Education for the Digital Age

Characteristics of a competent teacher

2011-04-25T04:23:00.000-07:00

Education, today, is concerned with many issues. Some of them regard the curriculum; what should and should not be included in it, others whether the beliefs of various ideologies and philosophies should be applied to educational process or not while, others try to decide if the state or the parents should have a main role in the students’ education. And there are the advocates and defenders of these issues who try to convince that their educational ideologies should be applied to the educational processes and, those who oppose to them. But there is an issue for which it can be said that no one can oppose to. This issue refers to the teachers’ competency. Because, apart from those issues mentioned above and some others, the persons who influence and affect the educational process are mainly the teachers and hence, they should be competent in order to achieve the expected results and outcomes that concern the effective education of children. But what is meant by saying a teacher needs to be competent? The current essay will try to give an answer to this question and accordingly, it will define and describe four basic characteristics of the competent teacher.

To begin with, a basic characteristic of a competent teacher constitutes the ability to develop and promote consciousness to students. If a teacher possesses this characteristic, consequently he/she possesses some others too. What is meant by this, is that a teacher who is competent since, he/she develops and promotes consciousness to students he/she accordingly, has also the ability to promote and develop dialogue, critical thinking, and communication to students. Because, a basic presupposition for consciousness to be developed constitutes the development of dialogue and critical thinking, as well as the development of communication. A competent teacher is one who abandons the educational “chain” of depositing, receiving, memorizing and repeating knowledge on the students’ behalf. On the contrary, a competent teacher promotes consciousness to students and helps them become conscious beings who adopt a concept of the consciousness upon the world (Cahn, 1997). Additionally, a competent teacher encourages students to reflect on social reality and empowers them to transform the existing conditions that shape their lives (Gutek, 2004). Moreover, a competent teacher is one who engages students in dialogue and manages through dialogue to achieve genuine learning. Because when students and the teacher are engaged in a shared critical dialogue, they can mutually create and construct knowledge instead of passively transmitting it since, they can share their knowledge and experiences, reflect upon them and finally make a critical evaluation of them regarding the way they, themselves, have obtained that knowledge and those experiences (Gutek, 2004).

“Paulo [Freire] claims it is dialogue that helps to move us from our egocentric and sociocentric positions. In dialogue we learn something about worldviews and values different from our own. We are moved out of our own frame of reference into a different one or, perhaps, a larger one of which ours is now just a part” (Noddings, 2007, p.102).In accordance with this, it is necessary to have in mind that teachers, too, can learn a lot from their students since, they do not know everything. Hence, it is important to be engaged in such kind of dialogues that examine students’ life experiences and especially those of the students who are or were marginalized, to discuss and find out the feelings and emotions they have or had when they felt rejection or suffered from such marginalization (Gutek, 2004). Moreover, it can be declared that through such kind of dialogues no one teaches another but rather, teachers and students teach each other, and they become responsible as a group and as a team that is based on dialogue and that accordingly, helps all of them to grow (Cahn, 1997). And as Freire noted, it is by this way, by engaging teachers and students in mutual learning, that true consciousness can be constructed and therefore, true and genuine education can be achieved (Gutek, 2004).
Going further, a competent teacher develops and promotes consciousness to students not only through their engagement in dialogues but also through critical thinking and communication. The concepts of dialogue, critical thinking, and the concept of communication are concepts related to each other and which together presuppose the development of consciousness to students. First of all, the competent teacher, as Freire supported, must come to know reality critically, needs to have a critical attitude towards reality and hence, needs to approach his/her teaching with a realistic awareness of those conditions and factors that restrain the potentialities of human freedom (Gutek, 2004). But critical thinking concerns the students, also. The competent teacher is not one who thinks for his/her students or imposes his/her thought on them but rather, is one who stimulates students’ critical thinking and makes use of the dialogue in order to help students become critical thinkers and co-investigators and hence, to abandon the role of the docile passive listeners (Cahn, 1997). Because teachers, apart from engaging students in heuristic and algorithmic processes they should also engage them into the logic of good reasons, of judgment and therefore, into the logic of critical thinking (Lipman, 2007).

Apart from these, a teacher can be characterized as competent only if he/she abandons and does not follow the notion of him/her being the one who possesses control over his/her students. Instead, he/she is competent when he/she makes reconciliation with the students and hence, resolves the teacher-student contradiction. By this way, the competent teacher transforms his/her and the students’ role, makes them both simultaneously teachers and students, and makes it possible for them both, to become the subjects of the educational process (Gutek, 2004). Moreover, when a competent teacher manages to resolve the teacher-student contradiction, he/she is therefore, a competent teacher who also allows, offers and promotes freedom to the students to practice it since, through the resolution of this contradiction and through the use of dialogue, new terms arise, and these are the terms of teacher-student with students-teachers, that substitute the existing terms of teacher-of-the students and students-of- the teacher (Cahn, 1997).
Except for these, a competent teacher is one who conducts education morally and thereby, tries to induce a moral sense in the students (Cahn, 1997). And in order to achieve this, a competent teacher should therefore, teach students the importance of moral values such as honesty, self-discipline, responsibility, fairness, respect, integrity, and courage.

A competent teacher is one who promotes cultural transmission and perpetuates civilizations by passing on as inheritage essential basic skills and subjects from one generation to the next (Gutek, 2004). Because it is necessary and crucial for the students to know about the culture and the world they live in, about cultures that existed before them while, it is also necessary for them to know about important and historical persons who made great discoveries or contributed in a major degree to the shaping of society. Additionally, it is necessary for teachers to present to the students an effective selection of the world they live in and, to work in cooperation with them in order to help them attain a competence in their own world of experience, in the world they live in (Noddings, 2007).

Summing up, a competent teacher is one who develops and promotes consciousness to students through the use of dialogue, critical thinking and through communication; resolves the teacher-student contradiction; develops a moral sense in students; and promotes cultural transmission. It can be said, that the first two characteristics and their presuppositions, constitute a theory of education and particularly, follow and adhere to the features and beliefs of a Liberation pedagogy as well as to the features and beliefs of a problem-posing education while, the last two characteristics adhere to the beliefs of the theory of Essentialism. These characteristics, apart from others, are basic ones and a teacher should attain them if he/she is going to be characterized as a competent one. Therefore, a teacher who is competent enough to act as an educator who follows and adheres to these characteristics, can be a successful one and can achieve the best education for students. Accordingly, schools, the curriculum and the students who are cooperating and working with competent teachers who attain and adhere to the characteristics that were defined and described previously, can improve the educational process and they can deal more effectively with all the educational issues relating to and impacting educational practice.

References
Cahn, S. (1997) Classic and contemporary readings in the philosophy of education.
New York: McGraw Hill.

Gutek. G.L. (2004) Philosophical and ideological voices in education. Boston:
Pearson Education.

Lipman, M. (2007) Education for Critical Thinking .In: Curren, R. (Ed.). Philosophy
of Education: An anthology. (pp.427-434). Malden, MA: Blackwell
Publishing.

Noddings, N. (2007). Philosophy of education (2nd ed). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Noddings, N. (2007) The One-Caring as Teacher .In: Curren, R. (Ed.). Philosophy of
Education: An anthology. (pp.372-376). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

The kind of cultural identity that public schools should promote

2011-04-25T04:21:00.000-07:00

If we take a look at and make a search of the educational issues involving and impacting educational practice hundreds of years ago and those impacting the present, we will find a major common issue: What kind of cultural identity should public schools promote. This issue arose in the past, exists at the present including a larger number of related ideologies and philosophies and perhaps, it will still exist in the future. But looking at the present, and seeing the radical innovations and technological advances made in all sectors such as, medicine, industry, and business, it is a following consequent that this kind of changes and others will influence the sector of education too. Therefore, schools, and particularly public schools, must follow a reformed and renewed kind of education that need to provide their students with. Such kind of education adheres to and is based on five main features: (1) social change and intelligence; (2) freedom; (3) collaborative learning; (4) promotion of cultural continuity; and (5) traditional moral values. Next, follows a reflection on the kind of cultural identity that follows and adheres to these features and, that public schools should promote.
To begin with, public schools must promote a cultural identity that is open to social change. If this is achieved then, many positive effects can arise and improve students’ education. Cultural identity reflects culture and since, culture is influenced and based on occurred social changes, it is then a following consequent that public schools should be open to social change. Because, apart from their academic functions as academic institutions that provide the learning of basic skills and subjects, they should apply another function, more fluid, flexible and responsive to social change and problems and therefore, to become multifunctional and multipurpose institutions that create and provide a climate of multiculturalism (Gutek, 2004). This can be achieved, as Gutek supported, if public schools substitute racial segregation to racial integration, develop educational programs concerning major current social issues such as safe sex, drug and alcohol abuse, AIDS and also, if they provide for vocational preparation, health care, counselling and other social needs. The effective application of such kind of functions can produce great social, economic, and educational benefits to students and therefore, can strengthen their cultural identity.

Relative to social change is human and social intelligence. And this is so, because human and social intelligence enables individuals not only to adjust to social change but also to direct it in order to achieve as many social and economic benefits they can (Gutek, 2004). Therefore, it is the school’s goal through the education it provides to students, to develop, exercise and promote such kind of intelligence. And particularly, as Gutek noted, it must be included in the teachers’ role to encourage the development of social intelligence to students and this, can be achieved if they apply to their teaching methods open discussions and permission to share, question and doubt ideas.

Going further, a feature of the kind of cultural identity that public schools should definitely adhere to and promote, is freedom. Freedom of thought, freedom of expression and, freedom from religious controls. Because no cultural identity that an individual “owns” can be called even an identity if the individual has no freedom to do anything. The components involved in the educational process, meaning schools, teachers, students and the curriculum, should be places and sources of freedom of thought, of expression and of action. Particularly, teachers and students must be free to teach and learn respectively, without having their freedom limited by arbitrary controls while, the curriculum of public schools must be open to new ideas, subjects and methods of inquiry that will enable students to have the freedom to pose questions, challenge, doubt, make judgments and decisions, developing by this way important and necessary critical thinking skills (Gutek, 2004). Additionally, the students’ freedom to making choices in the future can be assured if they are taught mutual respect and, as Gutmann noted, students must be provided with those opportunities that will enable them to choose among good lives in the future (Cahn, 1997).

But freedom includes another issue relative to religion, which if applied to the educational process it can prevent the kind of freedom mentioned above. Since, different religions exist in today’s world and since, at schools attend children believing in various religions it is therefore, better that public schools be separated from church and hence, from religious dogmas. Because religious dogmas can restrain freedom of inquiry, it is necessary that public schools be free from religious controls and this can be achieved if religious instruction, observances, prayers and other religious issues are excluded from the educational processes in public schools (Gutek, 2004).

A necessary component of the kind of cultural identity that public schools should promote is collaborative or as Dewey called it associative learning, through which students can become responsible, a characteristic necessary for living in a democratic society. What is meant by collaborative learning is that students can cooperate and work together, share their own needs, interests, aspirations and knowledge in order to jointly solve a problem or face an existing situation. By this way, they not only give solution to the particular problem but they also learn how to work as responsible individuals who learn by doing, and as members of a particular group while, this group membership of them is flexible and can change based on their interests (Gutek, 2004).

Public schools should promote a kind of cultural identity that follows and is based on, as Bentham defined it, the principle of utility. This principle assumes that curriculum and instruction can be reformed by the incorporation of new areas of knowledge, of new subjects and skills and, the removal of obsolete ones, making by this way schools more relevant and efficient, producing better effects to students as well as to teachers and, making the curriculum and methods of instruction more relevant to socioeconomic changes that reflect technological innovations, advances and scientific discoveries (Gutek, 2004). In addition to these, as Gutek stated, basic skills such as reading, writing, and calculating can remain as they are but can be taught with innovative methods while, specific subjects such as, history, science, language, literature and mathematics can be reformed and revised by incorporating new developments and insights.

The above reflections on the kind of cultural identity that public schools should promote, presuppose some changes to be done from those holding the reins of the educational process, meaning schools, teachers, students and the curriculum. But there are also some already existing features that must be part of the cultural identity that public schools should promote. Because as with every sector, whether that is industry, medicine or business, similarly with education, you cannot produce changes or improvements without the existence of some underpinnings. You must build and make changes and improvements on those existing underpinnings.
Particularly, through the educational process, public schools can achieve various changes as long as those changes are linked to and reinforce the cultural heritage. It is unconceivable for students not to know and not to be informed about what existed before them, not to know about their cultural heritage. Hence, if public schools want to perform their function better, they must transmit this heritage (traditions, skills, knowledge and, values) to students and make sure that they promote cultural continuity through the teaching of specific subjects such as, language, history, literature, and the arts (Gutek, 2004). But students must know not only the traditions of their own subculture but also the traditions of other subcultures in order that they are given, by this way, the opportunity to understand, appreciate and, love what is good in those traditions (Appiah, 2007). This constitutes also a good way for providing students with a multicultural education.

In addition to these, the kind of cultural identity that public schools should promote must emphasize traditional moral values such as, honesty, fairness, self-discipline, personal responsibility, love of country, liberty and equality. Apart from basic skills and knowledge such as, reading, writing and history, students as Jefferson supported, must be educated also in their rights, interests, and duties as men and citizens and therefore, the goal of education should be to improve not only one’s faculties but also one’s morals (Gutek, 2004).
Democracy’s survival depends upon our transmitting to each new generation the political vision of liberty and equality that unites us as Americans…Such values are neither revealed truths nor natural habits. There is no evidence that we are born with them. Devotion to human dignity and freedom, to equal rights, to social and economic justice, to the rule of law, to civility and truth, to tolerance of diversity, to mutual assistance, to personal and civic responsibility, to self-restraint and self-respect-all these must be taught and learned (Galston, 1998, p.472).

Furthermore, if schools want to teach morality, and help students develop good moral and civic character and therefore, transmit to them a moral foundation, they must expose students to such kind of character and, this can be best achieved if the main instruments of the educational process embody sound convictions. “As Oxford’s Mary Warnock has written. “You cannot teach morality without being committed to morality yourself, and you cannot be committed to morality yourself without holding that some things are right and others wrong”” (Gutek, 2004, p.211). Additionally, if character education is going to be provided to students, it must be depended on the identification and description of exemplars (Noddings, 2006). Therefore, students must have some real persons whose behavior must “watch” in order that they identify, consider and hence, attain by themselves a particular moral value. And the best real persons that can be “offered” as exemplars to students are their teachers, principals and, parents.

In conclusion, the kind of cultural identity that public schools should promote and, that was defined and reflected previously, it can be said is mostly a liberal one, though it adheres some features of Conservatism. Public schools must make reforms but preserve some procedures, processes, features and, underpinnings of existing educational practice. Therefore, they must build on those underpinnings, promote, and provide by this way the best, most suitable and appropriate kind of cultural identity to their students that will accordingly, provide them with the best education as possible.

References
Appiah, K.A (2007) Culture, Subculture, Multiculturalism: Educational Options. In:
Curren, R. (Ed.). Philosophy of Education: An anthology. (pp.255-265). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Cahn, S. (1997) Classic and contemporary readings in the philosophy of education.
New York: McGraw Hill.

Galston, W. (1998) Civic Education in the Liberal State. In: Rorty, A. (Ed.).
Philosophers on education: New historical perspectives (pp.470-480). New York: Routledge.

Gutek. G.L. (2004) Philosophical and ideological voices in education. Boston:
Pearson Education.

Noddings, N. (2006). Philosophy of education (2nd ed). Boulder, CO: Westview
Press.

My own educational philosophy statement-What is real, true, good, beautiful, and logical

2011-04-25T04:18:00.000-07:00

Education is not a mere piling up of more and more pieces of information. Rather, it is a process of deciding for ourselves what we believe. It is a process of autonomously deciding to understand what is and what is not real, true, good, beautiful, and logical. When a person realizes and understands the meaning of these terms, he or she will be at the right path that can lead him or her if not to the attainment of perfection to the ultimate development of his or her spirit or mind. The task of answering to the question of what is real, true, good, beautiful, and logical is not an easy one. But when an answer is been given many other issues and answers can be derived from this, that can give an explanation and an answer to other important life questions.

A deeper understanding of what is real can be better made if it is analyzed and answered in relation to the question of what is true. Real is a spiritual source from which all things originate and, due to the power of which all things exist (Gutek, 2004). What is real is universal, unchanging and eternally true and, is rooted in the universe’s underlying spirituality and intellectuality while, it is not based on time, place, environment, or situation (Gutek, 2004). Accordingly, as Plato noted, truth cannot be found in the world of matter because such a world is not permanent rather, it is changing (Ozmon and Craver, 2007)

Reality is an extension of a highly abstract universal idea, principle or concept, such as Plato’s form of the Good, Hegel’s Absolute or Emerson’s Macrocosm while, the truth that is present within us must be brought to consciousness, to our spiritual and mental surface through a process of knowing (Gutek, 2004).

In respect of the educational area, students must try and search inside themselves in order to find out what is true or i.e. the truth that is present to them. And here is where the teachers’ role lays its importance. Teachers must be the source from which students can derive motives in order to seek for truth. Teachers must provide students with an environment clear of false images created by consumerism and disinformation that characterize the image of society (Gutek, 2004). But in order for the teachers’ goal to be successfully achieved, students must at first be awakened from their home background about what is true. Parents must prepare their children before entering the school world and be “submitted” to the teachers’ hands, to take the first steps toward truth. Therefore, the true student having the teacher as a guide will be in a position ready to begin a spiritual and intellectual journey in order to find out not only what is real and true but also what is good and beautiful (Gutek, 2004).

As previously mentioned, since what is real and true is spiritual and nonmaterial it consequently follows, that true education must relate to ideas instead to matter. Based only on this assumption it will be possible through the contemplation of ideas for God to be reached, since God is a pure idea. And as Augustine pointed out, the search for truth is at the same time a search for God and respectively, a true education leads a person to God (Ozmon and Craver, 2007). Moreover, pure ideas consist the major components leading a person to the true knowledge. Particularly, true knowledge can be acquired through the recall of the ideas that are latently present in the human mind (Gutek, 2004). Apart from the recall of ideas, true knowledge can be achieved through reasoning and specifically, through the surpass of reason through faith. And as Augustine noted, it is only through faith that a person can achieve the acquisition of true ideas and true knowledge (Ozmon and Craver, 2007).

What is true must undoubtedly be characterized by lasting moral values. The search for truth requires personal discipline and a steady and loyal character (Ozmon and Craver, 2007). One can suppress discussion about moral values, but one cannot suppress the development of values and the formation of morals (Carter, 1984). The formation of morals it is of the basic components which lead to the self-discovery of truth. Hence, moral education goes on all over the school building-in the classrooms, in assemblies, in the gym. It strengthens the teacher-student relationship. Therefore, the school cannot but be a force for growth and for good in the moral life of the student and consequently, moral education is an inevitable role of the schools while for the teachers themselves, it comes with the territory (Carter, 1984). In addition to these, character development must also aim at motivating students to improve their thinking abilities in the deepest possible way. Students must direct their thinking toward more universal concepts than those employed in the day-to-day living matters, reaching by this way the ideal goal of wisdom and truth and therefore, the foremost goal of a good education (Ozmon and Craver, 2007).

From the above assumptions and the answer given to what is real and true, it can be said that the values of reality and truth are universal, permanent, unchanging and timeless. Consequently, they are not relative to particular cultures at given times or arise from personal and subjective choices as the Pragmatists’ and Existentialists’ supporters state respectively.

Going further, an also important issue involved with the particular educational philosophy that is currently being pointed out, is the one that answers the question of what is good. Plato, for example, defended the thesis that good is all those existing things that are imperfect copies of eternal, unchanging, immaterial archetypes, forms, or ideas (Gutek, 2004). What is good is evidently something complete. When humans manage to fulfil all the necessary presuppositions which relate to a situation they consequently, manage to bring the particular “situation” to a complete end and therefore, manage to attain good. Specifically, only when the end of something is completed, the chief good is achieved since, there are evidently more than one ends, some of which are not completed and from which humans make a choice of (Cahn, 1997). In accordance with these, a separation must be made between actions and making, because while making has an end other than itself, action cannot since for good action itself is its end (Cahn, 1997). But as Plato noted when the essential form of Good is perceived there comes beauty and specifically, in the visible world it gives birth to light and its master while in the intellectual world spreads out in the ultimate values of truth and reason (Gutek, 2004).

When humans act and do the good they can be characterized as good. Accordingly, when humans attain the excellences of the two parts of the soul, the one which has a rational principle in itself and, the other not having a rational principle in itself but is able to obey such a principle, they do the good and consequently, they can be called good (Cahn, 1997).

In respect of the education process, the good is when students are involved in a procedure of thinking about and realizing not only the purposes of life but also the ways through which they can become active participants in such kind of purposes (Ozmon and Craver, 2007). By this way, as Royce pointed out, students can become a part of the universal design and hence, can achieve the highest good since they are in a position of successfully developing a sense of loyalty to moral principles as well as to causes (Ozmon and Craver, 2007).

What is good consequently, relates to the good life. Because no one who has attained the good can act oppose it to it and therefore, not living a good life. When humans manage to realize what kinds of thing consist generally the good life then it can be said that they have practical wisdom, a “component” necessary for humans which, places them in a position to be able to deliberate well enough about what is good and expedient for them (Cahn, 1997). In addition to this, as Kant stated, humans are motivated and led to think and seek out the good only if they are been given the appropriate education, an education whose components, apart from others, include the great value of discipline (Ozmon and Craver, 2007).

The realization and attainment of the good is a consequent of the adherence to a good system of nurture, of the education’s creation of good natures which while receiving the help and guidance of a good education, grow even better than they once were (Cahn, 1997).

Going further, if we are in a position to characterize something as real, true, and good the consequently, we can not do otherwise but conclude that this something is also beautiful. It is impossible for something to be real, true, and good and not at the same time be beautiful. It can be added though that beautiful includes all those virtues of the soul which lead a person to act with wisdom, justice and honesty. The soul of the person is characterized by those habits that are healthy, beautiful and good and which constitute the significant value of virtue (Cahn, 1997).

What is real, true, good and consequently, beautiful is now and always has been real, true, good and beautiful and is not relative to changing times, situations and circumstances; rather, it is eternal, universal and unchanging (Gutek, 2004). The values of reality, truth, goodness, and beauty do not depend on anything but rather they are the same for all humans, regarding their colour, gender, ethnicity or social position. And this is an assumption contrasting to the one made by Dewey J., who supported the idea that values such as goodness, truth, and beauty are relative to particular circumstances, to people living at particular time and place, a notion he based on the idea that human experiences arise in concrete and particular situations (Gutek, 2004).

An also important issue is the one referring to logic. What is logical is apparently something that is specific which correlates with that which is general. A situation or something particular as a “unit” must said to obtain the trait of logic if only when compared to the whole in general is consistent with it. Hence, there is a strong and absolute relationship between the whole and the part which, in order to be called as a logical one must have its parts consistent with the whole (Gutek, 2004).

In respect of the educational field, logic constitutes a significant “component” and trait that needs to be flourished in students’ mind. Students must be in a position to think and act logically if they are going to obtain the ultimate values of reality, goodness, and beauty and if they are therefore going to be led to the self-discovery of truth and hence, achieve excellence and perfection. It is by this way that logic needs to be worked out in the education of children if we want to develop major, holistic ideas and concepts in the students’ mind (Gutek, 2004). Logic does not depend on the students’ choice as the supporters of Existentialism suppose, who state that logic is subject to choice and that students have the right to choose to be logical or illogical or be deductive, drawing their own conclusions (Gutek, 2004).

In conclusion, the above answer given to the question of what is real, true, good, beautiful, and logical describes an educational philosophy which, in a major degree applies and adheres the traits and points of view of the Idealistic educational philosophy. Education is about reality, truth, goodness, beauty, and logic which, in general are values being the same for everyone in everyplace on Earth (Gutek, 2004). And according to Plato since, truth is eternal and, perfect people in respect of the purposes of education, must aim at the acquisition of philosophical wisdom and the conception of true ideas (Ozmon and Craver, 2007). This comes to an opposition to Aristotle’s doctrine which supports that moral virtue, i.e. goodness of character is formed by habit and that one becomes good by doing good and additionally, wisdom is acquired by teaching and requires sophisticated intelligence (Cahn, 1997).

The terms real, true, good, beautiful, and logical are terms connected and related to each other, one leading to the other. The realization of these terms and therefore, the acquisition of reality, truth, goodness, beauty, and logic constitutes the right and appropriate path that can lead a person to the self-discovery of truth, to the attainment if not of perfection and excellence, to the major degree of achieving as much as a person can.

References

Cahn, S. (1997) Classic and contemporary readings in the philosophy of education. New York: McGraw Hill 0070096198

Carter, R.E. (1937) Dimensions of Moral Education. University of Toronto Press. Toronto Buffalo London

Gutek. G.L. (2004) Philosophical and ideological voices in education. Boston: Pearson Education 0205360181

Ozmon, H.A., & Craver, S.M. (2007). Philosophical foundations of education (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Multimedia and Learning

2011-03-01T09:37:00.000-08:00

Rapid changes in technology have made computers and multimedia an integral part of our personal and professional lives while also, in many schools, it is now commonplace to find students using multimedia computers as an integral part of the learning process (Sullivan, 2001). Computers are one of the basic instructional technologies used in education that have a variety of roles to play in the curriculum, ranging from tutors to student learning tools (Smaldino, Heinich, Molenda & Russel, 2008). Multimedia is the use of text, graphics, animation, pictures, video and sound to present information (Najjar, 1996). As Sullivan (2001) stated, multimedia simply means a variety of media together while on the computer, the media can be text, sound and still or moving pictures. Moreover, as Fenrich stated, “Multimedia is the exciting combination of computer hardware and software that allows you to integrate video, animation, audio, graphics, and text resources to develop effective presentations on an affordable desktop computer” (cemca.org, n.d, p.1). Multimedia instruction can simulate a real-life experience, such as decision-making on the job, thereby allowing the learner to progress through training by interacting with realistic situations (Sullivan, 2001).

The use of computers and multimedia in learning has both advantages and limitations. According to Smaldino et al. (2008), computers and multimedia provide the following main advantages: (a) individualization, since they allow students to control over the rate and sequence of their learning, giving them more control over the outcomes; (b) monitoring, since with computers, teachers can prepare individual lessons for all students and monitor their progress; (c) information management, since computers and multimedia can cover and manage all types of information such as text, graphics, audio, and video; (d) multisensory experiences, since they provide diverse learning experiences that can employ various instructional strategies; (e) learner participation, since computer and multimedia materials require students to engage in activities while they also help to maintain students’ attention; and (f) special needs, since they are effective with students with disabilities, at-risk students and students with diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Going further, multimedia use provides real-life situations that students face every day while they also allow students to learn by viewing, doing, or coaching and they also increase information retention (Hick, 1997). Moreover, multimedia allows students to control their learning pace. Specifically, multimedia instruction allows students to personally set the pace of learning compared to the traditional classroom instruction, and this is a more effective way to learn due to the fact that the student can move to new material when the student is ready (Najjar, 1996). In addition, students respond to information differently, and hence, teachers should use various formats and modes to teach the subject matter of a lesson (Zimmer, 2003). Furthermore, the fact that multimedia engage various learning modalities such as visual, auditory and kinaesthetic, appeals to various learner styles simultaneously (Necta.org, n.d). In general, “computers help children to be in control of their experience, to set their own pace, and to select the level of challenge with which they feel comfortable” (Wiki.answers.com, 2009, ¶11).

Apart from these, as supported by the cemca.org (n.d), with multimedia, learning can become more goal-oriented, more participatory and tailored to individual learning styles and can increase collaboration between teachers and students. Going further, computers can help teachers and students in maintaining information about their learning and in guiding instruction while also students can use the computer tools in order to gather information and to prepare materials that demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of that information (Smaldino et al. 2008). Moreover, the use of multimedia helps to better explain concepts and supports the learning experience with the use of senses other than just sight and this is something that also supports the dual coding theory that supports that learning is better when information is referentially processed through two channels (i.e. text and sound) than when information is processed through one channel and as a consequence, students can create more cognitive paths allowing quicker retrieval of information (Hick, 1997).

Another important advantage of the use of computers and multimedia in learning are the benefits that can provide to students with special needs. In particular, students with special needs can use alternative input and output devices in order to interact with computers and do things that they normally could not accomplish independently while they can also benefit from having access to a patient tutor that allows them to work at their own pace (Indianchild.com, n.d). In addition, as supported in Indianchild.com, what students with special needs achieve through the use of a computer enhances their self-esteem and provides them with a greater sense of control and engagement with the world.

On the other side of the coin, the use of computers and multimedia in learning has its limitations and disadvantages as well, some of which are next mentioned and discussed. According to Smaldino et al. (2008), the use of computers and multimedia in learning has the following main limitations: (a) copyright, since software and other digital information can be duplicated with ease and without permission; (b) high expectations, since students and teachers may have unrealistic expectations from computers and multimedia while also many view computers as magical and expect learning to happen with little or no effort; (c) complex, since more advanced programs may be difficult to use, especially for student production, because they require the ability to use complex skills; and (d) lack of structure, since students whose learning style requires more structure guidance may become frustrated while also, students may make poor decisions about how much information to explore. When multimedia and computers in general are used, there is no interaction between the teacher and the students and other students, and students are not able to clarify their doubts about a particular point and therefore, the use of computers is a sedentary activity that lacks the social aspect of learning and encourages passive learning (Yahoo Inc., 2009). Moreover, as Veermans and Tapola (2004) supported, the fact that students can control pace and delivery of information, which are general features of multimedia, seems to be beneficial only to high-ability students while lower-ability students are reported to have difficulties coping with the growing demand for student control.

Apart from these, “multimedia requires high-end computer systems. Sound, images, animation, and mostly video, constitute large amounts of data which slow down or may not even fit in a low-end computer” (cemca.org, n.d, p.3). In addition, teachers should be educating students about their legal and ethical responsibilities to respect copyrighted material (Provenzo, Brett & McCloskey, 2005). Undoubtedly, the use of computers and multimedia has advantages and limitations and disadvantages as well. Comparing the advantages with the limitations, it can be denoted that the advantages outweigh the limitations and disadvantages. Computers play an increasing role in our everyday lives, and children should be educated in their use in order to get prepared for their encounters with them in the workplace and elsewhere (Underwood, J. & Underwood, G., 1990). “As they master computers, children build positive attitudes toward technology that will pay dividends for the rest of their lives” (Indianchild.com, n.d, ¶14). With the use of computers and multimedia, children grow up computer literate and they will have that as a great advantage since computer literacy is becoming a huge and important qualification and hence, feeling comfortable with one will put them a step ahead (Wiki.answers.com, 2009). Computers can help achieve the important goals of education, promoting achievement in basic skills, growth in higher-level problem solving, positive attitudes toward learning and social development as well (Clements, 1985).

References

Cemca.org (n.d) Multimedia as an Educational Tool. Retrieved October 3, 2009, from http://www.cemca.org/EMHandbook/Section2.pdf

Clements, D.H. (1985) Computers in Early and Primary Education. New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall, INC., Englewood Cliffs

Hick. S. (1997) Benefits of Interactive Multimedia Courseware. Retrieved October 3, 2009, from http://http-server.carleton.ca/~shick/mypage/benifit.html

Indianchild.com (n.d) Computers-A Blessing or Curse? Advantages of Computers. Retrieved October 1, 2009, from http://www.indianchild.com/computers_blessing_or_curse.htm

Najjar, L.J. (1996) Multimedia Information and Learning. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 5(2). Retrieved October 2, 2009, from http://www.medvet.umontreal.ca/techno/eta6785/articles/multimedia_and_learning.pdf

Necta.org (n.d) Advantages of Multimedia. Retrieved October 4, 2009, from http://www.nectac.org/~wbtdemo/session_3/pages3/S3_Page6.html
Provenzo, E. F., Brett, A., & McCloskey, G. N (2005) Computers, curriculum, and
cultural change. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Smaldino, S., Heinich, R., Molenda, M. & Russel, J. (2008) Instructional technology
and media for learning. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Sullivan, R. (2001) Alternative Learning Methods: Computer-Assisted Learning. Retrieved October 1, 2009, from http://www.reproline.jhu.edu/english/6read/6issues/6jtn/v4/tn111lrngmthds.htm

Underwood, J.D.M. and Underwood, G. (1990) Computers and Learning. Helping
Children acquire thinking skills. United Kingdom: Basil Blackwell.

Veermans, M. & Tapola, A. (2004) Are Multimedia/Hypermedia programs Useful for Learning? Retrieved October 2, 2009, from http://www.xplora.org/ww/en/pub/insight/school_innovation/teaching_models/ernist_questions/multimedia_programs.htm

Wiki.answers.com (2009) What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of using Computers in Education? Retrieved October 3, 2009, from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_advantages_and_disadvantages_of_using_computers_in_education

Yahoo Inc. (2009) Advantages and Disadvantages of Computer in Education. Retrieved October 1, 2009, from http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080130033246AAMc6aN

Zimmer, J.E. (2003) Teaching Effectively with Multimedia. Retrieved October 4, 2009, from http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid=87

Instructional Strategies

2011-03-01T09:34:00.000-08:00

A fundamental aspect of teaching has been the way teachers arrange the classroom environment so students can interact and learn while also, the instructional strategies teachers use help shape learning environments and represent professional conceptions of learning and of the learner (Education Encyclopedia, n.d). With increased internationalization, growing knowledge-intensive work, and increasing use of information technology, schools are required to produce graduates who do not only possess relevant knowledge but also interpersonal relations and communication skills, ability to work in various contexts, and information literacy skills (Gravoso, Pasa, Labra, & Mori, 2008). Some instructional strategies consider students empty vessels to be filled under the firm direction of the teacher, other strategies regard them as active participants learning through inquiry and problem-solving, still others tell children they are social organisms learning through dialogue and interaction with others (Education Encyclopedia, n.d). Teaching methods can be defined as the methods in which a teacher delivers his or her subject matter to students, based on pre-determined instructional objectives, in order to promote learning in the students (Uwameiye & Ojikutu, 2008).

According to Smaldino, Heinich, Molenda and Russell (2008), teacher-centered instructional strategies are those directed specifically by the teacher who is the focus and who serves to direct the learning in very purposeful ways. Teacher-centered instruction is the traditional approach of teaching a lesson in front of a classroom and it involves planning for instruction, implementing the instructional plan, and evaluating students’ learning toward the instructional objectives (Para eLink, 2009b). Teacher-centered instructional approaches are more traditional and didactic, and students are passive recipients of information who acquire knowledge by listening to the teacher, by reading a textbook, or both (Uwameiye & Ojikutu, 2008). Moreover, teacher-centered instruction is useful for conveying new information and materials to small or large groups at one time and it literally means that the teacher is the person who is imparting knowledge or information to the student and the student is the receiver of this knowledge (Para eLink, 2009b). Examples of teacher-centered approaches include lecture, Socratic questioning, team-teaching, and demonstration (Uwameiye & Ojikutu, 2008). As Halperin stated, with the teacher-centered model, “students sit quietly, passively, receiving words of wisdom being professed by the lone instructor in front of the class” (Catalano, G.D. & Catalano, K., 1999, p.1).

As reported in Para eLink (2009b), three methods of teacher-centered instruction can be used: (a) direct teaching, which is a traditional way to provide instruction for the mastery of skills and which requires that the teacher understands the overall content as well as the appropriate order of knowledge and tasks required for students to learn and master the subjects they are studying; (b) assisted learning, that is based on the theory that students should be guided and directed by teachers toward attaining knowledge and learning principles in a subject matter without having to discover them on their own; and (c) reciprocal teaching, which is an instructional method focused on the comprehension of reading material and students are taught to comprehend reading material based on a model of analysis demonstrated by the teacher while also, this method is dependent upon developing an active dialogue between the teacher and the students to discuss points of clarification. According to Smaldino et al. (2008), student-centered instructional strategies are those oriented to meeting student needs and in which the teacher serves as a facilitator, offering guidance as students engage in learning activities and experiences that are directed by the students. Student-centered instruction emphasizes students’ efforts to learn by regulating the flow of knowledge constructed from available material while also student-centered instruction requires the teacher to exercise appropriate guidance to nurture students’ interests and academic growth according to their abilities (Para eLink, 2009a).

Student-centered strategies focus on the student directing the learning situation while also, the teacher still is responsible for planning and developing lessons that focus on the student at the center of the learning while also in general, the teacher’s role shifts to that of facilitating the learning and helping students to focus on achieving the intended outcomes (Smaldino et al., 2008). Student-centered approaches to instruction provide a learning environment that invites students to actively participate in, and help to shape, their own learning experiences (Uwameiye & Ojikutu, 2008). Moreover, student-centered approaches to teaching and learning stress the importance of students’ past experiences, exploring individual needs and interests, promoting active participation, stimulating higher-order thinking and encouraging life-long learning (Hirumi, 2002). Examples of student-centered approaches are discussion, debate, role-playing, discovery, inquiry, simulations, individualized and independent study (Uwameiye & Ojikutu, 2008). In student-centered learning, technologies should shift their role from being conveyors of information to a means for engaging students in thinking and specifically, technologies should be used to pose problems to students, provide information resources, as a social medium to support learning through collaboration and interaction (Gravoso et al., 2008). The most student-centered approach is a problem-based instruction in which students work actively and independently on problems that interest them and this requires an environment that is open and safe for asking questions, forming hypotheses, and sharing ideas while also, the teacher’s role is to pose problems, ask questions, facilitate investigation and dialogue, and provide support for learning (Education Encyclopedia, n.d).

As reported in Para eLink (2009a), the following three methods of student-centered instruction can be used: (a) inquiry learning, which is an instructional method that is student-centered, yet teachers generally maintain direction and control over how learning takes place while also, inquiry learning begins with the teacher presenting new materials to the students and students then develop and explore approaches to solutions by themselves; (b) constructivist approach, which focuses on a student’s performance and understanding rather than the measurement of skills and knowledge, while also this approach, asks students to construct new levels of understanding and in general, with this approach students build on prior knowledge to explore and construct new perspectives and meaning; and (c) situated learning, that relies on the students’ unique experience in the learning process and it emphasizes that the curriculum is centered on real-life situations while also, one underlying goal of situated-learning is to engage students in real, simulated, or conceptual situations.

Comparing teacher-centered and student-centered instructional strategies some differences are found to exist, some of which are next mentioned and discussed. In the teacher-centered instruction, knowledge primarily comes form the teacher who is the major source of information while on the other hand, in the student-centered instruction, knowledge is the combined efforts of the teacher and the student and specifically, under the guidance of the teacher, the students synthesize the gathered information using problem solving, critical thinking, and inquiry skills (Markusic, 2009).

In a student-centered approach, the student is at the center of attention while in the teacher-centered model, the teacher is the focus while also, active learning is more likely to occur in the student-centered model and passive learning is more likely to result in a teacher-centered model (Catalano, G.D. & Catalano, K., 1999). In the teacher-centered approach, teaching strategies are usually that of the lecture or exposition type and much emphasis is placed on the faster pace and greater bulk of knowledge transmitted from teacher to student but on the other hand, in the student-centered instruction, greater emphasis is given on the meaningfulness of knowledge and students acquire knowledge to address real-life issues and problems (Markusic, 2009).

Moreover, in the teacher-centered classroom, students receive knowledge passively, while in the student-centered classroom, the students are actively involved in seeking out knowledge (Markusic, 2009). As Gravoso et al. (2008) supported, the teacher-centered approach only promotes misconceptions and inert knowledge, a form of knowledge that can be recalled when prompted but cannot be applied in practical situations while on the other hand, the student-centered approach, building on students’ current knowledge and abilities, enhances the development of higher-order skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving, while also, this method enables students to acquire knowledge that transfers to unique and novel situations. Furthermore, the fundamental purpose of conducting assessment in a teacher-centered classroom is similar to that of the student-centered classroom and that is to increase the effectiveness of instruction in the classroom, however, the approaches to conducting assessments are different in these two paradigms (Markusic, 2009).

Apart from these, the tools used for assessment in the teacher-centered instruction, are those that clearly delineate the right answer from the other answers while on the contrary, in the student-centered classroom, the importance of right answers is overshadowed by the importance of creating better questions and thus, assessment tools vary to embrace the multiple facets of learning and besides paper tests, there will be portfolios, performance tests, and others (Markusic, 2009). In addition, student-centered instruction helps students take more responsibilities and initiative and requires them to use more creativity than teacher-centered instruction (Para eLink, 2009a). Moreover, student-centered methods have repeatedly been shown to be superior to the traditional teacher-centered approaches to instruction, a conclusion that applies whether the assessed outcome is short-term mastery, long-term retention, or depth of understanding of course material, acquisition of critical thinking or problem-solving skills, formation of positive attitudes toward the subject being taught, or level of confidence in knowledge or skills (Felder, n.d).

Each teacher has his or her own teaching philosophy and some teachers have eclectic teaching philosophies to enable them to choose the best features of major pedagogic systems of beliefs but whichever philosophy is supported by the teacher, it should respond to the needs of the students and today, when students are no longer viewed as tabula rasa, that teaching philosophy should be student-centered (Markusic, 2009). The emphasis of today’s instruction in the classroom is to shift teaching strategies, classroom discipline, and classroom assessments from the teacher-centered paradigm to the student-centered paradigm (Markusic, 2009). Shifting the center of attention of classroom activities from the teacher to the student metaphorically seems to be a significant paradigm shift in education (Catalano, G. D. & Catalano, K., 1999). But as Mdagana et al. stated: “the success in the use of the method depends on an intelligent analysis of the educational purpose, the pupils in the class, the curriculum content of the moment or the type of subject matter being taught” (Uwameiye & Ojikutu, 2008, ¶ 7).

References

Catalano, G. D. & Catalano, K. (1999) Transformation: From Teacher-Centered to Student-Centered Engineering Education. Retrieved September 12, 2009, from http://soa.asee.org/paper/jee/paper-view.cfm?pdf=595.pdf

Education Encyclopedia (n.d) Instructional Strategies. Retrieved September 12, 2009, from http://www.answers.com/topic/instructional-strategies

Felder, R. (n.d) Student-Centered Teaching and Learning. Retrieved September 11, 2009, from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Student-Centered.html

Gravoso, R.S., Pasa, A.E., Labra, G.B. & Mori, T. (2008) Design and Use of Instructional Materials for Student-Centered Learning: A Case in Learning Ecological Concepts. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 17(1). Retrieve September 11, 2009, from http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:OPV1FbQJieMJ:www.philjol.info/index.php/TAPER/article/viewPDFInterstitial/353/306+Design+and+Use+of+Instructional+Materials+for+Student-Centered+Learning:+A+Case+in+Learning+Ecological+Concepts.&hl=en

Hirumi, A. (2002) Student-Centered, technology-rich learning environments (SCenTRLE): operationalizing constructivist approaches to teaching and learning. Retrieved September 12, 2009, from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-96416239/student-centered-technology-rich.html
Markusic, M. (2009) Instruction Paradigms: Learner-Centered versus Teacher-Centered. Retrieved September 12, 2009, from http://www.brighthub.com/education/special/articles/5486.aspx

Para eLink (2009a) Student-Centered Instruction. Retrieved September 11, 2009, from http://ici2.umn.edu/elink/91mrw92mrw/c91mrw92mrw_2.html

Para eLink (2009b) Teacher-Centered Instruction. Retrieved September 11, 2009, from http://ici2.umn.edu/elink/91mrw92mrw/c91mrw92mrw_1.html

Smaldino, S., Heinich, R., Molenda, M., & Russell, J. (2008) Instructional technology and media for learning. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Uwameiye, R. & Ojikutu, R.A. (2008) Effect of Team Teaching on the Academic Achievement of Students in Introductory Technology. Retrieved September 11, 2009, from http://itdl.org/Journal/Oct_08/article05.htm

Wi-Fi and Laptops

2010-08-09T01:34:00.000-07:00

We live in a world where people look to technology to enhance and improve their lives and in fact, laptops have now become a standard item to have and this technology is seen to be utilized everywhere at home, stores, work, and schools (Noel, 2008). Over the last decade, many schools have investigated the educational possibilities of mobile computing while more recently, many K-12 schools are implementing the use of laptop computers and in fact, improvements in portable computing technology as well as examples of successful pilot programs using laptops have inspired many schools to take into great consideration laptops for their students (Belanger, 2001).

As Peyman and Mann (n.d) noted, in the last few years, the use of wireless local area networks (WLAN) has increased significantly and this is something that has made technology popular amongst the various fields of society, including education. Schools are striving to help students become technologically literate at a young age but while there are advantages to laptop computing in K-12 education, there are also many concerns that should be taken into consideration (Miles, n.d).

“A laptop is a general term referring to a computer that has a built-in display and keyboard and is intended to be a portable personal computer. A laptop computer runs the same operating system and software applications as a larger desktop PC, but it is considerably smaller in size and lighter in weight” (National Centre for Technology in Education, 2007, p.1). Laptops or notebook computers are the most prevalent one-to-one computing devices and for more than a decade schools have used laptops and in fact, in 2003 more than 24 million laptops were sold in the United States (Jackson, 2004). As Greenfield (1990) supported, laptops have started making inroads in the educational sector in ways that are practical and innovative.

According to the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, 50% of primary schools and 82% of secondary schools reported making at least some use of wireless network technology while also, in 23% of primary schools and 22% of secondary schools, either all or a significant portion of their network was wireless (Peyman & Mann, n.d). The use of laptops in the classroom can provide teachers and students with many benefits and can change significantly the teaching and learning processes in unique ways. As outlined by the National Centre for Technology in Education (2007), laptops are a window into the world and a tool with which to enhance learning while also, they can be used to teach and learn as well as to create and share.

Two important advantages that laptops provide are portability and convenience. Laptops can be taken out of the school by teachers and students and in fact, it is possible to transport them to various environments and this is something very convenient for teachers and students (Greenfield, 1990). These advantages lead also to another advantage of laptops and that is flexibility. As Fay (2006) supported, laptops enable students to engage in their work when and where they want and with few constraints while also, the results of a study conducted by Fay, revealed that students spent more time on task when they had laptops and in fact, they worked more frequently and for longer. Laptops provide flexibility not only to the students but also to the teachers. Teachers have the opportunity to take laptops home from school and can work and up skill themselves according to their personal schedules (National Centre for Technology in Education, 2007). As reported by the National Centre for Technology in Education, teachers can take laptops home in order to prepare lessons, carry out administrative tasks as well as to evaluate educational software programs in more independent way. Furthermore, laptops increase access. As supported by the Keystone Tech Team (2005), laptops provide teachers the opportunity to access the technology where and when they need it while also, laptops can be even compared to calculators and hence, students can use them at their desk or collaboratively in a group setting.

Laptops are also characterized for their functionality. In specific, laptops have almost all the functionality of desktop computers and hence, they allow students to perform all the tasks they were used to perform traditionally on a PC such as creating presentations, e-mailing, surfing the Internet as well as collaborating with other students (Jackson, 2004). It can also be denoted that laptops offer an alternative to traditional computer room scenarios and in fact, they can perform like any desktop computer but in addition, they have the advantage of being more readily integrated into the classroom situations and learning activities (National Centre for Technology in Education, 2007).

Apart from these, the use of laptops helps students get engaged in their own learning. As Negroponte (2009) outlined, when students have access to laptops they get engaged in their own education and they have the chance to learn, create, share, and collaborate while also, they become connected to each other and to the world. In addition to these as Capraro (n.d) reported, laptops offer a new, improved realm of learning for students; they make lessons interactive and this is something that keeps students engaged in the learning process; while they also provide instant feedback and assistance and they can serve as a source for limitless new knowledge.

Furthermore, the use of laptops in the classroom enhances and promotes independent learning. In a laptop classroom, there is lecturing and more individual and group project work and hence, teachers no longer have to provide all the information since, students can gather much of what is needed from the Internet while they can also work more on their own and at their own pace or work in small groups to prepare projects (WikiBooks org., 2006). In addition, as supported by the WikiBooks org., teachers can act as consultants to the students who can offer individualized suggestions and corrections as well as more frequent assessments of individual and group progress.

In a laptop classroom, students “as independent learners, they also have to take on more responsibility for their learning, by working independently they have to monitor their own progress, identify the tools and resources they need to use, and know when to seek help. Developing the ability to learn independently, collaborate with peers to accomplish work, and communicate the conclusions of your work are the core of 21st-century skills, and a highly valued set of competencies in the world outside of school” (WikiBooks org., 2006, ¶4).

A great advantage of laptops is that they promote cooperation among the students. As Cromwell (1999) outlined, cooperation and a sense of community can de developed among the students when they work collaboratively on projects and share information about their laptops. This was also outlined by the results of a study made by Rockman that specifically revealed that the majority of the teachers that participated in the research and made use of laptops in the classroom, reported an increase in cooperative learning and project-based instruction (Belanger, 2001).

An also important advantage of laptops is that they contribute to an improvement of students’ achievement and to an increase in test scores. This was also revealed by the results of the second of a three-year study at Henricho County high school that showed in specific, a noticeable improvement in students’ test scores in the subjects of biology, history, and chemistry (Noel, 2008). Moreover, the results of another study made by Stevenson revealed also that students with laptops demonstrated a sustained level of academic achievement compared to the students who did not make use of laptops while also, the academic benefits were most significant in at-risk student populations (Belanger, 2001). In accordance with these, are the results of a study made by Gulek and Demirtas (2005) that revealed that students who participated in a laptop immersion program tended to earn significantly higher test scores and grades for mathematics, English-language arts, writing and overall Grade Point Averages (GPAs).

The use of laptops in the classroom creates greater interest in and excitement about learning in general. As Cromwell (1999) stated, “Laptops have created … a sense of excitement about learning in general…They’ve created greater interest in research, writing, and projects students work on…The laptops lead to a sense of discovery every day, keeping students more focused and on task” (¶3).

An important advantage of laptops is that they enhance learning for students with disabilities. In particular, laptops provide students with disabilities the opportunity to succeed that may not be otherwise provided while also, laptops provide special education students an additional visual representation of learning material that directly addresses the needs of these students (Gulek & Demirtas, 2005).

Laptops provide also more opportunities for students to develop and acquire important computer skills that will be necessary to them in their future workplace. As Cromwell (1999) reported, many proponents of a laptop for every student think young people need to begin developing and acquiring computer skills in order to be employable when they graduate from high school or college.

According to Jackson (2004), laptops provide also the following general four advantages: (a) speed of implementation and in fact laptops are easy to learn, if you already know how to use a desktop computer; (b) support availability, where technical support, software, and peripherals are readily available with laptops; (c) integration help and in fact educational materials such as lesson plans, mail lists, etc. are easy to locate using laptops; (d) cross-platform capability, where various laptop models are made for PCs and Macs, that ensure a smooth transition from existing technology.

Laptops also contribute to an improvement of students’ writing skills. In particular, the ease of using a word processor along with the ability to go back and modify things that would otherwise not be possible when writing to a paper, helps students learn how to write more coherent and persuasive text (Timmer, 2009). Furthermore, the use of laptops offers students the opportunity to transfer knowledge across disciplines. As Gulek and Demirtas (2005) stated, “This is believed to occur because laptop students are involved in: (1) highly engaged and focused activities spending more time on their work and completing larger projects; (2) frequently apply active learning strategies; (3) interact with each other about their work; (4) problem solve through project-based activities, which usually involve more critical thinking; and (5) regularly find information, make sense of it, and communicate it” (p.6).

Undoubtedly, the use of laptops in the classroom has many advantages and can provide students and teachers with many benefits that can enhance and improve the teaching and learning processes. Laptops can be used in various ways in the classroom in order to enhance and improve learning and some of those ways are next mentioned and discussed. Students can use laptops in class as part of an integrated lesson that can be teacher-directed or student-directed or they can use them at home where their use is totally student-centred (National Centre for Technology in Education, 2007). As stated by the National Centre for Technology in Education “Allocating laptops for student use on a full-time basis can be advantageous for the following reasons: students can explore their preferred learning styles independently; students can collaborate on assignments with peers via email; students can prepare and present homework or project work using multimedia; students can access learning support if educational software programs are made available for home use” (p.2).

Furthermore, teachers can use laptops in all content areas by incorporating blogging, podcasts, quizzes and online textbooks into their instruction and this is something that can improve the teaching and learning methods as well as create a more fun and interactive environment for both teachers and students (Noel, 2008). In addition, as Noel reported, with the use of laptops in the classroom, the amount of paper being used can be greatly diminished.

The 1999 Laptop Learning Challenge sponsored by Toshiba and National Science Teacher’s Association recognized innovative uses of laptops in K-12 science and mathematics education such as: some award-winning ideas that showed students using laptops to facilitate group work, to analyze data immediately during a lab exercise, conduct scientific investigations in the field rather than in the classroom; in writing activities, student projects and presentations; in creating spreadsheets to solve mathematical problems; and creating book reports using presentation software such as PowerPoint or HyperStudio (Belanger, 2001).

On the other hand, the use of laptops in the classroom does not lack of some disadvantages, some of which are next mentioned and discussed. Laptops are too expensive. Many laptops cost $1000 and up and this price is too high for many schools (Jackson, 2004). In addition, “according to a study done by the UCLA Department of Education, software, internet connection, maintenance and training costs must also be considered when budgeting for a laptop program” (Miles, n.d, ¶2). This was also supported by Belanger (2001), who reported specifically that added costs such as hardware and network costs, technical support and faculty training are the greatest obstacles. Moreover, laptops are too expensive to be distributed equitably among children and therefore, their use in just a few classrooms is simply unfair (Cromwell, 1999).

The fact that laptops are too expensive leads to another disadvantage and that is inequities between the students. Students with laptops at home have an unfair advantage over students who do not have laptops at home and this is something that raises concerns about school-system-funded laptops for every student (Cromwell, 1999). In addition to these, the fact that not all students have an Internet connection at home and hence, allowing laptops to be checked out for homework purposes will not be possible if assignments require Internet usage (Miles, n.d). As Belanger (2001) noted, “Laptop programs may worsen technology inequities among students for families who are unable to assume these costs” (¶11).

Furthermore, the use of laptops in the classroom can make students not use their time in class productively or efficiently. For instance, their work can be interspersed with other activities such as checking and writing email, reading news, instant messaging, etc. and consequently, this constant availability of the laptops leads to constraining students’ thinking (Fay, 2006). In addition to these, reliability constitutes another disadvantage of laptops. In particular, during the teaching and learning processes, technical problems may occur and if replacement computers are not available, then valuable time can be wasted (Miles, n.d).

As Jackson (2004) supported, laptops have also the following two disadvantages: (a) mobility, and in fact, laptops are not actually mobile since people cannot walk and work on them; and (b) physical barrier, where the laptop screen can make it difficult for teachers to monitor work and communicate with students. Furthermore, other disadvantages of laptops include the following two as reported by Miles (n.d): (a) security, and in specific, due to the fact that laptops are small and lightweight enough to be hidden in backpacks, there may be thefts if the school does not monitor the laptops strictly or attach a security device to them; and (b) health concerns, since there is growing concern about the safety of the electromagnetic fields emitted from wireless devices used by laptop computers.

Apart from these, another important disadvantage related to the use of laptops in the classroom refers to the teachers’ role as the students’ guardians. In specific, when laptops are used in the classroom, teachers have to become more active guardians over the activities of their students and maybe such tools as remote desktop viewing of students’ laptops as well as old-fashioned walking around the classroom, may keep students in line with using the laptop only for classroom and educational purposes (Manal, n.d).

Relating to the use of laptops in classroom is the use of Wi-Fi. “Wi-Fi is short for Wireless Fidelity and is a particular type of Wireless local area network (WLAN)-i.e., you don’t need to plug your computer into a phone network via a cable. There are many types of WLAN but all of them allow two or more computers to form a network using radio frequency (RF) signals. They allow users to access and share data, applications, internet access or other network resources in the same way as wired (cable) systems” (Snowdon, 2009, p.1).

A Wi-Fi enabled laptop program brings technology to the children and in fact, Wi-Fi can connect the students studying at home to the school’s intranet and its content and instructional software which does not include the internet with inappropriate content for students such as pornography, gambling, etc. (Adrignola, 2009). The option for Wi-Fi connectivity is available for most of the interactive Whiteboards that are increasingly used in schools with educational software in order to cover the curriculum (Peyman & Mann, n.d).
The use of Wi-Fi helps improve the teaching and learning processes and in general it has many advantages, some of which are next mentioned and discussed. Wi-Fi offers flexibility to teachers and students. In specific, teachers can make use of a wireless enabled laptop and can access the wireless network to show students work and educational material, share resources, obtain information from the internet from anywhere within a range of an AP, without being tied to a wired PC (Snowdon, 2009). In addition, as Snowdon supported, Wi-Fi enables for a flexible learning and the accommodation of different learning styles as well as the adaptation of any learning space to suit the type of learning taking place.

An important advantage of Wi-Fi is its low cost. Despite the fact that the initial cost that is necessary for Wireless LAN hardware can be similar to the cost of wired LAN hardware, the installation expenses can be significantly lower (Snowdon, 2009). Moreover, the fact that the cost per subscriber for a Wi-Fi is quite low enables a school district to build its own private access network independent of commercial operators (Adrignola, 2009). Additionally, as Adrignola stated, “Wi-Fi allows local area networks (LANs) to be deployed without cables and wires for client devices, typically reducing the costs of network deployment and expansion…Wireless network adapters are now built into most laptops. The price of chipsets for Wi-Fi continue to drop, making it an economical networking option included in even more devices” (¶16).

Wi-Fi is accessible and adaptable. It provides access to the network from anywhere in the school within range of an access point and this gives users the freedom to use ICT where and when it is needed while also, with Wi-Fi, it is easier and quicker to add or move devices on the network (Snowdon, 2009). In accordance with the advantages of accessibility and adaptability is the advantage of portability and convenience. As Snowdon supported, Wi-Fi allows computer devices to move around the school with the students and this is something that allows for outdoor field work and work in non-classroom spaces such as the library, playground, etc. As Adrignola (2009) outlined, “With Wi-Fi service, students, faculty and staff can conveniently use their Wi-Fi enabled devices anywhere in the school campus during school time” (¶17).

Wi-Fi contributes also to an enhancement and improvement of technology and academic skills. In particular, the longer the students use compute and internet/intranet, the more digital skills they will learn while also, students who spend more time on school’s intranet usually get more information of their subjects and it is most likely that they will find it easier to do their homework and hence, improving of the grade is automatic (Adrignola, 2009).

Moreover, the use of Wi-Fi provides opportunities for students to interact with the teacher, other students as well as with outsiders (Hodgson, 2004). Wi-Fi provides significant advantages for instruction in various content areas such as literacy, numeracy, and writing. For instance, a Wi-Fi enabled laptop loaded with interactive literacy instructional software can greatly enhance instruction and some examples may include English language students who can improve their English vocabulary by making use of sight-sound relationships that are made available via the laptop and software while also, software products offer practice tests that students can use when they are studying for their American Tests (ACT) in order to improve their reading and test taking skills (Adrignola, 2009).
Apart from these, Wi-Fi enabled laptops offer interactive software that can enhance students’ number sense while they also offer math games that enable practice and development of number sense while also, 3-D graphics can help high school students understand physics, biology, and trigonometry (Adrignola, 2009).

Although Wi-Fi has many advantages, it has some disadvantages as well. An important disadvantage of Wi-Fi refers to slower data transfer and specifically, the current data rates of wireless networks indicates that high bandwidth activities are better done on wired networks while also, when the number of devices that make use of the network increase, then the data transfer rate to each device will decrease accordingly (Snowdon, 2009). Another disadvantage of Wi-Fi as Snowdon reported, involves upgrading. As wireless standards change, it may be necessary to upgrade to higher specifications of wireless that could mean replacing wireless equipment while also, security with Wi-Fi is more difficult to guarantee.

According to Snowdon (2009), Wi-Fi has also the following two disadvantages: (a) signal reception, that means that devices will only operate at a limited distance from an access point while also, obstacles between the access point and the user such as walls, trees, glass, etc. can also affect and determine the distance of operation; and (b) configuration, that means that as more people use wireless devices then there is the risk that certain radio frequencies used for wireless will become congested and prone to interference.

As Adrignola (2009) outlined, “Today’s children are digital natives. Today’s adolescence love digital devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, smart phone, and laptop/netbook. With Wi-Fi service on school campus, students with Wi-Fi enabled devices could enjoy surfing on internet during school time. This will most likely to extend their time of practicing technology skills, as well as academic studying” (¶6). Laptops are definitely necessary in the classroom around the world today to help students gain any advantage they can in today’s cutthroat education system (Ryan, n.d). Closing up, with the use of laptops and handheld computers in the classroom, education is becoming more high tech while also, the involvement of Wi-Fi in the classroom helps students with real time streaming and in fact, it can free students from note taking and therefore, it can allow them to concentrate more on the discussion developed in the classroom (Hodgson, 2004).

References

Adrignola (2009) K-12 School Computer Networking/Chapter 31. Retrieved
January 6, 2009, from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/K-12_School_Computer_Networking/Chapter_31

Belanger, Y. (2001) Laptop Computers in the K-12 Classroom. Retrieved
January 6, 2009, from http://www.ericdigests.org/2001-1/laptop.html

Capraro, E. (n.d) Is the use of Laptops in the Classroom Beneficial or a Distraction? Retrieved January 7, 2009, from http://www.helium.com/debates/180273-emlaptopsem-emclassroomem-embeneficialem-emdistractionem/side_by_side?page=2

Cromwell, S. (1999) Laptops Change Curriculum-and Students. Retrieved
January 6, 2009, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr178.shtml

Fay, A.L. (2006) Impact of Laptop Computers on Students’ Academic Lives. Retrieved January 6, 2009, from http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/resources/PublicationsArchives/StudiesWhitepapers/LaptopStudyReport-2006.pdf

Greenfield, E. (1990) Laptops in Education: accessibility is the key. Retrieved
January 8, 2009, from http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=LFKTPv2dQ9SYxvznmQLlm8B4DnzVpWcnvN98mrMzLcyJ4tQGByh2!-635650599!-165273011?docId=5000131090

Gulek, J.C. & Demirtas, H. (2005) Learning with Technology: The Impact of Laptop Use on Student Achievement. The Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment, 3(2). Retrieved January 6, 2009, from http://escholarship.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=jtla

Hodgson, J. (2004) Wireless-Uses in Education. Retrieved January 6, 2009, from http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Wireless_-_Education

Jackson, L. (2004) The 411 on One-to-One Computing. Retrieved
January 6, 2009, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech194.shtml

Keystone Tech Team (2005) Desktops vs Laptops in Education. Retrieved
January 5, 2009, from http://www.slideshare.net/barbwit56/desktops-vs

Manal, N. (n.d) Is the use of Laptops in the Classroom Beneficial or a Distraction? Retrieved January 7, 2009, from http://www.helium.com/debates/180273-emlaptopsem-emclassroomem-embeneficialem-emdistractionem/side_by_side?page=4

Miles, S. (n.d) The Disadvantages of Laptops in an Elementary Classroom. Retrieved
January 8, 2009, from http://www.ehow.com/facts_5503182_disadvantages-laptops-elementary-classroom.html

National Centre for Technology in Education (2007) Laptops. Retrieved
January 6, 2009, from http://www.ncte.ie/documents/advicesheets/04LaptopsNov08.pdf

Negroponte, N. (2009) We See the Child as the Agent of Change. Retrieved
January 6, 2009, from http://www.inwent.org/ez/articles/154508/index.en.shtml

Noel (2008) Laptop Use in School is a Definite Benefit. Retrieved
January 6, 2009, from http://www.thegreenergrass.org/2008/07/laptop-use-in-school-is-definite.html

Peyman, A. & Mann, S. (n.d) Wi-Fi in Schools. Retrieved January 7, 2009, from http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1254510618866
Ryan, P. (n.d) Is the use of Laptops in the Classroom Beneficial or a Distraction? Retrieved January 7, 2009, from http://www.helium.com/debates/180273-emlaptopsem-emclassroomem-embeneficialem-emdistractionem/side_by_side?page=10

Snowdon, C. (2009) WiFi in Schools-Stockton Borough Council’s Position. Retrieved
January 6, 2009, from http://egenda.stockton.gov.uk/aksstockton/images/att10617.doc

Timmer, J. (2009) In-class laptop use sparks backlash, possibly lower grades. Retrieved January 6, 2009, from http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2009/03/in-class-laptop-use-may-be-sparking-a-backlash.ars

WikiBooks org. (2006) Using Laptops for Education. Retrieved
January 7, 2009, from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Educational_Technology_Innovation_and_Impact/Multimedia_Courseware/Using_Laptops_for_Education

Media and Society

2010-08-09T01:29:00.000-07:00

“In the last 50 years the media influence has grown exponentially with the advance of technology, first there was the telegraph, then the radio, the newspaper, magazines, television and now the Internet” (Rayuso, 2009, ¶1). As Rayuso supported, our society depends largely on information and communication technologies that help people move in the right direction in their work, entertainment, personal relationships, health care, and education. In modern society, media is everywhere, and it is almost impossible to avoid and in fact, Americans spend an average of twenty-eight hours per week watching television while they also spend an undetermined number of hours reading periodicals, listening to the radio, and going to the movies (Elton, 2008). The media effect on society is often debated, whether it is good or bad, overstated or understated, however, the fact is that there is an effect that is becoming more powerful as media becomes more pervasive, more mobile and more global (Mitchell, 2009).

“The media, especially television, socializes and shapes people’s attitudes, values, and beliefs about the world around them. Program content and commercials both strongly influence the way we think about ourselves and others, as well as sex, food, tobacco, and other life concerns. The Internet also strongly influences our behaviour, especially socially. Further, some individuals are addicted to watching television and using the Internet, and as a consequence, they forget about the world and fail to meet responsibilities” (Medoff & Kaye, 2005, p.313). Many people cannot realize the significant impact that the mass media has on all aspects of society whether that is economic, ideological or political due to the fact that the mass media has become such an ordinary and everyday part of society (Elton, 2008). As Elton noted, the mass media influence the way we vote, the things we buy, the way we act as well as the values we hold.

“Mass media are methods of communicating to a vast amount of people around the world. Mass media means things such as Television, Radio, Newspapers, Internet, Magazines etc; they are a means of communication to people. The mass media have a few main functions, which include informing, educating and entertaining us” (Vish, 2008, ¶2). According to Medoff and Kaye (2005), the effects of media on people individually, socially and culturally can be explained through four perspectives which include the strong-effects model, the limited-effects model; the moderate-effects model; and the powerful-effects model. It is the author’s belief and point of view that media has not a limited or moderated effect on society but a powerful effect. “What we need to be aware is that most of our decisions, beliefs and values are based on what we know for a fact, our assumptions and our own experience. In our work we usually know what we have to do based on our experience and studies; however, on our daily lives we rely on the media to get the current news and facts about what is important and what we should be aware of” (Rayuso, 2009, ¶4).

Television and other media can have positive and negative effects as well but it seems that most of the attention is focused on the negative effects and there is much debate about the degree to which the media influence our attitudes, behaviours, and values (Medoff & Kaye, 2005). As Mitchell (2009) noted, “as the technology powers and empowers the delivery of the media effect in ways not possible before, there are both good and bad outcomes” (¶16). People have trusted the media as an authority to give them news, entertainment and education but however, the influence of mass media on society is so big that people should be aware of how it really works (Rayuso, 2009). The media has a significant impact on society and in public opinion as well and in fact, the media can shape the public opinion in various ways depending of what is the objective (Rayuso, 2009). As Rayuso noted, “Of all the media distribution channels the most influential has been the television, we are constantly exposed to thousands of images of violence, advertising, sex, celebrities and much more, in fact it is known that a child is exposed to about 40,000 ads a year” (¶6). Additionally, the rise of new media such as video games and the Internet has introduced new ways children can be exposed to violence (Anderson, Berkowitz, Donnerstein, Huesmann, Johnson, Linz, Malamuth & Wartella, 2003).

It is the author’s belief and point of view that media has a powerful effect on society. Despite the fact that various kinds of media such as television, radio, advertising and the Internet provide many benefits, they can also have a powerful negative effect on society and people’s lives, especially on children’s lives. For instance, the Internet is blamed for exposing children to unsavoury material and in fact, when children tend to make an extensive use of the Internet, they can be led to social isolation (Medoff & Kaye, 2005). Music videos and music lyrics can also have a powerful effect on society and mostly on children’s lives. “Music videos are also of concern because these videos are sometimes replete with violence. Even those that do not have explicit aggressive content often have antisocial overtones” (Anderson et al., 2003, p.9). In addition, as Anderson et al. supported, watching violent music videos creates attitudes and beliefs that are relatively accepting of violence in young viewers. Furthermore, radio stations get heat for playing songs with racy, violent, and antisocial lyrics and this is an issue of concern because children will do whatever these songs suggest (Medoff & Kaye, 2005).

Advertising constitutes also an important means of media that has a powerful effect on society and that can significantly impact and influence people’s attitudes and beliefs. As Rayuso (2009) stated, “The media makes billions of dollars with the advertising they sell and that we are exposed to. We buy what we are told to be good, after seeing thousands of advertisings we make our buying decisions based on what we saw on TV, newspapers or magazines to be a product we can trust and also based on what everyone else that we know is buying and their decision are also based on the media”(¶11). Apart from these, teenagers are influenced and consequently buy what their favourite celebrity advertise and what is acceptable by society based on fashion that the media has imposed them (Rayuso, 2009). In addition, “According to the Journal of Advertising, studies show that America’s obsession with physical beauty is strongly created and reinforced by advertising” (Fihn, n.d, ¶3).

Comparing the various kinds of media it can be denoted that television constitutes the one that has the most powerful effect on society and can greatly influence people’s opinions, attitudes, behaviour, and beliefs. When we watch TV we usually see many images of violence and people hurting others and this is something that can become traumatic especially in children who are starting to grow and are shaping their personality values and beliefs and hence, this can result in making them become aggressive or losing the sense of reality and fiction (Rayuso, 2009). As Medoff and Kaye (2005) noted, “Television content is blamed for many social ills, such as violent behaviour, increased crime rated, a lower literacy level, and the breakdown of the family” (p.291).

Psychologists have proven that the minds of children develop cognitively and when they are young, they are not in a position to understand things such as violence on television and therefore, violence on television give children the sense that violence is a part of ordinary life, thus reducing their ability not to be violent (Fihn, n.d). Additionally, it is worth mentioning the results of a research conducted in 1969 by the U.S. Surgeon General’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behaviour regarding the influence of television on children’s behaviour, that revealed that there was a strong link between viewing violence on television and performing antisocial behaviour and in fact, the link was not limited only to children who were predisposed to aggressive behaviour (Medoff & Kaye, 2005).

Also, the results of another study revealed that the majority of programs on television include violence and this is something that can greatly influence people’s behaviour and attitudes. In specific, “according to the national Television Violence study (NTVS), which, during the period of three years, investigated ten thousand hours of violent programs, discovered that about 60% of all TV programs have violent content. And only fifteen percent of these programs revealed the long-term effects of the violence they depicted. Forty percent of them even ended with the criminals going completely free without being punished” (Fihn, n.d, ¶2).

Additionally, in the 1980, many violence studies indicated that viewing violence is strongly related to aggressive behaviour and in fact, viewing media violence may affect people behaviourally, cognitively, and emotionally since viewers and mostly children, may imitate aggressive behaviours, identify with unsavoury characters and may become desensitized to violence in real life (Medoff & Kaye, 2005). Moreover, as Medoff and Kaye noted, “Repeated exposure to mediated violence breaks down social barriers and may influence antisocial behaviours” (p.313).

As research has revealed, a significant proportion of aggressive children are likely to grow up to be aggressive adults and in fact, the best single predictor of violent behaviour in older adolescents and young adults is aggressive behaviour when they were younger (Anderson et al., 2003). As Anderson et al., “Thus influences that promote aggressive behaviour in young children can contribute to increasingly aggressive and ultimately violent behaviour many years later” (p.3).

Undoubtedly, media has a powerful effect on society and this is a fact that the author strongly supports. If we take a look at every aspect in every field of society, we will see and realize various examples that indicate the powerful effect that media have on society. For instance, ways that media influence people are with polls and trends, especially in political campaigns, where candidates that can pay for more TV and media exposure have more influence on public opinion and hence, they can receive more votes (Rayuso, 2009). Also the media effect was one of the biggest factors in the recent US presidential elections and in fact, rampant sexism in old media hurt Hillary’s campaign and a newly engaged media constituency helped put Obama in the White House (Mitchell, 2009).

The 2008 Presidential election is a representative example of the powerful effect that media has on society. Particularly, “The mass media decided to give the most coverage to candidates who stand for preserving the status quo, while writing off candidates who challenge the status quo (such as Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, and Mike Gravel) as long-shots –even if polls, straw polls, primaries, and the breaking of world records say otherwise” (Elton, 2008, p.2).

According to Martin N. Marger, “the media are closely interwoven with government, particularly at the national level. Put simply, the relationship between government and media is symbiotic, neither can function effectively without the other […] Moreover, much of the news transmitted by the mass media is prepared by government agencies” (Elton, 2008, p.2).

The media has also a powerful effect in public opinion. For instance, after the attacks of 911 the media gave a huge coverage of the event and exposed Osama guilty for the attack as they were told by the authorities and this was something that shaped the public opinion to support the war on terrorism as it happened with the war on Iraq (Rayuso, 2009). Another example of the powerful effect of the media on society is the use of cigars by celebrity movies stars, the constant exposure of sex images, the exposure to thousands of junk food ads as well as the excessive images of violence (Rayuso, 2009).

“Media also affects the way Americans view their own appearance, what with super thin models and other beautiful people on TV, on magazines, and in advertisements, giving Americans something new to be insecure about” (Fihn, n.d, ¶3). Many women want to look like the super models and thin celebrities so they become obsessive with losing weight even they are not obese and hence, they engage in eating disorders such as anorexia that may lead to severe health problems and even death (Rayuso, 2009). But not only kinds of eating disorders such as anorexia are influenced by the media but also obesity. As Rayuso noted, “There are millions of adolescents fighting obesity, but at the same time they are exposed to thousands of advertisements of junk food, while the ideas image of a successful person is to be thin and wealthy” (¶17).

As Elton (2008) outlined, “The influence of mass media on society extends far beyond politics. The media doesn’t just influence who we vote for, but also what we entertain ourselves with, what we buy, and what we believe. Most people have been affected by the mass media since childhood. It starts with children’s movies which serve a primary purpose of corporate marketing, and a secondary purpose of entertainment” (p.2).

Closing up, “Some worry that our fascination with television and the Internet is turning us into media junkies, who live in darkened rooms, transfixed to our screens. These concerns will not likely be settled in the near future and, in fact, are more likely to grow as television screens get larger and more involving and our dependence on computers and the Internet deepens” (Medoff & Kaye, 2005, p.313).

Undoubtedly, as Medoff and Kaye (2005) supported, the media has a powerful effect on society but it can be denoted that not all people respond to the same message in the same way and in fact, the circumstances must be right in order for certain effects to occur and for instance, some viewers may be influenced and may become more aggressive than others under some circumstances

References

Anderson, C.A., Berkowitz, L., Donnerstein, E., Huesmann, L.R., Johnson, J.D., Linz, D., Malamuth, N.M.,Wartella, E. (2003) The Influence of Media Violence on Youth. Retrieved December 10, 2009, from http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf

Elton, M. (2008) The Effects of Mass Media on Society. Retrieved December 11, 2009, from http://www.scribd.com/doc/22036108/The-Effects-of-Mass-Media-on-Society

Fihn, J. (n.d) The Effects of Media on American Society. Retrieved December 8, 2009,
from http://www.helium.com/items/464058-the-effects-of-media-on-american-society

Medoff, N. & Kaye, B. (2005) Electronic media: Then, now, and later. Pearson
Education, Inc.

Mitchell, P. (2009) The Media Effect: Pat Mitchell’s Remarks at TED. Retrieved December 8, 2009, from http://www.paleycenter.org/the-media-effect-pat-mitchell-remarks-at-ted

Rayuso (2009) Mass Media Influence on Society. Retrieved December 9, 2009,
from http://hubpages.com/hub/Mass-Media-Influence-on-Society

Vish, F. (2008) Mass Media. Retrieved December 9, 2009, from http://www.allfreeessays.com/essays/Mass-Media/2939.html

The Supply Chain

2010-08-09T01:28:00.000-07:00

As Turban, Leidner, Mclean and Wetherbe (2008) noted, problems along the supply chain may occur because of uncertainties or from the need to coordinate various activities, internal units, and business partners. A solution that an organization can apply in order to deal with and solve various problems and improve its supply chain constitutes Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). “An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a generic term for an integrated computing system. It is a customized packaged software-based system that handles the majority of an enterprise’s information systems requirements. It is a software architecture that facilitates the flow of information among all functions within an enterprise. It sits on a common database and is supported by a single development environment. ERP systems are customized to support an organization’s business processes” (Watson & Schneider, 1999, p.3). For universities and educational organizations, ERP constitutes an information technology solution that integrates and automates admissions, recruitment, student records, financial aid and most academic services such as admissions, registration, recruitment as well as administrative services such as human resources, accounting, payroll, etc. (Rico, 2004). The implementation of an ERP can provide great benefits to an educational organization and can help improve its supply chain. An important benefit of ERP is that it provides greater levels of flow. In specific, ERP provides greater levels of information flow along with a higher quality of information and hence, it allows the educational organization to rapidly transfer information from one place to another and in fact, when information is transferred quickly and efficiently, the organization will be able to act on the data within a short period of time (Exforsys Inc, 2000). An ERP also increases cost effectiveness. Although an ERP installation requires a huge initial investment and adequate training, it reduces significantly the cost of operations in an organization (Srivastava, 2009).

Moreover, ERP systems enhance the work efficiency. Specifically, ERP systems enhance the efficiency of the whole organization by smoothly integrating its various divisions while they also help reduce paper documents and provide an online format for quick storage and retrieval of information (Srivastava, 2009). ERP can improve workflow and efficiency and for instance, following completion of online requisitions, workflow processes can forward the form along the approval path more rapidly than with traditional paper methods and this is something that can reduce the likelihood of missing documents and return quick feedback on the status of a request (Swartz & Orgill, 2001). Furthermore, ERP is powerful because it allows an organization to become highly flexible and hence, be able to quickly adapt to changes that occur and in fact, flexibility is very important today and if organizations are not flexible, it will be difficult for them to stay competitive (Exforsys Inc, 2000). The multiple software modules of the ERP aid the coordination of various functions in an organization and this integration provides an opportunity for the various divisions to share a unified database while it also ensures proper communication within the organization (Srivastava, 2009). As Srivastava outlined, “This centralization of data in one place eliminates the problem of synchronizing the changes made by different departments and people. It also reduces the risk of loss of confidential data, by applying difficult-to-crack network security models. ERP systems also provide an efficient method for data recovery, in case of a system crash” (¶4) Additionally, as Rico (2004) noted, with ERP, the new systems offer improved services for staff, faculty, and students and involve less cost and risk than legacy systems while also, academic, administrative, and student data are standardized and the educational organization’s data is globally accessible over the Internet. ERP systems can also provide controls and program alerts and for instance, alerts can use automated email to warn budget managers about budgets that are in danger of running out of funds while also, similarly, controls can be implemented in order to prevent individuals for overspending budgets (Swartz & Orgill, 2001). As King, Kvavik and Voloudakis (2002) noted, institutions of all types and sizes found benefits of their ERP implementations such as improved service levels, and enhanced accountability because of better and more easily accessible information. Moreover, additional benefits of ERP systems may include reduced staff requirements, improved admissions, increased student enrolments, shorten cycle time of school processes, enhanced school security, cutting down costs and employing less labour, increased cost-efficiency and making school operations cost effective, and improved counsellor productivity (Softforall.com, 2009).

References

Exforsys Inc. (2000) The Advantages and Disadvantages of ERP. Retrieved February 28, 2010, from http://www.exforsys.com/tutorials/erp/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-erp.html

King, P., Kvavik, R.B. & Voloudakis, J. (2002) Enterprise Resource Planning Systems in Higher Education. Retrieved March 3, 2010, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERB0222.pdf

Rico, D.F. (2004) ERP in Higher Education. Retrieved February 28, 2010, from http://davidfrico.com/rico04f.pdf

Softforall.com (2009) School Management ERP System Description. Retrieved March 1, 2010, from http://www.softforall.com/SoftwareDev/SourceCode/School_Management_ERP_System08100068.htm

Srivastava, S. (2009) Benefits of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Retrieved February 28, 2010, from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/benefits-of-enterprise-resource-planning-erp.html

Swartz, D. & Orgill, K. (2001) Higher Education ERP: Lessons Learned. Using this framework for ERP could save your University millions of dollars. Retrieved March 1, 2010, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eqm0121.pdf

Turban, E., Leidner, D., Mclean, E., & Wetherbe, J. (2008) Information technology for management: Transforming organizations in the digital economy (6th ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Watson, E.E. & Schneider, H. (1999) Using ERP Systems in Education. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 1(9). Retrieved February 25, 2010, from http://www.student.seas.gwu.edu/~sachinkp/OrgScience/a3-watson.pdf

Commercial Media

2010-03-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

If we take a look at the past and make a comparison between the commercial electronic media that existed and were used almost 100 years ago and the media that exist and are used today, we will see that in general, the nature of electronic media has changed dramatically over the years. Various kinds of media that did not exist in the past are now holding the reins in today’s world, in the electronic age.

As reported by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2005), “In today’s society, electronic media are thoroughly integrated into the fabric of life, with television, movies, videos, music, video games, and computers central to both work and play” (p.1). The media scene has been developing at an incredible pace in recent years, but there has been both convergence and divergence (Pleitgen, 2007). In this era of information technology, the old methods of providing information such as the radio, television and newspapers are gradually losing their importance in contrast to the computers and the Internet which have also come to be included in the electronic media (Alamgir, 2002).

Today, people listen to digital radio via their television, watch TV on mobile phones, listen to radio on iPods while also, newspapers have started turning into broadcasters by offering audio and video on websites of their own while also, there has been the arrival and increasing influence of citizen journalism through the use of blogs, vlogs or video blogs, and video clips taken on mobile phones (Pleitgen, 2007).

“The term electronic media… refers to both electronic mass media (e.g. broadcasting) and electronic personal media (e.g. cell phones)” (Medoff & Kaye, 2005, p.5). In addition, “Information and communications technology (ICT) is defined as computers, software, telecoms, such as mobile and fixed phones, the Internet and satellite technologies (United Nations org., n.d).

Before a discussion is provided on the effects that the changes in electronic media have on education as well as a discussion on their advantages and disadvantages, let us take a look at the past and see how the nature of commercial electronic media has changed and evolved over the years.

The start of broadcasting and commercial electronic media was signalled by the invention of radio telegraphy while in the late 1920s, Americans were fascinated with radio which enjoyed its place as the only instantaneous and electronic medium for over 30 years until the World War II, when television broadcasting started to become popular while in fact, television in its many forms such as broadcast, cable, satellite, video cassette, and DVD, was the center point of American media for over 50 years (Medoff & Kaye, 2005).

Afterwards, computers emerged as the new popular medium while also, the Internet followed, that emerged as a new mass medium at an unprecedented speed (Medoff & Kaye, 2005). “The Internet was the result of some visionary thinking by people in the early 1960s that saw great potential value in allowing computers to share information on research and development in scientific and military fields (Howe, 2009, ¶1).

As Medoff and Kaye (2005) outlined, the electronic media industry has changed dramatically over the past 10 years, most notably since 1996, when the Telecommunications Act was signed into law while also, satellite direct digital radio service began in 2002. In addition, wireless has grown rapidly in the past few years while also, a next big growth area is the surge towards universal wireless access (Howe, 2009).

Moreover, another trend is “the growth of smaller devices to connect to the Internet. Small tablets, pocket PCs, smart phones, eBooks, game machines, and even GPS devices are now capable of tapping into the web on the go” (Howe, 2009, ¶35).

Apart from these, some recent innovations such as e-mail, instant messaging and chat rooms, allow us to talk to others who are connected in real time while also, the use of the Internet led to the development of online journalism that is similar to a print diary and weblogs or blogs which are web pages posted by individuals who want to express themselves on various topics (Medoff & Kaye, 2005).

Going further, it is worth mentioning the following three important issues as reported by the United Nations org. (n.d): (a) it took radio broadcasters 38 years to reach an audience of 50 million, television 13 years, and the Internet just four; (b) there were 50 pages on the World Wide Web in 1993 and today there are more than 50 million pages; and (c) it is estimated that in just over five years some 900 million electronic devices could be connected to the Internet, equalling the number of telephones in the world.

Undoubtedly, the nature of commercial electronic media has changed dramatically over the years. As a result, this change has affected and impacted all sectors of society whether that is business, industry, medicine or education.

Taking as an example the field of education, it can be denoted that the changes in electronic media over the years has significantly impacted education and specifically, the integration and use of computers and the Internet in schools has impacted education and brought some remarkable changes to the teaching and learning processes.

As Rojem (2002) supported, the revolution of the Internet has had important implications for the educational system and consequently, the world of education is experiencing some major changes, not least of which is the use of the Internet in teaching and learning.

Access to world class broadband revolutionised education and provided students with the opportunity to engage more effectively with the resources from around the world as well as to engage in active learning (Rudd, Smith & Conroy, 2007). Past technologies have been capable of disseminating information but they did nothing to encourage student interaction but in contrast, the Internet, supports active, hands-on learning which can provide students with practical, real-life experiences while it can also lead to better retention and understanding of a given topic (Rojem, 2002).

Apart from these, in the past, students’ choice of resources was limited to resources that were available in the school library but now, with the revolution and integration of the Internet in schools, students are offered large amounts of information and resources through the Internet and the World Wide Web, which can access quite quickly and easily and therefore, learning in school now in no longer confined by the walls of the classroom (Rojem, 2002). As Medoff and Kaye (2005) stated, “The Web’s big advantage over traditional media is its lack of constraints in terms of space and time” (p.9).

Moreover, compared to the traditional reading habits of individuals, electronic media tend to be an attractive way of representing information and therefore, children can learn difficult concepts better when such concepts are demonstrated to them through the use of various electronic media (Poorani, 2006).

In addition to these, the Internet’s impact on education includes more student-centred learning as well as a shift from the traditional structure of students as passive learners toward that of active participants (Rojem, 2002).

Going further, various trends in electronic media such as convergence, consolidation, commercialism as well as the process of actually making programs that leads to the need for greater media literacy, have affected and impacted the way education is delivered (Medoff & Kaye, 2005). As Medoff and Kaye stated with media literacy, “the audience has knowledge and understanding not only of the meaning of the content of the media but also of the power of the media, the intent of the media, and the influence of the media” (p.13).

Convergence refers to “the blurring of the boundaries between the different types of electronic communication media” (Medoff & Kaye, 2005, p.10). As Murphy (n.d) outlined, convergence is the melding of previously segregated fields of computing, telecommunications, and broadcasting but this is not something entirely new since, there has long been a convergence of sorts as technological infrastructure has been unified and shared among seemingly unrelated fields. As reported by the United Nations org. (n.d), “The convergence of information technology and the Internet may well become as transformative as the industrial revolution” (p.2).

Except for these, the changes in commercial electronic media have affected in general, the lives of the people in respect of their cognitive, emotional, and behavioural levels. Specifically, as Medoff and Kaye (2005) outlined, electronic media: help people become more knowledgeable about the world, give people information that help them form attitudes towards things and ideas while they also make people feel; and they have the possibility to persuade people to change their behaviour while they can also change how people use their time since, people seem to spend a lot of time each day with electronic media.

Going further, the changes in electronic media have their advantages and disadvantages as well. Apart from the positive effects, benefits and advantages of the use of the Internet that were mentioned and discussed above, another important advantage is the easy and fast access to information that consequently overcomes time and distance constraints. As Poorani stated, “Today’s world… provides easiest and fastest access to knowledge overcoming time and distance constraints through the electronic media. The electronic media in the form of Internet, television etc. prove to be not only the easiest means of access to information but also provides access to immense amount of knowledge” (¶7).

On the other side of the coin, the changes in electronic media seem to have some disadvantages as well. “In this fast moving world, technology has brought about immense changes in a man’s life. [But] with each change [there] is a host of advantages and disadvantages” (Poorani, 2006, ¶2). For instance, cost constitutes an important disadvantage that relates to the changes in electronic media. Particularly, in the field of education, school districts are spending tremendous amounts of money in order to connect schools to the Internet and this is an issue of concern since, there is no money left for the professional development needed to assist teachers in learning how to include the Internet in their teaching while also, the money spent on technology is at the expense of books and other resources needed by teachers (Rojem, 2002).

Moreover, television and electronic media displace social interaction since, time spent on television viewing is a passive experience that replaces a creative activity or interacting with other people and therefore, spending too much time with electronic media can be an isolating experience that can negatively impact the development of social skills (Walsh, n.d).

Apart from these, the Internet contains unreliable information. Unlike the materials found in a library, the information found on the Internet is not proofread or edited for content and hence, children can be uncritical in evaluating information while also, due to the fact that there are many resources to choose from, children may even become overwhelmed and unable to judge the quality of information and materials included in a site (Rojem, 2002). In addition to these, as Rojem supported, some of these materials and resources can be unsuitable and inappropriate especially for students such as sexually explicit materials abound on the Internet as well as sites that publish destructive information such as how to make a bomb or how to grow narcotic drugs.

Plagiarism is also another disadvantage of the Internet that despite the fact that it is not a new problem, it has become easier to do and more difficult to detect due to he introduction of the Internet and specifically the World Wide Web (Rojem, 2002).

Furthermore, a more general disadvantage of Information and communications technology involves the digital divide. As reported by the United Nations org. (n.d), there is still a gap between those who have electronic access and those who have not or in other words, there is a gap between information-haves and information-have nots that exists between communities and between countries.

In conclusion, computers and the Internet are influencing the way we learn while also, radio is still a dominant medium with wide access while in general, all these media are very powerful to reach, teach and enrich (Arulchelvan & Viswanathan, 2006).

Television and radio are crucial for ensuring social cohesion and development in the digital world while also in general, the electronic media have a vital role to play in the information society (Pleitgen, 2007).

The Internet brought, brings, and “will inevitably bring about major changes in our educational system. As more and more schools gain access to the Internet, teachers will be confronted with the challenge of how best to incorporate this valuable tool into their classrooms. Of course there will not be a complete move away from the conventional teaching methods, but the Internet will definitely alter classroom routines in one way or another” (Rojem, 2002, p.7).

As Rojem (2002) stated, “For children growing up in the information Age, it is hard to imagine a world without computers and the Internet… Just as the generation before them would gather to report the arrival of a new colour television, children today are busy debating who has the fastest modem and biggest hard drive” (p.1).

Closing up, we must keep in mind that: “Communications technology is not an end in itself; it is a vehicle for the provision of information and content” (Pleitgen, 2007, p.13).

References

Alamgir, K. (2002) Debate: Advantages and Disadvantages of the Electronic Media. Retrieved November 4, 2009, from http://www.dawn.com/weekly/yworld/archive/021019/yworld4.htm

Arulchelvan, S. & Viswanathan, D. (2006) Role and Effectiveness of Electronic Media in Higher Education-With Special Reference to Tamilnadu. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education , 7(4). Retrieved November 1, 2009, from http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde24/pdf/article_2.pdf

Howe, W. (2009) A Brief History of the Internet. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from
http://www.walthowe.com/navnet/history.html

Medoff, N. & Kaye, B. (2005) Electronic media: Then, now, and later. Pearson Education, Inc.

Murphy, M.J. (n.d) Convergence, Interactive Media, and Innovation. Retrieved November 2, 2009, from http://www.innovation.ca/innovation2/essay_murphy.html

Pleitgen, F. (2007) A New Vision of Broadcasting in the Information Society. Retrieved November 5, 2009, from http://www.ebu.ch/CMSimages/en/Pleitgenfinal_tcm6-56034.pdf

Poorani (2006) On Electronic Media Vs Reading Habits. Retrieved November 2, 2009, from http://www.urch.com/forums/gre-analysis-issue/47225-electronic-media-vs-reading-habits.html

Rojem, K. (2002) The Impact of the Internet on Education. Retrieved November 3, 2009, from http://www.slais.ubc.ca/COURSES/libr500/01-02-wt2/www/K_Rojem/

Rudd, K.MP, Smith, S. & Conroy, S. (2007) A Digital Education Revolution. Retrieved November 4, 2009, from http://www.alp.org.au/download/now/labors_digital_education_revolution_campaign_launch.pdf

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2005) The Effects of Electronic Media on Children Ages Zero to Six: A History of Research. Retrieved November 6, 2009, from http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/The-Effects-of-Electronic-Media-on-Children-Ages-Zero-to-Six-A-History-of-Research-Issue-Brief.pdf

United Nations Org. (n.d) Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Retrieved November 4, 2009, from http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/briefing/technology/tech.pdf

Walsh, E. (n.d) Electronic Media and Young Children. Retrieved November 4, 2009, from http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Electronic_Media/

Utility Computing

2010-03-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

Although computers have offered people an easy way to complete their tasks, the machines themselves can be challenging to maintain and repair and consequently, many companies are forced to spend millions of dollars on IT support in order to keep computers and applications running properly (Strickland, 2008). One potential solution in dealing with this kind of problems is utility computing. Utility computing is one of the many developing technologies and services emerging in the IT world and along with other technologies such as autonomic computing, grids and on-demand enterprise, utility computing gives IT management a new way of managing future workloads and applications (Murch, 2004).

“Utility computing is a usage model in which customers pay for computational resources through an established fee-per-time schedule, as if they were utilities. These fees can cover hardware, software, or storage usage, and fees for associated services rendered…Utility computing as a service has existed for many years, but with the increased demand for high-performance computing (HPC) resources, it is emerging as a World Wide trend” (Willard, Joseph & Lamy, 2007, p.1). Utility computing is based on the following principle: one company pays another company for computing services that may include hardware rental, use of specific computer applications, access to computer processing power, data storage space, etc., depending on what the client wants (Strickland, 2008). “The word utility is used to make an analogy to other services, such as electrical power, that seek to meet fluctuating customer needs, and charge for the resources based on usage rather than on a flat-rate basis. This approach, sometimes known as pay-per-use or metered services is becoming increasingly common in enterprise computing and is sometimes used for the consumer market as well, for Internet service, Website access, file sharing, and other applications” (SearchDataCenter.com, 2007, ¶2).

Utility computing consists of a virtualized pool of IT resources that can be provisioned to ensure that these resources are easily and continually reallocated in a way that addresses the organization’s service needs while also, these resources can be located anywhere and managed by anyone (Murch, 2004). “The vision behind utility computing is to have computing resources available on demand from virtual utilities around the globe-always on and highly available, secure, efficiently metered, priced on a pay-as-you-use basis, dynamically scaled, self-healing, and easy to manage” (Turban, Leidner, Mclean & Wetherbe, 2008, p.59).

As reported by the Saugatuck Technology Inc. (2004), utility computing can be separated into the following two kinds: (a) internal utility computing, where the IS organization acts as an information utility that delivers and charges on a pay as you go basis for the use of shared resources; and (b) external utility computing, where one or more Service Providers charge for the on-demand delivery of IT functionality on a pay as you go basis, using resources shared by multiple clients, each of which manages its own Information Utility. As stated by the Saugatuck Technology Inc., “In both cases, the delivered services are enabled by a combined platform of shared IT infrastructure, applications, and business processes” (p.3).

As Willard et al. (2007) noted, utility computing is coming to the fore due to the lowering of the utility computing price point and due to the increasing demand for computing power that cannot easily be fulfilled by capital expenditure alone. The goal of utility computing is to synchronize IT resources to match fluctuating service requirements in order to enable businesses to flexibly provide optimal service levels at a justifiable cost (Wagner, 2006). As Turban et al. (2008) supported, utility computing will change the way software is sold, delivered, and used while it is also estimated that all software will become a service and be sold as a utility one day.

It is the author’s belief and point of view that utility computing will be the dominating option for almost all companies, businesses, corporations, and institutions, including education due to many reasons that basically refer to the advantages of the utility computing model and the benefits it can offer to companies and institutions. Some of those advantages that can possibly contribute to making utility computing the dominate option for the future are next mentioned and discussed. Utility computing provides a cost-effective solution to companies and institutions. The use of utility computing can be less expensive compared to the cost of running computer operations in-house and in fact, most of the cost for maintenance becomes the responsibility of the provider and not the client (Strickland, 2008). With utility computing, companies can create cost-effective virtualized IT infrastructure for flexible workload consolidation while they can also offer hardware and software as a service (3PAR Inc., 2010). With the use of utility computing, clients only pay for the compute capacity they require while simultaneously, they gain access to the capacity of state-of-the-art supercomputers they may not be able to access otherwise (Willard et al., 2007).

As Barmijo (2005) supported, the cost-effectiveness of utility computing can also be explained from the following three aspects: (a) the infrastructure for the application can be defined easily online, one time, and then be reused again, reducing by this way the administration time spent in order to provision and configure servers, switches and volumes; (b) there is no need for spare resources to be retained for staging, testing, support or education because they can be deployed and used only while actually needed; and (c) the design of the applications can be done in such a way that takes advantage of the ability of the utility system to scale the resources they operate on and avoid over-provision.

An important advantage of utility computing involves convenience. In specific, the client does not have to buy all the software, hardware and licenses that are necessary for doing business since the client can rely on another party to provide these services and therefore, the client does not have to worry about and get involve with the burden of maintaining and administering the system since the utility computing company will take care of this and therefore, the client can concentrate on other tasks (Strickland, 2008). As Willard et al. (2007) supported, utility computing allows companies to focus on their core competencies and be more effective within their organization rather than dealing with IT issues.

Utility computing provides flexibility in implementation. As Murch (2004) stated, utility computing “provides total flexibility in implementation, from in-house and self-managed to fully outsourced, with everything in-between -including a hybrid deployment model in which in-house capacity can be supplemented by third-party resources to handle peak needs” (¶8). In addition, utility computing enables clients to be flexible and react to market changes rapidly while it can also avoid all the delays associated with acquiring and implementing the required IT infrastructure and therefore, it can cut the time to market of a new product dramatically (Willard et al., 2007).

Utility computing can reduce deployment time. In particular, utility computing has the ability to deploy resources faster, more effectively and efficiently than a user firm’s internal resources while also, flexible hardware, software and networking platform enable this type of adaptability in a more cost-effective way (Saugatuck Technology Inc., 2004). Furthermore, the utility computing model provides extensibility. It provides clients an extension of their IT infrastructure without the need to own, maintain, manage, and upgrade the technology (Willard et al., 2007).

Availability is also an important advantage of the utility computing model. In specific, the model is always available and hence, the customer can rely on the utility provider to deliver the required compute capacity in order to run business-critical compute-intensive workloads (Willard et al., 2007). Apart from these, compatibility constitutes an advantage of the utility computing model. Due to the fact that the files used by employees in one department of a company might be incompatible with the software used by employees in another department, utility computing offers companies the option to subscribe to a single service and use the same suite of software throughout the entire organization (Strickland, 2008). As reported by the Saugatuck Technology Inc. (2004), “Utility computing can deliver more efficient business operations, improve the responsiveness of IT to changing business needs, and reduce the complexities of managing IT, from sourcing to integration to upgrades and maintenance” (p.2).

As mentioned previously, the author supports the idea that utility computing will be the dominating option of the future. Utility computing will become the option of choice for almost all companies in various sectors of society. Consequently, utility computing will also become the dominate option in the education sector in the future that will also have the opportunity to gain the various benefits and advantages of utility computing that were mentioned and discussed above. In addition to these benefits and advantages, the field of education can gain and some other unique and important benefits from utility computing and some of these are next mentioned and discussed. According to McCrea (2009), “As technology proliferates…, a number of schools are looking beyond the traditional purchase and install software options and tapping the trend known as on-demand, software as a service (SaaS), hosted, or cloud computing” (¶1).

Cost-effectiveness is an advantage of utility computing that attracts not only companies and organizations but also the educational institutions. As Subramanian (2009) supported, every country can save millions by using utility computing in education while also, the model of utility computing can improve and increase the efficiency and productivity of teachers and students as well. Additionally, “SaaS enables all institutions-regardless of size-to purchase a software solution for a few dollars per student per year” (SchoolDude.com, 2010, ¶4).

Utility computing can greatly benefit schools in respect of software licensing. Schools do not want to spend more money on licenses but rather they need a simpler licensing model while they also want to invest minimal staff in managing their computer requirements, and hence, utility computing or SaaS can offer them an easy way to get over the clutches and problems associated with the traditional licensing models (Subramanian, 2009). As DeCoufle (2009) noted, utility computing offers schools a reduced and simplified expenditure on software licensing.

Furthermore, with utility computing, reliance on school-based IT staff is decreased. SaaS applications are delivered via the Internet and therefore, they do not require IT resources to configure, install, maintain, or monitor (SchoolDude.com, 2010). Also, with utility computing, fewer applications are hosted locally and therefore, the school-based technical staff has less to do while also, the particular skills and abilities of the staff are further reduced due to the provision of on-demand online help desks and remote access support (DeCoufle, 2009).

Another advantage of utility computing that attracts schools refers to faster implementation. In contrast with traditional purchase-and-install applications that might take months to install and implement, utility computing options can often be up and running within a few weeks or even sooner and as a result, schools can meet students’ needs much faster and therefore, they can focus more on educating students rather than running complex IT configurations and software programs (McCrea, 2009). As reported in SchoolDude.com (2010), “With SaaS, an educational institution can be up and running in days or weeks, not the 18-24 months that is typical with traditional client-server solutions” (¶10). Moreover, utility computing frees students from the boundaries of time and location and in fact, every student with access to a utility version of a database or web server will have the luxury of 24/7 availability of resources from any location with web access (Anderson, Wiles & Young, 2008). Also, utility computing provides teachers and students with greater ubiquity of access to their files, applications and social networks, anytime, anyplace, any device (DeCoufle, 2009).

Utility computing enables schools to experiment. In particular, under the traditional software system it is expensive and difficult for schools to experiment with different kinds of applications and platforms but on the contrary, utility computing offers schools greater flexibility to experiment with newer apps and platforms (Subramanian, 2009). Furthermore, an also important benefit that schools can gain from utility computing is that it will make the curriculum more agile. Due to the fact that with utility computing the current fixed cost is changed to a variable cost based on use it will be easy to add students to a class that requires server services while also, this will make teachers not to worry about reaching classes with infrastructure intensive hands-on components such as database and web development (Anderson et al., 2008). Moreover, utility computing reduces or even eliminates problems regarding software updates and therefore, schools do not have to worry about issues of software updates since they will happen automatically (DeCoufle, 2009). In addition to these, as Anderson et al. supported, utility computing offers students increased opportunities in providing instructional environments which would be impossible or extremely expensive otherwise.

On the other side of the coin, utility computing has disadvantages as well and some of these disadvantages are next mentioned and discussed. An important disadvantage of utility computing involves reliability. If a utility computing company faces financial problems or has frequent equipment problems, it is possible that clients could get cut off from the services for which they are paying (Strickland, 2008). Also, the use of utility computing raises issues of concern regarding security. Due to the fact that industries are extremely competitive, security of the data is priceless to the corporation concerned (Willard et al., 2007). Moreover, cost can be sometimes regarded as a disadvantage of utility computing. Although utility computing deals include declining costs per unit of usage over time, IT depreciation needs to be considered into the pricing and therefore, usage over time often increases as business needs increase and consequently, pricing contracts result in higher usage costs over time (Saugatuck Technology Inc., 2004).

Another disadvantage of utility computing refers to hackers. Utility computing can be an attractive target for hackers who might want to access services without paying for them or who may even want to investigate client files (Strickland, 2008). As Strickland noted, much of the responsibility of keeping the system safe falls to the provider, but some of it also relies on the client’s practices and therefore, if a company does not educate its workforce about proper access procedures, then it will not be hard for an intruder to find ways to invade the utility computing system of a company. Furthermore, there are instances where utility computing might not be an efficient model to use. In specific, “some workloads simply are not conducive to being run over the Internet. This can be due to bandwidth limitations or the amount of interactivity required. If the customer needs to continually evaluate results of many short runs with large data sets that need to be upload at each iteration, utility computing might not be an efficient model” (Willard et al., 2007, p.8).

Comparing the benefits and advantages of utility computing it can be denoted that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and therefore, the author’s belief and point of view supports that utility computing will be the dominating option of the future as it will also dominate in education in the future. Closing up, “Our consumer utilities such as gas, water, and electricity all arrive on demand and independent of the uses to which they are put. This makes for a relatively easy billing structure-consistent infrastructure (pipe, wire) whose capital costs and maintenance are embedded in the usage rate. Exchange is simple: product in via infrastructure, invoice and payment on separate channels. Computing can be bought the same way. This is the basic premise of utility computing, which promises processing power when you need it, where you need it, at the cost of how much you use” (Murch, 2004).

References

Anderson, J.E., Wiles, F.A. & Young, K.P. (2008) The Impact of Cloud Computing on IS/IT Academics. Retrieved January 8, 2010, from http://www.iacis.org/iis/2008_iis/pdf/S2008_1086.pdf

Barmijo (2005) How Does Utility Computing Reduce Cost? Retrieved January 9, 2010, from http://blog.3tera.com/computing/how-does-utility-computing-reduce-cost/

DeCoufle, B. (2009) The Impact of Cloud Computing on Schools. Retrieved January 9, 2010, from http://datacenterjournal.com/content/view/3032/40/

McCrea, B. (2009) IT on Demand: The Pros and Cons of Cloud Computing in Higher Education. Retrieved January 5, 2010, from http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2009/08/20/IT-on-Demand-The-Pros-and-Cons-of-Cloud-Computing-in-Higher-Education.aspx

Murch, R. (2004) Introduction to Utility Computing: How It Can Improve TCO. Retrieved January 7 2010, from http://www.ibmpressbooks.com/articles/article.asp?p=344241

Saugatuck Technology Inc. (2004) Utility Computing: The Current and Future Business Reality. Retrieved January 10, 2009, from http://www.saugatech.com/reports/UC-ACS%2001Oct04.pdf

SchoolDude.com (2010) Why SaaS for Education? Retrieved January 11, 2010, from http://www.schooldude.com/solutions/saas-for-education/

SearchDataCenter.com (2007) Utility Computing. Retrieved January 6, 2010, from http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid80_gci904539,00.html

Strickland, J. (2008) How Utility Computing Works. Retrieved January 6, 2010, from http://communication.howstuffworks.com/utility-computing.htm

Subramanian, K. (2009) How Cloud Computing Can Help School Education? Retrieved January 7, 2010, from http://www.cloudave.com/link/how-cloud-computing-can-help-school-education

Turban, E., Leidner, D., Mclean, E., & Wetherbe, J. (2008) Information technology for management: Transforming organizations in the digital economy (6th ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Wagner, D. (2006) Delivering the Advantages of Utility Computing Today Through Proactive Resource Management. Retrieved January 7, 2010, from http://www.enterprisenetworksandservers.com/monthly/art.php?2082

Willard, C.G., Joseph, E. & Lamy, L. (2007) An Overview of Compute-Intensive Utility Computing. Retrieved January 10, 2010, from http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/resources/systems_deepcomputing_cod_pdf_idcutilitycomputingwhitepaper.pdf

3PAR Inc. (2010) Utility Computing. Retrieved January 5, 2010, from http://www.3par.com/solutions/utility_computing.html

Data Management

2010-03-16T17:59:00.000-07:00

Computers and the Internet have made possible Web-based or network-based software systems for managing not only business processes but also many school processes and in fact, today, everything relating to the school environment such as attendance rosters can be handled by computer systems while also, more and more student assessment can be managed with computers, generating data results that can be used for additional software manipulation (Doe, 2009). Education data, that are simply numerical information and are gathered about the operations of the education system, are essential tools for educational decision-making (Durosaro, n.d). The current essay provides a report on the data problems that have been encountered in an educational organization in Cyprus and the measures that have been taken in order to solve these problems. In addition, this report unveils the data problems as they are related to some data quality dimensions such as accuracy, accessibility, relevance, timeliness, and completeness.

Data management systems are developing large amounts of information that can be stored, combined, and analyzed for data-driven instructional leadership, and the need for this type of information and analysis is further fueled by funding accountability as well as the demands of state and national standards, including the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation (Doe, 2009). As Turban, Leidner, Mclean and Wetherbe (2008) outlined, the goal of data management is to provide the infrastructure that is necessary in order to transform raw data into corporate information that has the highest quality while also, the foundation of data management has some building blocks such as data profiling, data quality management, data integration, and data augmentation.

An important issue related to the data gathered in any organization whether that is business, industry, medicine, or education refers to data quality dimensions. Data quality is an important and crucial issue because quality determines not only the usefulness of the data but also the quality of the decisions based on the data (Turban et al., 2008). As stated by the Melissa Data Corporation (2010), “In order for the analyst to determine the scope of the underlying root causes and to plan the ways that tools can be used to address data quality issues, it is valuable to understand…data quality dimensions” (¶2). The most common and basic data quality dimensions include: accuracy, accessibility, relevance, timeliness, and completeness. “Accuracy of data is the degree to which data correctly reflects the real world object or an event being described” (Building Intelligent and Performing Enterprises Institute, n.d, ¶2) For instance, as reported by the Melissa Data Corporation, in correct spellings of the names of persons or products, their addresses or even untimely or not current data can impact operational and analytical applications.

Accessibility refers to the ease with which customers can identify, obtain, and use the information in the data products and relevance refers to the degree to which the data products provide information that meets the needs of the customers (Tupek, 2006). As supported by the Building Intelligent and Performing Enterprises Institute (n.d), the timeliness of the data is an also important data quality dimension and this is reflected in issues such as the following: the organizations and companies are required to publish their quarterly results within a given frame of time; and customers’ services need to provide customers with up-to date information. As Wand and Wang (1996) noted, “Timeliness has been defined in terms of whether the data is out of date and availability of output on time…Timeliness is affected by three factors: How fast the information system stated is updated after the real-world system changes (system currency); the rate of change of the real-world system (volatility); and the time the data is actually used” (p.8).

As Wand and Wang (1996) reported, completeness is achieved when all the necessary values for a certain variable are included, and hence a set of data is complete. For instance, in some cases, missing data is irrelevant but when the information that is missing is critical to a specific process, then completeness becomes an issue (Melissa Data Corporation, 2010). As noted by the Building Intelligent and Performing Enterprises Institute (n.d), data completeness refers to the extent to which the expected attributes of data are provided and in fact, data completeness refers actually to the expected completeness and therefore, it is possible for data not to be available but it is still considered completed as it meets the expectations of the user.

Going further, the author has interviewed a knowledge worker in an educational organization in Cyprus and has identified the data problems encountered in the organization as well as the measures taken to solve these problems. Next, follows a report on those data problems that are related to the data quality dimensions that were mentioned and discussed above as well as a report on the measures that were taken in order to solve those data problems. The educational organization faced data problems due to the fact that the gathered and collected data had not met the data quality dimensions such as accuracy, accessibility, relevance, timeliness, and completeness. In general, data problems that were encountered included and involved incorrect data, redundant data, irrelevant data, missing data, etc.

The data available at the educational organization lacked of an important data quality dimension, and that is accuracy. As a result, the organization encountered problems that involved data validity, data inconsistency, data integrity, data inaccuracy as well as concurrency problems. In specific, the educational organization’s data were created and used offline and due to the fact that these data do not go through quality control checks, the validity and hence the accuracy of the data is not assured but rather is questionable (Turban et al., 2008). In addition to this, problems that were also encountered involved the inconsistency and integrity of the data as well as concurrency problems. As it was also reported by Turban et al., the actual values across various copies of the data were not synchronized and for instance, changes in students’ information were not made in all applications in the educational organization that require this information.

Moreover, the educational organization encountered data integrity and concurrency problems, which, according to Turban et al., had as a result, the data values not to meet the integrity constraints and in fact, while an application was updating a record, another application could not access that specific record and hence it could not get the desired information. Furthermore, problems of inaccuracy occurred due to the fact that the data had not accurately represented the real-world values they were expected to model and for instance, the operational applications were affected by incorrect spellings of students’ and teachers’ names and addresses (Melissa Data Corporation, 2010). Apart from these, the problem of data inaccuracy occurred due to the fact that the head teachers had not kept and allocated the records and data for their schools accurately deliberately, in order to influence financial allocation to their schools while they had also done this because of ignorance about record keeping (Durosaro, n.d).

The educational organization encountered problems not only because of the low quality of the data regarding accuracy but also because of the lack of accessibility to the data. In specific, the problem of accessibility arose due to the data increase, poor storage and retrieval of the data, and also due to the fact that the data were redundant and scattered as well. In particular, the amount of data gathered at the educational organization was increasing rapidly due to the fact that time to time and year by year, the number of students and teachers was increasing while also, data about old students and teachers was also increasing. As Turban et al. (2008) noted, much past data must be kept for a long time, and new data are added quickly but while only a small portion of the educational organization’s data are relevant to be used for any specific application, that relevant data must also be identified and found in order to be useful.
Problems with accessibility to the data occurred also because the educational organization’s data were scattered. Due to the fact that the data were stored in several servers and in different computing systems, databases, and formats, consequently, the data were scattered throughout the organization and were collected by many individuals using various methods and devices (Turban et al., 2008). As a result, this sometimes presented difficulties in and problems with accessing some of the data. The problem of accessibility was also caused because of the poor storage and retrieval of the data. As it was also reported by Durosaro (n.d), much of the educational organization’s data were kept in files and folders and stored in drawers while also, there were no statistics units in the educational organization to help gather and store the necessary data and there was an insufficient data-based management information system, and this method of collection hindered and prevented retrieval while it also resulted in the loss of data. In addition to these, as Durosaro outlined, “The problems facing educators in the area of data storage are such that people are careless with data. People don’t preserve documents even personal documents such as pay slips, declaration of age, marriage certificates, receipts of payment made on schools fees and even certificates are being poorly kept and lost” (p.4).

Apart from these, the fact that the data were redundant also caused problems with accessibility. As it was also reported by Turban et al. (2008), the data throughout the educational organization were often out-of-date and redundant and hence, data managers faced problems in their maintenance while also, due to the fact that applications and their data files were created by different programmers over a period of time, another problem occurred that involved the duplication of the same data in various files. In addition to these, as Turban et al. noted, as a consequence of accessing data from different applications, the problem of data isolation occurred since the data were organized differently, were stored in different formats and were often inaccessible to other applications.

The educational organization’s data lacked of another data quality dimension, timeliness and this was due to some other data problems such as the non availability of the data. In specific, some important records and data that were necessary were not kept while others were poorly kept and therefore, the needed information could not be found because it had not been obtained by the educational organization and also because data have been lost due to poor storage (Durosaro, n.d). In addition to these, as Durosaro also reported, some data have been mixed up to the extent that retrieval was very difficult when required for use.
The educational organization encountered also problems regarding data security. Due to the fact that new applications were continually added to the system on an add-hoc basis, and hence, with more applications more people had access to data, security was very difficult to enforce in the file environment (Turban et al., 2008). In addition to these, as Turban et al. also reported, another problem that was encountered involved the selection of the data management tool and this was due to the large number of the products that were available while also, another problem that was encountered was that the applications were developed with regard to how the data were stored and in fact, the applications and data in computer systems were not independent but rather they were dependent on each other. Apart from these, another problem that was also reported by Turban et al. and the educational organization also encountered, involved the delegation of data-quality responsibilities to the technical teams that impacted and affected negatively the high-quality of the data.

The particular educational organization in Cyprus encountered a variety of data problems and this has had as a result the data to lack of important data quality dimensions such as accuracy, accessibility, relevance, timeliness, and completeness. In order to solve this kind of problems, the educational organization took some measures that are next mentioned and discussed. The educational organization used data and analysis in order to drive decision-making practices and in specific, it made use of an Education Data Warehouse (EDW) in order to store, manage, and analyze the data. “A data warehouse is a repository of data that are organized to be readily acceptable for analytical processing activities (such as data mining, decision support, querying, and other applications)” (Turban et al., 2008, p.100). The data warehouse gathers data into reports that help guide decision making at schools, districts, and individual student levels (Durosaro, n.d). As Mills (2008) noted, data warehouses are structured in order to facilitate data collection, management, querying and reporting for decision making. Data warehouse can be used to address issues in academic institutions regarding the effectiveness of new instructional techniques, student satisfaction, etc. (Chaplot, 2007). In addition to these, as supported by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators (2005), data warehousing is a tool that can help districts become data driven in order to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind legislation and allows districts to find answers and ask complex questions that uncover underlying problems, thus leading to the design of data driven student achievement and school improvement strategies. As Chaplot supported, the fundamental goal of the data warehouse is to support strategic planning, modeling and forecasting at the organizational level while also, it must fulfill the need for knowledge for an area of uncertainty or growth in the organization and therefore, in order to achieve this goal, the data warehouse must provide a comprehensive and consistent view of the organization.

As Turban et al. (2008) noted, data warehousing makes it easier and faster for organizations to process, analyze, and query data while it also provides for improved analytical processing which involves analysis of accumulated data and it includes decision support systems, data mining, Web applications, enterprise information systems, querying, etc. As Mills (2008) stated, “A successful and sustainable data warehouse can be an important contributor to a district’s ongoing success” (¶9) Additionally, effective data warehousing can help create a meaningful relationship between information technology and organizations, thus facilitating enterprise-level strategic planning and growth as well (Chaplot, 2007). A data warehouse may include data such as: personnel data, student demographics and achievement data, financial data as well as assessment data (Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators, 2005).
Moreover, as Chaplot noted, a data warehouse can address various phenomena and issues such as the following three: (a) how can instruction be modified in order to help students learn to write more effective essays; (b) are students who attend classes full-time more likely to succeed academically than those who take classes on a part-time basis; and (c) what kind of training is necessary for new employees?

As Chaplot (2007) reported, a data warehouse has four main components: operational systems of record, the data staging area, the data presentations area, and data access tools, and each of these components serves a unique function in preparing data for manipulation and examination. According to Turban et al. (2008), a data warehouse has the following eight characteristics: (a) organization, where the data are organized by subject and include information relevant for decision support; (b) time variant, where the data are kept for many years in order to be used for trends, forecasting, and comparisons over time; (c) consistency, where the data in various databases may be encoded differently; (d) integration, where data from various sources are integrated while also integration is supported by the use of Web services; (e) real time, where it is possible to arrange for real-time capabilities despite the fact that most applications of data warehousing are not in real time; (f) nonvolatile, where the data are not updated once entered into the data warehouse; (g) web-based, where data warehouses are designed to provide an efficient computing environment for web-based applications; and (h) relational, where the data warehouse uses the client/server architecture to provide the user an easy access to its data.
The educational organization as noted previously, faced various data problems such as inaccurate and inaccessible data, irrelevant data as well as problems regarding the security of the data, the completeness of the data, etc. In order to solve this kind of problems and hence provide for a data management, the educational organization decided to use an Education Data Warehouse (EDW). In addition to solving these particular data problems, as Turban et al. (2008) noted, this kind of data management will help the educational organization ease the burden of maintaining data and will enhance the power from their use while also, it will be able to support easy data access and quick, accurate and effective decision making. Apart from these, the aim of using an Education Data Warehouse is for better management and resource allocation decisions to flow if information can be made available (Durosaro, n.d).

In order to solve the data problems related to education, the educational organization has built and used an education data warehouse. The education data warehouse is a place that helped the organization to easily view and analyze the data collected from multiple data sources and a key support to data-driven decision making (Sanders, Romond & Ferrara, n.d). In specific, the education data warehouse was created in order to unify data collection efforts and to allow the organization to conduct trend analyses and track students and teachers to evaluate programs (The Center for Teaching Quality, n.d). As it was also supported by the Florida Department of Education (2005), the education data warehouse integrates existing, transformed data extracted from various sources that are available at the state level and it provides a single repository of data concerning students served in the public education system as well as educational facilities, curriculum and staff involved in instructional activities.

The education data warehouse has the following characteristics, as reported by the Florida Department of Education (2005): it allows longitudinal analyses, ensures confidentiality, includes historical and current data, is student-centric, and has state-of-the-art analytical capabilities. The data sources include student demographics and background, progression through grades, staff data, basic teacher data such as demographics, addresses, certification data, instructional activities, teacher salary and compensations, licensure test scores, degrees earned, course assignments, licensure status as well as endorsement areas and these data about the teachers are extracted from the databases of the Department of Education (The Center for Teaching Quality, n.d). In addition to these, as it was also reported by the Florida Department of Education, the education data warehouse includes student courses taken, enrollment, test scores, financial aid, awards, educational curriculum as well as educational institutions.
At the education data warehouse, each teacher record is assigned a different unique ID and each year new assignments of IDs are checked using ethnicity, name, and birthday while also, the warehouse includes data on teacher demographics, current work, and certification data with information on preparation (The Center for Teaching Quality, n.d). Additionally, as noted by the The Center for Teaching Quality, the warehouse includes individual records from public higher education institutions that allow tracking of teacher preparation graduates to work in the schools, including information on their coursework.
The education data warehouse was chosen as a solution to the data problems that the educational organization was facing due to the following three benefits it provides, as they were also reported by the Florida Department of Education (2005): (a) it provides capabilities to perform trend analyses and to track students and teachers over time and across delivery systems; (b) it allows the users of the educational organization to run their own queries against summarized data in a timely and efficient manner; and (c) it provides decision-makers with tools and information necessary to make informed, fact-based decisions about education.

Apart from these, the education data warehouse stores information on student achievement and outcomes from various sources that help teachers and administrators to better serve every student in the school and in fact, these data allow for the continual and longitudinal tracking of individual student achievement (Edudata Canada Team, 2005). In addition to these, as noted by the Edudata Canada Team, the education data warehouse provides students’ data that help identify specific learning strengths and weaknesses and help develop strategies to address them and this is achieved by identifying students who need additional help and by informing teachers about student specific weaknesses across the elementary instruction while also, information about individual students from elementary schools can be easily shared with secondary schools through the data warehouse. As Doe (2009) stated, the warehouse forms a longitudinal history from the data that can provide insights into student achievement and educational effectiveness. Furthermore, as Doe supported, users can query the data warehouse in order to compare different types of data such as assessment scores according to demographics while also, the warehouse enables the evaluation of the same kinds of data for various reasons.
The use of the education data warehouse for consolidation of information helped the educational organization in Cyprus, as it was also reported by the Microsoft Corporation (2010), to: manage information in its many forms such as documents, sensor data, imagery, etc.; access information where it is useful such as from desktop to mobile devices; share information with the people who need it within and across the organization; and to secure information for different users in various operations. The education data warehouse, as outlined by the Microsoft Corporation, “provide[s] the technologies that academic institutions need to contain proliferation, manage data in all its divergent forms, and make information easy to access and use” (¶12).

The current essay provided a report on the data problems encountered in an educational organization in Cyprus and the measures taken in order to solve them. The data problems that were mentioned and discussed previously, occurred due to the fact that the organization’s data lacked of important data quality dimensions such as accuracy, accessibility, relevance, timeliness, and completeness. In specific, the data problems that were encountered in the educational organization included the following: data increase, data validity, data integrity, data inconsistency, data security, data redundancy, non availability of data, inaccuracy of data, poor storage and retrieval of the data, problems regarding data accessibility, concurrency problems as well as other problems that were presented due to the fact that the data were scattered. In order to solve this kind of data problems the educational organization made use of an education data warehouse that integrates and stores education data from multiple sources in various methods in order to support organizational decision-making (Chaplot, 2007). The use of an education data warehouse was found to be effective and helped the educational organization to manage the data and solve the data problems that were encountered. Closing up, as Chaplot outlined, a data warehouse “provide[s] users access and control to a wide variety of centralized and formatted data to choose the best course to action and support…decisions. Users can manipulate and customize the data to support specific queries that will enable positive changes at various…levels. Since the various stages increase data accuracy and integrity, complex queries can be conducted with a strong sense of confidence” (p.5)

References
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Blogs in Education

2009-12-10T09:58:00.000-08:00

Over the past fifteen years the Internet has revolutionized many sectors of society whether that is business, industry, finance, or education, not to mention almost every facet of our lives (Johnson, 2007). “As the Internet becomes an increasingly pervasive and persistent influence in people’s lives, the phenomenon of the blog stands out as a fine example of the way in which the Web enables individual participation in the marketplace of ideas” (Crie, 2006, ¶1). Established as a Web based communications tool, with an estimated number of users in excess of one million, blogs have emerged from early email lists and instant messaging communities as a means of informing readers about items of interest to the authors, news, and personal information (Williams & Jacobs, 2004).

In the field of education, “Teachers have picked up on the creative use of the blog to work in the classroom. The education blog can be a powerful and effective technology tool for students and teachers alike” (Crie, 2006, ¶2). Consequently, the current essay provides a report on the key advantages and disadvantages of blogs in education as well as a report on the author’s position statement on the issue of blogs in education as a tool for learning.

The term blog is short for web log and it began as an online diary in the early 1990s, and has now grown into a tool that is used by thousands of people while also, the software functions like a journal or as a forum for personal opinions and reflections on various topics (Johnson, 2007). Specifically, “A blog is a website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic” (Lujan-Mora, 2006, p.2). “A weblog, more commonly known as a blog, is a new type of website. Blogs are free-flowing journals, kind of literary self expressions, in which bloggers spout their opinions, criticize and laud public policy, opine about what’s happening in the online and nononline worlds, and connect visitors to essential readings. Blogs are written informally and serve as venues for those who want to be heard and for those who want to be in the know” (Medoff & Kaye, 2005, p.86). As Hastings (2003) stated, the newborn publishing world of weblogs seems to be having a significant impact on publication, communication, and education.

According to Lujan-Mora (2006), a weblog entry consists of the following: “title, the main title or headline, of the post; body, main content of the post; permalink, the URL of the full, individual article; and post date, date and time the post was published” (p.2). As Huette (2006) noted, “Blogs can be hosted by dedicated blog hosting services, or they can be run using blog software on regular web hosting services” (p.2). Blogs are connected to each other and form what is commonly known as the blogosphere and the list of blogs that blog authors post is known as blogroll while also blogs may be read through special readers, known as RSS readers which aggregate blog summaries produced by blog software (Downes, 2009).
“Blogs are set-up like conventional Web sites, with navigation links, and other standard web site features. Blogs have one standard characteristic, however: the posting. Blog postings are text entries, similar to a diary or journal, which include comments by people other than the author, photos, links, or other digital media” (Crie, 2006, ¶4).

It is the author’s belief and point of view that blogs can be used effectively and efficiently in many ways and in various curriculum areas as a tool for learning and they can provide teachers and students with many benefits, The use of blogs in education has many advantages but on the other hand it has some disadvantages as well, some of which are next mentioned and discussed. As Downes (2009) outlined, “Blogs are widely popular in education, as evidenced by the 400 thousand educational blogs hosted by edublogs. Teachers have been using them to support teaching and learning since 2005” (¶6).

An important advantage of blogs is their versatility and interactivity. As Williams and Jacobs (2004) supported, blogs cater for a wide diversity of interests and uses and there is no rule that states that a blog has to be owned and operated by an individual. Additionally, as Williams and Jacobs noted, there are group blogs, community blogs, and corporate blogs as well as blogs that are defined by their content such as WarBlogs, LibLogs, or EduBlogs. Moreover, blogs are interactive. Readers are allowed to make comments offering support or suggesting alternative ways to handle the same material while also, bloggers place their ideas out in public for the world to see and react to (Stach, 2004).

A significant advantage of blogs is that they act as a motivation to the students. As Nguyen (2006) stated, blogs are “highly motivating to students, especially those who otherwise might not become participants in classrooms” (¶2). In addition to these, the fact that other students might read their work, acts as a motivation to the students and is more likely to work harder than they would otherwise (Johnson, 2007). Apart from these, blogging gives students a potentially global, worldwide audience for their work. “Having such an audience can result in feedback and greatly increase student motivation to do their best work” (Downes, 2009, ¶9). In addition, as De Nys (2008) outlined, “The worldwide audience provides recognition for students that can be quite profound. Students feel more compelled to write when they believe many others may read and respond. It gives them motivation to excel” (p.27)

Except for these, blogs contribute to the promotion of deeper learning. As Oravec stated, “The blog has many dimensions that are suited to students` unique voices, empowering them, and encouraging them to become more critically analytical in their thinking. The reason, simply is that in order to develop and sustain a clear and confident voice of one´s own, one has to carefully formulate and stand by one´s opinions. Writing a blog assists here because it forces a student to contemplate how their views might be interpreted and reflected upon by others” (Williams & Jacobs, 2004, ¶12).

Moreover, blogging gives all students a voice and contributes to the formation of students´ identity. In specific, blogs offer students who have difficulties and are unwilling in speaking up or asking questions in class, the opportunity to expand their thoughts, edit their writing, and then share it with the class while also, with blogs with blogs, students have a greater opportunity to speak out since they maintain their own space and this is something that is not possible to happen in an online discussion (Johnson, 2007). “Additionally, blogs give students ownership over their own learning and an authentic voice, allowing them to articulate their needs and inform their own learning. Blogs have been shown to contribute to identity-formation in students” (Downes, 2009, ¶8). Blogs, offer students a high level of autonomy while they also allow them to interact with their peers (Williams & Jacobs, 2004). Also, as De Nys (2008) supported, blogs give students a totally new perspective on the meaning of voice while also, as students explore their own learning and thinking, their distinctive voices emerge, and student voices are essential to the conversations we need to have about learning.

Going further, another important advantage of blogs is that they foster and contribute to the development of a community of learners due to the fact that blogs connect with each other. “Blogs provide a space for sharing opinions and learning in order to grow communities of discourse and knowledge-a space where students and teachers can learn from each other” (De Nys, 2008, p.26). Additionally, authors can share opinions with each other as well as support each by posting comments and answering to questions (Downes, 2009) “As Mireille Guay notes: The conversation possible on the Weblog is also an amazing tool to develop our community of learners. The students get to know each other better by visiting and reading blogs from other students. They discover, in a non-threatening way, their similarities and differences. The student who usually talks very loud in the classroom and the student who is very timid have the same writing space to voice their opinion. It puts students in a situation of equity” (Downes, 2004, ¶22).

An also important advantage of blogs is the fact that they offer great opportunities for collaboration between the students. AsWilliams and Jacobs (2004) noted, blogs encourage “collaboration through the sharing of links to resources and up to date information” (¶12). Moreover, blogs provide a space where teachers and students can work collaboratively, in order to further develop writing and other skills, having the advantage of an instant audience (Nguyen, 2006). As Sebastian Fiedler noted, “These tools offer a new and powerful toolkit for the support of collaborative and individual learning that adheres to the patterns of contemporary information-intensive work and learning outside of formal educational settings” (Downes, 2004, ¶25). Also, students have the opportunity to read the blogs of other students and this is something that is not possible in a regular classroom setting (De Nys, 2008). As Richardson (2004) outlined, “The collaborative aspect of Weblogs is what has brought many teachers into the fold. Commenting capabilities in many of the blogging software packages allow for easy peer review for students and teachers and make bringing in experts or mentors from outside the classroom easy” (¶9).

Apart from these, blogs contribute to the promotion and development of important skills to the students such as critical thinking skills, writing skills, research skills, etc. As Richardson noted, “Blogging as a genre of writing may have great value in terms of developing all sorts of critical thinking skills, writing skills and information literacy among other things” (Downes, 2004, ¶46). In addition, blogging contributes to the promotion and development of digital literacy due to the fact that students learn to critically assess and evaluate various online resources (Downes, 2009). Furthermore, as Downes (2004) supported, blogging offers students the opportunity to reflect on what they are writing and thinking as they write and think it as well as engage in a sustained conversation that also then leads to further writing and thinking. Additionally, blogs have the ability to encourage and stimulate individual development while also with the use of blogs students are able to learn how to better express their own thoughts through writing and critiquing of other students (Johnson, 2007). Moreover, “Blogging provides the opportunity for our students to learn to write for life-long learning” (De Nys, 2008, p.29).

A great advantage that blogs have is that they offer opportunities for interacting and communicating with people who would otherwise be difficult to reach. Those people may include parents, voters, and any member of the community who is concerned about and involved with education (Tabor, 2007). In addition to these, as Tabor supported, communication through blogs can also involve not only people but also ideas and information since, blogs help connect people to ideas and information they otherwise would not find. Moreover, “From an educational perspective the availability and easy of use of blogging software makes creating blogs a viable classroom activity and a means for teachers to communicate with other teachers” (Department of Education, 2009, ¶3)

An also important advantage of blogs is that they are easy to use; they can be worked anytime while they also allow users to go back to something they have produced. In particular, students can edit or update new entries very easy and they do not have to worry about page formats or HTML syntax (Downes, 2004). Students can quickly and easily self-publish text, links to other blogs or Web sites as well as a broad array of other content (Crie, 2006). In addition to these, “With a blog, the student can continue using it as a place for their writing or whatever they desire. They could expand their blog and make it something great, maybe even using it for job application or further education. Even more exciting, students could continue to visit each other’s blogs to discuss issues that come up in future classes” (Johnson, 2007, p.3). Furthermore, as Crie supported, blogs can be worked on at virtually any time, in any place with an Internet-enabled computer and this is something that helps teachers create a classroom that goes beyond the boundaries of the school yard. As Utecht (2007) outlined, “Blogs have the power to drive inclusive dialogue that goes beyond physical boundaries, national boundaries, and boundaries of status. In so doing, they make learning real life” (¶13).

It is the author’s belief and point of view that blogs can be used effectively and efficiently in education as a tool for learning and can provide many benefits to the students and teachers as well. Blogs can be used as a learning tool in many ways and un various curriculum areas and can significantly support learning. Blogs can be used in education as a tool for learning since they offer students the opportunity to discuss various topics outside of the classroom. In particular, with blogs all students have an equal opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions on various topics while also, students have time to be reactive to one another and reflective as well (Nguyen, 2006). In addition, teachers have the opportunity to bring in experts on various subject matters. As Nguyen stated, “Teachers can also bring together a group of knowledgeable individuals for a given unit of study for students to network and conference with on a blog” (¶5)
Blogs can also be used in education as a learning tool to promote and enhance communication. In specific, “blogs provide a communication space that teachers can utilise with students whenever there is a curriculum need to develop, share ideas and reflect on work being undertaken in the classroom” (Department of Education, 2009, ¶1). Also, teachers can make use of blogs in order to communicate not only with the students but also with parents. As Tabor (2007) outlined, “Teachers are already starting to populate the blogosphere using their real names and locations so they can provide resources-and open lines of communication-for parents and students” (¶5).

Apart from these, blogs can be used as a learning tool for managing classroom requirements. Students can use blogs in order to get informed about various class issues such as assignments. As Nguyen (2006) noted, “blogs can serve as a portal to foster a community of learners. As they are easy to create and update efficiently, they can be used to inform students of class requirements, post handouts, notices, and homework assignments, or act as a question and answer board” (¶3). Also, teachers can create blogs in order to provide instructions and advices for students as well as additional material that students can use for their homework assignments (Lujan-Mora, 2006).

Moreover, students can use blogs not only for receiving additional material and instructions from their assignments but also as a space where they can write and post their exercises and assignments. Use of blogs in such a way, makes students work even harder on their assignments in order to achieve the greatest results since they know others may read their assignments as well. As Johnson (2007) supported, “Students can write their assignments and post their final draft on their blog. Again, since they know their fellow students will be reading it (assuming that is part of their own grade) they will probably strive to make it something they can be proud of” (p.4) Additionally, when students use blogs for writing exercises in various curriculum areas, this can also serve as a great way for peer help between the students. “For example, a class of older students can help a class of younger students develop more confidence in their writing skills” (Nguyen, 2006, ¶4).

An also important use of blogs in education as a tool for learning involves the creation of students’ portfolios and digital portfolios. Students can record their work by uploading documents as well as images (De Nys, 2008). Blogs provide a good and effective way for presenting and organizing the work that students have completed. In specific, “Blogs present, organize, and protect student work as digital portfolios. As older entries are archived, developing skills and progress may be analyzed more conveniently. Additionally, as students realize their efforts will be published, they are typically more motivated to produce better writing. Teachers and peers may conference with a student individually on a developing work, and expert or peer mentoring advice can be easily kept for future reference” (Nguyen, 2006, ¶6).

Blogs can be used in education as research journals in various curriculum areas such as history, science, or social studies. Particularly, when students conduct a research in various curriculum areas such as science, it could be very helpful for them to use blogs for recording their experiences as they work and in specific, at the beginning, students can describe their potential problems, hypotheses, and methods and as they progress, they could report discoveries and many various issues that may arise (Johnson, 2007). In general, students can use blogs in this way to make science reports in which they can journal the investigation process (De Nys, 2008). Apart from these, as Johnson outlined, “The blog provides an easily searchable format that the student could refer back to as the research progresses. Overall, by documenting the research process the student will gain a better grasp on how it works and be better prepared to undertake larger projects in the future” (p.5). Also, blogs can be used in cooperative learning activities where students can participate in order to relay ideas, suggestions, and research findings (Nguyen, 2006). Furthermore, students can use blogs not only as research journals but also as book journal. In such a case, as De Nys noted, “Students write their thoughts or respond with comments to the teacher’s or other students’ posts about a book” (p.23).

Students can also use blogs as a place where they can gather information about and links to various topics they may be interested in. In specific, “A blog can also be a place to gather and report on news items or other things of interest. Students interested in changing trends in elementary education could create a blog linking to relevant news items published in different places around the internet. This sort of resource could become very valuable to them, their classmates, and potentially other students at different [schools] (Johnson, 2007, p.5).
Furthermore, the results of a study made by Rahman and Junaini (2009) who investigated the students’ experience of using a blog as a tool for learning indicate various important uses of blogs in education. As Rahman and Junaini reported, the results of the study revealed that from the total 75 students who accessed the blog, 27 chose that the main purpose was to download the learning materials, 15 to answer the given assignments, 16 to get the latest announcements while also, not many students chose the blog because they wanted to get involved in the discussion.
Blogs can be used in education as a tool for learning in many ways and in various curriculum areas. They can help change the academic discourse and achieve a student centered learning while also for students and teachers as well blogs can be an enhancement to the traditional class (Lujan-Mora, 2006). Additionally, blogs are “a means of reaching a wider audience; an unknown mass of netizens, ready and willing to respond to the opinions and commentaries of bloggers in a manner not dissimilar to that afforded a talkback radio host” (Williams & Jacobs, 2004, ¶4).

On the other side of the coin, the use of blogs in education has some disadvantages as well apart from advantages. First of all, when students create their own blogs, it can be very difficult to convince other students to read and respond by posting their comments to their peers’ blogs. Trying to convince all students that they should read everybody else’s homework or respond to a topic included in a blog, could be very difficult or even a chore (Johnson, 2007). As Johnson noted, a good solution for dealing with this kind of problems, would be to include students’ comments on other blogs as part of their participation grade. But this may sometimes not work and may eventually lead to other kind of problems. This disadvantage was also supported by Utecht (2007) who reported specifically that “Blogs do not make the grading…any easier. In fact, many teachers find it more time-consuming. Slow Internet speed, the constant clicking from one blog to the next, or the typing of URL after URL…reading blogs can be tedious” (¶3).

Another disadvantage of using blogs in education refers to the fact that sometimes when students create their own blogs, there is the possibility that no one else will read their blogs. In particular, when students create their own blogs they will probably want people from outside of their classroom to read them or even respond but taking into consideration that there are millions of blogs, it can be very difficult to gain attention (Johnson, 2007). As Johnson stated, “It could be damaging to a person’s self-esteem to create a worthy blog and have no one look at it” (p.4).

An also important disadvantage of blogs in education refers to security concerns. This is a disadvantage that comes in contrast with the disadvantage mentioned and discussed previously. While the previous disadvantage referred to the fact that no one else would want to read the students’ blogs, this disadvantage refers to the fact that many people may read the students’ blogs who are bad people and for whom students know nothing about. In such a case, “We cannot protect our students from bad people. Anyone could stumble upon their blogs. We do not know these people, we do not know where they are from, or what they do” (Utecht, 2007, ¶4). Unfortunately, this kind of security concerns may arise when people outside of the classroom may contact the creators of the blogs and in this case, those creators are the students (Johnson, 2007).

“The blogging phenomenon has evolved from its early origin as a medium for the publication of simple, online personal diaries, to the latest disruptive technology, the killer app that has the capacity to engage people in collaborative activity, knowledge sharing, reflection and debate” (Williams & Jacobs, 2004, ¶1). Blogs constitute dynamic and flexible tools that are easy to use either in the case of creating them or in the case of simply viewing them (Richardson, 2004). Blogs can be a powerful and effective tool that can be used by students for learning. As Lujan-Mora (2006) noted, “Blogging has the potential to be a transformational technology for teaching and learning” (p.2). Closing up, as Richardson noted, “This [the blogging process] just seems to me to be closer to the way we learn outside of school, and I don’t see those things happening anywhere in traditional education. And he asks: Could blogging be the needle that sews together what is now a lot of learning in isolation with no real connection among the disciplines? I mean ultimately, aren’t we trying to teach our kids how to learn and isn’t that [what] blogging is all about?” (Downes, 2004, ¶51).

References
Crie, M. (2006) Using Blogs to Integrate Technology in the Classroom. Retrieved
December 4, 2009, from http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/educationupclose.phtml/print/47

De Nys, J. (2008) Wikis and Blogs in Education. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from
http://www.slideshare.net/jasondenys/wikis-and-blogs-in-education

Department of Education (2009) Blogs in Education. Retrieved November 28, 2009,
from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/curriculum/ict/weblogs/index.htm

Downes, S. (2004) Educational Blogging. EDUCAUSE Review Magazine, 39(5).
Retrieved December 3, 2009, from http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume39/EducationalBlogging/157920

Downes, S. (2009) Blogs in Education. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from
http://www.downes.ca/post/50338

Hastings, B.P. (2003) Blogging Across the Curriculum. Retrieved November 24,
2009, from http://mywebspace.quinnipiac.edu/PHastings/bac.html

Huette, S. (2006) Blogs in Education. Retrieved December 2, 2009, from
http://tep.uoregon.edu/shared/blogswikispodcasts/BlogsInEducation.pdf

Johnson, N. (2007) Blogs and Education: A Technological Path to Individual Success.
Retrieved November 30, 2009, from http://digitalunion.osu.edu/newsandevents/articles/media/20070507_BlogWikiWeek/BlogsAndEducation.pdf

Lujan-Mora, S. (2006) A Survey of Use of Weblogs in Education. Retrieved
November 23, 2009, from http://www.formatex.org/micte2006/pdf/255-259.pdf

Medoff, N. & Kaye, B. (2005) Electronic media: Then, now, and later. Pearson
Education, Inc.

Nguyen, T. (2006) The use of Blogs in Education. Retrieved November 25, 2009,
from http://thanhnguyen75.blogspot.com/2006/11/use-of-blogs-in-education_14.html

Rahman, K. A. & Junaini, S.N. (2009) Initial Experiment in Using Blog as a
Learning-aid. International Conference on Educational Research and Practice. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from http://myais.fsktm.um.edu.my/7411/1/INITIAL_EXPERIMENT_ON_USING_BLOG_AS_A_LEARNING-AID.pdf

Richardson, W. (2004) Blogging and RSS-The “What’s It?” and “How To” of
Powerful New Web Tools for Educators. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from http://www.infotoday.com/MMschools/jan04/richardson.shtml

Stach, M. (2004) Introduction to Blogs and Blogging. Retrieved December 2, 2009,
from http://www.techlearning.com/article/2146

Tabor, M.K. (2007) Why we should Blog in Education: Teachers, Administrators,
and Board Members. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from http://www.matthewktabor.com/2007/05/01/why-we-should-blog-teachers-administrators-and-board-members/

Utecht, J. (2007) Blogs are not the Enemy. Retrieved December 5, 2009, from
http://www.techlearning.com/article/7220

Williams, J.B. & Jacobs, J. (2004) Exploring the use of Blogs as Learning Spaces in
the Higher Education Sector. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 20(2). Retrieved November 25, 2009, from http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet20/williams.html

Multimedia and Hypermedia

2009-07-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

The integration and use of technology and specifically, of computers into the classroom can positively change the teaching and learning process. A broad array of computer tools such as hypermedia and multimedia can enhance and change traditional instruction.Hypermedia and multimedia have the potential to change significantly traditional instruction in many ways. For instance, multimedia used as tools by the teacher can be interactive, programmable according to certain teaching goals and can potentially change according to the needs and the style of the learner. Moreover, the use of hypermedia and multimedia cause a move of the teacher’s role. Specifically, the teacher becomes a facilitator, problem setter and guide instead of taking a central role and being the teacher as a teacher.

Moreover, a major advantage of learning with multimedia is that multimedia projects improve educational outcomes and promote problem-solving and decision-making skills to the students while also multimedia contributes to making students achieve high self-esteem and to become more self-directed. This is so, because multimedia enables students to represent information using various media, to organize information in many interesting ways and to acquire knowledge from a variety of sources. Furthermore, the fact that multimedia engages a variety of learning modalities (visual, auditory, etc.) appeals to various learner styles simultaneously.

Research shows that people absorb and retain information far more readily if they can associate the information with a variety of stimuli while, using hypermedia and multimedia in the teaching and learning process can help address the needs of people with varying learning styles.

Acceptable Use Policy

2009-07-16T17:37:00.000-07:00

The Internet can be a powerful tool for use in an educational setting. It provides teachers and students with access to a variety of resources, helpful for the teaching and learning process. But on the other side of the coin, the Internet has its dangers apart from its benefits. Hence, schools and educators must find the right means for making a safe use of the Internet as an educational tool. The best means for this to be achieved is through the development of Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs). An AUP is a written contract between administrators, teachers, parents and students that outlines the terms and conditions for making use of the Internet, by setting out rules of online behaviour, access privileges, consequences and penalties in case those rules are violated. Therefore, it is the school's responsibility to conduct its own AUP, provide it to students, parents and students, to sign and return a copy to be placed in the school's files. No Internet access and use should be allowed in schools without the existence of an AUP and therefore, without the permission of parents as well.

The Digital Divide

2009-07-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

In a world of globalization and technological evolution, the right of freedom of access to information is essential to establish sustainable development. The Internet has ushered in the greatest period of wealth creation in history and it has rocked the way we deliver and receive information and the way we do business. The Internet offers the promise of an information society in which virtually unlimited quantities of information are globally available. Realizing this vision of a global, decentralized, user-controlled medium poses many challenging societal issues in regards to the Internet. Among the most fundamental of these is the issue of equity, universal access as well as the issue of the Digital Divide.

The Digital Divide refers to the gap between people with effective access to digital and information technology and those with very limited or no access at all. In other words, it is the unequal access by some members of society to information and communication technology, and the unequal acquisition of related skills. Digital divides can exist among those of differing income and economic levels, education, age and gender, race or ethnicity, location, single and dual-parent families, and disability.

The impact of the digital divide on education affects the students’ job prospects and their chances of getting a well-paying job. In particular, students who are technologically savvy have significant advantages over their peers. This affects their job prospects as employers tend to show a preference to workers who are technologically competent and are willing to pay more for their services compared to those without. In addition, technology advancement has the potential to bridge the digital divide especially in education and employment. A technology savvy youth plays an important role in employment. Education is crucial so that people are prepared to meet global needs. Lack of Education and employment slows down progress within a country.

All interested parties must collaborate to ensure that the integration of existing and emerging technologies is performed in a way that supports the need for adequate education programs at both an administrative and teaching level. The potential result is that teachers and students at all schools and in all types of classrooms will engage in learning activities involving technology that have the potential to enhance student achievement as well as decrease the digital divide. In a world overflowing with easily available digital information, we all need the skills to judge the relevance, and veracity of any particular piece of information. The public must view computers and the Internet as necessities to life and they must realize the power of these technologies that can change and improve their lives.

Teachers' training in the effective use of technology in the learning environment

2009-07-15T18:08:00.001-07:00

Undoubtedly, technology can do a lot in the classroom if it used appropriately and effectively. For this to ba achieved, teachers need to be well trained in order to become capable of makin geffective use of technology in the learning environment. Unfortunately, teachers are not provided with the essential training in the effective use of technology and consequently, cannot make use of it in their instruction.

Training of the teachers is essential for a variety of reasons. Training will make teachers acquire the necessary skills in making effective use of technology. It will make them capable of integrating technology into the curriculum in the right ways that will provide significant outcomes. But training does not mean just learning how to use software and hardware. It mostly means learning the strategies for integrating technology in the learning activities and using the appropriate methods for instruction.

Training of the educators cannot be limited to single lessons or one-shot workshops. Rather, training must be ongoing and must have a long-time frame because teachers learn best the new information if they have a long period available to practice what they have known.

Moreover, if efficient and sufficient training is going to be provided to teachers, then funds are necesasry. The part of the budget that will be provided for training the teachers must be a great one and therefore, those holding the reins of the educational system must make the necessary steps for providing those funds.

Necessity for Technology integration and use into schools

2009-07-15T17:47:00.000-07:00

A lop of research has been done regarding the issue of technology integration and use into schools. Many arguments have been made about the impact that technology has on the teching and learning process. If we make a deep search on the isue concerning the benefits that technology can provide teachers and students with then we will realize that technology integration and use into schools is a necessity. Technology can provide teachers with many tools that can help them prepare for their lessons, increase productivity, improve instruction and most important can make teachers capable of providing their students with a better education and consequenlty, improve students' learning and achievement

Technology can provide students with many benefits as well. A broad array of technological tools and educational software can be used in the teaching and learning process that will help students develop critical thinking skills, motivate students, promote interaction and collaboration and increase students' achievement. Using technology in the classroom will make students acquire new roles than the ones of being the passive receivers of information. It will make them active participants in the learning process, who take responsibility for their own learning and depend less on their teachers. Consequently, technology use will make a transition of the teachers' role as well, from being the managers and controllers of the classroom to being the guides and coaches of the students, who provide students with advice and move them to the right direction by being on the side of the classroom.

The issue of technology integration and use into schools raises another important issue: "Are teachers today, provided with the necessary training in the effective use of technology in the learning environment?"