5 Reasons to Build Authentic Trading Rooms in a Finance College

Many business schools, and even finance-oriented high schools, across the nation are incorporating real-world digital solutions throughout their campuses and into the classrooms?a trend that reflects not only fast-technological advancements of the modern world but the impressive rate at which many of these still-new technologies are becoming cheap enough for the masses. One way to really bring the real world into a finance education environment is through the use of trading rooms.

Trading rooms are basically classrooms that are set up to mimic the atmosphere of a real world trading floor, complete with large LCD screens displaying live market data, LED tickers, multi-time zone clock displays, and more. So why build one of these rooms on your campus, and what is in it for the students?

1. Authenticity

Well, first off, a trading room is all about building that authenticity so your students feel they are already in the middle of it all. This helps to build excitement, capture attention, and harness momentum?all important aspects of the learning process. It's like the difference between playing around with an aviation video game and sitting in a professional flight simulator.

2. Learning Tools

And with that authenticity comes highly effective learning resources. Because in the most authentic trading rooms, the tools are not set up just for show. They are there for analyzing and engaging with the business world so we can learn using the same tools that the pros are learning to do business.

3. Bridge the Gap

What that does is bridge the oft-criticized gap between an education and real hands-on business experience. You don't want to send out a graduate pool of parrots into the business world?you want to produce highly-qualified hires who are capable of jumping right into the work force and putting their new skills to use. You want to produce assets for the companies that hire your students?not a person whose training must be started over from scratch.

4. High-Tech Atmosphere

Finance schools benefit from the high-tech atmosphere a digital display set up produces because people expect them to be high-tech, and nothing is more high-tech than a real-world trading floor students can engage with. Schools who are embracing this are quickly setting the standard, and your students and the public alike will never forget where they are and what your institution represents.

5. Best of the Best Image

What it all comes together to create is the image of your school among the ranks of the best of the best?at the cutting edge of finance education. This means that your authentic trading rooms not only contribute to giving your students the best education possible but also directly contribute to the next set of highly qualified academics coming in the door next year...and the year after...and the year after that.

So, as you can see, putting together one of these virtual trading floors in a finance school environment creates a host of great benefits that not only contribute to your school's effectiveness in educating the world's future business leaders but also makes it a more attractive place to learn.

Trading Rooms Are the Ultimate Solution For Bringing Your Finance School Into The Modern Business World...By Bringing the Modern Business World Into Finance School. To Learn More About Putting Together The Best Finance Lab Possible, Go to http://www.risedisplay.com/markets/business_school_trading_lab/ Now!

TOEFL Speaking Training: Simple Way to Improve Your Verbal Communication

To take the TOEFL test successfully it is important that you improve your vocabulary considerably. In order to be able to use variety of words in your written as well as in your verbal communication you should pay attention to the stock of words which you have. The simplest way with which you can improve your vocabulary is by reading. Only when you read good books words get registered in your mind and you are able to use them as and when necessary. In fact as you increase your stock of words it will add to your TOEFL speaking training and the chances of you being successful in the exam also increases. There are some ways following which you can develop your TOEFL speaking training. But you need to follow these steps carefully.

As you are learning the words don't just try to memorize as some words which you need to keep in mind. Try to remember the context in which these words can be used. This can be a very effective way to remember the new words you learn. It would be even better if you try to associate the word with some picture or a particular definition. If you remember the words this way it will help you a lot when you try to make sentences with these words. It is advised that when you learn new words read them aloud and try to follow the context in which these words are used. As you do so you are able to understand the usage of these words in a better manner.

Visual dictionaries can be of great help if you try to improve your TOEFL speaking training. This is because there are many people those who learn better with the help of pictorial aids. These dictionaries are helpful in the sense that they have pictures associated with each word so that you can understand the meaning of the word in a better manner. This method can be of great use for beginners who have just started taking the vocabulary skills for the first time.

It is very good idea to improve the TOEFL speaking training with the help of a vocabulary building software. You can get hold of computer software which gives you the list of a number of English words and these words are such that they are almost certain to be present in the TOEFL test. This list will actually do the job of a tutorial. These tutorials are so very helpful that you will be able to improve your English language skill and at the same you will also be able to speak like an American. With the list you are able to remember the words easily and not only that you are given a number of exercises where you can implement your newly learnt stock of words.

Proper TOEFL speaking training is mandatory before you take the TOEFL test. In the entire training exercise you learn to make proper sentences with the new words, you are also able to write essays without any mistake. When you have a low score in the TOEFL test it should be your aim to get a higher score the next time. And in order to that you need to have a more comprehensive TOEFL speaking training. This is important because unless you have a higher score in the TOEFL test you will not be able to study in the University of your Choice. Thus it is important that you remember certain things when you prepare for such test. Keep in mind that you need to seep in the new things which you are learning and not just mug up because that way you will not be able to implement your learning properly.

Faizarul Madznan is a CEO and Founder of http://www.BestProfessionalSpeaking.com, a public speaking and presentation skills website. Here, you'll get tips, analysis, insights, and strategies which helps you become a more effective speaker and a more effective communicator. Need to improve your presentation? Simply click here for free public speaking ebook and video access.

Online Credit Recovery May Increase Graduation Among High School Students

National high school graduation rates linger around only 70 percent. Pressure from the government on school districts to raise this standard has sparked an increase in national use of online credit recovery programs, which allow students to enroll in online courses to retake and receive credit for failed high school classes.

Previously, students who failed classes had to retake them in summer school, or repeat an entire grade the following school year. But, with a high demand created by the push for improved graduation rates, companies that offer online courses, such as Pearson and Kaplan, have taken the opportunity to cash in.

Similar to online higher education courses, high school credit recovery programs allow students to work at their own pace and complete assignments from any computer with Internet access. This type of environment can potentially help those students who struggle in a traditional classroom setting.

Susan Patrick, president of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning estimates that more than 250,000 students are taking online courses to recover lost credits. Online learning in grades K-12 is available to students in 46 states, as well as the District of Columbia, and credit recovery makes up "one of the fastest growing segments of the $2 billion digital-learning market for elementary and secondary students."

The U.S. Department of Education backs online credit recovery programs due to support for the use of technology in education and the opportunity it presents to students. Karen Cator, director of the Office of Educational Technology considers such programs an important step "towards improving the opportunity for more students to graduate."

5 Powerful Digital Solutions for Bringing That High-Tech Atmosphere to a Business School

Digital technology introduces a myriad of different ways for many kinds of institutions to better communicate with their market as well as streamline their processes, and one of the types of institutions we've really seen embrace this is educational institutions. But nowhere is that more apparent and effective than a business or finance school. The reason is because a business school needs to create that high-tech atmosphere so when students and members of the public walk on campus, they instantly feel they are in an environment at the cutting edge of modern business.

So let's look at 5 different ways we can harness this digital technology to bring that high-tech atmosphere into play.

1. Digital directory

One way to harness that appeal that really capitalizes on the resourcefulness of digital tech is a digital directory. These directories are set up to help people who may not be familiar with the campus find their way around. It shows them where they can find important campus locations or specific faculty members.

And a major benefit of this is it cuts down on the need for wasteful interactions with staff when they are not needed. Time saved is money saved, and that money can be diverted back into making your educational facility as effective as possible.

2. Digital Bulletin Board

Another great cutting edge solution is the digital bulletin board. These can be used to make announcements or display key information. But in the case of a business school, where we are really shooting for that high-tech financial atmosphere while we prepare students for the business world, it pays well to have the bulletin board also display live market data. It all goes toward your institutional "brand."

3. Recognize Important Figures

Digital Donor Recognition Boards offer an amazing way to highlight key figures in your school's success and further saturate your school in a high-tech aura. These types of boards can be used to recognize founders, donors, alumni?the choice is really yours. And the interactive nature of these displays allows users to find their own way through the display, as if reading a story about your institution.

4. Program Information

The essence of your school is really learning, isn't it? And interactive digital signage is also great for displaying program information, where students can take a detailed look at what to expect from certain courses or different academic paths, using touch-tone technology to flip through the options of their choice as if turning the pages of a high-tech catalog. No paper needed...

5. Finance Lab

Finally, a finance lab offers an amazing atmosphere where learning can be brought to the max. A collection of different digital solutions can be used to put together the ultimate business learning environment, bringing your students right into the world they are preparing to enter and putting the world's most high-tech finance tools right at their fingerprints.

This is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the solutions digital technology can provide for business education facilities.

Are You Interested In Learning More About Setting Up a High Tech Environment At Your School Using Top-Notch Digital Technology? Learn More About Digital Directories, Donor Recognition Boards, and Finance Labs at http://www.risedisplay.com/markets/business_school_trading_lab/.

Learning Mandarin - What a Modern Curriculum Needs

Learning Mandarin is not the as hard as most people will tell you. I know because I have done it. The people that say it is near impossible have failed, not because it is impossible, but perhaps because they thought it was impossible, or perhaps because the way that they tried to learn Mandarin was too boring, too inefficient or too unfocused. I will now identify the three greatest barriers to making learning Mandarin interesting, efficient and targeted, and explain my view on how to overcome each.

To illustrate my point I would like to make an analogy to modern medicine. Twenty to thirty years ago doctors used to only treat the stomach if a patient complained about stomach pains. Today there is not partition of systems when treating a patient. Medicine has recognized that the body is interconnected in a way that pure determinism can never hope to capture. If a patient comes in today and complains of stomach pains, one of the first five questions a doctor asks is whether they are busy at work, the reason being that the number one cause of stomach problems

The nature of your studies needs to be similarly holistic. The best way to make your studies interesting is to make them efficient and targeted, because it is progress that makes your learning process feel meaningful. For your mandarin studies to become efficient, you must enjoy you studies, so that you are able to work hard, and they need to be properly target, otherwise you are working hard in a direction that you are not aiming to go. Lastly the very definition of targeted mandarin studies is a process in which you peruse this goal by focusing on relevant content in a structured way.

Now, the three top killers of the kind of holistic process that I am describing above is, in order, bad pronunciation, a flood of generally relevant content, as opposed to personally relevant content, and lastly lack of teacher to student face-to-face time. Now that we have identified the illness we should discuss a remedy. I propose a three-thronged approach.

The first thing we should fix is class size. During the major rise of crime in The United States during the 70's, 80's and 90's the best and the brightest minds of the government wrestled with solutions to crime prevention. Fantastically complex technology was devised and far reaching and multi-complex sociological systems were researched but at the end of the day, one thing stood out as more important than any other. The amount of cops on the street is the only variable that has direct correlation. Twice as many cops leads to twice the ability to police. The key to making mandarin studies interesting therefore starts with this first, one truth. More teachers make for better result in any classroom.

The second thing we should fix is the focus on testable results. What people score on a test is not a perfect measure of success and it should never be put before actual progress because good tests score looks good. That is a pretty bold statement, but it is true in my mind that there is a trade off between HSK performance and actual mandarin usability. Instead of targeting HSK tests, classes should be focused on making students ready to leave the nest and start communicating by them selves. For this, class time should be more devoted on bettering student's pronunciation than it is in most schools today. The aim should be to get people speaking quickly. A small class size, which inherently is a much better environment for individual pointers, holds the key to accomplishing the switch from result oriented to success oriented curricula.

Lastly, we should give students the ability to not only be learning mandarin as a general topic but also be learning the aspects mandarin that suits them most. This, however, is a science by itself and the prescribed length of this entry cannot really survive a detailed discussing on this complex topic.

Instead, to conclude - learning mandarin not easy but it is far far from impossible. The only people that will tell you that is impossible is either people that have not tried, or people that have tried in a way that does not lead to motivation and relevant and interesting real life results.

Rui Ming works for a Mandarin language Academy in Beijing that is a great option for those that want to learn Chinese. If you are interested in more information about learning Chinese in China, please consult the website of Beijing Gateway Academy.

For-Profits Reworking Business Models and Admittance Standards

In an attempt to polish an image tarnished by controversy, for-profit colleges and universities across the nation are amending their business models and enforcing stricter admittance standards for students. The reputation of the for-profit education sector has taken a hit in recent months due to federal probes that uncovered faulty recruiting practices, poor job placement and below average student loan repayment at many of the schools. Now, instead of "courting any student who can pay the tab," for-profit colleges and universities are buckling down, tightening their belts, and hoping that, by revising long-standing, controversial recruiting and admittance practices, new U.S.D.E. regulations won't decimate eligibility for federal funding.

Of the many problems for-profits have been experiencing, lack of adequate career services and low student loan repayment seem to be at the forefront. The allure of many for-profit colleges and universities lies in the career and student services that are offered. For-profit students rely on these services in order to complete a degree and successfully secure employment upon graduation. But, says Jerry Rohde, one for-profit graduate, the services actually offered at many for-profit schools are far less than adequate. And, he says, lack of appropriate services is just one way that for-profit colleges and universities are ultimately failing their students.

Rohde graduated from ITT Technical Institute, a for-profit school with over 100 ground campuses and online degree programs. Rohde tried to utilize the school's career services to find a job and was instead given want ads. And, he says, when he couldn't immediately secure employment post graduation, career services administrators told him to "blame it on the economy." Now, Rohde works for a mortgage company because it's the only way to make payments on the "$40,000 loan I took out to pay my tuition bills."

Although for-profit colleges and universities were quick to fight back when initial U.S.D.E. reports surfaced and new regulations were formulated, the schools are now working with federal officials and school administrators to improve policies so that, experiences like Rohde's, become less and less common. In fact, for profits are now ensuring that measures are taken to effectively retain and successfully graduate qualified students. The University of Phoenix, one of the for-profit sector's largest universities, recently implemented a mandatory orientation program that students are required to take in order to gauge readiness for a higher education curriculum. Many other for-profits schools, both online and ground, are tightening admittance policies and standards. Some for-profit schools will no longer accept student without a high school diploma, others have created programs that help to weed out potentially "unsuccessful students."

Jerry Rohde's lackluster experience with one for profit schools career services, unfortunately, isn't the first. That's why the for-profit sector is working to change the services offered to students and graduates. By focusing on improving student retention and graduation rates, career and student services and job placement and loan repayment rates, the for profit sector will not only be able to preserve federal funding opportunities, they'll also be able to offer their students the quality of education they need and deserve.

Make A Difference In The Lives Of Others - Become a Nurse

Nurses are compassionate and hardworking; they care for others around the clock and make connections with their patients. There are several different paths you can take if you would like to work in the nursing field, but one thing is for certain, you must start with a bachelors degree in nursing.

One sector of the nursing field is neonatal care. Of course, working with infants can be challenging, but saving the life of a tiny baby has its own rewards. Neonatal nurses are skilled in working with tiny equipment and the fragility of newborns. It can be difficult to see newborns struggle in their first stages of life, but these caring professionals that help save their lives receive personal gratitude.

If you choose to work in a private health care facility, such as a nursing home, there are a few things to remember. First, nurses in private nursing homes administer care to patients with whom they build relationships. Patients in these types of settings usually stay for the remainder of their years. In most other situations, RNs may treat patients for a few days, weeks, or months. In nursing homes, the staff forms bonds with their patients because they see them every day for several years. The loss of a patient in this setting may be one of the harder things nurses contend with as they've formed bonds through the years.

The families who have loved ones in hospitals form a certain connection with nurses because they are the ones who are frequently caring for their loved ones. Nurses receive respect from people all over the community, as well as inside their hospitals. People recognize a nursing uniform and address the person wearing it with respect and kindness.

The emergency room is a very fast paced environment that requires many healthcare professionals in one place. Those nursing professionals who choose to work inside emergency see patients as they have just entered the hospital following accidents and in other forms of acute distress. Nurses must be prepared to see some pretty gruesome things in the emergency room.

After earning your bachelors degree in nursing and passing a certification examination, you will be considered a registered nurse. An RN can work anywhere in a hospital or nursing home. Some may choose to return to school to become an ARNP, Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner. An ARNP can practice advanced nursing in four specialized areas: certified nurse midwives, certified nurse registered anesthetics, certified nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialist.

If you have a passion for serving others as well as your country, you may choose to join the military and serve as a registered nurse in any branch of the military. Military nurses have the ability to travel around the world, follow soldiers wherever they need help, and care for wounded soldiers.

Becoming a nurse takes dedication, hard work through nursing college, and lots of compassion. If you choose to enter this field and earn the title of a registered nurse, you can be confident that your career will take you many places. Many students choose to get an online degree that will allow them to participate in work-study or to continue working when advancing their schooling. Every day you will have the opportunity to help those in need of care and make a difference in the lives of others.