A Guide To Helping Modern-Day Students Succeed

If you work in the world of higher education then you know that your job role extends beyond simply teaching a syllabus. You have a duty to help young people (or older people, in the case of mature students) to gain the necessary skills to succeed in life. Essentially, you’re helping young people to enter the “real” world and make something of themselves. That’s no easy task, despite what some people say about teaching being straightforward. And if you want to make sure that you do your best as an educator in the modern world then this guide should give you some pointers.

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Teach them to think outside the box.

These days, going to university isn’t quite as extraordinary as it used to be. Increasing numbers of young people make the decision to pursue university education after sixth form. People are no longer going to stand out in the job market simply by having a degree. The best way to make sure your students separate themselves from the crowd is for them to… well, separate themselves from the crowd. University is an opportunity to think outside the box. It’s an opportunity to try new things and gain new skills that’ll prove useful in the stages that come after graduation. You need to teach them to expect more of themselves.

Obviously, you can’t do everything for every single student. The whole point of university is that it’s a learning curve. Your students have to learn to do things independently, but you have to guide them to that realisation. Give the minimum reading requirements, but suggest that they read beyond your requirements. Encourage them to come up with their own talking points in essays (if at all possible in the type of subject you teach). And you could start thinking outside the box too. Maybe you could look into trips for college students. Travelling is an opportunity to teach your classes in a more vibrant and engaging manner than is possible in a classroom. You need to help your students to expand their minds. Get them to do more than the bare minimum. They need to learn to think independently if they want to be successful in the world that comes after university.

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Be a better teacher.

There’s always more you could be doing to learn and grow in your profession. If you want to help students succeed in the modern day then you have to be a modern teacher. In other words, you need to keep learning to make sure that your knowledge is up to date. The world moves forward, so your lessons need to move at the same pace. Otherwise, you’ll be giving your students knowledge that isn’t going to help them in the real world. After all, if you’re teaching them things that are already old then they’ll be even further behind when they graduate in a few years. If you want to be a better teacher then keep learning. Make sure you’re giving every single student the tools they need to succeed. Beyond that, it’s up to them.

5 Things You Need to Know Before Starting Your Own Business

Who hasn't dreamed of getting away from the wage-earner's grind and working for themselves? Unfortunately, for every person who starts a successful business, there are at least ten who end up crawling meekly back to a 9-to-5 job after an unhappy experience with trying to go it alone.

People say some are born to be entrepreneurs, while others are more suited to the regularity of a steady job with a salary. This isn't the case. Anyone can succeed in business provided they have a marketable product and the right approach to working for themselves. Once you have people beating the proverbial path to your door for what you're selling, you've made it.

Here are five essential tips for anyone who intends to go into business.

Focus on the customer and fully understand the market

However wonderful your product is, it has no chance of success until you have a web marketing program that reaches out to potential customers. A company like SMR Digital can be the link between you and your market. Their expert staff will guide you through the process of choosing and utilizing SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Link Outreach, and PPC (Pay Per Click) to maximize customer awareness. Without expert guidance, no start-up can exploit the full potential of the Internet and social media.

Understand your own your own strengths, skills, and time available

Choose a field in which you excel, and one that doesn't demand more time than you can devote to it. Don't follow the example of others who have been successful, if they are of a different temperament from you.

Surround yourself with advisors and mentors

Talk to as many experts in your chosen field as you can. If possible, talk to people who have already made it in your line of business. See if you can find people who have been successful entrepreneurs. If you don't know any such people personally, look up interviews with them in business publications.

Write a business plan

No business can succeed without a coherent plan covering all aspects of the enterprise - time needed, costs, sources of funding, etc. There is no magic formula for success, but at the very minimum you need something that has been realistically planned with all foreseeable problems covered. Don't dive in with your eyes closed.

Have a passion for what you are doing. Pick something you could enjoy doing for the rest of your life. To be a true success in business you need to follow your own path, doing something that really interests and motivates you.

7 Smart Tips for Making Great Coffee to Study at Home

Coffee and school work often go hand in hand! Whether out of sheer pleasure or simply to stay alert, many students are big coffee drinkers. This is actually a good idea, since coffee does have some positive health effects asides from its obvious stimulating qualities. Just make sure to also eat right and remember that extensive sleep deprivation will deteriorate your health.

If you’re a student looking to get the most enjoyment and increased productivity from your coffee cups, this post will point out some useful tricks. You may be surprised at how simple some of these techniques are, but all details matter when you’re looking to brew the perfect coffee.

Buy good coffee beans

You can’t make something out of nothing, and you can’t make good coffee unless you have good coffee beans. Make sure you get some top quality coffee beans whose smell feels right to you, and you’ll be on the way to excelling at coffee making. Buying whole (rather than ground) coffee beans may not seem as practical as you’d like, but it’s more than worth the effort, all things considered!

Grind your coffee just before brewing

The reason why you want to always grind your coffee beans immediately before brewing your coffee is simply because this is how you get the best aroma and taste. Ground coffee beans will lose flavor and aroma in as little as one hour, so if you are serious about getting the best results… grinding coffee must become part of your act. By doing so, you can also adjust the fineness of the grind to match the ideal specification of your coffee machine.

Store your coffee properly

There’s no point in getting the best coffee beans and grinding them scrupulously unless you’re also very careful when it comes to proper storage. To preserve the full potential of your coffee beans, make sure to put then in an air-tight container (vacuum sealed is best), and keep them stored in a cool dry place, away from the sunlight. To learn more, check out our specialized articles on TheCoffeeMaven.com!

Use the right proportion of coffee to water

While the perfect concentration of coffee will change according to preference and mood, you may want to aim for the water-to-coffee ratio that is widely regarded as the golden ratio of coffee brewing. One part coffee to 20 parts water will typically yield the most universally pleasing coffee.

Control the temperature of your water

You’d think that automatic coffee makers would get this right by default, right? As a matter of fact, there is an ideal temperature for coffee brewing, and it’s actually a precise range that you want to lock into – aim to keep the water between 195-205ºF to get the best possible results.

Use quality tools

No matter which type of coffee maker you like, and regardless of whether you favor automatic machines or manual methods, having high quality tools with precise temperature control is a must. Even when using simple glass or metal tools, keep all parts thoroughly clean since it will make a big difference in the taste of your coffee.

Focus on technique

Even though brewing coffee seems like a very straightforward process, there are many details that will make a difference to the final outcome. Proper timing is one of the most powerful techniques to make superior coffee; you want to heat the water to the perfect temperature and steep the freshly ground coffee beans for the exact time.

Over time, your coffee making technique will evolve into a soothing ritual whose results will speak for themselves and get everyone’s taste buds dancing the fandango… just remember: great coffee is all about the small details.

Play The Game? Make The Game! Essential Skills In The Industry

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Growing up, geeks all over the world share a common dream. Having spent a huge portion of your life with your eyes glued to a screen and a controller in your hands, it would be selling it short to say that you like to play video games. When you enjoy something this much, it only makes sense that you would want to tie it into your career, but this is where a lot of people stop with their aspirations. Becoming a game developer doesn’t have to be as hard as you think, though. To help you out, this post will be exploring the sort of skills you’ll need to be able to make it in this industry, along with some of the ways to earn them.

Programming

Of course, any video game has to start with some code, and you will need to start working on programming skills as early as possible. There are loads of systems out there which are designed to make the process of learning something like this easier. In reality, though, this can often take longer than simply going in as deep as you can. Systems like Unity make it very easy to get started with professional-grade tools which will force you to learn to code in useful languages like C# and JavaScript.

Creativity

While a lot of people see the life of a programmer as one filled with mathematical problems and other logic-based issues, a lot of the solutions you come up with when you’re coding will be creative ones. A huge portion of the jobs you want your game to do simply won’t exist yet. This means that you have to be able to find ways to simulate events and other actions, and this isn’t a problem reserved for game developers; it’s found in all programming work. Small puzzles and games can help a lot with this.

Dedication

Development companies often have to run on incredibly tight schedules, producing games much faster than they should be able to. To achieve a goal like this, they often have to work their employees into the ground, and this means that you will spend a lot of time working when you shouldn’t have to. This will take a lot of dedication, but will be worth it once you are rewarded upon the game’s release.

What Will You Get?

As a gamer working in the gaming industry, it’s easy for most people to see what they would get from a role like this. Not only will you have the chance to focus your life around gaming, but you will also be able to start learning more about the games you play. While it may take away some of the magic, sitting down and figuring out how a game was built is very entertaining, and will open your eyes to the shortcomings of even the largest development companies in the world.

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling excited about the prospect of working in an industry like this. It will take a lot of effort, but getting a job in video games is a dream come true for a lot of people, and you are probably one of them.

The Real Ways To Make Your Money Go Further

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Whatever you might have spare in the bank, it is perfectly natural to want to make it go as far as possible and to try and turn it into as much money as possible. Of course, it is also often bewildering trying to ensure that you are actually going to do the right thing, make the right choice, and make it happen in the way that you would hope. This is something that you need to often spend years on perfecting before you can get it down, but you can also find that it is easier to do so if you are able to have the right information to hand to begin with in the first place. In this article, we are going to look at some of the genuine ways that you can make whatever money you might have go further - with the right attitude, and a little patience, of course.

Crypto

It is still a good time to get into cryptocurrency trading, and if you are not already it would be highly recommended to do so as soon as possible. However, that does not necessarily mean that you want to go for the famous Bitcoin, as compared to some of the smaller, less-known altcoins out there, Bitcoin is not even performing that well these days. Instead, make sure you spend some time researching the various coins and that you are able to find one that truly works for you as best as possible. If you can do that, you will find that you are able to make a surprising amount of money from even a small investment over a relatively short space of time. It is definitely worth considering if you haven’t already.

Traditional Trading

Of course sometimes the old ways are still the best, and you don't’ have to worry about newfangled things like crypto if you don’t want to ,and you can still expect to make some money. Traditional trading routes are still always worth considering if you want to make your money go further, and they too can help you to make a surprising amount if you know what you are doing. You just need to make sure that you are not diving in the deep end, and that you are happy to put as such as might be necessary into the right thing at the right time. You will also find that CMC Markets trading guides are likely to help you, so that is definitely worth considering as well. The more informed you are, the more chance you have to make as much as you would like to make.

Saving

Finally, you don’t have to be a sleuth trader to make your money go further. The simple act of finding a good savings account and putting some money away in it can ensure that you are going to make your money go further, and in some cases this is even more lucrative than many other options available to you. Make sure that you are keen to save as well as possible, and you will find that this really does make a huge difference.

Thinking Of Driving An Uber To Fund Your Studies? Some Things You Should Know First

There’s no better path to a brighter future than education. Higher education can imbue you with the skills, knowledge and resources that you need to achieve the career of your dreams or even take a bite of the entrepreneurial apple. But like anything worth having, studying is hard. Not only must you navigate the perils and pitfalls of full time learning, you must also navigate the perils of maintaining a home, paying the bills and keeping the roof over your head and the food on your plate. This is hard enough for those with a full time job, but when our studies limit the time in which we can earn, it gets a whole lot harder.

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In the gig economy, many drivers who own their own vehicles have chosen to dedicate their free time to becoming an Uber driver, and in recent years this has become an especially popular money making opportunity among students. Given the flexibility and the fact that it can potentially pay better than most student jobs, it’s not hard to see why so many students flock to it. But if you’re considering making some money this way, it’s essential that you keep the caveats in mind.  

Make sure your car is up to the job

Uber driving is not for those with diesel vehicles. Diesel vehicles are marathon runners rather than sprinters. Being an Uber driver inevitably involves short journeys at relatively low speeds. This means that over time your Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) will become blocked with soot and won’t get the opportunity to purge (which usually happens automatically when travelling at high speeds at 2000-3000 rpm). This can result in a total breakdown of your vehicle and a very expensive repair.

If, however, you’re one of the many students driving electric or hybrid cars, you have the ideal vehicle to earn a crust as an Uber driver.

Never drive while tired, angry or hungry

When you’re driving to fund your studies, it’s easy not to treat it with the gravity that it deserves. But make no mistake, if this is to be profitable for you, your behavior on the road must be unimpeachable. That means that you never get behind the wheel unless you are well fed, well hydrated, well rested and ready to turn on the charm. Driving while angry, tired or hungry can cause you to make poor decisions on the road which could compromise your safety, the safety of your passengers and your reputation.

Don’t sacrifice speed for safety

If you’re trying to make money as an Uber driver, it’s vital that you aren’t tempted to race yourself to the finish line. Sure, your passengers want to get to where they’re going quickly… But they’d rather get there in one piece. Driving for speed can make you sacrifice safety. You could wind up with a poor review or even visiting www.DuffyLawCT.com/state-crimes/traffic-crimes/ to seek legal counsel for the dangerous driving claim made against you. Slow and steady always wins the race when you’re an Uber driver.

Bring your winning personality to work

Finally, your tips will make all the difference between making okay money and making great money from this side hustle. That means you bring your winning personality and your biggest smile to work for each and every passenger, even when you’re not feeling as sunny as you could on the inside. You might just surprise yourself with how much better wearing a smile makes you feel.

Do You Want To Enhance Your Gaming Experience? Here’s How

Gaming is one of those things that many people do in their spare time. Many people have different reasons for it. Perhaps gaming and concentrating on one thing helps them focus on other aspects of their lives, maybe it relaxes you or simply you just enjoy it. But how do you enhance your gaming experience? I wanted to share with yous some of the things you could try.

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Branch out and try different things

Maybe you love gaming but perhaps have gotten a little bored of the ones you regularly play? That can happen at time,s and not all of us have the money to buy the latest release. So this is where the internet can be a blessing. Looking online you will find all sorts of games to try. You could try free slots online for a bit of fun, perhaps find a game online that others can join in with, or even download some games from the app store to your phone. We all know how some of them can get very addictive. It isn’t always about what your games console can offer, it is more about finding a game that you enjoy playing.

Create the ideal gaming environment

Enhancing your gaming experience might start with your environment and where you play your games. It could be that you enjoy playing in your living room or perhaps you have your own dedicated space. If you do, you could consider investing in a gaming chair or creating a great little space that is comfortable for you and perhaps friends and family who play with you. It is certainly something to think about and there are plenty of inspiring pictures online on websites like Pinterest to create gaming nooks or rooms.

Play online with and against your friends

Maybe you have just finished the game and not even considered that there is an online version you can join in with, but most gaming series these days do give you the option to play online. This could be a little more competitive and also give you the opportunity to play against friends or family, or perhaps even join forces with them in teams to take on other competitors who are playing all over the world.

Capture footage and share your gaming online

Finally, more people are searching the net and looking online at YouTube for gaming tips and hints as well as tutorials to completing certain stages of a game. So why not create some videos yourself? If you are an expert at a game, have a particular hack for something, or just want to share your knowledge and thoughts along the way, then capturing the gaming footage and talking along with it or doing a voiceover could  be the ideal start to your very own gaming channel online. Who knows where this could lead, as many have gone on to be successful.

I hope that this has given you some ideas on how you could enhance your gaming experience.

Protecting Yourself As A Geeky Gun For Hire

Paying for your education ain’t cheap, much less paying for a reasonable standard of living so that your studies aren’t impeded by thoughts of “What will I eat this week?” or “How likely am I to be homeless by the end of the week”. Although many undergraduates pursue low paid low skilled part time work in their down time, there are some who feel no need to wait until their graduation to fulfil their entrepreneurial ambitions, devising side hustles, building their own businesses and establishing themselves as freelancers. Your education imbues you with skills that are enormously valuable to individuals and businesses alike, and so it makes perfect sense to monetize your talents in order to ensure that your higher education isn’t impeded by money troubles.  

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Whether you’re writing content, producing videos, building apps or websites, providing tuition for your fellow students or providing technical or IT support to small businesses, it’s essential that while you’re earning your crust you place the infrastructure to protect yourself as a geeky gun for hire...

Protect yourself from plagiarism

If you’ll be making money with your prodigious writing talent you may think that all you need to do is start writing and the rest will take care of itself. And while this may well be the case, it behoves you to protect yourself from plagiarism. When you write content you are the legal owner of that content (unless it’s white label or ghostwritten content) and as such you need to protect yourself from others plagiarising your work. If someone else claims ownership of what you’ve written it may cast aspersions on your reputation that your budding freelance career could do without. That’s why you should use anti-plagiarism software like Copyscape and Grammarly.

Know who to turn to when you need legal help

If you’re providing technical, IT or digital marketing support to small businesses you may be entrusted with potentially sensitive data. While there will be legally enforceable contracts protecting their interests, their contracts may well be less interested in your protection. While it’s unlikely, should something go awry with their sensitive data you may find yourself blames and facing legal charges for something you had no part in which is why it’s important to know what to look for in a white collar crime attorney. Even though it’s extremely unlikely doesn't mean that there’s no chance that it will happen to you, and so it’s in your best interests to ensure that you know how to protect yourself.

Guard your anonymity with a VPN

When you’re working in the digital realm, you may well find yourself producing content that while well constructed is contentious for those who consume it. You may garner vitriolic dislike for your work or on the other hand you may garner the unwelcome attentions of an internet superfan. It doesn’t take the technically savvy long to determine your IP address and from there work out where you live. Thus, it’s always a worthwhile precaution to use a Virtual Private Network or VPN when submitting work.

In entrepreneurship, as in all things, it always pays to be careful!

What Is Holding Your Website Back?

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In 2018, there is no excuse for not having an effective website ad a good online presence. However, this can often be a lot easier said than done, especially if you have found yourself in a bit of a rut and you do not know where you are going wrong. If your website is failing to have the positive impression you hoped for, read on to discover what could be holding it back.

A lack of security – There is only one place to begin, and this is with security. Today’s customers are savvy. They know that there are a lot of hackers and fraudulent businesses on the web today. They don’t want to take any risks, and so your website needs to be a safe haven. How do you achieve this? Firstly, you need to make sure the payment method available to your customers is secure. Aside from this, trust signals, including security badges, work well. You should also make sure there are a number of different ways for people to get in touch with your company.

No responsive design – Mobile has surpassed desktop in terms of Internet usage, and so if you have not had your website optimized for use across all devices, this is most definitely what is holding you back. You are going to be missing out on tons of potential customers. Not only this but not having a responsive design will hurt your search engine ranking too.

You have used a free website builder – Free website builders can be very tempting. After all, they are free! Nevertheless, these websites are very limited in terms of functionality, plus they offer nothing in terms of branding. Your website will look like thousands of others on the Internet, which is never good. Not only this, but it is likely that you will have to cope with a plethora of performance issues. Your website will also take a long time to load because, with every design facet, there are dozens of lines added to the back-end code. Slow load times create a poor user experience and this also hurts your search engine ranking.

You don’t capture customer information – Finally, a customer will present you with an abundance of information whenever they enter your website, and you need to capture it. This is essential in terms of target marketing and boosting the experience your website provides. From finding out at what point people leave your website to zoning in on buying habits, there is so much to gain by capturing consumer details.

Hopefully, you have now got to the bottom of where you are going wrong with your website. If you have noticed any of the errors mentioned above, there is no need to panic, but you do need to get to the bottom of the issue sooner rather than later so that you can start seeing the improvements you hoped for in terms of visibility and, ultimately, conversions.

Beat Your Commuting Blues With These Techy Boredom Busting Ideas

There is nothing worse than being sat on a long commute on the train with nothing to do. Many people opt to read the free newspaper that they’ve picked up on their journey but as you know, these don’t last long. Long commute times can be tricky, especially if you’re someone who experiences travel anxiety or claustrophobia when on public transport. We are lucky however, to live in an age where you don’t just have to rely on a newspaper to help you get through your traveling woes. We now have a plethora of technology that is perfect for those long journeys, so check out how to beat your commuting blues with these techy boredom busting ideas.

Photo by Stephy Miehle on Unsplash

Fight the anxiety

When you’re feeling cooped up inside of a train and you’re struggling with an anxiety attack, one of the best things to do is to accept what’s happening and tackle the problem head on. Luckily, technology can now help with such a thing, and you can now download anxiety hypnosis apps for you to listen to on your journey to help keep you relaxed. There are also apps that can help monitor when you’re anxious and try to help you pinpoint and resolve your issues. Try some anxiety apps to help pass the time and ease your travel anxiety.

Play a game

One of the best methods of distracting yourself from your anxiety, or even just to quickly pass the time is by playing a game. Going back a few years we wouldn’t have been able to enjoy such a luxury on our commute to work. But now, thanks to smartphones, tablets and laptops, we are able to enjoy games that thrill us, like biking games from smartbikegames.com/. Or, if you prefer a more gentle game, you could put your mind at work with amazing puzzle apps and games. Before you know it you’ll be at your stop!

Catch up on missed TV shows

Again, thanks to the progression in technology not only can we obtain the devices to watch our favorite TV shows, but we even have programs that give it to us in HD quality so that we can easily catch up on all of the missed TV shows. Work out how long your journey is and see if you can fit a certain amount of episodes into the journey. It’s a great distraction and allows you to keep up with trending conversations in the office!

Look up recipes

One really clever idea that people are doing loads these days is looking up recipes on their commute to work. Why’s this? Well, many people are already thinking about getting home and eating delicious food before it all happens again the next day. Why not save yourself some time when you get home and look up some recipes to cook for dinner. It will save you worrying about it, and also give you the chance to get any ingredients that you may need on your journey home from work.