Technology and Skills - Utilizing Modern Tools for Our Own and Our Children's Benefit

If we are to climb the mountain we should be aware of technology, developing the necessary skills - when appropriate - to utilize it in order expedite and make our journey more comfortable. To ignore technology is not wise, to depend on it, however, is foolish. If we ignore it we may miss something that could be helpful. If we depend on it, we believe that the source of our power, our abilities, lies without, not within. No amount of technology and skill can get us up the mountain if our own willingness, intelligence, and wisdom are lacking. If we don't want to climb that mountain, don't have faith in our abilities, it won't happen.

Some people get involved with technology, with the products and information of technology, when it is not related to an express purpose, to a mountain they wish to climb. They may look endlessly at tents even though they already have a tent. They may buy another tent because they enjoy having a collection of tents. They are spending their time and resources in ways that do not support their journey up the mountain. They are gaining satisfaction from possessions rather than the journey. Perhaps focusing on technology and its products may be a way of avoiding the journey.

Part of attaining wisdom is deciding how much is too much. When we acquire and bring along too many gizmos and gadgets when we climb mountains, we may not be able to support the extra weight and stress caused by these products of technology. We will tire easily and become strained; our available energies become focused on maintaining and supporting this unnecessary weight rather than the challenges and demands of our journey. Our progress becomes measurably slowed and our ability to scale the mountain is jeopardized.

Some people may look to technology and skills as the means to achieve their happiness. Our institutions may support this, as some are "workplace" oriented rather than "lifeplace" oriented. Our educational institutions may support and perpetuate the myth that our happiness and fulfillment depend on our careers and skills - technology and related information - rather than our relationships, meaning, and who we are and become.

If skills are the technology themselves, we should be careful about what we may be getting ourselves into. We need to make sure these skills are in line with who we are and desire to be. We need to make sure that these skills don't distract our energies, redirecting us from our meaning, our desire to be authentic and loving.

For example, we take a job in sales with a mid-sized company. They send us away to a sales skill seminar for our training and development; they are going to teach us how to make a million dollars a year. As we learn these skills at the seminar, we need to ask ourselves if they support our movement towards authenticity and being loving. Are they asking us to be dishonest in any way? Do they give us the opportunity for our input, for our beliefs? Is their treatment of the employee and customer one that is truly respectful and for their respective benefit? Are they honestly representing the potential opportunity? If the job doesn't support who we are and want to become, do we believe we could make a million dollars a year?

Perhaps if we are attempting to realize our "gift" - the realization of our passion through the connection of our talents and what is important to us - we can better decide if this job and the associated skills enable us. If it doesn't resonate with who we are and wish to be, perhaps we should continue to look elsewhere, knowing we create and find what we desire by searching, through perseverance.

As another example, perhaps we are exploring some modern "human potential" technologies or therapies to heal a fear, an addiction, compulsion, or relationship in our lives. These technologies are in fact skills that have - in most cases - been developed and designed in recent years. Being new, they may be faddish, relatively untested and evaluated. Again, before we leap in head first, we need to learn about the skills used and decide if they resonate with what we believe and know, who we are and desire to become.

For example, someone I know has trouble acknowledging and expressing her feelings. A new type of therapy was recommended to her that was confrontational and hostile. The idea being, they would push and push, force her up against a wall if necessary, where she would have no place to go but be forced to deal with and express her feelings. However after a couple of hurtful and painful sessions, she felt that this method was in conflict with her beliefs about how humans should interact, and how she should be treated. She decided they could experiment on someone else; it was not for her.

Whether she was "right" globally is not the issue; perha

Will Technology Eventually Supersede Nature?

Technology has made life easier and enjoyable. The communication world has continued bringing cell phones and gadgets that combine a variety of important activities together. The transport industry recently comprises fast airplanes, automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles and many other powerful machines. Instead of sending letters, which used to take long, e-mails, Skype, Google talk, yahoo messenger, Facebook, and many live-chat mechanisms have taken communication to another level. At the moment, technological advancements have continued in areas of computers, business, medicine, aviation, food processing and others. But, how does nature fare when technology is in action? Will technology eventually supersede nature?

The Power of technology Vs nature

When war breaks out, advanced weapons take lives, destroy buildings and cause extensive damage. During such wars, the use of technology is usually the number-one option in fighting back or getting involved physically. Such cases make reliance on nature suicidal. In addition, talking to someone who is in a different town, or country, requires the use of technology. This is because the voice, in its natural state, can not travel such long distances and neither can the ear pick sounds from such remote locations. The use of technology can even make such people visible while communicating with them.

When Nature Strikes, How Does Technology Respond?

As the foregoing suggests, it is very easy to state that technology can eventually supersede nature. However, when natural forces strike, how does technology fair? When a tsunami swept across Indonesia, the world wanted to come to the aid of the victims in that country. All the developments in technology could not save the innocent lives, and prevent the extensive damage that ensued! As a result, many lives were lost, and the only thing technology did was pick up the ashes.

What about volcanoes? When scientists gather ample evidence that a volcano is about to erupt, the most reasonable, and loving, step governments take is to evacuate the residents in time. Similarly, when a tornado - or highly destructive wind - strikes, technology only detects the signs of its timing and severity. Such data helps the authorities in preparing for a timely evacuation campaign. The list can go on, but the fact is that, when the forces of nature act, technology is too irrelevant to respond back. It can only detect.

Will technology supersede nature?

With such evidence, it is clear that technology will continue making life easier, enjoyable and beautiful in many ways. But it has no power to take over nature. The many decades, centuries, and millenniums already spent in researching and discovering the wonders of nature attest to this fact. That is why, instead of learning about planets and galaxies created by scientists, we will continue hearing about the new planets being discovered; the amazing nature of the galaxies and complex nature of creation. In appreciating such wonders of nature bio-mimicry has come up with many designs that acknowledge the supremacy of nature. Conclusively, science, and technology at large, will continue developing, but nature will remain respected.

Ernest Mwaba enjoys writing about career and general knowledge. He has written many articles that discuss career-oriented issues and other aspects of general knowledge. Visit his blog at http://wwwmwabaernest.blogspot.com/ and read his inspiring articles. Remember to leave your comments.

Identifying the Educated Person

Education looked at as a social enterprise deemed essential for human survival, is a formal system extending from nursery school to prestigious universities. This is so in every civilised country in the world. Having gone through the system from infancy to youth and maturity, and acquired a formal education culminating in graduate and post-graduate qualifications, it is fair to assume that the end product would be an educated person. However, this is not always so. The word 'product' is unlikely to be associated with a truly educated person. It has the connotations of a process conducted on factory premises. This process, at best, is training for a specific purpose, such as a job, profession, or career. It also has associations of standardisation, which may cater to the ambitions of the vast majority of people. But the truly educated person, is his own person, and is unique. He or she stands out from the crowd. He/she is likely to be well-trained to hold a position of responsibility within an organisation, but that is not what defines him/her.

What distinguishes the truly educated person is his/her independence of thought and strength of character. The mass market does not necessarily enthral such people. For such persons education does not stop with the acquisition of degrees. Education for them is a lifelong process. An educated person is unlikely to be a celebrity. They do not seek publicity at any cost. They are persons of integrity. They usually abide by the society's norms, but will always challenge them, if they are unjust, or indefensible. However badly or indifferently they were treated during their lifetime, posterity will always accord them their due. Think of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King,and Nelson Mandela. Of course great intellects of the calibre of Newton and Einstein are among the educated. So are those who developed their aesthetic sensibilities through art, music, drama and literature. Who would forget Michael Angelo, Beethoven, Shakespeare, and Tolstoy? What about the philosophers, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle? Innovators in any field or discipline, including religious leaders like Buddha and Confucius, were not only among the educated, but they were also great educators.

That brings us to the role of the teacher in education. The teacher does not know it all. As Galileo said, 'You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him find it within himself.' Any other form of teaching would be indoctrination. Telling others what to think is not teaching. On the other hand, as Epictetus, the Greek philosopher said, 'Only the educated are free.' Teaching is a collaborative effort as exemplified by the Socratic dialogue. People learn not only from teachers at a school or university but from almost everybody around them starting with parents, close relatives, even neighbours, and continuing their education through books and other media. The educated person is all too aware, that he/she knows very little, and therefore is always prepared to learn.

Increasingly, we are told that we live in a knowledge society, the post-capitalist society. This means that there are such sheer volumes of information now than ever there was on the planet. All this information is embodied in books, databanks, and software programmes, but their possession is not equated with education. It is the educated person who embodies and manages such knowledge in the interests of total global well being. As Bill Gates has demonstrated, with knowledge as the key resource, the educated person faces new demands, challenges, commitments, and responsibilities. We are not talking of 'polymaths' here, which is a concept from the past, perhaps only applicable to Leonardo da Vinci. The truly educated person now has to be a citizen of the world with deep and genuine empathy for others from quite different cultural milieu. It helps if the educated person travels to other parts of the world and gains first-hand experience of conditions far from home. 'Think globally, act locally' is likely to be the motto of today's educated person.

To conclude this essay two well-known educators are cited. They have listed what they think are qualities needed which define the educated person. John Taylor Gatto who was once named New York State's Teacher of the Year lists the following:

1) Establish an individual set of values but recognize those of the surrounding community and of the various cultures of the world.
2) Explore their own ancestry, culture and place.
3) Are comfortable being alone, yet understand dynamics between people and form healthy relationships.
4) Accept mortality, knowing that every choice affects the generations to come.
5) Create new things and find new experiences.
6) Think for themselves, observe, analyze, and discover truth without relying on the opinions of others.
7) Favor love, curiosity, reverence and empathy rather than material wealth.
8) Choose a vocation that contributes to the common good.
9) Enjoy a variety of new places and experiences but identify and cherish a place to call home.
10) Express their own voice with confidence.
11) Add value to every encounter and every group of which they are a part.
12) Always ask: Who am I? Where are my limits? What are my possibilities?

Adapted from Gatto, John Taylor (2009) Weapons of Mass Instruction, New Society Publishers.

A shorter list from another source reads:

1) Has a deep and genuine empathy, striving to understand others, with the ability to withhold their own judgment until they are sure they do understand.
2) Is sensitive to the psychological, physical, moral and cultural milieu in which they find themselves, showing respect and caring at all times.
3) Has a clear understanding of their own values, wants and preferences without wishing to impose these on others.
4) Is independent within the constraints of collaborative living, in action and thought taking responsibility for the health and well-being of their body and their mind.
5) Understands the connectedness of everything in the world, and even in the universe and so acts responsibly in everything they do.
6) Is congruent, meaning that the person will be comfortable in their own skin, able to acknowledge their own feelings and the feelings of others without condescension.

What You Should Know About Teaching Special Education

Special Education for me is a challenging vocation for it caters to individuals with disabilities. Through this type of education, students with disabilities are educated effectively.

I read a line from an article years ago that states: "It is said that a society can be judged by the way it treats those who are different."

In a democratic society it is believed that every individual is valuable in his own right and should be afforded equal opportunities to develop his potentials. The provision of special education will empower families to build future for their children, normal and special alike.

It was said that "teaching" is what special education is most about.

The role of the Special Education (SPED) teacher is very crucial. The SPED teacher has the responsibility not only to teach the regular classroom stuff like reading, writing, math etc, but also Activities of Daily Living and peer socialization.

An important part of a special education teacher's job is the early identification of a child with special needs, intervention is vital in educating children with special needs because as time goes on children who are not coping or who struggle in the general curriculum can be negatively affected.

A SPED educator's job is also challenging. Special education teachers work with children and youths who have a variety of disabilities. I also find this vocation fulfilling, for, it provides the opportunity to establish meaningful relationships with special kids.

Although helping these students can be highly rewarding, the work also can be emotionally and physically draining. SPED teachers work under the threat of litigation against the school or district by parents if correct procedures are not followed or if they feel that their child is not receiving an adequate education.

A SPED educator should be well-guarded by the laws. Understanding and practicing the laws will ensure a safe and legal environment for both the special child and SPED teacher.

A special educator's battlecry should be "commitment". Commitment spells equitable and excellent classroom. Without commitment to the chosen vocation, one won't be able to do his/ her job well.

But, teachers cannot do it alone. Teaching is a collaborative effort between the educator, student, parents/ family and the community. SPED educators, should express desire to be the parents' partner in the development of the special child.

As teachers, trying to reach out beyond the school to promote trust and understanding, and build partnerships with all segments of the school community is significant. Being active in associations/ causes supporting the special child/ special education can be a good start.

I would like to quote Robert Pasternack, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services,U.S. Department of Education. He said:

"Some of the kids that are in special education are not, in fact, kids with disabilities. They are, in fact, instructional casualties. They are, in fact, kids who haven't been taught successfully using scientifically validated instructional approaches and research validated curricula in the general education system and general education settings."

With that, I have the following implications to education of children with special needs:

• States will put a premium on Reading --- to deliver scientifically validated and scientifically based reading research, validated curricula and instructional strategies in classrooms.
• Continuous and more additional trainings for teachers. If professional development will be given to teachers, if it's sustained, if it's systematic, if it's embedded in what teachers do, then, in fact, we can go ahead and improve the capacity of teachers to address the learning needs of the heterogeneous groups of kids that they have in front of them on a daily basis.

If you are looking for a school that: Is committed to enriching the lives of our diverse population; Works to meet learner and community needs in a mutually supportive partnership; Has competent teachers, therapists, staff & facilities; Is accessible and safe; and

Has lots of student activities;

Top Special Educational Advocacy Tips for Parents

Most parents who have a child with special needs want to home school their child. They choose to do so in order to keep their child safe from peer pressure and close to themselves, for their child's safety. This can be a daunting process, if you choose to educate your child yourself. However, it is not insurmountable. Check out the following steps that can make the process easier:

1. Know what suits your child best
You as a parent know the best for your child. If you feel that your child has a certain disability, you can help them cope with it. You understand your child best so you decide better what can help them learn. You can use different visuals, cues and other fun learning ways to educate your child.

2. Use letters to communicate important matters
Communication through email or telephone doesn't work really well. Letters help you keep track of the entire history of communication. You may need to look back at your child's documents later in case you fall into a disagreement with the educational advocate. You may create "minutes of the meeting" and send a copy to the personnel later, in case you have a face-to-face conversation.

3. Ask the educational advocate if you feel something is wrong
Your child's advocate may suggest something that you may disagree with. You have all the right to ask for the details about the policy regarding that matter. It is important that all parents know about the policies for children with special needs. If need be, you can also ask for proof of the policy that your child's advocate may suggest, for the benefit of your child.

4. Know the special education and disability laws in your state
It is important that you know all the laws related to special education and disabilities. This is important for your child's education and future. You can avoid going misinformed by the special education personnel. The personnel may not communicate important matters that can affect your child's education process.

5. Know the rights that your child has under special educational services
It is essential to know what sort of special care and service your child is entitled to. You can talk to your child's advocate; do some self-research too, in order to provide the best education for your child. Educational advocacy services

How to Get the Best Educational Consultant for Your Child

All parents want to provide the best education for their children. Parents who want to home school their child require support from an educational associate. An educational associate helps them create a balanced curriculum and assessment program- a complete educational plan for their child.

So, how do you find the most suitable educational planner? This process requires some due diligence in which the parents closely analyze certain characteristics. Here are some characteristics that you must look for in a professional educational associate:

1. Should Have Prior Experience working with Individual Students
It is essential that the educational associate you choose has some prior experience working with individuals. The experience helps them to deal with your child in a better way. They must understand that each child has his or her key strengths and weaknesses. This can help them develop a special customized educational plan for your child according to his or her learning pace and ability.

2.Should Have Experience in a Specific Area
In case your child takes special education services, you must choose a consultant who has thorough knowledge of all related laws for such services. In addition, you may ask specifications about the services to gauge the consultant's understanding of the specialty. This is important in order to provide top quality education for your child.

3. Should Have Adequate Knowledge about Academic Assessments
The educational consultant should have in depth knowledge about how to prepare and conduct student academic assessments. You want to ensure that your consultant is well aware of the criteria, pertaining to the learning capacity and pace of your child. You may ask them to elucidate the entire assessment process for your own satisfaction.

4. Should have some Certification in Educational Psychology
Your child may have special needs, so you need to make sure your educational assistant has adequate knowledge in that area. Educational consultants help deal with children who have special needs such as behavioral problems. The accreditation ensures that the consultant has prior experience in that specialty.

5. Should have a good chemistry with the Family
An educational assistant should be able to make the child and his or her family comfortable. This is important as it makes it easier for the family to share relevant information about their child. This information can be necessary to create a customized curriculum and assessment plan. Therefore, this can enable parents and consultants to work together to maximize learning potential of the child.

Are you on the lookout for an educational consultant [http://www.areteplus.com/] for your child? If yes, then log on to [http://www.areteplus.com/] to find out more about different educational services to facilitate home schooling for your child.

How Should You Write Thesis Dissertations?

Thesis dissertations are fundamental requirement for students to earn their degree of high level. Therefore, they conduct their original research with heart and soul to come up with an effective thesis for their dissertation by following a comprehensive guideline. Every high level student needs to follow a few steps to write good thesis and dissertations. Here are the steps that one should follow in order to write effective thesis dissertations:

Step 1:

Introduction: First of all, you have to tell readers about the research background of your topic.

Defining Objectives: After research background, you have to define the purpose of your study to the audience that includes the objectives of your dissertation. Here are some common objectives that you will usually find out in dissertations:

• Addressing to a specific cause.

• Exploring revolutionary changes about the topic.

• Evaluating the causal effects related to a topic.

Scope and Limitations: Next, you need to tell your audience about key areas associated with the dissertation topic. You should also tell audience about limitations associated with the topic.

Literature Review: In literature review, you need to study journals, articles and books related to your topic.

Methodology: Whether you should go for a qualitative research or quantitative research; it depends on the type of topic that you are being assigned to research by the supervisor for your thesis and dissertations.

Step 2:

Data Analysis & Interpretation: Utilizing the statistical tools will help you to analyze and interpret data that you have gathered for your thesis dissertations through an original research.

Case Studies: In order to lengthen the scope of your dissertation, you need to study cases concerned with your dissertation topic.

Hypothesis: Hypothesis of data will aid you to prove or disprove the thesis.

Step 3:

Summary and Major Findings: You should conclude your dissertation by summarizing the viewpoint in several lines. Technically, you also need to mention your readers about the major findings related with your dissertation topic.

Suggestions and Contributions: You should advise your readers with suggestions if you find that some areas concerning with your topic needs improvement in layman’s language. You should also tell your audience about the developments that have been made in the subject of study.

Future Recommendations: Last but not least, you should give future recommendations about the subject to your readers.

In the end of thesis dissertations, you need to cite down the resources in bibliography section and resources that you have utilized for dissertation under the Appendix.

In a nutshell, one needs to concentrate very hard to come up with fruitful results for thesis and dissertations.