Thursday 8 August 2013

Social media in the classroom: too risky?

Social media in the classroom
There are now more than 500 million users on Facebook, half of whom log on every day. Social media has transformed the way that people communicate with their friends, share their experiences and plan their lives but it’s also created new challenges and special problems for schools.

Teachers face the risk that their private lives might be exposed or that students may use the sites inappropriately.

Yet some schools are already harnessing the power of Facebook and Twitter to excite students about education.

We thought we would assess this by considering whether the pros outweigh the cons of using social media sites in education, particularly now that social media is such an integral part of students’ lives.

Thursday 1 August 2013

40% rise in students with private tutors

Private tutoring vs. online alternatives
As the summer break gets under way, reports from the BBC and The Guardian suggest that parents will be turning their attention to hiring private tutors for their children.

The Guardian’s tuition report, released in April 2013, revealed that in the past year all of the private tuition businesses polled experienced a significant growth in the number of students applying, with some recording a rise of over 40 per cent.