Libraries Go Digital

Libraries Go Digital Digital education is a rapidly-growing trend for public and private schools across the nation, as these mediums are quickly transforming how students learn. Now, school libraries are beginning to catch on to the trend, getting rid of thousands of physical books and replacing them with digital copies, according to an article in the District Administration. The District Administration cited Cushing Academy, a private secondary school in Massachusetts that recently gave away most of its 20,000 physical textbooks. The school upgraded by purchasing nearly 200 iRivers and Kindle e-readers. Cushing Academy also sold all of its 445 students a laptop, and began to upload electronic copies of textbooks straight to students laptops. However, many teachers at Cushing Academy still use and assign printed textbooks in their classes. Federal and state funding for digital improvements in the classrooms and libraries is slowly increasing. Most schools libraries, even if they are low-budget programs, have some computers or laptops for students to use and are beginning to purchase electronic readers. Critics claim that this trend is not necessary, and it separates the wealthy schools from the low-income schools. They believe that Cushing and other private schools have significantly more funding than public schools. Therefore, they can upgrade their libraries with expensive digital textbooks; where as public schools facing harsh budget cuts could never be able to fund these textbooks. However, others believe that this could save schools money in the long run because they only buy the rights to use books and never pay for printing materials and fees. But, the digital readers are still expensive. Yet the appeal of digital textbooks is obvious. Students can easily and quickly access information through digital readers, instead of having to go to the library and find the book. This saves students time, time that most will spend reading. Also, digital textbooks are more relevant to students interests. Lets face it, said Doug Johnson, author of The Indispensable Librarian: Surviving (and Thriving) in School Media Centers. The Net Generation wants its information and entertainment in digital formats. Ours may well be the last generation to use cellulose-based information-storage technology. If students are reading and learning more with digital textbooks, then implementing these digital readers is worth every penny invested in them, no matter how expensive they may be at first. Most experts believe that to be true and are pushing for more digital and electronic upgrades for students. But funding is still down at most public schools, and the transformation to digital will be slow at least until funding increases.

Best Classes For Grad School Admissions

Best Classes For Grad School Admissions The classes you take outweigh the grades you earn in them or at least thats the case at most grad schools. Grad schools want to see that you challenged yourself academically, instead of just padding your GPA. While most schools still require a strong GPA to be accepted, they pay very close attention to the classes you took. For example, an A in a cooking class like Cuisine 101 can actually hurt your chances of being accepted, and a B (or even a B-) in an Advanced Chemistry class can improve your chances, especially if youre applying to a science program. But, ultimately if you can earn an A in your Advanced Chemistry class, there will be no doubt about your abilities. So, do what it takes: put your prof on speed dial, organize study groups, work with an individual tutor for some one-on-one learning. A tutor might be your best bet, as he/she works closely with grad schools and knows exactly what they are looking for in students and how to help you improve your grades. Other than that, here are some tips to improve your chances of being accepted into grad school with better classes: Take relevant classes: Do some digging to find out what the curriculum is like at the schools youre applying to and mimic it at your undergrad. Take the exact same classes if you can. You can search the Internet for a schools curriculum, ask professors at your undergrad what they think it will be like, reach out to current/former grad students, etc. Ultimately, a student with a 3.3 undergrad GPA in a curriculum similar to the schools has a better chance than one with a 3.8 in irrelevant classes. And most admissions counselors will look that far. Active learning vs passive learning: Theres an old adage saying that you will transition from a consumer of knowledge to a producer of knowledge when you move from undergrad to grad school. So, take as many classes as you can in which you are producing knowledge. Load up on project-oriented classes, labs and field-research classes instead of test-oriented classes because thats how most classes are set up in grad school. Being able to produce a project or case study with academic or practical importance is infinitely more valuable than being able to memorize a lot. Industry conferences: Field trips for grown-ups. Attending industry conferences can show you are seriously about your field. Find the classes that take students to conferences and enroll in them. Diversify general requirements: Ideally, you want your classes to be challenging and relevant to the graduate degree youre pursuing. General requirements typically miss the mark on both. So, grad schools want to see diversity. So, if youre a liberal arts major, take some science classes and vice versa. But, you dont want to diversify into pottery classes or anything like that. Still, try to take challenging, academic general requirements. What does this class say about me? Ask yourself this every time you sign up for a new class because thats exactly what grad schools will do when they see your transcript. Every class you take should say you are willing to challenge yourself and learn something new. Stick to that, and youll be golden.