A brief history of science education in Ghana Essay

Science education is the cultivation and disciplining the mind and other faculties of an individual to utilize science for improving his life, cope with an increasingly technological world, or pursue science academically and professionally, and for dealing responsibly with science related social issues (Akpan, 1992). Ghana, formerly known as the Gold Coast, was the first African country to the south of the Sahara to gain political independence from colonial rule in 1957. This former British colony of 92,000 square miles (about 238,000 square kilometers) shares boundaries with three French-speaking nations: the Cote d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north and Togo to the east. The Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean is to the south of the country. EARLY HISTORY OF EDUCATION BEFORE INDEPENDENCE As was the case in many colonies during the early colonial period, the main goal of education was to ‘make civilization march hand-in-hand with evangelization’ (Anum –Odoom, 2013). This statement gives a clear description of how education in Ghana was implemented at that time. The formal, western-style education in Ghana is directly associated with the history of European activities on the Gold Coast The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive at the Guinea coast in 1471. Their intention to establish schools was expressed in imperial instructions that, in 1529, encouraged the Governor of the Portuguese Castle at Elmina to teach reading, writing, and the Catholic religion to the people. It is imply proven that the Danish, Dutch and the English merchants also set up schools in their forts and castle to educate their mulatto children by native women. Unmistakably linked to the implementation of formal education in Ghana with the Christian missionaries, who realized that in order to spread the word of God, they needed well- educated local assistants. Following the consolidation of the coastal region as the British Gold Coast Colony, the administration became more aggressive in pursuit of its educational policy. This was precipitated by the British purchase of the Danish property at Christiansborg in 1850 and the Dutch Elmina Castle in 1872. To help redress problems faced by the mission schools—such as training local teachers and improving the quality of education—the administration made grants to both the Wesleyan and Basel missions in 1874. In the Educational Ordinance of 1882, government grants to denominational schools were made dependent on an assessment of the level of efficiency. The schools receiving grant-in-aid were defined as â€Å"government assisted schools,† but their primary funding was to come from the missions themselves and from other private sources. On the Gold Coast, the appointment of Brigadier General Gordon Guggisberg as governor brought its own advantages. During his tenure from 1919 through 1927, Governor Guggisberg initiated several major developmental programs that included educational improvements as a critical ingredient in his construction of a modern Gold Coast. While the previous administration had seen the provision of elementary schools by the various Christian missions as adequate, Guggisberg was of the conviction that the current system could not sustain future developments. In fact, only a few months after his arrival, the governor presented a 10-year development plan for the Gold Coast. Among other things, funding was aggressively sought for post elementary education for boys and girls. Even though the administration proposed a technical college for Accra, the Prince of Wales College (now Achimota College) was the real trophy of the administration’s educational program. This non denominational school catered for students from kindergarten to the pre university level. THE BIRTH OF SCIENCE EDUCATION The inadequacies inherent in the system of education were observed in the post-World War I appeal made by the Foreign Missions Conference of North America to the Phelps-Stokes Funds for a review of the state of education in Africa. The Phelps-Stokes Commission on Africa issued reports in 1922 and 1925 in which educators were criticized for inadequately catering to the social and economic needs of the continent. The commission of which James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey was a member, called for instructions in the mechanical operations necessary for the improvement of the condition of the mass majority of the people. This included science education and character training. The Phelps-Stokes fund’s founded in 1920, is an African Education Commission represented one of the early attempts to link black Africa with Negro America. The attempt to forge this link represented a concerted policy on the part of a number of missionary and philanthropic groups in the United Kingdom and the United States to draw attention to what seemed to be analogous situations-politically, socially, and economically. Ghana is said to be the first independent sub-Saharan African country outside South Africa to embark on a comprehensive drive to promote science education and the application of science in industrial and social development (Anamuah-Mensah, 1999). Science Education after Independence After Phelps- stokes commission had pushed for the birth of science education in Africa in general and in particular, Gold Coast, there has not been any clear cut national policy for science education in Ghana up to date (Ahmed, 2013). Dr Kwame Nkrumah who aimed at achieving Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education instituted an Act called 1961 Act, (Act 87) . This Act was to make Basic education free and Compulsory and anyone who fails to send his or her child to school was made to pay a fund by the Minister for education. The education system at that point consisted of six year of primary education, followed by four-years of secondary education. At the end of the four years suitable students went on to do a two-year sixth form course that could lead to a three year University course. Students, who were not suitable to continue, completed two- year of pre-vocational classes. The Nkrumah government encouraged the learning of science by instituting a special scholarship scheme which enabled science and agriculture undergraduates to enjoy scholarships a little higher than those of their counterparts in the humanities. This facility was withdrawn after 1966. Science and mathematics teachers were also paid a little more than their colleagues in the humanities. (Djangmah, 2007) The Reforms The seven year development plan instituted by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was short lived. The system was later regarded as too long and too academic. Thus Dzobo Education Reforms of 1974 saw a reform of the system, instating the Junior Secondary School (now Junior High School) on an experimental basis. The Junior Secondary School introduced practical subjects and activities allowing students to acquire occupational skills, which after an apprenticeship lead to the qualification for self-employment. Due to a wide range of factors such as the economic decline, bureaucracy and sheer lack of interest the JSS-system never went beyond the experimental phase. By 1983 the education system was in a state of crisis. It faced drastic reductions in Government financing, lack of educational materials, and deterioration of school structures, low enrollment levels and high dropout rates. With the assistance of several development partners (World Bank, Department for International Development (ODA) and international grants) the education system was reviewed and proposals were implemented in 1987 known as Evans-Anfom reforms. In 1987, Ghana’s Ministry of Education introduced a restructured educational system that gradually replaced the British-based O-level and A-level system. The transition was completed in June, 1996, when the last class took A-level exams. The last O-level exams were administered in June 1994, although a remedial exam was offered through 1999 (Keteku, 2013) The 1987 Reforms had strengths as well as weaknesses. One of the strengths was that it provided a comprehensive Basic Education which improved access to education for more children of school-going age. Junior Secondary Schools were provided throughout the country and this helped to increase literacy levels. The reform also introduced Continuous Assessment which formed part of the final examination. This ensured that internal assessment in schools was included in the final examinations and this ended the single-shot examination existing in the old system. The Anamuah-Mensah Report recommended similar structure of education just like the Evans-Anfom Report of 1986. The difference was the inclusion of two (2) years of Kindergarten education as part of Basic Education and Apprenticeship training for leavers of the Junior Secondary School who unable to or do not want to continue in the formal sector. The implementation of the Anamuah-Mensah Reforms began in September 2007, and it was faced with initial problems. These problems included delay in the supply of syllabuses and textbooks for the smooth take-off of the programme, and teachers were not adequately prepared in terms of training to implement the reforms. These problems were later dealt with as the implementation of the reforms progressed. The next major problem being anticipated is the inadequate classrooms and other facilities as students will enter the fourth year of Senior High School in September 2010. The Way Forward For Science Education Promotion of science education in the country will depend on three drivers of change, namely, funding, teaching and interventions, and research (Akyeampong ,2007) Funding Knowledge is not cheap. Science, technology and mathematics knowledge required to move the country into the knowledge society can never be cheap. Government’s commitment to science education should be demonstrated in the level of resources allocated to science and technology. Laboratories and workshops in the schools, teacher training colleges, universities and polytechnics should be well equipped and new ones constructed to take into consideration the increasing student population. Research The knowledge society thrives on the creation of new knowledge. Research provides the means by which new knowledge is created. Resources, both material and human, for research in science and technology are woefully inadequate or non-existent. This has had a profound effect on the development of post graduate research in the universities. A number of measures need to be taken to strengthen research in science and technology in order to meet the demands of the country. The following are being suggested: †¢Research in research institutions and the universities should be adequately funded. †¢Most researches carried out in the universities are those that interest the researchers and are hence supply-driven; the Government should challenge our scientists and provide funds to carry out research on problems confronting the country. This can be done through the provision of research funds to be competed for by all scientists in the country. †¢Establish a National Science Research Facilities Centre equipped with world class specialized facilities which are normally expensive and therefore beyond the means of single institutions, to provide opportunities for Ghanaian researchers to carry out scientific research and development and retain local researchers as well as attract foreign ones. †¢To improve the quality of science education at all levels, research in science and technology should include research on teaching and learning science, technology and mathematics. †¢Institute special awards for best researchers and science teachers. This could be termed the President’s Award for Science to be given annually. We need to celebrate achievement. †¢Set up a formal scheme for mentoring the Youth- This is critical to the development of a career path in science for the youth. Mentors excite interest in junior colleagues and help them to â€Å"walk the path†. This experience is however rare in the universities. These days, newly recruited scientists struggle to keep afloat with little or no support. A formal mentoring system should be established in all institutions to ensure that young scientists recruited into the universities or research institutions are attached to professors and senior scientists in their fields of study to receive advice and support. The mentoring can take the form of joint research, publications and presentations at conferences and seminars. †¢To raise the level of awareness of science and technology innovation (research) and foster a synergy among education, industry and research institutes, a project referred to as SMART. MOVES in some countries should be established in secondary schools. This project will involve encouraging schools through visits, presentations and seminars to work on problem solving projects with support from the community. The projects will be assessed and students with innovative and creative projects will be invited to present their projects at a Junior Scientist Conference which will be attended by senior scientists who can later act as mentors for the students. Prizes will be given to students based on the quality of project and presentation. The Ghana Academy of Science and Arts can take up this. Conclusion The vision of the National Science and Technology Policy is: â€Å"to support national socio-economic development goals with a view to lifting Ghana to a middle income status by the year 2020 through the perpetuation of a science and technology culture at all the levels of society, which is driven by the promotion of innovation and the mastery of known and proven technologies and their application in industry, and other sectors of the economy†. (MEST, 2000) This vision can become a reality when science education is given a boost at all levels of education. It has been suggested that the promotion of science education hinges on three pillars – funding, teaching and intervention, and research. Without adequate funding, quality teachers, supportive intervention activities and research to illuminate our understanding, science education will have no impact on the everyday lives of Ghanaians; and the observation made by the National Development Planning Commission will remain true. Our national vision for science and technology will be therefore be meaningless. REFERENCES Ahmed, M. (2012). Ghana to launch National Science policy. Retrieved 4th October, 2013, from http://www. ghanaweb. com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel. php? ID=235350. Akpan, O. E. (1992) Toward Creative Science teaching and learning in West African school. Ghana: catholic Press Akyeampong, K. (Centre for International Education, University of Sussex, England) in his lecture on â€Å"50 Years of Educational Progress and Challenge in Ghana†, at Parliament House, London, England; 2007 Anamuah-Mensah, J. (1999). Science and Technology Education in Ghana. A paper delivered at the National education Forum on the theme: Towards Sustaining an Effective National Education System, held at the Accra International Conference Centre, Accra, 17-19th November. Anum-Odoom, A. K. M . Educational Reforms in Ghana, 1974-2007. Retrieved on 12th October, 2013, from http://www. ghanaweb. com/GhanaHomePage/blogs/blog. article. php? blog=2091&ID=1000004125- Djangmah, J. S. Clarifying Ghana’s national vision for the application of science and technology to development. Retrieved on 12th October, 2013, from http://www. ghanansem. org/index. php? option=com_content&task=view&id=234 Keteku, N. W (EDUCATIONAL REFORM IN GHANA: THE SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL). Retrieved 10th October, 2013, from http://www. bibl. u-szeged. hu/oseas_adsec/ghana. htm Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) (2000). National Science and Technology Policy Document. Accra: MEST.

Jextra Neighbourhood Case Analysis Essay

The Jextra Neighborhood case study is an evidence of the growing effort by Multi National Corporations to extend their operational base to take advantage of the increasing benefits associated with globalization. The case highlights the managerial capabilities and style of the Manager, Tom Chong; the cultural variations in the perception of business as an entity and its relationships with society, employee attitude to work ethics, and legal variables governing the operations of international corporations. The Malaysian system poses a socio-ethical dilemma especially with the giving and receipts of bribes by appointed employees as well as the exchange of favors (or request thereof) between government officials and businesses. How Should Tom Chong resolve the issue? Concerning the Mayor of Klang’s request, Chong must first assess his own degree of power and authority implied by his position as Country manager. The appointment of a country manager as part of the organizational hierarchy conforms to the management principle of authorization, which mandates equable authority and power to enable managers carry out assigned duties. Such authorities usually have limitations especially in situations where the action or inaction of the officer will affect corporate commitment financially or otherwise. Due to the value of financial capital involved, and the legality thereof, Chong should refer the request in a memo to his immediate boss with copies to corporate headquarters in line with the principle of communication, which encourages a forward-backward linkages and consultative approach to organizational decision-making processes. Even if the legal implications are favorable, the final decision made with regards to the mayor’s request must take into consideration the various business indices such as the time needed to break-even and recoup investment, potential market size, growth matrix and competitive threat for comparison with larger corporate goals. The original Jextra store plan did not consider the flyover road as a priority, which may help narrow the choice options to the school project. In addition, Malaysia law is silent over business contribution for social programs and there is wide example for the practice. If considered, Jextra could make the school financing process public and  transparent with payment made directly to a body appointed by the city administration that has oversight for contributions and disbursement, and controls for effective accountability. What Should Chong do, about the rumors about the bribery and kickbacks to the category manager (CM)? As the country manager, dealing with the bribery and kickback rumors by the CMs is within Ching’s administrative supervision and jurisdiction. In this case, the CMs are expected to be accountable to him and to carry out their duties according to the laid down procedures as dedicate in the Jextra Code of conduct. Chong should first have a close door meeting with Arif Alam and inform him about the information he has received about the activities of the CMs in general as well as the seriousness of its implications if anything should known. He should then recommit the CMs and all other employees to the Jextra Conduct Code (JCC) by running workshops for the staff. At the conclusion of the workshop, the CMs should make to sign an undertaking that expressly promise their commitment to the JCC. The workshop can made an annual event during which personnel from corporate or regional headquarters could be asked to attend for added importance Suppliers, individuals and organizations that do business with Jextra should also be educated about the Jextra CC from the first time a business relationship is established. Contractual agreement must have a section enforceable at law that details an understanding of the requirement for honest dealings devoid of bribery kickbacks and other corrupt practices to, from or by a Jextra employee during the period of the business relationship. The agreement should also make clear procedures for business engagement and the consequences for a breach including abandon and prosecution. Does the jextra Business Code of conduct help chong in resolving the issue? Jextra’s business conduct code does not seem helpful to the manager, Chong in resolving the bribery and kickback issues at the organization. In the first place, the document is settled in ‘cautions and admonitions’ instead of the inherent force of the law. What is more, there are no meaningful arrangements in the document. Besides, even though the code allows gifts and entertainment of ‘small/minimal’ value to guest and suppliers, there is no definite amount given either by department or rank/title such that, the value herein involved may be subjected to acceptable interpretations and variations from department to department and between individual employees. Such lack of  specificity exposes the manager Chong and limits the options available to him for dealing with personnel/employee conduct because of the likelihood that, employee may see his actions as ‘refer his own measures’ instead of company regulation. Are these the kind of issues that Chong should have anticipated as a country manager? As a manager of an international company, Chong should expect to encounter cultural variations or collisions in business and social relations in Malaysia. Local expectations and company ethical policies do sometime clash during the execution of business objectives. However, managers must advice staff to stick with the tried and tested laid down policies. Managers many recommend a review of policies in the face of strong objective evidence for alternative approaches. Such ethical pursuit may help the company in case of legal suits; solidify the managers observed integrity whiles setting a standard for change.

Decome Et Decorum

â€Å"Heartland† written by Linda Hogan has underlying messages a reader must carefully pay attention to in order to fully understand the poem. Hogan describes â€Å"City Poems† as her analysis of city life and how she appreciates it which can seem complex when reading her poem. She begins the poem describing how rare silence in the city can appear to people, constant traffic from vehicles and voices of people traveling the streets. Then she understands what the â€Å"city poems† other authors write about and how life in the city is constantly surrounded with common images related to city life such as yellow hard hats and beggars.I feel like Hogan feels a connection with city life and she has learned to appreciate it. I think the author identifies â€Å"city poems† as poems about the chaos people endure in the city; that the city may not seem enjoyable to most. The chaos that the city brings can take a toll on a person and can leave them questioning their life. Lines seven to ten describe how people pray and â€Å"feel the heart beat in a handful of nothing† which I interpreted it as meaning that the city can drain people of whatever they have and leave them with nothing.When people have nothing to fall back on, faith holds a powerful connection to people who seek support to help put back the broken pieces of life and by praying, a higher power can bring an answer to their prayers. However, Hogan seems to find the beauty and joy that the city brings and describes it in her poem, â€Å"Heartland†. I think that Hogan enjoys the city life with the detail in lines eleven to seventeen, where she describes construction workers, beggars, pigeons, and peoples’ regurgitation on metal.I interpreted the statement â€Å"human acids etching themselves into metal† as how many people travel to the city to become famous and make a name for themselves which the â€Å"human acid† being written onto the metal represen ts a person â€Å"writing there name in stone†. In stanza three, line twenty, Hogan writes â€Å"listening hard to the underground language† where the â€Å"underground language† refers to the lingo of the streets of the city where people of the city understand one another and can communicate with each other, even if they are not speaking the same anguage. When growing up anywhere, a person picks up certain characteristics of their society. Specifically, when growing up in the city, a person MUST learn the rules (language) of the city to succeed. The â€Å"underground language† is hidden within the city, where â€Å"outsiders† ponder upon conversations on the street, trying to figure what it really means. When Hogan writes â€Å"listening hard† I think she refers to taking

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Discussion Question - Essay Example McDonald’s has mastered the art of change management. We can verify that through many examples. The McDonald’s launch in France, according to the ‘International Journal of Business Management’, where customers are ‘resentful of the fast-food chain’s incursion’ was successful mainly due to an adaptation of the local culture and demands of the market. French are particular about fine dining and hence McDonald’s underwent serious changes, such as comfortable armchairs, hardwood floors, an addition in their menu of items such as espresso, brioche and upscale sandwiches etc and ‘successfully responded to ‘the preferences of the local area (Richard L. Daft). ‘In the other countries the situation is the same. For example, in Canada, McDonald’s has introduced new Canadian feature breakfast. In Belgium, the McCicken Premiere has been added to the menu.’ (International Journal of Business Management, Nov 2008). Jing Han. (2008, Nov.) The Business Strategy of McDonald’s. International Journal of Business and Management. Volume 3, No. 11. Retrieved from:

Teams in Organizations.Group dynamics for teams Essay Example for Free

Teams in Organizations.Group dynamics for teams Essay Teams in Organizations Introduction            Teams are important part of any given organization or company. There are a lot of benefits which companies can realize from their teams which include sharing of work load as well as sharing of ideas in the company leading to increased innovation within an organization. In every organization, there are various departments depending on the type of operations which are carried out within the organization (Clegg, Kornberger, Pitsis, 2011). The number of departments will influence the type of teams and the number of teams that an organization will have. Furthermore, the composition of the teams will depend on the number of people within the departments. It is important to have teams within organizations since there is a lot of benefit which can be generated from having teams as part of operations in the company, hence the view presented by Tom Peters is agreeable. Impacts of Teams in Companies/Organizations            It has been noted that there are various benefits which can be realized as a result of having teams within companies and organizations. As Tom Peters, (1987, p296) insisted, there is need to organize and have teams that are focused in achieving specified objectives and goals within organizations. The benefits or impacts of teams in organizations and companies include: Increased Productivity            Productivity is an important part that companies strive to achieve. Every company often strives to attain high productivity and hence increase its sales in the long run and therefore more profits. When an organization is organized in form of teams that work together in collaboration, it becomes easy for the company to attin high productivity since the teams are able to share the workload and therefore produce more(Clegg, Kornberger, Pitsis, 2011). When there is increased productivity as a result of teamwork, it means that there are increased chances of making more profits and meeting the objectives and goals of the company. Therefore, it is important that organizations should be organized in teams Maximization of resources            The other benefit which has been noted through research is that of increased maximization of the resource which are available within the company. When the company is organized in to teams, it is easy to manage how the resources of the organization are being used hence ensure that there is maximum use of the resources for the greater benefit of the company. Furthermore, it has been noted that when an organization is organized in to teams, there is ease in the allocation of the resources of the company (Levi, 2011). It is easy to formulate budgets which can be sued by each teams hence the resource of the company are allocated according to the budgets that he team provides. This ensures that there is proper control on the resources of the company. What this means is that there is no wastage of the resources within the company. Therefore, it is important to have teams within an organization or company. Accountability            Accountability is an important aspect within organizations and companies. Majority of companies look for accountability through various strategies and hence teams forms one of the strategies which the companies and organizations have been able to use(Clegg, Kornberger, Pitsis, 2011). When employees are divided in to teams, it becomes easy for the management to make follow up and hold employees accountable for their duties and actions in the operations which they carry out. It is easy to identify where there are mistakes when employees are divided in to teams and hence reduces the amount of time that is used in identifying faults in people.            Teams help in enhancing accountability within organizations and this means that there are reduced cases of defaults within the company as well as improved performance(Clegg, Kornberger, Pitsis, 2011). When employees know that their team will be held accountable for their part that they undertake in the operations of the company, they will strive to ensure that they succeed in the tasks which they have been assigned. Therefore, the view presented by Tom Peters is agreeable and teams should be promoted within companies. Time Management            Formation of teams within organizations helps in the management of time within organizations and companies. Teams are given specific duties and tasks to carry out of which they are needed to accomplish within specified time. Therefore, when the teams work together, it becomes easy for them to complete the task within the time frame provided hence ensuring that there is no wastage of time(Levi, 2011). The teams make use of time in an effective way hence improving the efficiency within the company since the teams are able to share the work load hence it is easy for the employees to carry out the assigned tasks. This shows that the suitable and best way that an organization can operate is through teams which can help save a lot of time within the company as well as motivate the employees to work hard and improve on their efficiency. Innovation and creativity            Organizations such as Google Inchave developed and continued to provide the best products in the market as a result of innovativeness within the company. This has been contributed to by the aspect of teamwork within the company. Another organization which has continued to benefit from team work is Apple Inc. This company has been able to produce quality products as a result of innovativeness of its teams. Therefore, when an organization or company puts its employees in teams, it provides them with the opportunity to work together and share ideas which lead to innovation(Clegg, Kornberger, Pitsis, 2011).            There is constant sharing of ideas among the employees which helps to enhance their ability to solve problems and come up with solutions as well as new ideas that will benefit the company. Innovativeness and creativity is important within organizations because it helps in the production of high quality products and services which meet the needs of the customers(Clegg, Kornberger, Pitsis, 2011). When the customers are provided with high quality products or service through innovation, it means that an organization or a company will be able to increase its customer base as well as its revenue hence its profitability. Therefore, the view that has been presented by Tom Peters that organizations should be put in form of teams is agreeable based on the positive impact that it has on innovation and creativity within companies.            However, there are issues that affect the effectiveness of teams within organizations or companies. The difference that exists between employees, such as cultural diversity, often affects how teams function. It is quite a challenge to have a team that will put aside their cultural differences and work for the benefit of the company. There are employees that work well when assigned duties alone without having to work as a team(Levi, 2011). Therefore, it calls for the management of the company to realize that teams do not function all the time under every situation. There is need for proper analysis of the employees to find out if the idea of teams will work pout and generate the required and maximum results in the short and long run. Furthermore, it is to be noted that different organizations have different composition in terms of departments. Some of the departments cannot be organized in to teams due to the reason that they perform similar duties hence organizing them in to team will not change anything in their operations(Clegg, Kornberger, Pitsis, 2011). The differences in the employees create a challenge for the management within organizations when there is need to formulate teams for the purpose of sharing the workload that is available. Therefore, this could mean that teams may not seem as the suitable way to go in ensuring success within an organization or company. Conclusion            It is important to have teams within organizations since there is a lot of benefit which can be generated from having teams as part of operations in the company, hence the view presented by Tom Peters is agreeable. Organizations that have teams have greater benefits as compared to organizations or companies which have not organized their personnel in to teams that can collaborate for the benefit of all. Teams are important in enhancing accountability, time management, maximization of resources and minimization. Furthermore, it has been noted that teams helps in enhancing innovation and creativity within companies hence organizations are encouraged to organize their employees in to teams that are manageable. References Clegg, S. R., Kornberger, M., Pitsis, T. (2011).Managing and organizations: An introduction to theory and practice. Sage. Levi, D. (2011). Group dynamics for teams. Los Angeles: SAGE. Source document

The Social Shaping Of Technology Sociology Essay

The Social Shaping Of Technology Sociology Essay The import of social and technological interaction has been a subject of controversies over the year with two sides having different view of it. Technological determinists believe that technology determines the trend in social changes and history (Chandler, 2000). But the view of Social constructivists is different in the sense that they believe the social norms dictate technology both in design and usage (Trevor, 2010). This paper will try to look into each believe using a personal experience with time technology in relation to user role. Section 2.0 will shed light into believes of technological determinist using media Technology Determinism and Techno-evolution while section 3.0 will dwell on the Social shaping of technology using the Actor Network Theory (ANT) and Social Construction of technology theory (SCOT). Also, section 4.0 will explain what methodology that was used in accessing both theories while section 5.0 will show the findings in relation to both theories. The last s ection, section 6.0 will draw conclusion on what this paper believed in respect of the two theories. 2.0 Technological Determinism The term Technological determinism was first used by an American called Thorstein Veblen in 1920s who believed that technology determines social change (Chandler, 2000). Technological determinism tends to believe that society is shaped by it most dominant technological innovation. Theories associated to Technological determinisms are Media technological determinism, Technological primacy, Technological imperative, Universalism and Techno-evolutionism (Chandler, 2000). This idea is based in two forms which are soft and hard determinism. The soft claims that technology determines social change but not absolute while the hard determinism claims that the force of technology is so big that it is autonomous (Joseph, 2004). Both ideas are based on cause which is technology and effect which is impact of it on the social norm. Also, this view tends to explain technology in linear developmental stages without taking into consideration other adjoining factors. Technological determinist views social change as a dependant of technology. For example many determinists believe that communication technology determines the direction in which the society behaviour moves towards. Marshall McLuhan (1976) believed media deprive people of their private identity. He further describes this when he was criticizing that the media has negatively affected the life of people worldwide. He gave an example of a research conducted in Germany and UK where some people were paid not to watch television for some time. He said the result the agency discovered was reduction in drug addicted people. Techno-evolutionism believes most world history is named after technological innovation. Examples of this are Machine age, age of automation, atomic age, industrial revolution, space age, communication age and so on (Chandler, 2000). This idea tends to focus on technological progress from generation to generation by the western world. Masse Bloomfield (1995) in his book Automated Society predicted that in the near future everybody will have what they want without physical effort. This he said would have serious impact on mans social system. Also Jeremy Rifkin (1995) in his book End of Work reiterated that men will be substituted by machine. All this ideas are based on human over reliance in getting everything done with technology without thinking of the consequence it will have on them. 3.0 Social Shaping of Technology The social constructivists believe that it is the society that shape technology. This theory based its own idea on different concept like the Empirical Programme of Relativism (EPOR), Actor Network Theory (ANT), Social Construction of technology (SCOT), Gender Studies (Consumption Junction) and many others. Also Social Constructivists believe users of technology determine the design and usability of it (Trevor, 2010). This paper will explain what is meant by two of the aforementioned concepts which are ANT and SCOT with examples. ANT is a concept derived by Latour and Calon and it sees technology as a kind of battle between the users and the Script embedded in technology (Trevor, 2010). The theory deals with technology inform of network of actors on it (Trevor, 2010). He further describes it as a kind of program that is done on the assumption of user behaviour but users overcome this by anti-program (Trevor, 2010). An example of this is sit belt where the programm is if it is not worn then beep but user group not convenient with it i.e. Pregnant woman will fight this back by selling a dummy to the program (Anti-program) thereby plugging the sit belt in its socket to stop the beep (Trevor, 2010). This way the user is controlling the technology. SCOT on the other part is an approach developed by both Trevor Pinch and Wiebe Bijker. It based its approach to research on Relevant Social Group, Interpretative Flexibility, Closure, influence of wider culture, Technological frame work and users as agents of technological change (Trevor, 2010). Bijeker (1997) argues using the evolution of Velocifere to Safety bicycle based on different user activity, that social group can change technology. Also Trevor (2010) argues that technology can be used for another purpose that is different from its original function. He gave an example of a car lifted up to power a washing machine. In another research work on Moog Synthesizer Trevor (2010) was able to proof that even invention is collaboration between inventor and the anticipated user. Social constructivist ideas points to Users as determinant of technology 4.0 Methodology The methodology used is based on Relevant Social Group approach by checking on users of time machine. The users include both male and female students in my class and watching of passerby students to see how they check time or whether they even have wrist watch at all. I also ask some questions from female students like what says your time to notice how it is been checked. Also the technological effect on landscape is also considered using the site sightseeing observation along Clyde River and industrial evolution society using the visit to New Lanark. The justification behind using the above approach is that it allows the researcher to use and relation with the current technology and society to bring out comparative analysis on the issue. Also the opinion will be neutral since deduction is from a different user without inclination into any of the theory of technology and society relationship. 5.0 Findings and implications In getting the real life picture of the two argument, this section will try to analyze its finding using the analysis gotten from the sight seen along Clyde bank, visit to New Lanark and engagement with the time technology. History will play a major tool of analysis in illustrating the aforementioned. 5.01 River Clyde Working along the Clyde River one will see a vivid notification of a once booming economic area of Scotland with traces of ship oil still floating on the river. The area has now been converted to recreational center due to the effect of world war two. In order to get the feel of this change this paper will start with a brief history of the River Clyde. Years ago river Clyde is an haven for port activities with ship engineers locating their presence due to ship activities going on in the area. Technology play role in transforming the port to a trade hub. This was done by development of technology on steam engine and dredging of river clyde to open avenue for large ship. The dredging allowed large vessel to sail into Broomielaw instead of stopping at port outside the city (Clyde water front heritage). However, this activity was affected after the Second World War due to intense bombing of the Clyde side. Based on the shift towards tourism the Clyde river area has been turned to a relaxation area with side attractions like the Titan crane, BBC Scotland, Digital media quarter etc. All this shows how technology can transform the landscape of a place which in turn changes the social way of doing things. Conversely, the changes are based on process in terms of the need by people. For example the idea behind the change is due to the need for improvement on sugar and tobacco trading by the people while technology also by dredging and construction of bridge change the landscape and ways of doing things. 5.0.2 Visit to New Lanark The New Lanark visit shows how the industrial revolution age (Technological Determinist way of depicting era) changes the non active environment to a busy one. This transforms the landscape and increase social presence in the area. History of New Lanark started with David Dale and his partner (Inventor), Richard Arkwright coming to the area. Both agreed in inventing in the area due to the availability of water fall to provide power for the proposed cotton mill. The idea is based on the feasibility of cotton production during the industrial revolution. Population of increased to 2,500 by the time the cotton industry started in 1786 (New Lanark Trust). Also the way the people uses power changed with the advent of transistor radio and pressing iron with villagers tapping power (ANT idea of Anti-programming). Although the power was supplied free to villager but it was later changed when the villagers were connected to the National grid due to increase in usage (Undiscovered Scotland). The clock tells the time to wake up and get prepared for work and also when the power is to be switched off and on. The whole story changed when the activities at the mill reduced and market declined. The population of villagers also decline with people moving out of New Lanark. New Lanark has now been rebuilt as a tourist center with influx of more than 50,000 tourists visiting the village per annum. The above history also shows the relationship between technology and society. Some of the workshop visit really shows how technology controls workers. An example of this is the spinning machine which moves up and down at the same workers move to work in resonance with the machine. The noise of the machine is also there, although workers may not like it but due to the power of their employer and their own aim of earning their sustenance they have no option. The emigration of people from New Lanark also shows how technology can change society. 5.0.3 Engagement with time technology Engagement with time technology through history of time measurement, and the struggle of getting accurate time in human endeavour shed more light into relationship between technology and society. Time measurement is one of fundamental to human existence. Barbara (2006) argues that our relation with time makes us human. This shows how important measuring of accurate time is important to human existence. This section will try to relate events with time and show how various usage has integrate technology as part of our ecosystem. The history of time dated back to our existence with needs for time as sensational night and day. Need to know time of birth and death also highlights an important phase in the history of time. Thompson (1967, p.58) stated that Cross River natives were reported as saying the man died in less than the time in which maize is not yet completely roasted (Cross River is a state in Nigeria) . It is noted in history of time that most nations in one way or the other use different means of measuring time. Most especially, they seems to concentrate more on use of celestial bodies like the sun, moon and different planet to measure months, season and years. Because of the variation in night and day, necessity to divide the day into hours emerged. This was solved by a mathematician Hipparchus using his shadow to do theoretical math, he proposed 24 hours (Anon, 2011). At the same time the Greek has invented the mechanical water clock to measure time. This was the era of mechanical transformation from Natural mode of measurement. Suddenly knowing the hour of the day prompted research by the Greeks into minutes by measuring the angle the sun in different city at the same hour and comparing data (Anon, 2011). This enables them to reason not only shape of the earth but the size of it as well (Anon, 2011). After solving the hour, finding time in different part of the world brings about the next problem of solving the mystery behind time. The scientists then were able to mark the latitude but longitude was a different ball game. In order to be able to measure accurate longitude you need to know the precise amount of time you wonder east or west and getting it was problematic (Anon, 2011). Problems that initiated research into longitude is the frequent lost of direction by ship on sea which most lead to it been perished (Anon, 2011). This prompted the British parliament in 1700 to offer cash reward to whoever can solve the problem (Anon, 2011). The problem was solved in 1730 by an English man named John Harrison who made the world first wine up clock power by spring (Anon, 2011). The emergence of information age led to crave for most accurate time. Other instances that led to request for better time includes the temperature problem of the old watch, time dilation effect, need for greasing of the mechanical watches, measurement of data throughput, time measurement in space etc. the first that emerged was quartz which has the ability to measure time accurately at 1 second error in 270 years (Anon, 2011). The second entrant was Atomic clock which so far is the most accurate in term of measuring time. The fuel-like component in the Atomic clock can either be Cesium or Hydrogen maser (Vickie, 2012). An example of atomic watch usage is the General Position System (GPS) where concurrently three different satellites communicate with one another using their time to synchronize one another. The time must be very accurate to transform the position of an object using it. Now it is very hard to see user like in the olden days using landmark to locate addresses, they rathe r use Google map or its equivalent to find their way around cities. Also my diary on usage of time machine shows that we use each machine in response to network effect of a dominant technology. The network effect theory talks about advantages user of technology gain from many network users of the same technology (Michael and Carl, 1985). Most people use wrist watch for show of status recently, while others like ladies uses it as ornament. For example, in my class we have six girls only two wears wrist watch consistently and when I ask for time from them they checked their phone not the wrist watch. I also ask the remaining girls they said why bordered when they are with their phone almost everywhere. The eight men in my class donà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢t wear wrist watch for the same reason but they accepted to wear it when going for party. Further engagement with this led me to watch most of the student passing by to see whether they wear wrist watch but discovered that most men are not wearing it but some ladies wear it. I also notice tha t most of the student are always looking down with their hand on their smart phones smiling intermittently and looking up slightly so as not to bump on other road users. Furthermore, some students have their hand in their side pocket with ear phone in their ear but this time they look up. This shows the extent to what extent technology can change the way we socialize. My view on this is that most people use their phone to check their time since they prefer to have every need in one place. They can use the phone to call, receive call, play mp3, chart, set alarm, check time, find their way etc. The usage depends on the user group view on what they want from the technology irrespective of the original function or design. 5.0.4 Implications The implication of allowing technology to do what is meant for human instead of enhancing how human do things will have negative impaction on the society. This was explained by Butler (1872) when he stated that Reflect upon the extraordinary advance which machines have made during the last few hundred years, and note how slowly the animal and vegetable kingdoms are advancing. This means that technology development while helping the manufacturers of it to generate more revenue reduces human professionalism and at the same time have effect on the environment in terms of environmental pollution. One wonders what will happen if technological machine like time stopped working without having any alternatives like natural way of calculating time. Virtually everything stops when time stops. So this kind of important necessity should not be left in the hand of technology. In manufacturing technology there is need for consideration to be taken into its effect on the society and how such change can be managed. Also, some technologies destroy the ones they met in market thereby making other users to be out of the system. Schumpeter explained this as destructive innovation (Tim, 2010, p.). Apart from user loosing the out-of-market technology, user might also have challenge in knowing how to use the new technology. 6.0 Conclusion In conclusion, drawing from the above sections, it can be deduced that flows go both ways with technology having impact on social change and society have impact on technology irrespective of the idea behind Technological determinism and Social Constructivism. Both depend on each other but measure should be taken in reducing the excess of technological innovation to conform to the social safety of the society. Managers of technology in organization need to take technology as a supplement to human effort not has a supplement to the human itself. Also involvement of the frontline staff in technological implementation is paramount to management of change.

Social Networking Websites Usage Towards Academic Performance Education Essay

Social Networking Websites Usage Towards Academic Performance Education Essay This chapter covers about the literature review on the Social Networking Sites (SNS) usage towards academic performance. The resources used in this chapter such as books and articles are from e-book available in the Internet and Perpustakaan Tun Abdul Razak (PTAR) collections. The collections used are primary and secondary sources which were obtained from the interviews, printed and online version of books and articles. The articles used are available in PTAR library databases such as Science Direct, Emerald Management Extra, H.W. Wilson, ProQuest and others. The journal titles that were referred to are Computers in Human Behavior, Computers Education, Computers and Composition and many more. The keywords used during the searching process such as Social Networking Sites (SNS), Facebook, Computer and Internet use, SNS and student performance. This chapter will cover five sections which are computer and Internet use, social networking use, SNS and academic performance, factors of usin g SNS and also usefulness of SNS towards student performance. 2.1 Academic performance In educational institutions, students usually being analyses and evaluate based on their performance in their academic. It refers to how students deal with their studies and how they cope with or accomplish different tasks given to them by their teachers. Besides that, academic performance also can be analysed in term of the ability of the students to study and remember facts and the ability to communicate their knowledge verbally or in written form. Azizi Hj. Yahaya (2004) stated that there are four factors that influence students academic performance which are roles of teachers or schools, peers, parents and the students themselves. He stated that the roles of students covered the aspects of the nature of the learning process, the goals of the learning process, construction of knowledge, strategic thinking and finally on thinking about thinking. He then explained that the successful student should be an active, goal-directed, self-regulating, and assume personal responsibility for contributing to their own learning. It can be concluded that the academic performance was reflects by the factors that influence the outcomes of successful students during their learning process. However, the students themselves should determine their goals and lead their selves so that they can achieve successful results in their academic performance. Kirschner and Karpinski (2010) revealed that it is difficult to measure the academic performance especially in term of defining the academic performance itself. There are many ways to measure the academic performance either using the GPA or the grade such as A, B, C, D, and F). Other than that, the researcher should relate the academic performance with the amount of time spent studying such as daily, weekly or monthly. Based on Karpinski (2009), academic performance is conceptualized differently between schools, states and countries. Therefore, he stated that there is no accurate definition on the way to measure academic performance. 2.2 Computer and Internet use In the Information Age, Information Technology (IT) and Internet skills are becoming increasingly important, and those without these skills are at a disadvantage economically and educationally. Schumacher and Morahan-Martin (2001) in their research found that the students had more exposure to computers than to the Internet. The study found that males were more experienced and reported higher skill levels with the Internet than females, with the exception of e-mail. The students used email in order to have efficiently exchange digital information with classmates. Almost one third of the first-grade students do not have their own e-mail address at home yet. The research also identified that more than half of the first-grade students report that they use their computers at least once a week to look for information on the Internet while one third of them used e-mail or chat from home almost every day. The findings also shows that a quarter of the students used the computer for this purpo se every week and more than half use the computer every day for games or music. A research done by Tsai and Tsai (2010) found that there is no significant gender difference in students total Internet Self-Efficacy Scale (ISES) scores. However, a significant difference was found in the communicative Internet Self-Efficacy (ISE) scores between genders while further subscale. The female students had significantly higher scores than did the male students in the communication subscale. It can be concluded that the girls held significantly more confidence than the boys regarding Internet communication. The study also shows that Internet use experience both genders had a medium level of Internet using experience in average. Therefore, there is no significant gender difference found in students Internet using experience. However, a significant gender difference was found in students weekly time spent where it identified that boys spent significant more time on using the Internet than did the girls every week. The study also found that there was a different purpose of using Internet among the genders where most of the girls used the Internet for searching, mailing, music listening, homework and talking while the boys mostly accessed the Internet for game playing, searching and music listening. This result suggested that boys and girls might have different interests or motivations in utilizing the Internet. McCarthy (2000) stated in his article that in the early 2000s, schools at all levels in many countries began to prepare all students for Internet literacy and to promote Internet-based learning for life-long learning. The result from Tsai and Lins (2004) research done in Taiwan showed that the girls had significantly higher Internet self-efficacy than the boys while high school male students still had better Internet attitudes in some aspects. According to Hille (2009), the article mentioned that adolescent students may immersed in online gaming, chatting or other online entertainment, and even become addicted if there is no effective management and supervision from their parents and teachers. The students may also expose to pornographic and violent contents flooding the Internet. Wainer et al. (2008) found that from seven social economic classes, it shows that there is a decrease in test performance among the younger and the poorer students and their computer use is higher than other. Other than that, it also identified that there is a significant decrease in the grades of those who use computers more frequently when compared with those who never use computers for assignments. While the poorest socioeconomic class shows that there is a 15% reduction in test scores. The research done by Yang and Tung (2008) showed that 236 subjects from a total of 1708 were identified as addicts using the eight-item Internet addiction using Internet addiction Diagnostic Questionnaire (DQ) developed by Young (1996b) to distinguish addicts from non-addicts . The findings showed that there are significant different levels of influence of the Internet between the Internet addicts and non-addicts in five aspects of life other than peer relations. The Internet addicts believed that the Internet negatively influenced their school learning, daily routines, health, and parental relations as well as teacher relations while the Internet positively influenced all six aspects of the lives of non-addicts. In previous studies, high school students displayed problematic consequences of Internet dependence, for instance, skipping meals, losing sleep and study time, increasing financial costs for on-line activity, and rearranging daily routines or even neglecting studies to spend more time online (Brenner, 1996; Egger Rauterberg, 1996; Young, 1996b) as cited in Yang and Tung (2008). Based on Youngs study (1998) cited in Yang and Tung (2008), it was found that Internet dependents gradually reduced the time spent with family and friends while increasing time in front of their computers. This phenomenon may apply for some Taiwanese Internet users, but the data in this study demonstrated a negative influence on parents but no disruption of peer relationships for either addicts or non-addict. The findings of this study confirmed those of Kandell (1998), Lin and Tsai (2002) and Chou and Hsiao (2000) as quoted in Yang and Tung (2008), that both the addict and non-addict groups saw the Internet as positively influencing their relationships with friends and schoolmates. Statistical results pointed that Internet addicts spent approximately 21.2 hours per week on the Internet, while non-addicts spent around 12.1 hours per week. This study assumes that most college students, living away from parental monitoring and with fewer classes than high school students, have extensive freedom to explore risky activities that might lead to Internet addiction. This study finds a level of reported Internet usage among high school Internet addicts that is comparable to that for addicted college students. UÃ §aks (2007) study revealed that most of the students of the Department of Information Management in Hacettepe University, Ankara uses the Internet every day. Based on the results, the majority access the Internet from their departments computers followed by accessing from their home. However, the rate of access from Internet cafes and the library is low. The results show that a vast purposes of using the Internet such as for their courses, homework assignments followed by using the Internet for personal interest and for e-mails. Some of them used the Internet to listen for music, games, and entertainment option while chat comes in the last place. SNS The experiences and opinions of the social network influence contraceptive decisions in this population of young, minority women. The social network, including friends, family members, and media sources, is a key source of contraceptive information for many women. Comprehensive contraception counseling should explore the experiences and opinions of the patients social network to the extent possible. Lynn Yee, M.D., M.P.H.a, and Melissa Simon, M.D., M.P.H(2009) Results indicated that students use Facebook approximately 30 min throughout the day as part of their daily routine. Students communicated on Facebook using a one-to-many style, in which they were the creators disseminating content to their friends. Even so, they spent more time observing content on Facebook than actually posting content. Facebook was used most often for social interaction, primarily with friends with whom the students had a pre-established relationship offline. In addition to classic identity markers of emerging adulthood, such as religion, political ideology, and work, young adults also used media preferences to express their identity. Implications of social networking site use for the development of identity and peer relationships are discussed.Tiffany A. Pempek, Yevdokiya A. Yermolayeva, Sandra L. Calvert(2008) An individuals success in society depends on the shape and size of his/her social network and ability to network and form connections with other social groups. Organisations which can harness this innate human ability to manage knowledge will be able to lower transactions costs and become more profitable. Anria Sophia van Zyl (2008) Regression analyses conducted on results from a survey of undergraduate students (N = 286) suggest a strong association between use of Facebook and the three types of social capital, with the strongest relationship being to bridging social capital. In addition, Facebook usage was found to interact with measures of psychological well-being, suggesting that it might provide greater benefits for users experiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction. Nicole B. Ellison Charles Steinfield Cliff Lampe(2007) 2.3 SNS use and academic performance According to Boyd Ellison (2008), Social-networking sites (hereafter SNS) are the latest online communication tool that allows users to create a public or private profile to interact with people in their networks. They then defined SNS as web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system There are few studies that had been done in findings the significant of SNS with academic performance. Kirschner and Karpinski (2010) had conducted a research on the Facebook (FB) and academic performance. FB is a part of the examples of SNS that was recently being used by many people including the students. Barratt, Hendrickson, Stephens and Torres (2005) stated that the increased of FBs popularity has raises questions about its impact on college student life. The FB was firstly introduced by Mark Zuckerberg in 2005 to help residential college and university students identify students in other residence halls. The usage of FB than has been expanded to individuals outside the college and university system. It has been identified that the usage of FB covers all group of age with mostly the age between 25 to 34 year-olds (Lipsman, 2007). However, even though there was an increase growth in older age groups, FB remains primarily a college- age and emerging adult phenomenon. From the statistics collected by the FB administrative that showed in the website, http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics, it recorded that there are 500 million of active users registered and half of them log in any given day while 55 million updates post each day with more than 8 billion minutes spent on the website worldwide each. The statistic also identified that more than 2.5 billion photos uploaded each month, more than 14 million videos uploaded each month, more than 30 billion pieces of content, for instance web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos shared each week, more than 3.5 million events created each month, and more than 45 million active user groups existing. It can be concluded that Facebook is a popular time-consuming activity that undoubtedly has some impact on college student life. Based on study done by Espinosa, Laffey, Whittaker, and Sheng (2006), they investigated the role of technology in early childhood development using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. From the findings, it indicated that access contributed to the learning potential of the students, but the researchers concerned that parents should encourage the educational use of technology to improve academic achievement. Apart from that, according to Lei and Zhao (2005), it was explored that the specifics of access, acknowledging that quantity is not as important as quality when it comes to technology use and student achievement. Specifically, when the quality of technology use is not closely monitored or ensured, computer use may do more harm than good to student achievement in school. Hunley et al. (2005) identified that there is no relationship found between time spent on the computer at home and GPA in a sample of adolescents. Technology was found to have a positive impact on academic achievement, or technology with educational value. However, Kubey, Lavin and Barrows (2001), mentioned that other researchers have found that recreational Internet use is strongly correlated with impaired academic performance. The results showed that approximately 10-15% of study participants reported feeling not being in complete control of their Internet use, and that it has hurt their schoolwork. Furthermore, they also identified that students who reported Internet caused schoolwork problems were found to have spent five times more hours online than those who did not, and they were also significantly more likely to report that their Internet use caused them to stay up late, get less sleep, and miss classes. The researchers conclude that it is not so much the Internet that causes these problems as the new social opportunities of the Internet. Students who reported academic problems were more likely to use the Internet for real-time social activities such as IM and chat rooms which lead to them to sleep late at night. Karpinski and Duberstein (2009) on their exploratory survey study identified that there is a negative relationship between FB use and academic achievement as measured by self-reported GPA and hours spent studying per week. Hargittai (2009) stated that there is no evidence found to prove the relationship of Facebook usage with low academic performance. Banquil et al. (2009) in their research found that social networking sites do not indicate negative effects on a students performance in school. 2.4 Factors of using the social networking sites among the students Yang and Tung (2008) stated the Internet addicts usually used the websites and SNS because of lower self-esteem than non-addicts. They are more confident to communicate or socialize through the Internet rather than face to face with people. Yap (2008) identified that, the main factor of using the SNS is because the users need not pay any fees due to the free membership. Furthermore, it is easy to use the SNS whereby the users only need to sign up by filling the form and active the link sent via their email. The students and users also can post advertisements there in order to other members of an event that they are hosting. It is also an opportunity for them to make new friends, use them every day to chat, play games and connect with friends, family and strangers. 2.5 Usefulness of the social networking sites towards student performance The SNS function as a communication tools using the technology connection between people from different locations, for instance the existing of Facebook is to help residential college and university students identify students in other residence halls which also function as an online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges and universities before it is largely used worldwide. According to Pineda (2010), the students and SNS users used it to keep in touch by maintaining a profile on these sites, their loved ones, friends and distant relatives which they do not have to call the users every time just to stay in touch with one another. Besides that, the students can take advantage to post their resume and credentials to the companies that advertise vacancy in the SNS. Dalsgaard (n.d.) discussed how the social networking may be utilized within university education by students sharing information and resources that are originally developed for themselves but made available to others such as using bookmarks, references, links, and notes. He stated that social networking sites are not the new Learning Management Systems. He mentioned that the SNs can be used as a discussion forums and other tools for direct communication and collaboration focus on direct sharing, social networking can support students indirect sharing of resources, thoughts, ideas, productions, writings, notes and others. It will provide the students with an increased consciousness and awareness of the activities of other students. Brady, Holcomb and Smith (2010) identified that education-based SNSs can be used most effectively in distance education courses as a technological tool to improve online communications among students in higher distance education courses. According to Barab and Duffy (2000) and DeSchryver, Mishra, Koehler and Francis (2009), they found that distance education courses are often more successful when they develop communities of practice while Anderson (2005) later added that it is also encourage high levels of online social presence among students. Brady, Holcomb and Smith (2010) stated that since the SNS facilitate the sharing of information, the technologies used in SNSs aid discussion and create intimacy among online students, as they have their ability to connect and build community in a socially and educationally constructed network. Besides, the article also stated that SNS created specifically for an educational audience provides a unique opportunity for educators to facilitate a strong sense of community among students and encourage personal interactions that can lead to the creation of new knowledge and collective intelligence. Smith (2009) as cited in Brady, Holcomb and Smith (2010) stated that, course management systems (CMS) such as Blackboard and Moodle, tend to be much focused and lack the personal touch and networking capacity that SNSs offer. For instance, instructors using CMS may create a question in an online discussion board and each student posts a response. However, these student posts are really not interactions at all, but merely question and answer sessions. Using an SNS that is user centered compared to CMS, it has the potential to increase student engagement. SNSs can actively encourage online community building, extending learning beyond the boundaries of the classroom. Bai (2003), indicated that social presence leads to reduced feelings of loneliness and impassiveness while simultaneously encouraging student interaction and participation in online courses. 2.6 Conceptual Framework Ease of use Student performance SNS usage Usefulness Moderating Variable Dependent Variable Independent Variables Figure 1: Conceptual Framework Figure 1 shows the relationship on the effect of using the social networking sites (SNS) towards students performance. This conceptual framework is developed by the researcher herself based on the literature review done and gathered from previous studies. The figure shows that there are two factors that lead to the usage of the SNS which are the ease of use of the SNS itself and the usefulness the SNS bring to the SNS users. The first factor which is ease of use refers to several elements such as in them of the time response of the SNS, the simple rules and regulation apply and may be because of the attractive and simple design of the SNS itself. While, the usefulness can be defined as the benefits or advantages the users obtain in using the SNS. In this study it focuses more in the usefulness of SNS in the students performance. Besides that, it shows the relationship between the usage of the SNS with the students performance. The study wants to identify and determine whether there is any significant relationship on the usage of the SNS in the students performance. 2.7 Conclusion This literature review provides the brief ideas and information regarding the issues on whether there is any relationship between the usages of the SNS towards students performance. It provides findings done by the previous researchers on the similar topic and all the supports has been included and further revise in this chapter 2. The next chapter will discuss on the methodology that will be used in the study. The detailed information regarding the methodology will be further discussed in the Chapter 3.

Wife vs. Daughter in Only Daughter by Sandra Cisneros and Why I Want a

What is a Wife? What is a Daughter? Are they the same, or are they different? A wife supports a husband, but a daughter could also have the same position could she not? A daughter could marry and become a wife, and still be a daughter. Than again, a wife could be an only child, and a wife could have no father. A wife compares to a daughter in many ways, and differs in many different ways as well. All in all, it?s quite possible that all women, go through at least one of these titles, at one point in there lives. In the short story ?Why I want a wife? by Judy Brady, she goes into detail what being a wife is like. The tedious details of day to day activities, the strain and hard work of being a ?good wife?, and the unappreciated service a wife must perform to be accepted by her husband. This story made me feel like, the author felt a little surprised of what she actually does from day to day being a wife, perhaps a little bit bitter toward those who do not notice her action. That brings me to another short story, ?Only Daughter? by Sandra Cisneros. This story is of a Dau...

Abortion :: essays research papers

Abortion No one has the right to choose what is wrong–Abraham Lincoln. Abortion is one of the most highly debated issues of our time. Several questions arise from the midst of this multi-faceted jumble of opinions, morals, and strongly held values. When does the fetus become a person, as opposed to a mass of tissue? Is abortion acceptable in some circumstances while not in others? These are points I will strive to clarify, and share my thoughts and beliefs on. My beliefs, briefly outlined, are as follows: a baby is a baby at the time of conception. It has all the rights of a child outside of the womb-including the right to live. Why do I believe that an unborn baby is a person? In the split second that sperm and egg unite to create a zygote, genetic codes are formed. These codes dictate a person’s height, hair colour, eye colour, and even many personality traits. The blueprint for a human that will eventually be made up of over 64 trillion cells, all contained in a package no bigger than the point of a pin. Unborn babies are de-humanized by pro-choice activists. They use euphemisms to make the brutal dismemberment and killing of a human baby into â€Å"termination of fetus.† Try to find a pro-choice pamphlet that uses the word baby or person to describe what is being â€Å"removed.† The baby is often described as being merely tissue. Let’s examine the reality of saying that a fetus is not alive. Sex can be determined in a preborn 3-7 days after fertilization. (Dr Jerome Lejeune M.D.) The human heart beats at 21 days. (Dr. William Liley, Foetologist) At 8 weeks a preborn is sensitive to touch and pain. (Human Development Resource Council Inc., 1996) Brain waves have been recorded in as early as 37 days. (Dr. William Liley, Foetologist) Fingerprints are detectable in preborns at 10 weeks. (Human Development Resource Council Inc., 1996) It has been found that fetal heart rate slows when the mother is speaking, suggesting that the fetus not only hears and recognizes the sound, but is calmed by it. (Psychology Today, Sept- Oct.,1998) Now, I’m not sure what your definition of life is. But to me, something with a beating heart, that can think, feel pain, and hear sounds like a living creature to me. A common issue brought up by the pro-choice movement is that abortion is a â€Å"safe alternative† solution to pregnancies that are a product of rape, incest, or those that may threated a mother’s life.

Dalai Lama :: Essays Papers

Dalai Lama His Holiness, the XIVth Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso was born in a small village called Takster in northeastern Tibet. Born to a peasant family, His Holiness was recognized at the age of two, in accordance with Tibetan tradition, as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama. His enthronement ceremony took place on February 22, 1940 in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The Dalai Lamas are the manifestations of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who chose to reincarnate to serve the people. Dalai Lama means Ocean of Wisdom. Tibetans normally refer to His Holiness as Yeshin Norbu, the Wish-fulfilling Gem, or simply, Kundun, meaning The Presence. Born Lhamo Dhondrub, he was, as Dalai Lama, renemaed Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso - Holy Lord, Gentle Glory, Compassionate, Defender of the Faith, Ocean of Wisdom. He began his education at the age of six and completed the Geshe Lharampa Degree (Doctorate of Buddhist Philosophy) when he was 25. At 24, he took the preliminary examination at each of the three monastic universities: Drepung, Sera and Ganden. The final examination was held in the Jokhang, Lhasa, during the annual Monlam Festival of Prayer, held in the first month of every year. In the morning he was examined by 30 scholars on logic. In the afternoon, he debated with 15 scholars on the subject of the Middle Path, and in the evening, 35 scholars tested his knowledge of the canon of monastic discipline and the study of metaphysics. His Holiness passed the examinations with honors, conducted before a vast audience of monk scholars. In 1950, at age 16, His Holiness was called upon to assume full political power as head of State and Government when Tibet was threatened by the might of China. In 1954 he went to Peking to talk with Mao Tse-Tung and other Chinese leaders, including Chou En-Lai and Deng Xiaoping. In 1956, while visiting India to attend the 2500th Buddha Jayanti, he had a series of meetings with Prime Minister Nehru and Premier Chou about deteriorating conditions in Tibet. In 1959 he was forced into exile in India after the Chinese military occupation of Tibet. Since 1960 he has resided in Dharamsala, aptly known as "Little Lhasa", the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. In the early years of exile, His Holiness appealed to the United Nations on the question of Tibet, resulting in three resolutions adopted by the General Assembly in 1959, 1961 and 1965.

Works of Art or Literature Profoundly Reveal Their Creator’s Psychology

Analysis†Works of art or literature profoundly reveal their creator's psychology† Marle BonaparteIn this chapter, the detailed analysis would focus on the aspect on different attitudes adopted by Edgar Allan Poe to portray his conception of death in selected poems. Poe himself sees death in various experiences and his transformation of death from one poem to another is noteworthy. The bedrock of analysis would be The Raven, Annabel Lee, Lenore, The City in the Sea, Eldorado, and The Conqueror Worm. Although the theme in these poems is the same, the attitudes and the nature of description are entirely different in all of them. The chapter is allocated to three subtitles, man's attitude towards death of the beloved, man's description of death and the third corresponds to the reasons behind these attitudes adopted based on Poe's biography.3.1 Man's attitude towards the death of the beloved:3.1.1 The RavenThe poem follows an unnamed narrator who is also a lamenting lover of his dead beloved Lenore. Lenore is thought to be the deceased wife of Poe and holds the central element in this poem. The narrative poem begins on a dreary night of December, where the lover is seen as tired and weak. Remembering his dead beloved he experiences ennui and tries to overcome this by diverting his attention to an old book. As the narrator is seen feeling at unease and weak, he hears a tapping on his chamber door. He consoles himself that a visitor may have tapped the door to seek asylum and nothing else. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,— While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. â€Å"‘T is some visitor,† I muttered, â€Å"tapping at my chamber door;Only this and nothing more.† (The Raven 112)Since the beginning of the poem, reader can feel the ambience of death surrounding the narrator. The use of â€Å"I† is the poem indicates unnamed narrator being fearful and irritated as he describes the sound in rather negative term â€Å"rapping†. According to TheFreeDictionary, the word corresponds to a series of rapid audible blows in order to attract attention. This rapping sound generated which is described is making the narrator aware of his surroundings more and he begins to fear for himself. Narrator also uses â€Å"gentle† which portrays yet another descriptive aspect, the gentle tap made the narrator aware of his situation and was able to respond to it. The narrator also shows his irritated nature: â€Å"Tis some visitor,† I muttered, â€Å"tapping at my chamber door / Only this and nothing more.† Narrator now moves on to remembering his lost beloved Lenore. He can be evidently seen to showcase his unconscious through a moment of flashback, a specific time that he is reliving again in that chamber. The use of words â€Å"dying embers† showcases a trigger generated in the narrator about his lost Lenore. It is said that â€Å"we unconsciously tend to run away from our distressing thoughts and painful experiences by believing and convincing ourselves to forget them.† These repressed thoughts and experiences remain in our unconscious in a dormant phase, and as soon as similar situation occurs, these recurring experiences surfaces. The past has surfaced again when the narrator moves into flashback, feeling sorrow for having lost his beloved forever:Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak DecemberAnd each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore,For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore: Nameless here for evermore. (The Raven 112-113)Here, narrator uses â€Å"bleak December† to signify cold, and consequently death. The very first line creates a conception of death as cold and unwavering in the reader's eyes. Nothing lives in the winter, for those who live goes into hibernation till the winter surpasses. December is the month of winter. This symbolizes death as cold, unforgiving and larger in magnitude. The cold of winter wipes out the warmth effortlessly as the narrator explains it as â€Å"dying ember†. This dying ember generated the flashback of his beloved and this in turn instils the narrator to think about his beloved's death. He calls her the â€Å"fair maiden† whom the angels took away, leaving narrator sorrowful and mournful in attribute. To surpass his sorrow, he sought refuge in books: â€Å"Eagerly I wished the morrow; —-vainly I had sought to borrow / From my books surcease of sorrow—-sorrow for the lost Lenore. Now narrator moves to open the door, fearing, grieving, and contemplating that it might be Lenore that seeks entrance in his chamber. The depiction of this fear is uncanny as narrator shows his inner fear which enthralls in him terrible yet fantastic horrors that he has never felt before. This uncanny attitude towards death is evident of the nature of Poe. Poe regards death as an inevitable concept in this narrative poem. The horrors that the narrator faces are portrayed through the musical effect of silken purple curtain, sad, uncertain rustling of purple curtain, narrator is now terrified of this sound and reassures himself that it might be some visitor who seeks entrance at his chamber door. From the initial concept of death as an inevitable phenomena, the transformation has made death generating fear inside narrator. The narrator is now fearful of the ambience around him as it generates the flashback of his lost love. And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtainThrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating†Ã¢â‚¬ËœT is some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door,Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door:This it is and nothing more.† (The Raven 113) The narrator's state is been showcased as he tries to forgo his fear and establishes himself adamantly for the visitor. He converses with the person on the other side of the door. Narrator, completely unknown of the visitor, tries to communicate his thoughts by saying that he was nearly napping, and the visitor's tapping was so distinct and clear that he was able to hear it, therefore, asks for their apology for he was napping and opens the door wide. However, the narrator meets nothing but darkness on the other side. Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,†Sir,† said I, â€Å"or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,That I scarce was sure I heard you†Ã¢â‚¬â€here I opened wide the door:— Darkness there and nothing more. (The Raven 113-114) The narrator now resonates with his fear again, wondering, fearing â€Å"dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before. In absolute fear, the only word that narrator could think of was of Lenore and as he speaks it, it reverberates back to him. This can also be subjected as his inner loneliness, the narrator, weak from his mourning of his beloved feels alone and forgotten, and as he hears the tapping, thinks of his lost love coming back to him. According to Freud, the fear of death dominates us more often than we know. This fear of death allowed the narrator to recollect his memories of Lenore and call her out when he opens the door. Later a loud tapping is again heard and when he checks again finds a stately Raven of saintly days of yore entering his chamber.it sought bust of Pallas just above his chamber door to settle on and gave no attention to the narrator. The Raven plays a crucial role in this poem. This Raven not only acts as a simple animal doing its bidding, but acts as a pivot to unleash the emotions narrator carries with him.Now the conception of death has yet again transformed. Death has now materialized in the form of The Raven. The raven is first and foremost, considered a bird of evil. This bird has long since been associated with different mythologies. In Norse mythology, for instance, Raven signifies as a messenger. Odin's two ravens, Hugin and Munin, Thought and Memory; flew across the world to collect news of the day and report back to Odin. It is also associated to be a harbinger of death and doom, with strong associations with storms and floods. Narrator now fascinated and excited of the entrance of the Raven â€Å"ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling† (Raven 43) asks the creature of its name. The raven surprises the speaker by saying â€Å"Nevermore†. Narrator curious to know more starts inquiring the Raven of its whereabouts. He thinks for a minute as to what can he ask from the bird when his mind starts to wander back to his lost Lenore. The speaker feels the air becoming dense around him and scented with perfume from some heavenly being Seraphim. According to Christian angelology, Seraphim mean â€Å"burning ones† or in other words, nobles. They are also known as â€Å"ones of love†. Here the narrator believes Raven to be a messenger, a prophet which could predict if he could meet his beloved Lenore in Heaven to which he replies â€Å"Nevermore†. A constant to and fro is showcased between the narrator and the Raven. By saying nevermore, the Raven suggests that the narrator would never be able to let go of his beloved's memories and they would haunt him till the end of times. Narrator, enraged, calls the raven â€Å"thing of evil†, â€Å"devil†, and commands the devil to return to the â€Å"Night's Plutonian shore†. Pluto is the god of the underworld; Hades. It is presumed that the Raven has the knowledge of the dead and therefore its response â€Å"Nevermore† is deemed relevant. Through this, narrator realizes that death is the ultimate end to everything and he will never meet with his beloved again. This makes him even more melancholic and depressed and commands the raven to leave his chamber, Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door / Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!†And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sittingOn the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floorShall be lifted—nevermore!These lines clearly indicate the perception of narrator. Despite the constant name calling and ordering the Raven to leave his chambers, the creature doesn't move. This can be linked back to Death itself. No matter how one individual tries to make it go away, the course of nature undertaken by death would never shift from its original path. The Raven does not move as is â€Å"still sitting on the bust of Pallas just above my chamber door†. The repetition of the word â€Å"Nevermore† adds to the mood of the poem. Nevermore is a negative word, which means never again, which evokes emotions of helplessness and despair, sadness and melancholy; all the attributes concerning the death of someone. In this poem, this word evokes emotion concerning the death of a beloved.According to Freud's theory on death, the speaker attitude towards the death of his beloved is unconsciously portrayed. The speaker travels in flashbacks, remembering the past encounters with his love and re living those emotions unconsciously. He could not sever his dependence from his lover's memories. Even if he tries to keep himself occupied with reading old volumes of books, he still somehow, retracts back to her memory that is infused in his unconscious forever. As a result, his attitude towards the raven and his answers are the manifestation of his unconscious mind's needs. â€Å"Unconscious motivations and needs have a role in determining our behavior†.