The power of reading aloud

 Reading out loud is not just for children. For grownups, it can improve their mind and beat loneliness

When was the last time you read someone a story? If you have young children in your life, chances are you’ve done it recently. But did you know that rather than just keeping little ones happy, there are serious perks to making story time a life-long habit?

Scientists say there are mental and physical benefits to be gained from reading aloud — it could even help you live longer. All you need is an engaging paperback, a voice and a bit of time. Meghan Cox Gurdon in her book, The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud reveals some of the benefits of reading out loud:

Ditch the phone

Where screens and technology divide people even when they are in the same room, sitting with a book in physical proximity brings benefits. Additionally, when someone reads aloud and someone else listens, their brains synchronise so the storyteller and the storyhearer are experiencing the same brain activity and release of neuro-chemicals. This process, known as neural coupling, was shown by US scientists using fMRI scanners at Princeton and explains why reading with others can create a sense of unity and closeness. In an age where loneliness and anxiety are endemic, this discovery is more fascinating than ever.

Keeps people connected to each other

Loneliness causes stress, and long-term or chronic stress leads to more elevations of a key stress hormone, cortisol, which is linked to inflammation in the body. This leads to increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, joint disease, depression, obesity and death. In 2010, a UK survey of elderly adults who joined a weekly reading group reported they had better concentration, became less agitated and were better at socialising.

Use it or lose it

Language is like a muscle — it wastes away if you aren’t using it. Reading aloud with other adults, especially older adults, helps to keep everyone’s brains in good condition. In Japan, which has many elderly people, clinicians are exploring how daily reading can sharpen cognitive skills that have been dulled by age and lack of use.

In 2017, a study carried out at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, found reading aloud improves recall by 15 per cent, so it is no surprise that there are positive results to be had for dementia patients, too. And research at Yale University found people who read books — and were read to — live an average of two years longer than nonreaders.

Getting started

Start small. Begin where you are and do it today. You don’t need to read aloud for an hour, or a year, or forever. Just begin. Pick up a book or a magazine or even a packet of breakfast cereal, and start reading to someone you love.

Have fun

Reading aloud isn’t supposed to be work. Just read what’s on the page and let the words cast their spell. Don’t worry if you feel shy about reading out loud, lots of people do. Stick with it. If your listeners want to get up and move around, let them. Some people focus better when their hands are busy. There’s no ‘correct’ way to read aloud, there’s just your way.

Source | Economic Times | 28th January 2019

UGC to track every student's career after college

A task force is being constituted by the apex regulatory body for higher education, to frame the policy.

Published: 24th January 2019| By Express News Service

The University Grants Commission is planning to track the progress of students after they complete their course. The commission is likely to come out with a policy in this regard soon. A task force is being constituted by the apex regulatory body for higher education, to frame the policy.

Commenting on the issue, Association of University Teachers former general secretary C Pichandy said, "Tracking student's progression after they complete their course is a difficult task. Instead of going after the students, the UGC should ask all colleges to maintain a directory or information repository and collect details like campus interview placements, what is the rate of employment of students after a period of one year's time, whether a student has got a job, or doing business or consultancy, or went on to pursue higher education or sitting idle. Colleges could be asked to develop an alumni portal and link it to UGC's website."

"To ensure that colleges do not give false claim about employment rate, they should be asked to collect details like name, ID card and mobile number, when did he/she joined that particular job, what is the salary, etc. This will also be useful for future students in choosing their preferred choice of college," he added.

Apart from this, the UGC has also finalised the guide to student's induction programme, which is likely to be started from the coming academic year. The UGC will come up with sensitisation programmes for VCs and principals, three-day training of teacher before March and seven day training of teachers programme before July. Another task force has also been constituted by the UGC for developing curriculum for soft skills for UG and PG programmes.

(This article was originally published by Edexlive)

Source : http://www.newindianexpress.com/education/2019/jan/24/ugc-to-track-every-students-career-after-college-1929452.html

All educational institutions in India to be Naac accredited by 2022: ministry

All educational institutions in India to be Naac accredited by 2022: ministry

Bhushan Patwardhan, vice-chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC) said that under the Paramarsh scheme, the UGC has created a mechanism to encourage colleges and educational institutions to apply for Naac accreditation.

PUNE Updated: Jan 25, 2019 15:26 IST

Parth Welankar | Hindustan Times, Pune


Bhushan Patwardhan said that the UGC is likely to meet the representatives of around 200 Naac-accredited educational institutions next month to discuss the Paramarsh scheme.

The ministry of human resource development (HRD) has drawn up plans to cover all the universities and colleges (institutions) in the country with accreditation under the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (Naac) by 2022.

According to the latest report of the All India Survey on Higher Education, there are 799 universities, 39,701 colleges and 11,923 standalone institutions in the country.

As of November 2, 2018, 568 universities and 11,816 colleges have been accredited by Naac. Of these, 1,856 institutes (206 universities and 1,650 colleges) were granted ‘A’ grade. Presently, 231 universities and 27,885 colleges in the country do not have Naac accreditation.

Bhushan Patwardhan, vice-chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC) said that under the Paramarsh scheme, the UGC has created a mechanism to encourage colleges and educational institutions to apply for Naac accreditation.

“To implement the scheme, we will be nominating academic mentors from Naac accredited universities across the country who will prepare a list of institutions in their respective region which are not accredited. They will later submit the list to UGC,” Patwardhan said, adding that Naac accreditation will be given to these nominated institutions after scrutiny.


Patwardhan said that the UGC is likely to meet the representatives of around 200 Naac-accredited educational institutions next month to discuss the Paramarsh scheme.

National Assessment and Accreditation Council was established in 1994 in response to recommendations of National Policy in Education of 1986. The policy was to address the issues of deterioration in quality of education. Naac measures the quality of institutions on a scale of 4 by looking at various aspects, including methodology of teaching, research and patents. According to the norms, higher education institutions (HEIs) with a record of at least two batches of students graduated, or been in existence for six years, whichever is earlier, are eligible to apply for the process of assessment and accreditation (AAA) of Naac.






Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/pune-news/all-educational-in-india-to-be-naac-accredited-by-2022-ministry/story-6aj5NSXHkruvN1xIlA4tAI.html

Where To Find The Best Online E-Book Deals

 A regular perk for fans of e-readers is the reliably low prices of e-books. For better or worse, Amazon set a precedent when it marked many major e-books as $9.99 or lower and since then cheap prices are what readers have come to expect. A great deal for less than a price of coffee feel like a real treat, but often without a common reason or pattern to these deals it can be hard to find them on your own. Luckily there are other places putting it all together so readers don’t have to do the work.

 1. Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals, formerly Goodreads Deals.

 Probably one of the most popular places where people found daily e-book deals, the Goodreads Deals newsletter delivered a huge list of e-books spanning best-seller lists, genres and authors. However, Goodreads Deals has changed over to Kindle Daily Deals and now shows a few books all under $3. Even though it’s meant for Amazon Kindle users, the price cut usually covers all e-book stores, so Nook and Kobo users can still sign up for Daily Deals and then check the other online stores for the same price.

 2. Book Bub’s website and daily newsletters.

 Book Bub is probably the best option for readers on any device because each store is listed for Kindle, Nook, Apple, Google or Kobo. There’s a daily email option for tailored recommendations, or people can check the Book Bub website for all deals they have available. Book Bub’s offerings are also very diverse, including many indie titles not seen on the Amazon/ Goodreads list.

 3. Follow Book Riot for their daily recommendation.

 Book Riot is one of the coolest outlets for book news, recommendations, reviews, podcasts and more. They also post a daily list of Kindle deals including some past deals that are still active. Again Nook, Kobo and other readers can check out what Book Riot found and then head to their own stores to see if it's available.

 4. Sign up for the company’s emails and reward programs.

 This is mostly for Amazon and Kobo users because unfortunately the Barnes and Noble membership program doesn’t work with Nook e-books. Amazon has various Kindle benefits like Prime Reading and Kindle Unlimited that go with an Amazon Prime subscription, and Kobo offers a paid VIP membership for customers to earn more points and get exclusive discounts. For either place it’s a few more emails in your inbox, but going with the company as the e-reader maker helps earn buyer points and builds better recommendations.

 

Source | https://www.forbes.com/sites/lilyrugo/2019/01/15/best-online-e-book-deals/#55d2cf2f1ae6

Academic credit bank soon, may help students graduate early

Chandan.Chatterjee@timesgroup.com | Fri Jan 18 2019

Pune: The UGC has set the ball rolling for the introduction of an academic credit bank, similar to some foreign countries, where students can accumulate credits and graduate before the stipulated time. The system will also enable students from arts and commerce to take up science degrees after a bridge programme.

The proposed National Academic Credit Bank (NAC-Bank) will help students plan their learning objectives and their pace, said Bhushan Patwardhan, vice-chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC).

He explained, “Let’s suppose a BSc (Physics) student needs 100 credit points, 80 of which are mandatory from the core subject(s). During the vacations, the student can accrue 20 points from a non-conventional or massive open online or hobby course (sports, music, dance etc) from another institution. The student can get the required 80 credits in the core subject(s) before time and move on to the next level.”

Patwardhan, who floated the idea earlier this month at the 3rd National Teachers’ Congress at MIT World Peace University in Pune, said, “If the concept is accepted, it may take a few months for NAC-Bank to turn reality.”

Source : https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/?olv-cache-ver=20190128125709