Educating Yourself After Graduating

If you’re a graduated student, but are still looking for ways to take courses, what are your options? Everybody says that they want to keep their mind fresh, and continue to educate themselves, but what will they really do about it? Thanks to technology, and the rapid growth of different mediums, the means of learning have increased. As a graduate who is presumably working, you don’t’ necessarily have the same amount of free time as you once did as a student. As such, going back to school is an option, but may not be the most feasible solution. So what are some ways to continuing education?

 

Enroll in in-class college courses

This is a great idea that I would suggest to anybody who has the means and opportunity to do. There is nothing quite like the college or university experience so if you have the time and money, this is the most ideal option – albeit not necessarily the most realistic.

 

Look for learning-seminars

Depending on what sort of things you are looking to learn, there are many free programs and seminars that are offered at local schools, or community centres. Non-profit organizations often set-up learning seminars, free to attend to the public who want to learn about a certain subject or topic. Check your local public areas to see if anything up your alley is offered.

 

Try eLearning

Gaining much prominence in recent years, many have turned to the internet to take fully-fledged courses online using some type of web based learning software. Whether you do this through a teaching institution, or from private course providers online, this type of learning allows you to educate yourself on your own time and at your own convenience. Give it a try, as it might be the most feasible solution for a person looking to learn and work simultaneously.

 

Whether it be going back to an educational institution, taking advantage of free training-seminars in their community, or learning online using a web based learning software, there are countless ways for anybody to continue to educate themselves. The onus then falls on the person to decide which option is for them.

What Are Employers Saying About ELearning?

As eLearning continues to advance and grow, we should step back and consider what employers truly say and feel about eLearning. Now that you have thought about it for a second, you should have identified that eLearning software would not be advancing or growing if employers did not approve of it. In fact, research has shown that employers are depending on eLearning opportunities to aid with their in-house training and certification needs for their employees to stay abreast of current issues, policies and procedural changes.

Ronald Hoogerwerf, Senior Training Specialist at Williams Scotsman uses web conferencing to train his employees and stated: “Even in compressed timeframes, we are able to focus on curriculum.”

Danielle D., MD, Business Coordinator at Riverside Park stated: “I definitely could see using e-learning courses in the future, both for office staff and assistants. Because our practice is so large, we can’t shut down the office and send everyone to a seminar. So instead, we only send a few people, and those people come back and pass the information on to the others. With e-learning courses, staff can take the courses at home on their own time or carve out time during the workday. The other benefit to e-learning courses is that the information is all right there and you can go back and review it. When you attend a seminar and listen to a speaker, they may run out of time before they cover everything. Or, you may miss some of what they said. The e-learning courses give you time to read and go back and review anything before you take the test. Things like that are very beneficial.”
Nancie Keenan, General Manager of Groton Inn and Suites stated the following after using an eLearning course for her employees to learn Spanish to English: “Groton Inn and Suites was pleased to partake in the Spanish to English program and found it beneficial as an employer for communication with the staff and we have found the staff appreciative with the personal touch it gave them for speaking English not only at work but in their personal lives. I would highly recommend this program to any employer. The flexibility of the program and how it can be adjusted to any corporate setting makes it an ideal program.”
These are just a few testimonials for eLearning, but it gives an impression that employers are saying great things about the capabilities and conveniences of an eLearning software.

Things You Can Do to Improve Your Learning

Everyone learns in a different way, but one thing is certain for everyone, and that is everyone needs to exercise their brain, just as they would their muscles. By exercising your brain in the correct ways, you will become skilled at thinking which will increase your focus abilities. There are countless online tools to help you learn including in educational websites or eLearning software. Individuals that abuse their systems with harmful chemicals or those who are not continuously using their brain are more apt to have a harder time learning and retaining information.

Listed below are a few tips for keeping your brain in the learning mode.

It is important to exercise, not only your brain, but your body. Being physically active helps to clear your head and gives you more energy that invigorates your body to help you concentrate on a subject matter.

It is important to not be deprived of sleep when you are trying to learn, as you will have a harder time concentrating. If possible, it is best if you can squeeze in a 15-20 minute nap during the day to help refresh your body and your mind.

Take time to be by yourself. Do yoga or take walks by yourself. Spending time by yourself will allow you to reflect on what is happening in your life and provides you the opportunity to organize and prioritize your thoughts and responsibilities. In fact, I find that the best time for me to think and prioritize is while I am in the shower, so imagine how much more I could get done if I took a 30-minute walk each day.

Make new friends that do not have the same things in common with you. This allows you the opportunity to learn new areas of interest and broadens your view of the world that surrounds you.

Take a break and have a technology free vacation or learn to turn off your cell phones and computers for a few hours a day. Take this time to spend reading challenging books that exercise your vocabulary or to think. This will help reduce the pressures you feel from answering questions over the phone or via email and allows your brain to open up for learning.

These tips are nothing that you probably haven’t been told before, but have you taken the time to do any of them? Use this as a refresher and pick a couple to put into practice on a daily or weekly basis and see if you start to notice a difference in your learning abilities.

How to Design the Right Courses to Improve ELearning

The objective of designing an eLearning course is to facilitate the learning of material that one may need for future reference without wasting resources. With all the time and cost associated with the development of eLearning courses, it is critical that you do not waste resources designing a course that is too complex and discourages learning.

Define the Purpose of the ELearning Course

The first step in designing the right course using an online learning software is to determine what the purpose of the course is. Is it to improve ones knowledge, to train personnel on new software or equipment, or to pass a certification exam? Will the eLearning course require a test or require specific outcomes that certify the completion of the course?

Once you have defined the purpose for the eLearning course, then you will need to determine the type of course to develop.

Determine the Type of ELearning Course

ELearning courses focus on their ability to share information or to change performance and can be designed as simple or complex as the developer decides. There are three different types of eLearning courses that you can determine to design.

1. Information Based—An eLearning course that is developed to communicate information, but has no expectations of changing the eLearner’s performance. An example of when this type of course would be used is if an organization had to highlight new safety or accreditation information.
2. Instructional—A course using online learning software that is developed to provide instructions on how to do something. An example of when this type of course would be used is if an organization needed to train personnel on what they will be doing at work.
3. Principle Sharing—An eLearning course that is developed to teach an individual principles or guidelines and how they are applied to the individual’s situation. An example of when this type of course would be used is if an organization needed to train personnel on customer service and how various situations could be handled.

After determining the type of eLearning course, you will need to distribute your resources appropriately.

 Distribute Resources Appropriately

When designing your eLearning course using your online learning software, keep in mind that the more complex courses usually require more resources. To help evenly distribute your resources, try to provide written material in a PDF format that will allow the individual to read the material offline. If the material can already be found on the organization’s intranet, encourage the individual to find the information from the organization’s website in order to save time and money. Consider dividing the course material into pieces that are identified as “important” and “for your information”, thus allowing you to focus your resources on the “important” information. Lastly, remember to keep the eLearning course focused on the outcome, keeping it from becoming too timely or too boring.

By defining the purpose of the course, determining the type of course and distributing the resources appropriately, you will have designed the right course that will improve the eLearning experience for your group.