Benefits of Video Games Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Benefits of Video Games - Research Paper Example Most institutions have installed computer laboratories to help their students to catch with the technology demanded by the contemporary job environment. Along this technology stands the gaming technology that continues to evolve and to become the favourite of many young students. In the invention of new video gaming technology, it was a mere source of entertainment that people could indulge to spend their luxury time. However, research has revealed that the value of video games in the life of learners has been ignored as these games can have both positive and negative impacts in their learning. Research points out that there is need for reconsideration of the application of video games in the life of learners both in their homes and in the school environment. Understanding the impact of video games on the learners learning will help to develop a strategy on which the negative effects can be eliminated and the positive can be optimized. Specifically, it will be possible to incorporate this technology in the learning environment and enhance the learners’ abilities. In this light, there is need to investigate the best approach to integrate computer aided video games in the curriculum. Video games have both physical and psychological impacts on the life of individual and this may affect their learning behaviour. Obradovic (2002) identifies that video games have had negative impacts on learners owing to the addictive behaviours that comes along their usage. As entertainment tools, video games are attractive and are addictive to their users statistics indicate that over 92% of children aged between 4 and 17 years have access to computer games and are likely to be addicts of playing these games. Addiction is the source of the negative impacts of the learning needs of the students. First, addiction comes about when a student spends

Low Voter Turnout in the United States Essay Example for Free

Low Voter Turnout in the United States Essay Throughout American history, there has been a steady decline in voter turnout. Not only has this been humiliating for the United States, low voter turnout has been and always will be a threat to American Democracy. The concept of democracy is dependent on citizens actively participating in elections and voting to select representatives for public office. The government cannot be representative of the people, unless the people elect its representatives. Voter turnout is a major indicator of how citizens view their electoral system, and whether or not they believe that the system is working. There are numerous factors that impede voter turnout, including: citizens political attitudes, demographic factors, and the structure of the electoral system. The established registration process is one of the main causes of low voter turnout in the United States. Unlike many democracies, the United States places the burden of registration on the individual (Vanishing Voter, 7). There are no penalties for citizens that do not register or vote in American elections. Some propose that requiring citizens to vote and imposing penalties on those who fail to do so will increase voter turnout. The dilemma with this proposal is that it is fundamentally undemocratic. Citizens of democratic societies are promised the right to vote. In guaranteeing the right to vote, citizens are guaranteed the right not to vote as well. There are better solutions to the problem of low voter turnout in the United States than enacting compulsory voting laws. America has not established a national system of automatic registration; procedures for voter registration differ from state to state. A universal system of voter registration would make it much more simple for people to vote. The problem with this solution is that automatically registering people to vote does not imply that they will actually go out and vote. Six states have enacted a good solution, same day registration, which has been proven to increase voter turnout anywhere from 10 to 17 percent (Donovan, 182). Same day voter registration allows qualified citizens to register to vote on the day that elections are held. Because many states do not allow same day registration, many Americans do not take the time and effort to register in the first place; same day registration helps to solve this  problem. The registration process and electoral system also creates a problem of convenience. Not only is the registration process inconvenient, Election Day itself is problematic. Election day is held on a Tuesday, impeding the majority of the population from voting due to work-related duties and responsibilities. The solution for this problem is to make Election Day a national holiday. If citizens did not have the responsibility to be at work, they would be much more likely to find time and take the effort to go out and vote. Other solutions have been offered, including: extending the voting period, enacting absentee ballot systems, and voting by mail. While all of these other solutions have made it easier, cheaper and more convenient for citizens to vote, the costs do not fully outweigh the benefits. In any kind of early voting solution, the biggest concern is that early voters vote without knowing all of the significant information needed to make a well-informed vote. Many occurrences and revelations come at the end of the campaigns and can no longer influence voters that have already voted and cannot change their selection. A voters political attitude is the biggest indicator of whether or not he or she will vote. Interest in the election, concern over outcome, feelings of civic pride, and political efficacy [all] affect how people vote (Wayne, 83). Throughout American history, there has been a decline in partisan identification. Party allegiance is a stimulus for voting. Since citizens are not as loyal to partisanship as they were in the past, they have less incentive to actually go out and vote in elections. As a group, independents are 12 percent less likely to vote than are strong partisans (Wayne, 83). Along with the decline in party identification, interest in political campaigns has been declining steadily overtime as well. In todays society, politics is forced to compete with so many other things in the media or at home for peoples attention. Media audiences are more interested in human-interest and celebrity stories than they are in politics. Because of this, election coverage in the media has greatly declined. The medias coverage of the election is dominated by the use of  negative advertising and attack journalism. The frequent use of negative advertising in the media has played a role in Americas declining voter turnout. These negative advertisements repel potential voters; causing them to lose interest in the political campaign. Along with negative advertising, the lack of competition between candidates has also decreased political interests and led to low voter turnout. Low political efficacy has greatly reduced voter turnout in the United States. Voter efficacy is the belief that ones vote counts and that voters can change the way government works or public officials behave (Wayne, 83). There are many factors affecting voter efficacy, including education and income. Income plays a major role in voter turnout. With the expansion of poverty in the United States, the gap between the rich and the poor is steadily growing. Citizens of lower income typically have lower voter efficacy. They are also less concerned with the outcome of the election than citizens of higher income levels, therefore, many of these people simply choose not to vote because they feel that they will not be affected by the outcome of the election. Income, education, and likelihood to vote are all positively correlated; more educated citizens have higher income levels and are much more likely to vote. Education is the greatest influence on voting behavior. It provides people with the skills for processing and evaluating information; for perceiving differences among the parties, candidates, and issues; and for relating these differences to personal values and behavior (Wayne, 83). The more educated a citizen is, the more interested they are in the election and the more concerned they are with the outcome. Educated citizens also have a great sense of civic pride and higher voter efficacy. All of these factors combined lead to a much higher likelihood of a person to actually turnout and vote. To increase political education, some propose conducting citizen education campaigns. The goal of these campaigns is to educate the people on the benefits and responsibility involved with voting. The main problem with this solution is that it is easier said than done. It is very hard to persuade  nonvoters to take the time and make the effort to educate themselves on the reasons why they should vote. A better way to increase education and voter turnout is to encourage grassroots campaigns. These get-out-the-vote campaigns help motivate interest in elections with nonvoters and can influence them to vote, increasing voter turnout. Neither conducting citizen education campaigns nor encouraging grassroots campaigns can promise an increase in voter turnout, but both can help influencing citizens to vote and possibly lead to higher voter turnout in the United States. Low voter turnout is a big problem in the United States. According to Wayne, Low turnout suggests that people may be alienated, lack faith in the candidate and parties, think that the government is and will remain unresponsive to their needs and interests, and believe that they cannot achieve change through the electoral process (Wayne, 85). The voter turnout problem is very hard to solve because low voter turnout itself leads to less voting. The numerous factors that impede voter turnout include: citizens political attitudes, demographic factors, and the structure of the electoral system. Some of the impediments are structural, but the most influential impediments are caused by other factors, such as the media, political campaigns, and the American citizens. Overall, the benefits of increasing voter turnout greatly outweigh the costs of doing so. While some proposed solutions may work better than others, it is most important to change voters attitudes about politics and make it more convenient for Americans to both register and vote. Higher voter turnout will reverse the relentless cycle of low voter turnout and help lead to a more representative democracy. Bibliography 1. The Road to the White House 2008. 8th edition. Stephen J. Wayne. 20082. Reforming the Republic: Democratic Institutions for the New America. Todd Donowan and Shaun Bowler. 2004

Understanding Development And Supporting Equality Children And Young People Essay

Understanding Development And Supporting Equality Children And Young People Essay Every child has different rate and aspect of development. Hence, it is of utmost importance to understand a childs development. It helps us to understand the social, physical, intellectual, communication and language and emotional development that an individual grows through from birth to 19years. We can divide the sequence of childs development for each age range into 5 different aspects. They are social, physical, intellectual, communication and language and emotional. AGE 0 6 MONTHS: Social Development: An infant from birth cries when hungry. Gradually, he/she can recognise adults especially a mothers face and voice. He/she likes to watch their mums face or an adults face during feeding time. He/she smiles at familiar faces and voices. Physical Development: A baby just after birth sleeps most of the time and grows fast. A child by 6 months turns its head towards sound and movements. A child by this age starts to kick legs with movements gradually becoming smoother. Also, a baby starts to develop their hand eye co-ordination. He/she learns to roll from side on to back. A child enjoys finger play. Intellectual Development: A baby starts to recognise its parents by the age of 2 months. An infant reacts to familiar voice rather than unfamiliar voices. A baby observes the moving objects and stares at bright colours. Baby tries to explore by putting things into mouth. Communication and language development: By 3 months an infant makes a variety of happy sounds. A baby starts to respond to variety of music and other sounds. A baby tries to imitate the movement of the lips of an adult. Emotional Development: A baby at this age, usually very attached to its mother. If handled by unfamiliar methods and care, a baby may get upset. In this age, a child requires a familiar routine and also requires the security and the reassurance. AGE 6 12 MONTHS: Social Development: Baby of this age tries to communicate and respond to familiar people. By 9 months, a child is very wary of strangers. Child at this age starts to see self as separate from others. Physical Development: A baby starts to sit without support. By this age a baby may begin to crawl, stand and cruise while holding on to furniture. Baby learns o hold objects and transfer objects from one hand to other. It develops pincer grasps using thumb and index finger from about 6 months. At this age a baby drops things deliberately and looks for it. A baby enjoys water play. Intellectual Development: A baby recognises certain sound and objects. At this age, a baby shows interest to toys and picture books. He/she can enjoy various games especially water play. He/she observes people closely and tries to imitate their actions. He/she processes information through images. Communication and language development: A baby enjoys looking at picture. He/she also enjoys music. A baby responds with a smile and starts babbling and sometimes speaks to their mums. Emotional Development: By this age, a baby can differentiate between individuals and shows clear preferences and familiar adults. He/she can show clear likes and dislikes. AGE 1 2 YEARS: Social Development: A baby can respond to simple instructions. He/she wants to help adults and enjoy imitating their activities. It helps develop a sense of own identity. He/she plays alongside other children of own age for some time. He/she shows egocentric behaviour. Physical Development: A child becomes very mobile at this age. Between 12 to 15 months most children will start to walk and some can even go upstairs (with supervision). He/she can feed themselves. He/she has matured pincer grasps and can scribble with crayons. He/she can make a small tower by putting bricks/ blocks. He/she can wave good-bye, point or make noises to indicate their wants. Intellectual Development: A baby can recognise objects from pictures and books. He/she matches basic colours and start to match shapes. He/she can follow one step instructions. He/she show their preferences and start to make choices. He/she shows lots of curiosity and can concentrate for longer. He/she can do very simple puzzles. Communication and language development: By the age of 2, a child could be using 150-200 words. He/she can participate in songs and rhymes; enjoy listening to stories. He/she repeats words said by adults. He/she begins to ask questions like what and why. Emotional Development: A child is emotionally dependent on familiar adults. He/she likes to explore environment and is less frightened now when placed in new situations. The child reacts very strongly when he/she is not allowed to do a particular activity. Sometimes, He/she has mood swings and can be very clinging while some other time could be very independent. AGE 2 3 YEARS: Social Development: Childrens first friends are their parents and carer. He/she learns from them how to play and communicate with others. Babies and toddlers notice others and become fascinated by them. At around 2 years he/she is likely to play alongside with each other. By the age of 2years, most children have a feeling of identity and interestingly this coincides with their becoming more assertive. By the age of 3years, a child learns to play more of co-operative play. Physical Development: A child uses a potty and stays dry more reliably. He/she can come down stairs in upright position one stair at a time. He/she can climb well on play apparatus. He/she learns to paddle a tricycle. He/she can undress self but need some help to dress self. He/she has more control on holding crayons and paint brush. He/she can kick a ball and learns to jump. A child of this age can travel around, under, over, and through balancing and climbing equipment. Intellectual Development: A child can identify facial features and main body parts. He/she can follow two step instructions and can understand what is big and small. He/she starts to understand basic concepts of time and can match the colours and shapes. He/she becomes aware of what is right and wrong. He/she gathers information through language rather than image. He/she enjoys imaginative play and can concentrate long on creative activities. Communication and language development: He/she tries to communicate more with adult form of speech. A childs vocabulary increases to about 300 words and can deliver simple messages. Emotional Development: A child begins to understand the feelings of others. He/she is very curious about their environment but have no sense of danger. He/she could not understand about peoples pain at this age. AGE 3 5 YEARS: Social Development: A child starts socialising with people, learns to play with other children. He/she can show some friendship preferences but these are mainly based on play interests. He/she can use language more and more effectively with others. He/she can be confident in doing their own things as they develop their self help skills. He/she observes closely adults and tries to imitate them. He/she learns to share group possessions at play group or nursery but basically he/she is still egocentric. Physical Development: In this period a childs movements become more co-ordinated and smoother. A child by now starts to make various complex movements as the bones in the body starts to harden or have now formed. A child at this age remains clean and dry most of the time but could have some accidents. Child improves gross motor skills. He/she is more confident while jumping, riding a tricycle. Child at this age can throw a bowl but still unsure and inaccurate while catching the ball. By the age of 5years, a child is able to use variety of large equipments. A child improves his/her fine motor skills. A childs drawings are more detailed and representative. Intellectual Development: By the age of 3 years, a child imitates adults speech which can be understood by the strangers. A child becomes very inquisitive and asks lots of question. He/she knows parts of body. A child learns many things through play, tries to experiment with colours, shapes and texture. He/she can follow two or three step instructions. He/she has a better attention span at this age and hence, enjoys more complex activities. He/she learns to share and accepts ideas in group activities. He/she expresses strong opinions of likes and dislikes. Communication and language development: A childs vocabulary improves a lot. By this age, speech is fluent and the child is grammatically correct in using descriptive language. He/she can confidently form short sentences and uses language to communicate his/her own ideas. He/she enjoys constantly with people whom they know well. Emotional Development: A child is aware of the feelings and needs of others. He/she learns to comfort others who are upset, hurt or unwell. He/she can show occasional outburst when tired, stressed or frustrated. He/she can use language to express feelings and wishes and sometimes argues with other children. AGE 5 7 YEARS: Social Development: A child of this age likes to play mainly with child of same sex. A child is now aware of his/her own qualities. He/she tends to be fairly positive about him/her own skills. Physical Development: By this age, brain has developed further and is able to process information quickly. A child of this age is faster at dressing. As a result of improved co-ordination a child is more confident. By the age of 6 7 years, a child is able to sew simple stitches and ties or unties laces. All these prove that he/she has improved pincer grasp. Intellectual Development: A child of this age can differentiate between various shapes and sizes. He/she can match symbols, letters and numbers. By the age of 6 years, ability to write develops. He/she can read simple books, able to count up to 100. By this age, he/she understands the concept of conversation. Communication and language development: By this age, a child can communicate well with strangers. He/she is very fluent by now and can use correct and descriptive language. He/she has a wide range of vocabulary and can make up his/her own story. Emotional Development: A child becomes more independent and self-motivated. By this age, he/she is more sociable and friendly with others. He/she likes to play with same sex children and able to share. But, he /she need help in resolving issues. A child enjoys taking responsibility and helping others. AGE 7 12 YEARS: Social Development: At this age, a child starts enjoying company of other children and loves to be in a group. They are often same sex although some play activities will encourage boys and girls to play together. Now he/she is less dependent on close adults for support. Physical Development: A childs physical skill develops a lot and sometimes depends on his/her interests. He/she has more fine motor skills. Puberty starts for many girls from the age of 10 years and finishes by the age of 15 years and during this period their body undergoes various physical changes. For boys, this usually starts at around 13/14 years and finishes at around 16 years. A child develops hand eye co-ordination which leads to proficiency in climbing, running, balancing and skipping. Intellectual Development: 7 years onwards, most children are fluent speakers, readers and writers of their language. At this age, a child can read more complex texts and develops writing skills. At the age of 7 12 years, a child has great reasoning ability and can apply logic to solve problems. He/she has longer attention span so he/she enjoys various board games and computer games. His/her preferences for subject increase. He/she starts dealing with abstract ideas. Communication and language development: A child becomes highly verbal and enjoys making up and telling jokes. He/she has a wide range of vocabulary and can use more complex sentence structures. He/she can share ideas and feelings in more depth. He/she can share a very detailed account of past events and anticipate the future. He/she can listen to follow and execute more complex instructions. Emotional Development: A child is now aware of wider environment. He/she becomes very proud of his/her won achievements and sometimes can be very competitive. Usually, boys friendships are likely to be of group based while girls prefer closer but fewer friends. AGE 12 19 YEARS: Social Development: Young people want to spend more time with each other than with their family. Individual friendship is important for them and along with they enjoy being into a group. Sometimes, it can be seen young people can be strongly motivated by role models in media. They participate in teen games and enjoy group activities including clubs. Physical Development: By the age of 14/15 years, most girls have completed the process of puberty. Most girls have already started their menstrual cycle and become regular by the age of 16 years. For boys, the process of puberty has already started and for most finishes at around the age of 16 years. The body of a young people undergoes change in appearance because of many physical developments during this period. Intellectual Development: Young people are able to understand more complicated things in mathematical and scientific process. They extend their writing skills and can develop more creative skills and can understand other peoples point of view. They have a very high level of concentration. They develop logical thinking ability and may enjoy practising their new intellectual and verbal skills through debating either formally of informally. Communication and language development: Young people have extensive and varied vocabulary. They can use appropriate language styles, vocalises their ideas and feelings in greater depth. They can justify their own views and ideas. They enjoy more complex texts including fiction, poetry and factual books. Emotional Development: At this age, young people are very sensitive to their own feelings. Emotional maturity is constantly switching on between childish needs and adult desires. They are confident in their own skills and ideas. They have a good understanding of complex issues. Young people can find themselves caught between their desire to remain in a group but reluctant to adopt groups values and behaviour. 1.b Explain the difference between sequence of development and rate of development and why the difference is important Difference between sequence of development and rate of development To find the difference between sequence of development and rate of development we need to understand the basic meaning of sequence and rate. The sequence of development is a process where an event is followed one after another and achieves a level of succession with a series of changes or growth that a process undertakes normally to improve on that process leading to a matured state. It is related to the previous events and normally improves on the process. For example: A baby goes through different phases before he starts walking. First he just kick legs with movements, learns to roll on and then he tries to sit that may take 6-7 months. After that he learns to crawl and stand and gradually learns walking holding parents hands and finally they reach the ultimate goal i.e, they can walk independently. Rate of Development is a quantity of something in  comparison  with a unit of another thing. It is related to the development that occurs at a definite age and at a definite time. Each and every child has a different rate of development although they ultimately follow more or less the same pattern of rate of development.  For example: Some babies start walking at the age of 9 months while others may start a little late. Some babies can start making sentences at the age of 1.5 years while others can speak only a few words. But by the age of 3years, most of the children can walk independently and can speak using small simple sentences. Importance of Differences Children develop at different rates. This helps to monitor and expect what children can and cant do at a particular phase in their lives. In the sequence of development one must finish with one of area of development before a move on to the next one. The rate of development is the rapidity with which a child develops. These can be the speed within each phase of development or cover all the set areas in the phase. These principles run through all the areas of development from physical, social, intellectual and language no matter what the age of the child. If at all one is skipped or slow it can be a cause for concern. It will also help to plan effectively to ensure they get the attention they need, in the areas in which they find challenging.   Physical  development  follows a definite sequence an example of this would be that a baby would have to first learn how to hold his/her own head up before they would be able to sit with just its lower back supported.   While the sequences are common amongst most children what often changes is the  rate  in which they develop the skills.  It is important to recognise the difference so you can identify where  children  need help or may be at risk of having a special recommendation or having a special need in or outside school. 1.c Explain how theories of development and frameworks to support development influence current practice. Child development means the biological and psychological and emotional changes that take place within an individual since birth to the end of adolescence. It would be clear to us if we discuss the theories of development presented by Montessori, Piaget and Vyogotsky. Montessori: Montessori Method of education was developed in Italy in the early 1900 by Dr Maria Montessori. The core philosophy behind the method is that every child is unique in comparison to adults and also to other children and that their individuality must be respected throughout the educational process. Montessori was of the opinion that a childs mind is always eager to learn, explore and wants to try new things. Keeping these in mind the activities for Montessori education was designed. It involves the education of individual senses and individual muscle movements. Piaget: Jean Piagets view of how childrens minds work and develop has been enormously influential, particularly in educational theory. His particular insight was the role of maturation in childrens increasing capacity to understand their world. His theory is that a child cannot undertake certain tasks until they are psychologically mature enough to do so. He proposed that childrens thinking does not develop entirely smoothly. Instead, there are certain points at which it takes off and moves into completely new areas and capabilities. He proposed that childrens thinking doesnt develop entirely smoothly; instead He saw these transitions as taking place at about 18 months, 7 years and 11 or 12 years. This has been taken to mean that before these ages children are not capable (no matter how bright) of understanding things in certain ways, and has been used as the basis for scheduling the school curriculum. Vygotsky: Lev Vygotskys theory is intellectual development. His theory is that children learn new skills by being guided by cares and parents. An example of this is when a parent sings to their child and helps them clap their hands until the child can clap their hands themselves. He believes that every new scene or interaction is a learning experience to a child that he/she must be guided through until they know how to react correctly. We also give praise when children handle social interactions with good behaviour to prove that we are pleased and they have behaved appropriately. He expressed that Every function in the childs cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals. Cole Michael; Vygotsky, Mind in Society : the development of higher psychological processes. Vygotsky felt that development was a process and saw periods of crisis in child development during which there was a qualitative transformation in the childs mental functioning. Carton, Aarons; Vygotsky, Collected works of L S Vygotsky 5, Child Psycholgy. The EYFS (Early Year Foundation Stage) is a framework for all registered providers of services for children under 5, which became statutory in September 2008. It marks the first time that practitioners from all sectors of the early childhood workforce, from the head teachers of primary schools to registered childminders and after-school play-workers, have been required to observe the same guidelines relating to the education and care of young children. The framework provides statutory guidance, not only on the ways in which development and learning are to be supported within schools and settings, but on the ways in which relationships with families are to be established in support of these goals. EYFS ensures: Children learn through play Providers work closely through parents Parents are kept up to date on their childs progress The welfare learning and all round development of children with different backgrounds and levels of ability, including those with special educational needs and disabilities The National Curriculum is a set of subjects and standards used by  primary and secondary schools  to ensure that every child receives a broad and balanced education. It covers type of subjects that are taught and the standards each child should achieve in each subject. The National Curriculum had a positive impact in improving practices to teach reading, writing and maths. It also ensures lifting of the level of average achievement and updating practices to improve the efficacy. The use of the curriculum also enables schools to prevent racism, reduce discrimination and promote cultural diversity. 1.d Explain how different types of intervention can promote positive outcomes for children and young people where development is not following the expected pattern. Every child is unique and individual in nature. However, the growth and development of a child depends on a step by step progress that a child makes during a definite period. A developmental delay is defined when a child doesnt reach an expected developmental milestone. When a child has been detected by any kind of developmental delays, he or she can be promoted by different sorts of intervention to achieve the developmental goal. A child can be given support to develop his social, physical, intellectual, language and emotional development. Social development: We can always encourage a child with socially acceptable behaviour. We could appreciate a child when he is taking turns while playing with others. Children should be encouraged to join in a team game/sports. Sometimes a child takes time to do things independently. Being an adult, we must be patient with them. Sharing books, stories, puppets with children helps them to understand ideas of different situations and also how to deal with them. Physical development: Children need opportunities for both indoor and outdoor activities to develop their physical skills. A child enjoys exploring and experiment, so that they should be encouraged to be explored and helping them to play with or without their play apparatus. We can help a child to become independent. A child can be encouraged for doing his/her everyday routines like using a spoon, getting dressed, dealing with fastening the shoe laces. While dealing with a child in indoors or outdoors we keep in our mind about a childs safety by checking the equipment the child is playing with and supervising the child whether he is using the equipment in a proper way. Intellectual development: Cognitive and intellectual development plays important roles in a childs development. It is an adults responsibility to increase the childs curiosity by promoting the different sorts of books, games, posters, play equipments and toys. Children enjoy going for an outing. They learn a lot from the environment. We can encourage them by answering the questions. A little unsure or unconfident child can gain confidence from verbal prompts or encouragement. Too much complex activities sometimes put a child off due to the frustration of not being able to do the activities. So it is always helpful for the children to do with the activities which they enjoy. Sometimes, repetition of games/activities helps them to discover different aspects of the activities. Childs intellectual skills can be developed by playing memory games with them. We can increase their concentration by presenting activities, games and stories in an interesting way. A child can always be encouraged to use their senses to experiment with different materials. Language development: A child learns or develops his language by listening to an adult. When a child listens or whenever he is being talked he improves his language skills. A child can be talked about anything and everything. It is always advisable to use a simple sentence while talking to an infant. Sometimes, repetition is required to reinforce unknown or new vocabulary. Sharing books, stories and exchanging ideas also help to develop language skills. Emotional development: Praise and encouragement always help to build self-confidence and to focus a child into which he/she is good at. Sharing resources, helping others and contributing ideas increase an interest in the pupils efforts and achievements. 1.e Analyse the importance of early identification of speech, language and communication delays and disorders and the potential risks of late recognition. Importance of early identification: Speech, language and communication play a vital role in all our lives. We begin our communication development skills from birth. Speech, language and communication allow us to be social. Some children may have some speech, language and communication delays and disorders which can affect their personal, social and academic life. Sometimes some children overcome their speech and language problem by the time they enter school and some will not be able to do so. Hence, it is important to identify those children who will find it difficult to overcome language or speech problem. An adult acts as a facilitator by providing appropriate activities and experiences to enable children to develop their speech ,language and communication skills in meaningful situation   A child can quickly fall behind if speech and language learning is delayed. Sometime, the problem can be very severe, when an individual cannot communicate at all without alternative or augmentative communication such as signs or communication aids. Early identification of speech, language and communication delay is extremely important as the chances to alleviate these problems and improving these skills are greater. Early identification helps children to conquer their communication difficulty, language and speech delays with the assistance. Potential risks: The potential risk for late recognition of speech, language and communication is childs learning and development will suffer, which may affect their behaviour when they are not understood. If these delays are not identified the delay will continue and the child may suffer from lack of confidence, less able to manage their thoughts and will more than likely experience emotional problems. Other aspects of development will also be affected, e.g. cognitive, social, emotional and behavioural.  They may struggle to keep up their views and ideas and will have trouble getting others to understand what they are trying to communicate. Many children with communication problems will go on to develop mental illness if untreated. Often underlying health and medical conditions go unnoticed and undiagnosed in children with communication problems. They would also struggle to understand what they are being told or asked them in a learning environment which may lead the child to a negative effect on their self esteem and confidence. A child will also find it difficult to form a relationship with other children and will then feel angry and could lead to behavioural problems and isolation. 1.f Explain how play and activities are used to support the development of speech, language and communication. Play and activities are important throughout our life. These help a child to develop speech, language and communication skills.  Play and activity encourages children to communicate and thus to practice and develop their language and communication skills. They will need to communicate with their playmates and others, so that creates a situation where they can practice and develop their language skills. In the end, it is practice that allows for the development of language skills and activity is a good way to encourage that practice. Speech language and communication play a crucial role in childrens development. Language helps an individual to express thoughts, ideas feelings emotions and information. Children can communicate through actions and gestures as well as through language. Children through their play and structured activities can communicate through verbal and nonverbal interactions. Play and activity contributes and supports childs learning .It helps them to learn discipline. Play activities enable child to impose some structure or organisation on a task, make sense of their experiences. During play children combine many skills such as movement, thinking, attention, seeing, listening and, of course, communicating. It follows that children with a difficulty in one or more of these skills can be helped to progress through play. Children are always using toys in different ways than we would expect boxes can become cars to drive in to distant lands, the sand tray becomes a desert and absolutely anything can be used as a gun or a cricket bat apparently!! It would be helpful for the children if we do not try to limit the toys uses as children can learn so much during role-play working and playing with others, different language, turn taking, problem solving, and feelings for others, decision making, knowledge exchange between their friends or grownups. When a child is encouraged with different kinds of activities it helps them to express themselves, and feels confident enough using different materials, such as paint brush or a pencil and helps them to experiment with different playing equipments which may also help to bloom up their personality. For instance using of paint brush encourages the child to use fingers, thumbs, hands and feet to do paint printing and brings in them some innovative ideas. When a child is participating in a musical activity by singing, dancing, clapping and playing instruments he or she is developing a sense of music along with that they are coor

Free College Admissions Essays: I Will Endure :: College Admissions Essays

I Will Endure When I wake up to the ear-splitting sound of my alarm clock, and blindly search for the snooze button, a sudden thought dawns: "What am I doing?" The time is 5:30 AM; all is dark and hushed. My weary body feels completely drained of energy. While straining to open my eyes, still warm and snug in my comfortable bed, I am overcome with a feeling of lethargy. "Perhaps I should call in sick." Despite all my musing, and my bed's magnetic pull, I still manage to rise each morning at this ungodly hour to join the cross-country running team in rigorous training. Cross-country running, a sport that requires the fusing of body and mind, strives to maximize your physical ability by testing your mental tenacity. Everyday represents a new struggle to beat yesterday's maximum output, an issue of mind over matter. I have known the agony of this conflict since I joined the newly established cross-country team. As convincing as my morning doubts are, I do not heed them. Through pains and sprains and through adverse weather and unfavorable conditions, I run because I made up my mind three years ago to succeed. With amenities such as cars and buses, I have no pragmatic reason to use my feet, especially if I lack a destination. I do not run to the gym to acquire a stylish figure, for my slender frame does not require it. And this grueling run differs from a relaxing jog to a coffee shop. I am pushing myself constantly to run faster and farther, for my team as well as for personal glory. Somehow with tireless effort and unflagging commitment, I run through the sleeping streets of my neighborhood with the awareness that I am steadily reaching my goal-maintaining the discipline that cross-country demands. In my mind I see a victory line that symbolizes the results of perseverance and hard work. This line makes me realize that ambition and tenacity do not go in vain.

Citizens Identities in Public Documents

Contained herein is an article critique regarding exposure of private information through digitization projects that allow unrestricted public access.The analysis will specifically deal with John Harney’s Protecting Citizens Identities in Public Documents that highlights how a County document preservation department dealt with the issue of protecting public information effectively.In the understanding that exposing private data such as social security, bank account numbers and title deed, the Maricoba County Recorder embarked on an elaborative process of scanning and removing all the sensitive information from documents without diluting usefulness.The County’s efforts are important considering the dangers of exposing such data to other people. Indeed, the exposure would make it easy for phishers to collect information that is later used for identity theft. Harney’s article is therefore an important eye-opener that it is possible for society to utilize new technol ogies effectively without posing dangers to individuals’ private lives. Maricoba County’s processes should therefore be regarded as best practices in digitization field.This is especially because members of the public would be more supportive of such projects and therefore be more willing to volunteer donations and propositions. Such collaboration would help in the process of digitizing the millions, maybe billions, of documents and information whose digitization would improve public awareness on past and current issues affective respective society.In addition, the end of public’s phobia of digitization and privacy will indeed be help in motivating technology makers in improving ways of improving security features further. John Harney’s Protecting Citizens Identities in Public Documents is in this regard an important contribution to the debate of digitization and information security.ReferencesHarney, J. (2008). Protecting Citizens Identities in Public Do cuments. Retrieved March    3, 2009, from http://www.infonomics-digital.com/infonomics/20080304/?pg=60

Progressive Era †Helping The Common Man. History Essay (300 Level Course)

Progressive Era – Helping The Common Man. History Essay (300 Level Course) Free Online Research Papers The Progressive era was from 1895-1920, named by historians for the reformats spirit that took place. The Progressive era had three goals to help the â€Å"common man† to get the government to regulate big business and to reduce the power of political bosses. The people in the Progressive era were amazing. Robert M. Lafollette governor from Wisconsin, as governor of the state he put into act many reform policies such as the direct primaries, more equitable taxes, and regulated the railroad. He also was elected to the U.S. Senate. There were the muckrackers, journalist and novelist who exposed problems in the system such as Upton Sinclare’s The Jungle and Ida Tarbell’s expose on John D. Rockefeller, and Lincoln Steffen’s The Shame of the Cities. These works made the middle class aware of major problems facing the nation. There were muckracking magazines such as McClures, Cosmopolitan and Colliers. Women’s reform was also big during this era. If it was not for women such as Carrie Chapman Catt and social workers Alice Paul and Jane Addams, who established the Hull House to help new immigrants in Chicago, women would not have come to the forefront of politics. The political reform that was pushed through this era by Robert M. Lafollette, Theodore Roosevelt, and others is amazing. Many progressives hoped that the political reform would take power away from political bosses and put it into the power of the common man. The voters achieved this through secret ballot, direct primary, and city manager and commissioner forms of city government, initiative, referendum, and recall. Also two other important reforms were achieved through amendments to the constitution the 17 amendment the direst election of U.S. Senators and the 19 amendment the right for women to vote. There were three presidents elected during this era they were Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to side with strikers, in the year of 1902 the coal miners went on strike in Pennsylvania and he sided with the strikers not the owners. Roosevelt was a â€Å"trust buster† with 44 trust busts under his presidency. He also had the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 to regulate big business. The Elkins Act of 1903 that prohibited the railroad from giving rebates to favored customers. The Hepburn Act of 1906 where the Interstate Commerce Commission set the maximum rates for the railroad. One of the most important was the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 that banned impure and mislabeled food and drugs, then the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 which put federal regulation on the meat industry. He was also the first president to conserve national resources. His presidency is referred to as the â€Å"Square Deal.† After Theodore Roosevelt was William Howard Taft. William Howard Taft was elected in 1909 and served until 1913 as President of the United States. HE was also a trustbuster. He has 90 anti trust suits during his presidency. The Mann-Elkins Act of 1910 that regulated telephones telegraphs, cable and wireless. The Publicity Act of 1910 where the filing for election contributions were made public. The Payne-Aldrich Tariff of 1909 raised tariffs. He fired Gifford Pichot during the Ballinger-Pinchot controversy. Then in 1913 Woodrow Wilson was elected to the presidency. William Howard Taft was running for re-election and Theodore Roosevelt did not like how he was running the country so he ran against him on the Bull Moose ticket and they split the vote, which allowed Woodrow Wilson to win. Woodrow Wilson’s presidency is known as the â€Å"New Freedom.† During his presidency the Underwood Tariff was put into effect and in lowered tariffs. Then the Federal Reserve Act on 1913 put a money supply in national banks and some state banks. The Smithe Lever of 1914 gave money to states for farming. Federal Trade Commission of 1914 to stop unfair interstate commerce. The Clayton Antitrust Act helped to strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act by attacking monopolies, barred interlocking directories, protected workers right to strike and to picket and boycott, gave unions protection from prosecution. Then the Federal Farm Loan of 1916 let farmers borrow money. The Keating Owen of 1916 regulates child labor. Workmen’s compensation la w was passed. Woodrow Wilson was re-elected to the presidency because he ran on the anti war platform and defeated Charles Evans Hughes, however, we did enter the war under Woodrow Wilson’s presidency. The prohibition on alcoholic liquors was passed with the 18 amendment during his presidency and women’s suffrage was ratified with the 19 amendment. I think there were more than just three important achievements during the Progressive Era. Women’s right to vote, the secret ballot, the initiative, referendum and recall, the direct primary, direct election on U.S. Senators and the reform of city government, commission and city managers are at the top of the list. However, the Pure Food and Drug Act, and the conservation on natural resources, the child labor laws are all so very important. All of these things were great achievements of the Progressive Era. Research Papers on Progressive Era - Helping The Common Man. 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