Breaking Barriers: An Intersection of the Institution and the Information Superhighway :: Essays Papers

Breaking Barriers: An Intersection of the Institution and the Information Superhighway What it is all about Distance education. What is it? Barry Birnbaum has cited a feasible definition for it in his book, Foundations and Practices in the Use of Distance Education. The definition is according to a study done by Moore and Kearsley in 1996. Birnbaum quotes, â€Å"distance education is defined as planned learning that normally occurs in a different place and requires a well-defined system of delivery that includes modified teaching techniques, alternative modes for communication (i.e. computers), as well as alternative administrative and organizational components.† (Birnbaum, 2001, p. 1)[1] Then, again in 1996, another researcher by the name of Keegan assigned 5 criteria in his definition of distance education. These 5 criteria are: â€Å"a.) Separation of teacher and learner throughout the learning process, b.) The influence of the organization in the planning and preparation of learning materials, c.) The use of technical media to unite teacher and learner, d.) The role of two-way communication, and e.) The separation of the learning group during the process.† (Birnbaum, 2001, p. 2)[2] Bearing these two definitions in mind, let us proceed. I. How it was all started A man named Isaac Pitman started the whole concept of distance education in England around 1840.(Birnbaum, 2001, p. 10)[3] He wanted to create an opportunity for people to learn shorthand that would otherwise, not be able to do so due to work constraints or other everyday obligations. According to Birnbaum, since this period of time, the primary utilization of distance education has been in the field of foreign language. However, other institutions opt to employ distance education as well. For example, the armed services have found that technical training can be provided to a large number of military personnel in a cost-effective manner through distance education course delivery modules. (Birnbaum, 2001, p. 11)[4] Large corporations such as Best Buy also use e -learning in order to deliver quick, effective training to their employees in lieu of having an actual time reserved for training the employees.

Morality and Generally Good Morals Essay

Morals, values and beliefs are all very similar in a way even though they may have different scientific definitions. Everyone in the world has morals, values and beliefs, although they may differ and have different roles in each other’s lives; theses three things all have an impact on how we choose to live our lives in some way. According to the online Merriam Webster dictionary, a moral is defined as something â€Å"concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character. † How we act in certain situations is often based on our morals. With morals, the way one was raised plays a big factor on whether or not that person makes morally right or wrong decisions. More often than not, someone who had a stable and well-rounded upbringing will make more morally right choices in their life compared to someone with less family influence or support. Sometimes there are exceptions with this, but generally good morals are usually instilled in people at a young age which can last a lifetime. A moral can also serve as a lesson or theme which is why the phrase â€Å"the moral of the story† exists. With that being said, it is possible for someone to gain moral values through learning lessons through personal or others’ life experiences. By learning lessons through experiences it allows us to have a better understanding on how to act if a similar experience arises again. One moral value that my parents always stressed me to have was to be honest with everyone. They taught me that with honest actions comes more respect and trust from others, which will be very beneficial in my personal and professional life. Value is defined as â€Å"the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something† by the online Oxford Dictionary. Values are the components of peoples’ lives that they find important and meaningful. People’s values often change throughout their lives as their circumstances change. Personally, my values are education, family, friends and money. All of these are important aspects to me which I find necessary to be content with my life. If I didn’t find education valuable to me I would not be enrolled in school right now. Also, without my family and friends, I would not be who I am today since they serve as a great support system and offer value to my life. Money is important because without it I would not be able to support myself while away at school . For example I would not be able to buy necessary items such as books and supplies to give me the best chance at succeeding in college. As time goes on these values may change to my career, my children and more things that would be more meaningful to me as I get older in age.

Essay – University Entrance Requirements

Essay 1. University entrance requirements are much more lenient than they used to be – some university courses are prepared to accept students without any A-levels. Last twenty years was a time of ongoing changes in the higher educational institution. One of the most controversial and criticized idea was the withdrawal of the entrance exam at all universities. It had caused a serious debate about the importance of high standard on the one hand and the equality in obtaining educational levels on the other hand.However, there are three main reasons why university entrance requirements are much lenient that they used to be. These are education reform, population decline and economy. Firstly, the politics decided to carried out an education reform. Their motivation was to facilitate the access to higher education and control better student’s improvement. As a result, there were no more entrance exam and the matura exam started to be the most important test which decided whe never student have a chance to go into university or not.This strategy should create an equal possibility, because the exam has very strict rules, procedure and it’s the same for all Polish students. Unfortunately, when we creating an ideal exam for everybody we need to consider that the level is always lower than it used to be on the entrance exams. Consequently, it is easier to get into university. After the huge education reform, another problem occurred. The predicted population decline has come out and created unstable situation in educational institution. The great amount of students, that teachers and professors were used to, suddenly had vanished.Year after year, there is even less students to teach. Consequently, less teachers are needed and everybody is afraid of losing their job. Because of this, universities change their strategies by lowered the level of entrance requirements and accept almost everyone. It create a situation when not only the brightest can entere d into higher education but also the lazy ones who doesn’t even care about learning. The last reason surely dominates the education system. Nowadays, it is the money which rules higher education and let everyone who pays to gain a master degree.As I mentioned before, there are less students, but universities need them to exist, because each learner is a certain amount of money. As a result, some courses accept even more students that they should. In that case, universities are constantly cheating on their clients and just churn out obedient students. What is more, there exist many private school which offer the same courses as on the university, but often don’t require positive matura results or good grades. If you pay the rent, the possibility to obtain quickly a bachelor or master degree is almost certain.In general, it is much more easier to get into university that it used to be. However, it is the only positive point of it. Unfortunately, our education system isnà ¢â‚¬â„¢t appropriate for this century. The equal matura exam took all the power from entrance examiners at the universities. The small number of students destroyed all the competitiveness in obtaining higher education. Also, the economic issue create a situation when an university degree is so easy available that people with a Bachelor or Master degree aren’t respected enough. In other words, universities should focused on the quality not on the quantity.

Electronic media and education Essay

Electronic media is continuously expanding and is now to the degree where it has become a part of everyone’s life, not just in the Western world, it is starting to take hold worldwide.To define electronic media, it is a type of media that reserves and disperses electrical information through sources such as television, radio, and computers. Companies advertise to make consumers acquainted with the products or services provided and the only better way of performing this is through advertising on electronic media. Thus this essay will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of advertising through electronic media. To commence with, the major drawback of advertising through electronic media is that in the marketplace sometimes, electronic advertisement method convey a negative implication. Internet users typically find the ads unwelcomed to their online experience. Text ad and banners frequently are placed in the center of content, which obstructs the reader. The user cannot view the whole page as pop – ads appear over content, thus causing them to remove the ads. Audiences are so deluged with spam email and banner ads that they have begun to ignore electronic advertising just as much as ads on traditional media. Furthermore, advertising through electronic media has another stumbling block in its path. Electronic media is rather recent in comparison to print media and traditional broadcast but despite the ability to accumulate data and track users its prime technique for dispatching electronic advertisements remains evasive. To avoid pop-ups in the mid – the 1990s, these ads were disinclined. Currently, firms attempt to seize attention with richer media implements. A common example would be streaming audio and video advertisements. Financing money in media with insufficient years of knowledge and research is a challenge faced by them. Moreover, advertising through electronic media is high-priced and does not guarantee results. This advertising is acquired by an enterprise and stationed on the World Wide Web in key spots. For example, an electronic advertisement for air conditioning equipment may pop up alongside searches for air conditioning installation firms. For per click, it is paid in a click-through advertisement. Plus, the advertisement placing business sustains a levy when someone views the ad by clicking on it and the user is taken to the business website. People access these advertisements for free, even if they are not actually interested in buying the services or products. Clicking on these ads can be costly without a promise of a sale. Furthermore, viewers accessing a page with click-through advertisements click on the ads only 1 or 2 percent. Therefore, if just clicking on the ad is paid, it can result in a huge waste of money. On the other hand, there are also some benefits of advertising through electronic media. The Internet’s tremendous reach can enable promoters to contact altogether a larger number of individuals than traditional advertising media at a small amount of the cost. Electronic advertising is perfect for organizations with a national or worldwide target market and extensive scale appropriation capacities. When in doubt, the more individuals the business serves, the most cost-proficient electronic advertising can be. This can likewise be more focused than some customary media, guaranteeing that all the messages are seen by the most pertinent groups of audiences. As indicated by an article distributed in the New York Times, 96.7 percent of American families possess TVs. This adds up to more than 300 million individuals who approach the ads. Furthermore, advertising through electronic media offers the best creative opportunity among the traditional media. It has visual components like print and sound like radio, yet it likewise has dynamic development. Promoters frequently attempt to tell stories inside their advertisements that affect the group of audiences. Innovativeness can give more meaning intending to a brand past its basic product. For example, with TV, you can target passionate associations, consolidate characters that the audience can identify with and offer multi-tangible interest. To add on, advertising through electronic media empowers advertisers to be open for business all day and all night without stressing over store opening hours or additional time installments for staff. It has a benefit of 24/7 availability. Offering advertisements on the electronic media is likewise convenient for customers. They can browse the advertisement whenever makes them free to do.

Three major Sociology theories

There are three major sociology theories known as functionalism, conflict theory, and interactionist perspective. Symbolic interactionism is the use of symbols and is face-to-face interaction. Functionalism has to do with relationships between the parts of society and how the aspects of society are adaptive. The last, conflict theory is the competition of scarce resources and how the elite control the poor and week. The symbolic interactionist perspective which is known as symbolic interactionism directs sociologist to consider the symbols and details of everyday life, what these symbols mean, and how people interact with each other(1).George H. Mead Introduced this perspective to American sociology in the 1920s. According to this theory people attach meaning to symbols. An example of symbols are wedding bands, vows of life-long commitment, a white bridal dress, a wedding cake, a church ceremony, and flowers and music. These are all examples of symbols explain in the theory. Symbolic interactionist may miss the larger issue of society by focusing too closely on the â€Å"trees. † An example would be focusing too strongly on the size of the diamond in the wedding ring rather than the â€Å"forest,† which would be the quality of marriage.The functionalist perspective, known as functionalism, is when each aspect of society is interdependent and contributes to society’s functioning as a whole. This was brought to sociology by Emile Durkheim. The government, or state, provides the education for the children in the family, which in turn pays taxes on which the state depends to keep itself running. Functionalists believe that society is held together by social consensus, or cohesion, in which members of the society agree upon, and work together to achieve, what is best for society as a whole.Durkheim suggested that social consensus takes two different forms, mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity. Mechanical solidarity is a form of social co hesion that arises when people in a society maintain similar values and beliefs and engage in similar types of work. Organic solidarity is a form of social cohesion that arises when the people in a society are interdependent, but hold to carrying values and beliefs and engage in varying types of work.Karl Marx was the originated the conflict perspective, which focuses on the negative, conflicted, and ever-changing nature of society. Unlike functionalists who defend the status quo, encourage social change, and believe rich and powerful people force social order on the poor and the weak. Conflict theorists find social conflict between and groups in which the potential for inequality exists: racial, gender, religious, political, economic, and so on.This constant competition between groups forms the basis for the ever-changing nature of society. I agree most with interactionist perspective because it fits me and what I believe. I believe at looking at the big picture not little stuff in the way. It is important to concentrate on the bigger picture. They are all good theories and each are made for different people I’m sure people agree and disagree with all the theories but that doesn’t mean they aren’t good in their own way.

Race and Color Discrimination Essay

Who are the major people that had made a different in the race and color movement? What as society done to improve the way to perceive other people that do not have the same color or race as us? This are all major questions people have in mind when trying to solve Racism affects people lives in many ways depending on race, gender, & class though gender usually goes with sexism. Though there have been many efforts to reduce its power it is still in life. Today there are still efforts being made and some have been successful such the racial boundaries Barack Obama has crossed despite being biracial and how many people are taking a stand. Racism today seems to affect mainly African Americans as some people are very prejudiced against them such as the Ku Klux Klan whose power may not be as strong as it once was still exists. The other ways that African Americans are affected are stereotypes. There countless even for other races for example me. I have mistaken to be Indian a lot of times and sometimes still am even though I am Bangladeshi. Some stereotypes for other races would be the Chinese and Japanese they are sometimes expected to be smart, have squinty eyes, and be a workaholic while they may be not. I know someone who is partly Japanese she does not seem to have squinty eyes nor is she a workaholic. Racism also comes to everyone’s’ lives through the way we exposed to it. For example go to some place and then be shut out because of the color of your skin or be cast out because you’re Asian, African-American, or even middle eastern. For now that is all I can say but if you’re not satisfied please leave a message on my bio page and/or improve it yourself in anyways you can.

Toyota Cars Recalls Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Toyota Cars Recalls - Research Paper Example Finally, the purpose of this academic paper is to possibly recommend applicable solutions based on conflict management principles that would address the identified problems encountered by the Toyota Motor Corp. To further understand, how and why Toyota ended up with the Toyota Recall incident it is necessary to have knowledge on the background of the company and how it operates in the field of the automobile manufacturing industry. Toyota Motor Company Early Beginnings In 1933, Toyota did not out rightly start as an automobile manufacturing company. Actually, the family that started it was initially engaged with just spinning and weaving textiles and looms under Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, a small division, which was under the direction of Kiichiro Toyoda. It started to manufacture vehicles when the Japanese government at war with China encouraged this company to manufacture the needed domestic vehicles. (â€Å"History of Toyota†, 2011). A Window to Toyota Motor Corporation ( TMC) Today The CEO Who is running Toyota Motor Corporation today? â€Å"Akio Toyoda is the present President and Representative Director of the company. He is the grandson of the late Kaiichiro Toyoda, who operated the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, a company devoted to manufacture automobiles during the 1930’s. Akio Toyoda was elected to the said positions in 2009 replacing Katsuaki Watanabe.† (â€Å"The President†,2011) TMC’s Domain â€Å"TMC’s domain belongs to the automotive industry and thus, its main product is the automobile. However, TMC today has expanded to other non-automotive business activities to include financial service business segments† (â€Å"Toyota Company Overview†, n.d.).Their stakeholders include: customers, business partners (dealers and suppliers), investors, consumers, nongovernmental organisations government, community, stockholders. Vision & Philosophy â€Å"Since its foundation, Toyota has been using the Gu iding Principle which says: to produce reliable vehicles and sustainable development of society by employing innovative and high quality products and services† (â€Å"Vision & Philosophy, 2011). Guiding Principle: â€Å"TMC’s guiding principle is to produce reliable vehicles and sustainable development of society by employing innovative and high quality products and services† (â€Å"Guiding Principle†, 2011). Toyota Global Vision 2020 â€Å"Toyota promotes efforts towards finding balance between the cycles of nature and the cycles of industry. Toyota commits to the ideals being pursued for People, Society and the Global Environment through the combined energy of people and technology† (â€Å"Toyota Global Vision 2020†, 2011). Employment: 320, 590 (Total in affiliated companies) Date Founded: August 28, 1937 Capital: 397.05 billion yen (as of March 31, 2010) Note: Information current as of June 2010. The number of employees includes those dis patched from other companies as of March 31, 2010 (â€Å"Company Profile†, 2011) TMC’s Organizational Structure â€Å"We have a fairly flat organization, which allows for ease of communications and flexibility. Within departments the organization divides into groups and teams, this team structure is a key element of the Company’s effectiveness.†