Educational Reform in the Antebellum Period Essay

Educational Reform in the Antebellum Period - Essay Example This movement also fought for the expansion of schools. They compelled the government to allocate public funds towards public schooling systems so as to meet expansion needs. They also advocated the need of public schools to be accountable to state governments and school boards. As a result, the government was forced to finance public schools (Simpson, 2004). The government also came up with laws that made elementary school attendance compulsory. In subsequent years, education became universal. The impact it has had on me as a twenty-first-century learner is the fact that through the government, I have the ability to access various learning resources. Consequent results of the movement’s fight also included government’s establishment of a practical educational curriculum system. Quality of education had become a major concern for most people. Most philosophers at the time insisted on a system that would not only enable people to read and write, but also one that would h elp eradicate poverty through innovation and creativity (Simpson, 2004). Similarly, people developed the perception that, the more educated they were, the more productive they became. Over the years, these ideas have contributed to the general development and improvement of educational curriculums. As a learner in the 21st century, the impact these ideas have had on me is that I can access quality education that has expanded my thinking and reasoning capacity to a great extent. Moreover, I have developed a value system.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Podcasts

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Podcasts Podcast has created a new world to communication and media. Podcast are used in a computer or a mobile device such as iPod. Podcast is a term adapted from the word iPod and broadcast. According to Wikipedia, podcast can be defined as a series of audio and video files or digital media files that are available on the Internet which is released incidentally and often being downloaded via web syndication. Meanwhile podcasting is a creative process which involves a few different components. The main purpose of podcast is to raise awareness among people. Messages on the important issues and topics can be delivered to people through podcasting or video blogging. Podcasting is a new way to earn money. One can earn good income through subscription if their podcast is good enough and popular. Besides that, podcast enable people to teach others. For instance, courses now are available on podcast and video blogs which was previously available on emails and websites that have unlimited choices. This gives a chance to those who has problem to read to just hear and see the course materials. Podcasting is used in education, business or commercial and entertainment. Podcasting function in education wise is for language learning, conferences, seminar and forum besides project demonstration and research. Meanwhile in business, podcast is used for marketing and promotions, training of staff, news and product or service demonstration. Chat radio and crazy talk are examples of podcasting function for entertainment. The major advantage of podcast is the demographics. Podcasting enables people to reach millions of listeners outside who has the chance to listen to your programs when they choose. Moreover, listeners have the privilege to listen again to the program that has already aired besides being able to play or pause and to rewind or fast forward. Besides that, podcasting is a new way to learn new languages. Instead of buying books to learn new language, listening would be an easy, quicker and better way to learn and at the same time improve our language skills. Last but not least, although, podcasting is the latest technology and created audio related programs, it also has its disadvantages. The list of the disadvantages of podcasting is time consuming, not searchable, accessibility problems and limited audience. Podcast consumes a lot of time especially if the file is larger. It is not usually easy to search in podcasting. Although several search engines can be used, however, sometimes it is impossible to search directly within the files. It is a challenge to upload and edit files which has a larger size and higher quality. It needs good and fast broadband connection. Besides that, the file format should be compatible not only iPod but also other devices. Even though, we are in a modern world now, not everyone owns a mobile device. Some people prefer to read instead of downloading and listening to audio files from the internet. The world that we are living now is moving forward with the help of technology. Technology plays an important role in our life which has made our life easier. Technology improvises the creation of the devices to a better one and the communication services such as introducing to the podcasting. Question 2: Facebook and Twitter are examples of Social Networks and Media Sharing Tools. By using the concept of anytime, anywhere learning, how these tools can be manipulated to take advantage of the passion young people for learning by tapping into the tools. Discuss in detail and provide example for each. SOCIAL NETWORKING Currently social networking has become a trend among the young people in worldwide. What is social network exactly? Social network is software or also better known as a website which connects and allows people around the world to come together and share ideas or topics of interest. The social network is used for communication and interaction among the people globally. The social network can be an effective way to promote business and also for learning process. Nevertheless, some parents think that it is a waste of time [if it is being misused, yes, it would be waste of time]. Facebook and Twitter are among the top and popular social network around the world. In July 2010, Facebook was announced as the worlds largest social network which has 500 million users around the world. The social network has introduced to a new way to communicate at anytime and anywhere. It is a way to keep in touch with friends from schools, colleges and the new friends we made via the social network. However , some parents think that the social network is a way their kids waste their time. [twice mentioned?] Do you know that besides sharing interest, one can use the social network for learning purpose? Thus, the social network becomes an advantage to the young people which indirectly manipulates them for learning. One of the ways to encourage young people to use social network for learning purpose is to create an account or group for the classroom. Student along with their classmates and teachers can share and exchange opinions on their learning. Furthermore, it facilities the students and also the teachers to surf the internet while having a discussion via the social network. Students can share online information such as notes, question and other learning related documents or materials among their friends and classmates. Besides that, this allows the teacher to pinpoint the students weakness and leave a comment [how?]. On the other hand, teachers can update the groups status by posting some questions, share information, videos or links and blogs to be discussed during class. Through this way, it encourages the students to do some research and be well prepared for the class. Besides that, students can send a quick message to their teachers regarding the class notes, class exercises, assignments and so on. Moreover, students can ask their teacher regarding their next lesson for the class which enables them to prepare earlier. Next, students can create a group which enables students from other class, schools and also students in their network friend list that probably from other states or countries to join. This enables varieties of ideas and information exchanged among student locally and also internationally. One of the advantages of exchanging ideas internationally is one can learn and practice new language. This also creates a new environment in the learning process. Lastly, the access to the famous online encyclopedia, Wikipedia can improve and increase the students knowledge. Last but not least, the advantage of social network for learning purpose is enables students to share various ideas and information. Social network gives a chance to get some exposures to various and multiple point of view through different people opinion and experiences. Students can also gain a chance to connect and talk to other student. They can exchange ideas and information during the learning process. It is a way to keep in touch among each other. Among the other advantage is to get immediate feedback from the learning process. Students can ask questions and receive the answers or response as soon as possible from teachers. This can develop a good understanding between the student and the teacher. Meanwhile, the disadvantage of social network is time consuming. Some students abuse the social network for different purpose such as dating. Therefore, the use of social network is a waste of time. The social network also lack of anonymity because some students provide information on themselves which others should not know such as age, gender, location and other personal details. This is because someone who has a bad intention might misuse on the information given. [There is a risk of identity theft]. The social network is beneficial to everyone no matter the younger or the older generation as long as it is used for a good purpose and intention. It is an alternative way to keep in touch with friends, relatives and whoever we know via the social network. ARTICLES What Are the Advantages of Podcasting? By Jennifer Uhl, eHow Contributor updated: March 14, 2010  · Podcasting is an audio distribution medium that offers numerous advantages over traditional broadcasting and distribution methods both online and off. Creating a podcast does not take a lot of expensive equipment and allows content creators to potentially reach millions of listeners on a global basis. The content of a podcast is delivered to subscribers via syndicated feeds, allowing users to listen on a Mac or PC as well as many types of portable media players. Subscribing to a Podcast  · Two of the benefits of podcasts are their distribution channels and methods of delivery. While users have the ability to download and listen to individual episodes of a specific podcast manually, many are automatically delivered to the users via media player software such as iTunes or Juice (Mac or PC). Most media player software will also sync a users selected podcast with her portable music player such as an iPod or Zune, requiring very little effort on the users behalf to always have the latest most up-to-date content that is available. Cost Effectiveness  · Podcasting is beneficial to individuals and businesses that seek to reach large audiences because of its cost effectiveness. A podcast requires only basic audio recording equipment to capture, and an Internet connection and means of delivering the podcast to listeners. With the basic hardware required, such as a microphone and computer, a place to host the podcast files and the necessary software for recording, any individual or group can create an effective podcast recording and share it on the Web. Advertising Potential  · Another advantage of podcasting is the advertising potential that comes with a podcast that has a decent listener base. A popular podcast with a large listening base can sell advertising slots to local companies or Internet companies to generate revenue. This creates additional revenue and advertising potential for any podcast that has a listener base. Podcast Demographics  · A major advantage to podcasting is the benefit of reaching millions of listeners who have the ability to listen to your programming when they choose. Additionally, listeners can pause or play a program, fast forward or rewind, and can listen to programming that has already aired. The number of podcast listeners grows daily as the technology evolves and becomes more ubiquitous on consumer electronics; the technology is only going to increase in popularity as podcasting recording and listening devices become more prevalent. 8 Ways to Use Social Networks in the Classroom Posted by M. Bamieh onJanuary 21, 2010 Twitter in Education Earlier, we talked about a few great resources for educators that are available for free online. These services were more focused on education and catering to their needs for creating internal social networking platforms, open-source blackboardsand conferencing applications. They were great resources but they all required some amount of set-up and involved a bit of a learning curve to get used to them. Today we are just going to share some ideas that help educators bring social networks into classrooms, utilizing some of the services that we all use. Ranging from Twitter to Skype we will share 8 ways that they can be used in the classroom. Create a Twitter Account Using Twitter for Teacher Student communication allows for short and quick messages exchange. This is useful for students and teachers to ask questions and might be a great resource for the teacher in the preparation of her class notes allowing her to know which areas to focus on. Using a Wiki An example of a wiki is the famous online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Wiki, by design, encourages discussion and interactivity, fostering in and out of class discussion. By creating an outline of a Wiki entry and allowing the students to edit and discuss the subject matter, it will help introduce a new and fun element to their homework, while at the same time encouraging debate. There are many creative ways to use Wikis in education. Create a Youtube Channel School material might be limited, dull and sometimes outdated. Students tend to navigate Youtube quite naturally, and it is one of their sources of information. By utilizing this familiar platform, you can create videos or slideshows that would provide some useful and relevant information, even link some other videos that are available on Youtube. This will also encourage students to reply with their own videos. Share Online Documents Students sometimes need quick access to the syllabus, worksheets, or some review notes.Slideshare and Scribd allow educators to upload all relevant online materials to one location. This allows students to reach those documents from their computers. Update Facebooks status Teachers can utilize FBs Status updates to post a question, share a piece of information, video or link that would open up the discussion for next class. This would encourage students to research and prepare for the next class, practically expanding the walls of the classroom into cyberspace. Be In Diigo Create an account and a group for the classroom, students and teachers and utilize Diigos great social bookmarking capabilities. Diigo allows users to create groups and networks in which they can share, annotate and collaborate on content all over the web. Further, it will allow teachers to augment the curriculums weak points with information and comments as you see fit. It could also be used to create an educational treasure hunt using annotations left on web pages. Check the video below to learn more about Diigo. What Are the Advantages of Social Networking? By: Dachary Carey The advantages of social networking are real, even though most parents see it as another way that kids waste time. Social networking has opened up a new way to communicate, so while your childs posts may not be essential today, your child is still learning skills that could be very valuable tomorrow. Work Connections One form of social networking thats growing in popularity is corporate social networking. You can use corporate social networking to form relationships with other people from your company, or people in other companies in an industry. You can also get references and build a reputation using corporate social networking tools. Its a great way to get yourself known and network in your field or industry. Keeping in Touch Social networking provides a great way for you to stay in touch with people who may have moved away. Normally, people try to stay in touch with friends via phone calls and the occasional letter or e-mail, but busy lives make it difficult to maintain contact. However, social networking is such a regularly used medium that its easy to stay in touch with people even when they move away. Get Feedback You can use social networking to get feedback on ideas immediately, or to ask questions and get answers quickly. If youre developing a product or even just an idea, you can bounce it off your friends and social networking contacts and find out what they think about it. You can also ask questions and receive answers in near-real-time, if your contacts know the answer or if youre a student in touch with teachers. Share Multiple Points of View Sheltered individuals may not understand how many different points of view that people have, and that its possible for people to hold drastically different beliefs. Social networking helps you learn about diversity and get exposure to multiple points of view. Ultimately, this exposure can help you to learn to look at things from different angles, and be more tolerant of other peoples opinions, things that go a long way in the working world. Talking to Other Students Many student organizations have specific social networks designed to help students connect. Social networking tools can be a great way for students to get in touch with other students in the same school, or when theyre considering a college or new school. Check with student organizations to see if they have a particular social networking tool, or type the school into your favorite social networking Web site and see what you find. Stay in Touch Anywhere Mobile social networking is becoming increasingly popular as more and more people have cell phones capable of running social networking applications. People can use mobile social networking tools to stay in touch with friends, and make plans on the fly. Mobile social networking tools are also great if youve got a long train or subway commute and want to stay in touch with friends and find out what theyre doing. Kids do need to learn to keep social networking under control. Some people get hooked on social networking, to the point that it interferes with getting things done. Teach your child when it is and isnt appropriate to use mobile social networking, and set a strict time limit for communicating at home.

Inventing a Writing Technology Essay -- Literature Techniques Papers

Inventing a Writing Technology At first glance, inventing a new writing technology seems like an easy task. The pencil is a writing technology, and what’s so complicated about it? It appears to be a fairly primitive writing utensil. Certainly, I can conjure up something that reasonably fits the description of a â€Å"new writing technology.† But looking a little more deeply, I have to consider that the basic concept of the pencil has lasted for centuries – it apparently serves its purpose extremely well. And, in reality, in 2004, there are hundreds of companies who, in turn, employ thousands whose specific purpose is to design and produce these seemingly simple hand-held writing devices. It’s beginning to sound a little more complicated. Lastly, a pencil has an inherent efficiency and portability that is hard to beat. Within the structure of my given assignment, I don’t think I can invent the â€Å"next pencil†, but the following describes my best attempt at inven ting a new writing technology, and some reflections on the relationship between writing and technology: Inventing and Writing To generate a focus for this project, I mentally brainstormed ideas and progressed from â€Å"natural† materials (grass, twigs) to various household materials (Diet Coke labels, pipe cleaners, foil), until I started going through my closets and hit upon the concept of utilizing board games in some way. Since we needed to use an alphabet, but no writing materials, most games were eliminated – they use paper cards or symbolic â€Å"pieces.† Scrabble seemed perfect since it has a movable alphabet – small wooden â€Å"tiles† with letters imprinted on them. And besides, it’s my favorite childhood game, probably since I could win when I played again... ...nne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 35-53. Eisenstein, Elizabeth. â€Å"Some Features of Print Culture.† 1983. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 124-134. National Scrabble Association. â€Å"History of Scrabble.† 2 July 2004 . Ong, Walter. â€Å"Writing is a Technology that Restructures Thought.† 1985. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 315-337. Plato. â€Å"Phaedrus.† Trans. H. N. Fowler, 1914. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Ann Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 360-364. Tribble, Evelyn B. and Trubek, Ann. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. New York: Longman, 2003 Inventing a Writing Technology Essay -- Literature Techniques Papers Inventing a Writing Technology At first glance, inventing a new writing technology seems like an easy task. The pencil is a writing technology, and what’s so complicated about it? It appears to be a fairly primitive writing utensil. Certainly, I can conjure up something that reasonably fits the description of a â€Å"new writing technology.† But looking a little more deeply, I have to consider that the basic concept of the pencil has lasted for centuries – it apparently serves its purpose extremely well. And, in reality, in 2004, there are hundreds of companies who, in turn, employ thousands whose specific purpose is to design and produce these seemingly simple hand-held writing devices. It’s beginning to sound a little more complicated. Lastly, a pencil has an inherent efficiency and portability that is hard to beat. Within the structure of my given assignment, I don’t think I can invent the â€Å"next pencil†, but the following describes my best attempt at inven ting a new writing technology, and some reflections on the relationship between writing and technology: Inventing and Writing To generate a focus for this project, I mentally brainstormed ideas and progressed from â€Å"natural† materials (grass, twigs) to various household materials (Diet Coke labels, pipe cleaners, foil), until I started going through my closets and hit upon the concept of utilizing board games in some way. Since we needed to use an alphabet, but no writing materials, most games were eliminated – they use paper cards or symbolic â€Å"pieces.† Scrabble seemed perfect since it has a movable alphabet – small wooden â€Å"tiles† with letters imprinted on them. And besides, it’s my favorite childhood game, probably since I could win when I played again... ...nne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 35-53. Eisenstein, Elizabeth. â€Å"Some Features of Print Culture.† 1983. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 124-134. National Scrabble Association. â€Å"History of Scrabble.† 2 July 2004 . Ong, Walter. â€Å"Writing is a Technology that Restructures Thought.† 1985. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 315-337. Plato. â€Å"Phaedrus.† Trans. H. N. Fowler, 1914. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. Evelyn B. Tribble and Ann Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 360-364. Tribble, Evelyn B. and Trubek, Ann. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. Ed. New York: Longman, 2003

Final reflection Essay

After the studying of this semester, my writing skills of business writing, reading skills, and communication skills had a progress. First of all, the process of writing is really important and significant. I learned the process which covers planning, composing and revising from this JGEN class. To be honest, it is really helpful. Before studying the process, I always feel the business writing is hard for me. Currently, I just need to follow the steps of the process and an effective business writing can be finished. In addition, for the business writing, I can use direct and indirect methods to respond the complaint messages, to give the customer’s negative messages and to provide the persuasive letters which attached with business goals. At the same time, the readers’ moods and the emotions which the messages convey also need to be considered. More than that, I was also benefit from the email and letter writing. The techniques of those writings not only can be used in business field, but also can be used to communicate with your teacher and family, etc. For example, I even don’t know the formatting of the email before this class. Moreover, for the resume and job application cover letter, I think it also extremely helpful, because finding jobs is the necessary and the first steps of our careers. The resume should be made personally and specially. Last but not least, the most important thing which I should state is the group project. I want to say that I really enjoy the whole process. From preparation of the report to performing of the presentation, I learned many things, like research skills, discussion which can share the ideas, and practice of the presentation. The effective communication of the group is really inevitable and we made it.

Craig Lockhart Essay

Wilfred Owen was a soldier in the First World War; in 1917 he was admitted to Craig Lockhart hospital with shell shock. He had previously written poems pre 1917 but whilst in the hospital he met Siegfried Sassoon; Sassoon had a huge influence on the way Owen wrote his poems. Owen’s main message in his poems was ‘to warn’ the public about war, as well as dis-agree with other writers such as Jessie Pope and Rupert Brooke who presented war as noble; Owen was completely against this idea of war, especially the message these other writers tried to convey. In Owen’s poem ‘Exposure’ the readers’ expectation is reversed; we expect the poem to be about exposure to enemy fire but what the men in the poem are really exposed to is the weather; this weather will eventually kill them as they die from hypothermia. In the poem the men are suffering from psychological trauma; ‘projecting’ their own madness onto nature. The reader starts to sense Owen’s own questioning of his religion, Christianity, as he can no longer believe there is an after life and presents his theme of the futility of war. The opening of ‘Exposure’ establishes the theme of psychological trauma, which is a reversal of the reader’s expectation because we expect the men to be ‘exposed’ to enemy fire; this is the first thought the reader had when thinking about ‘Exposure’. The opening line of the poem is ‘Our brains ache’, which signals to the reader a new idea and a reversal of the original expectation we have and we sense the men are ‘worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous’. The word ‘Our’ shows that collectively their ‘brains ache’ and suggests the idea of the universality of war and the fact that on both sides, the British and Germans, many men suffered from psychological trauma. Another idea could be that the men are constantly worried (paranoia) about being heard or coming under attack, hence their ‘brains ache’ with worry. Also, the use of sibilance throughout the opening creates an uneasy atmosphere and we can sense that the men themselves are uneasy; the sibilance creates a whispering sound; this constant paranoia surrounds the men that if they talk too loud they will die, which in turn creates psychological problems. This conveys the, perhaps uneasy, horror of war because what if affecting the men the most is not the constant ‘Exposure’ to enemy fire but the constant fear that they are going to be shot at. ‘Spring Offensive’ confirms Owen’s sincere lack of faith in an ‘after life’ as he questions God’s existence throughout the poem. He suggests that the hundreds, perhaps thousands of men are not going to heaven as some would like to believe but simply just dying. The consolatory myth that many once used to believe is forgotten on the front line, as the men can no longer believe in the existence of such entity. Owen suggests that there is no Christian ‘Heaven’ or ‘Hell’ but that man have created a hell on earth; there is constant dying and murder yet these men do not go anywhere. This highlights that perhaps this is the most poignant horror of war, the futility of war. In ‘Spring Offensive’ the theme of psychological trauma is again established in the opening stanza; the idea of the futility of war is also introduced. ‘Many there stood still to face the stark blank sky beyond the ridge’, shows that the men are perhaps afraid of going ‘over the top’ for the fear that if they die they will go nowhere, no heaven or hell. Owen’s own fading belief in religion and an afterlife is introduced. The men in the poem are scared about what they are going to face when the go over the ridge (trench), as they have problems with what they are going to have to do when they go over the top of the ‘ridge’; they do not like the idea of killing over people. The use of sibilance is used in the poem, as in ‘Exposure’, to effectively create a sense of unease. This is a contrast to those who ‘carelessly slept’ as they do not mind killing others in order to save themselves and at the end of ‘Spring Offensive’ we learn that these were the ones who, eventually, survived. This perhaps suggests that they themselves have no social conscience in that they are quite happy to kill human beings like themselves and perhaps have psychological problems of a different kind. The ‘stark blank sky’ could also, perhaps, be a link to astrology, with the idea from the past that the sky could show you what was in store for you in the future. A sunny day would suggest something good would happen to you and you would be fine, for example. However, the fact that they ‘face the stark blank sky’ could be because they have no future, this is the end of their lives and that their own future is stark, blank; there is no hope of them going to the Christian ‘Heaven’ or ‘Hell’, as Owen is trying to suggest that neither of these places exists, which strengthens the reader’s idea that Owen has a lack of belief in Christianity. The idea that the men are ‘stood still’ is also a link to ‘Exposure’; the men are passive in the war in that they cannot affect what is going on, which also presents the theme of the futility of war. In the opening of ‘Spring Offensive’ Owen successfully presents the themes of the futility of war and of psychological trauma and starts to establish his own belief that there is no such thing as ‘Heaven’ or ‘Hell’ in a subtle but effective manner. In ‘Exposure’ the men ‘project’ their own madness onto the wind and have a strong belief that nature, especially the wind, is against them; this comes from their psychological problems. Owen personifies the wind when he says ‘winds that knive us’ and the men start to think of the wind as ‘mad gusts’, as well as suggesting that the bullets being fired at the men are ‘less deadly than the air’.