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4 Easy-to-Use Ukulele Apps for Beginners

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The ukulele is one of the easiest musical instruments to learn. There are plenty of resources that can help you get started playing your favorite songs, from online courses and web articles to instructional videos. For greater convenience, beginners can also install ukulele apps into their mobile devices so they can have all the learning resources they need right in their phone or tablet.

But with so many apps out there, it could be daunting for beginners to choose which one would prove to be the most useful and least stressful in helping them learn to play ukulele.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help! We’ve selected some of the best user-friendly apps for ukulele beginners and highlighted their features. These apps are all easy to use and can have you playing in no time at all. So grab your beginner ukulele, install the app of your choice and start making music!

Real Ukulele Free – Tabs, Chords and Songs on Uke

This app offers a realistic ukulele simulator. This means that the screen of your device would show the strings and fretboard as they are on a ukulele so you can pluck, strum and strike strings as if you were playing on a real ukulele – thus the name.

This app features a big chord database with tabs, a ukulele songbook and high fidelity sound (all of the notes were recorded using a real ukulele). You can also choose between a nylon and steel-stringed ukulele to play. Real Ukulele is a handy tool to get started even if you don’t have your own uke yet. Now who wouldn’t love having a ukulele in their phone? It’s free too!

Availability: Android and iOS (under a different name). Again, it doesn’t cost a cent!

Yousician

This app is a favorite among those learning to play the piano, bass, guitar or ukulele. It’s packed with features to help you become the best musician you can be, from step-by-step tutorial videos, lessons on music theory and even a Weekly Challenge that lets you compete with other Yousicians around the world.

This app has the ability to listen to you play your ukulele and give you instant feedback on your performance, including rhythm and accuracy. You can track your progress so you can see how far you’ve come along since Day 1 – a great motivator for beginners!

Availability: iOS and Android. It’s also free to install and offers in-app purchases.

Fret Trainer – Learn the Fretboard

If you’re the type of person who learns best the method of teaching feels like a game, then this is the app for you. As its name implies, Fret Trainer helps you learn all of the notes and chords on the fretboard of your uke. There are plenty of games to play, each one with the aim of teaching you fret and chord mastery.

With this app, you can match random notes, train your ears by naming chords and practice reading notes on a staff, among other activities designed as games. There’s a progress tracker too, and each fret has its own statistics. Fret Trainer can be used for learning not just the ukulele but other stringed instruments as well, like the guitar, bass, banjo and mandolin.

Availability: iOS and Android. It’s free with in-app purchases so you can fully unlock an instrument.

The Ukulele App

If you’re familiar with or have come across the YouTube channel The Ukulele Teacher by Jon Howard, this app was developed in conjunction with that. It has an extensive chord library, a reverse chord lookup feature, a chord progression tool with a built-in metronome, a comprehensive scale library and a video library where you can search for ukulele lessons from The Ukulele Teacher.

It’s got everything beginners need to learn, and the lessons are clear and easy to follow.

Availability: iOS and Android. It’s free and offers in-app purchases (you can upgrade to the PRO version).

Those are the apps we recommend for ukulele beginners. We know that people learn differently, so we recommend giving each of these apps a try. They’re all free anyway, and if you find something that works well for your learning style (and your device), then it’s worth shelling out some cash for PRO features. Have fun and let us know how your ukulele learning journey goes!

An Overview of Travel Respiratory Therapist Jobs

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The profession of respiratory therapy is growing very quickly. Unfortunately, there is still a huge gap in the number of respiratory therapists that are needed and those that are available. As a result, it is very easy to find travel respiratory therapist jobs nowadays. If you are a respiratory  therapist, therefore, a lot of career opportunities exist for you.

What Are Travel Respiratory Therapist Jobs?

A travel respiratory therapist does exactly the same work as a regular respiratory therapist. The only difference is that the latter works for a specific clinic and remains there until they apply for and get a different job, where’s the travel therapist is sent on assignments. Usually each assignment last anything from a few weeks to several months. Because of this, the travel therapist also has more variety of the actual work they do. This is because they may work in a  range of different clinics, settings, even people’s homes.

The work of a respiratory therapist is to deal with patients who have breathing diseases. They can work with many different patients. They start from infants who are born prematurely and the end with old people who suffer from illnesses such as asbestosis period commonly they work with people with chronic lung diseases such as asthma emphysema or COPD.

Respiratory therapists must be certified. To become certified, they must first complete a bachelor’s degree after which they can pass the relevant examination. Once certified, they become an essential part of the overall health care team, working with patients, their families, nurses, and physicians.  It is important to check whether a respiratory therapist certification allows them to work in any state across the country. This is particularly important for the travel therapist, remain work in California one week and in Alaska in a different week.

The role of the respiratory therapist is very wide and varied. They often complete diagnostic tests that allow them to determine the state of their patients respiratory health. This includes completing physical examination comma which are also designed to determine whether the work and treatments that is being offered is beneficial. Sometimes patients require ventilators for life support systems, in which case the role of the respiratory therapist is to manage this equipment. Indeed, sometimes this has to be done within the home of the patient, particularly if they are in end of life care.

Respiratory therapists, like all other members of the Healthcare team, must keep their knowledge up-to-date through continuous education. Often they complete specialised training in areas such as physiotherapy for the chest. Other areas in which they will be educated include pulmonary rehabilitation, disease prevention, running stop smoking clinics, and more. In effect, anything to do with breathing and respiratory system is something that a travel respiratory therapist can be involved with. What makes the role of the travel therapist so interesting, is that the work they are involved with will change depending on where they are sent to. For many, this is precisely what makes the role so attractive.

4 Reasons You Should Consider Becoming a Medical Assistant

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The healthcare field isn’t always viewed as the easiest to get into, however, there are so many opportunities in this sector that there are positions for literally everyone. Medical assistants are in high demand right now and require much less formation than many other careers in the field. Here are some of the reasons you should consider a career as a medical assistant.

Jobs are Growing at an Above Average Pace

Medical assistant jobs and jobs across the whole of the healthcare sector are growing much faster than the national average. Medical assistant jobs are expected to grow by 29% from the year 2016 to 2026 according to statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is particularly impressive when compared with the 7% national average.

Demographic pressures are mainly what is pushing this trend upwards. As more Baby Boomers move into old age, the pressure on the healthcare system is increasing. This means that jobs for health care workers on all levels will only continue to increase with time.

Relatively Short Formation

Another great advantage of a career in medical assistance is that you get into the field rather quickly. As a matter of fact, medical assistants are some of the medical professionals that require the least formation. You could start working as a medical assistant in as little as 12 months, and the best medical assistant education programs will usually involve a blend of theory and hands on laboratory work. And with the high number of jobs available, MAs can find a job right after they finish school.

Variety of Settings

Everywhere you see a physician, you will see a medical assistant. This is why the job of a medical assistant is just as diverse as the number of practices and specialties. If you’re the kind of person who loves variety or wants to work in one specific field that fits you, then a medical assistant career is a perfect choice for you.

As an MA, you can work in ambulance care, hospital settings, clinics or in private practice. You may also work with patients directly or in outpatient care centers.

It Can Be a Great Gateway to Other Healthcare Positions

A career as a medical assistant can be a great stepping stone to other positions within the industry. While it can be fulfilling enough for it to be a lifelong career, many people may see it as a way to get their feet wet and get a feel for the profession before making a jump and seeing if they have the aptitudes and character for it.

Working as a medical assistant will definitely be a plus if you’re trying to get into medical school, and it will give you a leg up over other candidates. It will also make you a more rounded professional in any healthcare career that you choose.

As you can see, the medical assistance field has tons of great opportunities and is a great career choice for those who would love to work in healthcare, minus the lengthy formation time.

Jay Eitner: Benefits from Providing New Jersey Students with a Good Education

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Education creates a foundation for everyone to have a fruitful and happy life. In those countries where education is celebrated, citizens gain the chance to do better financially, and are able to improve their socioeconomic status, for themselves and their families. Over time better education means that each generation will have a better quality of life.

A place like New Jersey that has a large lower-middle-income population, education can be the difference-maker in terms of a higher quality of life. For this reason it is incumbent upon the state to do all that it can to make sure that its students are well educated. This includes hiring the best teachers, spending the necessary amounts on education, and utilizing the tools and strategies that are proven 2 create successful students. The latter requires at times creative thinking. Schools are challenged today to find innovative ways to teach students who have shorter attention spans, end to learn more quickly.

One of the strategies to address this reality is to bring in outside Consultants who can help the schools to do the best job possible for their students. Companies like hi Tanner education focus on providing teaching tools and strategies that are up-to-date and effective no matter the socio-economic or other demographics of the student population. Jay Eitner, the namesake of the company is a former educator and administrator who understands the traditional teaching environment and the personalities and needs of today’s students.

The benefits to New Jersey are numerous and listing each one points out how important it is to ensure that every student receives a quality education:

Less crime

Better educated people commit less crime. This is due primarily to 2 factors.

  1.  Better educated people tend to have better more stable jobs.Crime is most often related 2 lower-income people who are not able to pay their bills or provide for their families. When you educate someone you position them to be self-sustaining financially, so the need to commit crimes in order to pay their bills diminishes or goes away completely.
  2. Better educated people have more options. Crime is often an act of desperation. The person committing the crime feels as if he or she has no other choice then to turn to an illegal activity. Many are not even aware of the real consequences of the illegal activity that they’re engaged in. You will find that most criminals are not well educated and we’re never offered quality education. There is no doubt that if many of them were the crime rates would diminish.

Better informed

Better educated people have a greater understanding of the things going on around them. They participate more end community activities, they vote, and they are active and important issues within their community, the country, and the world. When people are educated, they make better decisions because they can do the research to find out all the factors involved in an issue. In short, they become better citizens.

Happier

People with a better education feel as if they are more included in society and feel less is if they have no say so in their own personal lives and that of the greater community. They travel more and as a result they get exposed two different cultures, people, and beliefs, allowing them to find common ways of thinking that are similar to their own. As a result if you’re happier and better adjusted in life.

What the benefits better quality education provides, it is important that New Jersey do all it can to provide a quality education to all its citizens.

A Simple Trick To Keep You Motivated To Teach

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Teaching is most certainly not an easy job and there are times throughout a teaching career when you can grow tired, exhausted and lacking motivation to keep on going. This is a job which will test your patience everyday and it requires someone is strong willed, to be a very good teacher. Many years ago I was given some advice by the great Kevin Rolle Alabama A&M University Vice President and a man with an educational mind like never I have seen before. The advice was simple and it has served me throughout my career to keep me motivated and focused on being the best teacher that I can possibly be, surround yourself with quotes. There are thousands of positive quotes out there about teaching and here are my favourites.

“True teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross; then, having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create their

own.”

― Nikos Kazantzakis

“When you want to teach children to think, you begin by treating them seriously when they are little, giving them responsibilities, talking to them candidly, providing privacy and solitude for them, and making them readers and thinkers of significant thoughts from the beginning. That’s if you want to teach them to think.”

― Bertrand Russell

“Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference.”

― John Wooden

“The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without a teacher.”

― Elbert Hubbard

“If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.”

― R. Buckminster Fuller

“I’m more interested in arousing enthusiasm in kids than in teaching the facts. The facts may change, but that enthusiasm for exploring the world will remain with them the rest of their lives.”

― Seymour Simon

“Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results.”

― John Dewey

“Most learning is not the result of instruction. It is rather the result of unhampered participation in a meaningful setting. Most people learn best by being “with it,” yet school makes them identify their personal, cognitive growth with elaborate planning and manipulation.”

― Ivan Illich

“That’s what education should be,” I said, “the art of orientation. Educators should devise the simplest and most effective methods of turning minds around. It shouldn’t be the art of implanting sight in the organ, but should proceed on the understanding that the organ already has the capacity, but is improperly aligned and isn’t facing the right way.”

― Plato

“The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence.”

― Amos Bronson Alcott

Having these kind of quotes around you can really help to remind you the importance of teaching and why it is crucial that you stay focussed and motivated.

Why Now Is the Best Time to Become a Dentist

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Medicine is one of the top careers today for a number of reasons. But you’re not limited to becoming a doctor or nurse if you’re interested in helping people and earning a good living doing so. Instead, consider becoming a dentist. Let’s look at the reasons why now is the best time to become a dentist and why the profession has a bright future for years to come.

Shifting Demographics

Dentists are going to remain in high demand as the population ages, even if modern medicine reduces the incidence of other long-term health problems. This actually increases demand for dentists, since Baby Boomers hitting their later years are far more likely to retain some or all of their teeth over their parents.

This is all aside from the generally greater appreciation for regular dental care to prevent cavities and oral problems that leads patients to invest in preventative dental care instead of reacting to mouth pain. Yet the rise of fluoride free nursery water and proliferation of soda and sugary energy drinks means kids are not growing up cavity-free, so they’ll need dentists throughout their lives.

Good Pay

According to Salaries Hub, dentistry is a universally well paid profession. In the United States, the average dentist earns over a hundred thousand dollars a year. In Canada and Australia, dentists are paid an average of seventy thousand dollars a year. British dentists earn $50-60,000 in U.S. dollars. In Canada, England and Australia, you can earn more than these average figures if you’re willing to work overtime. This means that you’ll have the chance to enjoy great conditions and pay wherever you go if you happen to have a formation as a dentist.

The Help

Dentists today enjoy their role at the head of an entire team. Dental hygienists clean the teeth of patients before the dentist sees them. Office managers handle medical billing and scheduling. A dentist can focus on their patients and on their direct needs instead of dealing with all of the other tasks necessary to run a practice or handle patients.

Advances in medical technology have allowed dentists to streamline their operations as well. You may take imprints of a patient’s teeth before sending the imprints off to have custom bruxism guards, invisible braces or retainers made, but the dentist doesn’t have to do that; biomedical engineers and 3D printers do. Electronic medical records make it easy to send files to another service provider if the patient needs to see a specialist like an orthodontist or doctor for an infection. But in none of these cases does the dentist need to take written notes and then spend half an hour making copies of those notes to mail off to someone else.

Advances in medicine and improvements in general education are not going to reduce the need for dentists. In fact, we’re seeing greater demand for dentists as the population ages and retains more of their teeth. So if you were still on the fence about going to dental school, we suggest you consult with your counsellor to see if it’s truly the best option for you.

Careers in Social Sciences to Obtain After Completing a Degree

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Social sciences cover a very wide range of academic disciplines. This includes regional and urban planning, economy, politics, history, geography, psychology, archeology, anthropology, and more. Hence, social sciences as a discipline is so wide, that it affects every element of our lives. The result of this is also that there are many different employment opportunities available for those with a degree in social sciences. Interestingly, however, around 40% work for the government, and often in research positions. So what are some of the jobs that people with a degree in a type of social service can take on?

  1. Psychologists

In this country, psychologists must be educated to doctorate degree level in order to become licensed. Hence, these are some of the most highly trained individuals within the field of social sciences as a whole. That said, those who have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in psychology can also take on a wide variety of positions, including counseling, account management, sales, human resources, training and recruitment, and so on.

  1. Regional and Urban Planners

These professionals are researchers, but with a very specific purpose and a very clear goal. They work with demographics, economic data, and statistics in order to help develop political entities or geographical areas.

  1. Political Scientists

Most of the time, these graduates also move on the doctorate degree level and they then become teachers in a political field. Those with a bachelor’s degree from Alabama A&M University in political science, however, can still take on a variety of positions as well. In fact, this is one of the reasons why Kevin Rolle, the school’s Executive Vice President and COO, believes it is such an important part of their overall offerings of courses. Graduates can become political consultants, work on campaigns, and essentially cause ripples in the political world, something that A&M University has always been known for.

  1. Archeologists

Archeologists usually work either for the government or for museums. They search for evidence of historical happenings. At the same time, many work within research and development, using their understanding of historical and cultural influences on product usage, to determine whether a new product will be widely accepted.

  1. Geographers

These experts focus on geography, and how changes of the planet have affected human populations. They often work for government agencies, helping to determine whether proposed real estate developments are fit for purpose. Geographers almost always work for the government or within research.

Clearly, the field of social sciences is incredibly wide and varied. The five options above are just five of many, and there are many more. As the name suggests, social sciences involve everything that affects the social stratosphere. For Kevin Rolle, placing a focus on these sciences is incredibly important, as they have the potential to truly change the world for the better, for everybody in the world. Alabama A&M University has a long history of driving forward social change, and it aims to continue to do so.

Do You Have What it Takes To Be a Lawyer

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One of the most popular things which kids say when you ask them what to be when they grow up, aside from an archaeologist thanks to their passion for digging stuff up, is a lawyer and many children grow up with this dream in their hearts. It is easy to see why attorneys such as Jonathan Bunge have such desirable jobs, they stand up for people’s rights, they uphold the law and they work in a prestige job which is well paid and extremely rewarding. Becoming a lawyer is not as easy as just signing up to a course and studying hard however, there is a lot more to it and if you have ideals of one day taking up this profession, here is the other skills which you will need to have.

Persuasiveness

One of the key roles that a lawyer plays is that they must be able to argue something in such a away that they can persuade people around them that they are right. In order to do this, they must have an ability to see all sides of an argument so that they can best build their own. This is something that of course can be learned and improved over time but the very best lawyers already have this skill before they even think about going to law school.

Hard Working

the level of hard work which lawyers need to put in is incredible and many of them will work for 15 hours a day when they are deep into a case. I tis not just the job that requires a huge amount of hard work either, just getting to the point where you can practice law requires years of studying to an extremely high level and there are many who simply do not make the grade because they are not prepared to work hard enough.

Team Player

Every case is built by a team, not an individual lawyer and throughout your career you will be asked to play different roles within that team. You must be able to set your ego to one side for the good of the team and learn how you can best contribute to it, regardless of which role you are playing.

Compassionate

When you are involved in a case the stakes are often very high and those stakes very often include real people who’s lives depend on the work that you do. For this reason you must be able to show compassion to the clients who you are working for and try to always understand things from their point of view. This should not sway how you operate as a lawyer but having the nature to be able to deal with your clients in a compassionate manner is absolutely necessary if you wish to find success as an attorney of law.

3 Ways in Which the Internet Opens Pathways in the Mind

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There is much being written about how the Internet is interfering with the way in which we learn and some even go as far as saying “the Internet is making us stupid.” While this may, indeed, be the case if we rely on it for such things as spelling, grammar, punctuation and mathematical calculations, which we once did manually, with nothing more to rely on but the old grey matter as Detective Poirot would say, there is much the Internet can do to expand our minds by opening new pathways to explore. Consider the following three ways in which the Internet opens pathways in the mind, helping us learn and grow faster than ever before possible.

1. Greatly Expedited Communications

One of the ways in which the Internet can open channels of understanding faster than ever before is in the fact that communications with teachers, mentors and experts don’t need to be put on hold for days, or even weeks in some cases. With social media, email and video conferencing, it is possible to open lines of communications immediately without the need to set up an appointment that may have taken weeks to achieve. If getting answers now, in real time, while a question is fresh in your mind, doesn’t open up new pathways in the brain, perhaps not much will. There is nothing like the rapidity at which you can process information when studying for an advanced degree!

2. Access to Limitless Information and Resources to Put It in Perspective

Consider for a moment you are looking to earn your MBA online. You have a question about MBA articles you read for study purposes, and an issue arises that you want to explore further. By having the ability to access online MBA resources such as communications with your professors, you get your answer quickly, put it into perspective, and then move on in new directions. Most of today’s students won’t remember a time when they had to wait hours or days to access the school’s library or set up an appointment with a teacher, but by the time they had access to the help they needed, the question no longer carried the same weight and perhaps even the relevance was long-forgotten.

3. Opening Multi-Sensory Pathways

Finally, using the Internet as a tool for opening up the mind, you can take advantage of multi-sensory pathways. No, they haven’t found a way you can taste or smell what you are studying but you can see, feel and hear simultaneously, which has proven to help expedite the learning process. As you are typing on your keyboard (touch) you can listen to online resources such as a video on new tax laws (hearing) and flip back and forth to look at diagrams being drawn on the video whiteboard (sight). Can a text book do that?

While an obsession with gaming or social media might be ‘dumbing down’ our youth, the Internet is also a great place to explore information that can open greater pathways within the mind. It’s like anything else in life. A little goes a long way and too much of a good thing can be dangerous. Use digital media wisely and you can hope to expand the mind. It’s a great resource for those who use it wisely.

4 Ways Everybody Can Save on College Costs

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Besides choosing the right college and major, finances are usually at the top of preoccupations for new students. And for a reason: tuition costs have been steadily on the rise in the last few years and many students are considering downgrading the college they decide to enroll in, or drop post graduate studies all together. But there are some simple ways anybody can cut down on college costs. Here are a few of them.

Consider Enrolling in an Online College

There was a time when online degrees were scoffed at by most prestigious organizations. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth today. Many reputed institutions are offering great online degrees that are accepted almost everywhere. And it isn’t limited to a few programs, either. These days, you can get a nursing, finance or even an online civil engineering degree. Modern civil engineering online degrees give you all the tools to perform at the highest level and enough lab time to give you all the hands-on experience you need.

Online classes not only allow you to save on tuition in many cases, but you also won’t have to deal with all the costs associated with on-campus learning, such as lodging, transportation and study materials, since most of them will be dispensed online.

Consider Staying within your State

Going to an out of state college can be really expensive. As a matter of fact, in 2011-2012, students who studied out of state had to pay on average over $10,000 more per year on tuition. In addition, those who decide to study within their states are eligible to regional tuition breaks, which can significantly cut costs.

Think about Community College

Community colleges have been getting a bad rap lately, but there are many great advantages to going to a community college that should not be overlooked. First of all, going to a community college will cut you thousands in tuition, with many community colleges charging only $1,000 tuition fees for in-state students. Also, those who decide to enroll in a community college are still eligible for financial aid, which could further cut costs. While a community college degree won’t always be as respected as an Ivy League degree, many community colleges have great reputations in certain fields.

Consider Scholarships

Scholarships are a great way to reduce your tuition costs, and they aren’t limited to sports stars or academic geniuses, either. Pretty much anybody can get a scholarship if they know where to look. Also, when looking for scholarships, don’t overlook local options. Many local businesses and organizations have scholarship programs to increase their visibility within the community. The advantage of local scholarships is that you’ll have less people competing for them, which will significantly improve your chances of getting one.

If you follow the tips in this article, you should be able to significantly cut your college and tuition costs. Consider local scholarship options, don’t overlook online classes and consider community college if you have to. Also remember to stay within your state as much as possible if you want to take advantage of regional tuition breaks and advantages reserved to in-state students.