One of the things we love is finding new items that we think will interest you and passing them on...
We have a treasure trove of items waiting to be shown, some quirky, funny, educational, across all mediums...
Here is one from the educational box....How to use Office 2007 to write a good essay....
Just in time for when those essay's are due in!
Microsoft Office:How To Use Office 2007 To Write A Great Essay
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Advance your career and get the distinct competitive advantage
When it comes to your earning power, your education is the most important thing you can do. The more education you have, the better your chances of earning more “lifetime” income.
Your education can come in a number of different ways;
Going to college
Taking Evening Courses
Doing a FETAC Course
Becoming apprenticed to a trade
In House training
Distance Learning
PLC Course
Training on the job
Online Learning
Education is out there. It is available to everyone no matter what age or level of education you have or wish to have.
You can find all the different course providers necessary to keep up-skilling in our Course Directory.
In this trying time we have to get creative and think about the skills we have, the skills we need, and the skills that can be improved on.
Creativity is a combination of qualities, of which all people have to some degree. Creativity depends on many factors including experience, motivation and talent. The way you use these qualities is what makes the difference. According to the publication CollegeJournal.com, there are three factors that determine creative success.
* Problem Solving
CollegeJournal says creative types recognize a problem early and easily. Once they recognize the problem they can begin to formulate an approach to solving.
* Strength
Successful creativity depends on your ability to move past your fears. There will always be no doers and negative opinions. Don't let others stomp on your ideas. Use strength to get past the negativity.
* Originality
Original thinking is what allows you to get outside the box and ignore what everyone else is doing. Processes, norms and stereotypes strip creative thinking of life. Mental tradition is bad, mental flexibility is good.
Start thinking outside the box, stay positive and keep learning! It will advance your career and maybe even take it in a new direction.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The Adult Learners' Festival
Daily we are hearing about the recession, enough to make us want to dive under the covers and only come up or air when things improve! The 6pm news is enough to have us stampeding to the doctors crying out for prozac! Instead of doing that, add another string to your bow and learn another skill, improve your hobby, meet people and have a laugh along the way.
The AONTAS Adult Learners' Festival will run for the third time from February 2nd to February 6th During that time a number of training providers will be running courses to coincide with the festival. Over one hundred events took place over the week of last year's Festival, with even more due to take place during this year's event.
During the week we will be celebrating twenty years of the VTOS (Vocational Training and Opportunities Scheme) programme, and AONTAS will launch a major piece of research about the lifelong learning needs of older people. For the first time, next years' Festival will include a 'Learn at Work' Day, which takes place on Thursday February 5th, and AONTAS is delighted to be working with ICTU, IBEC and other organisations to use that opportunity to focus on the issue of training, upskilling and education in the workplace. It is more crucial than ever despite the economic downturn, that government invest in adult learning in order to build our future economy and society.
Aontas have supplied a map with locations of were different events around the country are taking place.
The AONTAS Adult Learners' Festival will run for the third time from February 2nd to February 6th During that time a number of training providers will be running courses to coincide with the festival. Over one hundred events took place over the week of last year's Festival, with even more due to take place during this year's event.
During the week we will be celebrating twenty years of the VTOS (Vocational Training and Opportunities Scheme) programme, and AONTAS will launch a major piece of research about the lifelong learning needs of older people. For the first time, next years' Festival will include a 'Learn at Work' Day, which takes place on Thursday February 5th, and AONTAS is delighted to be working with ICTU, IBEC and other organisations to use that opportunity to focus on the issue of training, upskilling and education in the workplace. It is more crucial than ever despite the economic downturn, that government invest in adult learning in order to build our future economy and society.
Aontas have supplied a map with locations of were different events around the country are taking place.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
CAO course guide for 2009
CAO course guide for 2009
Click the links below to download the latest CAO course guide in PDF format.
Page one
Includes:
Agriculture
Architecture / Architectural Technology
Art and Design, Product Design, Photography
Arts/Humanities
Page two
Includes:
Arts / Humanities (cont..)
Business / Commerce / Accounting
Page three
Includes:
Business/Commerce/Accounting (cont..)
Computer Science / Systems / Electronics
Construction Studies / Valuation / Surveying
Education / Primary Teaching
Education/Second Level Teaching
Engineering
Page four
Includes:
Engineering (cont..)
Food Studies
Hotel Management, Catering, Travel, Tourism
Law
Page five
Includes:
Medical / Health Sciences / Health Care / Pharmacy
Music, Music Technology
Nursing -General
Nursing - Psychiatric
Nursing - Intellectual Disability
Nursing - General and Children's
Nursing - Midwifery
Other Technology Courses
Sciences / Applied Sciences
Page six
Includes:
Sciences / Applied Sciences (cont..)
Social Science, Social Care, Social Studies, Early Childhood Care & Education, Counselling Studies
Sports Science & Management / Recreation / Leisure Studies
Courtesy of the Irish Independent.
Click the links below to download the latest CAO course guide in PDF format.
Page one
Includes:
Agriculture
Architecture / Architectural Technology
Art and Design, Product Design, Photography
Arts/Humanities
Page two
Includes:
Arts / Humanities (cont..)
Business / Commerce / Accounting
Page three
Includes:
Business/Commerce/Accounting (cont..)
Computer Science / Systems / Electronics
Construction Studies / Valuation / Surveying
Education / Primary Teaching
Education/Second Level Teaching
Engineering
Page four
Includes:
Engineering (cont..)
Food Studies
Hotel Management, Catering, Travel, Tourism
Law
Page five
Includes:
Medical / Health Sciences / Health Care / Pharmacy
Music, Music Technology
Nursing -General
Nursing - Psychiatric
Nursing - Intellectual Disability
Nursing - General and Children's
Nursing - Midwifery
Other Technology Courses
Sciences / Applied Sciences
Page six
Includes:
Sciences / Applied Sciences (cont..)
Social Science, Social Care, Social Studies, Early Childhood Care & Education, Counselling Studies
Sports Science & Management / Recreation / Leisure Studies
Courtesy of the Irish Independent.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Kinsale Community School win Young Scientist of the Year
Congratulations to John O'Callaghan and Liam McCarthy's whose project involved developing a cheap and efficient way for farmers to detect infection in milk cows, and they now become the Young Scientists of the year.
A long-held belief that a drop of washing-up liquid could help warn of infection in milk cows was the trigger that got John (14) and Liam (13) two first years from Kinsale Community School started on their project, entitled "The Development of a convenient Test Method for Somatic Cell Count and its Importance in Milk Production".
Somatic cells are a sign of infection and these appear in the milk. "If the level is high, the cow is fighting an infection," explained Liam. It is "a big deal for the farmer", who receives less if the cell count is high but enjoys a bonus if it is low, said John.
The only way to test was to send a sample for analysis, but this took days, by which time the milk had already reached the production plant.
The students were aware of the "rural myth" and began checking to see if there was any truth to it. They added the washing-up liquid to high cell count milk and found it thickened. They then began a series of tests to study the effect and to devise a way to use the finding.
They focused on a method where viscosity could be gauged by how quickly a sample ran through a narrow tube. "We have done over 1,000 tests and the test developed dramatically over time," Liam said.
The result is the "Ballymartle Milk Test", named after their townland. "This is a test that farmers can use all over Ireland and all over the world," Liam said. "It is very encouraging when you get good results," John added.
The two won a perpetual BT Young Scientist trophy, a cheque for €5,000 and the opportunity to represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists.
Irish Times
A long-held belief that a drop of washing-up liquid could help warn of infection in milk cows was the trigger that got John (14) and Liam (13) two first years from Kinsale Community School started on their project, entitled "The Development of a convenient Test Method for Somatic Cell Count and its Importance in Milk Production".
Somatic cells are a sign of infection and these appear in the milk. "If the level is high, the cow is fighting an infection," explained Liam. It is "a big deal for the farmer", who receives less if the cell count is high but enjoys a bonus if it is low, said John.
The only way to test was to send a sample for analysis, but this took days, by which time the milk had already reached the production plant.
The students were aware of the "rural myth" and began checking to see if there was any truth to it. They added the washing-up liquid to high cell count milk and found it thickened. They then began a series of tests to study the effect and to devise a way to use the finding.
They focused on a method where viscosity could be gauged by how quickly a sample ran through a narrow tube. "We have done over 1,000 tests and the test developed dramatically over time," Liam said.
The result is the "Ballymartle Milk Test", named after their townland. "This is a test that farmers can use all over Ireland and all over the world," Liam said. "It is very encouraging when you get good results," John added.
The two won a perpetual BT Young Scientist trophy, a cheque for €5,000 and the opportunity to represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists.
Irish Times
Friday, January 09, 2009
Log On, Learn
Log On, Learn, a new nationwide initiative bringing Transition Year students and Older People together to share computer and life skills.
Log On, Learn is a programme that aims to provide transition year students with Marketing, Teaching and relating skills as well as insight into another age.
Simply put Log On, Learn is a new way for Older People to learn about computers and the internet.
Providing one on one learning to make sure the pace of learning meets the needs of the Older Person, the programme takes into account the type of technology the Older Person wants to become comfortable with, be that basic PC skills, booking a flight or researching something on the internet.
* An Older person registers with a school that has the programme on their transition year curriculum.
* An Older person and transition year student (IT mentor) are paired
* An Older person and transition year student have 8 weekly training sessions (1-2 hours each), as part of a wider group.
Training sessions will take place in local schools as part of the weekly computer skills class.
Log On, Learn, is sponsored by An Post in partnership with Intel and Microsoft. For more information about Log On, Learn call 01-214 7417.
Log On, Learn is a programme that aims to provide transition year students with Marketing, Teaching and relating skills as well as insight into another age.
Simply put Log On, Learn is a new way for Older People to learn about computers and the internet.
Providing one on one learning to make sure the pace of learning meets the needs of the Older Person, the programme takes into account the type of technology the Older Person wants to become comfortable with, be that basic PC skills, booking a flight or researching something on the internet.
* An Older person registers with a school that has the programme on their transition year curriculum.
* An Older person and transition year student (IT mentor) are paired
* An Older person and transition year student have 8 weekly training sessions (1-2 hours each), as part of a wider group.
Training sessions will take place in local schools as part of the weekly computer skills class.
Log On, Learn, is sponsored by An Post in partnership with Intel and Microsoft. For more information about Log On, Learn call 01-214 7417.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
How much is that doggy in the window?
I remember that children's song about buying a puppy and the excitement in the house when it was due to arrive. Now it is the turn of the Obama's in the White House to welcome a loving, playful, but untrained four legged friend into their lives. 
According to Mary Owens, dog lover and owner of Fircroft Canine Training Centre Rathanganin, in today's Irish Times. You need to train your dog to behave in much the same way as we train our children, she advises. The problems arise because we think from a human rather than a dog's perspective.
Mary Owens cautions those who, like the Obamas, are considering a shelter dog. While it is a great thing to do, she says, sentimentality should have no role to play in selecting a dog.
"Make no mistake about it. A shelter dog is often a dog with problems. If you take one and find that you cannot manage it and have to return it to the shelter, then that is the worst thing for the dog."
It's a fair bet that whichever puppy the Obama household opts for, the dog trainers are already pitching for business. And it is highly unlikely that Mr "No Drama" Obama would entertain a mutt with no manners chewing up the Oval Office, no matter how much he loves his daughters.
Down boy Doggy dos and don'ts
Choose your puppy carefully from a recognised breeder who is a member of the Kennel Club. Don't choose the biggest in the litter as they are often the hardest to train - choose the middle-sized one.
Life is busy today so you need to set aside time for a dog in your life. Puppies learn through play. Dogs like company. If you are out all day, it may not be fair on your dog to be home alone.
Reward your dog with a little tasty treat like a small piece of sausage or affection or a game when they do as you wish.
Until the dog learns that you are the boss, he will do as he pleases, including barking excessively, stealing food, jumping up and pulling against the lead.
You must be consistent when you train your dog - practice makes perfect.
If your dog jumps up on people or children, train him by turning on your heel and walking away. Pet and praise him only when he has all four feet on the ground.
If you have had little or no success training your dog yourself, perhaps it is time to call in the professionals.
According to Mary Owens, dog lover and owner of Fircroft Canine Training Centre Rathanganin, in today's Irish Times. You need to train your dog to behave in much the same way as we train our children, she advises. The problems arise because we think from a human rather than a dog's perspective.
"Dogs have a pack mentality and it comes very naturally to them to manipulate you. In short, you need to teach the dog who is the boss in the house. If you allow your dog to sit on the armchair with you, that's fine. But if the dog then decides that he wants the chair all to himself and you end up sitting on a kitchen chair, well, the dog is now in charge."
Mary Owens cautions those who, like the Obamas, are considering a shelter dog. While it is a great thing to do, she says, sentimentality should have no role to play in selecting a dog.
"Make no mistake about it. A shelter dog is often a dog with problems. If you take one and find that you cannot manage it and have to return it to the shelter, then that is the worst thing for the dog."
It's a fair bet that whichever puppy the Obama household opts for, the dog trainers are already pitching for business. And it is highly unlikely that Mr "No Drama" Obama would entertain a mutt with no manners chewing up the Oval Office, no matter how much he loves his daughters.
Down boy Doggy dos and don'ts
Choose your puppy carefully from a recognised breeder who is a member of the Kennel Club. Don't choose the biggest in the litter as they are often the hardest to train - choose the middle-sized one.
Life is busy today so you need to set aside time for a dog in your life. Puppies learn through play. Dogs like company. If you are out all day, it may not be fair on your dog to be home alone.
Reward your dog with a little tasty treat like a small piece of sausage or affection or a game when they do as you wish.
Until the dog learns that you are the boss, he will do as he pleases, including barking excessively, stealing food, jumping up and pulling against the lead.
You must be consistent when you train your dog - practice makes perfect.
If your dog jumps up on people or children, train him by turning on your heel and walking away. Pet and praise him only when he has all four feet on the ground.
If you have had little or no success training your dog yourself, perhaps it is time to call in the professionals.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Keep your CAO choices as broad as possible
BRIAN MOONEY'S ADVICE CENTRE Courtesy of Irish Times.
Given the growing economic crisis and the rapid increase in unemployment across a wide range of sectors of our economy, many current Leaving Cert students pondering their future career are deeply uncertain how they should proceed.
Many older brothers and sisters of this year's Leaving Certificate cohort, who have recently graduated from college, or who have been working for a number of years, are currently unemployed. This is giving rise to huge concern among the 70,000-plus potential applicants to the CAO, who ask seeking places in college in September 2009.
The best advice I can give to all those considering their CAO application at this time is to remember that if you are going to start an undergraduate programme in September 2009, you will be finishing your undergraduate programme in June 2012 at the earliest. If you are one of the 50 per cent of undergraduates who then proceed to a postgraduate programme, your entry date into the labour force will probably be June 2014. The question you must therefore ask yourself is how the labour market might be for your favourite discipline in 2014. The real answer is that nobody knows and the only sensible course of action for you to take is to follow the path that your natural inclinations suggest. Keep your options broad, so as to increase your choices.
A second piece of advice I would give is to keep your CAO choices as broad as you can- unless you are absolutely certain that you want to follow a particular career path such as dentistry, architecture or so on. Students taking an arts, science or law degree will have a huge degree of flexibility in the careers they wish to explore in three years' time. Students who select career specific areas, particularly those that are experiencing rapid changes due to advances in technology - such as media and journalism - may be more limited in their career options in three years' time.
Following the publication by The Irish Times and other newspapers of the progression rates of second-level students in the Republic of Ireland into publicly-funded colleges of the CAO and to colleges in the UK and Northern Ireland through USAC, many people have questioned me about the discrepancy in the progression rates as reported in different publications.
The Irish Times reported the progression rates of students who attended a particular school or private fee-paying college outside the State-funded sector, commonly known as "grind" schools, into the publicly-funded colleges of the CAO and USAC. Other newspapers reported the same progression rates, but based their figures on the number of students who actually "sat" the examination in a particular school or grind school in June 2008.
What is the difference between "attending" and "sitting" the Leaving Certificate in a school or grind school?
Every school and grind school registers the students who "attend" their college with the State Examinations Commission, which passes this information on to the CAO, which passes it on to the third-level colleges. In this way, they know the school or grind school that every students who accepts a first-year undergraduate place "attended". These are the figures, supplied by the colleges, which every newspaper publishes.
The different percentage success-rate figures published by newspapers arise from the fact that if a student "sits" the examination in a school that is not the one he/she is registered as having "attended", this increases the "sit" figure for that school and decreases the "sit" figure of the college he actually "attended".
If he/she secures a place in college, he/she will be credited to the school or grind school he studied at, but counted as having sat the examination elsewhere, thus increasing that school's "sit" figure, and decreasing its reported success rate.
A school with 90 students, of whom 45 secure a college place, has a success rate of 50 per cent. If 10 students from a local grind school "sit" the examination in the local school that school's "sits" figure increases, but as none of these candidates will be credited to the school, its success rate drops to 45 per cent. The grind school, on the other hand, which has 200 students, of whom 120 secure a college place, has a success rate of 60 per cent. If, however, 80 of these students sit the examination elsewhere, its success rate increases to 100 per cent.
The Irish Times uses the only accurate measure of the success rate of schools and grind schools by measuring success rates based on the school attended, rather that where a student happened to "sit" the examination.
Brian Mooney is a guidance counsellor at Oatlands College, Dublin and a former president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors
Given the growing economic crisis and the rapid increase in unemployment across a wide range of sectors of our economy, many current Leaving Cert students pondering their future career are deeply uncertain how they should proceed.
Many older brothers and sisters of this year's Leaving Certificate cohort, who have recently graduated from college, or who have been working for a number of years, are currently unemployed. This is giving rise to huge concern among the 70,000-plus potential applicants to the CAO, who ask seeking places in college in September 2009.
The best advice I can give to all those considering their CAO application at this time is to remember that if you are going to start an undergraduate programme in September 2009, you will be finishing your undergraduate programme in June 2012 at the earliest. If you are one of the 50 per cent of undergraduates who then proceed to a postgraduate programme, your entry date into the labour force will probably be June 2014. The question you must therefore ask yourself is how the labour market might be for your favourite discipline in 2014. The real answer is that nobody knows and the only sensible course of action for you to take is to follow the path that your natural inclinations suggest. Keep your options broad, so as to increase your choices.
A second piece of advice I would give is to keep your CAO choices as broad as you can- unless you are absolutely certain that you want to follow a particular career path such as dentistry, architecture or so on. Students taking an arts, science or law degree will have a huge degree of flexibility in the careers they wish to explore in three years' time. Students who select career specific areas, particularly those that are experiencing rapid changes due to advances in technology - such as media and journalism - may be more limited in their career options in three years' time.
Following the publication by The Irish Times and other newspapers of the progression rates of second-level students in the Republic of Ireland into publicly-funded colleges of the CAO and to colleges in the UK and Northern Ireland through USAC, many people have questioned me about the discrepancy in the progression rates as reported in different publications.
The Irish Times reported the progression rates of students who attended a particular school or private fee-paying college outside the State-funded sector, commonly known as "grind" schools, into the publicly-funded colleges of the CAO and USAC. Other newspapers reported the same progression rates, but based their figures on the number of students who actually "sat" the examination in a particular school or grind school in June 2008.
What is the difference between "attending" and "sitting" the Leaving Certificate in a school or grind school?
Every school and grind school registers the students who "attend" their college with the State Examinations Commission, which passes this information on to the CAO, which passes it on to the third-level colleges. In this way, they know the school or grind school that every students who accepts a first-year undergraduate place "attended". These are the figures, supplied by the colleges, which every newspaper publishes.
The different percentage success-rate figures published by newspapers arise from the fact that if a student "sits" the examination in a school that is not the one he/she is registered as having "attended", this increases the "sit" figure for that school and decreases the "sit" figure of the college he actually "attended".
If he/she secures a place in college, he/she will be credited to the school or grind school he studied at, but counted as having sat the examination elsewhere, thus increasing that school's "sit" figure, and decreasing its reported success rate.
A school with 90 students, of whom 45 secure a college place, has a success rate of 50 per cent. If 10 students from a local grind school "sit" the examination in the local school that school's "sits" figure increases, but as none of these candidates will be credited to the school, its success rate drops to 45 per cent. The grind school, on the other hand, which has 200 students, of whom 120 secure a college place, has a success rate of 60 per cent. If, however, 80 of these students sit the examination elsewhere, its success rate increases to 100 per cent.
The Irish Times uses the only accurate measure of the success rate of schools and grind schools by measuring success rates based on the school attended, rather that where a student happened to "sit" the examination.
Brian Mooney is a guidance counsellor at Oatlands College, Dublin and a former president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors
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