Category: Education

Disability is diverse and includes persons from every race, gender, culture, age, geographic region, and socioeconomic status. Anyone can belong to this group, and the statistics increase with age. Persons with disabilities, especially children, are among the most neglected groups in society.The case is even worse with students, increasing their dropout risk.

Fortunately, education leaders can take certain measures to create more inclusive conditions for students with disabilities.

Challenges To The Inclusion Of Students With Disabilities

Inclusive education accommodates learners in a community or class regardless of their strengths or weaknesses and maximizes the students’ potential. It comprises strategies, processes, and activities promoting the right to equal education.

Several challenges revolve around including students with disabilities; we break them down in this section.

Inadequate Teacher Training

Teachers are key in the implementation of inclusive learning. Unfortunately, most teachers lack training in teaching and handling children with disabilities. This lack of proper training, knowledge, and qualifications derails the inclusion of students with disabilities.

Inclusive education is essential for embracing diverse learners, including those who benefit from Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS). Understanding the HCBS can play a crucial role in providing personalized educational experiences for students with developmental disabilities within community settings, thereby promoting a richer learning environment that accommodates all cognitive and social needs.

Societal Norms And Attitudes

Many people are still die-hards of old attitudes and resist accommodating students with disabilities. Certain cultures worsen the situation, resulting in discrimination and hindering education.

Lack Of Inclusive Teaching Methods

Incorporating inclusive teaching methods depends on financial support, which is lacking. According to UNESCO, 2009, the lack of funding hinders professional development, which is key to sustaining school specialists and teachers.

Lack Of Accessible Technology

Inclusive education relies on an environment that is friendly and accessible to a diverse population. The lack of accessible technology to create such environments will hinder the implementation of inclusive education with equality, dignity and without to discrimination or prejudice.

Curriculum

A rigid curriculum that does not accommodate different teaching methods or experimentation for students with disabilities is a setback to successful inclusion. Also, study plans with little or no recognition of different learning styles will prevent students with disabilities from benefiting from the school experience.

Socio-Economic Factors

Negative attitudes towards a person with disabilities caused by religious affiliations or culture can affect its inclusion in schools. Some believe that disability is a punishment and will isolate such members instead of helping them.

The lack of funding for disability programs to ensure school accommodation is also a concern. Most schools lack facilities, trained teachers, and educational materials.

How To Create A Culture Of Inclusion

According to several studies, students risk dropping out if they do not attain a sense of belonging within two months of joining the school. Creating a culture of inclusion is, therefore, necessary to keep such students in school in the following ways:

Develop Inclusive Classrooms

Creating a safe and welcoming educational experience for everyone implies paying attention to the physical facilities in terms of design and accessibility. This means taking into account individual differences in learning, socializing, and working.

Adopt Inclusive Teaching Methods and Materials

A school knowledgeable about the limitations that students with disabilities experience from external barriers is likely to adopt inclusive teaching methods and materials. For instance, students with learning disabilities may have processing disabilities that are solvable through information conveyance, such as testing procedures.

Create A Stand-Alone Disability Studies Department

A standalone disability studies department will accommodate students with disabilities in higher education settings. Such students will gain skills and knowledge customized for their practice at their workplace.

Embed Disability Inclusion Into Performance Review For All

A negative attitude of parents and teachers toward disabled students hinders the implementation of inclusion. Hence, having a full inclusion model encompassing disabilities in a performance review should be accepted for educators to limit such discrimination.

Ensure Accessible Technology

Educators should ensure classroom accessibility for students with disabilities as per the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). ADA compliance for websites, captioned videos, document remediation and transcription services in relaying information will keep disabled students in school. ADA requires captioning as a standard element for all video use in classes and that all new content is posted on the website for accessibility. ADA also requires accommodation for students with disabilities through inclusive classrooms.

Conclusion

A person’s situation in life is no one’s choice, and embracing disabled individuals in institutions rather than discriminating against them will change the attitude of society in the long run. Recognizing and overcoming the barriers of inclusive education will make every child comfortable in school for a better and healthier community.

One of the biggest opportunities in this regard is edutainment, which is teaching through playing and entertainment. In fact, many games are designed to simulate a learning process while users play and enjoy a game. Video games have become a severe rival for other types of entertainment and gained a lot of attention, especially Gen Z.

With more than 1.3 billion people worldwide paying close attention to this growing trend, it’s timely that we explore what edutainment is and also learn the benefits job-learning video games can have. In the end, you can be familiar with some of the best video games that simulate a job to learn.

What Is Edutainment?

The word edutainment has been created by combining two words:

• Education
• Entertainment

As it comes from the name, edutainment refers to every tool that combines two fields of education and entertainment. It’s also sometimes called Educational Entertainment.

It actually includes all the technologies, software products, and methods that use entertainment to educate people. It’s great to educate through entertainment media because it makes education less boring to people, especially kids.

It seems that the word edutainment was first used by Walt Disney in 1954. Academics, businesses, politicians, governments, and other sectors in various forms use edutainment.

Here are some common types of educational entertainment:

Using Entertainment in Schools: Teachers can leverage the power of games, toys, media, and experiences in various combinations to educate and entertain their pupils. These approaches entertain as well as educate youngsters at the same time.

Video Games for Edutainment: Even outside of school, kids can play and learn at the same time. Thanks to the internet, there are countless simulation video games out there that will teach something when playing and enjoying. One type of these games focuses on simulating real jobs to improve your skills in a specific task. For example, farming, driving, home chores, and many other tasks can be taught using job simulation games.

Legos for Edutainment: Toys are another simple way to spice up a school day, just like games. Lego, a well-known construction toy that is enjoyed by both adults and children, are a famous example. Lego construction improves a kid’s ingenuity, motor and engineering abilities, problem-solving, and spatial comprehension.

Advantages of Playing Job Learning Simulation Games

Learning simulation games are here to simulate a real job, task, theory, or fact through a game.

They are supposed to improve your skills and understanding in a specific field without any real-world repercussions and stress. They’re actually “edutainment” tools that resemble real experiences without having to face the risks!

Here are some of the benefits of playing these games, especially for kids:

Interactive

In contrast to traditional lectures or hands-on training, games encourage the participant to participate actively in the learning process. Also, there is no “try, fail, learn” opportunities in traditional lectures. Learners will train their abilities to adjust to the real environment through simulations.

Learning new skills

Another obvious advantage of job simulator games is that they teach you new skills. There are numerous simulation games that are quite instructional. Try a simulator game if you choose to pursue a new interest or are eager to work in a certain profession. There will almost always be a simulation game for you, whether it’s farming, landscaping, or home renovation.

Self-alignment

The instructor mostly sets the teaching in the traditional education system, whereas the learner sets games and simulations. This is a big difference in which learners adjust the game’s pace to suit their personalities.

Standard scoring

When it comes to traditional education methods, it is exceedingly difficult to assess all pupils uniformly. Subjectivity is almost always present. Simulated learning enables better learner-to-learner evaluations by applying the rules to all participants equally.

Relaxation

Job simulation games are the most effortless means of learning. There is no stress of losing, so you can easily play it again and again. You should not do any physical activity, and you can simulate many types of jobs in your room.

Cost-effective

Simulations are considerably more cost-effective and widely accessible than instructor-led or workshop-style learning.

The Best Learning Simulator Games in 2023

Here are the top video games that you can learn how to do a task when playing them:

1.    Two Point Hospital

This one is available on PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and the internet.

It’s your responsibility to ensure that Two Point County’s new infirmary is up to par and prepared to deal with whatever unique illness the locals bring in, whether Floppy Discs, Cubism, or dreaded Night Fever! In this lighthearted hospital management game, you must ensure it is.

In this game, you’ll learn:

• Great management skills
• Budget balancing
• Being careful in your decisions
• Working at maximum efficiency
• Helpful info about the hospitals

2.    HEADLESS JEFF-3

This is a second-person puzzle online game, and your mission is to reassemble the detached head of a robot back to its body.

In HEADLESS JEFF-3, you see the game space from the robot’s head’s eyes! In this game, you’ll learn the following:

• How to solve complex puzzles
• Change your point of view to see the environment from a totally different perspective
• Overcome difficult laws of physics

3.    Youtubers Life

Operating a YouTube channel used to be deemed non-commercial, but that still holds true today. You’re placed in the modest shoes of a YouTuber with few basic tools who want to build a channel in Youtubers Life.

You are driven by subs and views, acquiring your arsenal of equipment to make better videos, gaining a following, and expanding your channel like genuine-life YouTubers. You must maintain a social life, educate yourself, and eventually hire people in addition to establishing a social media presence.

4.    Kitten’d

Kitten’d is something special for those who’re interested in pets. This is a VR game that puts you in a room with very expensive and breakable objects. There are also lots of cute kittens that need your attention.

Actually, you have to feed them, clean their place, and make them happy. There are 28 levels in 4 different worlds.

You can just hang out with your pets in the sandbox world, which is totally new to gamers. This is really helpful for kids who need to learn how to take care of their objects and pets.

5.    BBQ Simulator

You can’t find any game funnier than BBQ Simulator. As it comes from the name, in this game, you have to learn how to make a great barbecue. You can also learn about camping and other nature tasks. You can enjoy the game with up to 8 friends in the multiplayer mode and experience many things that would be difficult in the real world.

6.    Duct Tape Simulator

In Duct Tape Simulator, you’ll act as duct tape, so you must learn how to fix cracked and broken objects. First, you have to search the room for damaged things, and then you need to repair them to score. This is great for teens to learn how to pull their weight in fixing things in their homes.

Conclusion

Learning simulators are great tools for every type of personality and people of different age groups. They’re multi-purpose games that let you enjoy and learn at the same time. Try to search and find the game that perfectly matches your interests. You can also use these tools to improve your skills in many jobs.

Read about using technology to gamify fitness for kids.

Open source is a broad term that means publicly accessible. In a general sense, it could include lots of things like open source products, projects, websites, etc. But, in reality, open source refers to some different things.  Open source represents open source software (OSS) actually. Anyone can view, modify, and enhance OSS for individual and organizational purposes.

Below, we’ll discuss how open source software works, examples, and its pros and cons. Let’s start with what open-source software means.

What Is Open Source Software?

Open source software (OSS) is a special type of software that allows accessing its source code. Not only that, but you can also edit and develop the OSS. So, it differs from traditional proprietary software.

In closed proprietary software, the source code is kept secret and only the developers can access it. But OSS makes the source code accessible to any programmers. One important thing to mention here is that open source software can be either free or you may pay for it.

What Are Open Source Software Examples?

There are lots of open source software. It includes browsers, OS and utilities, programming, CMS, design software, etc.

Some of the common OSS are-

• Python
• Mozilla Firefox
• OpenOffice
• Linux/GNU
• jQuery
• Zimbra
• GIMP
• VNC
• Apache web server
• VLC media player
• Asterix
• SugarCRM
• LibreOffice

How Does An Open Source Software Development Model Work?

Usually, OSS works in a collaborative way where anyone from the developers’ community around the world can contribute. This makes the software more reliable, secure, and rich in features compared to proprietary software, due to the contributions of many expert programmers.

Developers or programmers around the world can contribute to the project of the OSS by doing changes to the source code, fixing bugs, and adding new features there. There is also a core group of maintainers who oversee the project as well as approve or decline if someone edits any code.

The source code of the OSS is available to the public, but there are some terms and conditions for using and modifying the software. Whoever agrees with the terms and conditions can get the license to use, modify, and enhance the software.

Open Source Software Licenses

There are many open source licenses available. Before using any OSS, you should know about its license to be sure it meets your standard or not. Open source initiative (OSI) listed numerous OSS licenses.

Some of the popular OSS licenses include-

• Apache License 2.0
• MIT License
• Mozilla Public License 2.0
• BSD License 2.0 (3-clause, new or revised)
• GNU General Public License (GPL) 2.0
• GNU General Public License (GPL) 3.0

Advantages Of Open Source Software

There are lots of advantages of open source software. Here are some of the key advantages of open-source software.

Free Or Low Cost

Most open source software is often free to use, modify, and distribute. So, individuals and organizations with limited budgets will find OSS handy to use without incurring high costs. But some software may ask you to pay a small amount of money.

Better Security And More Reliable

In general, OSS offers better security than proprietary software. As the source code is open thus developers around the world can edit and fix bugs there instantly. In this way, if there are any bugs or issues that are addressed and fixed quickly. It reduces the risk of malicious attacks profoundly and makes it more reliable.

Flexibility And Customization

As the source code is accessible to developers in OSS thus anyone can modify the software to meet their individual or organizational needs.

Increased Collaboration

The open source model encourages collaboration between developers around the world. So, anyone can contribute to the project and share their knowledge and expertise.

Effective Tool For Learning

OSS is a good tool for learners who want to become programmers. As they can discover programming languages and they work in real life. Moreover, they may practice and submit their work and get feedback from experts that help to improve their skills.

Disadvantages Of Open Source Software

Besides many advantages, OSS has some disadvantages too. Some of them are discussed below-

Lack Of Support

As open source software is developed by a community of volunteers, you might experience a lack of support if any issues arise or need assistance.

Compatibility issues

Sometimes OSS might be incompatible with proprietary software or other systems. This could be challenging for organizations or individuals that need to integrate multiple software solutions.

Complexity

As the source code is available, thus OSS seems more complex sometimes than proprietary software, especially for non-technical users.

Fragmentation

The community of the open source can be divided, with multiple competing projects working on similar software solutions. This will confuse the users and can be challenging for developers to coordinate their efforts.

Conclusion

Open source software brings revolutionary changes in the software industry due to the contributions of thousands of developers. OSS is beneficial both for developers and users and has led to the creation of some of the most widely used software products in the world.  There are also website platforms that use the concept of open source, such as WordPress, but the platform itself is a Contact Management System.

You may not be a website developer or have any knowledge of how to write source code, but it takes little expertise to be a content contributor. The same is true of Wikipedia.  It’s is an open source encyclopedia that anyone can add information to edit exisiting pages.

As the open source movement continues to grow, it is likely to play a vital role in the development of new and innovative software solutions.

A research paper is an academic paper where scientists, scholars, and even students present their research on a specific topic. It compromises analyzing the results of experimental evidence with citations. This is one of the most powerful ways to share the knowledge of researchers around the world.

The research paper shows the expertise of the researcher that also helps other researchers in the future. So, have you wondered how to write a research paper successfully? Well, this article will give you an ultimate guide on writing a research paper step-by-step. Let’s reveal the hacks.

The Steps to Writing a Research Paper

1. Get familiar with the research paper
2. Choose a suitable topic
3. Do your research
4. Form a thesis statement
5. Construct an outline
6. Write the draft
7. Add proper citations and references
8. Revise it

After knowing the key steps of research paper writing, let’s discuss them in detail.

Step 1: Get Familiar With The Research Paper

The first thing you need to do it read several research papers that have been published by experts.  This will get you familiarized with the style and format of the research paper. This will help you get an overall idea about the contents of the research paper. The more you read, the deeper your idea will be.

While reading different research papers, note down the important things like formatting, spacing, font, length of a paragraph, rules to adding figures or charts, word limit, essential points to cover, citations, and so on. If you have any doubts, clarify them with your teacher or professor.

Step 2: Choose A Suitable Topic

After getting an overall idea about the research paper, now figure out a good topic that you will work with. To do it, consult with your professor and experts in the field you are interested to research in. You can either work on a new topic or improve any preexisting research.

The previously peer reviewed and published research papers are found in the-

• Central library of your college or university
• Google Scholar
• Online publications like Zotero, Academic journals, Scientific Research Publications, Science and Education Publishing, etc.
• Your professor’s recommended research papers

Study a lot to find out a unique topic in your field to research. Your instructor may help you to pick a trendy topic for your research. But try to reveal it on your own.

Step 3: Do Your Research

When you get a topic, start your research sincerely. Read several related research papers and inspect how the researchers did these. You may work in the lab or software to get more precise results from the research. Also, consult with the experts on this topic to get more precise answers. Clarify your doubts by asking yourself why, how, what, … etc, in every step for deep research.

You’ll find lots of resources on your topic but not all of them are reliable to use in the research paper. For example, Wikipedia is an open source resource for any topic, but you can’t accredit them in your research paper. Find out worthwhile sources before using any scientific formula or theory in your research.

Learned advanced search functions on Google also assist you in refining your search results to find specilized resources in your area paper’s area of focus.

After the preliminary research, if you find this topic good for you proceed with it otherwise choose a new topic that suits you. Note down all the important analyses, and calculations of your research.

Step 4: Form A Thesis Statement

After doing primary research, it’s time to make a thesis statement (introduction) that summarizes succinctly what you’ll cover in your research paper. This statement is important and helps you to make a good research paper. It also states how other researchers will get benefitted from your research.

If you can’t make a good statement starts with a question like ‘Does the internet bad for your children’ and then answer it. But don’t put any fluff words there. Sometimes arguable topic makes the thesis statement interesting.

When your teacher or instructor will say the thesis statement is okay then plan how to prepare the other sections of the research paper.

Step 5: Construct An Outline

When you’ve completed your research, now form a format for your research paper. The necessary sections of the research paper include-

• Title Page
• Abstract
• Acknowledgments
• Author Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Abbreviation/Keywords
• Introduction (Thesis Statement)
• Main Points of the Body (like Forming a Formula, Analysis, Calculation, etc.)
• Conclusion
• References

Each main points or headings include paragraphs, figures, charts, data, and so on.

Step 6: Write The Draft

Now start writing a draft copy of your research paper that you’ve gotten from your research. Keep in mind, you may need to write several drafts to finalize the copy. While writing the research paper describe all the points and avoid jargon and unnecessary things. Consider the right spacing, font, and style of writing the research paper after completing the writing. Include proper headings and subheadings so anyone can understand easily what you may discuss there.

It can also be invaluable to hire an editor to get an external perspective on your writing.  A professional editor proofreads your work to ensure that your arguments are clear and your presentation is polished.

Step 7: Add Proper Citations and References

After compiling the draft copy, add the necessary citations and references to the research paper from which sources you use the scientific formulas. While quoting any points or formulas, include the publication name, year of publication, research paper title, author, page number, etc.

Usually, an academic research paper has two formats for citing;

• APA (American Psychological Association)
• MLA (Modern Language Association)

Sometimes you may also follow other citing rules like AMA (American Medical Association), CMOS (The Chicago Manual of Style), and IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).

Step 8: Finalize It

After completing a draft copy and editing accordingly, now recheck the entire writing several times.

• Review the format of the research paper. Make necessary corrections.
• Check the grammatical errors using Grammarly, or other similar tools.
• To make the copy unique and plagiarism free check it using plagiarism checker tools like Copyscape, Quetex, Smallseotools, or any other reliable tools.

To make the research paper better, take suggestions from your professor, mentor or peers so you can submit an original academic research paper. If they offer changes or suggestions to improve its quality, keep an open mind with the main goal being accuracy. There a many steps that go into writing a research paper, when you are confident everything is polished and okay, submit it for your instructor or peers for their review and approval.