Carbs were key in wolves’ evolution into dogs - latimes.com Long ago, some brazen wolves started hanging around human settlements, jump-starting events that ultimately led to today’s domesticated dogs. Now geneticists say they have identified one of the key changes … Continue reading →

If you’re looking for more channels to promote or sell your online course, Quora.com can be a great option. It only takes a few minutes a few times a week to generate an increase in your online course sales. If you’re one of those that likes a quick read or a short list here’s my summary of this post: 1. Setup a Quora account 2. Search for questions that interest your target audience 3. Set your alerts to questions relating to your online course 4. Respond to these questions and add value 5. Include a link to your online course in your response 6. Watch sales increase Setup a Quora Account: Setting up a Quora account is easy.. just head over to https://www.quora.com/ and get started. Search for questions that interest your target audience: Once you’re setup enter your search terms in the search bar. Think about what people would search for if they were looking for help that your course could address. For example if you have an online photography course I’d start searching for "photography course". That’s an obvious one, but you can get more creative and search for specific terms relating to your topic like "f-stop" or "DSLR" or "camera" or "camera settings" etc. These searches should lead you to some questions that you might be able to help with. The goal here is to find not only good questions but questions that would be of interest to your target demographic. Set your alerts to find questions relating to your online course: If you find a good search term that seems to yield some good questions for you then follow that topic. For topics that you follow, Quora will alert you when questions are asked about those topics. You can then choose the ones to respond to. Respond to these questions and add value: When you find questions that interest your target audience, answer them and include a link to your course.The key here is to add value in your answer. Simply linking to your course is not nearly as effective as writing an answer that adds real value. This has the benefit of helping establish you as an expert to trust as people read your answer, making them more likely to click on your link or take your online course. The key here is to add value in your answer. Simply linking to your course is not nearly as effective as writing an answer that adds real value. This has the benefit of helping establish you as an expert to trust as people read your answer, making them more likely to click on your link or take your online course.The biggest benefit of writing a well thought out valuable answer is that it is more likely to get upvoted by other quora users and so remain at the top of the list getting more views. The biggest benefit of writing a well thought out valuable answer is that it is more likely to get upvoted by other quora users and so remain at the top of the list getting more views. If you take the approach above you’ll get a few notifications of questions every day, and you can choose which ones to respond to. It shouldn’t take you more than 10-20 minutes a few times a week and you can create a new inbound channel for online course sales. We’d love to hear from you if you have tried Quora to promote your courses or have other ideas or suggestions about how you’ve been marketing your online courses. Please share your ideas in the comments below! The post Sell More Online Courses with Quora appeared first on Thinkific.

Having just recently moved to British Columbia, Melissa has joined our large community of Vancouver-based tutors. She manages to stand apart as one of our most experienced Language and English tutors. With several languages already under her belt, her hope was to learn 10 different languages by the time she turned 30. Although she didn’t quite reach her goal, we know she will continued to learn and flourish. Other than Language Education, Melissa’s two greatest passions include eating and traveling. Since moving to Vancouver, she has fully immersed herself into the local food culture. As for her passion for traveling, Melissa just returned from a trip to Alaska and hopes to visit the Philippines sometime next year. Ready to work with Melissa? Get in touch with her on HelpHub or learn more about her below: Location: I recently moved to Vancouver, British Columbia. Before that, I lived most of my life in Montreal, Quebec. Education: I have a B.Sc. in Psychology and a B.Ed. in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) from McGill University. I also took courses in translation at Concordia University, and I am currently working on my M.A. Hardest class you’ve ever taken: I would have to say Abnormal Psychology, a course about intellectual and emotional disorders. My Psychology degree was really about getting to know myself. So, Abnormal Psychology was scary because every Psychology student goes through the analysis thing - analyzing yourself and analyzing other people. And doing that in Abnormal Psychology can definitely be uncomfortable! How long have you been tutoring/teaching: My first teaching experience was at the age of eight. I taught Karate. I didn’t know it then, but that was my first career experience in teaching. Later on, I taught self-defence classes. I don’t teach martial arts anymore, but I still practice for the love of the sport. I started tutoring English and French about 20 years ago. After tutoring casually for two years, I decided to take two CEGEP courses on how to tutor. I’ve been tutoring ever since. I have worked with students in elementary, high school, CEGEP, and university. I have also tutored Business English to adults. As a teacher, I have taught Business English to adults in private language schools and I have taught English at the high school level in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Montreal. I specialize in pronunciation, literature, and writing. What do you like most about tutoring/teaching? Teaching and tutoring are humbling experiences. You get to discover how much other people can teach you. I learn as much as I can from my students. What made you decide to study Language Education? My cultural background plays a big role in my decision to study languages. My parents are actually from Mauritius, so I grew up speaking French and Creole. Most people look at me and assume I am Chinese and speak Mandarin. I can’t even count how many times I had to explain why Mandarin is not my first language. But I did feel like I should learn Mandarin. After all, my grandparents are from China. Mandarin was the first language I wanted to pick up during my formal schooling. Following that, I kind of got carried away. My goal was to speak ten languages by the time I turned thirty. I studied Spanish, Italian, German, and Japanese. I didn’t reach my goal of ten languages, but I didn’t give up. I started researching more about why I didn’t succeed. I looked up language learning strategies and interviewed people about their language learning experiences. Today, I specialize in language learning, and I think that my language background has helped me understand what learning difficulties students go through. As you can tell, I enjoy the problem-solving aspect of all this. Teaching and tutoring are humbling experiences. You get to discover how much other people can teach you. I learn as much as I can from my students. Favorite school memory: Reading Macbeth with my grade 10 English teacher. Prior to that, I never knew how to read Shakespeare. I ended up hating it and only read his plays because I had to. When we studied Macbeth, I felt like I truly understood it. I love witnessing the relationship between Lady Macbeth and her husband. It truly is a classic! Favorite subject in school: My favorite subject was Math. I loved how straightforward it was. My favorite math class was Calculus 2. Favorite late night snack: I don’t have one because I don’t eat late at night. But when I was in university, my favorite late night snack was dried mangoes. Is there a subject/trade you wish you could learn not related to your major? I always wanted to be a firefighter, a mechanic, a psychologist, a physiotherapist, a dentist, a martial artist, a travel writer, a stunt person, and finally, a chef. Yes, I am passionate about a lot of things. =) If you could study abroad anywhere in the world for free, where would it be and why? Finland! They are going through an education reform to teach by topic and not by subject anymore. I think it is a wonderful idea and I would love to experience it! Favorite way to study: I used to study better at night. Now, I’m lucky if I can keep my eyes open by midnight! As a teacher, I have a treasure chest of studying/learning strategies. It depends on what and when I am studying. Note cards work for language learning. I like to highlight too, but I’m very particular in my highlighting technique. I actually took a highlighting class once. Sounds ridiculous, but it turned out to be quite helpful! Best advice you’ve ever gotten from a teacher or mentor: Before you draw Picasso, you must learn to draw a horse. This came from my English teacher and she wanted me to learn the grammar rules before I started breaking them. Of course you can say walk before you run, but adding Picasso to the mix gives it that special touch! To connect with Melissa, sign up for HelpHub and start chatting with her and thousands of other tutors now!

One really effective way to accelerate course sales is using webinars. This week, rather than just telling you how this can work, I wanted to share the detailed case study of one of our instructors who has used webinars almost exclusively to drive sales. Even better, we’re going to dive right into his story with all the details of exactly how he did it. John’s story is a favourite of mine, because it’s a great example of how dedicated focus to one channel that’s working can really drive growth. More importantly, I chose his story for a case study because this is something that can be translated to countless different topics to drive online course growth! Learn the winning webinar funnel that earned John $20k/mo. in online course salesClick To Tweet Download the full case study below to learn: - John’s Course Creation Best Practices - Why he Moved from Udemy to Thinkific (and the sales he saw as a result) - 3 Things to Include in Your Webinar - The Complete Webinar Funnel John Used to Grow His Audience The post Earning $20,000/month with Webinars appeared first on Thinkific.

Corporate Serious Games Are Changing The Rules Of Product Development Corporate Serious Games Are Changing The Rules Of Product Development by Tom Grant on Sep 03, 2011 2,875 views For software developers, serious games provide new ways to gain insights … Continue reading →

Summer jobs can either be the best or the worst experiences of your high school and college years. You might discover a career-defining passion and make invaluable connections for your future, or you might make an hourly pittance doing something as intellectually stimulating as watching paint dry. However you choose to occupy yourself for three glorious months, the end result will be eye-opening - you’ll come a little closer to knowing what you want to do, and what you absolutely, definitely, don’t want to do when you graduate. The path to finding your calling is a winding one, and that’s never more clear than when you think about your favorite writers. Many of today’s renown writers held down a variety of jobs before completing their literary magnum opus. To name a few: Kurt Vonnegut The author of Slaughterhouse Five was a car salesman. Vonnegut owned a Saab dealership in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Stephen King The prolific thriller and horror novelist worked as a high school janitor after graduating from college. The inspiration for his first work, Carrie, struck while he was cleaning the women’s locker room. Tom Clancy Hollywood owes much to Tom Clancy, who penned such action blockbusters as The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games. Prior to his star-studded literary career, Clancy was an insurance agent who wrote novels in his spare time. Charles Dickens Dickens, one of the greatest novelists of the Victorian Era, worked in a boot polish factory at the age of 12. His job was to paste labels on to the pots of boot polish, and he did this for ten hours a day while his parents and siblings languished in debtor’s prison. Alice Munro Canada’s Nobel-prize winning author and master of the short story worked as a waitress, tobacco picker, and library clerk to pay her tuition throughout college. Harper Lee Before winning the Pulitzer Prize for To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee was an airline reservation agent in New York City. L.M. Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery was a teacher before creating one of the world’s most beloved fictional characters, Anne Shirley, and penning The Anne of Green Gables series. She didn’t enjoy teaching, but it gave her the opportunity and freedom to write in her spare time. John Green The author of tear-jerker The Fault in Our Stars was a chaplain at a children’s hospital, a publishing assistant, and a production editor for a book review journal before publishing his first novel. Langston Hughes Before he published his first book of poetry, Hughes held down a variety of odd jobs. He was a cook, a launderer, a personal assistant to a historian, a seaman, and a busboy at a hotel. William Faulkner This Nobel laureate was the postmaster at the University of Mississippi for a mere two years, and he was supposedly terrible at it. Faulkner closed and opened the post office whenever he felt like it. When he was at work, he spent his time reading, playing cards, ignoring the customers, and losing the mail.

You’ve got your course up, and you’re starting to get people signing up. Wahoo! Now - how do you maximize student engagement? Students who are engaged: - Are more likely to make a purchase (or an additional purchase) - Are more likely to complete your course - Are more likely to tell their friends There are lots of ways to fully engage with your students, but there are a few fun ways that you can maximize your relationship with the default email options right within your Thinkific site. Here are my favourites. Every student that creates an account for your Thinkific site gets an automatic welcome email. This is your first opportunity to wow them! Remember: this welcome email isn’t tied to a specific class, so this includes folks that have just signed up and bought their first course, and others who have signed up for a free trial or even those who are just checking you out. Don’t miss this chance to engage with each of them. Welcome emails are your first opportunity to wow! Don't miss this chance to engage your students.Click To Tweet My top tips for your welcome email: Draft a compelling, personal hello. Tell them a little about you, and share a favourite recent testimonial or two that might help solidify their purchase decision (or tip the tables if they’re considering a purchase). Invite your student to visit your social media channels, like twitter or Facebook. This is also a way for them to get to know you a little more. Offer a sweet sign-up bonus. Sending them free access to a small bonus course, a free guide, or an exclusive download are great ways to confirm they’ve made the right choice by checking you out. You can create a unique email that will go out to your students when they complete each of your courses. When students complete a course, they are at a crucial time in your relationship with them: their satisfaction is at a peak as they’ve just finished learning, but they’re also about to stop logging in for new course content. Create course completion emails that signal the beginning, not the end, of your relationship. Click To Tweet This is an ideal time to: Thank them and congratulate them! Nothing is better than a well-timed congrats note on a job well done. Get feedback. You can always build a feedback form for student feedback right into your course itself, but asking via email for student experience and testimonials is another great way to learn how you can improve your program, and also to earn valuable student comments that you can share. Upsell them on your next course. You can include a coupon code to give them a deal on their next course, as a thank-you for completing your program. As you know which course they just completed, you can choose to suggest a good course to follow the one they’ve completed, or you can give a coupon that can be applied to any course in your catalogue. Offer a bring-a-friend deal. I’m a big fan of giving a gift for you and a gift to give away! Rather than giving one coupon towards a next course, why not offer two? Learn more about creating notification emails for your Thinkific courses. I’d love to hear what’s working for you, and if anyone has something that has worked especially well with your automated student emails! Share your thoughts in the comments below. The post 7 Tricks You’re Probably Not Using to Maximize Engagement appeared first on Thinkific.

Diversity is something that has been engrained in Tahmid from infancy. Although his family is originally from Bangladesh, Tahmid was born in Saudi Arabia. He lived and travelled to different countries including Malaysia, Singapore, the UK and around Europe. He now currently resides in Vancouver, Canada as a graduate student at the University of British Columbia. Tahmid’s exposure to various cultures helped him develop the skills to not only be friendly towards others, but to be a good listener and passionate tutor. His major interest in life lies within the field of wireless communications and how it is shaping the world to make it smarter, easier and faster for day-to-day activities. Ready to work with Tahmid? Get in touch with him on HelpHub or learn more about him below: Twitter: @tahmidzbr Education: First year student in UBC’s Masters of Applied Science (MASc) in Electrical & Computing Engineering program. Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical & Electronics (UK). Hardest class you’ve ever taken: Digital Signal Processing because its signal processing and the mathematical modelling is simply brutal! But I am a lot comfortable now though How long have you been tutoring/teaching: Seven years. I think the country I would like to study would be Switzerland. ETH University (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) is world renowned for my major. What do you like most about tutoring/teaching? The chance to breakdown my knowledge and concepts in an easy-to-consume way so that students go, "Oh, now that makes so much sense!" or "Oh, your way is so much easier and faster." What made you decide to major in Electrical & Electronic Engineering? My passion for Electronics and Physics from childhood. Favorite school memory: When I sang "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam to a girl I had a crush on! Favorite subject in school: Chemistry and Math. Favorite late night snack: Soft drinks, but I’m not very proud of it though! Is there a subject/trade you wish you could learn not related to your major? No way! I don’t think there is a subject other than my major that I love more. If you could study abroad anywhere in the world for free, where would it be and why? Since I already travelled to a few countries, I think the country I would like to study would be Switzerland. ETH University (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) is world renowned for my major. Favorite way to study: Probably not very orthodox, but I usually walk when I read. I don’t know why but I can’t focus when I sit and study! Best advice you’ve ever gotten from a teacher or mentor: IQ doesn’t relate to success. Not saying I have a low IQ, my peers often consider me as a person with a high IQ! To connect with Tahmid, sign up for HelpHub and start chatting with him and thousands of other tutors now!

Why Americans Are the Weirdest People in the World. the "weird" Western mind is the most self-aggrandizing and egotistical on the planet: we are more likely to promote ourselves as individuals versus advancing as a group. Fascinating. Greedy and selfish. … Continue reading →

The E-Learning Heroes Challenge this week was to use St […]