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"Think back to 2005. Since the dot-com bust, there had been a steep and steady decline in undergraduate enrollments in computer science, with no end in sight. The computer science community was wringing its hands, worried about the survival of their departments on campuses. Unlike many of my colleagues, I saw a different, much rosier future for computer science. I saw that computing was going to be everywhere. I argued that the use of computational concepts, methods and tools would transform the very conduct of every discipline, profession and sector. Someone with the ability to use computation effectively would have an edge over someone without. So, I saw a great opportunity for the computer science community to teach future generations how computer scientists think. Hence "computational thinking." I must admit, I am surprised and gratified by how much progress we have made in achieving this vision: Computational thinking will be a fundamental skill used by everyone in the world by the middle of the 21st century. By fundamental, I mean as fundamental as reading, writing and arithmetic."

"Compared with how academic research was carried out in the pre-internet era, It seems like technology is really a godsend gift to researchers. From easy and unlimited access to journal articles to web tools that do the referencing and auto-syncing, everything has been digitized making it way easier for todays researchers to add to the body of the human knowledge than any time in history. As a web 2.0 researcher and a graduate student in the faculty of education in Mount Saint Vincent University, I have had the chance to experiment with a wide variety of web tools that can make your academic life much more easier. Below are some of the web tools I have been recommending to undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate and PHD students, and professors. Check them out below and make sure you share them with your colleagues, they could be in dire need for them. Enjoy"

"Women have long been underrepresented among undergraduates in computer science and engineering for a complex variety of reasons. A new study by University of Washington researchers identifies a main culprit for that disparity: inaccurate stereotypes depicting computer scientists and engineers as geeky, brilliant and socially awkward males. And they say broadening those stereotypes is key to attracting more girls to the two fields."

"From ambitious entrepreneurs to casual meet-up participants, women are proactive about engaging with STEM and with other women in their field. Besides their shared affinity with science, tech, engineering, and math, they often find that they have another thing in common. Many of these women can recall a time when they walked into a classroom or office, looked around, and noticed that they were sharing the space with an overwhelming majority of men. This was the experience of Nicole Messier, a former student of aerospace engineering, who recalls that she had sparse female role models, teachers, or peers in her undergraduate program. Instead of following a traditional aerospace career, Messier instead decided to help change STEM's evident gender imbalance. She is now the CEO of blink blink, a purveyor of creative circuit kits that help beginners get their feet wet with simple electronics, arts & crafts with embedded circuitry, and wearable fashion technology. Not only did she co-found the company, she also collaboratively designed the kits with the very girls that they're made for."

"All of my classes, regardless of student age or demographics - elementary gifted students or graduate students, begin with ice-breakers and team-building activities.  I recently developed a passion for using students' mobile devices to do so as this devices have become natural and personalized extensions of students' "selves." What follows are several of the mobile-driven ice-breakers I recently used in an undergraduate course on Interpersonal Relations.  I also include some student reactions to these activities."

"The "maker movement" can play an important role in getting kids interested in innovation and design, and littleBits-which makes easy-to-use electronic building blocks-is finding itself at the center of this movement. Until now, the company has focused mostly on the consumer market, but during a March 8 keynote session, littleBits founder and CEO Ayah Bdeir announced a new kit made specifically for schools. "We want to unleash the inventor in everyone," Bdeir said. In a conversation with Education Week, Bdeir said schools need to find ways to make science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) education more fun, engaging, and accessible for students. "I studied engineering, and almost on a weekly basis I wanted to quit," she said. "We need to find ways of approaching STEAM education differently." Bdeir said her experience in learning engineering as an undergraduate was "completely hands-off; as a result, many other students and I were turned off to it." But when she arrived at the MIT Media Lab for her master's of science degree, "it was the exact opposite. Every week was a new project, a new learning challenge. It was very scary, but also exhilarating and engaging." That's the experience her company is trying to replicate for students at all levels with the new STEAM Student Set."

"When Joanne Atlee was an undergraduate student in computer science, more than a third of her class was made up of women. In graduate school, those ranks began to thin out, a decline that has continued through much of her career as a professor at the University of Waterloo. "All of a sudden I am an instructor at Waterloo and 10 per cent of the class is female and it's 'Oh no, what happened?'""

"I was painfully bored during my K-12 education. I looked forward to college anticipating that it would be different - more engaging, more interesting, more innovative. I was wrong. My undergraduate education, except for a few bright spots, was just an extension of my K-12 education including more grill and drill with sages on the stages (literally since I went to such a large university); taking notes and taking lots of multiple choice tests. During my freshman year, I thought that if I had one wish, it would be to change the educational system (which has stayed with me ever since). One of those bright spots was being asked to read Carl Rogers, Freedom to Learn, which was published 1969 in an upper level Educational Psychology course. The big aha for me was that school systems should be focused on helping learners develop the skills for how to learn not what to learn, one that was sorely lacking in most of my K-graduate-level education and a concept and goal that as an educator I've held onto ever since."

"Please, No More Professional Development! By Peter DeWitt on April 17, 2015 8:10 AM Today's guest blog is written by Kristine Fox (Ed.D), Senior Field Specialist/Research Associate at Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations (QISA). She is a former teacher and administrator who has passion for teacher learning and student voice. Kris works directly with teachers and leaders across the country to help all learners reach their fullest potential. Peter DeWitt recently outlined why "faculty meetings are a waste of time." Furthering on his idea, most professional development opportunities don't offer optimal learning experiences and the rare teacher is sitting in her classroom thinking "I can't wait until my district's next PD day." When I inform a fellow educator that I am a PD provider, I can read her thoughts - boring, painful, waste of time, useless, irrelevant - one would think my job is equal to going to the dentist (sorry to my dentist friends). According to the Quaglia Institute and Teacher Voice and Aspirations International Center's National Teacher Voice Report only 54% percent of teachers agree "Meaningful staff development exists in my school." I can't imagine any other profession being satisfied with that number when it comes to employee learning and growth. What sense does it make for the science teacher to spend a day learning about upcoming English assessments? Or, for the veteran teacher to learn for the hundredth time how to use conceptual conflict as a hook. Why does education insist everyone attend the same type of training regardless of specialization, experience, or need? As a nod to the upcoming political campaigns and the inevitable introduction of plans with lots of points, here is my 5 Point Plan for revamping professional development. 5 Point Plan Point I - Change the Term: Semantics Matter We cannot reclaim the term Professional Development for teachers. It has a long, baggage-laden history of conformity that does not

Bachelor of Arts or BA is, as the name suggests, an undergraduate program that can be done after clearing the 2 exam. It is perhaps the oldest known degree course in the history of the world education systems.

Bcom is one of the best courses. B.com is an undergraduate course that helps students to acquire managerial skills and to develop a business mindset. B.com from distance education is an excellent opportunity to improve your managerial and accounting skills. Candidates can do the study without going to college or institute regularly.

The Distance MBA institute provides an excellent course curriculum to complete the course and thereby get the degree which could be further used in the future to gain more success. The MBA course provides excellent carrier growth in terms of position and salary. The MBA is a master's degree course that could be completed after the undergraduate degree in various streams.

Bachelor of Arts or BA is, as the name suggests, an undergraduate program that can be done after clearing the +2 exam. It is perhaps the oldest known degree course in the history of the world education systems. Today, around the world, it is mostly a three or in a few particular cases or countries, a four-year degree program. In India, Bachelor of Arts course can be pursued as a full-time program in various universities or students may choose BA distance education if they are unable to follow a regular study mode.

The Teaching Practices Inventory (formerly called the "Teaching Practices Survey") was designed to characterize the teaching practices used in undergraduate science and mathematics courses. The inventory requires 10-15 minutes to fill out and provides a detailed characterization of practices used in all aspects of a "lecture" course (it is not suitable for use with courses that are primarily laboratories, seminars, or project courses).