Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Benefits Of Text Messaging For Children Essay Example for Free

Benefits Of Text Messaging For Children Essay It turns out that text messaging positively affects a childs literacy and, in fact may even improve it, according to a new study conducted by a Coventry University in Britain. The University researchers involved a group of 88 children between the ages of 10 and 12, for their study. Their goal was to figure out what are the effects of text messaging on childrens communication skills. All the kids were given 10 different scenarios and were asked to write text messages about them, describing each situation. The textisms were divided into categories such as shortenings, contractions, symbols, acronyms, and non-conventional spellings, and examined for the use of the language in comparison with the school performance. When the researchers compared later the number of text messages being used, with a different research that focused on the reading ability of children, they discovered that those kids who used more textisms turned out to be much better readers. The follow-up study and its preliminary results revealed that textism rather improved literacy than had a harmful effect. The alarming warnings in the media are based on selected anecdotes but in fact when analyzing the examples of text speak in essays experts were not able to find many of them, according to the researchers. In opposite, students appeared to completely understand when they were making contractions and taking the shortcuts, that are very common in text conversations. In addition, when asked to write something in a serious way, the kids were able to put those textisms aside. The kids are actually taking the whole language to a new level, even if critics do not agree with it and say that it is not the right one. Basically, every expression and intonation that are being used during normal conversation, has to be inserted in a text message, however in most cases young people who send SMS-s on a regular basis, have no time to do so. Instead, they start using abbreviations, which allow them to write even the most complex and long phrases and expressions with only a few letters or words. One way to achieve this is just removing all the vowels from a word, leaving only consonants. With practice, words that at a first glance seem like a mess, and message with no sense, can actually turn out to be quite simple to understand. The experts also wrote that the association between text messaging and phonological awareness has been found during their study. Dr. Beverly Plester and her colleagues at the Coventry University believe that when the kids are exposed to the text that is based mostly on phonetics, they are better improving their literary skills. According to the researchers phonological awareness has been associated with good reading skills for a long time. This way kids are using more written language and it is a great fun for them. The experts acknowledge the fact that in any case no final conclusions can be yet made, and say that their study does not claim that text messaging plays a major role in childrens ability of word reading. However, they say that the experience and skill can contribute to the prediction of their word reading ability, and that messaging skills deserve additional study. In the conclusion, the researchers added that no link so far was found between the use of text conversations and the spelling abilities of all the study participants. This suggests that, as anticipated, at this stage of development there is no evidence of a detrimental effect of textisms exposure on conventional spelling, they stated in their report. And no matter what is the case, it is becoming more of an accepted fact that texting is neither hurting children, nor it makes them any dumber, or kills the English language. The results of the study are published in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology. Advantages Text messaging is a non-voice communication tool that enables a user to send short messages to another user. The service is available on all modern phones. Text messaging has some advantages over other means of communication. Cheaper: Sending a text message is less expensive than placing a regular phone call or video call. Record keeping: A person can easily deny or misrepresent the information you gave them on a phone call, but when you send a text message, it is stored in your sent items, while for the receiver, it is available in their inbox. It is a good way to keep record and remember contents of a conversation. Signal economy: Text messaging is more efficient in terms of managing service signals. Text messaging uses less amounts of service signals than phone calling, video calling and/or email, which may require the availabilty of at least 3G. Discretion: Text messaging is a good alternative in situations where phone calling is not appropriate, for example, during a meeting, or you dont want others to hear your conversations. Mild interruption: Unlike a regular phone call, you can respond to a text message at your convenience. A phone call demands your immediate response whether it is convenient for you or not. Reduces unneeded talk time: Text messaging reduces the amount of time spent talking. A phone call could lead to unnecessary talks, but with a text message, you go straight to the point. Most phones have t9 text input which enhances speed typing. Read more: http://www.mobiletechnologybits.blogspot.com/2013/01/advantages-of-text-messaging.html Disadvantages Text messaging facilitates the exchange of short messages. Text messaging can serve as a substitute to phone calling, could be used in a remote control system, participation in a contest, service requests, advertising, and so forth. However, text messaging has some disadvantages. Limited storage: There is a limit to the number of text messages that could be stored in the phone. If your inbox gets full, your phone can no longer receive anymore messages unless you delete some of them. If your SIM card or phone goes bad, you could lose your messages, if not backed up. However, some service providers have deployed a way around this, for example, Glo SMS4Ever. Length: Text messaging when the content is lengthy is not convenient. A page of a text message could contain 160, 140 or 70 characters [including spaces] depending on the bit of the characters. Although you can send a multi-page text message, the higher the number of pages, the higher the probability of delivery failure. Content: A text message is what it is; it can contain only text. It does not support other media, including videos, pictures, melodies or animations. To be able to send a multimedia message, you must use Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS) or MMS. Not suitable in emergencies: In situations that require immediate response, text messaging may not be the most viable option. Security issues: Gartner has recommended that confidential messages shouldnt be sent using the regular consumer SMS as the contents of a common text message could be seen by the networks systems and personnel. Not applicable to certain physically disadvantaged persons: For example, a blind person cannot read the contents of a text message on a phones regular display. Read more: http://www.mobiletechnologybits.blogspot.com/2013/01/disadvantages-of-text-messaging.html http://www.mobiletechnologybits.blogspot.com/2013/01/advantages-of-text-messaging.html

Monday, January 20, 2020

Visual Effects Created By E.E. Cummings In His Poetry Essay -- Cumming

Visual Effects Created By E.E. Cummings In His Poetry Edward Estlin Cummings, commonly referred to as E. E. Cummings, was born on October 14, 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was a source of vast knowledge and was responsible for many creative works other than his poetry, such as novels, plays, and paintings. He published his first book of poetry Tulips and Chimneys in 1923. Many of his poems are known for the visual effects they create through his unusual placement of words on the page, as well as, his lack of punctuation and capitalization. The manner in which Cummings arranges the words of his poems creates an image in the reader's mind of the topic he is discussing, such as a season or climbing stairs. His visual style also brings emotions, such as loneliness or cheerfulness, to the reader's mind. Due to this creativity, Cummings won many awards, such as the National Book Award and the Bollingen Prize in poetry (Marks 17). In his poem "l(a", the words are arranged in such a way that they are falling down the page. He only puts several letters of each word on a line and then continues to spell the word down the page. The main focus of the poem is about loneliness and the words almost appear to be "lonely." He uses parentheses around the phrase "a leaf falls," which appears in the middle of the poem. The remaining letters in the poem spell "loneliness." When these are placed together in the same poem, it creates an effect that there is a leaf falling from a tree to the ground where it will be lonely because it will be separated from the tree. Cummings emphasizes the image of being alone or aloof by using two versions of the word one. On the first line, he uses the letter "l," which also looks like the number "1." On ... ...number of visual effects in his poetry. He combined the lack of punctuation, capitalization, and creative spacing with his topics, such as the seasons, to convey his messages. Some readers find the visual effects in his poems disconcerting and feel that they are meaningless because of it. However, others find his visual effects helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of his poems and the messages he was trying to convey. Cummings' poems were definitely meant to be viewed rather than simply listened to so that the reader can benefit from the full effect of them. His poetry does not follow traditional rules and is very unpredictable. As a result, they leave more room for your imagination to soar. Works Cited: Cummings, E. E. Poems 1923 ‚ 1954. New York : Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1926. Marks, Barry A. E. E. Cummings. New York : Twayne Publishers, Inc, 1964.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Indian Horse Essay

â€Å"Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.† Adversity implies difficulties, trouble and misfortune as it tests the potential of man and strengthens his spirit of self confidence. In the novel Indian Horse written by Richard Wagamese there are many circumstances where the main character Saul is forced to overcome the adversity in which once shattered his human spirit and made him feel worthless. The ideas of adversity such as being beaten at residential schools and the racism he faced while playing hockey, demonstrates Saul’s constant inner struggle and his desire to become a more powerful individual. Throughout the novel Saul is exposed to many painful experiences that leave him little to no identity and an unimaginable outlook on life. We quickly learn that when Saul was a child, he was taken away from his family and forced into an Indian Residential School where he wit nessed and experienced abuses at the hands of the school’s educators. â€Å"They called it a school but it was never that†¦.There were no tests or examinations. The only test was our ability to survive.†(Pg.79) The emotions present in the quote represent the pain and agony he endured when being forcibly taught the ways of the white people. The school he is referring to is St. Jerome’s Indian Residential School; which many described as â€Å"Hell on earth†. Saul is rapidly thrown into a world of extreme emotional and physical abuse brought on by the hands of the nuns and priests that are assimilating the children. â€Å"They took me to St. Jerome’s Indian Residential School. I read once that there are holes in the universe that swallow all light, all bodies. St. Jerome’s took all the light from my world. Everything I knew vanished behind me with an audible swish, like the sound a moose makes disappearing into spruce.†(Pg.43) The vivid detail of this quote alone gives more clarity to the impact Residential Schools had on people and shows the injustice suffered by the First Nations People. The many beatings, suicides and sexual molestations shattered many children’s human spirit and created a sense of life that wasn’t worth living. â€Å"When your innocence is stripped from you, when your people are denigrated, when the family you came from is denounced and your tribal ways and rituals are pronounced backward,  primitive, savage, you come to see yourself as less than human. That is hell on earth, that sense of unworthiness. That’s what they inflicted on us.†(Pg.81) The quote represents how they were stripped from everything they had ever know, such as their language, rituals, traditions and even choice of food. Over a short period of time, the beatings and threats belittled the children and instilled them with continuous fear. When taken all together, the horror of attending this Residential School stripped not only Saul’s, but all the children’s innocence, traditions and identity. Aside from the horrible experiences while attending the Residential School, Saul was forced to overcome many adversities while engaging in his passion for hockey. In the beginning Saul discovers that his love for hockey serves as a mean of escape. â€Å"I kept my discoveries to myself and I always made sure that I left the surface of the rink pristine. For the rest of the day, I’d walk through the dim hallways of school warmed by my secret. I no longer felt hopeless, chill air around me because I had Father Leboutilier, the ice, the mornings and the promise of a game that I would soon be old enough to play.(66) Throughout the quote it demonstrates how hockey gives him a sense of hope . It is through hockey that Saul can escape from his reality and fin what was stolen from him: friendships, family and a sense of self. Although as Saul’s future seems to point towards contending for a position within the National Hockey League, the constant racism and shunning from  "the white man’s game† crumbles his faith in the one thing that gave him life outside of the Residential School. â€Å"But there were moment when you’d catch another boy’s eye and know that you were both thinking about it. Everything was contained in that glance. All the hurt. All the shame. All the rage. The white people thought it was their game. They thought it was their world.†(136) This quote reveals how Saul’s passion for hockey is crushed by ‘the white people’ who feel that Indians can’t play hockey. What once was his salvation proves to be just another thing that belongs to the white man. They feel as if the game of hockey only belongs to the white people and should only be played by people of the same race. The many setbacks Saul had faced from fans diminishing his ability to play hockey, and the harsh verbal abuse constantly bellowed at him because of his skin color, quickly weakened his human spirit and built up enough anger that he could hardly contain. â€Å"During one game the fans broke into a ridiculous war chant whenever I stepped onto  the ice†¦.When I scored, the ice was littered with plastic Indian dolls..† This quote is referring to wh en Saul joined an all white man team and how he was most hated for breaking their tradition of â€Å"the white man’s games†. Overall, Saul’s love for hockey that once allowed him to gain freedom and escape was now stolen from him due to his distasteful fans and the theory of â€Å"the white man’s game†. Through the beatings within the Residential School and the racism he faced while playing hockey, we are able to see how Saul was affected both internally and externally. With every sentence and every chapter you become familiar with the incredible will of a boy who has had to endure more than anyone should in a lifetime. At such an early age, Saul was forced to face various types of adversity and his worst fears which created long lasting effects on his life. The author conveys that staying true to your roots is what will get you through life’s obstacles despite temptations which may veer you from finding your true self. This novel illustrates that hockey is not merely a sport, but has the capacity to bind us together. No matter what colour your skin or where you come from, itâ⠂¬â„¢s the love of the game that shows us that we really are not that different after all.

Saturday, January 4, 2020

The Exclusion of Homosexuality in the Classroom - 3060 Words

Current social attitudes toward the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex (GLBTI) community can be seen as a significant contributor to the equity, or lack thereof, of the sexual education syllabus in schools. The range of topics covered in regard to homosexuality varies greatly between and within Australia and the United States of America (Bell, 2008, 2). This variance in service provisions can be attributed to differing social attitudes, specifically those held by parents, teachers, students and policy-makers. These social attitudes directly impact the equity of a schools sexual education program. Further, while social attitudes shape education provision they are also shaped by education. With statistics showing that the†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬ËœTalking Sexual Health,’ further, includes units about drugs, sex, and health, knowledge and action, addressing diversity, and exploring power dimensions in sexual relationships (Bell, 2003, 2). The success of t he program is clear, not only in the increasing acceptance of GLBTI people in Australia, but for the student population as a whole. Compared to the United States, Australian Teenagers have significantly higher levels of sexual health according to many measures. The birth rate for teen’s ages 15-19 in Australia is 40.5 per 1000, significantly less than the rate for US teens (112.4 per 1000). Australian teens ages 15-19 have an abortion rate of 3.9 per 1000, compared to 30.2 per 1000 for US teens. Ninety percent of Australian males and ninety-five percent of Australian females report having used contraception the first time they had intercourse (Bell, 2003, 2-3). Thus, while much of the sexual health of Australian teens can, in part, be attributed to the openness of parent’s and society, it is clear that the Australian ‘Talking Sexual Health’ syllabus is beneficial not only to GLBTI students, but to Australian youth in general. Changing social attitudes in Australia has been claimed as a significant factor in the increased push within school to promote an inclusive sexual education curriculum (Bell, 2008, 2). Despite this emphasis on diversity heterosexual youths remain far more likely to see their sexuality asShow MoreRelatedEssay on America’s Schools Need Character Education5183 Words   |  21 Pagesthe United States. A very real example of this bias can be seen in the teaching of Thanksgiving. A holiday celebrated universally through all religions gives educators in public schools the opportunity to discuss and rejoice in the day with classroom activities and parties. Neglected from the Thanksgiving lesson, however, is the plight of the Native American who lost land and life when the Puritan settlers landed. 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