Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Online Game Addiction Essay Example for Free

Online Game Addiction Essay Online game addiction is no longer just a worry of an American-chubby-child’s mother, but the worry of many parents in Cambodia and other less affluent countries. Recently, more teenage Cambodians were addicted to online games, in order to satisfy their fantasy of being heroes or warriors. Cambodian teens would rather eat less or even skip meals just to save money for the online games. Other than spending money, they also wasted their time. According to Chheng Roth Donior, a Cambodian teen, he normally spends three to five hours a day in internet cafes, even under the threat of his mother. It might have sounded strange to you, since Cambodia is not a wealthy country and most of the urban teens do not have internet at home, and why would they be addicted to online games? One of the reasons is more and more internet cafes have opened up, and Web access is growing rapidly these years. Another reason would be the teenagers in fact do not know they’re addicted to the online games or its harmful effects. The consequence of online game addiction could be serious, for example, last year in South Korea, a man died after playing online games for five days straight. For sure, the teenagers would waste all their money and time on those internet cafes. They would have less incentive to work or study since the satisfaction gained from the games is far more than those they could gain in their daily lives. It would also harm the gamers’ health (e. g. with poorer eyesight and less exercise) and would lower their face to face communication skills. Later, they may not be able to distinguish between the reality and the created world. Teenagers are the future of the country, measures must be taken as soon as possible to curb the addiction. First, promotion from the government is very crucial. The teenagers may not understand the harmful effects of online game addictions, government should advertise the harmful effect and possible consequences through mass media, i. e. TV advertisements, news paper, radio etc. Posters should also posted in school, streets and especially the internet cafes, just like a warning note must also included on the package of cigarettes. For why the teenagers would addict to online games, is that they could gain a sense of satisfaction by beating down their created enemies. Therefore, the teachers and parents of the teenagers should help them build their confidence, like giving them chances to develop their talents. For example, school can provide more Extra-curriculum activities for them afterschool. They should also help the teenagers to identify their dreams and targets, assuring them that nothing is impossible and encourage them to fight for their dreams through talks and lessons. Then they would not stick to the computer screens, instead, they would work very hard on their dreams. On their ways towards their goals, parents and teachers should give supports and advice to them. Third, government should set up clinics to help the gamers overcome their internet addictions, just like what China and South Korea did. The clinics should provide counseling and information about online game addiction, this could help those people who had already addicted to online games. Lastly, education is always the last resort of most problems. Schools and parents have the responsibility in teaching the teens about the harmful effects of online game addiction. They should educate the students or their children starting from their childhood. Schools can hold more talks on the issue in order to make sure that they receive related information. If we do not cope with the problem as soon as possible, the situation would become more complicated and serious. The solutions I suggested above would definitely help dealing with the problem, and I hope the situation would be improved soon.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Essay --

Morgan Phelps Phelps 1 Mr. Pickett Period 3 March 14, 2014 Many people don’t realize that women have never been fully respected and taken serious. Women all around have never been treated equal or given the same responsibilities as men because of their gender. Women in this country and many others, have not been given the right to vote. They have never been fully respected in the workplace by their co-workers or employers. Women have not always been given the freedom in their professional choices.They again have never been free to be who they want to be in life.There is all kinds of things that women can not do because of their gender but things are slowly changing for the better. Unlike most men, women have not always been given the opportunity to vote. Before the 1920’s women were not allowed to vote (www.history.com). Rarely did you ever see women who had a job.The average daily life of a women would consist of cooking, cleaning and taking care of the kids. They had no say in anything and did what their husbands told them to do. It was not only like this in the United States, but other Phelps 2 places, like Canada and New Zealand (teacher.scholastic.com). Women lived like this until a group of women wanted a change. There was one women who went above and beyond to get equality for all women. This women was Susan B. Anthony. She was raised in a Quaker family (believed in equal rights for men and women) and supported the women’s rights movement. She did everything in her power to grant equality. Anthony casts ballots and even came up with a Declaration of Rights for Women (World Book, Women’s Rights to Vote). She was devote... ...gh they did the same amount of work as the men. There is still some of that in today’s society but women are standing up for equal pay and slowly gaining it. They were also told they could not be whatever they wanted to be just because of their gender. They also said that they were not qualified enough, only men could do that job. Women have stepped up and gotten the job they have always wanted. There is still inequality but the world is Phelps 7 realizing that women and men are all equal and discrimination is not the answer. Women have truly changed our world and our lives forever. www.biography.com www.brainyquote.com www.history.com www.huffingtonpost.com www.scholastic.com www.summer.harvard.com teacher.scholastic.com www.wgea.gov.eu Women’s Right to Vote, World Book www.ourdocuments.com

Sunday, January 12, 2020

The Role of Technology in Quality Education

THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN QUALITY EDUCATION Dr. R. Sivakumar Assistant Professor Department of Education Annamalai University Introduction Quality education is a universal goal. It is common to hear arguments that instructional technology will be the key to educational quality as we enter the new millennium. Investment in educational technology is urged upon policy-makers as the path to educational quality.In fact, enthusiasts for educational technology argue that quality has and will continue to increase rapidly, creating a â€Å"new educational culture† Whatever problems exist are seen as ones which can be handled through better administrative and technological planning – that is, technology believers perceive no intrinsic obstacles to total quality assurance using information technology in higher education. Other voices question educational technology as a panacea.The problems associated with technology in the college classroom in terms of issues such as poorly funct ioning equipment, over-promotion of technology-based learning to students, and lack of quality in courses delivered by technology. Educational technology who say students choosing online courses are not getting the education they pay for, and question whether universities should be providing such instruction.The American Federation of Teachers and other faculty organizations have also raised serious cautions about web-based education and have even gone on strike over it. Technology in Quality Education In response to growing criticism of the recent, rapid, unregulated growth of distance education, a number of recognized higher education organizations have formulated quality standards and guidelines. The principles have been endorsed by a number of higher education governing and policymaking bodies in the world, as well as by the regional accrediting community.The core assumption of these guidelines is that, â€Å"The institution's programs holding specialized accreditation meet the same requirements when offered electronically. † Since these guidelines are a widely-accepted definition of â€Å"quality† as applied to online education, they are quoted below: * Each program of study results in learning outcomes appropriate to the rigor and breadth of the degree or certificate awarded. * An electronically offered degree or certificate program is coherent and complete. The program provides for appropriate real-time or delayed interaction between faculty and students and among students. * Qualified faculty provides appropriate oversight of the program electronically offered. * The program is consistent with the institution's role and mission. * Review and approval processes ensure the appropriateness of the technology being used to meet the program's objectives. * The program provides faculty support services specifically related to teaching via an electronic system. The program provides training for faculty who teach via the use of technology. * The p rogram ensures that appropriate learning resources are available to students. * The program provides students with clear, complete, and timely information on the curriculum, course and degree requirements, nature of faculty/student interaction, assumptions about technological competence and skills, technical equipment requirements, availability of academic support services and financial aid resources, and costs and payment policies. Enrolled students have reasonable and adequate access to the range of student services appropriate to support their learning. * Accepted students have the background, knowledge, and technical skills needed to undertake the program. * Advertising, recruiting, and admissions materials clearly and accurately represent the program and the services available. * Policies for faculty evaluation include appropriate consideration of teaching and scholarly activities related to electronically offered programs. The institution demonstrates a commitment to ongoing s upport, both financial and technical, and to continuation of the program for a period sufficient to enable students to complete a degree/certificate. * The institution evaluates the program's educational effectiveness, including assessments of student learning outcomes, student retention, and student and faculty satisfaction. Students have access to such program evaluation data. * The institution provides for assessment and documentation of student achievement in each course and at completion of the program.Empowerment in Online Education Technology enthusiasts believe online methods will liberate learning from the confines of the lecture hall, but it can be difficult to reconcile distance education with empowerment of students and faculty. One common tactic where empowerment is a goal of distance education at all is to keep guidelines-from-on-high to a minimum and to rely on local autonomy. Recent position, quality assurance in distance education, however, have noted with dismay th e drift toward standards imposed from above. Remote learning† would simply lead to students staying at home in front of computer keyboards instead of being taught in a school environment. â€Å"This is way out of touch with the expectations of parents who want their children to develop both socially with other students and educationally under the guidance of qualified teachers†. Online Education and Community The â€Å"community of scholars† was central to the traditional concept of higher education.The thrust of online education advocacy is to broaden the concept of community in non-traditional ways, particularly through partnership with or even contracting out to the business community. Educational institutions in all advanced countries encounter strong incentives for private sector partnering since the high costs of multimedia-rich online curricula are often beyond what a single local college can afford. In the traditional â€Å"community of scholars† t he student was mentored as an apprentice and eventually became a co-investigator in research and creative activity.Advocates of online education argue that this notion of academic community will be enhanced through the wonders of technology. Online education is frequently the province of the campus adult education unit, not the academic departments. Often instructor participation is an overload, potentially seducing faculty away from research. Administrators seek to use online education â€Å"to increase academic productivity† and, as discussed elsewhere in this essay, seek cost savings in an atmosphere unfavorable to the research function.Moreover, most institutions have found that online education is intrinsically very demanding of valuable faculty time, which can also take away from research. On the student side, the social distance inherent in online education seems to make students want clear, precise, objectives-oriented curricula which may represent a narrowing of educ ation, and may make them unlikely candidates for collegial work on faculty research projects. The reality of online education is that it favors a transition from traditional notions of academic community toward a much narrower, transactions-based model.Online Education and Learning Autonomy Online education faces the paradox that it is best undertaken by students with strong autonomous learning skills, yet at the same time the disconnectedness of students from teachers seems correlated with insistent student demands for clearly structured learning assignments and schedules. Students frequently feel the need for ongoing communication with their instructor. A commonly expressed student need is that for very clearly and explicitly articulated course learning objectives.That is, online pedagogy seems more associated with â€Å"cyber distance† than with â€Å"virtual community,† and students quickly become motivated to seek to overcome cyber distance through increased cours e structure, reducing learning autonomy. Online education is part of a cost reduction effort, requiring human resources to be stretched to cover more credit hours, faculty resignation to the training mentality of outcome-based evaluation is all but assured except, of course, in environments which do not even bother to attempt to enforce quality assurance standards. Online Education and Critical ThinkingOnline education can handle instruction-to-facts more easily; drill-and-practice is the forte of computer methods. Ironically, in contrast, traditional education with its supposedly uncreative lecture hall methods has prided itself in its ability to inculcate critical thinking skills. Distance education administrators are aware that critical thinking of online methods. Therefore it is not unusual to find that quality assurance standards for online education make reference to student thinking skills, independent learning skills, teamwork and communication skills, and other aspects of c ritical thinking.Moreover, intelligent-agent and workgroup collaboration software often are targeted directly at encouraging critical thinking skills. Critical thinking can be inculcated using technology such as cyber mentoring and video theater. A love-hate relationship exists between online education and critical thinking skill development. Writing assignments are thought to help develop critical thinking and while online methods can enhance collaborative writing, in general online courses are associated with less writing, not more.Socratic discussion with faculty is also thought to inculcate critical thinking, but while online methods in theory could enhance discussion, in reality online courses are associated with far less instructor-oriented discussion. Critical thinking is also thought to be associated with problem-solving going beyond computational mechanics to consideration of complex causal and value systems, but while intelligent tutoring software does exist, the open-ende dness of creating problem-solving together with the asynchronous nature of most online education mean that in practice online courses rarely develop the problem-solving approach.Online Education and Educational Quality In comparing computer-mediated distance education with traditional face-to-face teaching experiences, while distance education increases access to education, one may well find decreases in instructional quality brought about by increased faculty workload, problems of adapting to technology, difficulties with online course management, and related obstacles. By focusing on instruction to learning objectives, as with traditional instruction-to-test approaches, test performance standards are usually met by online courses.Although tested output of electronic education is often on a par with conventional teaching, this does not mean educational quality is unaffected however. Many observers find in typical online education offerings a substantial narrowing of the concept of education to the detriment of students. One of the recurring problems of computer-mediated education is that it is programmed around concrete learning objectives. Conclusion Many educational technology writers, in fact, explicitly argue that quality education using computer methods must be built on a foundation of clearly-defined competency-based curricular objectives.Online education is now arousing academic resistance. The emergence of a two-tier educational system – a more expensive upper tier with sound traditional education supplemented with the benefits of full online access, and a cheaper inferior tier dispensing programmed training which meets objectives far narrower than the traditional goals of liberal education. References Barnard, John (1997). The World Wide Web and higher education: The promise of virtual universities and online libraries. Educational Technology, Vol. 37, No. 3 (May-June): 30-35. Special issue: Web-Based Learning. Bergeron, Bryan P. (1996).Compet ency as a paradigm for technology-enabled instruction and evaluation, Journal of Instruction Delivery Systems, 10(2): 22-24. Hillesheim, Gwen (1998). The search for quality standards in distance learning, In Distance Learning '98, Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning, (14th, Madison, WI, August 5-7, 1998). Pakkiff, Rena M. and Keith Pratt (1999). Building learning communities in cyberspace: Effective strategies for the online classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Roth, Brenda F. and Denisha Sanders (1996). Instructional technology to enhance teaching. New Directions for Higher Education, 94: 21-32.