world

Showing 28 posts tagged world

It’s #FF on Twitter - if you’re not following on twitter today is a great day to start; she’s an amazing resource!

I have been traveling throughout Slovenia and Croatia for the past month training teachers in integrating Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) effectively with their classes. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to teach various classes of teens throughout the two countries to show teachers how BYOT works. For the days I was teaching the students, these schools lifted their policies and allowed the students to use their devices as a way of getting technology in the schools. The teachers wanted to see BYOT in action, especially with students who were never allowed to use their mobile devices or other technologies before for learning. BYOT was a great option because many of these students would not usually be able to learn with various technologies in schools if they didn’t bring them in.

Global demand for English-speakers grows The number of English-speaking teachers working in international schools has topped 300,000 for the first time, with that number expected to grow to more than half a million in the next 10 years, new figures have revealed. According to ISC Research, the demand for English-speaking schools abroad will cause the number to nearly double again to an estimated 11,300 by 2022, employing a predicted 529,000 teachers and teaching around 6 million students. Based on annual fee income, the international school market is bringing in £20.8 billion every year, with that figure expected to rise to £30 billion in 10 years’ time. photo via flickr:CC | UK in Italy

Global demand for English-speakers grows

The number of English-speaking teachers working in international schools has topped 300,000 for the first time, with that number expected to grow to more than half a million in the next 10 years, new figures have revealed.

According to ISC Research, the demand for English-speaking schools abroad will cause the number to nearly double again to an estimated 11,300 by 2022, employing a predicted 529,000 teachers and teaching around 6 million students. Based on annual fee income, the international school market is bringing in £20.8 billion every year, with that figure expected to rise to £30 billion in 10 years’ time.

photo via flickr:CC | UK in Italy

WUSTL linguist partners with Chinese colleagues to find best ways to teach English in China “In China, there is a lot of repetition and memorization in the language-learning process,” Brantmeier says. “That is not the standard way to teach language in the United States anymore. We have a low-risk environment with little reliance on habit formation or error-free production. Students here attend to the new language for meaning instead of memorizing chunks of words. “We’re not saying this methodology will work in China,” Brantmeier says. “We’re trying to get at the best methodology and techniques for native Chinese learners to learn English. We want to use their current methodology as a way to move forward instead of saying, ‘This is not the right way to do it.’ That’s not what we’re about at all.” photo via flickr:CC | yewenyi

WUSTL linguist partners with Chinese colleagues to find best ways to teach English in China

“In China, there is a lot of repetition and memorization in the language-learning process,” Brantmeier says. “That is not the standard way to teach language in the United States anymore. We have a low-risk environment with little reliance on habit formation or error-free production. Students here attend to the new language for meaning instead of memorizing chunks of words.

“We’re not saying this methodology will work in China,” Brantmeier says. “We’re trying to get at the best methodology and techniques for native Chinese learners to learn English. We want to use their current methodology as a way to move forward instead of saying, ‘This is not the right way to do it.’ That’s not what we’re about at all.”

photo via flickr:CC | yewenyi

“I have never and will never consider a factory job — what’s the point of sitting there hour after hour, doing repetitive work?” he asked. Millions of recent college graduates in China like Mr. Wang are asking the same question. A result is an anomaly: Jobs go begging in factories while many educated young workers are unemployed or underemployed. A national survey of urban residents, released this winter by a Chinese university, showed that among people in their early 20s, those with a college degree were four times as likely to be unemployed as those with only an elementary school education. High-res

“I have never and will never consider a factory job — what’s the point of sitting there hour after hour, doing repetitive work?” he asked.

Millions of recent college graduates in China like Mr. Wang are asking the same question. A result is an anomaly: Jobs go begging in factories while many educated young workers are unemployed or underemployed. A national survey of urban residents, released this winter by a Chinese university, showed that among people in their early 20s, those with a college degree were four times as likely to be unemployed as those with only an elementary school education.

No, Teachers in Finland Are Not Paid Like Doctors In Finland general practitioners earn, on average, about $70,000 per year, which is less than half of what doctors earn in the United States. The average salary for primary education teachers with 15 years experience in Finland is about $37,500, compared to $45,225 in the United States. Moreover, the cost of living in Finland is about 30% higher. In short: higher teacher salaries are not what make Finland’s education system better than ours. And I suspect it isn’t recess either. Edit: Thank you for holding me accountable. Thanks to applesanshanana - if you don’t like this source, try factcheck.org. And thanks to Angry Little Dad  who points out what Finland’s secret is (all 26). I think part of Finland’s success is their 5.3% child poverty rate (compared with 23.1% in the US). High-res

No, Teachers in Finland Are Not Paid Like Doctors

In Finland general practitioners earn, on average, about $70,000 per year, which is less than half of what doctors earn in the United States. The average salary for primary education teachers with 15 years experience in Finland is about $37,500, compared to $45,225 in the United States. Moreover, the cost of living in Finland is about 30% higher.

In short: higher teacher salaries are not what make Finland’s education system better than ours. And I suspect it isn’t recess either.

Edit: Thank you for holding me accountable. Thanks to applesanshanana - if you don’t like this source, try factcheck.org. And thanks to Angry Little Dad  who points out what Finland’s secret is (all 26). I think part of Finland’s success is their 5.3% child poverty rate (compared with 23.1% in the US).

Students in the U.S. perform better than the global average, but still lag behind many of their peers in Asia and Europe, an international study found. Meanwhile, kids in countries like Finland and Singapore are outperforming American fourth-graders in science and reading. By eighth grade, American students have fallen behind their Russian, Japanese and Taiwanese counterparts in math, and trail students from Hong Kong, Slovenia and South Korea in science.

Students in the U.S. perform better than the global average, but still lag behind many of their peers in Asia and Europe, an international study found.

Meanwhile, kids in countries like Finland and Singapore are outperforming American fourth-graders in science and reading. By eighth grade, American students have fallen behind their Russian, Japanese and Taiwanese counterparts in math, and trail students from Hong Kong, Slovenia and South Korea in science.
How Does Your Child’s School Rank Against the Rest of the World? If your kids are in a good American public school, chances are you know it. (In fact, it’s probably the reason you traded in that urban loft for the property taxes of the suburbs.) But what if you woke up one morning and found that a Wizard of Oz-style tornado had dropped your entire district down in the middle of Singapore or Finland? How would your children’s test scores measure up then? That’s more or less what the Bush Institute wants to you to imagine as you click through its Global Report Card, an interactive graphic that lets you rank your district against 25 other countries. High-res


How Does Your Child’s School Rank Against the Rest of the World?

If your kids are in a good American public school, chances are you know it. (In fact, it’s probably the reason you traded in that urban loft for the property taxes of the suburbs.) But what if you woke up one morning and found that a Wizard of Oz-style tornado had dropped your entire district down in the middle of Singapore or Finland? How would your children’s test scores measure up then?

That’s more or less what the Bush Institute wants to you to imagine as you click through its Global Report Card, an interactive graphic that lets you rank your district against 25 other countries.

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

Even if you missed the yesterday’s viewing don’t miss tonight’s Half the Sky. If you can’t watch it live, or record it, they’ll be available online starting October 3. No excuses, watch this!

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide was filmed in 10 countries and follows Kristof, WuDunn, and celebrity activists America Ferrera, Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde on a journey to tell the stories of inspiring, courageous individuals. Across the globe oppression is being confronted, and real meaningful solutions are being fashioned through health care, education, and economic empowerment for women and girls. The linked problems of sex trafficking and forced prostitution, gender-based violence, and maternal mortality — which needlessly claim one woman every 90 seconds — present to us the single most vital opportunity of our time: the opportunity to make a change.

For Wealthy Chinese Students, Studying Abroad Becomes the Norm China spends a relatively small percentage of its budget on education, ranking 101st of 187 countries included in a recent United Nations Development Program report. That fact, combined with a reverence for the prestige of western nations’ elite schools, has prompted a growing number of wealthy Chinese parents to send their children abroad for high school and college. High-res

For Wealthy Chinese Students, Studying Abroad Becomes the Norm

China spends a relatively small percentage of its budget on education, ranking 101st of 187 countries included in a recent United Nations Development Program report. That fact, combined with a reverence for the prestige of western nations’ elite schools, has prompted a growing number of wealthy Chinese parents to send their children abroad for high school and college.