Knowledge Update | Horizon University UAE – Essential Insights

PRACTICE. That one word sums up how you will become proficient in public speaking.

Speaking up in class is always a rather daunting prospect. Quite apart from the idea that we have that we might not know the correct answer, or our fear that people will laugh at us if we do not know the exact answer, is the fear that we won’t pronounce words correctly or we might stutter. Even worse, someone may interrupt us as we are speaking and we could lose our train of thought and look foolish and become embarrassed. Have I just typed out your literal nightmare? Believe it or not, this is a common stressor among the student body.

It takes a lot out of us in terms of energy and courage to speak up in class. In fact, it takes a lot out of us to speak up in any situation. Unless we are one of the small percentage of super confident individuals, we all struggle to some degree. Fear, shyness, possible embarrassment, not fitting in with the accent and/or correct word choice are all fears that most people face. This is especially so for those of us who are not learning in our first language.

So how does one go about developing speaking skills in the classroom? This takes me back to my first word in this blog. PRACTICE. In the current climate in education, most classes are online. It is easy to record and re-listen to the material being taught. If you don’t feel confident asking a question as the lecture is happening, take a moment to note down the point at which you need to re-watch the lecture and you can frame your question in a no-stress environment later. This will give you a chance to think about what you need to ask and the way in which you need to ask it. Listen to the way in which your teacher has spoken. Listen to the way in which your classmates have answered or asked questions. Model your own speech patterns on that. In this way, you will start on a small scale and build up your skills as time passes.

Once you know what you want to say, say it! It might sound silly, but the mirror is your best friend here. If you have family members who are willing to be an audience for you, then go ahead, use them. If, however, you prefer to start on your own, use your mirror. Practice asking what you need to ask a few times. Each time you will see that your speech pattern will become clearer. This in no way means that you will suddenly be confident in the classroom. I’m afraid that is a subject so huge it would be the content of an entire blog post.

Once you have asked those first few questions, you will naturally feel safer asking questions as the semester progresses. Start to become involved in class discussions. Make one or two points to start. See how your classmates and your teacher respond to your points. If your teacher is a good one, they will guide you in a supportive a safe manner through the process. Don’t be afraid to ask for clarifications. A good teacher never moans about going over material for a second or third time. This could all build up to your needing to design and deliver a presentation to the class.

For the presentation, ensure that you understand the topic thoroughly. You don’t need to be distracted by the content material if you are struggling with speaking skills. Once you have the topic, plan your presentation effectively. Know what you want to say and know when you want to say it. If you feel it necessary, have cue cards on hand to help you remember. The trick with cue cards though is that you do not want your entire speech written on them. This will just distract you further if you get stuck at any point in your speech as you will have to look up the point at which you got stuck. There is also the temptation of reading the entire speech instead of presenting it. Instead, have a few key words that will jump-start your memory and enable you to carry on with the presentation. Once all of that is out of the way, it is time to get to work on those speaking skills.

If you are still not confident in your speaking skills, even after all the work you have put in throughout the semester, it will be time for a new tactic. IMITATE. Watch videos online where people are presenting speeches on your topic. Remember your teacher and what and how they spoke about the topic. Lean on your classmates for support in issues of pronunciation and enunciation. Have one-on-one discussions with your teacher. I’m positive they would be glad to guide you where they are able. Join a club at school or Sharjah college that deals with speaking skills. These clubs are normally set in quite nurturing environments which means that you do not have to worry about being teased or laughed at. Horizon University College has a Toastmasters Club that meets every two weeks. If you would like to know more about the club or join it, feel free to contact the admissions department and they will guide you.

Here is a short ‘checklist’ you could use before you deliver any presentation:

• Do I have all the information?
• Have I practiced my presentation a few times?
• Have I timed my presentation to make sure that it fits with the instruction?
• How many ‘um’, ‘ah’, ‘so’, ‘and’ etc. do I have in my speech? How can I eliminate these?
• Are my cue cards ready and appropriate?

The truth of the matter is, that even with all of the tips given to you above, it all comes down to you. You can employ each of the tips and still feel your legs shaking with that first public speech. It is only with constant practice and exposure that you will feel like you are improving. So, PRACTICE.

The Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has challenged the ways human beings have been living. With travel bans and restrictions on social gatherings, the tourism sector has been badly affected.

“At the time of writing this article, there are approximately 10,000 cryptocurrencies used in the market”

Historically, since the dawn of time, man has invented and developed various forms of payment. To take a shortcut, reaching the currently used fiat currencies known as a banknote.

Managers today play a role of fire fighting in daily business operations which need numerous tactical and strategic issues to encounter and solve. The decision-making process is primarily influenced by individual-based approach and varies between individuals.

Corona pandemic has been highly disruptive for almost everyone and has caused severe drawbacks to most of businesses and education systems worldwide, but it was also a blessing for other sectors. In this article, some light will be shed on both sides of the argument.

Corona virus has affected a lot of businesses around the globe. They either bankrupted and shut down, terminated a good number of their employees or cut down their wages as a way to survive the financial struggle they were put in because of this situation. Sectors such as restaurants, real estates, ports, tourism, oil companies and air flight companies have been struggling to survive since January 2020 until this moment. As an example, according to Bloomberg, about 200 companies in America shut down this year and they blamed Coronavirus for that. More than 25 million Americans lost their jobs. In Kuwait, among other countries, about 350 thousand expats will be leaving Kuwait by the end of this year as the Kuwait government declared because of the companies’ financial trouble. This is only a small idea about the damage the COVID-19 pandemic has caused to countries.

Education is another story. As the governments have locked down the countries, it was not possible for teachers and students to join schools anymore. The number of students went down, especially in private schools, as a result of having their parents lost their jobs. So, there was no income to spend on schooling. Also, a lot of teachers became jobless. Another problem raised about education is the methods that should be developed for safe teaching and learning, without affecting the education system. To make sure that students stay on track, many programs were used to accomplish this task. One of the most famous and successful programs are Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Both programs allow video and audio conversation with students, share information and even save the sessions for students to revise later. However, some of these programs drawbacks are internet connection and a smart phone or a laptop availability. If any of this combination is not there, the circle will not be complete and no teaching produced; hence, no learning process. Some families are poor and can’t afford to buy a computer or have internet. Some countries don’t even have these services. Because of this, ministries of education need to come up with new ideas to overcome this problematic situation. The crisis can be seen as “a wake-up call” for countries and showed the desperate need to further research and fund to equip schools with the right infrastructure and technology that help education to stay on. Also, it has shown the challenge to provide teachers and students with the skills needed to adopt digital learning in education. As result, the concept ‘work from home, learn from home’ is the nest option for now.

Out of the ash has risen technology sector, which is considered the only one that gained a fortune in this pandemic. To explain more, telecommunication companies, social media and video communication companies that use video and audio calls such as Teams Program and Zoom Program, online market companies that sell products such as Amazon.com and noon.com, are now the shining stars among all companies in the world. Other educational programs have been adopted, such as Microsoft 360, latest version of PowerPoint, Articulate 360 and Bandi-cam program, among others.  For example, the owner of Amazon company is now the richest person on earth, with a total wealth of 1 trillion $ as his company shares have increased rapidly recently.

No one knows when this nightmare is going to end, but for sure life before corona will never be the same after corona. People will have to change their lifestyle habits for many years to come. People will tend to depend more on online purchase, online classes and meetings. Education will depend more on technology than before. The new life will definitely produce more ideas to make sure less contact among people. A newly born life style will arise and new generations will take the lead to the bright future.

How to cite this article:

Habboosh Muhammad, Business and Education: Life Style after Corona, <https://www.skylineuniversity.ac.ae/knowledge-update/from-different-corners/business-and-education-life-style-after-corona>

I am writing to you today as an educator and as a life-long learner.  My topic is:  does outcomes-based education or OBE do more harm than good? I will begin by defining outcomes-based education, then outlining major international examples of its failure - after which I will discuss key reasons for that failure and leave you with a possible solution.

First of all, what is OBE?  In practice, it means teaching and assessing students based on specific outcome statements instead of a set syllabus.  What is deemed to be important for a course is set out in a series of statements which begin something like this: The student will: demonstrate, apply, use, perform, etc.  The students are then taught according to those statements and evaluated as to their progress against those statements and nothing else.

An interesting question with OBE is, does OBE assessment reflect and support learning or hamper student success?  In OBE assessment, marks are weighted per stated outcome, firmly limiting the range of marks attainable per response by a student.  This can have negative consequences in the real world.  For example, if Albert Einstein had taken an OBE math test whose outcomes included adherence to set norms, he might well have scored badly or even failed the test.  OBE limits an educator’s ability to award marks according to their expert knowledge of student and subject, instead of forcing mark allocation according to pre-determined norms with no allowance for divergent thinking or alternative responses.

The next question is, where has OBE failed?  The answer is, everywhere,  as educators, we have known for years that outcomes-based education isn’t producing good results; major experiments in OBE in the US with the so-called common core programs, saw the USA go from 7th in maths to 31st in international tests according to the USA today; in South Africa OBE was introduced as the National Qualifications Framework and rapidly saw South Africa tumble in world educational ranking to the bottom, number 148 out of 148 in maths and science according to the world economic forum rankings.

Why has it failed?  To understand why OBE is failing so badly, my thoughts go back to the purpose of education as put by renowned educator John Dewey at the start of the 20^th century.  He asked a simple question:  When we talk about teaching, are we talking about teaching rote facts and pre-ordained responses or are we talking about the ability to be creative thinkers and innovators.  Dewey’s question sets up a dichotomy between rote learning and creativity. Each of these two things has its own place in the learning environment, but only one is served well by OBE.

OBE calls for the educator to teach every student the same thing in exactly the same way every time, this is rote learning, it is not student-centred; it is instead focused on the need for standardization of output.  A prime example of this practice can be seen in the system of standardized testing now used for graduation in most school systems.  Fact-based material such as grammar, business models, procedures, and simple mathematical equations are examples of how OBE serves the first of Dewey’s purposes of education well, but not the second, and in my opinion the more important, particularly for higher education.

Perhaps you see my bias creeping in here, I have witnessed how outcome-based education locks educators into only teaching to prescribed, specific goals. The problem with this is that there are only so many hours in a course and those outcomes must be mastered within that time.  With time used up achieving  “measurable” outcomes, less measurable, but higher- order learning - like creativity, thinking skills, divergent thinking, even social, practical, and artistic learning take second place, or are not learned at all. 

Worse, and perhaps the key problem, is that outcomes are often treated as a one-shoe-fits-all solution by administrators who are trying to satisfy institutional licensure and program review requirements which have little to do with actual learning.  Being driven by such requirements is a huge disadvantage if you want a well-rounded and complete education.  The purpose of education should be to make students into well-informed thinkers who are aware of past knowledge, but able to creatively innovate and contribute in their future.

Teachers are experts in their field and experts in their knowledge of their own student’s learning capabilities.  OBE systems, set up by and suited to administrative top-down “quality” requirements, do not serve the learning needs of individual students or complement the expert knowledge of classroom educators.  Instead, they are intended to create academic rigor through some weird sort of pseudo-scientific knowledge outcome bean-counting exercise. In reality, outcomes induce a sort of intellectual stagnation - exactly because they are not learner-centred, or even educator-centred, and this must change.

The solution may be self-evident, it is to use outcomes where they have value, but not apply them where they inhibit or restrict learning.  In other words, to move away from the all or nothing thinking behind the implementation of outcomes so that they become a tool used to teach and assess where appropriate.  However, this solution will require a monumental shift away from the top-down managerial approach to learning which is pervasive today; a democratization of education if you will, where educators take back responsibility to educate from the managers who have usurped it.  This will make outcomes a tool of learning - not just a means of regimenting institutional activity.

Let’s stop blindly insisting on outcomes as a universal panacea for measuring the success of education and make learning learner-centred again.  Remember, this is not academic, it affects each one of us, students, educators and society alike - right here, right now.   As students and educators, we must speak out and start the debate around relegating OBE to the parts of education where it suits best and promote better adapted assessment structures in other areas of learning.

Digital twin has been a recent trend in the world of digital technologies. It can be called as a virtual copy of a living or non-living entity. This digital twin can be created using the technology for any kind of asset or a process or persons or locations.

As a product of the late 1970s and someone who grew up with the music of the 1980s, it is no wonder that I can seem to relate every topic that I write about to music. Even today’s topic on non-verbal communication and its importance in our ineractions with others starts with reference to a classic song. An old 1982 song by F.R. David starts with “Words, don’t come easy, to me”. I can most certainly relate to this. Sure, the song refers to words of love and how the singer struggles to express the emotion but the underlying sentiment can be extrapolated to fit in all areas of life.

I think that this is true for most of us. Words, in whichever language we choose to express ourselves, don’t come easily to most of us. This is most likely because our words carry significance. They carry weight and have immense impact. Words are important. This is an inescapable fact. Words let people express themselves. Words let others know what someone is feeling and what they are thinking. Words can sustain, uplift, improve, hurt or demotivate. Words are powerful tools. We, as humans, know this. We use our words to get what we want. We use our words to persuade. We use our words to scold. We use our words for a plethora of reasons. Yet, sometimes, words fail. Why is this? Words sometimes fail because the verbal language we are speaking does not match the non-verbal language we are displaying. We say something where the words are innocuous but people take offence. We then become confused how some seemly innocent verbal utterance from us could cause harm or discomfort.

An old cliché goes that “it is not WHAT you say but the WAY you say it”. A cliché is a cliché for a reason. It is an oft repeated phrase because at its core there is some truth, even if because of overuse it appears to lack originality and become trite. In this case it still seems to hold water. Our tone of voice can get us into trouble, even when we do not mean offence. Tone forms part of a list of non-verbal communication tools that everyone possesses. From small children who screw up their faces to signal that they will start to cry if they are not entertained immediately to silent looks of disapproval we send and receive in the workplace, we all use our arsenal of non-verbal communication tools. This is both a conscious and an unconscious process.

There is an argument to be made for the point that our nonverbal communication can often be more powerful and speak louder than our verbal communication. Think about a situation where you are sitting alone in a crowded room where you don’t know anyone. These days our first inclination will be to take out our phones and check email or whatever social media platform we are registered on. No-one will approach you. Why is this? No-one will approach you because you have closed yourself off, metaphorically, without having to explicitly state “don’t come near me”. Your phone becomes your focus and therefore people do not feel comfortable approaching you. You have created your comfort zone but other people have become uncomfortable. You will leave that room not having made a single contact and will most likely wonder why. Your body language spoke volumes without you having to utter a single syllable. Your body language might not reflect the true you but that is the message that was being sent at the time. For this reason, we need to be very careful of what our non-verbal communication says about us.

Non-verbal communication can be intentionally used in commanding ways and in this way can be a true asset to everyone. Non-verbal communication can become another method of expression and a wonderful tool in our communication arsenal. For this to be true we need to be very careful about what our non-verbal communication says about us.  We need to be intentional and plan what our non-verbal communication conveys. This is true for both social and professional spaces. For the purposes of this short article, let us look at a five items of non-verbal communication and their impact in the workplace.

• First up is an issue of non-verbal communication that can be tricky for interpersonal reasons. Self-presentation, specifically related to grooming and clothes is something that most people under then need for. There are instances though where managers have to intervene. Why is this? It is simply because as we all know, our first impression is not made with our voices. Our first impression is made with our appearance. Whether this is politically correct or not can be argued for 100 pages but the sad fact is that this is the way the world currently works. In a workplace you must be well-groomed, by this it is meant that you must be smartly and appropriately dressed for your workplace, according to the norms and culture. What are some of the things you need to keep in mind as far as clothing and appearance are concerned in your cultural environment?
• Next, something simple that is so easy to get wrong is eye contact. Yes, even for this there are ‘guidelines’. Eye contact should be appropriate, not constant. If eye contact is constant you risk people thinking you are staring and therefore becoming upset. A good and simple rule to follow in the workplace is to always look someone in the eyes (please adjust for culturally appropriate interactions) but to look away once and a while. For example, you can look away when you are nodding. Don’t do things like look at your watch or your phone as people will think this means you are not interested in what they are saying. Also, do not tighten your eye muscles as this makes you look like you are frowning.
• Thirdly, facial expressions are usually the item that lets people inadvertently know what your mood is. In the workplace you should strive to have a positive and open expression. Your face will be looked at most while people are talking with you. In fact, this is the feature that most people will look at before they even approach you for help or advice. You want to make sure that you have an open and friendly expression on your face. You do not have to be smiling widely 24/7, but you do have to have a relaxed and pleasant look on your face. You do not want to frown or push your eyebrows together, or roll your eyes, even when you think no-one is watching you.
• Body language and positioning, mainly referring to posture is where you want to communicate your openness and get people to work with you. Have an open posture by keeping arms out and not crossed, standing or sitting up straight, turning your body towards the person who is talking. All these items will let people know that they can approach you.
• Finally, the article returns to the issue of tone of voice. Tones to try to emulate are soothing, understanding, sometimes to gain attention – woman are often taught to speak softly and have a ‘nice to listen to’ voice. Think about when we tell bedtime stories to children or sing them to sleep. This tone of voice is very appropriate for home but for the workplace you might need to make it a bit stronger. Men might want to reign in their ‘instinctive dominant’ tones.

In the end, these are just guidelines of parts of communication that you might like to take note of. Remember though, we don’t need words to communicate and therefore we need to ensure that our non-verbal signals are communicating the our intended message.

As we all know, COVID-19 has caused severe damage to the world in all fields starting from locking people at homes to major investments such as airplane business, car factories, or oil production.

Life has not been easy for individuals and businesses across the globe during the year 2020 due to the constant impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. All global reports indicate that the way organizations tried to respond to this sudden uncontrollable situation ranged from making keen efforts to understand and respond to the demands of the situation; improvising some internal factors to gain control on the situation; adapting to enhanced the use of tech-related solutions to reduce losses; synchronizing to new industry and national standards, and lastly, discovering new work procedures and employee issues. This year has been a roller-coaster ride with ups and downs, but indeed, providing a great learning experience for small and big firms. In other words, the firms adapt to the new normal which is a state to which an economy, society, etc. settles following a crisis, when this differs from the situation that prevailed prior to the start of the crisis. The term has been used following the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the aftermath of the 2008–2012 global recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

A host of interesting and timely international including Deloitte and Gartner reports opine that five critical steps may support and enable firms to bounce back and develop resilience in the post-COVID times. They include:              

(1) Reflect: The leaders need to reflect and understand the situation in the context of their organization and the industry they operate in.

(2) Recommit: The leaders need to recommit to transiting the organization in order to recover from the situation by setting new commitments and priorities for the organization as well as the employees. It becomes critical for the leaders to communicate directly with their workforces on new priorities and business goals.

(3) Re-engage: Clear directions and priorities need to be conveyed by the leaders to the workforce where an understanding is generated about the skill and competence requirements of employees. In the new normal, the leaders need to involve workers in meaningful work where employees feel valued and be able to contribute to the demands of the new vision. Enough training is the key. New technology solutions need to be adopted by organizations as well.

(4) Re-thinking: Shifting away from rigid routine and structure is the requirement of the new normal. There is a need to closely communicate with everyone in the organization. Firms have even rethought about their vision and mission during the post-COVID times.

(5) Reboot: A pivot toward HR designed for speed, new ways of working, digital first, teams, adaptable organizational strategies, and changing business requirements is a pivotal decision. These five steps could be the game changers for resilient organizations post COVID era.