1 . If you suddenly find yourself working from home or another remote location, you’re going to miss those interactions with other people. Video conferencing can help by allowing you to talk face-to-face, even if it is via a screen. Jitsi is one of those free video conferencing apps you can use to connect.

Jitsi is a set of open-source projects that allows you to easily build and deploy secure videoconferencing solutions. At the heart of Jitsi are Jitsi Videobridge and Jitsi Meet, which let you have conferences on the internet, while other projects in the community enable other features such as audio, dial-in, recording, and simulcasting.

Jitsi started life as a way to talk to people over the internet using audio and video. Over the course of a decade, though, it’s become so much more. Today, Jisi is:

A vibrant developer community.

First and foremost, Jitsi is a community of developers that are pushing the envelope of video conferencing quality on the web.

The foundation of some really amazing products.

The community members have developed countless projects and products that started with Jitsi code.

A crazy good, completely free video conferencing solution that anyone can use.

Jitsi is a favorite videoconferencing solution for anyone with privacy concerns, journalists, for example. There’s a reason so many people use Jitsi Meet as a Skype alternative for video conferencing.

Unlike other videoconferencing technologies, Jitsi Videobridge, the heart of Jitsi, passes everyone’s video and audio to all participants, rather than mixing them first. Currently, Jitsi supports a maximum of up to 75 participants per call, although performance may suffer with more than 35. The project is working on “going beyond 100” participants at once. The service supports phone in audio participants in both the hosted and self-hosted versions. The service supports screen sharing and has mobile apps for iPhone and Android.

Now Jitsi has surpassed 10 million monthly average users. There are no extra payments to Jitsi, and the project remains free thanks to 8x8 (a company), which uses the technology in its own products.

2 . Online jobs have opened the door for many people to earn a living (谋生) or make some extra money from the comfort of their homes. This includes teens as well. If you’re looking for such a job, here are some choices you can consider.

Customer Service

If you are 16 years old and over, you have a chance to work with Uhaul as a customer service person. You just need to have a good pair of head-phones and high-speed Internet in order to do this job. Basic pay starts at $7.50an hour.

Sell Items Online

Selling items online is one of the easiest ways to make quick cash. Teens can turn it into a good business by selling things on Bonanza. You need to start sorting through (分类) items at your home that are no longer being used and list them for sale.

Take Surveys

Another easy task teens can do to earn money is to take surveys online. You don’t need any work experience to do this and can be as young as 13 years old to get started. Survey sites like VIP Voices, Swagbucks, Harris Poll, E-Poll, and Paid Viewpoint allow teens to start taking surveys for cash and gift cards. And your opinions should be expressed clearly in English.

Etsy

Do you love to make new things? You can open up an Etsy shop to share your works. Etsy is great for DIYers who can create new products. If you are under 18, you just need a parent who is willing to help manage your shop.

4 . NPR’s Student Podcast (播客) Challenge is back—for a fifth year! This year’s competition will open for entries on September 6, 2023 and close on October 28.

As in past years, our judges will choose winners in two categories: grades five through eight and grades nine through twelve. Entries must be submitted by an educator or a student leader who’s 18 years old or older. Another important rule is that the maximum length of your podcast is within eight minutes, and longer entries will be disqualified.

Our judges will use the following criteria to narrow down and choose the winners:

Information and structure, 40 percent

Does the podcast tell a good story or teach us something new and important? Is it structured in a way that keeps listeners engaged? Can we easily follow the story you’re telling or the information you’re explaining? Have you spent time cutting out unnecessary information to make sure the main ideas come through clearly?

Personality and creativity, 40 percent

Does it have personality, or does it sound like you’re reading from a script (脚本)? Does it make us laugh or cry or leave us deep in thought?

Production, 20 percent

We’re not judging you on how fancy your equipment is and we don’t expect you to be an expert on recording and editing sound, but we hope you’ll try.

Some podcasts may use a narration format. Others may be more of an interview format. If you use sound apart from interviews and narration, make sure it is clear and smooth.

9 . Coach your favourite sports to poor children in schools. Help these children to get a structured sporting education and see their joy as they pick up new skills. If that’s not enough sport for you, you can even get involved in playing with local teams in your evenings and at weekends.

Description

As a volunteer sports coach, you and your group will head to 3 schools each day to coach your chosen sport or a variety of them. Sports coaching volunteering involves not just teaching the kids, but also acting as a good role model. Children are aged about 10–13 and are often new to playing sport in a structured environment. You don’t need to be a top player to take part (though any champions are welcome!) — it’s your patience and drive that will make the biggest effects.

Which sports to coach?

Sports coaching volunteers can choose to specialize in coaching just one sport, but often we find that it is best to combine several sports for more variety. The freedom to choose between different sports makes the weeks even more diverse. Follow the links to find out more about each sport.

Accommodation

·The accommodation is located in a leafy suburb 10 minutes’ drive from the city centre and the seafront.

·Sports volunteers share accommodation with childcare and teaching volunteers.

Food

All dietary requirements can be catered for, as long as we know about them in advance. Coaching children in sport will make you hungry — many volunteers choose to supplement (补充) their meals with snacks bought in the local shops, just 10 minutes’ walk away. There is a volunteer kitchen where participants can do any cooking they wish outside of mealtimes.

Want to go travelling afterwards?

We can arrange a week-long Garden Route tour after your time on the project. Follow the link to find out more about the Garden Route Tour.

10 . Searching for the perfect gift can be difficult, especially age-appropriate material for teenagers. Look no further! We have a list of the best teen magazines. Give the gift of reading to your teens today!