergraduate and graduate business students to study and work abroad while earning their business degree. For Mr. Glaesser, Germany held appeal because he was born there before his family came to Canada 10 years ago. He took his classes in English at Mannheim, but had to brush up on his German to work at BMW.

His advice to other students is “go abroad, go abroad. It will set you apart.”The same message comes from Canadian business schools, some with formal and informal arrangements to promote international experience opportunities for students before they graduate.For example, Beedie recently signed an agreement with the British Columbia and Caribbean branches of the Certified General Accountants for an accounting student to spend a work term in Barbados every year.We feel it is a great opportunity for students because they get to work and learn, says Andrew Gemino, associate dean of undergraduate programs.We would love to do more, he adds. “It is a matter of finding those opportunities and working on them.

About 1,700 Beedie commerce undergraduates – about half of the enrolment – are at one stage or another of the school’s co-op program, either completing a prerequisite semester, applying for a placement or actually on the job. Every semester, between 170 and 240 students are actually working, with about five per cent choosing to go abroad.Through a variety of different ways, the students are becoming more comfortable and more interested in working internationally,” says Shauna Tonsaker, co-op education program director.Her office provides financial and other assistance to students before, during and after their work stint. Prior to departure, all students complete an online course to minimize culture shock. This summer, students have chosen placements with major firms in half a dozen countries, including China, Austria,Japan and Germany.

“They get the experience of working in a culturally diverse work environment, gain experience for the first time of living on their own and get a global perspective,” she says. “It is of huge value when they are out there to apply for careers, locally and internationally, and can bring that [experience] to the workplace.Now completing his fourth year at Beedie in business marketing, Mr. Glaesser says the biggest bonus of working abroad was his new level of confidence. “It was the first time working in any big organization and seeing how it works from the inside,” he recalls. “For me, it was really valuable.”

Social media fundraising

For the second year in a row, MBA students at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University used social media for philanthropic pursuits while on a 10-day overseas study trip.During the for-credit “hot cities” tour to South Africa this year, students used Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to raise funds for Ubuntu Education Fund, a Port Elizabeth non-profit that provides medical and educational support to orphaned and vulnerable children.The students hoped to raise $20,000, but fell slightly short at $18,000. However, the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education recognized the student effort with a gold medal for best use of social media, according to Desautels student Melanie Walsh, one of the organizers.
 
Endowed chair

An astonishing 98 per cent of Canadian businesses have fewer than 100 employees. But a 2010 Industry Canada study found this country lags behind global competitors on several measures of entrepreneurship, such as exports generated by small and medium firms.Exploring the potential for these enterprises to extend their global reach is one goal of a new $2-million endowed chair in international entrepreneurship at the Schulich School of Business.Looking at countries in the world where this culture of entrepreneurship is well developed and looking at the opportunity in Canada, we saw this [endowment] as an opportunity,” says Doug Brooks, chief executive officer of the Certified General Accountants of Ontario, which endowed the chair. “The knowledge and understanding, from a global perspective, to develop an entrepreneurial culture within Ontario and Canada we see that as the way forward from an economic standpoint.He adds that the endowment – one of several relationships between his association and post-secondary institutions and think tanks is a great strategic fit” because his members either work in or for small and medium enterprises.Moren Lévesque, who has taught graduate-level entrepreneurship students at the school since 2011, is the inaugural chair.

UK Global MBA degree, 100% online. Choose MBA specialisation now!

 It’s that time of the year when students who are headed abroad for higher studies start their travel preparations. With a number of universities making insurance a must, students need to buy a policy in India. While the basic cover is generally of around $50,000, limits for accident and sickness are up to $500,000. A list of important covers that come bundled with travel insurance.

Medical expenses and accident cover
Medical facilities in most foreign countries are very costly. In such a situation, a cashless medical insurance is very useful. Even if the student is not able to inform his insurance company earlier, these bills can be reimbursed. Most of the insurance policies cover dental treatments, expenses of medical evacuation in case of emergencies and ‘expatriation’ of mortal remains. Some plans also cover sports injuries, mental and nervous disorders, etc which can be caused due to reasons such as stress and pressure.

Personal liability
A personal liability will be useful in case the student accidentally causes injury or harm to a person or property. But if the damage is caused voluntarily, then it is not covered

Loss of personal belongings
If the baggage is misplaced in transit, the student will be forced to buy new books, clothes and other essential items. In such a case, the insurance will cover this additional expense. But to avail the insurance, the student will have to show adequate proof of what all was present in his belongings. If the passport is misplaced, the insurance will cover the charges for a new passport

Study interruption and bail bond
If the student is unable to continue with the course due to medical grounds, the insurance company will pay the rest of the fees. In addition to this, if the student gets arrested, then the bail amount is borne by the insurance company      
  

Admission for post-graduation course start

The two-day centralised admission through counselling to various post-graduation courses of Mangalore University, including its two constituent colleges, began on Friday with many candidates thronging to opt for chemistry and physics.This is the first time that the university has held centralised-admission process for most of its courses and constituent colleges.According to K. Chinnappa Gowda, Registrar, the admission on Friday was for science stream. The admission was done for around 20 science courses which did not have an entrance test. Centralised admission for arts and commerce would be conducted on Saturday.

A professor in chemistry said that there were 120 seats for M.Sc. in Applied Chemistry, M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry, M.Sc. in Industrial Chemistry, and M.Sc. in General Chemistry on the university campus. In addition, M. Sc. in General Chemistry course in the University College, a constituent college, had 20 seats. All these courses had attracted around 700 applications. The percentage of marks scored in qualifying examinations by students who obtained seats on the basis of merit varied from a minimum of 88 to a maximum of 98.A professor in Physics said the department had received 265 applications for 55 seats. It had received 33 applications for 27 seats of physics at Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa College, Maidkeri, a constituent college. The percentage of marks by students who obtained seats on the basis of merit varied from a minimum of 90.92 to 98.

Only two students got admitted to M.Sc. in Earth Science and Resource Management Course till late evening. A professor in the department said the course had 25 seats including 15 merit seats and 10 payment category seats. He said that five candidates from Kannur University and one candidate from Davangere University had been shortlisted. But they could not join on Friday as they did not have their marks cards.Vice-Chancellor T.C. Shivashankara Murthy, who reviewed the admission process, told The Hindu that the university would temporarily admit the students from other universities if they produced the attested copies of marks cards downloaded from the websites of respective universities. Their admission would be regularised only if they produced the original marks cards by July 10.     

Study abroad in Ecuador, China

Two Vol State students are traveling across the globe this summer as part of an undergraduate study abroad scholarship.Lucas Bates of Cottontown is studying Introduction to Sociology in China.Kyle Nagy of Goodlettsville is studying biology on the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador.The national Gilman Scholarship Program offers awards for undergraduate study abroad and was established by the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000.This is the first time Vol State students have received the scholarship. Both of the students will study abroad for four weeks. During the summer 2012 application cycle, the Gilman Scholarship Program reviewed more than 2,600 applications for more than 500 awards.

In other international education news, Vol State associate professors Drs. Eldo Osaitile and Girija Shinde have been chosen to take part in a Tennessee Board of Regents Access and Diversity grant program that seeks to increase minority participation in international education. They will have extensive training to incorporate international and diversity elements into core curriculum classes. They will then recruit minority students for international travel-study experiences. The program is run by Pellissippi State Community College and the TnCIS program.

College to offer business courses at September

North West Kent College will be offering business courses at the newly redeveloped Gravesend campus from September.The business BTEC level three extended diploma covers marketing, law, finance and human resource management.In addition, the course links with the Career Academy UK, which offers mentoring for learners and progression to a six week paid internship with Blue Chip companies at Canary Wharf.

September will also see the launch of the information and creative technology level two BTEC certificate.It is designed to give the learner a general knowledge of a variety of computing elements including creative digital animation, software and website development, installation and maintenance of computer hardware and installation and customisation of software.Associate director for business and computing, Stephanie Cassidy, said: "The qualification that our learners gain is highly recognised by employers and the link to the Career Academy really inspires and motivates our learners".      

students illustrate what makes them glad they decided to study abroad in University Language Services’ scholarship contest

Whether high in the sky or firmly at ground-level, college students who entered University Language Services’ latest scholarship contest gave a bird’s-eye view of what it’s like to study abroad.College students across the United States and around the world submitted photos of the scene that made them realize that they made the right decision to study abroad. Winner: Ava Macchiaverna, class of 2013 at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. Macchiaverna, of Seaside Park, N.J., took a photo of a friend jumping from a gondola 450 feet above a lake in Switzerland, right before it was her turn. studying abroad proved to me that until you spread your wings, you will never know how far you can fly,” she wrote.

 2nd place: Kotchaphorn Mangkalaphiban, class of 2015 at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Penn. She was scared when she left Thailand to study abroad in the United States and took her photo high above the Pacific Ocean, but the experience was worth it. “Between homesickness and sometimes frustration, the hollowness in me was filled with friendship, from my host family to students at school to the community,” she wrote.

  3rd place: Jenna Lanzaro, class of 2013 at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, N.J. As an Italian-American, she aimed to “embrace the culture” by studying in Florence and exploring Italy. Lanzaro, of Commack, N.Y., plans to return to Italy this fall as a student teacher, and a photo of a lemon grove in Sorrento reminds her to teach her students to “seize the day.The photographs submitted by the winners and by all contest entrants show the significance that studying abroad plays in the lives of so many college students every year.University Language awarded a $500 college scholarship to the grand prize winner and $100 scholarships to the 2nd and 3rd prize winners. Profiles of the scholarship winners will be posted on University Language Services’ blog, Campus Commons.Honorable mentions were awarded to another 12 entrants who submitted photos of places ranging from Iceland to Japan.

2 BYU graduate students win more than $20,000 to further their studies in foreign countries

Two BYU graduate students will ship off to countries around the world to study language immersion and national security issues with the funding they received from winning the David L. Boren Fellowship.Spencer Humiston and Annie Samhouri were two of the 119 graduate students who won the fellowship over 575 applicants. The fellowship is sponsored by the National Security Education Program and funds students as they work for the federal government.Humiston is using his fellowship to study and write a paper about Thailand’s current political state. He served an LDS mission in Thailand and has returned to visit the country with his wife many times.

Humiston said in an email he is looking forward to returning to Thailand with his family.“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Humiston said. “Last summer we spent a couple of months in Thailand and Bali with our little girl and had a great time. I’m expecting the next six months to be just as fun.”Humiston leaves for Thailand June 19 and will reside there until December 19. After his fellowship he will seek a job in the national security sector.Samhouri, who is currently in Amman, Jordan, won the Boren and Fulbright Graduate Fellowships for 2012-2013. She received a bachelor’s degree in political science with minors in middle eastern studies and international development from BYU. She studied Arabic for two years and completed two internships with the Jordanian Ministry of Social Development.After completing her fellowship, Samhouri plans to seek employment with United States Agency for International Development in the Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment or with the United Nations.

The UK ranks just 25th in the world for the number of students studying abroad are we too fond of our home comforts?

David Willetts, the man responsible for raising tuition fees to £9,000 a year, is usually considered a villain in the student world. So it's a surprise to hear that he has announced a substantial fees discount to encourage us to study abroad for part of our degree.Those who spend two or more terms at an overseas university will pay no more than 15% of the year's fees at their UK institution, which is good news for students who want a taste of international life without the commitment of spending their whole degree abroad.

Across Europe, students have been getting to know each other this way for years: 3.7 million students (pdf) each year take part in an Erasmus exchange, a mind-opening year of foreign study and fiestas.But although we Brits were invited to the Erasmus party, we haven't bothered to turn up: fewer than 1% of outgoing Erasmus students are British. It would seem that students in the UK prefer to stay on our small island, surrounded by home comforts and fellow English speakers.This is perhaps a bit harsh many students would love to take part, but the structure of most UK courses prevent all but language students from spending time abroad.Evidence suggests that a year overseas makes students more confident, independent and employable. In a 2011 education and skills survey, over half of employers questioned said that there were shortfalls in young peoples' "international cultural awareness".

A year abroad may help to achieve that coveted "global mindset". At the very least, anyone who has lived in France will know never to call a French business at lunchtime.The new proposals mean that students should pay no more than £1,345 to their UK university when abroad  although this is still steep, especially when little or no tuition is being provided.A year abroad should not be an expensive gap year, but a recognised and integral part of all courses and its benefits must be available to all. Universities should work at creating funds to ensure that anyone who wants to study abroad is able to do so.Year-abroad students are sometimes criticised for partying too hard and not doing any work. But the cynics are missing the point  when else would you have the enriching experience of eating an English breakfast for dinner in a flat in Rome, cooked by Irish, French and Turkish flatmates and washed down with Portuguese liqueur?

Evenings like this are a crash course in international understanding and create strong relationships that will last far longer than the headache the morning after. JK Rowling spent a year in Paris as part of her degree. Would it be going too far to say that her in-depth experience of another culture may have helped her to create the parallel world of Harry Potter?If you're starting university this year, take advantage of the funding on offer. Language need not be a barrier – intensive courses are widely available while many universities offer programmes in English. The grant also applies to exchanges outside of Europe, for those who can see themselves revising on the beach in Australia or living in an American frat house.Wherever you go, the chances are you won't be disappointed – in a survey for thirdyearabroad.com, 86% of students who took a year abroad considered it to be the most valuable part of their degree. Who knows, it may even be the most valuable year of your life.

Awareness programme for engineering courses

The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Malabar sub-section will organize a one-day programme for students aspiring for admission to engineering courses on Saturday. The programme is aimed at creating awareness about different areas of engineering and the skills needed to succeed in the field.

The programme, to be organized at the Sports Council Hall, is intended to address the decline in pass percentage in many engineering institutions and help students get detailed information and job prospects of various branches in engineering. S Gopakumar, former deputy director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) will lead the panel discussion on the need to develop soft skills to become 'employable' engineers.K P Mohandas, former dean, National Institute of Technology-Calicut (NITC) will speak on the topic, 'special tips for engineering studies'. M P Sebastian, professor, Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode (IIM-K) will talk on 'engineering career paths and prospects'.

Study Abroad Fairs

The SF Study Abroad programs are abroad right now! SF students are exploring the Louvre, climbing the Great Wall of China, and discussing best practices in health care with other students in Sweden. By next week they will have many pictures to share. If you want to join the programs for 2013, check out the SF Study Abroad website to see details on the general education courses you can take care of while abroad, the places you would stay, and scholarship information.

The popularity of studying abroad is increasing, and there are many benefits on offer for those who want to travel overseas to carry out their studies

It is not only jobseekers in Britain who are opting for a new life overseas: now the number of students applying to foreign universities has also soared.The news comes as the first batch of students face the prospect of paying the increased £9,000 tuition fees when they start university in 2012. It seems that many students are realising that there are other often less expensive options to studying in the UK.£27,000 for three years at university is going to be quite a large amount for many students and parents to cough up, so the appeal is obvious for students who want to live abroad and carry out their studies in another country.Students can also get a lot of exposure while studying in such universities and different course International Agricultural, Materials Science and Engineering.

It is for this reason that, according to an article in the Telegraph, parents are paying for their children to travel abroad to visit foreign campuses to have a better idea about the options that are available to them.One of the most popular choices for students seeking out study abroad information seems to be the USA, which is surprising because it is often thought of as having very high fees.The Netherlands is also proving to be a popular option for studying abroad. Many courses here are taught entirely in English, and as well as cheaper fees, students can also take advantage of a potential grant from the Dutch government. And with a train journey of only a few hours from London, it doesn’t seem so far away after all.

But it’s not just about the money: more people are now realising that a degree from a foreign university could provide them with a competitive edge in what is proving to be a very difficult job market.An internationally recognised degree from overseas might get more attention from potential employers as well as suggesting that the student is more independent.Although the number of students applying to foreign universities is still relatively low, this could well prove to be a turning of the tide. Even in other countries across the world where the fees are just as high as in the UK, the cost of living is often a lot cheaper, meaning over time many more students may end up looking further for possible study options.For those students who do end up going overseas to study, the adventure of a lifetime awaits. Perhaps they’ll enjoy it so much that they decide to stay on working abroad. That option is also becoming a lot more popular, and those who have a degree from a foreign university may find that they are even better suited to get a job overseas.Live Work Abroad is a website dedicated to helping anyone with an ambition to move abroad to work. It includes tips, advice, news and information on all aspects of moving and living overseas. It also provides tips on study abroad information for people who are considering studying overseas.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology free online course

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is offering a free, undergraduate-level circuits and electronics course online, to virtual learners around the world.The MITx course, 6.002x (Circuits and Electronics), has been designed to serve as a first course in an undergraduate electrical engineering or electrical engineering and computer science degree.Topics covered by the course include resistive elements and networks, amplifiers, digital abstraction, and analogue and digital circuits and applications.

Offline, the course is one of the core subjects that all MIT undergraduates studying electrical engineering and computer science have to take.The online course which will be delivered on an open source, scalable software infrastructure will feature interactive lessons and online laboratories. Students will be able to communicate with each other and with the course lecturers via the platform.Furthermore, students' work can be assessed individually, and they will also be able to work towards gaining an electronic certificate of accomplishment from MITx.

According to MIT, to succeed in the course, students must have taken an AP-Level (A-Level equivalent) physics course in electricity and magnetism. They must also know basic calculus, linear algebra and have some background in differential equations.Students are expected to spend around 10 hours a week on the course, which starts on 5 March 2012 and runs for three months until 8 June 2012.MIT is expected to offer additional courses online from autumn 2012

Ancient cultures come to life through architectural exploration

During the summer, Austin Community College offers nine study abroad programs, which cover interests ranging from anthropology and language immersion to literature and film history. This semester, the Accent will spotlight different study abroad programs in each issue.This summer, as part of ACC's study abroad program, students will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in Peruvian culture and study anthropology in Peru's capital and largest city, Lima.

Dr. Karen Bell, an adjunct professor of anthropology, will lead the trip.Students will spend three weeks in Peru visiting sites of archaeological and anthropological importance around Lima, all the while earning six credit hours in ANTH 2302 Introduction to Anthropology and ANTH 2373 Field Methods in Archaeology.Bell said Peru holds great importance in the field of anthropology.Peru is one of the two seats of high civilization in the new world, Bell said. What we call Mesoamerica is one, [which is] Mexico and Guatemala essentially. Peru is the other.Students will also have the option of traveling to Machu Picchu, Peru, which is host to a famous site and monument of Incan culture. The cost of this excursion is separate from that of the main program and

participation is not mandatory.I try to show students the archaeology of Peru that is not Machu Picchu, Bell said.Americans ... tend to fly into Lima and the next step is to fly to Cuzco and go to Machu Picchu.She said that while students will have the opportunity to go to Machu Picchu, there is so much spectacular archaeology outside of the city. Her favorite part of Peru is the north coast.We're going to go to a little town of Huanchaco, and that is where the great Moche civilization was," Bell said. "The huge sights of Chan Chan, Huaca de la Luna, El Brujo I'm just amazed at how big they are and we know virtually little about them." She said Americans aren't tuned into those huge sights in Peru especially along the north coast. Bell, who has led the

summer Peru program since 2008, said she is excited to teach students about other civilizations in Peru besides the Incas. Very few of the sights the class will visit outside of Machu Picchu are Incan sights, she said.The Incans were mountain based, up in the Andes, and we're going to be primarily along the coast,Bell said.Most of the sites we'll be seeing will be of other cultures, especially the Moche.Although students will not be studying in a classroom while in Peru, there will be two weeks of class time in Austin associated with the program. Students will be responsible for two major projects during the length of the program, one for each course taught.

In one case, each student will become an expert on each of the archaeological sites we see, Bell said. "In Peru, the student will brief us on the site and what to be especially aware of. At the end, the student will give us a verbal report on the site he or she has become an expert on.The trip itself is an excellent opportunity for students, Bell said, and last year one student got a little extra from the program.Two of our young ladies fell in love with Peruvian men, Bell said. "One of [them] came back to this country, but the other came back, divorced her husband, went back down there and hasn't been heard from since.Shannon Smith is a student who participated in the 2010 Study Abroad program in Peru.There's one site called the Armament Museum... it was amazing, I've never seen more weapons in my life! Smith said.Whether a student's major is anthropology or something completely unrelated, students can find many opportunities for educational and cultural enrichment in Peru this summer with this study abroad program.