How to Take an Independent Study Class in High School

How to Take an Independent Study Class in High School SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Is there a particular subject you’d like to study, but your high school doesn’t offer it? You may be able to take an independent study! Independent studies can be a great way to take a class your school doesn’t offer but you’d still like to take, whether to strengthen your college applications, prepare for future jobs, or just out of personal interest. Read on to learn about independent studies, what their benefits are, and how you can take one yourself. What Is an Independent Study? An independent study is a class taken by a student that has much less supervision and direction than a typical class: you are learning independently.Students often take independent studies to learn about a specific subject not taught in their high school.Generally, you choose what you want your independent study to focus on and request for it to be approved by your school. You often have to have a detailed plan of what you will learn and the work you will do. Independent studies can be pre-designed, where the materials and coursework have already been created, or self-designed, where you are responsible for developing the curricula for the course. If approved by your high school, you will receive credit for your independent study, just like any other class you take, though the number of credits you receive may vary. Learning independently doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want. You will usually be assigned an adviser (often a teacher or guidance counselor) who will oversee your course and make sure you are putting in enough work to justify getting credit for your independent study.Depending on the class and your school, you may take your independent study during the school day or outside of school. Why Would You Want to Take an Independent Study? Why are some students interested in taking an independent study? There are multiple reasons, the most common of which are listed below. To Take a Class Your School Doesn't Offer This is the most common reason students pursue an independent study. You may want to study a particular subject, such as a less-common foreign language, particular branch of science, or a specific time period in history, but it isn’t taught at your school. You may be interested in studying this subject for your own personal enjoyment or to help prepare you for college classes or future jobs. Pursuing an independent study gives you an opportunity to learn about this topic while still receiving high school credit. If your school doesn’t offer certain AP classes, you may also be able to take an independent study that allows you to prepare for a particular AP exam. Your independent study will most likely not be counted as an AP class, but you can still take the AP exam and possibly receive college credit if you earn a high enough score. To Work In-Depth on a Project You may have a project that you started for another class or on your own and want to be able to devote a significant amount of time to working on it. Potential projects can range from works of art to a research paper and more. Taking an independent study can give you more time to devote to a project you care about than you likely would be able to in a traditional class. To Learn at Your Own Pace Independent studies can also be a good option for students who want to learn at a faster or slower pace. Perhaps you are a strong math student and want to be able to move quickly through lessons, or maybe you want to study a specific subject very in-depth and move at a slower pace to make sure you take in all the information. Because you are learning on your own, independent studies let you set the pace. If You Can't Fit a Class Into Your Schedule In some circumstances, your school may offer a class you are interested in but can’t take during the time it’s offered. If your schedule prevents you from taking a certain class, your school may allow you to take an independent study and learn the subject on your own while having the same homework and exams as the students in the regular class. Special Circumstances, Such as Injury or Illness Sometimes students are unable to come to school regularly or at all due to injury, illness, or for another reason. Some high schools allow students to take independent studies from their home to continue learning until they are able to return to school. If you're ill for a long period of time, you may be able to take an independent study to keep up with your school work. Just what you need to feel better!(WindRanch/Flickr) How to Set up an Independent Study For most high schools, setting up an independent study is fairly straightforward. Follow these steps to organize your own. 1. Decide What You Want to Study The first step to setting up an independent study is to decide what subject you want your course to focus on. This can be anything from Swahili to Asian history to AP psychology and more. In order to choose what to study, make a list of topics that interest you as well as a list of any skills or information you're interested in learning. To help make these lists, think about your favorite classes, what you'd like to study in college, and topics you enjoy learning about in your spare time. Choose your favorites from these lists and research them online or at the library. Are the topics still interesting now that you've looked into them more? Do you think you'd be able to design or find a course that covers one of them in-depth enough to last a semester? Once you have decided on a topic that fits the above requirements and you think will be interesting and informative, double-check your school's course catalog to make sure they don't offer a similar course. 2.Learn Your School’s Policy for Independent Studies After you have decided what you want to study, talk to your guidance counselor to find out what your school’s policy is for independent studies. Questions to ask include if your school allows them, who advises them, and what materials are required in order to receive approval. 3. Develop Your Course Plan The next step is to design the course. The work you do for this step will depend on if your independent study is pre-designed or self-designed. If pre-designed: choose where you want to order your materials from. Many colleges and companies offer independent study courses. Search online to find courses that cover your specific topic. Brigham Young Universityis one of the most popular schools to order course materials from, and their website includes a course catalog so you can see a complete list of the classes they offer. Before ordering, make sure the course covers the information you want it to cover (there should be a syllabus you can view), and that it has enough material to last you asemester. Your school may also provide you with a textbook if they have one that covers the topic you want to study. Also, be aware that the material typically costs at least $100 per course. After you receive your materials, make sure the lesson plans and timeline will fit with your schedule. If not, make some adjustments before submitting the course for approval. If you are designing your own class, then you will have more work to do. You will often need to develop a course description, syllabus, list of reading materials, and list of assignments. If you need help developing these materials, ask your teachers or guidance counselor for advice. You may also be able to find syllabi or reading lists online for similar courses that you can use as a basis to develop your own class. 4. Get Your Class Approved After you have created or found a solid course plan, you will submit it to your school for approval. The people who approve your course varies by school, but it may include teachers, guidance counselors, and deans. They may ask you questions about your course to get more information and make changes to your course plan before approving it. You will likely be assigned an adviser, usually a teacher or counselor, to oversee your independent study. Once you get your independent study approved, you're ready to start learning! 5. Start Learning! After your independent study has been approved, it will be added to your transcript either immediately or at the start of the next semester. If you have not already done so, decide when you will work on your independent study, either during the school day or after. Meet with your adviserand discuss how often you will check in with each other. Things to Consider Before Taking an Independent Study Independent studies can be a great learning opportunity for students, but they aren't for everyone. Ask yourself the following questions before enrolling in an independent study to make sure it's the right choice for you. How Self-Motivated Are You? Taking an independent study can be more difficult than a traditional course because you have to keep yourself on track. While you will have an adviser to supervise the course, you will be the one in charge of making sure you are completing enough work; there will be no teacher to give you assignments every day. Some people find this easier than others, so think honestly about how self-motivated you are before you embark on an independent study. Do You Know What Your Curricula Will Be? Are you prepared to design your own course or search for a course package? For traditional classes, the teacher does this work, and as any of them will tell you, designing a class takes a lot of time and effort. Make sure you have the time and desire to do this. If you are ordering a course package, make sure it is from a reputable school or organization. There are some companies that sell very poor-quality or bare-bones course packages just to make a profit. Ordering from an accredited school is often more reliablethan a for-profit company, but always search for online reviews to see what other customers are saying no matter where you order from. Do You Have Space in Your Schedule? Your independent study may not count towards your graduation requirements, and if it doesn’t, make sure you have enough room in your schedule to complete your required classes as well as your independent study. Not doing so could delay your graduation or cause you to have to take an extra class in the future. Are You OKWith Learning Alone? Not only will you not have a regular teacher in an independent study, you will also not have fellow students in your class. Some people enjoy learning on their own, but others prefer working in groups, hearing other people’s opinions during class, and having classmates to call for homework help. Consider how you will feel not having those things before deciding to take an independent study. Think about whether you'd enjoy learning without any classmates before you enroll in an independent study. What If You Can’t Take an Independent Study? You may not always be able to take an independent study, for a variety of reasons. Your school may not have approved it, you may not have space in your schedule, or you may have had difficulty finding material to fill an entire course. If that’s the case, you still have other options for studying a topic you are interested in. Learn on Your Own While you won’t get school credit for it, if there is a subject you are really interested in, you can always choose to study it outside of school for your own personal benefit. You will still gain knowledge that can be used for future classes and jobs, even if it isn’t included on your transcript, and you may enjoy learning about the subject even more knowing you won’t be tested on it. If you do decide to go this route, it may be possible for you to include your work as an extracurricular on your college applications or write about it as part of your college admissions essay. Take a Community College Class If you can’t take an independent study, taking a class at a community college may be an option if they offer a course on the subject. Your high school may not give you high school credit it for it, but you can always include it on your college applications, and you may get college credit for taking it. Wait Until College Colleges often have a much wider variety of course offerings than high schools. If there is a subject that you’d like to learn about, but you can’t take an independent study or prefer to learn in a traditional classroom environment, you may want to consider waiting until college to take a class on it. Do a Project on the Topic for Another Class While you likely won’t be able to study the topic as in-depth as you would in an independent study, you may be able to learn about your topic of choice in a related class. For example, if you want to study Asian history, you may be able to write a report or do a project on it as part of your regular history class. This allows you keep a normal schedule while also learning about topics that interest you. Summary Taking an independent study can be a great way to study a subject not offered by your high school. You can create your own course or purchase a pre-designed course package. Before taking an independent study, make sure you will be motivated enough to learn on your own and will enjoy taking a class by yourself. To get more information, talk to your guidance counselor to learn your school’s policy on independent studies. If you can’t take an independent study, there are other options, such as taking a community college class or learning on your own. What's Next? Wondering what all the possible classes you can take in high school are? We have a complete list of all high school classes offered to help you give you ideas for potential independent studies. Do you know what classes you should take in high school? Check out our guide to the standard high school curriculum and learn how to plan your class schedule. Electives are some of the most interesting classes you can take in high school. Do you know which ones you should take? Read our guide to help choose which electives are best for you. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

10 Silicon Facts (Element Number 14 or Si)

10 Silicon Facts (Element Number 14 or Si) Silicon is element number 14 on the periodic table, with the element symbol Si. Here is a collection of facts about this interesting and useful element: Silicon Fact Sheet Credit for discovering silicon is given to  Swedish chemist Jà ¶ns Jakob Berzelius, who reacted potassium fluorosilicate with potassium to produce amorphous silicon, which he named silicium, a name first proposed by Sir Humphry Davy in 1808. The name derives from the Latin words silex or silicis, which mean flint. Its probable English scientist Humphry Davy may have isolated impure silicon in 1808 and  French chemists Joseph L. Gay-Lussac and Louis Jacques Thà ©nard may have produced impure amorphous silicon in 1811. Berzelius is credited for the elements discovery because his sample was purified by repeatedly washing it, while earlier samples were impure.Scottish chemist Thomas Thomson named the element silicon in 1831, keeping part of the name Berzelius had given, but changing the ending of the name to -on because the element showed more similarities to boron and carbon than to the metals that had -ium names.Silicon is a metalloid, which means it has properties of both metals and nonmetals. Like other metalloids, silicon has different forms or allotropes. Amorphous silicon is usually seen as a gray powder, while crystalline silicon is a gray solid with a shiny, metallic appearance. Silicon conducts electricity better than nonmetals, yet not as well as metals. In other words, its a semiconductor. Silicon has a high thermal conductivity and conducts heat well.  Unlike metals, its brittle, and not malleable or ductile. Like carbon, it usually has a valence of 4 (tetravalent), but unlike carbon, silicon can also form five or six bonds.   Silicon is the second most abundant element on Earth by mass, making up over 27% of the crust. Its commonly encountered in silicate minerals, such as quartz and sand, but only rarely occurs as a free element. Its the 8th most abundant element in the universe, found at levels of about 650 parts per million. Its the principal element in a type of meteorite called aerolites.Silicon is needed for plant and animal life. Some aquatic organisms, such as diatoms, use the element to construct their skeletons. Humans need silicon for healthy skin, hair, nails, and bones, and to synthesize the proteins collagen and elastin. Dietary supplementation with silicon may increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.Most silicon is used to produce the alloy ferrosilicon. Its used to produce steel. The element is purified to make semiconductors and other electronics. The compound silicon carbide is an important abrasive. Silicon dioxide is used to make glass. Because silicate minerals are c ommon, silicon oxides form rocks and are used to make glass and ceramics. Like water (and unlike most chemicals), silicon has a higher density as a liquid than as a solid.Natural silicon consists of three stable isotopes: silicon-28, silicon-29, and silicon-30. Silicon-28 is the most abundant, accounting for 92.23% of the natural element. At least twenty radioisotopes are also known, with the most stable being silicon-32, which has a half-life of 170 years.Miners, stone cutters, and people who live in sandy regions may inhale large quantities of silicon compounds and develop a lung disease called silicosis. Exposure to silicon may occur by inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, and eye contact. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets the legal limit for workplace exposure to silicon to  15  mg/m3  total exposure and 5  mg/m3  respiratory exposure for an 8-hour workday.Silicon is available at extremely high purity. Molten salt electrolysis of silica (silicon dioxide) or other silicon compounds can be used to obtain the element at 99.9% purity for use in semiconductors. The Siemens process is another method used to produce high purity silicon. This is a form of chemical vapor deposition where gaseous trichlorosilane is blown across a pure silicon rod to grow polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) with a purity of 99.9999%.   Silicon Atomic Data Element Name: Silicon Element Symbol: Si Atomic Number: 14 Classification: metalloid (semimetal) Appearance: Hard gray  solid with a silver metallic luster. Atomic Weight: 28.0855 Melting Point:  1414  oC, 1687 K Boiling Point:  3265  oC, 3538 K Electron Configuration:  1s2  2s2  2p6  3s2  3p2 Density: 2.33  g/cm3 (as a solid near room temperature); 2.57 g/cm3 (as a liquid at the melting point) Oxidation States: 4, 3, 2, 1, -1, -2, -3, -4 Electronegativity: 1.90 on the Pauling scale Atomic Radius: 111 pm Crystal Structure: face-centered diamond cubic Heat of Fusion: 50.21 kJ/mol Heat of Vaporization: 383 kJ/mol Reference Weast, Robert (1984). CRC, Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Boca Raton, Florida: Chemical Rubber Company Publishing. pp. E110. ISBN 0-8493-0464-4.

Marketing Mix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Marketing Mix - Essay Example The basic purpose however is to make a sale during all this while on the part of the marketing team coming under the organization’s umbrella. The elements of the marketing mix might not be applicable to every organization or product since there are discrepancies in the understanding of each and every product. However on the condition that all of these 4P’s create value for the end user is something to understand from. The 4P’s basically outline the exact basis for the know-how related with the product as the product itself is discussed which includes the brand mark or the house mark as well as the symbol. (Lazer, 1971) The aspect of price includes whether or not this product is sold in line with the industry’s other competitors or it is skimmed to a high price right at the very beginning of its induction in the market. At times, this product could be penetrated at a low price so as to ignite more sales but then again it could backfire since the product can have bad reputation and be considered of low value and hence a negligible brand image is conveyed nonetheless. Place is the distribution aspect rel ated with that product where the product is made available for the right target audiences. This includes the retail outlets, stores, mobile vans, corner shops and just about any place where it could be purchased from. It can even include the Internet since a lot of online sale is being done through it and hence could rightly be termed as a point of sale for the eventual end consumers. The promotional aspect, the last P amongst the 4P’s is related with marketing communications, which not only takes advertising, sales promotions and personal selling into its fold but also the aspect of word of mouth communication, with or without the creation of the opinion leaders and quite rightly so the public relations tenet. Now we move on with the aspects of the marketing mix in relation with each other. If there is no product, there would

The strategy of e-business Annotated Bibliography

The strategy of e-business - Annotated Bibliography Example Because of the nature of these networks, there is then the recognition that the very framework of e-business strategy must be reimagined in conjunction with this new landscape. In this way the article argues that businesses must reimagine strategy based on a more dynamic business environment. The traditional business environment examined strategy in terms of specific goals and long-term visions. The nature of this new paradigm in e-business, however, is such that business must constantly assess their strategic approach in regards to the shifting nature of connectivity. For Li (2004, p. 46) then then this is accomplished through establishing a holistic framework. Within the holistic framework the business will consider all inputs – supply chain management, sales, general business strategy – in a systematic and dynamic process. No longer will business establish a simple long-term vision, but instead will establish a dynamic and agile business strategy for to function within this new paradigm. In pursuit of this new paradigm the article established seven key points. Among these points include the pursuit of margin size and volume rate, and the p ursuit of low cost and high value. The fundamental recognition is that these concerns involve different levels of strategic concerns than the traditional environment had posited. After these theoretical considerations the article examines a case study with a Chinese business. The case study functions to demonstrate the importance of developing a holistic business strategy. Additionally the case study indicates the importance of developed countries establishing effective strategies in its business model when dealing with developing countries. In this way the concept of strategic alliance emerges as a prominent strategic approach. This text relates to the key concepts in the course in a variety of ways. From an overarching perspective it considers the very

Changes to the Concept of Mass Audience

Changes to the Concept of Mass Audience Is the concept of the mass audience becoming increasingly redundant as new communications technologies such as the internet and interactive tv develop. In order to understand whether the concept of the mass audience is still influential, with regard to new communications such as the internet and interactive TV, one will first need to know the meaning attached to the concept of mass audience theory.   Blumer (1950) argues that mass audience theory can be described in four parts.   Firstly, the mass audience may come from all walks of life, and from all distinguishable social strata; it may include people of different class position, of different vocation, of different cultural attainment, and of different wealth etc. Secondly, the mass is an anonymous group, or more exactly is composed of anonymous individuals (he means anonymous in the sense that unlike the citizens of earlier communities, the people who are members of the mass audience for the media do not know each other).   Thirdly, there exists little interaction or change of experience between members of the mass.   They are usually physically separated from one another, and, being anonymous, do not have the opportunity to mill as do members of the crowd.   Fourth, the mass is very loosely organised and is not able to act with the concertedness or unity of a crowd.   His statement was five years after the second world war.   This was during and after a period when the media was used as propaganda, through films, radio, and poster art that they had attempted to persuade mass audiences to follow their policies, in which to the critics of the time it is not surprising that the media must have seemed like a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands, capable of persuading millions to follow evil men.   The concept of the mass audience is essential to our understanding of the media.   It is the public in whose name programs are made and laws are passed.   It is the commodity that supports commercial broadcasting.   It is the arena in which the effects of mass communications are played out.   It is the place where the meanings and pleasures of media use are ultimately realized.   The audience, in short, is the foundation of the media’s economic and cultural power, whereby, without it, the entire enterprise has very little purpose, Webster and Phalen (1997).   The idea of an audience is common to both academic theory and industry practice.   As McQuail (2005) puts it, it is one of the few terms which can be shared without difficulty by media practitioners and theorists alike.   In most cases the audience is conceptualized as a large, loosely connected mass on the receiving end of the media.   In addition to this there are sufficient reasons to wonder whether the term audience is still a useful one, especially as there are so many kinds of use of many different communications media.   The term audience cannot easily be divested of its strong connotation of spectatorship, of rather passive watching and listening.   It is also closely tied in meaning to the reception of some message despite the fact that we know audience behaviour to involve several equally important motives or satisfactions, for example, social togetherness and the pleasures of actual use of a medium, regardless of content.   Despite this, there seems to be no viable alternative term, and so it will be used to cover diverse occasions.   In addition, Livingston (2002) comes to a similar conclusion, noting that no one term can be expected to cover the variety of relationships which now exist between people and the media.   She also adds that what is central is the nature of the relationship, rather than an artificial concept.   With this in mind one will move on to talk about the validity of the concept of the ‘mass audience’ becoming redundant as new communication technologies such as the internet and interactive TV develop.   Now, technology can be said to be one of the greatest challenges to the media in recent years, and one that will intensify further in the 21st century.   Its potential impact on the form and content of media output, the processes through which media messages are produced and consumed, and on the role of the media in society is bound to escalate to a level never seen before.   Such challenges are not new as the history of the mass media is a history of technological development with profound social consequences and implications at every stage.   There are however, strong grounds for believing that contemporary media are undergoing particularly dramatic technologically driven change, heralded by a qualitative new phase in the cultures of advanced capitalism.   This is a time that will be characterized by media interactivity, accessibility and diversity, with new freedoms for the audiences (or the consumer) McNair (1996).   It will also be the era of universally available cyberporn, information overload, and the decline or disappearance of some traditional media.   Cyberporn for example, is one big issue which has prompted some politicians and other interested parties to be pessimistic about the impact of these new technologies on the quality of cultural life.  Ã‚   The internet which is also known as the information superhighway through which information can be passed at an unprecedented rate, is a new medium which is currently having a strong impact on the production and consumption (mass audience) of the media.   The internet links millions of individual users and networks by satellite and cable, offering access to the Worldwide Web mainly used by commercial organizations and Usenet, a network for private individuals organized in to thousands of newsgroups.   These facilities can be used for advertising and promotion (including that of university departments, many of which now have a Web page profiling their activities); for on-line publishing of the type discussed earlier in the discussion of print media; and for communication between individuals by e-mail.   The latter maybe used for the circulation of data by researchers (for example, one could subscribe to a Latin American based services supplying up-to-date information about the Latin American media) or for a two way communication between geographically disparate users with a common interest.   As the internet develops and the infrastructure becomes more sophisticated it has become routine for virtual conversations to take place in cyberspace involving many individuals sending and receiving messages almost as quickly as if they were in the same room.   The power of the internet was first demonstrated during the San Francisco earthquake of January 1994, when it was used to send out the first information about the disaster, beating CNN and other news organizations to the Scoop.   But the significance of the internet for media culture goes beyond that of another leap in the speed of information dissemination.   It constitutes an entirely new medium, harnessing the vast information-handling potential of modern computers, now easily accessible to the mass consumer market as well as the traditional scientific and industrial users, and the distributive power of cable and satellite delivery systems.   The internet presents a further, and to date the most radical dissolution of the barriers of time and space which have constrained human communication since after the Second World War.   Speculation about what the Internet will do for and to human society abounds.   From one perspective, which we might describe as utopian; the Internet does indeed herald the emergence of a true global village, a benign virtual community accessible to anyone with a computer terminal and a knowledge of how to use it.   This perspective stresses the accessibility and interactivity of the new medium; the fact that it allows ordinary people to communicate across continents at the pressing of a return key on the keyboard of the computer, at relatively low cost (by comparison with telephone and fax), on all different types of issues and subjects.   The internet is not owned by any state or multinational company, and no state or company can control its use.   The internet’s relative freedom from the commercial and political constraints which have accompanied all previous communicative media, combined with its accessibility and interactivity, censorship, regulation, and commercialization like no other.   Another view is to see the internet as the latest in a long line of dehumanizing technological developments, producing a population of computer-nerds who, if they are not watching TV or fiddling with their play stations, are addictively surfing the Net.   The internet can be said to encourage not communication but isolation, in which one talks not to real people, but disembodied screens.   In addition to this, the cost of buying and owning a PC or laptop is rather expensive for countries whose economies are still developing.   Most people in these countries would not be able to afford to buy and own a PC or a lap top.   Hence, although it is a very useful medium used by people in the developed countries, it will take sometime before a more than average percentage of the general populis becomes aware of the major advantages of the use of the internet.   In most counties in the UK for example, there are libraries that provide free internet services for certain duration of time.   However, most people tend to use the internet for personalized e-mail services and searching for items and services.   These are not accessible through the traditional forms of the media (i.e. newspapers, brochures, etc).   Concerns about the implications of the internet are often based on a fear of its anarchic, uncontrollable character, precisely the qualities welcomed by its most enthusiastic advocates.   The internet, it is argued, provides an uncensorable platform for the dissemination of all kinds of antisocial messages.   For example, in the US newsgroups are devoted to the propaganda of extreme right-wing, pro-gun militias.   Cyberporn as earlier mentioned is also cited, particularly in relation to children and young people.   In July 1995, Time magazine devoted the bulk of an issue, and its cover, to the problem of cyberporn Elmer-Dewitt (1995).   The cover depicted a young boy, face reflecting the green light of a computer terminal, his eyes wide open with ama zement.   The article warned that Usenet and Worldwide Web networks were being used to distribute pornography all over the world, including as the cover illustration made clear to children and young adults.   The material being distributed was of the most extreme kind.   Rimm (1995) argues that computers and modems are profoundly redefining the pornographic landscape by saturating the market with an endless variety of what only a decade ago mainstream America defined as perverse or deviant.   Cyberporn does illustrate the threat posed by the internet, as seen by some.   To a greater extent than is true with traditional forms of disseminating pornography to the mass audience (and this applies to all morally or legally sanctioned information), the internet permits a private mode of consumption (no need for guilty browsing among the top shelves); it is user-friendly, allowing a high degree of selection and choice for anyone familiar with the system; and it is free of censorship, respecting no community standards or national boundaries.   As McNair (1996) puts it, traditional means of regulating and restricting pornography are useless on the Net.   And as children and young people are known to be among the most frequent and adept users of the Internet, cyberporn thus emerges as a serious threat to new generations.   Moral chaos and anarchy without the control of legislators does harbour information overload which acknowledges the inherent difficulty in imposing traditional constraints on the medium.   The key issue here is whether the internet i s a print medium, which enjoys strong protection against government interference, or a broadcast medium which enjoys strong protection against government interference, or a broadcast medium, which enjoys strong protection against government interference, or a broadcast medium, which may be subject to all sorts of government interference, or a broadcast medium, which may be subject to all sorts of government control Elmer Dewitt (1995).   The internet is neither print nor broadcasting, but a qualitatively new medium, to which conventional means of exerting control are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to apply.   It still remains to be seen if the global community (and it would have to be a genuinely global effort) can agree on standards of taste and decency for the Internet which are both enforceable and acceptable to the growing population of users.   According to the BBC (2004), new technologies and services are increasing the choice available to audiences and transferring power from schedulers and broadcasters.   Public sector broadcasting (PSB) providers will have to work much harder in future to persuade audiences to access their material and build brands across a variety of platforms.   They also add that fragmentation of audiences and the growth of digital television are posing new challenges for public service broadcasters.   BBC (2004) do suggest that changes in technology are also creating new and potentially more effective ways of meeting the needs of audiences in the nations, regions and localities.   The BBC also accepts a responsibility to explore partnerships with ot her broadcasters designed to sustain the wider PSB ecology.   The BBC is currently engaged in discussions with Channel 4 about a number of potential areas of co-operation.   These range from sharing R D and technology advances in new media services, through co-operating on international distribution, to options for pooling technical infrastructure, back-office functions and training.   In the same response by the BBC they argue that there is mounting evidence that regional television may be insufficiently local to meet the needs of some communities, having been hindered for decades by technology, topography and patterns of transmitters.   This response by the BBC to Ofcoms review also states that many viewers would prefer more local news to the current model of regional provision.   In their view, it is important to consider new ways of harnessing digital TV technology and broadband distribution, rather than simply replicating the traditional model of regional opt-outs.   McQuail, Blumler and Brown (1972) published results of research into the goals served by media use, not for society, but for media users.   They assumed media and content choice to be rational and directed to specific goals and satisfactions.   Audience members are conscious of the fact that they make choices.   In general these choices, or personal utility as McQuail calls it, are a more significant determinant of audience formation than aesthetic or cultural factors.   All these factors they assumed could be measured.   They do, offer an explanation of media-person interaction, which lists: diversion, personal relationships, personal identity and surveillance (or information seeking) goals.   McQuail in general was critical of this with regard to his earlier work and suggests that social origins and ongoing experience are important in understanding audience and media relations, which fell outside the initial behaviourist and functionalist leanings of the research.   These however are not so easily measured.   Social origins, any person’s class background, for example, can be translated into quantit ative terms (as more or less formal and informal schooling), but ongoing experience may, for any one person, take a multitude of forms that need not even relate directly to one another: from what one learns from an individual film or article in a magazine, to witnessing everyday racism or parental neglect in the street, to boredom doing a job that has seemed so exciting.   Theoretically, uses and gratifications never really develops.   It is impossible to establish whether uses indeed precede gratifications in time, or whether gratifications are legitimized by inventing uses.   If the latter is the case, the uses and gratifications model cannot free us from the dominant paradigm: we are still seduced by the media, to such an extent even that we invent needs for what is basically imposed on us by capitalism (commercial media) or paternalist nation-state (PSB).   It is also important to stress that gratificationist research as it has also been called, was not initially understood to be a mainstream or conservative approach to media and society.   On the contrary, it appeared to break with a tradition of only looking at effects (mass communication research) or at texts (such as the film criticism of the British journal Screen) in order to conclude something about audiences.   Gratifications research at least asked people and made them part of the media meaning society equation.   It is only when gratificationaist research is used as a spearhead in debates about the possible convergence of quantitative and qualitative traditions in media research (the first seen as conservative and mainstream, the second as its challenger), that media critics such as Ang (1989) offer a strong defence of ethnographic method against individualistic quantitative research and of taking a closer look at what we mean by the term active audience.   Ang (1989) argue that it is basically impossible to bring the two traditions in mass communication research together.   The social scientists who work with quantitative method in uses and gratifications research and have here been labelled mainstream may superficially be seen to use the same terms the critical researchers use, but this does not mean that the two have consensus over the way in which the object of study needs to be conceptualized, or infact over the goals and aims of science or social research as an enterprise. CONCLUSION One can conclude here that neither the optimistic nor pessimistic views described above represent a realistic appraisal of the Internet’s significance for media culture.   Certainly, as the utopian perspective asserts, the internet permits a qualitatively new level of communication between human beings, and hitherto unimagined access to all kinds of information.   But the resulting global village can be no more benign than the individuals who use it, and the materials sent down its superhighways and byways.   The Internet, like all previous developments in communication technology is destined to reflect the best and the worst that humanity has to offer.   It will continue to evade state censorship and arbitrary moral regulation, undeniably a good thing, but it will certainly be subject to a creeping commercialization, as its economic potential becomes clear in which the mass audience will play a major role in this revolution.   This process has already beg un, and will accelerate in the twenty-first century.   One will also add that successive waves of information revolution from the invention of the printing press to film and television, and now cyberspace have each presented problems of control and regulation for legislators in the UK and around the world, problems of adaptation and restructuring for the media industries; new challenges and temptations for audiences. REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY Ang, I., (1989), Wanting audiences, On the politics of empirical audience research, in E. Seiter, H. Borchers, G. Kreutzner and E. Warth (eds) Remote Control, Television, Audiences and Cultural Power, London:   Routledge, pp. 79 – 95. Blumer, H., (1950), Audiences and Media Effects, An introduction. Briggs, A., and Cobley, P., (2002), The Media:   An Introduction, 2nd edition, Pearson Longman. BBC (2004), Ofcom review of public service television broadcasting – Phase 2 Report, November, A BBC Response. Berger, A.A., (1995), Essentials of Mass Communication.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Elmer-Dewitt, P., (1995), On a screen near you: cyberporn, Time, July. Hay, J., Grossberg, L., and Wartella, E., (1996), The audience and its landscape. Livingston, S., (2002), Young people and New media, London: Sage. McNair, B., (1996), Mediated Sex, London: Arnold. McQuail, D., (2005), Mass communication theory. McQuail, D., Blumler, J., and Brown, J., (1972), The television audience, a revised perspective, in D. McQuail (ed.), Sociology of Mass Communication, Harmondsworth:   Penguin, pp. 135 – 165. Rimm, M., (1995), Marketing pornorgraphy on the information superhighway, (on-line version), first published in George town Law Journal Spring. Whelan, P., and Webster, J.G., (1997), The mass audience:   Rediscovering the dominant model. www.ofcom.org.uk

‘Manila amendments’ to the STCW

As examples: The 24 hour period should start at midnight; The 24 hour period should commence at the time a seafarer starts work immediately after having any period of rest of one hour or more; The period should start from the seafarers' first period of work on each calendar day Apparently, such variations in the interpretation can lead to substantial differences in the number of non-conformances detected and recorded, which then may potentially lead to a fatigue and subsequent accidents caused by the related human error factor.In accordance with mentioned above it could be still stated that fatigue is being considered as a significant contributory factor to many incidents in the shipping industry since the policy of monitoring of rest and work hours, that was designed as a very important tool to fght with fatigue, is not effective enough. Moreover, in a real life it creates problems with proper understanding of approach for calculation of rest and work hours, analysis of the workload and real fatigue caused by the Job.And last but not least, existing form of record keeping of hours of work and rest creates a lot f paper work for the crew and Ship managers and take of their times that could be spend for more important issues. In the meantime, the fatigue prevention policy cannot be ideal since measurement of fatigue is extremely difficult due to the large variability of causes.In accordance with Guidance on Fatigue Mitigation and Management there are many ways to categorize tne causes 0T Tatlgue. 10 ensure tnorougnness ana to prov10e good coverage 0T most causes, they have been categorized into 4 general factors: Crew-specific Factors; Management Factors (ashore and aboard ship); Ship-specific Factors; Environmental Factors.Even if all of these factors can be considered with the same weighting coefficient in determination of level of fatigue, the most important factors will be still related to the crew specific factors such as Sleep and Rest, Quality, Quantity a nd Duration of Sleep, Sleep Disorders/Disturbances, Rest Breaks, Biological Clock/Circadian Rhythms, Psychological and Emotional Factors, including stress, Fear, Monotony and Boredom, Health, Diet, Illness, Stress, Skill, knowledge and training as it relates to the Job,Personal problems, Interpersonal relationships, Ingested Chemicals, Alcohol, Drugs (prescription and non-prescription), Caffeine, Age, Shift work and Work Schedules, Workload (mental/physical), Jet Lag, etc. In view of the above stated it should be concluded that matter of fatigue is not only related not only to the shipping industry and consequently prevention of fatigue has been already addressed in other industries, such as aviation for instance.In accordance with the ‘Fatigue in Aviation' of Federal Aviation Administration, causes of atigue can range from boredom to circadian rhythm disruption to heavy physical exertion'. In simple terms, fatigue can be simply defined as wearisomeness, which in most cases ca used by the lack of rest. Weariness, at the same time, may vary even for the crew maintaining the same tasks on different type of ships or in a different area of trading. Thus it seems to be logical that industry must use various methods for ‘measuring fatigue of their workers, but not standardising their hours of work and rest.At the same time modification of existing fatigue prevention policy should be more ocused on implementation of new technical devices in line with the proven objective approach that will not create extra paperwork but will really measure fatigue and improve effectiveness of fatigue prevention. As an example of new methodology for detecting attention lapses or impaired ability of the crew to perform their tasks measuring technique so called Blink Rate (electrooculography) can be considered being good alternative to the current paper exercises.Ponder and Kennedy in their research in 1927 have concluded that blinks are controlled by the central nervous yste m rather than peripheral processes; for this periodic, spontaneous blink, the rate of blinking is closely related to ‘mental tension' of the subject at the time, and that in all probability the movements constitute a kind of relief mechanism whereby nervous energy, otherwise unutilized, passes into a highly facilitated path 0. A. Stern, 1994). There are some other technologies that help to define the level of fatigue at the start o a s ITt or contlnuously tnrougnout task perTormance.In researcn I-atlgue RISK Management in Aviation Maintenance: Current Best Practices and Potential Future Countermeasures, the following technologies are presented as possible systems that facilitate fatigue measurement psychomotor performance tests that are usually installed on a handheld device or and typically measure the person's speed of response to a stimulus. Voice analysis also may be considered as a method to detect fatigue in operational personnel, particularly in settings where verbal co mmunication occurs via radio or telephone.Different monitoring systems for measurement of alertness have been as well developed for the road transport industry, and several odels of vehicles now come equipped with systems designed to detect drowsy drivers. (Hobbs, 2011) Several of technical innovations are already being widely used in different industries and shows possibility to move from paper calculation and bureaucratic approach in fatigue management to innovational and objective approach of fatigue management. History shows that several regulations adopted before in aviation industry later were transferred into the shipping industry to assist in improvement of safety management.

The Debate Over Academic Essay Topics

The Debate Over Academic Essay Topics Regardless, be certain you answer the essay question in a couple of identifiable way. For something to be a top-notch convincing essay matter, it needs to be a controversial matter. Check whether while writing you are going to be in a position to find proper information that will support the argument to the close of the essay. You could probably produce countless examples to back up your argument. Unfortunately, inventing an unusual and intriguing topic is challenging. If you're attempting to acquire the interest of a whole lot of middle school girls, as an example, you either will need to be Justin Bieber in the flesh or compose a hook that's geared toward that age group. When it's a distinctive issue or teaches you to choose a topic about a specific subject or time period, you're in luck. Scan through until you discover something which inspires a topic. Together with organizing an essay, among the most challenging characteristics of writing an essay is deciding on the subject. Essays could possibly be depending on several different locations. You need to be very careful when choosing an essay topic. There are many essay types, and at times the topic itself is as crucial as the kind of the essay you're assigned. An article plan doesn't need to develop into a tremendous thing. You don't understand how eduction review a succinct post but must compose an exceptional important review. The question could be part of your introduction, or it may make a wonderful title. A fantastic discussion topic doesn't necessarily must be a political issue. An essay is totally predicated on truth. It's imperative to obtain an article that that are not going to have any hints of plagiarism. Writing about nuclear weapons is always a great idea. As a writer, you also need to consider that an excellent argumentative essay ought to have a conflicting topic. Academic Essay Topics - Is it a Scam? If you discover that the writer did not provide precisely what you expected, request a revision, and we'll make the corrections. Most issues can have essays on all the above mentioned questions. No matter whether you would like to understand how to compose a three paragraph essay of 5 paragraph paper, an introduct ion stays the same. It really is indispensable to comprehend both essays in addition to the queries each post has to enable you to find an important score on the TOEFL. Getting the Best Academic Essay Topics There are an infinite number of methods to start an essay effectively. To know how to compose an essay initially and foremost you ought to figure out the sort of essay you're going to compose. There must be the proper thesis that has to be performed for a writing a customized essay. One's admission essay should be accurate, honest, and several of all sincere. When it has to do with in-text citations and bibliography, they're used in any academic essay to defend the main ideas. Writing an automobile Biography is a huge job. Narrative essay topics Narrative essay is a little different from different types. Writing an essay could be tedious occupation, specially in the event you've left it to the prior minute. Scholarship essay writing is a really sensible guidance of eliminating folks who ordinarily do not deserve the scholarship. Writing an article for school for a couple pupils is a substantial job which might have a huge influence on their academic future. A student ought to keep in contact with the hottest trends and know which persuasive essay topics are related to sound convincing in regards to defending personal opinions. 1 other important suggestion about methods to compose effective scholarship essays are going to be to receive your very own personal documents evaluated by means of a teacher. As an example, starting to co mpose a persuasive paper may wind up with an informative one. So the overall grade for the paper might differ based on that. The dreaded school essay is easily the most annoying in reference to really coming up together with an issue to produce. Excellent school essays for sale at acceptable costs aren't as simple to discover on the net since you are perhaps thinking. The most frequently encountered paper writing service that the vast majority of our clients require is essay writing. When it has to do with providing original and distinctive content, trust our dedicated and qualified writers to do precisely that. You can rest assured that anytime you need our writing service, we'll be available to assist you process them. Hence, anytime you are confronted with the write my essay problem, you can bet that our qualified personnel are going to be on standby to help you in any way they are able to.