DISTANCE EDUCATION SITES TO HELP INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS PREPARE FOR AN AMERICAN STYLE EDUCATION

1. DISTANCE EDUCATION SITES TO HELP INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS PREPARE FOR AN AMERICAN STYLE EDUCATION • Steve Perry • Information Resource Officer • ACCRA GHANA • PerrySX2@state.gov • FEBRUARY 2012

2. MIT COURSES ONLINE: http://ocw.mit.edu

3. MIT Courses with an Audio or Video Component

4. Can do an advanced search in the MIT SITE for courses with lecture notes

5. MIT Chemistry courses with lecture notes

6. Detailed Lecture Notes for a Physical Chemistry Class

7. Course on Sustainable Development at MIT

8. MIT Lecture Notes on Sustainability

9. ACTUAL SYLLABI FOR COURSE

10. ANOTHER COURSE ON THE U.S. CONGRESS IN THE POLITICAL SCIENCE SECTION: LECTURE NOTES FOR THE U.S. CONGRESS

11. RELATED RESOURCES FOR THE U.S. CONGRESS

12. TUFTS: http://ocw.tufts.edu

13. TUFTS HAS A SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY, MEDICINE AND VETERINARY SCIENCE

14. TUFTS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: ONLINE COURSES

15. NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY: OCW.ND.EDU

16. OTHER OCW PARTNERS MORE UNIVERSITIES JOINING ALL THE TIME:http://ocwconsortium.org

17. More on the OCW CONSORTIUM

18. YALE UNIVERSITY: http://oyc.yale.edu

19. YALE UNIVERSITY: http://open.yale.edu/courses/(Yale not a member of the OCW concept)

20. Example of a class at YALE UNIVERSITY

21. FREE LECTURE NOTES

22. Actual Class Lecture

23. U CALIFORNIA BERKELEY courses on VIDEO via YOUTUBE: http://youtube.com/ucberkeley: 229 courses now offered: videos of actual courses can be played over and over again and show interaction of professors with students

24. ACADEMIC EARTH: www.academicearth.org

25. More on Academic Earth

26. Subjects offered in ACADEMIC EARTH

27. A Brand New web site offering free courses from leading Universities is Udemy: http://udemy.com; one has to register for Udemy, but Udemy is free

28. Example of free courses in udemy.com

29. What to expect of an IRC or American Corner or the US EMBASSY? • Look to them for advice, networking and partnerships. Share useful print materials • While you subscribe to listservs, the IRC also subscribes to different listservs with valuable information – share the information and network! • .

30. International Students need to know how to research so they won’t fail when in US Colleges • IRCs have college level research materials and IRC folks can teach them the correct way to research, to cite materials, and the most time-efficient way to use databases. • But I know many free materials you can access with just an Internet connection. This are listed on the next few slides: most important is DOAJ: www.doaj.org

31. There are a number of free, research level databases IROs and IRCs know about: these are in all fields. • Here are a few: • MEDLINE • SSRN: www.ssrn.com • DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals www.doaj.org; covering 7500 journals in all fields. • Free Dissertation/Thesis Sites (full text) .

32. SSRN: Social Sciences Research Network: http://www.ssrn.com

33. RESULTS OF SEARCH FOR EGYPT

34. DOAJ: www.doaj.org

35. Pharmacy Journals for Research and Reference – these articles are all free: can click on any of these journals to browse the issue and then click on any article to read it.

36. These are merely a few of the free databases that Embassies use – network to find more. • These databases will allow students to practice and refine their research skills that they will truly need at a U.S. College. • I will conclude with a few hints for you on what you might advise your students as they look for the college best for them.

37. CONSIDERATIONS IN APPLYING TO U.S. COLLEGES I’ve taught INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS for many years and this is what we’ve learned together:

38. HAVE THE STUDENT CHECK THE COLLEGE WEB SITE • IS THERE AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS SECTION with CLUBS, RESIDENCES? • LOOK FOR WHAT ENROLLED STUDENTS ACTUALLY HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THEIR COLLEGE – best are web sites where you can ask questions and get confidential answers

39. WEB SITE • LOOK FOR FAST FACTS or STUDENT PROFILE ON WEB SITE: HOW MANY INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ARE THERE? • THE HIGHER THE PERCENTAGE THE GREATER LIKELIHOOD THAT INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS CAN FIND SOMEONE OF A SIMILAR BACKGROUND

40. COLLEGE WEB SITES • CHECK COURSE OFFERINGS: SUCH AS HISTORY, POLITICAL SCIENCE: DOES THE UNIV CONSISTENTLY TAKE A MULTINATIONAL OR A MULTICULTURAL PERSPECTIVE IN ITS COURSES? If so, a good sign. • LOOK FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS: A UNIVERSITY THAT HAS IS MORE LIKELY TO TAKE A BROADER WORLD VIEW –SAYS WE VALUE INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE. Study Abroad Programs?

41. WEB SITES • KNOW WHAT YOU (AS A STUDENT) WANT AND WHAT YOU VALUE - -DO YOU SEE THAT REFLECTED IN THE COLLEGE WEB SITE? • LOOK AT INTERNATIONAL CLUBS (MESA, MSA) AND ASK STUDENTS FOR INFORMATION – the clubs will often have an email address.

42. ADVICE • START THE PROCESS EARLY • EMPHASIS IS ON GRADE TRANSCRIPTS, PERSONAL ESSAYS, TEACHER RECOMMENDATIONS • A WELL-WRITTEN REFLECTIVE PERSONAL ESSAY THAT REALLY TELLS ADMISSIONS OFFICERS WHAT YOU ARE ALL ABOUT WILL MAKE YOU STAND OUT.

43. BE PREPARED FOR AN AMERICAN STYLE EDUCATION WHERE CRITICAL THINKING IS KEY! • LOOK AT MIT WEB SITE: ocw.mit.edu • LOOK AT OTHER SCHOOLS THAT PLACE FREE COURSE CONTENT ONLINE: www.ocwconsortium.org • LOOK OTHER DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSES. • YOUTUBE.COM/UCBEREKELY is one example showing in free video format the style of an American Education. • Check the free thesis and dissertation sites, such as U Maryland and MIT, for those students who will have to write a dissertation or thesis in the US.

44. FREE THESES/DISSERTATION SITES NOW AVAILABLE ON MY PERSONAL WEB SITE • MY WEB SITE MAY BE FOUND HERE: • www.tinyurl.com/6dfaxn

45. ALL THE BEST! • GOOD LUCK!  • IRC ACCRA: ircaccra@state.gov • and IRO STEVE PERRY: • PERRYSX@STATE.GOV • Updated FEBRUARY 2012