“The communication and information revolution currently underway reinforces this need. New technologies are bringing the different peoples of the world closer together, helping them to become more aware of their common humanity and shared concerns and hopes for the future. At the same time, these technologies accentuate divisions both within and between societies, between those who are able to utilize them for the enrichment of their cultural, social, economic and political lives and those who are unable to do so because of poverty or lack of the necessary knowledge and skills. Without a greater commitment to education on the part of governments and society at large, these divisions will widen further.”
http://www.unesco.org/education/information/wer/PDFeng/wholewer98.PDF

This paragraph points out an important paradox in modern society. It is that the fast evolution of new technologies threatens to make the divisions within societies, and also within the world greater not less. Because of the high tech revolution young people are more vulnerable than ever before to being left behind.

There is more to teach now than there was 50 years ago. Such is the march of knowledge. We know more now; and we understand better the complexity of physics, biology, economics, psychology, medicine and so on. This means we need better teachers than ever before to impart this new information to the upcoming generations.

We are not at the stage where teachers can be replaced by machines. It is interesting to note how YouTube has proliferated thanks in no small measure to its ‘how to’ videos. This is clear proof of the importance of the human touch when it comes to education.

Clearly the best way to get the best teachers is to afford teachers a high status in the community. This must be backed up with the best teaching resources and suitable remuneration. It is clear that the more a society values its teachers, the more the most talented people are going to aspire to being teachers. This is a dynamic that can be seen throughout history.

It is interesting to note that during the Cultural Revolution in China students were encouraged to hate their teachers and to distrust the intelligentsia. The result of this revolution was a dearth for many years of teachers, scientists and technicians. China depended on the Soviet Union for its technology until 1960 when the alliance between the 2 countries was dissolved. It was not until the 1990s that China became equal to the rest of the world in its ability to manufacture such things as TVs, fridges and farm machinery. Today, in China teachers are venerated as they have been traditionally. This will ensure China continues to grow as an economic powerhouse.

It is impossible to over-emphasize the importance of teachers and the status they should be accorded. They are the custodians of the future.

As an example, wine.com has been in existence for about 25 years and finally turned a profit for the first time about a year ago.  Pretty incredible isn’t it? It might be depressing if you were trying to do the same thing don’t you think?

Anyway he said that one of the main aspects to selling wine online was to actually educate people about wine.  He said that if you were willing to educate people then, you might get them to become (over time of course) willing to pay an extra couple of dollars per bottle to be dependent on your store.  They have to trust you. They have to trust that you know which region is better for Washington Merlot.  They have to trust you know which winemaker is really up and coming in Napa Valley.  They have to trust that you spend more time on this stuff than they do.

One way that trust can be shown is through wine clubs online sales.  Wine clubs sold online are a simple premise, you pay a set amount of money every month and receive a set number of bottles of wine.  It’s a simple process, but needs a significant amount of trust between the customer and the retailer.

As a resident teacher at a medical institution I like to spend time telling my students about the medical problems faced by people in Africa, South America and parts of Asia. I explain to them how many people suffer from,curable diseases; how many children die from lack of clean water and basic medical care. To balance this I show my students slides of places I have been to – a grand colonial hotel in Bangkok, a deserted beach in Tanzania, the pyramids outside Cairo, the Taj Mahal in Agra, the Great Wall near Beijing. The purpose is two fold – first to show how magnificent the various cultures are around the world, and also to entice the young medical students to leave the security of their home country.

Lots of recently graduated doctors opt to spend a year internship working in a developing country. It helps the host hospital to cure more patients and learn new medical practices, and helps the intern to deal with situations where they have to make do with what they have got.

I believe this makes them better doctors and better people. It also helps to cross the cultural boundaries that separate the poor from the rich. It is important that we in the West learn to appreciate more just how lucky we are.

There are few professions as important as being a doctor. It is literally a life and death profession. When a doctor gets it right and brings a patient back to good health he or she receives untold gratitude. They also feel an immense sense of self-satisfaction. There is no better feeling then knowing you made a difference for the good. On the other hand, when the doctor fails to cure (for whatever reason) it can be an emotionally draining experience.

The resident teacher of medicine is more than just an ordinary teacher. He or she must not only impart theoretical knowledge. They must also teach by example. There is a big difference between knowing the theory and putting that theory into practice. And nowhere is this gap more keenly felt than in the field of medicine. Often there is no time to stop and do tests. Action must be taken immediately to secure the vital signs. This is the time that the truly good physician will step up his or her game. Their brain will work at lightning speed to weigh the options, and then once a decision is made to carry it out as efficiently as possible.

In a sense all doctors are teachers to the interns. They take control of the situation and don’t shy away from making a choice to operate. Like a great general they lead from the front. It is this fearless and audacious attitude that young doctors can learn from.

This is most true for the surgeon. Often the call to perform surgery is given at very short notice. He or she must mentally prepare for hours of surgery as they scrub up. And when they are in theater they must maintain concentration without wavering for hours. It is not an easy thing to do, and it is something that cannot be learnt from a book.

Thus, I feel as a resident teacher of medicine that my job is to show the new interns as much of the ‘front line’ as possible. To let them see the way professionals in the medical services deal with emergencies. How they keep their calm and how they bring their skill and knowledge to bear down on the situation. This experience will prove invaluable, I feel, in the future.

How to Find a Great Teacher

Let me go over some points on what makes up a good teacher:

• Must be good at their craft or know their subject thoroughly. Preferably somebody who has been studying the subject for years.
• Must be passionate about their subject.
• Must be good at teaching. Or someone who will put themselves in the perspective of a student, and explain it in ways anyone can understand.
• Must sincerely care about the students success in the subject.

A good teacher can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. In fact, someone many years younger than you may actually be a great teacher. They may not have the years, but they might have the experience they need to become a  great teacher. You can find great teachers anywhere, and it isn’t simply restricted to a school.

You also want to find someone who was also once a student themselves. Because they know what they need to teach, because they have been a student themselves at some point in their life. For example, say you wanted to learn how to jump higher. You wanted to increase your vertical leap, so you read some books such as the jump manual review to help you out. After reading the book, you actually tried the material out and have increased your vertical jump in several months. But, if you had gotten a teacher to help you jump higher, you might have had the same results in just a few weeks instead of several months.

So even though you may achieve the same results by teaching yourself, it might be quite faster to have somebody teach you or coach you instead. You will get the same results, or even better results, but you will get them much quicker. And time is money. You can find out a big shortcut by utilizing someone that has already learned the subject and learning from them. I mean, I’m sure that people make a lot of mistakes in trying to learn something or improve their skills. You can skip all of those failures and mistakes by simply seeking out a teacher or a coach to help you improve your skill or knowledge. There is also nothing to lose. You might use a little bit of money to actually have someone teach you, but in the end, you gain time, which may be more valuable than money. Even if you don’t achieve the results you want, I’m sure that you will have learned something and either way, you will have become better than before.

Well they are not good.  A study conducted by Columbia School of Business indicates that students perform worse in years when their teacher is most absent.  Unfortunately substitute teachers rarely fill the gap left by the primary teacher.  No matter how skilled the substitute, it can be hard to maintain continuity in a way that is not detrimental to student learning.  A second study (admittedly carried out in the US) by Keensaw State University found that schools in lower socioeconomic location experience higher rates of teacher absenteeism and paying for substitutes can be detrimental to school finances.

Three conclusions can be drawn that speak to the impact of teacher absence:

1. Substitute teachers are expensive and tend to be less effective
2. Schools with high absence rates have lower student achievement.
3. Its mainly low income schools and students that are affected.

So how can the problem be solved?

Most analysts agree that the starting point is better record keeping.  School districts need to link up with principles to collect data and share this publicly.  (We see the lack of official, reliable data everywhere we look across Central America.  Our primary field is real estate, and we’ve long written about the lack of reliable data in real estate market such as Costa Rica or Nicaragua.) And without this kind of data it can be hard to respond strategically to any problem, be it teacher absenteeism, employment provision or even real estate data.  But with data in hand policymakers will be better able to develop polices to encourage teachers to improve their attendance rates.  These polices are likely to come in the form of bonuses, improved training and bonus schemes.

Students in today’s connected world have lofty expectations when it comes to learning.  Gone are the days when teaching and learning was about a text book, blackboard, and homework.  To connect with students and hold their attention it’s now critical to leverage technology.  It’s also critical that teachers recognize the importance of tying lessons to real life.  Too often textbooks use examples that kids can’t relate to, or solve equations that no average person will ever need down the road.

Teaching is probably one of the hardest jobs.  While it can be extremely rewarding it’s filled with frustrations at every corner.  Most schools lack the resources and funding to properly support teachers.  As a result teachers often use their own funds to build out lesson plans and to purchase tools needed for the classroom.  Many teachers have part time jobs that they use to augment teaching salaries.  Thankfully the web has made it easier than ever before for teachers and entrepreneurs to start successful web businesses.  There are hundreds of companies, including the likes of Castle Ink, that were founded by teachers.

Few teachers are fully appreciated for what they bring to education. It’s an unfortunate side effect of a broken system.

One question remains. How did online Universities become so prolific? In short, they used online marketing, search engine optimization as well as social media marketing. Most Universities partner up with an seo agency to outsource all of there marketing campaigns while the University itself builds up the online infrastructure.  More so, an seo agency actually has a lot of tools that it can use to do the job. One of which is the social media.

Basically, social media marketing works by tapping various social media networks and social networking sites in order to establish a strong presence in the internet for your business products and services. But of course, these internet marketing companies will conduct some research and social media analysis in order to find out which social media networks and social networking sites are the most appropriate for your business. Then, they will establish your presence there and create links.

In the same manner, internet marketing companies also apply the strategy known as social bookmarking. In this strategy, the contents of your blog or website will be bookmarked in social bookmarking websites. This way, it will be easier for your target market to find you.

The costs involved in online marketing can yield a return on investment of up to 3 times the amount compared to traditional marketing while still being relevant to its demographic. After all if you were looking for an online University through the internet, it is pretty clear that you meet all the technical requirements whereas that cannot be said for traditional media.

Its no wonder that many educational institutions rely on online marketing as their sole means of advertising.

I notice this on a daily basis when orders for our personalised christening gifts reveal many customers who are unable to spell correctly. Maybe the tendency of the modern generation to text rather than write letters is to blame, as texting uses many abbreviations and spelling seems unimportant. It is always a problem deciding whether to correct the customer’s spelling mistake or grammatical error, or to leave the error there knowing it to be wrong but it was what the customer asked for.

Is the standard of teaching falling? Or is it the curriculum that is failing the pupils? I don’t know the answer, but something needs to be done to arrest the slide in standards.

Poorly educated youngsters will be ill-prepared to enter the work force, and to handle the responsibilities and duties of being an adult.  Mathematics, in particular, is a critical skill for leading a normal and productive life.

Without expertise in math, young adults are unable to function successfully as adults.  Even simple tasks like shopping are difficult for them.  They cannot handle chores such as making change, let alone making intelligent purchase decisions!

Consider the purchase of home appliances.  Making wise decisions when buying a fridge, for example, requires both the intellectual discipline to read and analyze reviews of refrigerators, and also the mathematical ability to understand refrigerator prices.

If a consumer has poor reading and comprehension skills, there is no way they are going to be able to compare reviews of refrigerators in an objective manner.  This means they don’t have the benefit of the collective wisdom offered by refrigerator reviewers when they are buying their appliance.

For those lacking mathematical skills, not only is comparing refrigerator prices difficult; but more importantly issues like the financing of appliance purchases are well beyond their mental faculties.  This can lead to the uninformed individual getting taken advantage of by sellers.

This is just one very small example of the importance of education.  Unfortunately, our nation does not value teachers enough, so many of our children are getting a second rate education.

We should make the decision to reward our best teachers based on the success of their teaching efforts.  Merit based pay for our best teachers would help attract more and better educators to the field, and discourage our most qualified people from leaving the field for better paying careers.