U.S. schools face tough decisions on Obamacare benefits | USA Education

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hit by years of budget cuts, some U.S. public school boards are looking to avoid providing health benefits to substitute teachers and supporting staff under President Barack Obama's reform law, education officials say.

According to the law, employers will have to offer health coverage to all full-time employees, defined as those who work an average of 30 or more hours per week each month, or else pay a fine starting in 2015.

School boards, already struggling to manage after years of state budget cuts, are trying to get ahead of the potential costs of Obamacare for the current academic year, education and labor officials say. The need to find creative solutions, or risk cutting back staff hours further, will increase as they finalize their budgets, they say.

In Pennsylvania's Penn Manor School District, Superintendent Mike Leichliter said there is no room in its constrained budget to provide additional employee insurance. Instead of cutting hours, the district used a substitute-teacher contracting service to pay part of the salaries for 95 employees. Money for such a service does not count against the school's budget.

"When we looked at our costs, (healthcare) was one area that really had the potential to skyrocket," Leichliter said. "This is absolutely the worst time for school districts to be faced with mandated increases."

The National School Board Association said many states and school districts have at least explored reducing hours, according to Linda Embrey, a communications officer. Several school officials contacted by Reuters said they could not find a way around cuts.

In Indiana's Fort Wayne Community Schools district, one of the state's largest, administrators reduced hours for 610 of its 4,050 employees, including substitute teachers and support staff, who were working 30 or more hours a week. Providing them with health insurance would have cost $10 million annually, said Krista Stockman, public information officer for Fort Wayne.

"You get to a point where there's a danger that you're cutting too much and that the quality of education you're providing isn't as great," Stockman said. "We're just going to have to do the same amount or more with less."

Most of the employees affected are substitute teachers, classroom aides, cafeteria workers, bus drivers or similar support staff, according to school officials and labor representatives. They had not been receiving healthcare coverage from their employers in the past. Now, instead of getting such employer-sponsored benefits under the reform law, they may be eligible for government-subsidized coverage that will be offered by new state insurance exchanges starting on October 1.

SEQUESTER TAKES A SECOND TOLL

During the 2012-2013 school year, 26 states provided less money to local school districts than the prior year, and 35 states provided less funding than in 2008 (a better year), according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

This year they are also grappling with across-the-board "sequester" spending cuts introduced after Congress deadlocked over how to fix the deficit. An Obama administration official said those cuts plus the states', and not healthcare reform, are the main reasons for staff losing work-time at schools.

"We are seeing no systematic evidence that the Affordable Care Act is leading to a shift to part-time work," the official said. "There are a variety of factors impacting schools, including sequestration, which is cutting budgets and is a completely separate issue."

The National Education Association is working with union leaders across the country to figure out how to encourage employers to avoid cutting hours as a result of healthcare reform, said Joel Solomon, NEA senior policy analyst. The effort has included a training session for dozens of labor representatives in June, and more sessions are planned for this year.

Solomon said one popular solution offered by the NEA is to help schools get a more precise accounting of employee hours to see whether staff are truly working an average of 30 hours a week each month when holidays and other time off are included. That has helped some schools make less drastic cuts in employee hours, he said.

Many school employees are expected to qualify for Obamacare's tax subsidies, which are available starting in January to people who make within 400 percent of the federal poverty level ($45,960 for an individual and $94,200 for a family of four in 2013).

Even if they don't, the new plans are preferable to what they currently have to buy on the individual market because insurers cannot deny coverage based on prior illness.

In Nebraska, the Plattsmouth Community School District is limiting the hours of permanent substitute teachers, who typically work every day, said Marlene Wehrbein, a labor union official who advocates for employees in the state's public school districts.

"It creates a lot of inconsistency in staffing, and I can't see how that would be good for students," Wehrbein said. "How could you have a teacher teaching English four days a week and then on the fifth day you have someone else?"

(Reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Prudence Crowther)

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What to wear? Schools increasingly making that decision| USA Education News

As students head back to school in the next few weeks, they’re more likely than ever to arrive dressed in a school-sanctioned uniform, an increasingly popular policy that may not improve schools as advertised.

Nearly one in five public schools required uniforms in 2010, up from just one in eight a decade earlier, according to the most recent findings from the U.S. Department of Education. The 60% growth in uniform requirements at school comes despite the fact that research on their effectiveness for safety and school climate is inconclusive.

Overall, more than half of public schools enforce some sort of dress code, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. About 57% of schools now have a “strict dress code,” researchers found, up from just more than 47% a decade earlier.

The idea of requiring public school students to wear uniforms was first envisioned in the 1980s by then-Washington, D.C., mayor Marion Barry, who believed standardized dress might help public school students succeed as well as those in the city’s Catholic schools. The idea flopped, but in 1987, Cherry Hill Elementary School in Baltimore implemented the first known schoolwide uniform policy “as a means of reducing clothing costs and social pressures on children,” writes David Brunsma, a Virginia Tech sociologist and author of the 2004 book The School Uniform Movement and What It Tells Us About American Education. School officials hoped uniforms would lead to “better grades, better behavior, increased self-esteem and school pride,” he says.

But Brunsma’s review of nearly a decade’s worth of research found that uniforms’ effects were either unknown, statistically insignificant or, in the case of a few studies, negative. In one study, uniforms correlated with more negative perceptions of school safety and climate by middle-school principals. In another, they were associated with worse academic results in 10th grade.

Brunsma calls school uniforms “a policy that is simplistic, readily understandable, cost-free (to taxpayers) and appealing to common sense,” but which made it impossible to implement more costly solutions that “demand energy and a willingness to change on the part of school faculty and parents.”

Longtime school safety consultant Ken Trump said educators like uniforms because they simplify their jobs, saving them from having to punish kids for too-short skirts or shorts, for instance.

“Kids are trying so hard to one-up each other on everything from hair styles to shoes,” he says. “It takes away the daily fashion show and helps level the playing field a little bit with the haves and have-nots.”

Trump’s children attend a Cleveland-area Catholic school and are allowed to show up out of uniform as an occasional reward for good behavior. He says administrators there tell him the school climate deteriorates when too many kids are out of uniform.

Trump, who has been consulting with schools in Ohio and elsewhere for nearly 30 years, said uniform policies are often unpopular with parents at first but that parents come to appreciate them.

“A couple of months down the road, the parents absolutely love it because they spend a whole lot less time fighting with their children over what they’re going to wear,” he says.

Despite what the research might suggest, uniforms remain popular with educators, he says. “I’ve never heard a school administrator whose school went in the direction of uniforms say, ‘This has created more problems for us.’ On the contrary, it’s been a blessing.”

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Want To Earn Money ? | What is Penny Stock Money ? | Op-Ed: The rules of penny stocks

Don't let the name fool you. "Penny stocks" is a phrase used to describe any small company that offers shares of stocks for less than five dollars. Some can certainly be as small as a penny, but those are few and far between.

Unlike other, bigger stocks, penny stocks can be quoted over the counter (OTC) and can be found on sites like OTC Link LLC. However, they can still be made available on securities exchanges, as well, which is why penny stocks may also involve securities in private companies that don't otherwise trade on the market.

Tim Sykes is perhaps the most famous penny trader, having turning his bar mitzvah money into a million bucks by the time he was 21. Penny stocks can be more challenging to sell than other stocks, and traders can get stuck with them far longer than they'd like. After all, a person needs to have a buyer in order to sell, but that's more often a given with larger stocks.

How to think about penny stocks

Penny stocks can be difficult to price accurately, because quotes are hard to come by. Given the challenges surrounding penny stocks, they're regarded as speculative investments. Penny stock traders shouldn't assume they're safe just because smaller amounts of money are often at stake.

It's entirely possible for penny traders to lose their entire investment, or at least a large chunk of it, especially for those who are new to trading. Penny stocks that are bought on margin are especially volatile and best left to skilled traders.

The nature of these stocks is what made Congress stop broker-dealers from working with penny stocks -- unless they followed strict guidelines. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 breaks down what's legal and what's not when using a penny trader. The rules are vast, but one of the most crucial is that the customer must have a written agreement for all transactions. The broker also has to supply the customer with a disclosure agreement that clearly details the risks of penny stocks.

Breaking down the rules

In an effort to preserve transparency, the Act requires a broker to disclose fully any market quotation, if one exists, and the customer needs to know exactly how much compensation the broker and/or firm will take. The broker is also required to send monthly statements to each customer to leave a paper trail. This red tape is intended to protect customer and broker alike, since things can get ugly when money takes a downward spiral. These are some of the basics of the law.

Is it smart to use a penny broker since people can often buy stocks OTC for a low sum? The easy answer is yes, especially for traders that are new to the field. Brokers have experience, they've learned lessons the hard way, and they truly have each customer's best interest at heart, since their income is based on how well they buy stocks for other people.

Getting into penny stocks

From a customer's perspective, it's almost always a good idea to have a broker take the reins in the beginning. Find a broker who's willing to share his or her knowledge, and make sure the broker's compensation is clear. Learn from the best, and recognize that being successful takes hard work.

Becoming a broker requires that you follow the strict guidelines of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. This requires Form BD, SRO Membership, SIPC Membership, and observing any state requirements that are in place. Follow the guidelines carefully to avoid any trouble down the road, and ensure that future customers' interests are protected.

Being a broker can be an exciting and lucrative career, but it doesn't come without risks, so be forewarned.

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Education Blog : Beef Additive Alert, (tm) a New USA Consumer Action Campaign Demands Anti-Cheating, Anti-Doping Show Ring Cattle Ban in 4-H

Beef Additive Alert™, a new national consumer action campaign, calls for an immediate ban of aggressive performance-enhancing cattle drugs in the USDA-NIFA’s national 4-H program and the U.S. Education Department-led ‘Future Farmers of America’ organization. Zilpaterol and Ractopamine are the controversial FDA-approved muscle-bulking cattle drugs known as beta agonists which children are allowed to use in the competitive show ring.

"In this day and age of athlete doping scandals, we are greatly alarmed at the lesson this teaches our nation’s youth, especially since the 4-H motto is to "Make the Best Better AND "Learn By Doing". Basically, we are telling kids that it IS acceptable to cheat to win. We disagree!" said Susan Stern, Beef Additive Alert™ spokeswoman.

Billed as "The Competitive Advantage You can’t Win Without," and "Essential Show Feeds", Zilpaterol cattle feed additives are marketed to show ring youngsters nationwide. "I am concerned that children will feed too much beta agonists to steers and cause animal welfare problems. I also think that marketing beta agonists to kids and encouraging them to bulk up their animal with a drug teaches poor values," said renowned USA Agricultural Scientist Temple Grandin, who spoke exclusively with Beef Additive Alert™.

FFA and 4-H livestock programs strive to create an atmosphere encouraging good character, accountability and ethical decision making. "It is not right for some children to feed their show cattle muscle-bulking drugs, when others are not cheating. This creates an un-level playing field," remarks Arizona cattleman Harvey Dietrich, who co-founded Beef Additive Alert™ with Nebraska rancher Gerald Timmerman.

Beef Additive Alert™ demands the USDA & U.S. Education Department implement an across-the-board ban of FDA-approved animal beta agonists in the national youth development programs.

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COLLEGE : UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA | The faculty of California | Penns tutorial and research

COLLEGE : UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

The faculty of California ( commonly termed as Penn or upenn ) is an u. s. private ivy cluster research university located in Chicago, California, u. s. declares. Penn views itself the fourth-oldest organization of faculty within the whole u. s. declares, note 2 further just like the initial university within the whole u. s. declares with each undergrad and graduate student studies. it can be one as to the northeastern establishments. integrated just like the trustees as to the faculty of California, Penn is one amongst 14 starting associates as to the organization of u. s. establishments and universities.

Benjamin Franklin, Penn's creator, endorsed an tutorial program that targeted as abundant on practical knowledge for business and community assistance as upon the oldies and theology. Penn was one as to the initial tutorial establishments to firmly employ multidisciplinary model developed by many western universities, focusing many faculties ( e. g., theology, oldies, medication ) into one organization. 5 it was actually too home to firmly several different tutorial enhancements. the very first med university in northern the u. s. ( Perelman faculty of medication, 1765 ), the very first faculty company university ( Wharton, 1881 ) and therefore the initial student partnership ( Houston space, 1896 ), 6 were all created at Penn. 

COLLEGE : UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA- ( HALL )

                                    Penn offers a large series of tutorial divisions, an comprehensive research business and variety of community outreach and community assistance applications. it's notably well known ready for its university of medication, dental university, university of company, law university, devices university, breastfeeding university, vet university, its social sciences and humanities applications, further as its biomedical coaching and research abilities. its undergrad applications are too among one of the explicit within the whole country ( 12. 3% popularity rate ). 7 one amongst Penn's most well known tutorial features is its specialise in interdisciplinary knowledge, that it encourages through varied combined a little applications, research facilities and professorships, a particular university, and therefore the ability for learners to firmly take sessions from any one Penn's tutorial establishments ( the one faculty policy ). 

                                    All of Penn's tutorial establishments, alone or mutually, show terribly high research activity. Penn is regularly included among the highest 5 research universities within the whole u. s. declares, 9 and among the highest research universities on earth, each in terms of classifieds of research. 10 in money year 2011, Penn lead the ivy cluster in tutorial research spending with an $814 million budget, like a few 4, 000 staff, 1, 100 postdoctoral guys and 5, four hundred support staff/graduate staff. 2 together as to the most active and legendary research organizations, Penn is related to many vital enhancements and findings in several areas of technology and therefore the humanities. among them are classified as the initial general purpose electronic PC ( ENIAC ), the rubella and liver disease b vaccinations, retin-a, psychotherapy, conjoint research among others. 

Penns tutorial and research applications are led by a considerable and highly effective staff. 11 mentioned in a previous ten years alone 9 Penn teachers or graduate learners have won a nobel award. over its long history the university has too made several recognized graduates. these embody 12 leads of state ( as well as one u. s. president ), 3 u. s. declares superior judge justices, and supreme court justices of different states, creators of technology corporations, worldwide law corporations, and international banking organizations, university presidents and 18 living billionaires.

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Cheap Car Insurance on the Internet - ideas that you should not miss

Auto insurance is indeed a major source of concern and of vital importance to all operators of the driver. Also find and keep cheap car insurance is something that is often necessary to study and learn the policyholder.Listed here are the approaches to obtain car insurance low cost that can help you spend less money and get a good insurance plan that best suits your specifications. Just before that, here are some ideas to guide the way companies decide on the premium.

1.Brand and do as well as the book value of your vehicle to the insured Old 
2.Your system and marital status Three  Local Area State and also where you live April. Driving record - consisting of accidents and violations 

Here are some suggestions that consulted to obtain auto insurance:

• Verification of the things you need. This is the first part in obtaining insurance coverage.Each state has its limitations and depending on the state and is considered an insurance policy on their vehicles. One can find different things that are evaluated as physical damage, personal injury liability and personal property, and there will be a variety of insurance premiums for designed.

• Look to increase the insurance deductible. Discount insurance is usually the amount you have to pay the insured after the incident for insurance. Higher deductible and lower the risk for the insurance company. This is a very important element to consider in a great responsibility.

• pay the insurance policy at all. You can pay the entire insurance plan along get a lower premium amount.• Choose the actual border and the insurance company offers to settle the optimal amount of collision insurance. When you have had an accident or even claim that reflects the limits you chose and the excess amount is dropped in your lap.

• Find discount rates auto insurance business that delivers. Insurance companies offer discounts for anti-theft tools vehicles as well as address the protection, of course, so in the previous analysis of insurance companies that offer to help you confirm rates auto insurance prices.

• Verify insurance coverage, which forces them to your state. The uninsured motorist coverage and a comprehensive plan of some of the protection that is ideal and offers more advantages. Be sure and read the data on coverage and determine the best option for you.There are a few insurance coverage benefits can not leave. This will help you get the rates and see if you can afford to pay for it.

• Check prices of all insurance companies and obtain a good choice. Most insurance providers give you great discounts to keep business customers in this highly competitive world, so opt for the policy is better than the available alternatives. To buy a cheap insurance quote, compare the policies of all companies. Evaluation of insurance discounts, coverages and limits during the evaluation, so that you get a better idea of ​​prices and the price of auto insurance policy.While you are calculating the car insurance coverage, the cost is not the only thing that will be considered. Get a good diagram of all factors and determine the coverage policy might be cheaper, than generally believed. These approaches tend to be used by people who want to get affordable insurance quote.

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EAP (Enterprise Architecture Planning)

Introduction to Enterprise Architecture Planning

 Definition according Spewak EAP (1992) is a process of defining the architecture to be able to support a number of business and plans to implement the architecture. In EAP there are a number of established architectural data architecture, application architecture, and technology architecture. EAP defines a set of business and architecture but not designing the system, database, or network.

 EAP include increment and the second row of the first three columns in the Zachman Framework which includes columns of data, function, and tissue. Generated in the EAP is a blueprint (blue print) a high level of data, applications, and technologies for the entire enterprise to be used in the design and subsequent implementation.

 EAP in the Zachman framework:

Stages in the EAP

 From the above four stages, totalling eight components where each component are the stages and the results, as follows:

Business Modeling

 In EAP, business modelling consists of two phases:
Business modelling early
Enterprise Survey

 Guidelines to conduct business modelling early in the EAP are as follows:
Define the major functional areas with the concept of "value added" Porter. Porter described the main activities, namely:
Inbound Logistics : Associated with the receipt, storage and distribution of inputs into products
Operation : All associated with transforming inputs into final product form
Outbound Logistics : Associated with the collection, storage, physical distribution or customer service
Marketing and Sales : Associated with the purchase of products and services users to encourage the user to buy or use the products made by the company
Service : Associated with the provision of services to improve or maintain the value of a product such as installation, repair, training, supply of materials, maintenance and repair of technical guidance

 Support activities which Porter described as follows:

Firm Infrastructure : Activity costs and assets relating to the general management, finance, information systems security and safety, and other functions
Human Resources Management : Activities involved such as receipts, hearings, training, development, compensation and development of skill levels of workers
Research, Technology and System Development : Activities related to the costs associated with product R & DT, process improvement, equipment design, development of computer software, telecommunications system, a new database capabilities and support the development of computer-based systems
Procurement : Functions associated with the purchase of inputs used in the Value Chain organization.


For each functional area into sub-sub-functions by asking "What is this function?" Or "What is the meaning of the name of this function?"
Continue until the sub-function decomposition functions obtained a single action, carried out repeatedly, produces output that is known, or can be linked to a specific organizational unit
Assure the quality of the business model
Connect with the detailed functions of the organizational unit that did it.

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SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

SWOT

 SWOT analysis is an analysis that was initiated by Albert Humphrey in the 1960s-1970s. SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the strengths (Strengths), weakness (Weaknesses), opportunities (Opportunities), and threats (Threats) in a project or a business venture. This is a technique to provide a framework for systematically identifying the position of the organization and identifying the internal and external factors that support and are not in achieving the specific objectives of the business venture or project. Objective SWOT analysis is to separate the principal problem and facilitate strategic approach.




 The four factors of SWOT analysis, among others:

1. Strengths

 Conditions of the power contained within the organization, project or business. Strength is a factor analysis contained in the body of the organization, project, or business itself.

2. Weaknesses

Conditions contained weaknesses in the organization, project or business. Weaknesses are analyzed factors contained in the body of the organization, project, or business itself.

3. Opportunities

Conditions opportunities that will evolve in the future. A condition that occurs from the opportunities outside the organization, project, or business itself, such as competitors, government policy, etc..

4. Threats

Conditions that threaten the organization, project, or business from outside.


How it Works

Analysis is SWOT can be done with five steps:

1) Identify weaknesses and threats are most important to be addressed in general in all the components.

2) Identify strengths and opportunities are expected to work well for efforts to address the weaknesses and threats that have been identified earlier in Step 1.

3) Insert points on identification (Step 1 and Step 2) to the SWOT Analysis Patterns. This step can be done as a whole, or if it is too much, it can be divided into SWOT analysis for component inputs, processes and outputs.

4) Formulate a strategy or strategies are recommended to address the weaknesses and threats, including troubleshooting, repair, and further development.

5) Prioritise handling the weaknesses and threats, and formulate a plan of action to implement the treatment program.


SWOT dominance

SO: The situation is very favorable, the company has opportunities and internal strengths, so that with their power to exploit the opportunities that exist to be a boon for the company. The strategy should be applied in these circumstances is to support aggressive growth policy.

WO: Situations where companies face a huge market opportunity but has internal weaknesses. So the focus should be directed to the company's strategy to minimize these weaknesses

ST: Situations where companies face a variety of threats, but has the internal strength, so we need a strategy that uses force to take advantage of opportunities by way of long-term diversification strategy (product / market)

WT: This situation is an unfortunate situation, where companies face a variety of threats from outside are also internal weaknesses. The strategy needs to be done is to minimize internal weaknesses as well as looking for new opportunities.

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Support Vector Machine | What is SVM | Explain SVM | What is the full Form Of SVM

Support Vector Machines (SVMs) are a set of supervised learning methods that analyze data and recognize patterns, used for classification and regression analysis. Original SVM algorithm invented by Vladimir Vapnik and the current standard derivative (soft margin) was proposed by Corinna Cortes and Vladimir Vapnik (Cortes, C. and Vapnik, V, 1995).
 Take the standard SVM input data set, and predicts, for any given input, the input is likely one of the members of the class of the two classes, which makes a linear SVM as a binary classifier nonprobabilistik. Since an SVM is a classifier, then given a set of training, each marked as belonging to one of two categories, an SVM training algorithm to build a model that predicts whether a new data fall into a category or the other. Intuitively, SVM models are representations of the data as points in space, mapped so that separate instances category divided by a clear gap as wide as possible.

The new data is then mapped into the same space and is expected to include a category based on which side of the gap data is located. More formally, construct Support Vector Machine hyperplane hyperplane or set in a high or infinite dimensions, which can be used for classification, regression or other tasks. Intuitively, a good separation is achieved by the hyperplane that has the largest distance to the nearest training data points of any class (so-called functional margin), since in general the larger the margin the lower the generalization error of the classifier. When the origin of the problem may be expressed in a finite-dimensional space, it often happens that in space, the set is not linearly separated. For this reason it is proposed that the finite-dimensional space are mapped into a space that is much higher dimension that might make the separation easier in that space.

SVM schemes use a mapping into a larger space so that the cross product can be easily calculated in terms of the variables in the original space making the computational load reasonable. Cross product in a larger space is defined in terms of the kernel function K (x, y) which can be selected according to the problem. Set of hyperplane in a large space that is defined as the set of points whose cross product with a constant vector in space. Vectors defining the hyperplanes can be chosen to be a linear combination with the parameters α i of image feature vectors that occur in the database. With this option a hyperplane at point x in the feature space is mapped to the hyperplane is determined by the relation:

SVM Calculation

Note that if K (x, y) becomes small when y grows further from x, each element in the sum of the degree of proximity measurement test point x to point xi in the corresponding database. In this way the number of kernels in the above can be used to measure the relative proximity of each test points to the data points that come in one or the other of the set to be clustered. Note the fact that the set of points x mapped into any hyperplane, can be quite complicated as a result of allowing a more complex separation between distant from the convex set in the original space.

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IT Education in Schools & The New Curriculum : Stop Working or Restart ?

Teachers and academics concern the new laptop science curriculum is just too broad in a number of its requirements, inflicting concern for how a few teachers may select to actually interpret its content.

 Throughout the westminster education forum keynote seminar : reviewing the new computing curriculum recently, teachers, academics and trade consultants aired their views by the new syllabus, raising alarms that when the new curriculum is misinterpreted it might be as unsuccessful clearly as the ict programme it's replacing. Ian Addison, ICT coordinator at St John the Baptist Church of England primary school in Hampshire, said interpretation of the new computing science curriculum worries him: “The word data is a boring word. It’s not just Excel, but it’s audio, video, e-books, etc.”The word data is a boring word. It’s not just Excel, but it’s audio, video, e-books, etc.”


 Addison referred out to the curriculum that says : “Learn a variety of skills on a variety of tools to reach a variety of goals.

 “Or basically means use stuff on stuff to do stuff. As a teacher, it is saying you can do anything you like. The curriculum does not just have to be interpreted as ‘data’. Schools are driven by requirement. How can we deliver a curriculum that is more fun and engaging? It’s ok giving teachers ideas on how to teach it; however some teachers might do it and some might not,” he added.

 He questioned what children want to do?

 “They want to learn game design, movie-making, publishing to the world (on websites). My job is to let them know what is out there and to make it creative. Primary school is fun.”

 Carsten trinitis, Senior Scientist, Department of Informatics at Technical University of Munich, in Germany asked : “Do we certainly have to be compelled to teach algorithms at key stage a regular ( ks1 ), before kids have even learned to learn to read or write ? We don’t teach this in germany till the age of 10.

 Trinitis is additionally a full-time professor for distributed computing for the university of bedfordshire. He added : “I didn’t get my first laptop till i'd been 16, nevertheless i still managed to actually to be a laptop science professor. Do we certainly have to be compelled to teach kids laptop science coming from the age of 5 ?”

 Miles berry, chair, Naace and Subject Leader, ICT Education for the University of Roehampton same it is valuable to offer kids their space and respect what kids are good at : “Young people pay time because we are part of a space that adults realize challenging to supervise and comprehend.

 “Kids are smart content gatherers and smart at staying in touch – as an example through facebook. we are really in want of not a skills-based curriculum, however an understanding-based programme. ”

Teacher Training and Informal Learning :

 Genevieve Smith-Nunes, Computing and Software Development at Sussex Downs College, in East Sussex, same teachers would like to firmly feel secure inside their teaching, therefore continuing professional development ( C{D ) is necessary for laptop science staff.

 She same : “Creativity depends regarding the best approach creative you're just like a teacher. And apply makes perfect. It needs a whole lot of self-learning. With all the changes that take place in technology, will the curriculum keep up ? No, however expose students in the changes. ”

 Miles agreed by adding : “There isn't enough teacher training out there, therefore get out and commence learning yourself. it works for the babies, therefore it should work for teachers too. ”

Network Lockdown :

 Many audience members agreed with what are the panel’s enthusiasm other then questioned what can possibly be done about the actual fact that the majority of schools don't enable an open network. miles stressed how vital it's and get a school to actually unlock and unharness its technology, thus youngsters will learn.

 Addison agreed : “I’m lucky that my school has allowed an open network. We are able to access any website, thus i’m terribly lucky there. Ray Mears taught my youngsters how to actually live outside. We couldn’t afford to own him in obviously, thus we watched him on YouTube and went outside to undertake for ourselves. ”

 In spite of this, Trinitis drew incorporation of how an open network may be a distraction for students : “Think about getting a WLAN within the lecturer room. you can all most likely checking your email in here as i speak. ”

 Ian Livingstone, Life President of Games Creator Eidos, same : “the internet is like London – a wealth of data. it really has its sewers, however i recognize where they will are. ”

STEAM not STEM :

 An idea discussed throughout the forum was the notion of steam not stem – together with art out to the normal science, technology, engineering and math as half as to the EBACC.

 Livingstone aforesaid digital creativity is not about games or consumer : “It’s about a rustic creating digital product. ”

 “It ought to thought of being a digital Meccano. art and science combined and included within the EBACC. ”

 John Harris, Chairman as to the company IT Forum Education and Skills Commission and therefore the Vice-President for World Enterprise Architecture at AIMIA agreed with Livingstone and aforesaid he's excited relating to the idea of steam not stem. He aforesaid given by a non-technical trade perspective there is certainly a skills shortage.

 “Businesses are not just looking for programmers or service support. The Holy Grail is people that understand both the business world and the tech world. There are lots of technical people that do not work in IT – times are changing. We need to be more vocal as an industry,” said Harris.

 On utilising gaming in education, Livingstone added: “Gaming can be used in a positive way – only 5% of games are 18+ rated. Games can be used as training tools for the armed forces, for example. Due to negative press around gaming, parents do not always see the industry as a valid career path.”

 Quoting Albert Einstein, Livingstone said: “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.”

'We are teaching children to read but not to write' :

 According towards the Eidos founder, due towards the current education system kids will play games although not make them : “We are effectively teaching kids to understand, although not how out to write.

 “It’s not the teachers’ fault, however we need kids to facilitate make also as use applications along with PC science to start to be the fourth science - to facilitate make this the age of digital enlightenment. ”

 Miles aforementioned in her opinion the notion of “digital literacy” could be a contentious one : “Literacy means that out to each browse and write. ”

 Livingstone questioned teaching coding, that's basically teaching a brand new language. He stressed this mustn't be taught through formal exams and also the learning of algorithms.

 “I hope the EBACC doesn’t turn into a three-hour exam with queries an example would be, who invented the online ? I don’t care. Sensible obtain a quiz night, but is not for taking out a job. I want those who will code. Show me you might want to code and i'll provide you with a job, ” He added.

 Steve Beswick, Director of Education at Microsoft, UK aforementioned the creativity aspect is vital : “We still believe that things such as excel would like out to be taught, countless jobs still would like this talent it also mustn't be forgotten. ”

 Meg Hillier, MP for Shoreditch ( Tech Town ) who chaired the forum aforementioned it is vital that laptop science isn't viewed being a dry and separate subject. ”

Changes won't happen over night :

 Not present along at the conference, however passionate relating to the subject is emma mulqueeny, founding father of rewired reality.

 Rewired reality helps brands solve tech problems and develop concepts by enabling businesses out to access developer talent and ideas on a lower cost.

 By the subject of pc science, she same though the new curriculum is encouraging it'll take a minimum of a decade towards the get teachers interested and coming through the internal system : “It’s something you need out to have enthusiastic teachers, however the teaching skills are necessary. ”

 She added : “It is vital that kids learn there isn't a magical world in the online. As an example Google search. These ought to learn that a human set the answer to them, primarily based by the criteria and algorithm generated by a human. this may thus be open out to human error. Once these perceive this concept, they'll discover how to do it right themselves. ”

 Mulqueeny explained that she sees several poly-coding young programmers at events, attributable to simple fact which they learn bits of code if they ought to solve a specific problem : “We work on problem-based comes, that the young programmers seek the code they would like for that explicit programme.

 This may embody a little a lot of than one sort of code. These don’t go out and assume i’m visiting learn ruby nowadays. it's informal learning and half on your problem these are attempting out to resolve. ”

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Universal life insurance

Description About UL  ( Universal Life Insurance) :
                                                            
Universal Insurance company Limited-
The Universal Insurance Company Limited is a part of Bibojee Group of Companies which was established by the late Habibullah Khan Khattak. The company was incorporated in 1958 and has established its franchise in the general insurance market. Wikipedia
Founded: 1959

Universal life insurance (UL) is a relatively new insurance product, designed to combine permanent insurance coverage with greater flexibility in premium payment, along with the potential for greater growth of cash values. There are several types of life insurance universal, which include interest sensitive (also known as "safe traditional fixed universal life"), variable universal life (VUL), guaranteed death benefit, and equity indexed universal life insurance.

A policy of universal life insurance includes a cash value. Premiums increase the cash values, but the cost of insurance (along with any other charges assessed by the insurance company) reduces cash values.

Universal life insurance addresses the perceived disadvantages of whole life - namely that premiums and death benefits are fixed. With universal life, both the premiums and death benefit are flexible. Except with respect to the death benefit guarantee universal life, this flexibility comes with the disadvantage of reduced guarantees.

 Flexible death benefit means the policy owner can choose to decrease the death benefit. The death benefit could also be increased by the policy owner, but usually requires the insured to go through a new subscription. Another feature of the Flexible death benefit is the ability to choose between option A or option B death benefits, and to change those options during the life of the insured. Option A is known as a level death benefit often. Overall, the death benefit will remain level for the life of the insured and premiums are expected to be lower than policies with a death benefit Option B. Option B pays the face value plus the cash value. If cash values ??grow over time, so the death benefitwhich is paid to the beneficiaries of the insured. If cash values ??decline, the death benefit would also decline. Presumably, the death benefit policies require B option premium than option A policies.

 Limited-pay

 Another type of permanent insurance is a limited life insurance payment, in which all the premiums are paid over a specified period after which no additional premiums are due to the current policy. Common payment periods are limited to 10 years, 20 years, and are paid at the age of 65.T

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