On Distance Learning Essay

Distance education represents a way of teaching with geographically dispersed individuals and groups. Moore related that as early as 1978, regular mail service was used to aid distance education, but the advent of the internet brought new and exceptional dimensions to the world of distance education (10). It offered access to geographically and physically separated individuals to courses and instruction in a more interactive manner through increased education, interactivity among participants, and incorporation of collaborative pedagogical models. But even with the increasing number of courses and degrees delivered entirely online, and the number of supporters this type of education has gained, many still express opposition to it as against the traditional classroom education. Former college teacher James Barszcz’s is one well-known critic of distance education. He strongly asserts in his essay that distance learning cannot fulfill the true purpose of education. The diffusion of the Internet worldwide has literally changed the traditional structure of the school, and, as it can be noticed from the previous examples, it is doing in many different ways that are more and more interesting. It must not be forgotten, of course, that parents keep on worrying about the fact their children’s opinions are circulating all over the world and that this could mean danger and repression for them. These anxieties, however, cannot erase the advantages coming from the introduction of this new technology into the educational are, most importantly, of bringing education to everyone. But what is the true purpose of education, really? In its most basic sense, I strongly believe that the essence of education is to instill in an individual the capability to make out at the world for oneself, to generate one’s own choices, to declare what is black or what is white. In whatever manner this education may come from, it is still learning and discovering about new things that help shape a person into what he is. Distance learning has brought a remarkable means of delivering this education to students in rural or remote areas, so that they make take advantage of continuing learning and give them the ability to schedule learning at times convenient to them. Not only that, a great number of distance education programs cater to the requirements of a lot of diverse people of all ages, sexes, occupations, learning backgrounds and health conditions. Granted that personal contact which is very important in effective education is missing with this kind of education, but as is the situation with all new technologies, there are negative and positive aspects to distance learning. Many instructors, as well as students of distance education miss this. Distance learning can admittedly be lonely sometimes. There is always a price to pay, whether it be big or small. Although this is the case, steps could be done to assuage this drawback. Encouraging students to share something about themselves is one activity that can at least give all participants the feeling that they know something about their colleague and the professor. Additionally, many courses are well supported and, for students who are unable to attend residential events, there are usually opportunities for students to participate in online discussion groups, clubs and societies. It would be noteworthy to point out that for distance learning to be effective, a conducive learning environment needs to be created and maintained. Considerable thought and effort should go into the criteria required for setting-up learning centers and how these criteria would be put into practice and monitored. If this would be followed, distance education, with an extensive record of providing learning to out-of-the-way and distant learners, will become the effective, mainstream method of education and training that advocates claim it to be. In a world where continuous learning is a must, distance education has paved the way for everyone to have access to the educational system without having to physically go to school. Discipline is needed, of course, but it is one value that even traditional schooling teaches students to have. In the end, distance education can only provide a win-win situation for everyone involved in it.

Edgar Allen Poe Alcohol’

Sam Doueiri Edgar Allan Poe and substance abuse The Bottled Curse Edgar Allan Poe was one of America’s most celebrated poet and story teller. His life started early with misfortune. Both of his parents were already dead, when Edgar was 3 years old. His father died of tuberculosis and his mother died of tuberculosis and pneumonia. He was adopted and attended school until he was 17 years old. He started the abuse of alcohol with 17 and he started gambling.As his adopting father figured out, he stopped all financial supports of his adopted son. Edgar had to leave the University and he enlisted in the U. S. military, and later obtained a military school. Edgar Allan Poe was expelled from the military school after one year attending. During his time in this school he published his first poetry book. Over the years Poe established a reputation as a writer. Drinking remained a lifelong problem. Edgar adopted a lifestyle which included a constant abuse of alcohol.Although writing brou ght him fame, he had to struggle through his whole life with financial issues. Because of the leaking copyright protection to his time, he never was financially rewarded for his excellent masterpieces of poetry and literature. Therefore he struggled through his whole life with money issues. Throughout most of his writings Edgar Allan Poe mentions the abuse of alcohol â€Å"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity. During these fits of absolute unconsciousness I drank †¦ God only knows how often or how much.As a matter of course, my enemies referred the insanity to the drink rather than the drink to the insanity. † Courtney JF: â€Å"Addiction and Edgar Ellen Poe† Med Times 1972; 100:162-163. He started in a young age with the excessive abuse of alcohol, as a classmate recalled: â€Å"He would always seize the tempting glass, generally unmixed with sugar or water- in fact, perfectly straight- and without the least apparent pleasure, swallow the cont ents, never pausing until the last drop had passed his lips. Bonaparte M: â€Å"The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe†, Imago Pub, London 1949:31-32 Alcohol appears frequently in Poe’s stories, usually connected to some following violent act or event: † One night, returning home, much intoxicated, from one of my haunts about town, I fancied that the cat avoided my presence. I seized him; when, in his fright at my violence, he inflicted a slight wound upon my hand with his teeth. The fury of a demon instantly possessed me. I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body; and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fiber of my frame.I took from my waistcoat-pocket a penknife, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket†¦. When reason returned with the morning- when I had slept off the fumes of the night’s debauchery-I experienced a sentiment half of horror, half of remorse, for the crime of which I had been guilty; but it was, at best, a feeble and equivocal feeling, and the soul remained untouched. I again plunged into excess, and soon drowned in wine all memory of the deed. † Poe’s â€Å"The Black Cat† www. heliterature network. com pages 2-5. In conclusion, Alcohol abuse became a part of Edgar Allan Poe’s life, it affected his writings his perception and his creativity. He went into almost a â€Å"Dark Side† in his life and gave little windows of his mind through his literature. It seems almost as if the Alcohol took overhand and had finally a body of mind, from which on the Alcohol himself and parts of Poe’s personality were writing in between two different worlds, the â€Å"Dark side† and the â€Å"pure and innocent side† of life.His way of writing very â€Å" Dark† finds an interesting base of making the reader being curious what will happen next. It is† miserable† itself what makes the reader keep reading. Courtney JF: â€Å"Addiction and Edgar Ellen Poe† Med Times 1972; 100:162-163. Bonaparte M: â€Å"The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe†, Imago Pub, London 1949:31-32 Poe’s â€Å"The Black Cat† www. theliterature network. com pages 2-5.

Literature review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 5

Literature review - Essay Example characterizes Russia’s basic Chechnya policy dating back to Stalin, which looks at Chechens as undeserving of political latitude because of their long history of banditry, among other reasons. This means political alienation for the Chechens, a condition that makes it a perfect breeding ground for violence (Hewitt, C., 2002). Hewitt posits that violence is a response to being excluded from the political arena, such that people will resort to violence if they see the political system as unresponsive to their needs. So when Chechen rebel bands intensified attacks on Russian troops and civilian targets, the Russian federation responded in kind and, in some cases, with even greater force. The group instinct of the Chechens perceived this as a threat. Based on Evan Harrington’s (2004) theory of inter-group hostility, the situation is rife for violence when a â€Å"group senses a threat from its government, from another group in the same country, or another government.† All the known political and psychological theories on inter-group hatred, prejudice, realistic conflict, ethnocentrism and authoritarianism may have come into play to hasten the plunge of the Russia-Chechen conflict into the pit of violence and hostility. Russia is a melting pot of races, cultures and religions, making the federation a stratified society. This condition breeds inter-group hatred, in which there will always be unequal power relations and even discrimination between social groups. (Amiot, C. & Bourhis, R., 2005) The Russians who comprise the social and political majority in the federation may thus look down on the smaller Muslim segment of the population who are then reduced to a minority or low-status group. Amiot & Bourhis (2005) observe that the dominant group members in such a situation tend to initiate â€Å"overt† or â€Å"covert† acts of discrimination against the low-power groups. This portends certain trouble because at a later stage, the members of the low

Interaction design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Interaction design - Essay Example The product would be equipped with a special â€Å"car mode†, which would be activate by the user when entering a car and would therefore read any text messages receive with the simple touch of a button. An ear piece could also be attached if the individual was to be travelling with someone else and wished to keep his or her conversation a secret. This idea comes from many personal experiences with talking to others via text messaging and running into problems as a result of this. Text messaging is a popular form of communication for individuals while they are at work because it lessens the risk of a boss hearing them talking on the phone to a friend. At the same time, however, if this individual is talking to someone who is not in a position where he or she can safely read a message, problems and safety issues can arise. This product is designed in order to alleviate these unneeded dangers, because people simply will not sit and wait until they stop or reach a red light in order to check their messages. In today’s fast-paced society, people wish to communicate and receive information as quickly as possible and this product makes it possible for this to occur in a safe manner. The competitors for this artefact would be other cell phone companies that already contain a multitude of features. For example, many cell phones now contain mp3 players, video cameras, and other premium technologies that were previously thought to be impossible to be included in a cell phone. A cell phone like the BlackBerry ® Pearlâ„ ¢ 8100 smart phone â€Å"includes a camera, a media player, and BlackBerry ® Maps (Discover Blackberry) and could be a possible competitor because of its wide range of uses. Another possible competitor, as it is a multi-purpose phone, is the iPhone, which â€Å"combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet