A Time Series Analysis of the Adjusted Closing Stock Prices

Table of Contents 1. ?Introduction 2. ?literature review 3. ?Introduction 4. ?Methodology INTRODUCTION Google Inc. is an American multinational corporation which provides Internet-related products and services, including Internet search, cloud computing, software and advertising technologies. The company was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while both attended Stanford University. Google was first incorporated as a privately held company on September  4, 1998, and its initial public offering followed on August  19, 2004. The company is now listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol .The company's mission statement from the outset was â€Å"to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful†, and the company's unofficial slogan is â€Å"Don’t be evil†. In 2006, the company moved to its current headquarters in Mountain View, California. Objectives 1. To fit a multiple regression model to a data set comprising the put, call and strike prices of a stock belonging to a company listed on a known index. 2. To use the BSM Model to which provides a mathematical science for the pricing and hedging of European Call and Put options as the American Options market 3.We wanted to analyze the data for Google option prices from the S;P index over the past and present time periods in order to be able to forecast the future. Literature Review 1. Put call parity In financial mathematics, put–call parity defines a relationship between the price of a European call option and European put option in a frictionless market —both with the identical strike price and expiry, and the underlying being a liquid asset. In the absence of liquidity, the existence of a forward contract suffices.Put–call parity requires minimal assumptions and thus does not require assumptions such as those of Black–Scholes or other commonly used financial models. 2. Black-Scholes Model The Black–Schole s model or Black–Scholes-Merton is a mathematical model of a financial market containing certain derivative investment instruments. From the model, one can deduce the Black–Scholes formula, which gives the price of European-style options. The formula led to a boom in options trading and legitimized scientifically the activities of the Chicago Board Options Exchange and other options markets around the world. t is widely used by options market participants Methodology The data being analyzed consisted of daily past prices of silver traded on the S;P index since 14th May to 22 September 2012. The group was required to obtain data sets containing put, call and strike prices the data set of option expiring in more than 30 days but less than 100 The data was obtained from marketwatch. com on 14th May 2012 copied to excel and imported to R, with the stock price at $605. 23. The group chose options expiring on 22th September 2012 for the 1st data set, with 94 days to expiry.A n average of the Bid and Ask prices of both the call and put options was then calculated as shown below. The values in the columns labeled â€Å"call†; â€Å"put â€Å"were calculated as an average of the corresponding Bid ; Ask call and put prices respectively. A number of statistical methods were applied to analyze the data on the R program. We first started by importing the data to the R program; below is a table showing the data. Strike | call| put| Strikesq| Adj Close| 295| 311. 75| 0. 45| 87025| 605. 23| 300| 306. 45| 0. 425| 90000| 613. 66| 305| 303. 1| 0. 45| 93025| 609. 15| 310| 297. 6| 0. 75| 96100| 612. 79| 315| 291. 4| 0. 5| 99225| 607. 55| 320| 286. 6| 0. 55| 102400| 596. 97| 325| 282. 75| 0. 6| 105625| 611. 02| 330| 277. 85| 0. 65| 108900| 607. 26| 335| 273. 4| 0. 775| 112225| 604. 43| 340| 266. 6| 0. 7| 115600| 604. 85| 345| 262. 1| 0. 75| 119025| 614. 98| 350| 256. 7| 0. 8| 122500| 615. 47| 355| 253. 3| 0. 875| 126025| 609. 72| 360| 248. 35| 0. 875| 129600| 601. 27| 365| 243. 45| 0. 925| 133225| 597. 6| 370| 237. 35| 1| 136900| 596. 06| 375| 232. 4| 1. 05| 140625| 599. 3| 380| 227. 45| 1. 05| 144400| 607. 45| 385| 222. 55| 1. 2| 148225| 609. 57| 390| 218. 85| 1. 325| 152100| 606. 7| 395| 212. 45| 1. 45| 156025| 624. 6| 400| 207. 9| 1. 525| 160000| 651. 01| 405| 202. 95| 1. 6| 164025| 635. 96| 410| 198. 15| 1. 65| 168100| 626. 86| 415| 193. 15| 1. 825| 172225| 630. 84| 420| 188. 4| 2. 025| 176400| 632. 32| 425| 183. 6| 2. 25| 180625| 635. 15| 430| 180| 2. 375| 184900| 642. 62| 435| 175. 25| 2. 55| 189225| 646. 92| 440| 170. 3| 2. 9| 193600| 641. 24| 445| 164. 6| 3. 025| 198025| 648. 41| 450| 160. 9| 3. 3| 202500| 655. 76| 455| 155. 15| 3. 55| 207025| 647. 02| 460| 150. 6| 3. 85| 211600| 649. 33| 465| 146. 8| 4. 05| 216225| 642. 59| 470| 141. 15| 4. 55| 220900| 646. 05| 75| 137. 65| 4. 95| 225625| 639. 98| 480| 132. 05| 5. 35| 230400| 633. 49| 485| 128. 5| 5. 8| 235225| 633. 98| 490| 123. 45| 6. 2| 240100| 625. 04| 495| 118. 65| 6. 75| 2 45025| 621. 13| 500| 114. 1| 7. 4| 250000| 615. 99| 505| 110. 75| 7. 95| 255025| 617. 78| 510| 105. 65| 8. 5| 260100| 605. 15| 515| 101. 35| 9. 45| 265225| 600. 25| 520| 98| 10. 25| 270400| 607. 14| 525| 93. 15| 11. 1| 275625| 606. 8| 530| 89. 55| 11. 95| 280900| 604. 96| 535| 85. 15| 13. 05| 286225| 614. 25| 540| 80. 6| 14. 15| 291600| 621. 25| 545| 76. 85| 15. 3| 297025| 622. 4| 550| 72. 9| 16. 35| 302500| 618. 25| 555| 69. 5| 17. | 308025| 618. 39| 560| 66. 05| 19. 2| 313600| 609. 31| 565| 62. 8| 20. 75| 319225| 609. 9| 570| 59. 15| 22. 45| 324900| 606. 11| 575| 56. 5| 24. 05| 330625| 607. 94| 580| 52. 75| 26| 336400| 614| 585| 49. 7| 27. 85| 342225| 604. 64| 590| 46. 7| 29. 6| 348100| 606. 52| 595| 43. 9| 31. 9| 354025| 605. 56| 600| 40. 95| 34. 35| 360000| 609. 76| 605| 38. 45| 36. 7| 366025| 612. 2| 610| 36. 1| 38. 85| 372100| 605. 91| 615| 33. 55| 41. 35| 378225| 611. 46| 620| 31. 05| 44. 15| 384400| 609. 85| 625| 29. 5| 46. 9| 390625| 606. 77| 630| 27. 35| 49. 75| 396900| 60 9. 09| 635| 25. 3| 52. 95| 403225| 596. 33| 40| 23. 2| 56| 409600| 585. 11| 645| 21. 6| 59. 2| 416025| 580. 83| 650| 19. 95| 62. 65| 422500| 580. 11| 655| 18. 6| 66. 15| 429025| 577. 69| 660| 16. 85| 70. 1| 435600| 579. 98| 665| 15. 6| 73. 95| 442225| 568. 1| 670| 14. 4| 77. 55| 448900| 569. 49| 675| 13. 3| 81. 35| 455625| 580. 93| 680| 12. 25| 85. 55| 462400| 585. 52| 685| 11. 05| 88. 25| 469225| 585. 99| 690| 10. 05| 93. 4| 476100| 639. 57| 695| 9. 55| 96. 45| 483025| 632. 91| 700| 8. 45| 102. 25| 490000| 628. 58| 705| 7. 75| 105. 25| 497025| 624. 99| 710| 7. 1| 110. 65| 504100| 629. 64| 715| 6. 75| 114. 75| 511225| 625. 96| 720| 5. 95| 119. 5| 518400| 623. 14| 725| 5. 65| 122. 65| 525625| 622. 46| 730| 5. 05| 128. 5| 532900| 650. 02| 735| 4. 55| 131. 95| 540225| 659. 01| 740| 4. 25| 137. 6| 547600| 668. 28| 745| 3. 95| 142. 35| 555025| 665. 41| 750| 3. 5| 147| 562500| 645. 9| 755| 3. 25| 151. 7| 570025| 642. 4| 760| 2. 975| 155. 95| 577600| 639. 7| 765| 2. 725| 161. 4| 585225| 64 0. 25| 770| 2. 525| 166. 45| 592900| 633. 14| 775| 2. 2| 169. 9| 600625| 629. 7| 780| 2. 125| 174. 75| 608400| 625. 82| 785| 1. 975| 180. 55| 616225| 630. 37| 790| 1. 775| 185. 45| 624100| 621. 83| 795| 1. 65| 190. 35| 632025| 625. 96| 800| 1. 525| 195. 15| 640000| 619. 4| 810| 1. 35| 205. 05| 656100| 618. 07| 820| 1. 175| 214. 95| 672400| 625. 63| 830| 0. 975| 224. 75| 688900| 625. 39| 840| 0. 825| 234. 95| 705600| 627. 42| 850| 0. 725| 244| 722500| 616. 05| 860| 0. 65| 254. 25| 739600| 623. 39| 870| 0. 525| 265| 756900| 623. 77| 880| 0. 475| 274. 55| 774400| 625. 65| 890| 0. 425| 284. 6| 792100| 620. 36| 900| 0. 375| 293. 45| 810000| 613. 77| 910| 0. 375| 304. 7| 828100| 599. 39| 920| 0. 3| 314. 45| 846400| 582. 93| 930| 0. 3| 323. 3| 864900| 588. 19| 940| 0. 275| 333. 25| 883600| 563| 950| 0. 25| 343. 25| 902500| 570. 11| 960| 0. 25| 353. 25| 921600| 580| 970| 0. 25| 363. 25| 940900| 580. 94| Fitting a Multiple regression Model From the results shown? 0=605. 997, ? 1=0. 995, ? 2= -0. 9979. The value of the stock at that point in time wasSt=605. 23. If significant, the estimate ? 2 was to be equated to -e-r (T-t) and the value for r equated. In this formula, T-t is the time to expiry of the options (94 days in our case) and r is the interest on a daily basis (short rate), which was then supposed to be annualized. Since all the estimates were significant, ? 2= -0. 9979=-e-r(94) r=-ln0. 997994=2. 236391*10-5 Annualizing r; r=2. 236391*10-5*250=0. 05592275=5. 2275%, which is the risk. The formula call(Ct)= 605. 997+0. 995put(Pt)-0. 9979(Strike(Kt)) was the model we used to derive values of call prices in relation to the multiple regression model. A plot of these call and strike options is shown below; If significant, the estimate ? 2 was to be equated to -e-r (T-t) and the value for r equated. In this formula, T-t is the time to expiry of the options (94 days in our case) and r is the interest on a daily basis (short rate), which was then supposed to be annuali zed. PROCEDURE FOR FITTING Finally we drew a graph of Call against Strike and this was the graph obtained.The code and resulting graph are shown below, GRAPH FOR CALL AGAINST STRIKE BSM MODEL METHODS To fit the BSM Model and generate theoretical call prices, we obtained and truncated historical data from finance. yahoo. com as shown in the column labeled ‘Adj. Close’ The code snapshot below created a function â€Å"BSM73† We then computed the BSM73 by using the given the data, annualized interest rate (r), stock price, strike price and days to maturity generates the theoretical call prices. The proposed model to be fitted to fit the regression model CtSt= ? 0+? 1KSt+? 2K2St+ ? t main purpose is so as to determine the values of ? ,? 1 ; ? 2 Procedure From the results shown, we get ? 0=1. 313950 , ? 1=-1. 959886, ? 2= 0. 001195. The value of the stock at that point in time was St=605. 23. PLOT BSM CALL PRICE (Yt) AGAINST STRIKE PRICES For data analysis conducted fo r September 2012 options with T-t=94 days and r=5. 922%, the proposed model can be used in option pricing. It can be concluded from the analysis that for options with a longer time to expiry and a smaller interest rate, the proposed model prices the options more accurately than the BSM model in the price ranges where most options are traded. TIME SERIES ANALYSISThe theoretical model for a time financial time series data is given by; Xt = Trend + ARMA + GARCH + WN Where WN is the white noise in the data. We assumed that the GARCH component is equal to 0 We proceeded to investigate whether indeed the data at hand had trend in it. We used the following tools in our investigation * Box plots * ACF * Histogram * Plotting the data Time series of the data. Summary of strike price data. Box plots ACF OF GARCH NOISE Code: ;y=log(strike) ; d=diff(y) ; garch=d^2 ; acf(garch,lag=100,main=†ACF of Garch Noise†) Histogram Code: hist(strike,main=†Histogram of ADJ Closing pricesâ⠂¬ )De-trending the data After having confirmed that the data contained linear trend, we proceeded to de-trend the data by; 1. Finding the natural logarithm of the data ;y=log(strike) 2. Differencing the data ;d=diff(y) We confirmed that the data the data was actually stationery at this point by using the following techniques; * Finding the ACF of the de-trended data and Plotting the de-trended data FIT ARMA (p, q) We found that an ARIMA (2, 2, 0) was the best model for our data FORECASTING We used the ARIMA (2,2,0) model to predict the adjusted closing share prices for the next 10 days:

Richard Nixon and Supreme Court

Chapter 281. Which country did NOT become politically controlled by the Soviet Union after World War II? *Yugoslavia* 2. The Soviet Union first learned of the American atomic bomb how? *through the use of espionage* 3. The Baruch Plan would do what? 4. George Kennan's â€Å"containment† policy proposed what? *American vigilance regarding Soviet expansionist tendencies. * 5. George Kennan believed firmly that foreign policy should be left to whom? 6. The Truman Doctrine stated that American policy would be what? 7. The Marshall Plan proposed what? 8. Overall, did the Marshall Plan work? 9. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a departure for America in what way? 10. Who were the members of NATO? 11. NATO had what effect on the USSR? 12. The main Soviet response to containment was demonstrated by what? 13. When the Soviet Union sealed off the city of Berlin in 1948, President Harry Truman did what? 14. The National Security Act of 1947 established what? 15. The passage of the National Security Act in 1947 did what to the military? 16. As a result of Cold War military reforms, the dominant branch of the American armed forces became the †¦ 17. The defense policy statement known as NSC-68 advocated what? 18. One of Chiang Kai-shek's biggest problems by 1945 was inflation, which had risen to ________ percent per year. 19. During the Korean War, General Douglas MacArthur actions could be described how? 20. In the Korean War, the Chinese threatened a massive invasion of Korea if the United States did what? 21. In the final analysis, the most significant result of the Korean War was what? 22. A major political consequence of the Cold War was what? 23. When Congress voted to end wartime price controls, prices rose ________ percent in two years. 24. The leader of the Dixiecrats in the election of 1948 was 25. The most famous disclosure of espionage activities in the U. S. government in the late 1940s involved the case of what person? 26. What happened to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg ? 27. The leading figure of the Red Scare of the early 1950s wasChapter 291. The individual who invented the concept of mass construction of suburban homes was 2. The most significant social trend in the postwar era in America was 3. What were the stimuli to American economic growth in the late 1940s and early 1950s? 4. Critical to life in the suburbs in the 1950s was what? 5. In 1946, Dr. Benjamin Spock wrote a bestselling book on what? 6. Between 1940 and 1960, American wives were more and more doing what? 7. People's attitudes toward organized religion in the 1950s was what? 8. A major increase in federal funding for education was passed in response to what? 9. The â€Å"beats† were what? 10. The tone for the so-called â€Å"beat† movement was set by the novelist was who? 11. The artistic counterpart of â€Å"beat† social protest literature was what? 12. By 1960, the most racially integrated institution in American society was what? 13. The first president to attempt seriously to alter the historic pattern of racial discrimination in the United States was who? 14. Who was Earl Warren? 15. The NAACP lawyer who argued the Brown v. Board of Education decision before the Supreme Court was who? 16. In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the Supreme Court ruled that school segregation what? 17. The Deep South responded to court-ordered desegregation how? 18. The Arkansas governor who defied U. S. Supreme Court orders to integrate public schools was who? 19. President Eisenhower had to send in federal troops in 1957 to enforce the desegregation of the public schools in what city? 20. Rosa Parks started what? 21. The Montgomery bus boycott led to what? 22. Martin Luther King, Jr. ‘s philosophy of protest stressed what? 23. Greensboro, North Carolina, was the site of what? 24. The baby boom led to a ______increase in the U. S. population between 1950 and 1960. 25. _______ became a normal part of suburban life during the 1950s. 26. Were The Supreme Court decisions declaring segregation illegal readily accepted by most Americans in the 1950s?Chapter 301. Critical to John F. Kennedy's victory in the election of 1960 was his what? 2. John F. Kennedy's domestic program was known as the 3. The Soviet leader with whom both Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy had to deal was who? 4. Under John F. Kennedy, the United States government did what with the Vietnam war? 5. The ________ was Kennedy's most obvious foreign policy disaster. 6. What were the consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis? 7. John F. Kennedy played down civil rights legislation because why? 8. When President Johnson managed to get Congress to pass Kennedy's proposed tax cut in 1964, the result was what? 9. Lyndon Johnson's main theme in the election of 1964 was what? 10. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 did what? 11. The ________ established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 12. Lyndon Johnson's domestic program was called what? 13. In the election of 1964, President Lyndon Johnson easily defeated who? 14. In his program of health care, President Lyndon Johnson secured passage of what? 15. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 did what? 16. Was The foreign policy of Lyndon Johnson unique? 17. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson sent American soldiers to ________ in order to prevent a communist takeover there. 18. American bombing of North Vietnam was successful or not? 19. In general, American tactics in the Vietnam War were successful or not? 20. Civil rights leader ________ advocated â€Å"black power. † 21. Cesar Chavez is known for what? 22. For the United States, the turning point of the Vietnam War was called what? 23. Major race riots swept several American cities when?Chapter 311. What was the main focus of the Nixon presidency? 2. Who served as Nixon's national security adviser during his first term? 3. Nixon's program to improve relations with the Soviet Union was known as what? 4. Why did the United States resume relations with China? 5. The SALT treaties involved what? 6. The SALT I agreements did what? 7. The Arab oil boycott of 1973-1974 was precipitated by what? 8. The international oil organization most responsible for raising petroleum prices in the 1970s was 9. In the spring of 1980, the prime rate reached ________ percent. 10. The first president to appoint a woman to the Supreme Court was who? 11. What is unique about Gerald Ford ? 12. To end criticism of the CIA, Gerald Ford appointed ________ to head the agency. 13. President Gerald Ford's brief â€Å"honeymoon† with the American public ended when he did what? 14. In the election of 1976, Jimmy Carter defeated who? 15. The Camp David Accords provided a framework for peace negotiations between ? 16. In 1979, revolutionaries in ________ took U. S. diplomats hostage. 17. The Cold War remained dormant throughout the 1970s until what happened? 18. The central tenet of Reagan's approach to foreign policy was what belief? 19. In 1979, the Sandinista Coalition succeeded in overthrowing the repressive Somoza regime in what country? 20. The Reagan administration's policies in the Middle East and Central America reached a tragic convergence when? 21. In 1984, ________ became the first woman ever nominated for the vice presidency by a major party. 22. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's new policies includedChapter 321. The only significant piece of social legislation to be enacted in the first Bush administration was what act? 2. Instead of reducing the deficit by $500 billion, the 1990 budget agreement had led to an increase of more than ________ in the national debt during Bush's presidency. 3. In 1989, popular demonstrations calling for democratic reform were violently suppressed in what country? 4. In 1989, communist regimes toppled (collapsed) in what countries? 5. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the new leader of Russia was who? 6. The U. S. allied military campaign against Iraq in 1991 was known as Operation ______. 7. What important shift occurred in American society during the 1980s? 8. By 2002, ________ had become the nation's largest ethnic minority. 9. ________ made up the fastest growing ethnic group at the beginning of the twenty-first century. 10. ________ ran for president in 1992 and 1996 as a third-party candidate. 11. President Clinton's greatest achievement in domestic affairs was what? 12. Bill Clinton was impeached for what? 13. The consumer advocate who ran as the Green Party candidate for president in 2000 was who? 14. The outcome of the 2000 presidential election hung on legal battles over the vote count in what state? 15. The largest of several business scandals in the early 2000s was the collapse of what company? 16. Osama bin Laden is most closely associated with what terror group? 17. The first move in the war on terror was the overthrow of a radical Islamist regime in what country? 18. The terrorist attacks on the United States led the George W. Bush administration to initiate a new global strategy known to its critics as what? 19. In 2002, President Bush called Iraq, Iran, and North Korea the what? 20. The second Persian Gulf War ended with the U. S. capture of what place? 21. Issues facing the nation in the early twenty-first century included what? 22. What is the correct chronological sequence of recent presidential administrations? 23. True or false, In the White House, Bill Clinton proved to be the most adept politician since Franklin D. Roosevelt. 24. True or false, One failure of Bill Clinton's first presidential term was his proposal for national health

Continuous teacher professional development through collaboration

The School as a Learning EnvironmentIntroductionA positive acquisition environment can be described as an environment in which a community of scholars dwelling of kids and grownups work together to supply, promote and prolong their ain and one another ‘s acquisition ( Barth, 2001:31 ) . In this essay the writer, pulling from professional experience in an Irish primary school context and mentioning to relevant literature, will sketch the cardinal features of schools that are positive learning environments. It will be outlined how devolved leading affecting all teaching staff ; supplying students with a voice sing school policies and their ain acquisition ; a physical environment which enables and encourages larning ; advancing uninterrupted teacher professional development through coaction ; and steps to affect all parents in the administration of the school and in heightening their kids ‘s, and through the procedure their ain, larning are cardinal features of schools that are positive learning environments. It will besides be highlighted how factors such as opposition to alter among school forces, dysfunctional staff relationships and recent Irish Government policies are common obstructions to gaining such environments.Teacher LeadershipWith a invariably increasing work load and duty â€Å" the demands and challenges of prima schools are merely excessively great for any one individual ( the principal ) † ( Stoll, 2009:122 ) . As Barth ( 2001 ) notes principals need aid in â€Å" carry throughing this impossible occupation description † ( p. 84 ) . One possible solution to this state of affairs is devolved leading whereby teaching staff are provided with leading functions and duties in the running of the school. Much has been written in educational literature recommending this engagement of instructors in leading functions ( Callan, 2006: 214 ; Harris, 2008:31 ; Sergiovanni, 1992 ; Stoll and Fink, 1996:52 ; The Teaching Council, 2010 ; Tuohy, 1999:166 ) . Cases in which instructors can take include take parting in the creative activity of a school vision and associated policies, determining course of study for the school, planning and prima staff development activities, prosecuting in determinations about how financess should be allocated and engaging new instructors ( Barth, 2001:88 ) . The writer ‘s school has started this procedure of instructor leaders with greater duty being given to the in school direction squad, which consists of instructors who hold Posts of Responsibility, sing determinations about school policies, but this is merely a first measure every bit in order for schools to accomplish maximal good results â€Å" all instructors must take † ( Barth, 2001:85 ) . This teacher leading can take to a positive acquisition environment in legion ways. It can assist to prolong and advance instructor committedness and motive to the school as they are involved in doing determinations which affect them ( Fullan, 2003:38 ) , which can besides promote instructors to alter their schoolroom pattern which is important to school betterment ( Fullan and Hargreaves, 1991:23 ) . This leading function can fix instructors for the function of chief instead than all of a sudden puting them unprepared into this place subsequently in their calling ( Fullan and Hargreaves, 1991:20 ) and enable these teacher leaders to larn as they can larn through the experiences of leading ( Barth, 2001:82 ) . It has been argued that if instructors are provided with leading functions they in bend will supply leading functions for students turning the school into a more democratic environment with less subject jobs and higher student accomplishment ( Barth, 2001:80 ) and that better d eterminations are made as a consequence of scattering determination doing sing school issues such as subject processs and professional development ( ibid:82 ) . This leading function besides adds assortment to the instructor ‘s function and can enable them to act upon the lives of grownups every bit good as students ( ibid:83 ) . Sharing leading can besides enable the principal to go a scholar in this acquisition environment as he can larn through coaction with these instructor leaders ( Fullan and Hargreaves, 1991:122 ) . As Barth ( 2001 ) notes â€Å" A school civilization hospitable to widespread leading will be a school civilization hospitable to widespread acquisition † ( p. 81 ) .Pupil VoiceEqually good as supplying instructors with greater duty through leading functions another cardinal feature of a positive acquisition environment is one in which students are given greater duty by apportioning them a voice sing school policy and their ain acquisition. The United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child ( 1989 ) states â€Å" States Parties shall guarantee to the kid who is capable of organizing his or ain positions the right to show those positions freely in all affairs impacting the kid aˆÂ ¦ . † ( Article 12 ) . Irish Policy recognised this right with the publication of the National Children ‘s Strategy ( 2000 ) which aims to make â€Å" An Ireland where kids are respected as immature citizens with a valued part to do and a voice of their ain aˆÂ ¦ . † ( Department of Health and Children, 2000:10 ) . An obvious context for kids to exert this voice is sing their school experiences as a consequence of the big part of their lives they spend in school ( Devine, 2004:112 ) . Opportunities for students to be given this voice in school include affecting them in building and take parting in their ain acquisition by supplying feedback to instructors on lessons sing how students learned and ways the instructor could do the lesson more ambitious or gratifying ( Claxton, 2008:157 ) and by puting up pupil councils to discourse school policies and processs ( McLoughlin, 2004 ) . This voice can even travel every bit far as learning instructors as Barth ( 2001:3 ) describes a school in which students provide direction to instructors sing information communicating engineering accomplishments. This writer ‘s school has begun the procedure of supplying this voice to pupils through the constitution of the Green Schools Committee in which pupil representatives from every category meet on a hebdomadal footing to discourse school environmental processs. Supplying students with this voice can make a positive acquisition environment in a figure of ways. The positives of giving pupils chances to lend to school policies such as the codification of behavior are outlined by the National Education Welfare Board ( NEWB ) observing that: Students are more likely to back up a codification of behavior when they have helped to develop it. Relationships of trust between instructors and pupils can turn through the procedure ( NEWB, 2008:16 ) . Childs can besides larn accomplishments of hearing, negociating and pull offing differences through active battle in a societal context ( NEWB, 2008:16 ) . Supplying students with this voice can actuate them to come to school by demoing them that both they and their sentiments sing determinations that affect them affair ( Stoll and Fink, 1996:139 ) . It shows kids that the school will handle them rightly as Devine ( 2004:122 ) notes kids feel that schools treat them below the belt when schools exclude their positions. Children ‘s ability to larn about issues such as democracy, justness and inclusiveness can be made more effectual as kids experience these rights foremost manus through pattern and engagement ( Devine, 2004:124 ) . In his survey of a pupil council set up in a primary school McLoughlin ( 2004:132 ) noted positive acquisition results for the students involved including felicity and pride as a consequence of being involved, a sense of belonging, increased assurance a nd a turning sense of partnership with school forces. Claxton ( 2008 ) notes that puting up pupil councils to discourse issues of existent importance enables participants to â€Å" cognize that what they learn by undertaking these issues will function them good in ulterior life † ( p. 149 ) .Resistance to ChangeIn order to include these comparatively fresh constructs of instructor leading and pupil voice as outlined above schools have to get the better of the common obstruction of opposition to alter. As Eisner ( 1992 ) notes â€Å" It is much easier to alter educational policy than to alter the ways in which schools map † ( p. 610 ) . This opposition can come from instructors and principals. This opposition to alter is an obstruction to gaining a positive acquisition environment as Stoll and Fink ( 1996 ) note: A school is either bettering or it is acquiring worse. It can non stand still because its context is invariably altering ( p.42 ) . Many instructors may defy alteration as they fear new inventions that they feel might expose their ain perceived insufficiencies ( Stoll and Fink, 1996:50 ) , experience a sense of loss go forthing a set of familiar set of behaviors behind and fear the hereafter and the unknown ( Tuohy, 1999:27 ) . Experienced instructors may defy alteration as a consequence of familiar modus operandis they have built up which require minimum attempt on their portion ( Eisner, 1998:159 ) . The writer experienced this opposition to alter on several occasions. One such juncture was when the writer displayed a posting saying to pupils â€Å" You have the right to give your sentiment, and for grownups to listen and take it earnestly † , adapted from Article 12 of The United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child ( 1989 ) , in his schoolroom. Several of the writer ‘s co-workers expressed their disapproval of this message being displayed to kids due to its ‘inappropriateness ‘ on the evidences that students should make precisely and without inquiry as they are instructed to by instructors as has ever been the instance. This mentality earnestly restricts the possible to supply a voice to pupils as outlined above. This writer has besides witnessed instructors learning the same content utilizing the same methodological analysiss twelvemonth after twelvemonth irrespective of alterations in national or school policies. Callan ( 2006 ) in researching the School Curriculum Development ( SCD ) enterprise in 20 Irish secondary schools notes that principals can besides defy alteration saying â€Å" Consequently, one learned in the procedure of this enterprise that one could non presume that there was a preparedness, willingness, or a capacity among school principals to change their function † ( p. 107 ) . Possible grounds for this include principals desiring to keep on to power and control and to be at the Centre of doing determinations sing everything that happens in their school ( Barth, 2001:108 ) . This has an obvious damaging consequence to the end of supplying leading functions for all instructors.Physical EnvironmentCohen, McCabe, Michelli and Pickeral ( 2009:3 ) highlight the importance of a school ‘s physical environment observing that the environmental-structural dimension of a school including its cleanliness, infinite and stuffs and aesthetic quality is one of four indispensable dimensions sing the quality and character of school life. Research has shown that the first alteration the bulk of freshly appointed principals make upon get downing in the function of principal is a calculated alteration to the school ‘s physical environment ( Stoll and Fink, 1996:51 ) . Marie Stubbs when appointed principal to St. George ‘s Roman Catholic Secondary School in London, England transformed the fighting school which was on the threshold of closing from the Office for Standards in Education ( Ofsted ) into a positive acquisition environment which went on to be nominated by Ofsted as a national illustration of good pattern. One method she adopted to accomplish this was by doing several alterations to the school ‘s physical environment. These included painting each floor of the school a different bright coloring material doing the school more visually appealing and welcoming to pupils, altering the schools atrium by seting in new comfy chairs doing it a more comfy and inviting topographic point for pupils and seting up noticeboards incorporating images and information about pupils and their activities, including birthday notices, to demo them they were valued ( Stubbs, 2003 ) . The late appointed principal in the writer ‘s school has besides made several alterations to the school ‘s physical environment including the creative activity of a new computing machine room which enables students to larn, and hopefully learn, information communicating engineering accomplishments. Claxton ( 2008 ) identifies extra physical characteristics of a learning school including shows which show the journey of acquisition every bit good as the terminal merchandise, such as a student ‘s different efforts at making a picture, showing to them â€Å" We are every bit interested in the traveling as in the arriving † ( p. 145 ) . He besides states that â€Å" One of the ways you can recognize a larning power civilization is by looking at the objects and shows that instructors have chosen to ‘decorate ‘ their classroomsaˆÂ ¦ . † ( p. 145 ) encouraging shows that develop students ‘ â€Å" acquisition musculuss † ( p. 148 ) . He recommends a schoolroom layout which encourages students to travel about and larn from each other in a societal context ( p. 148 ) . Such a layout can enable students to larn through the societal procedure described by Vygotsky where with aid from person more knowing and skilled in a co-operative scene, t he scholar is able to accomplish more than he could entirely ( Stoll, Fink and Earl, 2003:38 ) . A school physical environment which both enables and encourages larning is hence a cardinal feature of a positive acquisition environment.Continuous Teacher Professional Development through CollaborationEqually good as promoting students to larn, positive acquisition environments encourage instructors to larn. Stoll and Fink ( 1996 ) highlight a important ground for this stating: a important subscriber to pupil acquisition is teacher larning. When instructors are professionally fulfilled, demonstrate occupation satisfaction, accomplishments and cognition, and have a strong feeling of efficaciousness around their pattern, they are more likely to actuate students to desire to larn ( p. 152 ) . Another factor in instructor larning promoting student acquisition is the illustration this sets for students many of whom will seek to emulate their instructor ‘s illustration ( Barth, 2001:28 ) . In order to supply a positive acquisition illustration, instructors can be seen by their pupils to be seeking out ways of going a better instructor. In making so they are patterning person who is invariably looking to acquire better at what they do ( Claxton, 2008:157 ) . It has besides been argued that teachers become better pedagogues when they invariably learn how to learn ( Barth, 2001:28 ) . The Education Act ( 1998 ) refers to the significance of instructor larning observing the importance of â€Å" a school environment which is supportive of larning among pupils and which promotes the professional development of instructors † ( subdivision 23-2c ) . The cardinal issue is how the school supports this development. This development should be uninterrupted and changeless because there will ever be a demand for instructors to better ( Fullan, 1991:344 ) and â€Å" When instructors stop turning, so make their pupils † ( Barth 1990:50 ) . Many educational authors advocate the importance of coaction between instructors as cardinal to their professional development ( Callan, 2006: 71 ; Lieberman and Miller, 1999:69 ; Palmer, 2007:146 ; Stoll and Fink, 1996:54 ) . As Stoll et Al. ( 2003 ) note â€Å" If systems to back up professional growing are intended to prolong their acquisition, they must nevertheless, aid schools develop as acquisition communities where ped agogues collaborate to ask critically about their ain pattern † ( p. 173 ) . Methods of teacher coaction presently used by the writer include squad instruction, in which the mainstream category instructor and resource instructor prepare and Teach lessons together and joint planning, where instructors of a specific twelvemonth group program lessons together on a monthly footing. Other methods, non yet utilised in pattern by the writer, include mentoring, in which a senior member of staff provides feedback to a late appointed instructor sing lessons, lesson readying, resources and planning ; collaborative action research, in which instructors examine a specific country of the school such as methodological analysiss used in learning job work outing accomplishments in mathematics ; and common observation and feedback of lessons in which ‘critical friends ‘ observe each other ‘s lessons and supply critical feedback sing strengths and failings in learning methodological analysiss employed ( Stoll et al. , 2003:94 ) . In trying to make a collaborat ive acquisition environment it is of import that instructors are shown that collaborative work can take many diverse signifiers and empowered to choose patterns which suit them best instead than one peculiar attack being forced on them ( Fullan and Hargreaves, 1991:123/124 ) . These collaborative environments can assist instructors to larn in assorted ways. As Rosenholtz ( 1989:85 ) notes they can enable instructors to admit that instruction is hard and that it is of import to seek aid from co-workers. In pass oning more with co-workers, instructors can go more confident and certain about what they are seeking to accomplish and how good they are accomplishing it. Merely as it has been noted that pupils larn better in a societal context from each other the same can be said about instructors. Equally good as instructor coaction bettering instructors ‘ chances to larn it can make likewise for students as â€Å" you can non hold pupils as uninterrupted scholars and effectual confederates, without instructors holding these same features † ( Fullan, 1993:46 ) . It besides enhances the school ‘s overall ability to better as a high degree of shared vision and teamwork is required to convey about important alteration ( Tuohy, 1999:179 ) .Dysfunct ional Staff RelationshipsAn obstruction to teacher acquisition, particularly in footings of collaborative acquisition, and hence to gaining a positive acquisition environment is dysfunctional staff relationships. It has been noted that negative school environments have actively hostile relationships among staff ( Peterson, 2002 ) . The writer, through experience of learning in a school with over 30 instructors on staff, has seen dysfunctional, and even hostile, staff relationships as a consequence of subcultures or ‘cliques ‘ of instructors organizing, a procedure described as â€Å" Balkanization † ( Fullan and Hargreaves, 1991:72 ) . In the writer ‘s experience members of assorted subcultures had no involvement or desire in working with yet alone join forcesing with members of other subcultures. This subculture outlook, and ill will which sometimes accompanies it, besides provides a hapless illustration to pupils who frequently strive to emulate their inst ructor ‘s illustration. In add-on as Fullan and Hargreaves ( 1991 ) note: Balkanization may take to hapless communicating, indifference, or groups traveling their separate ways in a school. This in bend can bring forth hapless continuity in supervising pupil advancement and inconsistent outlooks for their public presentation and behavior ( p. 72 ) . Another type of dysfunctional staff relationships are congenial relationships as opposed to collegial 1s ( Lieberman and Miller, 2008 ) . These congenial civilizations can curtail instructors ‘ potency to larn through coaction as although relationships are good-humored and compatible they do non affect the struggle or hazard needed to convey about effectual critical coaction and acquisition among instructors, such as critical feedback sing lesson observations, as instructors are excessively concerned sing their popularity ( Lieberman and Miller, 2008:18 ) . In the writer ‘s experience dysfunctional relationships can besides be between principals and instructors around issues such as work load, acknowledgment, regard and duty assigned to instructors by principals. This has a negative consequence on positive acquisition environments as Barth ( 2001 ) notes a common feature of a troubled school is â€Å" troubled, embattled, or antiseptic decision maker – teacher relationships † ( p. 105 ) . These dysfunctional staff relationships can therefore earnestly impede a school ‘s possible to go a positive acquisition environment and as Stoll and Fink ( 1996 ) note â€Å" Until clime and collegiality issues receive attending, instructors in schools sing troubles frequently show small involvement in development of instruction and acquisition schemes † ( p. 78 ) .Parental EngagementEducational literature has noted the positive benefits, such as making a sense of community belonging, which can accrue from affecting ot her grownups in the local community besides instructors in schools ( Fullan, 1993:84 ; Stoll et al. , 2003:73 ; Tuohy, 1999:89 ) . Involving the most important grownups in students ‘ lives, their parents or defenders, can go a cardinal feature of a positive acquisition environment. Parents can be encouraged to go involved in the administration of the school by doing costumes for school dramas, supplying aid in schoolrooms, providing resources, giving negotiations on countries of expertness, training athleticss squads, functioning on school commissions and the Board of Management of the school, join forcesing with instructors sing their kids ‘s acquisition and lending to the development of school policies. This engagement can hold several positive results. The National Education Welfare Board ( NEWB ) ( 2008 ) outlines the significance of affecting parents in developing the codification of behaviour school policy for a school by pulling on their outlooks, penetrations and experience which may offer the school a different position. Possible positive consequences include fiting parents to reenforce to their kids the messages about acquisition and behavior that are contributing to a positive school, giving parents an penetration into the demands for instructors to learn efficaciously and assisting parents to hold a strong sense of pride and ownership of the school ‘s work ( NEWB, 2008:16 ) . In add-on as Stoll and Fink ( 1996 ) note â€Å" The fact remains that parents and instructors need to be ‘reading from the same page ‘ to advance student acquisition and development † ( p. 135 ) . It has been noted that most parents have a important desire for schools to be p ositive larning environments as they want their kids to larn to their full potency ( Barth, 2001:168 ) . By join forcesing with parents sing their kids ‘s larning instructors can happen out a wealth of information refering these students such as their involvements enabling instructors to construction lessons based on these involvements which can increase pupil motive. Schools can besides follow steps to affect parents in heightening their kids ‘s acquisition at place. In researching international surveies from 20 states on school – household – community partnerships, Drum sanders and Epstein ( 2005:208 ) discovered this was the country most households in most states requested support and counsel in. This can be achieved by schools carry oning plans and patterns, such as workshops and place visits, to beef up rearing accomplishments and aid parents supply place environments to back up their kids ‘s acquisition. Research suggests these steps can advance a positive acquisition environment as a consequence of positive influences on households ‘ patterns at place, parent and student attitudes about schools, students ‘ academic accomplishment and instructors ‘ attitudes towards parents ( Sanders and Epstein, 2005:208 ) . Parents can besides be encouraged by instructors to talk to their kids sing their ain acqu isition in their mundane lives. As kids frequently look to their parents as function theoretical accounts this can excite kids ‘s acquisition and enable them to see the importance of womb-to-tomb acquisition ( Barth, 2001:24 ) . Drum sanders and Epstein ( 2005 ) besides discovered â€Å" Surveies across states indicate that pupils benefit when they interact with household members about subjects they are larning in category † such as in reading, spelling, literacy and mathematics ( p. 217 ) . In transporting out the attacks outlined parents can besides go scholars in this acquisition environment and understand the altering nature of schools and acquisition. The writer has witnessed merely limited parental engagement confined to fund-raising responsibilities through engagement in the Parent Teachers Association. Even in this limited engagement parents from cultural minorities groups, disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds and the Traveller community are non included which appears to be the norm in many Irish schools ( Lodge, Devine and Deegan, 2004 ) . Schools hence need to affect all parents in the administration of the school and heightening students ‘ acquisition as â€Å" Most kids learn academic topics in school, but how they learn, what else they learn, and why they learn are influenced by schools, households, communities and their connexions † ( Sanders and Epstein, 2005:214 ) .Government PoliciesWhile outside spouses, such as parents, can assist to make a positive acquisition environment, external factors beyond the schools control, such as recent Irish authorities policies can besides be an obstruction to gaining such an environment. Recent Budgets have created such an obstruction. Budget 2009 increased category sizes which besides led to a loss in learning stations ( Department of Finance, 2008 ) while Budget 2010 saw cuts made in the allotments to teacher professional development ( Department of Finance, 2009 ) which has been outlined as a cardinal feature of a positive acquisition environment. Budget 2011 programs to cut down instructor Numberss in mainstream primary schools with the backdown of Resource Teachers for Travellers and cut downing the figure of Language Support Teachers by 500 in the following four old ages ( Department of Finance, 2010 ) . In making so the Irish authorities are taking support constructions for students and their parents who, as has been noted in this essay, frequently do n't hold a voice or input into schools. The Department of Education and Science placed a moratorium on primary schools advancing instructors to stations of duty ( DES Circular 0022/2009 ) . In response to this step the Irish National Teachers Organisation ( INTO ) instructed its members non to set about extra responsibilities where a post/acting station of duty is non filled as a consequence of this moratorium ( INTO, 2009 ) . These combined steps, by curtailing instructors ‘ possible to take on excess duties, have hence badly hindered the capacity for schools to implement teacher leading for all instructors as outlined in this essay. The writer ‘s school late underwent a Whole School Evaluation in which three departmental inspectors inspected the schools effectivity for the continuance of a hebdomad. These inspectors placed a heavy accent on written planning which the writer felt did small to heighten the quality of instruction and acquisition in the school. Problems such external reviews can convey on schools include force per unit area to conform to the review theoretical account and standards and they can suppress originative and critical instructor contemplation on the opinion and rating of school effectivity ( Stoll and Fink, 1996:170 ) . The inspectorate completed unheralded ( incidental ) external reviews in over 450 primary schools throughout all parts of Ireland between October 2009 and October 2010 ( DES, 2010 ) . Finland, which has no national school reviews but a system of school self-evaluation ( Webb, Vulliamy, Sarja and Hamalainen, 2006 ) , was one of the highest superior states in the Organi sation for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD ) Programme for International Student Assessment ( PISA ) study of instruction public presentation while in both literacy and maths degrees Irelands ranking declined significantly when compared to 2000 ( OECD, 2010 ) . It can be argued hence that the current Department of Education and Skills theoretical account of school reviews can make an obstruction to gaining positive acquisition environments.DecisionAs outlined in this essay, principals, instructors, students, parents and the schools physical environment can all play important functions to enable schools to go positive learning environments. The cardinal features of such a school can be described as one that provides leading functions and associated duties to its full teaching staff ; affords a voice to pupils sing school policies and their ain acquisition ; contains a physical environment that enables and encourages larning ; promotes uninterrupted instructor acquisition and development through coaction ; and has steps to affect all parents in the administration of the school and in heightening their kids ‘s acquisition. As illustrated by holding these features the school will heighten the possible and motive to larn in all its participants making a community of scholars. In the writer ‘s experience while initial stairss have been made Irish primary schools still have to to the full gain this presently mostly theoretical theoretical account of a positive acquisition environment. Reasons for this include troubles in get the better ofing common obstructions such as opposition to alter from school forces, dysfunctional staff relationships and recent authorities policies. Developing the features outlined is important to making a community of scholars as American pedagogue Laurence Downey ( 1967 ) expressed it â€Å" A school Teachs in three ways: by what it teaches, by how it teaches and by the sort of topographic point it is † .1 1 Quoted by David Hopkins Teaching and Learning as the Heartland of School Improvement Seamus O Suilleabhain Memorial talk, NUI Maynooth, September 2001

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Research Survey Plan - Essay Example From sample results, the researcher generalizes or makes claims about the population. In an experiment, investigators may also identify a sample and generalize to a population: however, the basic intent of an experiment is to test the impact of a treatment (or an intervention) on an outcome, controlling for all other factors that might influence that outcome.† (Creswell, 2003, p 154). Therefore, designing a research survey plan incorporates several fundamental factors and this study focuses on designing a plan for the procedures to be used in a survey study based on a checklist for designing a survey method. Analyzing the essential components of a survey method plan, one realizes that the design of a survey method section closely follows a standard format and there are several types of such formats available in research journals. They have the fundamental characteristic of providing effective models of this strategy of investigation. In preparing the essential components of a survey method plan, it is also important to follow some fundamental aspects of the checklist questions provided in the Creswell text. â€Å"In a proposal or plan, one of the first parts of the method section can introduce readers to the basic purpose and rationale for survey research. Begin the discussion by reviewing the purpose of a survey and the rationale for its selection as a design in the proposed study.† (Creswell, 2003, p 154). Therefore, it is important to identify, in such a discussion, the purpose of survey research as well as to indicate why the survey method has been preferred as the data colle ction procedure for the research. The main purpose of the survey research is to generalize from a sample to a population in order that inferences regarding the attitude or behavior of the population can be easily made. The rationale for indicating why the survey method has been preferred as the data

Does the Internet Have a Negative Effect on Youth or Does Its Use Need to Be Monitored More Essay Example for Free

Does the Internet Have a Negative Effect on Youth or Does Its Use Need to Be Monitored More Essay Does the internet have a negative effect on youth or does its use need to be monitored more? The Internet has become a major part of everyday life for most Americans especially today’s youth but some say that internet has a negative effect on youth more than a positive one. The question is: are all of the effects of the internet negative? The internet is used by most youth for entertainment, to find information and to connect with people. Unfortunately while the internet can be useful it has been known to cause negative effects on children. Social networking sites are very popular among today’s youth. In recent years cyber bullying has become a trend among youth because of the internet. There are also cases that youth have been exposed to inappropriate websites while on the internet and it had a negative effect on them. The internet has been known to cause a negative effect on youth but it can be prevented if their internet use is monitored. Social networking websites that are popular on the internet Twitter, MySpace, face book and YouTube. It is said by some that youth spend more time on websites like these than studying and doing their homework. While most of the young people in the study got good grades, 47 percent of the heaviest media users, those who consumed at least 16 hours a day, had mostly C’s or lower, compared with 23 percent of those who typically consumed media three hours a day or less (New York Times). Some youth can spend all day on social networking sites. Often times social networking sites can also become a distraction to youth. Most youth would much rather get on face book or twitter than study or write a paper. Most of the time youth can begin writing a paper but end up spending hours on face book. Social networking sites also have been known to cause children to be kidnapped or raped. Because of the amount of information that can be put on these sites it is easy for them to be tracked. There have also been cases where youth have chatted someone under the impression that they were someone else. There have been several cases where children have been harmed because someone found them on social netwo rking site. This can only be prevented if youth internet is monitored. So it seems that social networking sites can only have a negative effect if the time they spend on social networks is not being monitored correctly. Cyber bullying is another negative effect from the internet. Cyber bullying is using the Internet to  send or post texts or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person. It has been said that forty-three percent of teens have been victimized by cyber-bullying in the last year (ncpc.org).Cyber-bullying is a result of youth being mad at another peer or just trying to have fun. Cyber-bullying has been said to cause depression and sometimes even suicide among youth. It has become a major problem among youth in recent years. A lot of the time cyber bullying takes place on sites like twitter, face book and sometimes even YouTube. There have been cases all over the news where youth have said that they became depressed because of cyber-bullying.Most youth who have participated in cyber bullying thought that it was funny and not realized that it would have a negative effect on the victim. There have been steps taken to try to prevent cyber-bullying but there are still some cases where it is still happening. Cyber-bullying can be prevented if t he internet use is being monitored. Almost eighty percent of teens said they did not have rules for the internet or that it was not monitored. While browsing the internet the youth can be exposed to a lot of inappropriate websites that most would agree they shouldn’t be exposed to. Twenty five percent of youth had unwanted exposure to sexual pictures on the internet in the past year, challenging the prevalent assumption that the problem is primarily about young people motivated to actively seek out pornography according to youth and society (Protectkids.com).One quarter of these youth were upset by being exposed to pornography. In other cases when youth are exposed to pornography they become interested and begin watching it regularly. According to one study, when youth under fourteen years of age are exposed to pornography it is related to greater involvement in deviant sexual practice, particularly rape (protectkids.com). It has also been said that because pornography encourages sexual expression without responsibility it endangers children’s health. If a child were to see porn he/she may think that is okay to have unprotected sex which could then lead to std’s and unplanned pregnancy( protectkids,com ). Although porn can and has had negative effects on children it has been said that porn does not always have negative effects on children. Some children are exposed and it has no effect at all. In the end it seems that it may depend on the child if it has a negative effect or not. It also seems that the only way that this can be prevented is if their internet use is monitored. There are strategies that  can be taken to do this (Council). It seems to be proven that the internet can in fact have a negative effect on youth. Social networking sites can cause youth grades to drop. Cyber-bullying mostly takes place on the internet and it cause youth to become depressed. Youth can be exposed to several inappropriate websites which can damage their future development. The internet can be a very useful tool for youth to have access to but it can also have a very negative impact on youth if it is not monitored correctly. To ensure that the internet does not harm our youth in negative way parents/guardians must monitor their children’s internet use.

How The Globalization Has Been Influenced Politics Essay

How The Globalization Has Been Influenced Politics Essay Question  : What factors have shaped the processes of globalization? Discuss to what extent the world economy is becoming less or more globalised as a consequence of the global recession started in 2008? draw the views of radicals, sceptics and pragmatics regarding the factors promoting  : the existence of economic globalisation as a new phenomenon DIFFERENT FROM internationalization, westernization, liberalism or cultural convergence. It should further discuss: to what extent such factors have been influenced by the economic crisis AND what are the consequences for the globalising world economy. Key authors: HIRST THOMPSON, sCHOLTE (BOTH IN THE READING PACKAGE.) OHMAE DICKEN Introduction : In the last decade, globalization has been much all over the news. But despite its prominence, globalization is viewed as a highly complex process difficult to define. Essay divided in 3 parts : Introduction: 250 words The factors that have shaped the economic globalization: 1000 words The globalization debate: 900 words How the globalization has been influenced by the economic crisis and the consequences on the world economy: 1000 words Conclusion: 150 words Indeed, it a topic that is discussed by many authors who strongly disagree about its significance. Impossible to define. I will present the nature and the significance of these processes. (prod, finance, trade) Globalization is transforming the ways in which nations interact in the last few decades international trade and  production has become increasingly globalised and corporate activity has diversified and multiplied Not only globalization is very real, but it consequences can be felt everywhere. The global market place is more developed than in the 60s and 70s and is indifferent to national borders. Nations have lost most of their sovereignty and politicians have lost most of their capability to influence events. The era of nation state is over THE FACTORS THAT HAVE SHAPED THE PROCESSES OF ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION According to Castells, economic globalization can be mainly conceived as three different sets of factors that have shaped the processes of globalization, encompassing the changes that took place at a global level over the last few decades: the globalization of production, the globalization of finance and the globalization of trade (Castells, 2000). The globalization of production The globalization of production encompasses the changes that took place in a global level regarding the ways in which production of goods and services is organized and involve three dynamics: a massive increase of Foreign Direct Investment, an increased role of transnational corporations in the world economy and finally a growth of long distance production network (Prasad, 2006). The massive increase of FDI According to Razin and Sadka, the foreign direct investment (FDI) can be defined as an investment involving a long-term relationship and reflecting a lasting interest and control of a resident entity in the source country (foreign direct investment or parent firm) in the host country. (Razin and Sadka, 2007). As mentioned by Castells, since 1960, the FDI was more and more concentrated in industrialized countries with its origins in a small group of industrialized countries and its destinations in the same group. However, as a real result of the economic globalization, the countries of the Third World are becoming important destinations. For example, transnational corporations investments in transition economies are growing significantly and according to the UNCTAD, China replaced the United States as the worlds largest destination for FDI in 2003 (UNCTAD, 2005). Therefore, it is possible to argue that there is globalization of production because the economic globalization is reorient ing the destinations of FDI. The role of transnational corporations in the world economy Transnational corporations like Airbus, Samsung, Nike or Apple are companies who have their headquarters in one country (mainly concentrated in industrialized countries) and a number of subsidiaries in more than one foreign country. They constitute the most important vehicle for FDI, exceeding sometimes the gross domestic products of some national economies. Their role in the global economy is more and more important as their number is significantly increasing. Also, some transnational corporations located in some countries of the Third World tend to become significant vehicles for FDI (Held Mc Grew, 2003). Consequently, the internationalization and the growing importance of these multinational corporations are rapidly shaping the processes of economic globalization. The growth of long distance production network According to Gereffi and Korzeniewicz, most of the large transnational corporations tend to disperse their production networks internationally which represents a fundamental difference from earlier, when the production processes were mainly organized within national frontiers (Gereffi and Korzeniewicz, 1994). Those new global commodity chains keep evolving through time and involve market-based networks of global scope organized by the multinational corporations through relying upon contracting and sub-contracting of production processes worldwide (Prasad, 2006). According to Gereffi, there are two types of global world commodity chains: the producer-driven chain in which large manufacturing multinational corporations take a leadership role by organizing the chains; and the buyer-driven chains in which the leadership role is taken by the global retailers and marketers (Gereffi, 2002). Consequently, the global production of goods and services gradually occurs through broadly- dispersed network activities that have shaped something similar to a global web of productive activities. Hence, these three dynamics that constitute the globalization of production have influenced the world the economy while determining the processes of economic globalization. However, as previously mentioned, economic globalization also involves globalization of finance. The globalization of finance Economic globalization has been accompanied by notable fluctuations in the nature of the global financial organization. Indeed, the financial design that has been established by the Bretton Woods Agreement founded a system of fixed exchange rates across national currencies (Bordo and Eichengreen, 1993). Though, after the collapse of this system in the 1970s, the global financial system has progressively become globalized and presented a rising tendency toward global integration of financial markets and dome groundbreaking financial instruments. Therefore, nowadays businesses increasingly work in a world of globally integrated capital markets with developments in a particular part of the planet rapidly spreading their effects on a global level. Moreover, the globalization of finance has resulted in a surprising explosion of currency trading isolated from transnational trade. Therefore, it is possible to understand that the changes concerning the global production and finance also implied a globalization of trade. The globalization of trade The increase of international trade in every economic activities worldwide. International trade has grown significantly in relation to national income. Compared to the era of the rapid trade growth of the 1990s, the export levels today are much bigger for the states part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) because the trading walls have fallen across the world. Therefore, global markets have arisen for many goods and services. Also, in terms of value, trade in manufactured products accounts for about 75 per cent of the global trade when trade in services represent only 20 per cent (Castells, 2000). Changes in geographical patterns of international trade As the manufactured products represent such a great part of the international trade, it is without a doubt that industrialized economies lead the international trade. However, as a result of the globalization of production and finance, the international trade tends to be increasingly geographically diversified. Indeed, as the exports between industrialized countries have significantly dropped, the exports between the Third World countries have increased which is changing the geographical patterns of international trade (Nigel, 2012) The emergence of large regional trade groups as EU, NAFTA etc. The globalization of trade introduced the development of regional trade group as the European Union (EU), Association of south East Asia Nations (ASEAN), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Mercosur designed to give extra impulse to trade between member countries (Frankel, 1997). The first section of this paper has explained the factors that have shaped the processes of economic globalization. But globalization and its consequences constitute the root of many controversies and debates that will be discussed in the second part of this paper. THE GLOBALIZATION DEBATE According to Giddens, when it comes to the question of globalization, it is possible to distinguish three schools of thought: the hyperglobalizers, the sceptics and the transformationalists. Those three schools attempted to explain and understand the recent concept that is globalization, and more precisely, economic globalization. The hyperglobalizers According to Ohmae, globalization could be defined as a new era of human history in which traditional nation-states have become unnatural, even impossible business units in a global economy (Ohmae, 1995). Ohmaes of globalization privileges its economic logic while the other branch of this school of thought, the neoliberals, sees the globalization as the emergence of a single global market. Therefore, the hyperglobalizers think that the economic globalization will bring the denationalisation of economies through the formation of global networks of production, trade and finance that have been discussed in the first part of this paper. According to Reich, national governments are simple transitional institutions between global, regional and local instruments of governance (Reich, 1991). As mentioned by Strange the virtual forces of world market are more important than national governments and their authority is decreasing (Strange, 1996). Within the hyperglobalist movement, it exists a divergence between the neoliberals and the neo-Marxists as the neoliberals see the individual autonomy as a triumph when the neo-Marxist see the oppressive global capitalism as a triumph (Greider, 1997). However, those two variants of the movement agree on the economic globalization as a new phenomenon creating winners and losers in the global economy. They see the North-South division as an anachronism it has been replaced by a division of labour. Moreover, the hyperglobalizers see the Nation State coming to an end as they consider the globalization as an indication of the first global civilization and a new wold order with an emergence of institutions of global governance (Albrow, 1996). Indeed, as argued by Ohmae, the authority of the nation state is challenged as the national economy is more and more of a site of global flows. Also, the national governments are not capable to control what happens in their borders or to satisfy the demands of their citizens (Ohmae, 1995). As institutions of global governances are becoming more and more important, the sovereignty of nation states is eroded. In general terms, the hyperglobalizers perceive the globalization as a reconfiguration of the framework of human action (Albrow, 1996). The sceptics Compared to the hyperglobalizers, the sceptics see globalization as a myth or an ideology only relying on an economic conception. They think that globalization is primarily associated with a faultlessly integrated global market. According to Hirst and Thompson, the extent of economic globalization is categorically exaggerated (Hirst and Thompson, 2002). The sceptics consider the influence of national governments on global economic activity really powerful and therefore perceive the hyperglobalizers view as politically naÃÆ' ¯ve. In their point of view, the only thing that is demonstrated is that the economic activity is experiencing an important regionalization with the emergence of the regional trade groups such as the EU, NAFTA etc. Indeed, according to Boyer and Drache, todays global economy is considerably less integrated than it was in the past (Boyer Drache, 1998). Sceptics are also against the idea of the end of the nation state. Also, it is possible to see different points of view within the sceptics : some of them see national governments as the most important part of the internationalization considered as a US-initiated economic order who shaped an impulse for the liberalization of national economies. Some others like Callinicos, see the increase of global trade and FDI as a new era of Westernization in which national governments are deeply concerned (Callinicos, 1994). However, they all believe that internationalization has been accompanied by the rising economic marginalization of Third World states. As argued by Held and McGrew, rather than the world becoming more interdependent, the sceptics seek to expose the myths which sustain the globalization thesis (Held McGrew, 1999) The transformationalists Jones > Cycles of the economy Stiglitz> Adverse impact on developing countries Stiglitz, J (2002) Globalization and its Discontents (London, Penguin, 2002). Stiglitz , J ( 2007) Making Globalization Work: The Next Steps to Global Justice, London, Penguin Saul > Discusses the end of globalization a specific economic moment C) View of the TRANSFORMATIONALISTS regarding the economic globalization as a new phenomenon c) How is the economic globalization different from: industrialization westernization liberalism according to the TRANSFORMATIONALISTS. cultural convergence Authors: Giddens > Globalization is real and its consequences can be felt everywhere Level of world trade today is much higher than it ever was before and involves a much wider range of goods and services. Biggest difference between before and now : level of finance and cash flow. (exemple : electronic money that exist as digits in computers the current economy has no parallels in earlier times transfer money in 1 click. Globalization is not only new but revolutionary. Transformationalists Fin de 1ere partie : Giddens : I dont believe that either the sceptics or the radicals have properly understood either what it is or its implications for us. + It is wrong to think of globalization as just concerning the big systems, like the world financial order. Globalization isnt only about what is out here, remote and far away from the individual.. II) DISCUSSION ON GLOBALIZATION AND ECONOMIC CRISIS https://vip2.uvm.edu/~sseguino/pdf/global_crisis.pdf How the factors that have shaped the globalization have influenced the economic crisis. How did the globalization of production influence the economic crisis How did the globalization of finance and trade influence the economic crisis http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/spn/2009/spn0904.pdf Consequences of the economic crisis on the globalising world economy. x

Educating Students With Autism English Language Essay

Educating Students With Autism English Language Essay Many people with ASC (autism spectrum conditions) have intricacy in identifying emotions in themselves and other people. For young children learning to speak, suffering from autism present a special problem to their teachers as well as parents as they are faced with the challenge of teaching these unfortunate children how to express themselves through speech. The importance of effective communication cannot be underestimated. Yet teaching students with autism is not an easy task, it requires patience and use of special assistive technology tools to help these children learn how to form words and use them effectively. There are various technologies that can be used, while other are simple some of these technology are so advanced and needs extra training to use them. One of the basic technologies that has been used for a number of years is Picture Exchange Communication Systems (PECS ) studies have indicated that this technology improves communication of children with autism This paper intends to discuss on the use of this assistive technology to educate students with Autism. Introduction People with autism spectrum conditions have impairments in public communication; included in this core impairment is an intricacy with the social emotional reciprocity in addition to nonverbal communication such as gestures, facial expression and eye contact. Regularly, people with autism spectrum conditions have difficulties identifying emotions particularly complex emotions that call for metalizing (jealous, embarrassed, sarcastic) in both themselves and other people. All of these complications can add to challenges in keeping and making friendships and other encouraging peer relationships. WHAT IS ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY? Assistive technology tool means any piece of equipment, item, or product system, whether acquired commercially, modified, off-the-shelf, or customized, that is used to maintain, increase, or improve functional abilities of people with disabilities. Assistive technology service directly assists people with a disability in the acquisition, selection, or use of an assistive technology. The Use of Assistive Technology to Educate Students with Autism The theory of mind is one conceptualization used to explain the social impairment in autism spectrum conditions (Golan and Bauminger, 2006). The theory states that people with autism spectrum conditions have an intrinsic disability in terms of recognizing the psychological perspective of others. That is, they have problem imputing emotion, meaning, and intent to other people. Deficits in this part are serious to effective social interaction, to a great extent it is anticipated on knowing what other people are feeling or thinking. Getting to know emotions is one aspect of the capability to take another persons perspective. A number of studies have researched on the interventions to educate individuals with autism spectrum conditions to identify emotions. These comprise social skill instruction (Golan and Bauminger, 2006) and assistive technology interventions. For instance, Bauminger (2006) examined the use of a behavior based intervention to assist in the emotion recognition skills of 15 high responding kids with autism, ages 8 to 17. The intervention involved lessons from a social skill syllabus used in the school setting for 2 to 4 hours per week for 7 months. The lessons comprised of activities such as role play and just plays with a normally developing peer and working on the skills acquired from each weekly lesson with parents at home. The end results showed advancement in the kids emotional ability and knowledge to give examples of difficult emotions. Specially, at post intervention, the partakers with autism were likely to start social communication with their peers and spent a lot of time displaying encouraging social behaviors. In another study, Hadwin, Baron-Cohen, Howlin, and Hill (1996) taught children with autism spectrum conditions to foresee and identify emotions in others using a computer based intervention called the Emotions Trainer. Partakers between the ages of 12 and 20, incorporated in either a control group or an experimental, were diagnosed with either Asperger syndrome or autism. The program comprised of five sections that incorporated asking the user to select the correct emotion out of four options explaining photographed facial expressions, events or situations, and descriptive captions and objects. Contrasted to the control group, the experimental group showed improvement in their ability to recognize emotions in tale and cartooned circumstances that triggered an emotional response, but not in their recognition of emotion in pictures (facial expressions), on which both intervention and control groups demonstrated improvement. The following section will examine Picture Exchange Communicat ion Systems (PECS) as one of the key assistive technology used to assist students with autism. Picture Exchange Communication Systems (PECS) This is a low technology assistive system created as an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), where pictures are used in place of words to assist children with autism to communicate because of their problems in speech development. At the initial stage of using PECS, a child is provided with a number of pictures of favorite toys or foods. If the child requires any of these things, he simply gives the picture of the specific item to a therapist, teacher or even caregiver (Charlop-Christy, et al. 2002). The person receiving this picture in return hands the toy or food to the child. Through this exchange, communication is then strengthened. Similarly PECS can as well be applied to make suggestions regarding things viewed or heard within the surrounding. For instance, a student might view a car passing by and give a picture of a car to his teacher. The objective of this method is that, when a child starts to acknowledge the importance of communication, the child will start using natural speech instead of pictures. How this assistive technology works A student with autism can be taught how to use this technology by his teacher, caregiver or a therapist, who understands the way this technology works. Normally, an applied behavior analysis (ABA) method is applied. Through this method, prompts are offered to control the picture exchange. More so, in the initial stages of PECS training, the student selects a picture he wants and gets what is on the picture, for instance food. Receiving food is meant to give a positive reinforcement to the student for his use of the picture in communicating. Normally PECS training entails six stages: Stage I: the teacher lists down a list of the students favorite items normally starting with foods. A single item from the list is chosen for the opening training lesson, and items picture is drawn. The item can be put in a place visible to the student, to allow the student to view the item but not to pick it. When the child seems interested in the item, the teacher gives such a student a picture card of the item. The teacher guides the students hand to pick the picture and give it to the teacher. The moment the teacher receives the card from the student, he communicates loudly the want the student wants, for instance, he say so you want the cake and give the cake to the child. Stage II: the teacher moves a little distance in order for the student to move towards him to give the picture card to the teacher. Stage III: the student is provided with several picture cards so that he can choose the one representing what he wants. The selected picture card is given to the teacher, at this moment; the student may use a binder or a communication board where the cards will be held. Stage IV: at this point, the student is provided with a card written on I want____. The student has to use this card together with the picture card illustrating what is wanted. The concept is that the student will learn the way to communicate through complete sentences. Those students who can not read the words can be in a position to recognize the words written as symbols on the card. Stage V: prior to this stage, the student has never been directly what he wants, at this stage, the teacher asks the student directly what he wants, and then waits for the student to select a picture representing what the students wants. This lesson builds the basis for future communication between the student and the teacher when the teacher wants to find out what the student wants. Stage VI: the moment the student is able to fluently use PECS, and has managed to generalize the system to use it to communicate with other people apart from the teacher; the student is taught the way make suggestions on something that he has observed. The teacher picks up something interesting and asks the student to say what the item is. At that stage the teacher also picks a card with I see _____. The student is to match the card with what he is seeing. In this manner, the child is able to learn how to communicate what he observes together with his experiences to other people (Charlop-Christy, et al. 2002). Theory behind this technology The express reinforcement coming from immediately receiving what a student with autism is the main principle of PECS. A student is able to show his inner wishes without speaking any words, and be rewarded. Such tangible rewards greatly reinforce such a child compared to social rewards, particularly during the initial stage of communication. PECS could as well improve the social relations of an autism child. This is because the child is able to learn to initiate communication; more so, at this point the child is not expected to speak, so the child is less intimidated. How effective is the technology A number of studies carried out have indicated that PECS is useful tool in helping children with autism. For example, a study carried out by Schwartz, et al. (1998) on eighteen preschool students suffering from autism and with speech difficulties established that those children were able to communicate through PECS in their school days. However, after a training of one year, nearly 50 percent of these children stopped to use PECS and instead began to natural communicate (Schwartz, et al. 1998). More studies supporting this observation were found by (Charlop-Christy, et al. 2002). generally, evidence from a number of studies have established that PECS assistive tool is an effective technique in developing natural speech in children suffering from autism, particularly if they are taught how to use this tool when is below six years of age (Bondy, 2001). Side issues This technology has no known side effectives to children with autism. Though a number of parents showed concerns that their children could end up depending on PECS as their communication tool, and fail to develop their natural speech, this concern lacks any credible support from studies. On the contra, there is credible evidence showing that children suffering from autism are able to learn through PECS to develop their speech quicker compared to those who have not used PECS (Bondy, 2001). Conclusion Children suffering from autism conditions have impairments in public communication; included in this core impairment is an intricacy with the social emotional reciprocity in addition to nonverbal communication such as gestures, facial expression and eye contact. Such children need special assistance when at school to improve on their communication special speech. Teachers and caregivers have a number of assistive technologies that they can use to assist these children. As discussed above one of the very effective and easy to use assistive technology is Picture Exchange Communication Systems (PECS), though it involves only six stages, they offer the child with the required speech mechanism and enable a student with autism to al least be able to form words and communicate his feelings. Nevertheless, as noted by Charlop-Christy, et al. (2002) this technology can be used together with other technologies for better results.