Knowledge Update

There are a lot of different investment opportunities in 2020 and because everyone’s resources are limited, people have to make a decision on where to invest their time and money. This decision is to a large extent depending on a potential return, but mostly on the need, willingness, and ability to take a risk.

The highest potential return and the lowest risk at the same time can be achieved if people decide to invest in themselves. Investing time and money into any form of education is usually the best investment people can make, especially when they are young. Learning a useful skill such as picking up a new language, designing a website, or developing an application for Android can bring a better paying job in the future, or even opportunity for starting their own business with less risk involved and greater success rate.
When thinking about starting a business, many people imagine a scary process of leaving a job and jumping into the unknown. It is important to realize that starting or running a business does not have to be a full-time activity. According to The Hartford (2018), 25% of the US citizens have some sort of a side business while continuing their full-time job. This research is suggesting that launching a side business is becoming a common practice and that in 2020 the field can become large enough for anyone to start their own venture.

To minimize risk even further, many ways of starting a business today do not require a large upfront investment. People only need to take advantage of this opportunity and implement their ideas in practice to reap the benefits in the form of extra income the business might quickly start generating.
The extra revenue generated by the side business is the most obvious reason why people launch new ventures. But the research is showing there are other reasons too. Many people feel stuck in their full-time jobs without being financially or emotionally fulfilled and the idea of starting a business offers them an opportunity to do the kind of work they enjoy.

While starting a business might still seem off-putting for some, others might realize that spending some extra hours on doing what they like thinking how to transform it into an income-generating business can eventually pay off. Moreover, the side hustle soon becomes a primary source of income and wealth for many.
When thinking about which business to start, people should first focus on their passions, talents and specific skills they have, whether work-related or not. This will increase both the motivation and experience needed to make the business successful.

While having a lot of extra money allow people to comfortably invest in a more passive, automatic way, investing in education or starting a business can be the best investment anyone can make in 2020 – whether to generate extra income or to simply spread the wings and get away from feeling stuck in the current position.

References:
The Hartford (2018) No Business Is Too Small for Insurance. Available at: https://mms.businesswire.com/media/20180925005605/en/680213/1/TheHartford_Side_Business_Survey_InfographicFINAL.pdf.

One of the determents of success for any person in the past was based on an intelligence test IQ, that measures memory, analytical thinking and mathematical capabilities, and thus the possibility of predicting future success in work. Recently, Emotional Intelligence also a determent of success which measure the ability to communicate with people and control feelings and skills of expression, as it contributes significantly to achieving success on many levels of life. There is no doubt that traditional intelligence and emotional intelligence play an important role in achieving professional success. But finally, in the digital transformational era and the field of Artificial Intelligence capabilities in work, and its skills for success, a new type of intelligence appeared that represent the ability of the mind to understand the changes in the environment in the right way and right time and take the proper action. The mind able to process a high level of analysis and the ability to adapt and response and deal with environmental uncertainty effectively. "Adaptive Intelligence" is not only the ability to understand new information, but also to be able to select the appropriate ones and discard useless information, as well as to overcome challenges and a conscious pursuit of change. This type of intelligence is coupled with flexibility, a passion for knowledge, courage and the ability to challenge difficulties and enjoy the skills of solving dilemmas.

Will the "Adaptive Intelligence" in the environmental uncertainty become more important for professional success compared to traditional intelligence? Technologies have dramatically changed the performance of many jobs and will continue to change. Having such skills would be better to do the work more quickly and accurately. And in order for the employee to maintain his/her role, he/she must acquire new creative skills that enable him/her to solve emerging problems as well as the ability to understand and communicate better and accountability with the use of human hyper intuition to have better performance results.

The three forms of intelligence are integrated to achieve success, as it helps the organization to overcome obstacles and improve adaptation, as the ideal approach to do what possesses traditional intelligence, emotional intelligence and adaptive intelligence together, which is not available to all, as "there are geniuses who are not creative", and intelligence without flexibility and adaptation alone makes one find it difficult to be the best. Today, organizations are looking for those who are able to adapt, where behavioral skills are the most important work today, and at the forefront of these skills is “preparing for flexibility, adapting to it and adapting to change".

The concept of cryptocurrency has been widely recognized in the last few years. These are digital currencies that make use of encryption for verification of a transaction. Bitcoin is a digital currency that was based on public-key cryptography. The major innovation in the case of Bitcoin is the decentralization of technology. The bitcoin database is distributed across a network of contributing computers, instead of storage of transactions on a single server. The database holding bitcoin database which is called “Blockchain” where blocks are added in the chain during the process of bitcoin mining. The mining process revolves around the solution of compound computational puzzles. In doing so, the miners receive the incentive of bitcoin rewards and transaction.

The bubble behavior of bitcoin is prompted by the noise traders which imply market inefficiency to increase, hence, there is a notion of experience of “fad” by the bitcoin market. The combination of different market news and events happen to have a strong effect in price volatility of bitcoin. The bubble-like behavior explains the increased volatility as a result of increased trading. The unsophisticated noise traders of bitcoin get easily affected by expectations and behaviors of other traders which can lead to “herding behavior, prospect behavior and heuristics behavior.” Hence, the decisions are mostly made in the light of heuristics instead of incorporating actual assessments.

From the behavioral finance point of view, the crowd activity literature is titled herding. The herding is described as a decision-making approach characterized by imitating other peoples’ behavior. It is also defined as a situation in which rational investors tend to act irrationally by imitating others’ judgments when it comes to making such investment decisions. It is stated that the herding factors affect asset prices significantly which this consider a part of the capital assets pricing theory. Moreover, herding can cause some emotional biases including conformity, congruity and cognitive conflict, the home bias, and gossip theories.

Traditional finance theory states that investors’ behavior is not significantly affecting the prices of assets. The argument behind that determined by investors’ demand that will be neutralized by the arbitrageurs’ transaction and by the trades, therefore, discounts the potential influence of the investors’ sentiment or investors’ feelings. Investors believe that they make their investment decision logically and rationally. However, the behavior finance theory states that investors’ behavior is significantly affecting the prices of assets. This indicated that behavior finance factors play a significant role in affecting investment decisions made by investors in the cryptocurrency market. As a conclusion, Behavioral Finance studies the psychology of financial decision-making. Most people know that emotions affect investment decisions. The behavioral finance holds out the prospect of a better understanding of financial market behavior and scope for investors to make better investment decisions based on an understanding of the potential pitfalls. The behavior finance factors play a significant role in influencing investment decisions made by investors in the cryptocurrency market.

Happiness in the workplace is a buzz word nowadays. Forums, discussions, workshops, and seminars are organized to guide us to the path of happiness. But is it really happening? This is a key question.  

Enhancing happiness needs a sneak peek in PERK where P stands for purpose, E for Engagement, R for Resilience, and K for Kindness. These four elements account for the happiness of employees in contemporary workplaces. A successful manager and enthusiastic workforce aim to attain PERK in order to be happy in the workplace. But again we stop to ask how to use PERK. Let me elaborate!

Every organization frames a mission and vision for achieving a set of goals. So it is important for employees to reflect on their core values and feel purposeful at work. Managers must instill a sense of passion and purpose through ethical means in the way employees perform their work. Further, the manager could also promote purpose by making core values explicit at the workplace, and implementing policies that align people’s day-to-day experiences with core values. As Swarthmore College Professor Barry Schwartz explains, we want to see how our progress is tied to meaningful, important, and self-transcendent impact in the world.

Engagement at work comes with enjoyment and fun. Managers and employees should include some playfulness, creativity, humor, and levity at work. It is also vital to develop a sense of ownership among employees. Flow at work is critical and organizations are now moving from hectic, meeting-clogged, multitasking and devise-notification laden schedule to more encouraging and uninterrupted periods of deep work concept. Some international organizations like Southwest Airlines and Zappos have earned a reputation for engaging employees in positive ways. 

Resilience is all about bouncing back to normal performance and productivity after setbacks and failures. The best technique for doing this is mindfulness. Being mindful can be the starting point of having a better opinion of self, revising our old learned habits of self-criticism and self-blame.

Managers can create a culture of being mindful. Further, employees can also be authentic in order to be more mindful. Mindfulness can be enhanced through non-work related wellness and charitable activities. Adobe’s Project Breath is all about building and sustaining mindfulness among the employees. 

Our last tenet of happiness at work is kindness. Being kind at work is practicing empathy and compassion, treating colleagues with dignity and respect, practicing gratitude and handling conflicts positively and constructively. Employees are urged to be good listeners and effective team players. Apologies also enhance respect and commitment in building trust and happiness at work. Georgetown University Professor Christine Porath’s book Mastering Civility explains being civil means building trust; sharing resources, feedback, and credit; and being a good listener. For leaders, civility skills are critical to avoiding the corruptive influence of gaining power.

Research shows happiness at work in essential for organizational success and achievement of its KPIs, mission, and vision. Using the tenets of PERK can enable enhanced happiness among employees at the workplace. 

Educational institutions are powerful generators of dominant ideologies and as such produce practices that both exclude and include. One of the ways that class and social privilege is reproduced is explained by Bourdieu’s (1984) notion of cultural capital. A widely used definition of cultural capital stems from Lareau and Lamont who indicate that cultural capital is ‘institutionalized, that is, widely shared, high status cultural signals (attitudes, preferences, formal knowledge, behaviors, goods and credentials) used for social and cultural exclusion’. Aspects such as attitudes, preference and behaviors are usually learnt from one’s home and community. Educational institutions tend to reward learners who carry within themselves ‘appropriate cultural capital’.

Discourse ‘is used in linguistics to refer to extended samples of either spoken or written language’ (Fairclough). ‘Language in use’ is how Gee describes discourse. Fairclough explains that if one takes the view that discourse is an extended sample of language, then the emphasis is placed on the interaction between the person who speaks and the one who listens, or on the person who writes and the one who reads the writings. In consequence to this the ‘processes of producing and interpreting speech and writing, as well as the situational context of language use’ are emphasized as well (Fairclough). He views language not as an individual activity but as a form of social practice. Therefore, language is produced and reproduced in social settings such as schools and higher education institutions.

The notions of positioning and power are critical in the shaping of these reproductions. Discourse models are ‘the largely unconscious theories we hold that help us make sense of texts and the world’. As humans, we tend to live with and act on these assumptions unless challenged. Therefore, it can be said that these models are the frame through which we ‘see’ the world. Furthermore, while one learns from one’s experiences, these experiences are shaped by the ‘social and cultural groups to which we belong’ (Gee). But these frames are culturally bound, leaving us to have limited perceptions of situations. Also, these frames can make us act in certain ways believing we are doing what is right, when in fact the opposite might be true. Fairclough believes that one’s ‘social identity;’ and ‘subject positioning’ are constructed by discourse. Discourse constructs social relationships among people. This is one of the main reasons that educators need to become aware of the power of their classroom and everyday talk to position their learners in ways that can reproduce inequality.

Since the revolution of the internet, everything in the world has changed and moved forward. The internet is now used widely in all fields such as buying products, applying for colleges and reading books. Like any other facility, the use of the internet in education has positive effects, but the facility itself is not always available. One of the major uses of the internet that has positively helped is in the education field.

Developing education has always been the focus of governments, researchers and even booksellers. With the internet spreading worldwide, the need for using it in education was inevitable. Funded by governments, universities and researchers were able to upload a huge amount of material online, starting from small articles, to journals, books, and even videos. This has made it possible to make education more fun and made it much easier for teachers to upload material and for students to have access to what they need in their studies. For example, in some schools, there is no need for students to physically attend classes; they can simply watch relevant videos done by teachers online and then act accordingly. They can also send their work via email to their teachers, have their papers checked and receive their marks. To do research assignments, there is no need to go to traditional libraries or bookstores to search for books or certain articles; a few clicks on Google or Yahoo from a smartphone or a laptop is enough to show thousands of books and articles. On top of that, students can do self-study online. Students can contact their teachers 24 hours a day by simply sending an email. Inside the classrooms, teachers can use many good educational websites and programs for teaching and practice purposes, such as Youtube, Khahoot Program, K5P Program, Quizizz Program, Articulate 360 and Learning Management Systems (LMS), among others. None of these programs would exist without having the internet. Most rich countries, such as the United States, Britain, Finland, Japan, Malaysia or Holland, are up-to-date in terms of developing and using online programs to help their students for better and effective education that will positively reflect on future generations and may create leaders and scientists for their countries' benefits.

However, it is not always possible to use the internet in education. That is to say, some countries do not have enough financial resources to provide internet services to all educational facilities such as schools and universities. Some of these countries include Mexico, Iraq or Syria. Other countries have limited access to the internet for security reasons such as Vietnam or North Korea. A lot of students may not be able to have phones to use mobile apps or computers to use other programs in learning especially in poor countries. Any advancement needs time; the availability of trainers, a place and time to train educators in how to use online resources is not always possible. Regardless of the reason why there is no internet in a certain place or with limited access, it is still a fact that in some countries, teachers and students cannot have online classes and they might not even know such programs exist.

To sum up, although some countries are without the internet, and they still use traditional learning and research, no one denies that the internet has completely changed the concept of education. It has made it much easier and more fun than before. We do not know what new tools will be invented in the future to facilitate education and make it more effective, but the internet is definitely going to be on top of these tools for a long time.

In the new millennium, organizations across the globe are aiming for more diversity in the workplace to ensure that varying perspectives contribute to the achievement of organizational goals. Managing a diverse workforce is not an easy task and requires a plethora of skills to ensure the smooth functioning of the organization. Organizations should engage in deep-level diversity where people from different backgrounds share opinions, discuss issues and create ‘out of the box’ solutions, rather than surface-level diversity that focusses on gender, color, race and so on. Diversity initiatives of any organization will be successful only when top management fully supports the implementation of these initiatives. Leadership plays a highly important role in this regard as modern-style leadership is not only the ability to influence people but also the ability to visualize how various emerging technologies can be used to solve organizational problems and enhance customer experience, all while keeping the cost implications in mind.

To be a successful employee currently means being adaptable and possessing good emotional intelligence skills. These traits enable employees to understand various perspectives put across by people from diverse backgrounds. For sure, organizations with a diverse team will have higher productivity, flexibility and the ability to face challenges and implement changes as per industry requirements. At the same time, if diversity is not managed well it leads to misunderstandings and conflicts which may not only hamper the day to day operations but could also result in a decrease in productivity and possibly the collapse of the entire organization.

Having a proper culture in place and focusing on inclusion is the key to success. Diversity and inclusion are crucial concepts for all organizations and the achievement of such is a continuous process in which the focus should be on attracting talent from diverse backgrounds. The Human Resource Department should ensure that employees are actively engaged and that suitable flexible work arrangements are in place to meet the requirements of millennials. The Human Resource departments of all organizations that focus on diversity and inclusion, should develop a plan that ensures that all functions, from attracting and developing to maintaining the talent, focus on developing belongingness among all the internal stakeholders to reap the benefits of diversity.

Organizations and their teams should have a positive attitude towards diversity and encourage their employees to immerse themselves in the organization’s culture of diversity and inclusion. Students studying in colleges should be trained on the importance of not only creating but also managing a diverse team. Furthermore, colleges should investigate how to provide opportunities for students to work on projects with diverse group members. This will enable the students to understand the importance of respecting and accepting differences for the betterment of the organization. Diversity and inclusion are not abstract notions but must be experienced. More opportunities for this experience should be provided by giving students showcase situations such as role-plays, group discussions, panel discussions and more. People who excel in effectively managing diverse teams that focus on inclusion will be successful managers in this era of disruptions.

Skyline University College’s Mapathon

Due to the significance of maps in responding to disasters and the delivery of healthcare, Skyline University College`s Services Committee organized a Mapathon in collaboration with MSF (Doctors without Borders) in Dubai and Missing Maps Team in Spring 2019. Mapathon is a humanitarian project aimed at putting the world`s most vulnerable people/places on the map.      

The Mapathon was intended to contribute to the fulfillment of Skyline University College`s vision to be a globally renowned university that nurtures the spirit of innovation and creativity. With the assistance of MSF, the Mapathon was an opportunity for students and other volunteers to digitally navigate and map of more than 550 building in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The data that students and other volunteers generated will be used by local and international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) to better respond to the crises affecting the world`s most vulnerable places.

Specifically, Skyline University College`s Mapathon was an outlet for BSIT and Business School`s students and other volunteers to use IT tools available at the campus to expand SUC`s community services internationally, and more importantly, take part in one of the most recurrent and timely humanitarian projects.

Students and other volunteers were given a training session on the concept of Mapathon by Jan Böhm, Missing Maps Communications and Community Engagement Manager, MSF Geneva. Mr. Jan was supported by Rasha Ahmed, Digital Communications Manager and Estelle Januel, Communication Assistant, MSF, Dubai.

Mathematical modelling is the conversion of problems from an application zone into manageable mathematical formulations with a hypothetical and arithmetical analysis that provides perception, answers, and guidance useful for the creating application. Mathematical modelling is valuable in various applications; it gives precision and strategy for problem solution and enables a systematic understanding of the system modelled. It also allows better design, control of a system, and the efficient use of modern computing capabilities.

Knowing the ins and outs of mathematical modelling is a crucial step from theoretical mathematical training to application-oriented mathematical expertise; it also helps the students master the challenges of our modern technological culture.

Looking at the core application of Mathematical Modelling:

I can list some of the modelling applications I understand, at least in some details, with areas involving numerous mathematical experiments. Various areas have interesting mathematical problems and these include Artificial intelligence, Computer science, Economics, Finance, and the Internet. Mathematical modelling is applicable in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, speech recognition, optical character recognition, reasoning under computer vision, and image interpretation, among others. Aside from computer sciences and economics, it’s important in image processing, realistic computer graphics (ray tracing), and labour data analysis.

Key areas of mathematics useful in Mathematical Modelling:

To formulate the basic algorithms for your mathematical formulation, the following are the key mathematical categories: Numerical linear algebra (linear systems of equations, Eigenvalue problems, linear programming, linear optimization, techniques for large, sparse problems), numerical analysis (function evaluation, automatic and numerical differentiation, Interpolation, Approximation Padé, least squares, radial basis functions, special functions, Integration univariate, multivariate, Fourier transform nonlinear systems of equations, optimization and nonlinear programming), numerical data analysis (Visualization 2D and 3D computational geometry), parameter estimation least squares, maximum likelihood, filtering, time correlations, spectral analysis prediction, Classification Time series analysis, signal processing) Categorical Time series, hidden Markov models, random numbers and Monte Carlo methods), and numerical functional analysis (ordinary differential equations, initial value problems, boundary value problems, eigenvalue problems, stability techniques for large problems, partial differential equations finite differences, finite elements, boundary elements, mesh generation, adaptive meshes Stochastic differential equations Integral equations and regularization) and non-numerical algorithms (symbolic methods, computer algebra, sorting, and Compression Cryptography).

The aim of any 21st-century education system should be to prepare students on how to deal with life challenges in a very fast moving world.  Therefore, it has to adapt to the constantly changing conditions as it cannot function in isolation from reality and ultimately, without modern technology.

Information and Communications Technology, also known as ICT, has changed the way people communicate with each other, acquire information, spend their free time, and obtain knowledge. Computers, mp3 players, DVDs, radio stations, television channels and, of course, the Internet are used to send or convey various types of information that contains written texts, graphics, sound or video images which can greatly help students learning at every level of education. The use of such devices and technologies in schools is, indeed, influencing the changes happening in teaching methodologies.  When skillfully utilized, ICT allows us to change the current concepts of conducting school activities, and thus, to greatly enhance their quality. In today’s world, it is an inevitable process.

This article will present the possibilities and advantages of using the Internet as a technology supporting traditional learning. The main purpose is to present the tools and advantages of using ICT in schools such as blended learning, e-learning, etc., which are a mix of modern tools and some traditional teaching methodologies. The dynamic spread and progress of ICT have undoubtedly contributed to the development of a knowledge-based society, known as Lifelong Learning.

Ever since the computer was first introduced in education, teaching and learning have become noticeably more effective. The first use of computers in education took place in the USA in the 1960s. Computer dissemination in American schools started in the 1970s. In the 1980s, approximately 96% of teaching was supported by computers (Computer-Assisted Instruction). In contrast, the rest of the world remained far behind the United States. The Open University in the United Kingdom (est. in 1969), is the first educational institution whose activity was devoted entirely to distance learning. To date, it is still based on the active use of materials from the Internet, radio, and television.

The last years of the 20th century were the beginning of a new trend.  E-learning and blended learning were introduced and quickly gained popularity. They enabled the dissemination of distance education, learning foreign languages, participating in courses, or even on-campus learning. Generally speaking, all of these methods added a new dimension to learning and as a result, many barriers have been overcome. In most European countries, ICT is gaining more and more popularity. In fact, ICT now is an independent subject in school in many countries.
Teaching methods – the use of ICT tools in teaching

In the 21st century, a digital generation is growing up, for which new technologies are a natural thing as they have been in contact with them from a very early age. They are referred to as digital natives. It is a generation that is difficult to reach without using digital tools, which are completely natural to them. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to adopt the forms and methods of teaching to the tools that the students use in everyday life (e.g. computer, Internet), and the teacher’s role should be one of a facilitator, inspirer, adviser, and guide.  
ICT is based on the use of blended learning. The use of ICT tools in the classroom is associated with the active inclusion of familiar information and communication technologies in the teaching process. Language classes are a perfect example.

Foreign language teaching with traditional methods supplemented with distance learning (e.g. e-learning, m-learning, blended learning), encompasses different teaching methods, allowing the learner to practice all language skills owing it to a wide range of exercises and tasks available. One of the many possibilities to diversify language classes is the use of interactive computer games in learning a foreign language, i.e. introducing elements of learning through fun.