Edumadic

21/05/2020

Chiang Mai - come for the incredible Thai street food, stay for all of these incredible highlights!

Chiang Mai is the gateway to Thailand's rich cultural history, balancing old-world charm and first-world amenities, making it an ideal destination for online learners.

14/05/2020

What will your fall semester look like?

With a fractured university experience looking more and more likely come the new academic year, many students are asking, “is this the kind of college experience worth paying full tuition for?” Taking a gap year doesn't have to mean pressing pause on your degree. Following this gap year plan mig...

13/05/2020

We've got more Edumads to introduce - meet Charlie, from our last program in Asia!

Charlie is 23 years old and from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Whilst spending 12 weeks with us on the program, he will be studying business, finance and music production, and coding!

05/05/2020

Find out why we run so many programs in Bali! (hint: it's paradise.)

Bali can't be beat when it comes to finding the perfect location to work and play all year round. Learn all about the laidback island vibes that created the spiritual home Edumadic since our inception, perfectly suited for online learners who want to combine their education with world travel.

30/04/2020

Before you say "travel is too expensive" - read this!

The next installment in our Ultimate Guide to Planning a Gap Year series is all about budgeting. It's impossible to predict every single expense during extended traveling, but looking at the types of essential and non-essential spending will help you plan a baseline budget.

27/04/2020

You're not going to get very far if you aren't putting in the work!

If you've ever had a big dream, what are the steps you've taken to make your dream a reality? Are you putting in the hard work, or waiting for success to land in your lap? Take a few minutes to consider whether your actions are matching your ambitions.

23/04/2020

It's not an oxymoron. Hear me out...

The philosophy of positive pessimism is not an oxymoron. The idea is that by combining both of these outlooks, you'll have an extremely powerful mindset that can handle anything life throws your way. Let me explain...

21/04/2020

What is a gap year? Who is it for? How do I plan one?

We got you.

Interested in learning more about taking a gap year to travel and how to plan one on your own? The Ultimate Guide to Planning a Gap Year is breaking down the planning process in a series of blog posts over the next few weeks. Start your research now!

14/04/2020

Looking to earn your degree online? We're here to help!

Looking to earn your degree online? In today’s academic world, there are so many online university options it's hard to know where to start. Check out some of the best online degree search engines that will help find the right degree program and school for you!

09/04/2020

There's a lot of space to grow during quarantine if you use your time deliberately. Here are our founder's thoughts on how:

With all of this new-found time on our hands while we're isolating from COVID-19, how will you choose to spend it? Rather than focusing on the negatives, I'm choosing to see this as an opportunity for growth. Take a look at some of my quarantine goals...

07/04/2020

Need help choosing an online course platform? We've rounded up some of the best!

You have an abundance of choices between all of the online course platforms that have sprung up all over the internet in recent years. Some platforms serve a purpose for specific skills and courses, but many cover a vast array of interests. Here are 12 of the best platforms to consider:

03/04/2020

Using quarantine to learn a new skill? We'll tell you how 7 different types can help you earn money online!

Working online looks like it’s going to become the new normal, and it’s only been accelerated by COVID-19. Whether you've lost your job or had your hours reduced, or if you're in need of extra cash, right now is the perfect time to acquire new skills that will allow you to make money online.

30/03/2020

Coronavirus is changing the way we look at the future of education - how will it affect you?

How will Coronavirus affect the future of education? Everyone in the formal education system is now being educated 100% through the internet. This is the biggest study in online education that the world will ever see, and this is our prediction for the future.

27/03/2020

Follow these steps to learn how to earn more college credit during the Coronavirus lockdown so you can still graduate on time, or sooner!

This a strange time for everyone. The COVID-19 pandemic has made our daily lives unrecognizable, and for college students, it’s no different. College campuses have closed all across the U.S. and have been forced to adopt online education.

24/03/2020

Struggling to stay focused while studying from home? We've got you!

We’re currently undertaking the biggest experiment in distance learning in the history of education. Millions around the globe have been impacted by school and university closures because of COVID-19. Learn how you can stay productive while studying online!

19/06/2019

Meet Daphne!

Daphne is a 20 year-old from the Netherlands whose taking a year off from both university and her life as a competitive diver. She joined us on a six week summer program to Bali.

Daphne has been a part of the Dutch national diving team since 2011 and is on the road to the 2020 Olympics. But before committing more of her time to the intense training process, she knew she needed to take some time off.

“I recently discovered I needed a break to get out of my isolated life in the pool. I realized, to become a better and stronger athlete, I needed to take a break and do something completely different. Resetting my mind with a program like Edumadic, I believe I can find the inspiration and motivation to face my fears and continue my training after the summer to further pursue my dream to becoming a Olympian.”

This year off has also allowed time away from a university life that didn’t quite feel right. She’d begun to study Communications after graduating from high school, but soon realized it wasn’t the path for her.

“When I started my gap year a couple months ago, I was ready to travel the world. However, following some research online, I realized I might not be suited to be a backpacker girl and also missed studying.”

And so she made her way to Edumadic, feeling it was the perfect combination of travel, community, education, and a taste of a completely different lifestyle outside of the known.

“After spending six weeks in Bali, I’m more confident than ever that I want to continue my career as a competitive diver and pursue a degree in Sports Marketing.”

During her time on this trip, Daphne is taking a photography course to add this skill to her marketing portfolio.

You can catch her swimming in the ocean, browsing the Canggu shops, and practicing new photography techniques on the gorgeous Bali scenery.

You can also follow her on Instagram .wils

17/06/2019

In this podcast, serial entrepreneur and investor Jason Calacanis interviews the CEO of Lambda School, Austen Allred.

Lambda School is a 30 week, immersive program that gives the tools and training needed to launch a new career, and the best part? Instead of paying tuition, students only pay a percentage of their income after they're employed and making more the $50k per year.

This podcast is about an hour long and is well worth a listen. A couple of mind-blowing lessons we learnt from it:

1. Austen Allred argues that higher education should cost $10,000 per student per year. That would include world class instructors, a nice building to teach in, and a small class size of 30 students for a full credit load of eight classes a year, not including housing costs. This is significantly cheaper than the current average.

2. The cohorts at Lambda School can be broken up into three groups; 50% are people who feel they have "studied the wrong thing" in college, 25% are young people who have chosen to leave college, and another 25% are those who don't have any college. And of the three, those who haven't attended any college are outperforming the other two groups.

This podcast challenged us to think beyond what we believed to be true about higher education and we hope it does the same for you!

https://thisweekinstartups.com/austen-allred-lambda-school/

E823: Lambda School CEO Austen Allred created an immersive online training for software engineers at no upfront cost, disrupts education by eliminating student debt & aligning incentives of his school with those of its learners Jacqui Deegan | May 25, 2018 watch listen share FacebookTwitteremail com...

13/06/2019

"Laziness Does Not Exist" challenges the notion of students deemed 'lazy' by reframing our mindset. Instead of asking, "What's wrong with this person?" we should be asking, "What are the situational factors holding this student back? What needs are currently not being met?"

These questions are at the core of Edumadic.

We look at systems of higher education, world travel, and community creation and ask, "Where are the barriers to success? What isn't working and how can we change that system?"

With this perspective, we aim to design programs that fit the needs of our Edumads by providing a semester unlike anything you could find in university; access to individuals with drastically different life experiences, new environments each month that allow for exploration, and a community of people who are open to new ideas.

For anyone who is interested in learning to ask new questions about human behaviour or has struggled in any way to fit the rigid paradigm of higher education - this article is for you!

https://medium.com//laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e312d01

Psychological research is clear: when people procrastinate, there's usually a good reason

11/06/2019

This month, we're featuring DesignLabs

Design Labs is an online learning platform where every student is paired with a mentor. The founders believe that getting continuous, consistent feedback is the most effective way to master design skills.

One of the first Edumads, Chris Chan, is actually a mentor for DesignLabs. If you have any questions, you can find him on Instagram . He would be happy to answer any questions and may just be the perfect mentor for you!

https://trydesignlab.com/

07/06/2019

Imagine.... 🤔

01/06/2019

Meet Madeline!

Madeline is a 22 year-old Canadian who graduated this year with a degree in Criminal Justice and Public Policy from the University of Guelph.

Back in high school, Madeline developed a deep interest for the criminal justice system in Canada. And as she began traveling, her interest expanded to an international level.

She started asking new questions, ‘How does culture affect the prison system of any given country? What policies work best in which countries and why?"

To expand her travel experience, Madeline spent a semester in university taking classes online while living abroad in France. She then continued backpacking for four months afterward in Morocco, Spain, Egypt, and Austria to name a few.

As of today, Madeline has visited 36 countries. Her original goal was to visit 40 countries by 25 years old, but as she plans to hit that goal this year, she’s ambitiously looking to set a new travel goal.

After backpacking through Europe, Madeline returned home to Canada to complete her undergraduate degree. But once she had a taste of combining online education and world travel, she knew she wanted to continue on that path.

While on this trip, Madeline will be starting her MSc in Criminal Psychology and International Criminal Justice online through the University of Portsmouth in the UK.

"Edumadic gives me the space to pursue online education with a community of other like minded individuals and also continue to explore my love of world travel."

Travel has helped Madeline understand the mindset of the people within a country and how that can be extrapolated to understanding their criminal justice system. Beyond that, she believes travel is the perfect space for personal growth.

"Traveling forces me to step outside my comfort zone, meet new people, and ultimately, learn about myself in the process."

When she isn’t studying, you can find Madeline taking beautiful photos of Thailand, shooting GoPro footage, or updating her travel Instagram.

You can follow Madeline on Instagram and

27/05/2019

Study time!

21/05/2019

In a world where the term "Global Citizen" is becoming more and more commonplace among those for whom the world is their playground, it's easy to forget that the opportunity to call yourself this is entirely dependent on the power of your passport.

Much darker than simply the inability to travel for pleasure, having the wrong passport can have far more severe consequences. You only need glance at the western news cycle to see stories of Muslim bans, families being separated at borders, and nationalism turning to isolationism.

It is our belief that the greatest privilege you can be granted at birth is having a 1st world passport. Being able to travel visa free to most parts of the world is a small aspect of that privilege, but an important one for us to remember not to take for granted.

Would love to hear your thoughts on the article!

https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/05/21/the-new-passport-poor/?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits

Drawing borders around people might give us a more orderly and predictable world. But for all the promised benefits of a frictionless experience of journeying, it may not be a more humane one. Passports might disappear in the next decade, but they’ll be replaced by something much more invasive: a ...

17/05/2019

Jumping into the weekend like...

14/05/2019

This month, we're featuring Udacity's Digital Marketing Nanodegree

Udacity is an online learning platform that offers courses in blockchain development, artificial intelligence, design and more.

One of current Edumads, Danielle, is enrolled in Udacity's Digital Marketing Nanodegree, and it's been on our radar for a couple of years now. Every one of the courses on the platform are created in collaboration with elite businesses in that space. This ensures that all of the content taught on a course has real world application, which is much more than can be said about many university degrees!

Although the courses are delivered entirely online, there is plenty of support provided through mentors and a community learners. There's also support after you complete the course in the form of resume reviews, interview prep and expert career guidance.

All the courses are paid, and are not cheap, but compared to an outdated 4 year university degree, the value is incredible! Well worth exploring their website in our opinion.

https://www.udacity.com/course/digital-marketing-nanodegree--nd018

Udacity is not an accredited university and we don't confer traditional degrees. Udacity Nanodegree programs represent collaborations with our industry partners who help us develop our content and who hire many of our program graduates.

10/05/2019

Podcast Time!

In this podcast, Shane Parrish interviews CEO and co-founder of AngelList, Naval Ravikant. This conversation explores topics that range from the education system to healthy lifestyle habits, relationships, and how to quiet our busy 'monkey' minds.

This podcast is over two hours long, but we couldn't get enough of it. A few mind-blowing insights that we took away from it:

Naval Ravikant believes that decision making is everything and the key to success is eliminating error in decision making. The best way he has found to do this is through upgrading his mental models, frameworks we use to understand how the world works and to make judgements and choices within it. He uses mental models that he's learned through studying evolution and game theory to make decisions such as when to trust someone and the odds of success against the margins of security.

He explains how he consciously chooses the values that drive his behavior and actions. For example, he only sees value in long-term thinking and therefore, doesn't want to do business with or form relationships with people who are only interested in short-term success.

And last, but not least, our favorite quote from this episode, "Use your judgement to figure out what kind of environments you can thrive in, and then build a system to create that environment around you so that you're statistically likely to succeed."

This podcast challenged us to think about the way we view the world and our place in it, and we hope it does the same for you!

https://fs.blog/naval-ravikant/

In this wide-ranging interview, AngelList CEO Naval Ravikant and Shane Parrish, talk about Reading, Happiness, Decision Making, Habits, and Mental Models.

06/05/2019

Interested in Edumadic, but not sure what you'll get out of it?

Sit down with a cup of coffee and dive into this article where our founder shares his perspective on the effect Edumadic tends to have on its program participants.

Gaining the confidence to study online from anywhere in the world is just where it starts.

https://www.edumadic.com/musings/a-really-great-question

I was having an email exchange with one the applicants to our upcoming program. Lets call her Cassie. As all the best applicants do, Cassie asked some really thought provoking and testing questions, she understood that the application process was a two way street. As well as us making sure she was a

03/05/2019

We're back! After a long hiatus from posting on facebook, we'll be posting regularly here again. The majority of what we post will be content from our past monthly newsletters.

Each months newsletter content will be distributed on facebook over the following month, so you'll see the content first by signing up to our email list, which you can do on our homepage :)

https://www.edumadic.com

Combine online learning with world travel with a community of like-minded individuals.

28/12/2018

Meet Rylee!

Rylee is a 21 year old American from North Carolina currently studying for her undergraduate degree in international business.

After completing the first year of her associated degree, Rylee had a realisation. Because she had so few credits left to complete her associates degree, she could transfer to a different college and take them online. Rylee was already thinking about travelling while taking these credits before she heard about Edumadic.

Rylee had taken a few trips abroad with her family before, and was planning to travel through Europe while completing her credits. However, having never travelled solo, an Edumadic program where she could have the security of travelling with a group, particularly of other people studying online, was very appealing.

“I feel like Edumadic would provide a great learning experience, a controlled environment where I can try new things with the safety of a group and also the option for independence that I will need to travel on my own in the future.”

As this program comes to a close, Rylee has certainly caught the travel bug. She’s already got roadtrips across America, a work visa in Australia, and a return to Asia in the works for 2019!

When Rylee isn’t acing her college exams, you’ll most likely find her in the surf, stuffing her face, or gatecrashing the nearest hostel.

You can find Rylee on instagram