Gulliver’s Travels: Gulliver’s Identity Loss

Spencer Shelburne British Literature I Novel Paper 12/2/11 Gulliver’s Lost Identity J. R. R. Tolkien once said, â€Å"Not all who wander are lost. † It is to be assumed then that he was not talking about Capt. Lemuel Gulliver. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift is a narrative of the identity crisis. Captain Gulliver is indeed lost, both literally and metaphorically. He sets out on a voyage seeking a way to fulfill his identity as the financial supporter of his family, but once he leaves the structured society of England, his sense of identity is lost. At times, he does not even consider his family back home.He is misplaced in strange countries with strange inhabitants. In his misplacement, an interesting identity-void is created; Gulliver has no way to define himself as a foreigner in a new society. The need to belong overwhelms him, and he accepts any identity that is thrown his way, no matter how degrading it is. Through this void, Swift explores how society and pol itics systematically function to disassemble and reinvent the individual. In each of the countries Gulliver travels to, he is isolated from a sense of kinship and alienated from acceptance, the degree of which increases with each voyage.This alienation and isolation is surprisingly first apparent in his home country, England. In an unemotional tone he describes his family: â€Å"My Father had a small estate in Nottinghamshire; I was the third of five sons†¦ my father now and then sending me small sums of money†¦ † (p. 1). Likewise, his attachment to his wife is just as dispassionately observed: â€Å"I married Mrs. Mary Burton, second daughter to Mr. Edmond Burton, Hosier, in Newgate-street†¦ † (p. 2). Even in his professional life, Gulliver has no real connection.He comments, â€Å"But my good Master Bates dying in two years after, and I having few friends, my business began to fail; for my conscience would not suffer me to imitate the bad practice of too many among my brethren† (p. 2). Though he tries to connect to society by participating in a respectable profession, he remains alone. This alienation and isolation is a minor theme throughout his voyages; it is the first step in the systematic approach Swift takes towards dealing with the broader theme of identity. In each of the cultures Gulliver encounters, this sense of alone-ness increases.In Lilliput and Brobdingnag, for example, Gulliver is even more marginalized from society by their fear of his physical appearance – he is a giant compared to the six-inch Lilliputians and an insect to the sixty-foot tall Brobdingnags. He is constantly aware of his differences from his hosts, creating a conscious sense of alienation. In the articles of his freedom, the Lilliputians point out: â€Å"they concluded from the similarity of their bodies, that mine must contain at least 1728 of theirs, and consequently would require as much food as was necessary to support that num ber of Lilliputians† (p. 2). His differences isolate him from the Lilliputian society; he physically does not fit anywhere, viewing their country as a sort of â€Å"theatre† (p. 9). His senses are also different, for he can see much further away than the Lilliputians, and likewise they can see much nearer than he. In Brobdingnag, he has to convince his master that he is not a lowly animal. The Brobdingnagian reaction to him highlights their repulsion of his differences: â€Å"The farmer by this time was convinced I must be a rational creature†¦Then he called his wife, and shewed me to her, but she screamed and ran back as women in England do at the sight of a toad or a spider† (p. 58). Gulliver is different from the native inhabitants of Lilliput and Brobdingnag and is alienated as such. In his voyages to Laputa and Houyhnhnm, Gulliver's societal isolation drastically increases, until he reaches the apex with the Houyhnhnms. In both countries he is openly co ndescended for both his physical and his intellectual â€Å"limitations,† and because of this condescension he is isolated from the rest of the society.When he refused the flapper to converse, it â€Å"gave his Majesty and the whole court a very mean pinion of my understanding† (p. 114). The king wants to learn nothing of England's history, but rather asks Gulliver to focus on European mathematics and â€Å"received the account†¦ with great contempt and indifference† (p. 120). In Laputa, Gulliver and his native society are weaknesses. The isolation in Houyhnhnm is the most acute, however. Gulliver cannot relate to them because they are not human – they are a superior species of horse. Nor can he relate to the repulsive and foul Yahoos who are human in an unrecognizable form.Spatially this isolation is manifested in the placement of his housing: â€Å"the master horse ordered a place for me to lodge in; it was but six yards from the house, and separa ted from the stable of the Yahoos†¦ † (p. 175). Although Gulliver takes up acquaintance with the Houyhnhnms it is always understood that he is associated with the Yahoos, for whom Gulliver has affected a deep hatred. They teach him the language, yet â€Å"†¦ looked upon it as a prodigy, that a brute animal should discover such marks of a rational creature† (p. 175). Gulliver's alienation here in the country of horses is vastly complete.Where then does this alienation and isolation leave Gulliver? He is in an identity-void, searching for any form of acceptance. Swift presents this as early as Gulliver's life in England. He lists his self-worth by his education and professional training, name-dropping as often as possible to give himself affluence: â€Å"He sent me to Emanuel-College in Cambridge†¦ I was bound apprentice to Mr. James Bates, an eminent surgeon in London†¦ Leyden: there I studied Physic two years and seven months†¦ † (p. 1). Through this series of wealthy names, Gulliver is seeking an identity through the acceptance of his audience.Lilliput is much different than England, however, in both its inhabitants and its culture. In this identity-void, Gulliver grasps at any straw of acceptance, no matter how degrading or humiliating. He literally gives himself before the emperor and princes, offering complete servility; he is a servant, eager to please his new masters. Upon later duty against the Lilliputian's sworn enemy, the Blefuscu, he says, â€Å"This great Prince received at my landing with all possible encomiums, and created me a Nardac upon the spot, which is the highest title of honour among them† (p. 29).He has achieved a place in the Lilliputian society and is elated. In his almost desperate attempt to gain favor with the emperor and princes, he proclaims: â€Å"I desired the secretary to present my humble duty to the Emperor an to let him know, that I thought it would not become me, who was a foreigner, to interfere with parties; but I was ready, with the hazard of my life, to defend his person and state against all invaders† (p. 26). He has learned the language earnestly to build a bridge over his alienation. He has allowed himself to be held captive, knowing full well that due to his sheer strength, he could squash whomever he choses.But only on the Lilliputian's terms does Gulliver receive acceptance, and as witnessed in the rapid recall of his title and honor, it is short-lived at best. As Gulliver's journeys progress, the occurrences of even temporary social identity and occasions of acceptance decrease rapidly, an inverse to the increase of his alienation. From Brobdingnag on, Gulliver never fully adapts to their societies, although he does not stop trying to find his adopted identity. In Brobdingnag, he humors the Queen, entertaining her as a doll-like plaything, winning her favor.In an attempt to build his own identity as the Queen's favorite, he delibera tely undermines the Queen's dwarf, sending him to live with another household as a punishment. In Laputa and Houyhnhnm, Gulliver experiences something altogether different than what he has encountered before. Laputa is a floating island of philosophy and higher thought, a would-be utopia if it were not for excess and the lack of reason. Gulliver makes an attempt to understand the Laputans by learning their language, visiting various places such as their court, universities and land below, but cannot reconcile himself with what he finds; it is too abstract and tedious.He grows increasingly â€Å"weary of those people† (p. 127) and feels â€Å"neglected† (p. 127). For the first time in all his travels, he longs for England. In place of Gulliver's drive for acceptance, the reader is introduced to Lord Munodi. He is an isolated character, and much like Gulliver he is seeking his identity in a society that does not accept him. In Lord Munodi's case, it is because he is too rational and looked upon with â€Å"tenderness, as a well-meaning man, but of a low contemptible understanding† (p. 129).Having failed to achieve an enduring identity in these societies, it is not without desperation that Gulliver next throws himself so fully in the pursuit of acceptance from the Houyhnhnms. To physically set himself apart from the Yahoo-humans and be acceptable to the Houyhnhnms, he hides the appearance of his person with his clothes: â€Å"I had hitherto concealed the secret of my dress, in order to distinguish myself as much as possible, from that cursed race of Yahoos; but now I found it in vain to do so any longer† (p. 177). He swears his master to secrecy, so that the rest of the Houyhnhnms will not think less of him.He goes out of his way to impress them with his acquisition of language and would be very content to live the rest of his time with the reasonable creatures. He is successful at creating a life among these whom he has grown to admire and love, and even eventually moves into his Master's house. But other Houyhnhnms do not approve of a Yahoo staying in their own homes, and Gulliver is banished from Houyhnhnm. His alienation had overcome his acceptance dramatically. Where does this leave Gulliver? From his isolation to desperate attempts for acceptance comes a loss of basic human identity.In England, Gulliver does not have any emotional attachment to his family as befitting a man of the middle class. He is an emotionless person concerned more with financial and social status than with leaving his wife, five months pregnant, and the children he barely knows so he can travel again; he shows more emotion towards the Houyhnhnms than he does with his family. In his drive to succeed in English society, he has ceased being an emotional creature of humanity. In Lilliput, Gulliver's loss of a human identity is much more literal when he allows himself to be chained up as a prisoner.The image of him with chains around him, a nd his observation that â€Å"being fixed within four inches of the gate, allowed me to creep in, and lie at my full length in the temple† (p. 9) brings to mind a dog in the doghouse. He allows the Lilliputians to strip him of his English identity by renaming him Man Mountain, and he further distances himself from England when he learns their language in an attempt to bridge his alienation. In his desperation for acceptance, he allows himself to become a tool of the state and takes on the Lilliputian sworn enemy Blefuscu.In Brobdingnag, Gulliver likewise lowers himself so far as to stop being a human being, but rather a play thing for their amusement. He is again stripped of his English identity by being dressed in Brobdingnagian styled attire and renamed Gildrig. He gets so immersed in the Brobdingnag culture that he has a very difficult time going back to his native culture in England, and therefore he treats his family as if they were Lilliputians. In Houyhnhnm the reader sees the most drastic change in Gulliver's identity as a human as he becomes a loner.It is here that he loses all sense of his former humanity. He is sickened by the idea of going to live among the Yahoos, and he has so fully adopted the Houyhnhnm society that he cannot help but see his family as ugly, beastlike creatures. In the end, he is forced to return to the world from which he came. Having seen the things he has, the world of Yahoos is disgusting to him. When rescued by Don Pedro De Mendez, Gulliver's complete submersion in Houyhnhnm culture is at once apparent in his accent and his clothing. Once home, he is barely able to tolerate the presence of his family.He then goes into a kind of madness, spending his days talking to the horses in his stable as if to recreate Houyhnhnm. It is when he is alienated from social acceptance that his identity starts weakening. Gulliver doesn't just try to gain a new identity, one is forced upon him; he is a monster: a repulsive Yahoo in Houy hnhnm, a doll named Gildrig in Brobdingnag, and of course a Man Mountain tool in Lilliput. Eventually, he latches on to any acceptance he can find, even if it means losing his basic identity as a human. Work Cited: Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964.

Aaliyah: an Angel Back to Heaven

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Confusion and Loss of Direction in the 1960s - Essay Example Released in 1970, the album Let It Be includes popular songs such aslike Let It Be, The Long and Winding Road, Two of Us and Dig a Pony, among others (Beatles 1970). Despite the different topics and situations that the songs present, they commonly project common themes, particularly, confusion and loss of direction of the personas. Confusion and loss of direction are fairly common topics in the music of the 1960s andup to the 70s. Ritzen (2005) and Fendrich (1993) confirm this general atmosphere, which may be attributed to the wars of the time. In the songs of the Beatles, confusion occurs as a main theme, especially in the song Let It Be (Beatles 1970). The song begins with the lines, â€Å"When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me. Speaking words of wisdom, let it be† ((Let It Be; lines 1-3). The persona expresses being in trouble and seeking divine intervention. The statement, â€Å"let it be† further shows the persona's inability to decide by him and get over with his troubles. Confusion and loss of direction in the songs of the Beatles is mostly associated with travelling, being on transit, or going around in circles. This theme is strongly reflected by the song, Two of Us (Beatles 1970). The song begins with the following lines: Two of us riding nowhere spending someone's Hhard earned pay (Two of Us; lines 1–3) In the lines above, the persona does not know where to go and implies having no goal in life. In the song, Dig a Pony, the persona also demonstrates having no place to go and not thinking of what islies ahead (Beatles 1970). These feelings are expressed in the lines, â€Å"Well you can penetrate any place you go/Yes you can penetrate any place you go† (Dig a Pony; lines 6-7).

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ATKINS DIET Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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LOCKE BY MICHAEL AYERS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

LOCKE BY MICHAEL AYERS - Essay Example Locke's view on the 'idea' itself center on the fact that he makes no distinction between the intellect and the imagination. Therefore, Locke stood to believe that the idea was a sensory image which is why many researchers refer to him as an imagist. Locke explains an idea as "Whatever it is, which the mind can be employed about thinking" (p. 45). As a result, many have concluded that Locke meant to leave the definition ambiguous, perhaps to allow individuals to make their own decisions. Others believe that Locke was following the same philosophical lines as Gassendi, who used the word in a more fantastical theoretical framework. However, this conclusion is challenged, give the fact that Locke rarely used the words fantasy or fancy when discussing ideas. Yet Locke strongly encouraged people to refrain from thinking that their interpretation of objects and ideas were exactly as they appeared outside of the mind. He draws on the idea of the memory as a place to save, in a way, ideas, though, again, they are not perfect representations. Ayers uses the analogy of a bird and a song to explain this point. If the bird hears a song and then produces it the next day, people may tend to say the bird memorized the song. Locke would say that the bird saved the song in its mind to use to compare the song he is singing. Likewise, children think when they have something to think about. They produce their own mental images, but these images are not exactly like those they see. Thus, Locke's idea is a sensation that is saved through retention in the mind. Ayers claims that Locke was reluctant to apply any intellectual activity to these sensations. He did not separate the imagist mind from a higher, intellectual mind. He never saw a reason to do this, unlike other philosophers. Of course Locke recognized the existence of wit, judgment, wisdom, and madness but only in terms of what the person did with his existing ideas. Descartes and Locke debated the idea of separating conceiving an idea and imagining an idea as either the same or separate functions. Descartes argued that one can conceive of a particular shape but not image it since he does not know exactly what it looks like. Locke countered with the argument that if one can reason about the number of sides and lengths of the shape, we can imagine it from those existing ideas. Ayers concludes that this is an argument against not only Descartes but also the Cartesian views. Ayers notes that in Locke's discussion of abstract ideas, he seems to contradict himself. He says that ideas such as jealousy and lies cannot be imagined by the mind. This seems to suggest that Locke did recognize other conceptions of the mind. Locke later explained that these abstract concepts were ideas "partially considered" (Ayers, p. 49). Ayers final argument here in considering Locke an imagist lies within the idea of an intuition of universal truth or a priori knowledge. Ayers explains this idea using diagrams. He says that philosophers like Descartes say that understanding diagrams, charts, etc. occurs because of higher intellectual processes in the mind. Locke argues that these ideas on paper are representations or copies of what already exists in the mind. For example, a line or angle is something

Educational Technology Essay Example for Free

Educational Technology Essay Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources. The term educational technology is often associated with, and encompasses, instructional theory and learning theory. While instructional technology is the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning, according to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Definitions and Terminology Committee,educational technology includes other systems used in the process of developing human capability. Educational technology includes, but is not limited to, software, hardware, as well as Internet applications, such as wikis and blogs, and activities. But there is still debate on what these terms mean.[3] Technology of education is most simply and comfortably defined as an array of tools that might prove helpful in advancing student learning and may be measured in how and why individuals behave. Educational Technology relies on a broad definition of the word technology. Technology can refer to material objects of use to humanity, such as machines or hardware, but it can also encompass broader themes, including systems, methods of organization, and techniques. Some modern tools include but are not limited to overhead projectors, laptop computers, and calculators. Newer tools such as smartphones and games (both online and offline) are beginning to draw serious attention for their learning potential. Media psychology is the field of study that applies theories in human behavior to educational technology. Consider the Handbook of Human Performance Technology. The word technology for the sister fields of Educational and Human Performance Technology means applied science. In other words, any valid and reliable process or procedure that is derived from basic research using the scientific method is considered a technology. Educational or Human Performance Technology may be based purely on algorithmic or heuristic processes, but neither necessarily implies physical technology. The word technology comes from the Greek techne which means craft or art. Another word, technique, with the same origin, also may be used when considering the field Educational Technology. So Educational Technology may be extended to include the techniques of the educator. A classic example of an Educational Psychology text is Blooms 1956 book, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.Blooms Taxonomy is helpful when designing learning activities to keep in mind what is expected of—and what are the learning goals for—learners. However, Blooms work does not explicitly deal with educational technology per se and is more concerned with pedagogical strategies. According to some, an Educational Technologist is someone who transforms basic educational and psychological research into an evidence-based applied science (or a technology) of learning or instruction. Educational Technologists typically have a graduate degree (Masters, Doctorate, Ph.D., or D.Phil.) in a field related to educational psychology, educational media, experimental psychology, cognitive psychology or, more purely, in the fields of Educational, Instructional or Human Performance Technology orInstructional Systems Design. But few of those listed below as theorists would ever use the term educational technologist as a term to describe themselves, preferring terms such as educator.The transformation of educational technology from a cottage industry to a profession is discussed by Shurville, Browne, and Whitaker. Definition of terms Evaluation is a systematic determination of a subjects merit, worth and significance, using criteria governed by a set of standards. It can assist an organization to assess any aim, realizable concept or proposal, or any alternative, to help in decision-making; or to ascertain the degree of achievement or value in regard to the aim and objectives and results of any such action that has been completed. Technology is the making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, methods of organization, in order to solve a problem, improve a preexisting solution to a problem, achieve a goal, handle an applied input/output relation or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, modifications, arrangements and procedures. Technologies significantly affect human as well as other animal species ability to control and adapt to their natural environments. Educational technology is the use of technology to improve teaching and learning. the treatment of the process by which people learn, as a systematic process based on objectives, with strategies and systems to achieve them; a set of expensive tools sold to schools purporting to improve learning but not actually proven to do so information and communication technology (ICT), is often used as an extended synonym for information technology (IT), but is a more specific term that stresses the role of unified communications[1] and the integration oftelecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals), computers as well as necessaryenterprise software, middleware, storage, and audio-visual systems, which enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information. Classifications of Educational Technology When we hear the word technology today, we would immediately think of the mediated instructional materials particularly those, which are computer-based. But technology also includes the indigenous materials which have been used in the past and which have been proven as reliable. They have proven their worth especially to the teachers in the early days. According to the Equilibrium Theory of Education, the schools which are supposed to transmit accumulated knowledge and skills to students, that students are given balance of the old and new learning so that they will not lose track of the finest pedagogical culture which have been developed and accumulated all through the years. The classification of Educational Technology is divided into two which is the following: * Material Technology Material Technology is divided by two which is the lo-tech paper technology and the hi-tech mediated technology Lo-tech paper technology * It is also called traditional instructional materials; these are indigenous materials usually real objects or those that are made of paper and cardboards. They are still here to stay because not all schools are equipped with technology tools and not all teachers are ready to embrace modern technology. Hi-tech mediated technology * Often called as the mediated technology, it includes those, which are presented using media equipment or hardware. The most persuasive modern technology for teaching and learning in these contemporary times is the computer and its various applications. In fact all educational efforts are being geared toward its used. Its effectiveness in teaching and learning has been widely recognized. * Non-Material Technology This includes theories, laws, principles, methods and strategies of teaching. They evolved results of researches and studies in order to facilitate teaching and learning. Applications of Educational Technology A proper application of educational technology can result to improved sensation and perception that will lead to quality learning. Educational technology transcends geographical barriers, expose students to experiences beyond classroom, disseminate instruction across large areas and make education more accessible to more people. If Educational Technology is properly selected and used the students can do the following: * Arouse and sustain the interest and attention of the students. * Concretize concepts and ideas to promote meaningful learning. * Make learning more permanent by providing rich experiences. * Provide self-activities for independent learning. * Increase one’s vocabulary by eliminating verbalism * Promote continuity of thought * Increase the quality of learning while decreasing the time spent * Check student’s preparedness * Make learning more interactive * Choosing and applying educational technology . Evaluation in Educational Technology As education systems, in particular Technology Education, adapt to new expectations for secondary students entering an uncertain workforce, the time is appropriate to investigate the need for school facilities to meet these present demands and those that continue to change curricula. This study has been conducted in order to determine the facility requirements for the delivery of the evolving technology/manual arts curriculum in Queensland. A set of validated design criteria for evaluating technology education and vocational education settings was developed and trialed to assist the designer of such facilities to meet the needs of this area on schools designed in different eras from the 1960s to the present. A review of the published literature would indicate that little has been written on this aspect of facilities design. While related studies have been conducted in North America, they were not confined to the designing of the facilities and only had specific relevance in that coun try. An expert group consisting of prominent Queensland educators provided the impetus for developing the criteria which had been generated through a systematic search of the literature. The methodology utilised to involve the expert group was the Nominal Group Technique. After the criteria had been developed, they were validated by questionnaire through a 30% random sample of practicing heads of department across Queensland in both state and independent systems. A trial evaluation using current facilities was subsequently conducted to determine the effectiveness of the criteria in terms of teacher acceptability as well as establishing a pattern of needs for modification. Practitioners who use the facility for teaching technology education and/or vocational education could use the set of criteria to evaluate their facility in a similar manner to that of evaluating their students. Such evaluations could then become the basis for ffiture school planning and budgetary allocations as well as asset management of existing facilities. The study proved to be valuable as the validated criteria have the potential of being used as a tool by teachers to evaluate their facilities. At the systems level of operation, the criteria will provide assistance for designers, architects and teachers to prepare informal educational briefs. Such briefs would provide a consistent approach to the some times difficult task of clearly defining the function of a facility. The modem facility must meet the needs of current curriculum and be sufficiently flexible and adaptable to provide the educational requirements well into the twenty-first century. These developed criteria will gr eatly assist in this process. Overview It is a great honor for me to join in the celebration of the 100th birthday of National Taipei Teachers College. In the United States, this year is also the 100th anniversary of a famous march, the Stars and Stripes Forever, composed by the revered bandmaster, John Phillips Sousa in 1896. I learned this when I attended a band concert this fall, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Department of Bands at Indiana University. During the concert I was thinking about what I might say today, and I realized that National Taipei Teachers College, the IU Department of Bands, and the Stars and Stripes Forever are all 100 years old this year. I plan to talk today on the topic: evaluation of use of information technology in education. First, I will discuss the use of information technology as a lever for change in educational systems and practice. Second, I will talk about the development of criteria for evaluating information technology systems in K-12 education. During 1993-95, I played a central role on a team of faculty and graduate students at Indiana University who helped develop these criteria for the National Study of School Evaluation. I will provide a brief overview of the criteria for use of information technology in K-12 education in the United States. Finally, I will share my personal philosophy on use of technology in education. Stability and Change in Education The publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983 helped to renew U.S. efforts to further improve public schooling. We have given names to these reform efforts such as: site-based management, school restructuring and educational systems design (cf. Banathy, 1991; Reigeluth, 1992; Frick, 1993). One difficulty in changing a system is that it tends to remain the same. Systems try to attain and maintain some level of stability (cf. Maccia Maccia, 1975; 1966). The big challenge is: How can we overcome this stability in our education systems in order to make positive changes, without harming what is already good and should not be changed? One educator in Indiana has joked that the problem of getting our schools to change is like trying to change the direction of a big elephant going 100 miles per hour. Indicators of Quality Information Technology Systems in Education The National Study of School Evaluation recently published Technology: Indicators of Quality Information Technology Systems in K-12 Schools (NSSE, 1996). This publication provides: * a vision for student learning in technology through suggestions of performance indicators at the elementary, middle and high school levels, * indicators for judging how a schools instructional system supports learning achievement in technology, and * indicators for evaluating how a schools organizational system supports its vision. History of Educational Technology during ancient times There is no written evidence which can tell us exactly who has coined the phrase educational technology. Different educationists, scientists and philosophers at different time intervals have put forwarded different definitions of Educational Technology. Educational technology is a multifaceted and integrated process involving people, procedure, ideas, devices, and organization, where technology from different fields of science is borrowed as per the need and requirement of education for implementing, evaluating, and managing solutions to those problems involved in all aspects of human learning. Educational technology, broadly speaking, has passed through five stages. The first stage of educational technology is coupled with the use of aids like charts, maps, symbols, models, specimens and concrete materials. The term educational technology was used as synonyms to audio-visual aids. The second stage of educational technology is associated with the electronic revolution with the introduction and establishment of sophisticated hardware and software. Use of various audio-visual aids like projector, magic lanterns, tape-recorder, radio and television brought a revolutionary change in the educational scenario. Accordingly, educational technology concept was taken in terms of these sophisticated instruments and equipments for effective presentation of instructional materials. The third stage of educational technology is linked with the development of mass media which in turn led to communication revolution for instructional purposes. Computer-assisted Instruction (CAI) used for education since 1950s also became popular during this era. The fourth stage of educational technology is discernible by the individualized process of instruction. The invention of programmed learning and programmed instruction provided a new dimension to educational technology. A system of self-learning based on self-instructional materials and teaching machines emerged. The latest concept of educational technology is influenced by the concept of system engineering or system approach which focuses on language laboratories, teaching machines, programmed instruction, multimedia technologies and the use of the computer in instruction. According to it, educational technology is a systematic way of designing, carrying out and evaluating the total process of teaching and learning in terms of specific objectives based on research. Educational technology during the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age Educational technology, despite the uncertainty of the origin of the term, can be traced back to the time of the three-age system periodization of human prehistory; namely the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. Duringthe Stone Age, ignition of fire by rubbing stones, manufacture of various handmade weapon and utensils from stones and clothing practice were some of the simple technological developments of utmost importance. A fraction of Stone Age people developed ocean-worthy outrigger canoe ship technology to migrate from one place to another across the Ocean, by which they developed their first informal education of knowledge of the ocean currents, weather conditions, sailing practice, astronavigation, and star maps. During the later Stone Age period (Neolithic period),for agricultural practice, polished stone tools were made from a variety of hard rocks largely by digging underground tunnels, w hich can be considered as the first steps in mining technology. The polished axes were so effective that even after appearance of bronze and iron; people used it for clearing forest and the establishment of crop farming. Although Stone Age cultures left no written records, but archaeological evidences proved their shift from nomadic life to agricultural settlement. Ancient tools conserved in different museums, cave paintings like Altamira Cave in Spain, and other prehistoric art, such as the Venus of Willendorf, Mother Goddess from Laussel, France etc. are some of the evidences in favour of their cultures. Neolithic Revolution of Stone Age resulted into the appearance of Bronze Age with development of agriculture, animal domestication, and the adoption of permanent settlements. For these practices Bronze Age people further developed metal smelting, with copper and later bronze, an alloy of tin and copper, being the materials of their choice. The Iron Age people replaced bronze and developed the knowledge of iron smelting technology to lower the cost of living since iron utensils were stronger and cheaper than bronze equivalents. In many Eurasian cultures, the Iron Age was the last period before the development of written scripts. Educational technology during the period of Ancient civilizations According to Paul Saettler, 2004, Educational technology can be traced back to the time when tribal priests systematized bodies of knowledge and ancient cultures invented pictographs or sign writing to record and transmit information. In every stage of human civilization, one can find an instructional technique or set of procedures intended to implement a particular culture which were also supported by number of investigations and evidences. The more advanced the culture, the more complex became the technology of instruction designed to reflect particular ways of individual and social behaviour intended to run an educated society. Over centuries, each significant shift in educational values, goals or objectives led to diverse technologies of instruction. The greatest advances in technology and engineering came with the rise of the ancient civilizations. These advances stimulated and educated other societies in the world to adopt new ways of living and governance. The Indus Valley Civilization was an early Bronze Age civilization which was located in the northwestern region of the Indian Subcontinent. The civilization was primarily flourished around the Indus River basin of the Indus and the Punjab region, extending upto the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley and the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, (most of the part is under todays Pakistan and the western states of modern-day India as well as some part of the civilization extending upto southeastern Afghanistan, and the easternmost part of Balochistan, Iran). There is a long term controversy to be sure about the language that the Harappan people spoke. It is assumed that their writing was at least seems to be or a pictographic script. The script appears to have had about 400 basic signs, with lots of variations. People write their script with the direction generally from right to left. Most of the writing was found on seals and sealings which were probably used in trade and official administrative work. Harappan people had the knowledge of the measuring tools of length, mass, and time. They were the first in the world to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. In a study carried out by P. N. Rao et al. in 2009, published in Science, computer scientists found that the Indus scripts pattern is closer to that of spoken words, which supported the proposed hypothesis that it codes for an as-yet-unknown language. According to the Chinese Civilization, some of the major techno-offerings from China include paper, early seismological detectors, toilet paper, matches, iron plough, the multi-tube seed drill, the suspension bridge, the wheelbarrow, the parachute, natural gas as fuel, the magnetic compass, the raised-relief map, the blast furnace, the propeller, the crossbow, the South Pointing Chariot, and gun powder. With the invent of paper they have given their first step towards developments of educational technology by further culturing different handmade products of paper as means of visual aids. Ancient Egyptian language was at one point one of the longest surviving and used languages in the world. Their script was made up of pictures of the real things like birds, animals, different tools, etc. These pictures are popularly called hieroglyph. Their language was made up of above 500 hieroglyphs which are known as hieroglyphics. On the stone monuments or tombs which were discovered and rescued latter on provides the evidence of existence of many forms of artistic hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt. Educational technology during Medieval and Modern Period Paper and the pulp papermaking process which was developed in China during the early 2nd century AD, was carried to the Middle East and was spread to Mediterranean by the Muslim conquests. Evidences support that a paper mill was also established in Sicily in the 12th century. The discovery of spinning wheel increased the productivity of thread making process to a great extent and when Lynn White added the spinning wheel with increasing supply of rags, this led to the production of cheap paper, which was a prime factor in the development of printing technology. The invention of the printing press was taken place in approximately 1450 AD, by Johannes Gutenburg, a German inventor. The invention of printing press was a prime developmental factor in the history of educational technology to convey the instruction as per the need of the complex and advanced-technology cultured society. In the pre-industrial phases, while industry was simply the handwork at artisan level, the instructional processes were relied heavily upon simple things like the slate, the horn book, the blackboard, and chalk. It was limited to a single text book with a few illustrations. Educational technology was considered synonymous to simple aids like charts and pictures. The year 1873 may be considered a landmark in the early history of technology of education or audio-visual education. An exhibition was held in Vienna at international level in which an American school won the admiration of the educators for the exhibition of maps, charts, textbooks and other equipments. Maria Montessori (1870-1952), internationally renowned child educator and the originator of Montessori Method exerted a dynamic impact on educational technology through her development of graded materials designed to provide for the proper sequencing of subject matter for each individual learner. Modern educational technology suggests many extension of Montessoris idea of prepared child centered environment. In1833, Charles Babbages design of a general purpose computing device laid the foundation of the modern computer and in 1943, the first computing machine as per hi design was constructed by International Business Machines Corporation in USA. The Computer Assisted instruction (CAI) in which the computer functions essentially as a tutor as well as the Talking Type writer was developed by O.K. Moore in 1966. Since 1974, computers are interestingly used in education in schools, colleges and universities. In the beginning of the 19th century, there were noteworthy changes in the field of education. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), right from its start of school broadcasts in 1920 had maintained rapid pace in making sound contribution to formal education. In the USA, by 1952, 20 states had the provision for educational broadcasting. Parallel to this time about 98% of the schools in United Kingdom were equipped with radios and there were regular daily programmes. Sidney L. Pressey, a psychologist of Ohio state university developed a self-teaching machine called Drum Tutor in 1920. Professor Skinner, however, in his famous article Science of Learning and art of Teaching published in 1945 pleaded for the application of the knowledge derived from behavioral psychology to classroom procedures and suggested automated teaching devices as means of doing so. Although the first practical use of Regular television broadcasts was in Germany in 1929 and in 1936 the Olympic Games in Berlin were broadcasted through television stations in Berlin, Open circuit television began to be used primarily for broadcasting programmes for entertainment in 1950. Since 1960, television is used for educational purposes. In 1950, Brynmor, in England, used educational technological steps for the first time. It is to be cared that in 1960, as a result of industrial revolution in America and Russia, other countries also started progressing in the filed of educational technology. In this way, the beginning of educational technology took place in 1960 from America and Russia and now it has reached England, Europe and India. During the time of around 1950s, new technocracy was turning it attraction to educations when there was a steep shortage of teachers in America and therefore an urgent need of educational technology was felt. Dr. Alvin C. Eurich and a little later his associate, Dr. Alexander J. Stoddard introduced mass production technology in America. Team teaching had its origin in America in the mid of 1950s and was first started in the year 1955 at Harvard University as a part of internship plan. In the year 1956, Benjamin Bloom from USA introduced the taxonomy of educational objectives through his publication, The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, The Classification of Educational Goals, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain.

Beyond The Human Essay Example for Free

Beyond The Human Essay Nature is benevolent. It may condone one mistake of the human being. It may accommodate him in his yet another folly. But when the human beings continue with the deliberate, malicious and intentional negative activities to destroy Nature, Nature will hit back with tremendous vigor, for it has to recoup its original, natural health. Man is not the creature of Nature. Rather he is the product of the divine creative force that sustains the world. This novel by Atwood is grim and depressing and the contents therein, if it were to become true, do not augur well for the wellbeing of humanity. This book can be categorized as Science Fiction or speculative fiction, but as one goes through the contents, it reads like predictions that will come true. There is a method in the imaginative narrations which reach the borders or truth. At the end of each chapter, the reader is compelled to nod his head and say-yes, this can happen! How then to make this Planet Earth heaven-like? The answer is simple and direct. Eyes full of understanding, heart full of love and deep respect for the laws of Nature and the life that refuses conflicts—enough, these alone are enough! Two main themes dominate the book, Oryx and Crake. The novel relates to the distant future, the global warning has taken its toll, it has created many changes to the geography of Earth, that the coastal cities do not exist, and the name of New York is New New York. Umbrellas wont do to go outside in the sun; one invites certain death. The wealthier areas of the world still dominate, well-protected under places known as compounds and areas known as The Pleebands still exist. People live the normal life here, and understand Nature and its glory better. They know the real worth of Gods gifts to humanity. The plot of the book has three central characters. The narrator, Snowman, formerly known as Jimmy, is the only surviving human being on this Planet Earth. The sad beginning of the novel describes this terminally ill Snowman, sleeping in a tree. Food is in short supply; the sun is so hot that the Snowman has blisters on his body. The genetically engineered beings wolvogs and the pigoos that have managed to escape are now roaming the grounds, with no human beings to control them. At this stage, Atwood makes the reader ponder, as to what a sad pass the human race has arrived and the responsibility rests squarely on the shoulders of the captains who led the human race. The role of the scientists becomes suspect here. No doubt, they obey the orders of the politicians and do research on weapons of more and more and destruction. When questioned, their reply is that they have no responsibility for its use. Atwood provides the imperative advice to those who govern the affairs of humanity that if proper review is not made in time, even the desperate remedies will not be able to avert the forthcoming desperate situations. The important question is not who is responsible but what will happen to the Planet Earth, when such irreversible grim situations confront humanity—in this particular story, the humanity itself is extinct so who is there to tell the story and also listen to the story! To what a calamitous situation this mad craze for unending research has brought the human race, the so-called crown of creation! How the human beings are unable to know the real source of happiness? True happiness is not in reading more and more books, creating innovative materialistic objects. The products of mind related thinking can never be the permanent source of happiness. To achieve the state of bliss, an individual has to cross the barrier of mind, rather transcend it. Now the only surviving human being the Snowman, has the added responsibility of looking after a group of humanoid creatures named the Crackers. His best friend Crake invented them and created such class of people. They are supposed to be ideal human beings. If only the individual who created such human being were to know the exact nature of ideal human beings! Crakers are strange creatures, with no emotions, no desires, and no sex drive. They just procreate, as matter of reflex action. They are without any motivation. The concept of war is not known to these creatures, and this aspect seems to be the only good point about them. Being strict vegetarians, they have no desire for meat. They are simple people, but the meaning of their simplicity is not amenable to human reason. The question is, why for these Crakers were created at all? An important conclusion is the mind-less craze for research must stop. How to stop it and where to stop it, should be the concern of the leadership of the humanity. A popular protest to halt the undesirable and unhealthy growth of research that affects the human life must be on the top of the agenda. This aspect of research can be illustrated with an example. An over the counter medication for diabetes claims—the cure for diabetes is guaranteed with this medicine. But the side effects reported are, hypertension, night-blindness, hair fall, palpitation of the heart, with possible heart attack, high blood pressure, blisters etc. Further research is in progress as to how to avoid these side-effects. Is it not prudent to own the original disease, instead of extending a cordial invitation to so many side effects? So, this much about the world of research related to the medical world. So, the important question is why the world ended and why should it have ended thus. Due to the follies of the miniscule of minority of human beings, the majority had to face the ultimate disaster—total extinction! —Atwood elucidates this aspect convincingly and indicates her deep concern for the real happiness of human beings, which is an attainable reality provided right type of efforts are made. Conclusion: One must read this book; one must re-read and ponder over the contents. The points mentioned in the book are logical and the conclusions are frightening. Just remember the atomic blasts done over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That was the time when the research on atomic weapons was still in its infancy. What if some mad political authority should initiate triggering the push-buttons of these silent demons? There wont be a Snowman to collect the ashes of humanity perhaps! Does the humanity deserve this? Perhaps not! Are we taking action and thinking strongly to avert such a situation? Perhaps not! Then who is to blame? Perhaps ourselves! The science-community, especially the bio-engineering division, is taken to task by Atwood and her deep suspicions about the craze of unending research are absolutely right. So, the scientists! —you may cross the moon and beat the stars; but probe and research you must the mysteries of a happy human heart! ************************** References Cited: Atwood, Margaret (Author) Book: Oryx and Crake. Paperback: 376 pages Publisher: Anchor (March 30, 2004) Language: English ISBN-10: 0385721676 ISBN-13: 978-0385721677

Impacts on Environmental Policies for Air Pollution

Impacts on Environmental Policies for Air Pollution Implications for the Future In Charlotte, NC a problem of environmental, is air pollution. Air pollution is the preface of a combination of solid particles and gases into the atmosphere of Earth’s. Such solid particles and gases comprise biological particulates, materials, chemicals, and additional destructive materials. Air pollution has turn out to be a foremost apprehension for residents in the Charlotte Metropolitan area, since it is one of the prime and incessantly developing metropolitan regions in the USA. As a result, the pollution in this region has an effect on the environment and virtually 2.45 million humans beings and several animals. In addition the Charlotte Metropolitan region is one of the smoggiest metropolitan areas of the United States’ (Hankins, 2013). Air pollution adds to change in climate, have an effect on the welfare of the surroundings and that of human and animals life, and have an effect on the quality of life. Several strategies subsist for endorsing constructive environmental behavior to battle air pollution, and the positive and negative outcomes of air pollution can add to pro-environmental behavior. In addition, as for innovative technologies, there are negative and positive advances that have an effect on the environment and policies of environmental having an influence on the atmosphere. Strategies for Positive Environmental Behavior Promotion â€Å"Traffic and industrial air pollution sources increase in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, particularly in populations suffering with core cardiovascular disease† (Barrett (2012), p. 1). To support positive behavior of environment as for battling the air pollution effects or reducing the quantities of mixtures of solid particles and gases into the atmosphere, several strategies exist. In particular two strategies are to fetch about social alertness of the outcomes of air pollution and taking action in opposition to the actions of discharging mixtures of solid particles and gases into the environment. Social alertness is one means of promoting constructive environmental behavior that conveys attention to the outcomes of air pollution with respect to the environmental effects and illustrates the individuals attentions with respect to informative information in relation to the health risks of an environmental problem. Once individuals turn out to be aware, that is, relating to the environmental outcomes of air pollution then there is a superior possibility that this will endorse positive environmental behavior with reference to modifying processes and behavior that add to mixtures of solid particles and gases discharging into the environment. An additional strategy to endorse positive environmental behavior is to acquire action in opposition to the processes and behavior of release mixtures solid particles and of gases into the environment. By taking action, this demonstrates the apprehension with reference to this problem of environment, and action such can certainly endorse the positive behavior of environmental of others with reference to altering the behavior and processes that add to discharging mixtures of solid particles and gases into the environment. Negative and Positive outcomes of Air Pollution add to Pro-environmental Behavior Air pollution positive and negative consequences have the capability of escalating pro-environmental behavior in exacting ways. It might not appear similar to negative consequences of air pollution can add to pro-environmental behavior other than certainly this can. Air pollution negative consequences are that it has an effect on the environment, adds to change in climate, and adds in the decline of welfare of human and animals (Brunekreef Holgate, 2002). Particularly, for human beings, air pollution adds to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, particularly for humans with core cardiovascular ailments (J.R. Barrett, (2012).). These sorts of unconstructive outcomes direct to pro-environmental actions with respect to protecting the human health and environment from the air pollution effects and the effects of change in climate. Such negative outcomes can result in endorsements for organizations and individuals that do not meet the terms to place standards in position to diminish th e release of mixtures of solid particles and gases into the atmosphere. As a result, such negative outcomes of sanctions direct to behavior that adds to stopping such negative outcomes of air pollution and directs to behavior of pro-environmental to evade from such sanctions. In regard to positive consequences escalating pro-environmental behavior, when individuals are aware of that combating the negative outcomes of air pollution directs to positive consequences for instance lessening the negative effects of air pollution with reference to the environmental and human life. As a result, this behavior endorses persons to act in pro-environmental ways to additional reduce the injuriousness connected with the undesirable outcomes of pollution of air, which directs to pro-environmental behavior. As well, such positive outcomes will persist to direct to pro-environmental behavior consecutively to not endure from additional or future outcomes of air pollution. How Technological Advancement have affected the Environment Technological progressions are making the production, processing, distribution, development, and exploration of natural resources and substitute resources extra cost effective, and protecting in regard to the environment. Technological advances provide humans a means of battling negative outcomes on the environment that are the effect of human mistake, human behavior with reference to exhaustion of natural resources, and additional human behavior that contributes to negative effects on environmental for instance air pollution. As a result, technological advancements can have positive effects on the atmosphere; on the other hand, technological advances can as well have unconstructive outcomes on the atmosphere. Quite a few positive and negative instances subsist of technological advancements that have an outcome on the surroundings. One positive instance especially is the Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV). â€Å"A Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) is a kind of electric vehicle and hybrid vehicle which merges a conservative internal combustion engine (ICE) system of propulsion with an system of electric propulsion† (S. K. Kazmi, (2012). p. 40). These kinds of vehicles restrict the effects of emissions being discharged into the environment which adds to air pollution since they make use of systems of electric propulsion that do not need the utilization of fossil fuels. On the other hand, exacting technological advancements have restrictions, and cannot meet up explicit objectives or wants of humans with reference to not influencing the surroundings. As a result, the Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) are as well negative instances of how advancements in technological influence the environment. Hybrid Electric Vehicles make use of systems of electric propulsion together with internal combustion engine (ICE) system of propulsion (S. K. Kazmi, (2012).). As a result, they yet need the utilization of fossil fuels which discharge emissions into the environment and add to negative effects on environment for instance air pollution. as well, these types of vehicles yet depend on additional fossil fuels for instance oil to grease the stirring parts of their ICE propulsion systems; as a result, the fossil fuel demand yet remains. Technological advancments can have positive outcomes on the atmosphere other than at the similar time yet influence the environment in negative means. Assessing the Environmental Policies Influence , â€Å"Environmental policies can have negative and positive effects for individuals and for a society all together† (L.Steg, (2013). p. 257). Environmental policies are individuals and organizations commitments to position policies, laws, or rules that are of the concern of sustainability of environmental and issues of environmental. As for individuals they can both acknowledge and change behavior to act in accordance with with environmental policies or turn out to be subject to the outcomes of challenging such policies. Many environmental policies can negatively have an effect on a particular person since of the outcomes of not conforming with such policies; on the other hand, such policies have constructive outcomes for the preponderance of persons (L.Steg, (2013).).). As for society, when policies of environmental are in effect absolutely have an effect on society. Organizations and Individuals have influences on executing environmental policies in expressions of how both organizations and individuals have an effect on the environment and how what happens in and to the environment influences individuals or occupants of the environment. As a result, executing environmental policies take place at diverse levels with reference to protecting, effecting and targeting individuals and organizations consecutively to safeguard the environment and its occupants (L.Steg, (2013).). Environmental policies have constructive effects for the environment since they safeguard the environment, humans, animals, ecosystems, and from the negative actions of organizations and humans. Environmental policies incessantly require changing or improving, safeguard and protect the environment and occupants of the environment. Conclusion Air pollution is a problem of environment that has an effect on the safety of the environment, contributes to change in climate, and the welfare of human beings and animals. Strategies such as bringing in relation to social alertness of the air pollution effects to the environment and taking action in opposition to the actions of discharging emissions into the environment are proficient of endorsing positive environmental actions. The positive and negative consequences of air pollution have that ability of escalating pro-environmental actions. Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) is instances of how technological advancement positively and negatively have an effect on the environment. In addition, environmental policies can have a constructive effect on the atmosphere when executing such policies. References J.R. Barrett, (2012). Air pollution intervention. Environmental Health Perspectives, 120(3), 1. B., Brunekreef, S. T. Holgate, (2002). Air pollution and health. The Lancet, 360(9341), 1233-42. M.Hankins, (2013). Charlotte Magazine. S. K. Kazmi, (2012). Hybrid Electric Vehicle. Pakistan Gulf Economist, 31(39), 40-42. L.Steg, (2013). Environmental psychology: An introduction. NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. Hoboken,

Sanford and Son and The Chapelle Show :: comedy

Sanford and Son and The Chapelle Show   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was hilarious whenever Fred Sanford of the hit series Sanford and Son used to fake his heart attack saying that famous phrase, â€Å"I’m coming Elizabeth† or what about him telling Aunt Ester how ugly she was. No one took that type of comedy to the heart and it was intended to hurt no one. It was all for a laugh. Now in today’s time there are new shows on television such as The Chapelle Show, which is hosted and directed by the comedian Dave Chapelle. The object of this show seems to be how much fun he can make of a different race. Times have changed and so have peoples’ since of humor. People went from the laid-back type sitcoms such as Sanford and Son, The Three Stooges, and The Little Rascals, which are all types of shows that people can watch with their entire family, to shows even adults feel turned away from. Some examples include The Chapelle Show and In Living Color.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fred Sanford never meant any harm by acting as if he did not understand Officer Hoppy’s (the white cop) way of explaining things. Officer Smitty (the black cop) would always have to translate it so that Fred was able to understand what was going on. In the episode â€Å"We’ve Been Robbed†, Fred is cleaning up the place and accidentally knocks over Lamonts’ (his partner in business and thirty-four year old son) porcelain and glass collection. Fred acts as if they had been robbed whenever his son gets home and he informs Lamont that the two robbers were white. (Ruben) This was probably overlooked by most of the viewers not thinking twice about it. People thought laughter was good and Fred Sanford made them laugh without using all of the cuss words he knew to do it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  These days, people think that cursing and making fun of people of other races is funny and that is just what The Chapelle Show does. The show comes on every Wednesday night at nine-thirty central time on comedy central with other discriminating shows such as South Park. South Park is a good example of racial discrimination because the only black character on there is a cook for a school. Boy that is one hell of a job. Chapelle tops them all though with skits such as The Racial Draft. In this skit he makes fun of every race there is.

Extrinsic vs Intrinsic Motivation :: Teaching Education

Extrinsic vs Intrinsic Motivation What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation? What would you do as a future teacher to enhance intrinsic motivation in your students? The main difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is the goals of the students. With intrinsic motivation, the student studies subject material for the sake of learning. These students find studying enjoyable and learning new ideas as a reward itself. Extrinsically motivated students study for the sake of outside influences such as getting teacher and peer praise, acquiring a good grade or some other type of reinforcement that a teacher or peer might offer. Another difference that is worth mentioning is that research shows that intrinsically motivated learns more than extrinsically motivated students. This could be due to the fact that intrinsically motivated students are also extrinsically motivated. But on the other note, extrinsically motivated students are seldom found to be intrinsically motivated. Motivating students to become intrinsically motivated is no easy task for teachers. To some students, they enjoy learning. But for the others, this is where is the challenge really comes in. To facilitate material to students "dry" would totally be out of my agenda. I would try to teach to my students to the point where the material becomes alive within them. I to make their minds grow in curiosity of the subject so continual learning can take place. I would do this by means of relating material to what interests the students. I would also put as much energy into my teaching whether it be in my tone of voice, body language, appearance, or all of the above.

The Roman Empire :: essays research papers

The Roman Empire When the ancient Greeks were reaching the height of their glory, the power of Rome, to the west, was slowly rising. The Romans were best in warfare, engineering, and government. Rome rose to power gradually, with no set plan for world conquest. The Romans fought many wars and enslaved many people. By the time of Augustus, shortly before Christ, most of the known world was unified and at peace under Roman rule. The Kings of Early Rome The early Romans didn’t keep any written records. There are only two existing documents, which give the continuous early history of Rome. The old legends say that Romulus founded the city in 753 BC when the settlements on the seven hills were united. Under his heir, the Romans conquered Alba Longa, the religious center of the Latin civilizations. During the rule of Ancus Martius, a number of annoying Latin cities were conquered, and their people were brought to Rome. The Etruscan Conquest Shortly before 600 BC, Rome was conquered by several Etruscan princes from across the Tiber River. Tarquinius Priscus drained the city's marshes. The last of the kings of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, was a dictator who opposed the people. Under the rule of the Etruscans Rome grew in importance and power. Great temples and impressive public works were built. Rome had become the largest and richest city in Italy. Period of Conquest It was only a tiny city-state, much like the city-states that were growing at the same time in Greece. The common citizens were called the plebs or plebeians. They marched out of Rome in a body and threatened to make a new city in 494 BC. In 350 BC the plebeians were admitted to the dictatorship. The Roman Senate has been called the "most distinguished and important political body, which has ever existed in the world." Political Struggle The struggle for political power was the economic struggle between rich and poor. Gradually, reforms were forced through. Compelled at first to fight for its very existence against powerful neighbors, Rome gradually fought its way to the leadership of the Italian civilizations. Success of Rome Slowed Down By Gauls The successful progress of Rome received a temporary difficulty in 390 BC when wandering Gauls advanced through the center of Etruria. In another century Rome conquered their whole territory. Only southern Italy remained independent. Fearful at the spread of Roman power, the Greek cities appealed to Pyrrhus.

Nurse to patient ratio in emergency rooms

The presence of emergency rooms in hospital provides the people with additional service especially in time of need. Emergency situations are given the attention they deserve and the people affected are extended prompt care and treatment in emergency rooms. â€Å"When you need help right away, the best place to go is the nearest hospital emergency room. Also called the ER, this place is open 24 hours a day. Nurses and doctors are there day and night to care for medical problems that need quick attention† (â€Å"What Happens In The Emergency Room†). The presence of doctors, nurses, and equipment are important factors in making the emergency room serve its purpose. Due to the number of emergency situations that occur on a daily basis however, said factors must be assessed in order to determine whether or not emergency rooms still provide ample assistance to people in a given community.One such factor of great importance is the number of nurses assigned to a shift in an eme rgency room. It is important to review how the number of nurses in an emergency room can affect the rendition of service to patients, and ultimately, how it affects mortality of patients in the hospital. Nurses are of value and importance inside the hospital. As correctly stated by Underwood,Nurses in the community are well prepared and well positioned to improve the health and well-being of people living in the community. The available evidence is convincing that nurses in the community have a positive impact on the health of individuals, families, and populations (2003).Admittedly, it is the doctor who orders what type of treatment and prescribes the necessary medication to a certain patient. However, it must be noted that without the nurse, the orders of the doctor will be put to naught since no one will be in charge in the execution of said orders. So also, the basic things preliminary to the treatment of the patient are usually done by the nurse. Thus, it necessary to analyze h ow understaffing of nurses in the emergency room could affect the services these nurses render to the patients who are urgently in need of help. Ultimately, it can be seen that the safety of the patients are dependent on the number of the nurses that are assigned to the emergency room in a given shift.The quality of the services provided and delivered by the nurses depends on the tasks assigned to them and to the number of patients they attend to. Based on studies conducted, increase in the ratio between patients and nurses are advantageous as regards the delivery of health care services to the patients. The opposite is not only disadvantageous to the interests of the patients, but rather, it could lead to deterioration of health or even death on the part of the patients. The staffing of nurses in emergency rooms is an important issue must be addressed. The patient and nurse ratio affects the work load of the nurse, medication errors, waiting time of patients, delivery of care and m ortality. Said issues must be address in order to ensure that emergency rooms are still effective venues for rendering treatment to emergency situations.Increase in the patient to nurse ratio would ensure better rendition of services to patients. Firstly, delays will be prevented by higher ratio between patents and nurses inside the emergency room. Clearly, there are instances where more patients need care and there are only a handful of nurses available at a given shift. In these cases, not all the patients will be attended to promptly. Some would have to wait because the nurses would have to focus on the other patients who are in need of more urgent care or treatment.The other patient, also needing emergency treatment, will necessarily have to wait. As aptly stated,  excessive delays are akin to possible adverse events from the supply side (pressure experienced by the nurses) and from the demand side (waiting patients), both of which factor into the overall quality of care. Acco rdingly, we pose the nurse staffing problem in terms of finding staffing levels that guarantee a bound on a specified probability of excessive delay [†¦]  staffing levels are set to prevent the assistance of patients in need from being delayed longer than a specified time constraint [†¦] (Vericourt and Jennings).It must not be forgotten that emergency rooms are assigned in a hospital in order to provide attention to emergency cases. If patients are made to wait for a long period of time before their ailment can be attended to, then the purpose for which emergency room exists is not being served.  The adverse effect of the delay caused by a decrease in patient to nurse ratio is not limited to having the patient wait for treatment that he or she needs.Ultimately, the health of the patient is adversely affected.  delaying certain procedures can endanger patient health. For instance, the medical guidelines for certain myocardial infarctions recommend the immediate admini stration of aspirin. Delays also give rise to unfinished tasks, either because nurses fail to remember them later or because they abandon them in order to take care of more urgent procedures.In emergency rooms situations, time is always of the essence. Hence, the waiting time of the patient must be lessened, if not absolutely eliminated. The mere fact that the patient sought help from the emergency room means that care and treatment must be urgently administered to him. Having the patient wait due to the limited number of nurses that are available in a given shift means that the patient has to bear with his ailment before he can be attended to. This is contrary to the purpose of emergency rooms.Secondly, the increase in the patient to nurse ratio will clearly eliminate medication errors inadvertently done by nurses. It must be admitted that the number of patients assigned to a nurse at one given time largely affects the performance of the nurse concerned. If patients, more than thos e which one nurse can handle, are assigned to a nurse, there will be difficulty in attending to all of said patients. This could lead to error in administering the proper treatment to be given to a certain patient. Regardless of the competence of the nurses in the hospital, the weight of their work load can actually influence the quality of service that they deliver to the patients.In instances which involved the decrease of the ratio between patient and nurse, medication errors have been made by nurses. The commission of said errors eventually led to complaints from patients due to faulty and low quality of service that has been provided to them. One article recounted that a report from the Department of Health of Massachusetts revealed that â€Å"medical errors and complaints at hospitals have increased by 76 percent in seven years† (Why The Staffing Ratio Law Is Needed†) due to understaffing of nurses in emergency rooms.Thus, it appears that decrease in the ratio bet ween nurse and patient could actually lead to endangering the health of patients. This could also blemish the character and reputation of hospitals in the community because instead of ensuring the health of the patients, they accomplish the opposite.Lastly, and more importantly, the ratio between patient and nurse affects the quality of service given to, and the mortality of patients seeking help from the emergency room. As mentioned earlier, the delay in receiving proper care and the great possibility of errors in medication could adversely affect the health of patients. This is the same reason why a lot of States have resorted to the promulgation of laws involving the fixing of the ratio between patients and clients in the hospital. This is to ensure quality of the care provided to the patients. As correctly pointed out by Vericourt and Jennings,The rationale for implementing these ratios stems from the association between nurse staffing level and patient safety. Research studies suggest a significant connection between nurse workload and clinical outcomes. For instance, Aiken et al. (2002) conclude that the addition of one surgical patient to nurse assignments results in a 7% increase in mortality rates. The purpose of the mandated nurse-to-patient ratios is to provide a consistently high level of patient safety throughout the state. Ostensibly, safety is partially attained through manageable workloads among those who actually provide health care services.If decrease in the ratio between nurses and patients is countenanced, then a lot of patients would suffer because they will not receive the urgent treatment that they need. There is a possibility that their injury or ailment could actually worsen due to errors in treatment or medication. So also, there is a chance that due to lack of timely and proper treatment, death could ensue.The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science reports that â€Å"nurse staffing levels affect patient outcomes and safety.† Insufficient monitoring of patients, caused by poor working conditions and the assignment of too few RNs, increases the likelihood of patient deaths and injuries at a time when avoidable medical errors kill up to 98,000 people in U.S. hospitals every year (â€Å"Why The Staffing Ratio Law Is Needed†).This is, unquestionably, a serious issue that must be addressed. As mentioned above, the emergency room is a place where quick attention could be given to patients who are in need. There is a promise that ailments and injuries will be treated right away in order to save the patient. However, due to understaffing of nurses in emergency rooms, it appears that chances of death are even heightened.All the materials related to the issue at hand are in agreement that the fixing of the ratio between patients and nurses is an important issue that deserves attention. Not only does it affect the workload of the nurses, but ultimately, it affects the health and safety of the patients seeking help from the hospital. In a survey conducted, even the nurses themselves agree that understaffing is a serious problem encountered in most hospitals. â€Å"The survey data demonstrate that nurses view understaffing as a serious problem when it comes both to the quality of care that patients receive and to nurse burnout. For example, three in five (59%) hospital nurses say that the staffing level at their hospital is having a negative impact on the quality of care patients receive† (Hart, 2003).In conclusion, emergency rooms and nurses play an important role in the society when it comes to giving urgent care and treatment to patients seeking help. Mere assignment of nurses to emergency rooms is not sufficient. A sufficient number of nurses must be assigned to a certain shift in the emergency room in order to meet the demands of the people in need. Undeniably, nurses play different roles while they are at work.Its goal is to promote and preserve the healt h of populations and is directed to communities, groups, families and individuals across their life span in a continuous rather than episodic process. The role and activities include: care/service provider; educator; consultant; community developer; leader; enabler; advocate; communicator; resource manager/planner; coordinator; team member/collaborator; researcher/evaluator; social marketer; and policy formulator (Underwood, 2003).If said duties are expected of nurses, then it appears that said duties cannot be accomplished if only a few nurses are assigned in a certain shift.   Research proves that decrease in the ratio between nurses and patients affect adversely the performance of nurses. They commit errors in medication and are not able to provide proper care and treatment to all the patients assigned to them. On the other hand, increase in the ratio between nurses and patients ensure that only the best quality service and care will be given to the patient. Proper attention an d adequate attention is ensured because the nurse is able to focus on the patient. Ultimately, in increasing the ratio between nurses and patients, nurses are able to perform their duties efficiently, and the patients receive the care and attention that they deserve. Related article: â€Å"Ati RN Community Health Online Practice 2016 B†REFERENCEKaestner, R. (2006). Nurse-to-Patient Ratios. â€Å"What Happens In the Emergency Room?†. 2007. Nurse to patient ratio in emergency rooms The presence of emergency rooms in hospital provides the people with additional service especially in time of need. Emergency situations are given the attention they deserve and the people affected are extended prompt care and treatment in emergency rooms. â€Å"When you need help right away, the best place to go is the nearest hospital emergency room. Also called the ER, this place is open 24 hours a day. Nurses and doctors are there day and night to care for medical problems that need quick attention† (â€Å"What Happens In The Emergency Room†). The presence of doctors, nurses, and equipment are important factors in making the emergency room serve its purpose. Due to the number of emergency situations that occur on a daily basis however, said factors must be assessed in order to determine whether or not emergency rooms still provide ample assistance to people in a given community.One such factor of great importance is the number of nurses assigned to a shift in an eme rgency room. It is important to review how the number of nurses in an emergency room can affect the rendition of service to patients, and ultimately, how it affects mortality of patients in the hospital. Nurses are of value and importance inside the hospital. As correctly stated by Underwood,Nurses in the community are well prepared and well positioned to improve the health and well-being of people living in the community. The available evidence is convincing that nurses in the community have a positive impact on the health of individuals, families, and populations (2003).Admittedly, it is the doctor who orders what type of treatment and prescribes the necessary medication to a certain patient. However, it must be noted that without the nurse, the orders of the doctor will be put to naught since no one will be in charge in the execution of said orders. So also, the basic things preliminary to the treatment of the patient are usually done by the nurse. Thus, it necessary to analyze h ow understaffing of nurses in the emergency room could affect the services these nurses render to the patients who are urgently in need of help. Ultimately, it can be seen that the safety of the patients are dependent on the number of the nurses that are assigned to the emergency room in a given shift.The quality of the services provided and delivered by the nurses depends on the tasks assigned to them and to the number of patients they attend to. Based on studies conducted, increase in the ratio between patients and nurses are advantageous as regards the delivery of health care services to the patients. The opposite is not only disadvantageous to the interests of the patients, but rather, it could lead to deterioration of health or even death on the part of the patients. The staffing of nurses in emergency rooms is an important issue must be addressed. The patient and nurse ratio affects the work load of the nurse, medication errors, waiting time of patients, delivery of care and m ortality. Said issues must be address in order to ensure that emergency rooms are still effective venues for rendering treatment to emergency situations.Increase in the patient to nurse ratio would ensure better rendition of services to patients. Firstly, delays will be prevented by higher ratio between patents and nurses inside the emergency room. Clearly, there are instances where more patients need care and there are only a handful of nurses available at a given shift. In these cases, not all the patients will be attended to promptly. Some would have to wait because the nurses would have to focus on the other patients who are in need of more urgent care or treatment. The other patient, also needing emergency treatment, will necessarily have to wait.As aptly stated, excessive delays are akin to possible adverse events from the supply side (pressure experienced by the nurses) and from the demand side (waiting patients), both of which factor into the overall quality of care. Accordi ngly, we pose the nurse staffing problem in terms of finding staffing levels that guarantee a bound on a specified probability of excessive delay [†¦]  staffing levels are set to prevent the assistance of patients in need from being delayed longer than a specified time constraint [†¦] (Vericourt and Jennings).It must not be forgotten that emergency rooms are assigned in a hospital in order to provide attention to emergency cases. If patients are made to wait for a long period of time before their ailment can be attended to, then the purpose for which emergency room exists is not being served.The adverse effect of the delay caused by a decrease in patient to nurse ratio is not limited to having the patient wait for treatment that he or she needs. Ultimately, the health of the patient is adversely affected.  delaying certain procedures can endanger patient health. For instance, the medical guidelines for certain myocardial infarctions recommend the immediate administrati on of aspirin. Delays also give rise to unfinished tasks, either because nurses fail to remember them later or because they abandon them in order to take care of more urgent procedures.In emergency rooms situations, time is always of the essence. Hence, the waiting time of the patient must be lessened, if not absolutely eliminated. The mere fact that the patient sought help from the emergency room means that care and treatment must be urgently administered to him. Having the patient wait due to the limited number of nurses that are available in a given shift means that the patient has to bear with his ailment before he can be attended to. This is contrary to the purpose of emergency rooms.Secondly, the increase in the patient to nurse ratio will clearly eliminate medication errors inadvertently done by nurses. It must be admitted that the number of patients assigned to a nurse at one given time largely affects the performance of the nurse concerned. If patients, more than those whic h one nurse can handle, are assigned to a nurse, there will be difficulty in attending to all of said patients. This could lead to error in administering the proper treatment to be given to a certain patient. Regardless of the competence of the nurses in the hospital, the weight of their work load can actually influence the quality of service that they deliver to the patients.In instances which involved the decrease of the ratio between patient and nurse, medication errors have been made by nurses. The commission of said errors eventually led to complaints from patients due to faulty and low quality of service that has been provided to them. One article recounted that a report from the Department of Health of Massachusetts revealed that â€Å"medical errors and complaints at hospitals have increased by 76 percent in seven years† (Why The Staffing Ratio Law Is Needed†) due to understaffing of nurses in emergency rooms.   Thus, it appears that decrease in the ratio betw een nurse and patient could actually lead to endangering the health of patients. This could also blemish the character and reputation of hospitals in the community because instead of ensuring the health of the patients, they accomplish the opposite.Lastly, and more importantly, the ratio between patient and nurse affects the quality of service given to, and the mortality of patients seeking help from the emergency room. As mentioned earlier, the delay in receiving proper care and the great possibility of errors in medication could adversely affect the health of patients. This is the same reason why a lot of States have resorted to the promulgation of laws involving the fixing of the ratio between patients and clients in the hospital. This is to ensure quality of the care provided to the patients. As correctly pointed out by Vericourt and Jennings,The rationale for implementing these ratios stems from the association between nurse staffing level and patient safety. Research studies s uggest a significant connection between nurse workload and clinical outcomes. For instance, Aiken et al. (2002) conclude that the addition of one surgical patient to nurse assignments results in a 7% increase in mortality rates. The purpose of the mandated nurse-to-patient ratios is to provide a consistently high level of patient safety throughout the state. Ostensibly, safety is partially attained through manageable workloads among those who actually provide health care services.If decrease in the ratio between nurses and patients is countenanced, then a lot of patients would suffer because they will not receive the urgent treatment that they need. There is a possibility that their injury or ailment could actually worsen due to errors in treatment or medication. So also, there is a chance that due to lack of timely and proper treatment, death could ensue.The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science reports that â€Å"nurse staffing levels affect patient outcomes and safety.† Insufficient monitoring of patients, caused by poor working conditions and the assignment of too few RNs, increases the likelihood of patient deaths and injuries at a time when avoidable medical errors kill up to 98,000 people in U.S. hospitals every year (â€Å"Why The Staffing Ratio Law Is Needed†).This is, unquestionably, a serious issue that must be addressed. As mentioned above, the emergency room is a place where quick attention could be given to patients who are in need. There is a promise that ailments and injuries will be treated right away in order to save the patient. However, due to understaffing of nurses in emergency rooms, it appears that chances of death are even heightened.All the materials related to the issue at hand are in agreement that the fixing of the ratio between patients and nurses is an important issue that deserves attention. Not only does it affect the workload of the nurses, but ultimately, it affects the health and safety of the patients seeking help from the hospital. In a survey conducted, even the nurses themselves agree that understaffing is a serious problem encountered in most hospitals. â€Å"The survey data demonstrate that nurses view understaffing as a serious problem when it comes both to the quality of care that patients receive and to nurse burnout. For example, three in five (59%) hospital nurses say that the staffing level at their hospital is having a negative impact on the quality of care patients receive† (Hart, 2003).In conclusion, emergency rooms and nurses play an important role in the society when it comes to giving urgent care and treatment to patients seeking help. Mere assignment of nurses to emergency rooms is not sufficient. A sufficient number of nurses must be assigned to a certain shift in the emergency room in order to meet the demands of the people in need. Undeniably, nurses play different roles while they are at work.Its goal is to promote and preserve the health of populations and is directed to communities, groups, families and individuals across their life span in a continuous rather than episodic process. The role and activities include: care/service provider; educator; consultant; community developer; leader; enabler; advocate; communicator; resource manager/planner; coordinator; team member/collaborator; researcher/evaluator; social marketer; and policy formulator (Underwood, 2003).If said duties are expected of nurses, then it appears that said duties cannot be accomplished if only a few nurses are assigned in a certain shift.   Research proves that decrease in the ratio between nurses and patients affect adversely the performance of nurses. They commit errors in medication and are not able to provide proper care and treatment to all the patients assigned to them. On the other hand, increase in the ratio between nurses and patients ensure that only the best quality service and care will be given to the patient. Proper attention and adequate attention is ensured because the nurse is able to focus on the patient. Ultimately, in increasing the ratio between nurses and patients, nurses are able to perform their duties efficiently, and the patients receive the care and attention that they deserve.REFERENCEHart, P. (2003). Patient-To-Nurse Staffing Ratios: Perspectives From Hospital Nurses. AFT Healthcare. Kaestner, R. (2006). Nurse-to-Patient Ratios. Tone, B. (1999). Nurse-patient ratios, professionalism and safety. Vericourt and Jennings. Nurse To Patient Rations in Hospital Staffing: a Queuing Perspective. http://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/~fdv1/bio/ratios3.pdfUnderwood, J. (2003). Value of Nurses In the Community. Canadian Nurses Association, â€Å"What Happens In the Emergency Room?†. 2007. â€Å"Why The Staffing Ration Law Is Needed†. 2005.