Your success in working with people, and especially with your challenging loved ones, is tied to how emotionally intelligent you operate. Keep these tips in mind as you interact with others, in particular if there is a diagnosis, such as Asperger Syndrome or ADHD, where behavior change is a primary goal. By first understanding and working with your own feelings, you can set the stage for magical results with the very challenging people in your life!1. Know your feelings – and how strong they may be – before you get into action with your challenging people.2. Make behavior decisions that you will feel proud of. Your style will be their style. “They” learn by watching you and listening to you.3. Know what others are feeling. Understand that you may not agree.4. Find the words to convey your feelings without denying someone else theirs.5. Seek out the good things in a situation, even if they are microscopic or a real stretch.6. Be persistent – appropriately! Stay on track. Back off the track when you know you will get nowhere right now.7. Monitor your impulses. Reflect on your own thinking that won’t help in the bigger picture.8. You may need to withdraw your approval. But in the process don’t withdraw the love.9. Have tools to manage your emotions before you are swept away by them.10. Think about how you deliver your message. What would you be feeling if you were on the receiving end? Care about the feelings of the other person. It’s just the good old golden rule.Refer to and live by these ‘process’ steps as you work with your challenging people and you will begin to see and feel how much easier it all can be.
Online College – Turning Higher Education Upside Down
Colleges and universities as we know them will cease to exist in a generation.
American higher education is being radically transformed by technology and 24/7 continuous education online. Should a university not be on board with this change, they will not survive the competition. The accelerating transformation of higher education is but a decade old and the change has been remarkable to date, increasing exponentially year by year.
Online higher education still is vigorously opposed by traditional college administrators and faculty worldwide. It is considered by many of today’s educators as the absolute worst application for college bound students. Up until the last half-dozen years, it has been shunned in one way or another by the majority of the top 50 universities. Since 2007, this hands-off tune has changed.
Colleges have morphed rapidly over the ongoing years to keep up with student demand for online education and survive the upstart competition brought down upon them in waves from a bevy of well entrenched and successful privately held online colleges. These so-called online upstarts pose a serious threat to many liberal arts schools. Traditional colleges can no longer compete on a local, regional or international scale without adding online degree programs.
As a result, universities who formally fought against adopting any online protocols except from textbook providers at the turn of the 21st century are now adopting hybrid programs (online and class based) at a staggering conversion rate. Schools offering online degree programs increased 700 per-cent in the past ten years alone and there is no slowing down thousands from among the 17,000 accredited universities worldwide who are now anxious to get onboard and grab their piece of the global education market.
The biggest problem facing universities opting to add online programs is the wide gap in teaching competency that exists when the classroom lecturer attempts to convert to become an online instructor. There is, unfortunately, a grave shortage of adequately qualified and competent online instructors. This is the result of universities pressed to develop online programs quickly to keep up. Rapid expansion and the inability to fill online teaching positions with well qualified and experienced online professors have proved to be a giant obstacle to quality pedagogy.
Converting their own professors to online experts, university administrators have found that it is painfully harder than it looks. The “teach online” skillset requires the addition of a modicum of technical expertise that the bulk of traditional educators do not possess. They are reluctant to either learn or adapt. When pressed, they gravitate to the least effective means of delivering an online course. This does not impress technically savvy online students coming up today, those born in the technology age.
Thus, the gap in teaching quality between the classroom and online class has given a number of traditionalist detractors the continuing ammunition they need to chip away at the progress of online acceptance even when the survival of their own institution is at stake. The old adage that ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ certainly is played out in this ongoing battle between progressive administrators and entrenched and in-denial faculty.
Polling by the Pew Foundation and the super cyber Center for Entrepreneurship, Ethics and Free Enterprise bear out the fact students prefer online course work over sitting in a classroom. When compared to on-ground, students who have experienced both actually find online classes preferable by a measure of three to one over sit-down traditional classes.
It is hard to argue with success. Regardless, the traditionalist-minded continue to be blinded by their academic prejudice and history’s signposts. One of those classic signposts was the view of Middle Age professors and administrators who were convinced that the adoption of the new radical innovation – the blackboard, would ruin higher education forever.
Most of the top-tier non-profit traditional schools today do not measure up to the top for-profit online universities either in the quality of teaching or advancing innovative delivery systems and methodology. Recent new online class adoption by traditional schools find them shamelessly promoting to the public that they are better at teaching online programs. They base this observation on their long-standing reputation as traditional schools. This perception is a myth and does not jive with reality. Neither does their argument that for-profit schools are only doing it for the profit motive while their own non-profit is only in it to expand their educational opportunities online. This too is also a myth.
The reality is an institutional perception from those who have not previously adopted online courses is that this is easy money. Non-profit universities generally perceive online education programs as potential cash cows to support faculty research and the expansion of residential facilities such as labs and school expansion. Advancing innovative education and superior methods for acquiring knowledge are not high on the list of reasons for adopting online education protocols by most.
Today a student attending a university that offers online courses is able to take their professor and classes anywhere they desire. In the next six months, 3D and holographic capabilities for classrooms online are just a short hop, skip and a jump from being introduced through online education protocols. Initially this advance will come strictly through cutting edge online universities. Within two years, we can expect an even more advanced new breed of college educator invading cyber classrooms. This is the Universal Professor Avatar; a character morphed from several online experts filled with interdisciplinary knowledge capable of teaching a complete online degree program of the student’s choice.
Thinking About a Home Based Business?
Are you thinking about a home based business, but are not sure if it’s the right decision for you? There are countless of work from home opportunities that flood the Internet and our emails every day, making it even harder to decide.If you’re not quite sure where to begin, don’t despair. Years ago, I too was faced with the same decision. I had just delivered my first child and was on maternity leave for a few weeks. I knew that I would have to return to work when my 6-week leave was over. I battled over the idea of someone else watching my daughter, even though I had already researched and visited several day cares and finally chosen a fun loving place. But I didn’t have a choice. I needed money to pay bills, get diapers, buy infant formula, the list continued. So, on week seven, I returned to work tearfully leaving my child in someone else’s care. It was a very difficult decision for any new mother to make. That day, I resolved to find a way to work from home by either working for someone else or starting a home based business of my own.My dream to work from home didn’t come true right away, but I didn’t give up. I tried several work from home opportunities – everything from typing to stuffing envelopes – and found several scams and programs that just didn’t work. I invested thousands of dollars into different businesses hoping to find a legitimate and profitable home based business. After trying again and again, I finally found a program that worked for me. If I can do it, so can you.Maybe your reason to start a home based business is to build income and supplement your current cash flow. You may want the luxury of setting your own hours. Maybe you are tired of the time you spend commuting and want to save on gas. Or maybe you’ve been laid off and you don’t know how you can make ends meet. Whatever your reason, don’t get discouraged. It’s okay to want to improve your life and get out of the rat-race. It’s all right to want to start a home based business and build residual income. You may have tried different home based programs in the past and run into a lot of scams. Don’t let the scams prevent you from achieving your dream. If you’re thinking about working from home, you can. You may have been blessed with a great skill that you can offer as a service or product. Or you may want to start a home based business that’s already been created, so you can save some extra time and energy.Take the first step and give it a try. Do your research about the home based business you would like to start or join. Are there other businesses in your area that are offering the same services? How are they doing financially and how are they getting business? Will the home based business require that you leave your home to drive more business your way? How will you advertise your business? If you’re still not sure, there are a lot of free resources on home based businesses. You may start with your local library or review home businesses online. If you don’t have a lot of money to invest, look for a home based business that’s already established and includes an automated system. Make sure it offers the support and training you need, so you can start generating income.The home based business that I own is 98% automated and very cost-effective. There are some good programs out there. Just be sure to do your homework and research them thoroughly. Make your dream to have a home based business of your own a reality. Nothing beats a failure but a try.