Multicultural education Essay Example for Free

Multicultural education Essay From its early beginnings in the 1960s, multicultural education has since been in a constant state of evolution both in theory and in practice (Gorski Covert 1996). In the last four decades, it has undergone repeated transformation, focusing and conceptualization as challenges emerge one after the other from a rapidly changing population demographics and a significant growth in diverse multicultural groups. The result is a multitude of conceptualizations reflecting different foci but which basically share the same ideals rooted upon the need for transformation or change. Gorski (2000) defines multicultural education as a â€Å"progressive approach for transforming education that holistically critiques and addresses current shortcomings, failings, and discriminatory practices in education†. These shared ideals that include social justice, equity in educational opportunities, and the dedication to help students reach their full potential as learners and as socially conscious and active individuals provide the basis for understanding multicultural education. It is a process of action, through which adults achieve clarity about their condition in this society and ways to change it (Phillips, 1988). Multicultural education acknowledges that schools, among all other institutions, play a pivotal role in building the foundation and acting as major influencing factor for the transformation of society and the elimination of oppression and injustice. The realities of the times clearly speak for the growing importance and relevance of multicultural education. Cultural diversity in schools is indeed one considerable challenge but like any other, it can be a most welcome opportunity. History has shown us that nations are enriched by the ethnic, cultural, and language diversity among its citizens (Banks, 2001). Schools play a significant part in finding ways to harness and redirect cultural diversity into creating unity and progress in schools and ultimately to society in general. References: Banks, J. A. (April 2001). Diversity within unity: Essential principles for teaching and learning in a multicultural society. New Horizons for Learning. Retrieved on May 28, 2009 from http://www. newhorizons. org/strategies/multicultural/banks. htm Gorski, P. Covert, B. (1996; 2000). Defining multicultural education. Retrieved on May 28, 2009 from http://www. edchange. org/multicultural/define_old. html Phillips, C. B. (1988). Nurturing diversity for todays children and tomorrows leaders. Young Children: 43(2).

The Impact Of Online Shopping On Society Information Technology Essay

The Impact Of Online Shopping On Society Information Technology Essay Nowadays in new era of technology, internet has already become part of our life. As Internet is becoming more widely used, we almost can find or do everything via internet. As many businesses are attempting to globalize their sales, Internet becomes the primary means of advertising and selling their products or services worldwide. Many businesses are creating web pages in addition to their retail stores, and many start their businesses with online stores alone. Paul Demery (2006) said, according to a new report from Forrester Research, 75% of the 80 million U.S. online households have purchased products over the Internet, with more than two-thirds having made an online purchase within the past three months. 8 million of web shoppers, 19% households spent $500 during the past three months, 16% spent between $250 and $499, 26% spent between $100 and $249, and 39% spent between $1 and $99. Due to online shopping is becoming more and more popular, there will have a lot of issues like, pr ivacy, cheating, Fraud and security concerns, consumer expectation and etc. Online shopping websites is build to allow people to sell and advertise their item or buy any things that they needed via website. In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee created the first World Wide Web server and browser. According to Kathryn (2010), in 1992, several years before Amazon was launched, there has a first-ever online bookstore been opened by a man named Charles Stack. Now it becomes Books.com. But, the first businesses to really make shopping online popular are Amazon and eBay which is launched by 1995 and 1996. These two businesses remain among the top online shopping sites today. The system is build in ethical way as it allows people to sell and advertise their items or buy any things as they needed via website. However, some people who having guilty mind take this advantage to do cyber crimes, such as cheating or scamming, stealing credit card information and etc. As stated in Wikipedia (2010), online shopping website brings a lot of advantages to public, such as more convenience, lower price and selection, information and review and etc. On the other hand, there are some disadvantages exist too, such as fraud and security concerns, lack of full cost disclosure, privacy and etc. Online shopping website brings good impact to the IT industry. To maintain online shopping websites, it needs a lot of programmers, such as, analysis programmer, database administrator, security programmer, web designer and etc. It means that online shopping website is giving more opportunity for job. Data centers which providing hosting services will bloom and many e shopping portals will be up online. On the time, many different e shopping portals will race to be the best which provides the best service and lowest price. It also gives more jobs opportunities to people for courier services. The implications of online shopping website toward the society have advantages and disadvantages. It depends on how people use on it. If people use it in right way, it will bring a lot of positive benefit. Kimberly Palmer (2007) said, according to Forrester Research, more than half of US households regularly shop on the web, but online purchases still make up only 7 percent of total retail sales. Nowadays, consumers can buy everything over the web, which mean it help us save time and money. Convenient is the main advantage for online shopping website, because it allows consumer shop at anywhere and anytime with just only a personal computer or laptop with an internet access. It also save consumer traveling time to retail stores. Convenience includes the overall ease of finding a product, time spent on shopping, post purchase service, complete contact information, and minimization of overall shopping effort (Christian Schaupp France Belanger, 2005). Researchers also identify convenie nce as a à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€¹Ã…“fundamental objectiveà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ related to online shopping (Christian Schaupp France Belanger, 2005). Besides that, lower price and selection also play a very important role. It allows consumers able to quickly seek out deals for items with many different vendors. Consumer able to compares many different products, prices and productà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s quality in same time. Online shopping is always get cheaper prices compare with retail stores, because online store does not have to pay the costs of running a shop and wages to salespeople, and all of the other running costs of a real world business. Other than that, for those who only have limited budget and want to start their own business, it highly recommended start from online shopping website. On the other hand, online shopping also will bring negative impact to society if it misused by public. For example, credit card or identity fraud. When consumers wanted to purchase something from website, they need to use credit or debit card to make payment. So, some hacker will take this advantage to steal credit or debit card information via online shopping website. According to Danielle Miceli Rachel Kim (2010), the chart below shows that make purchases in person and make purchases online are more than four in 10 cases of fraud, which mean the security of online shopping is too weak. Because online purchases require only a credit or debit card number, this method of fraud is increasingly favored by criminals. Additionally, slightly more than 20% of victims of identity fraud had their information use to make phone or mail-order catalog purchases. Figure 1.1 what are the most common methods of fraud? [Danielle Miceli Rachel Kim (2010)] Besides that, cheating and scamming also one of very serious issues. For example, Philip Reed (2010) shows an example of online car-buying fraud, a girl named Joan (not her real name) won an online auction for a 2001 Chrysler Town Country minivan. It was a great deal, and the pictures made it look brand-new. But three weeks later, her family had lost $6,000 and she never got the van. She was a victim of a rapidly growing scam: Internet fraud. In Joans case, she bid a minivan on Yahoo.com and then she has received an e-mail which informs her that she had won the bid and the van was hers. However, she did not see that Yahoo never posted her as the top bidder. The con artists merely captured her e-mail address and contacted her directly about a car that actually existed but was being sold by an unsuspecting third party. What made Joans case especially tragic was that she was buying the van for her parents. She urged them to take out a loan to finance it and then sent their money to a s upposedly secure escrow site. Escrows are used in car-buying as an impartial middleman, an agency that holds the money securely until the vehicle is shipped to the new owner. However, this escrow site, given the legitimate-sounding name safe-purchases.com, was a bank account controlled by the criminals. Once the funds were transferred there, the money was withdrawn, the account was closed and the paper trail was erased. Other than IT industry and society issues, online shopping also bring negative impact to environment. According to William Chen (2008), online shopping is encouraging more trash at the curbside. They mostly use courier to deliver their goods. Although there is not only in the local deliveries but also with amount of paper, plastic and cardboard that is pushed into city waste stream. Environmentalists are showing a great concern towards this. They have understood from surveys that the negatives are by far greater than the positives on environment. E-commerce has negative effects on the environment. A big negative impact online shopping has had on environment is the amount of non-recyclable materials that come with products ordered online which is bubble wrap, foam rubber and expanded polystyrene. As conclusion, online shopping website is become more popular and powerful. Although online shopping have bring a lot of advantages to society, but there are some negative concerns of online shopping too. To avoid cyber crimes, consumers must be careful while using credit card via online shopping website. In addition, web programmer should upgrade and enhance the security level of the website to avoid those crimes. Except cyber crimes, pollution on our environment are getting more serious, as a human being, we should protect our earth and home. It is also suggested that consumers and retailer should use some recyclable material to deliver the goods. Eventually, all consumers will adapt to the online shopping technology and able to enjoy the convenient, innovative way of shopping.

The Internet :: Web Cyberspace Technology Essays

The Internet The Internet will not start cooking your food or doing your laundry. Despite what some people may say, people are still going to have to perform the every day task of living even if they have DSL or cable modem access to the Internet. However, the Internet will help make the arduous task of living easier and more fulfilling - just like every other communication technology before it. The Internet has the potential to shape the future of the world in many ways, one of which is the preservation of past traditions, values and beliefs by way of its incredible ability for facilitating communication. After all, the Internet is all about communication. The ability to email someone on the other side of the world something so many people point to as being the awesomeness of the Internet. While certainly impressive, the quick communication can create a significant detachment that deviates from a core human requirement. In David Batstone's article "Network Democracy" (Batstone 1), he makes an im portant observation about online communities, or network as he puts it. He argues that online communities will not save everyone that shows up at the door of a community. He explains that there is a difference between "connection and belonging", which is the essence of a successful community. Belonging rather than connecting is not, however, something that will change the way that people interact. The "old world" communities of homes, shopping centers and parks have been doing this for years, decades, centuries, millennia. The foundation of successful communities is the sharing of similar beliefs, values and interests. When one converses with an upstate New Yorker that works in the city, they will find some shared interests with a Manhattan citizen that works in the city. However, there will be a fundamental difference between the two. They may even share the same professional community, their respective home communities are different. The very fact that there are separate religions, countries, states and cities are a testament that belonging rather than connecting has been around much longer than the networks of the new millennium. So why is there such a disconnect between so many citizens of the old world communities and their offline communities? Many people are born into their offline communities. We have little to no choice, for the first several years of our lives, about where we can live and to what community we will subscribe.

Mononucleosis :: essays research papers

Mononucleosis Mononucleosis is an infectious disease of humans in which the blood and tissues contain mononuclear leukocytes (white blood cells with only one nucleus), either monocytes or lymphocytes. An infectious disease is a disease that can give you an infection, can be transmitted by infection without actual contact, or can be caused by a microorganism. All species of animals are afflicted with infections caused by a wide variety of organisms, from submicroscopic viruses to wormlike parasites. When a person has an infectious disease like mono the organism gains access to the patients body, survives, and then multiples. Next, the patient gets the symptoms. Then the patient may die or recover spontaneously, or the infection may respond to specific therapy. Often there is an immunity. Infectious diseases have strongly influenced the course of history on Earth. The organisms responsible for human infections are viruses. Viruses are simple life forms consisting of nucleic acid, encoding genetic information , and surface components of protein that enable them to enter cells. Viruses are unable to multiple outside of cells. Mono is found in the DNA in the body. Another name for mononucleosis is glandular fever because of the fever and swelling of the lymph nodes throughout the body. What causes mononucleosis is the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is like herpes. The herpes virus also causes some cases of mono and other diseases. Mono usually occurs in adults 15 to 30 years old, but is known to appear at any age. Mono symptoms include fever, chills, fatigue, malaise, sore throat, head-aches, swelling of the lymph nodes (noticeable in the neck), and skin rashes. Liver inflammation may occur. Also, swelling of the upper eyelids is a common symptom. In some cases blood may be found in the urine. The throat is often red; a membrane, white to dark gray in color and resembling that of diphtheria, may be present. In many cases there is a petechial rash on the soft palate. Mono is mostly transmitted by oral contact with exchange of saliva, that is why it is sometimes known as the " kissing disease. " Sharing a cup is another way to get mono. It is not highly contagious. The incubation period is thought to be about 30 to 40 days. In about two/thirds of the patients the spleen is enlarged. The illness is mild to moderate, death is rare, but in some cases a patient may die of rupturing the spleen. A rash consisting of small hemorrhages or resembling measles or scarlet fever sometimes appears. Also, pneumonia occurs in about 2 percent of the infected patients.

Japan History :: Japanese Culture, Shinto

Shinto Shinto is the aboriginal spirituality followed by the Japanese people. In the 8th century, Shinto practices were for the first time, archived in codified records of history of the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki. Shinto today is a term that is related to community shrines matched with various human ceremonies like historical memorials, marriage, harvest festivals and worship. People who practice Shinto express their varied values with a standard way of communication and activities, implementing similar ancient dress code and rituals. There are two main Buddhism branches in existence and Mahayana is one of them. The term Mahayana means great vehicle. The origin of Mahayana Buddhism is India (Mason & Caiger 98). Out of the two major Buddhism traditions in existence today, Mahayana is the largest. The Mahayana traditions teach that the tradition is a path of quest, for absolute enlightenment for the benefit of all mortal beings. Mahayana is also referred to as Bodhisattvayana (Mason & Caiger 98). The history of Mahayana shows the spread of the tradition from India to other Asian countries. Mahayana Buddhism traditions exist even today. The Heian period is a historical time in Japanese history, happened between the years 794 to 1185. During this period, Buddhism, Taioism and other Chinese traditions were at peak (Morton & Olenik 23). The Heian period was named after the capital Heian-kvo, the modern Kyoto City. It was also the peak of the Japanese imperial court. The period is noted for its literature, art and poetry (Morton & Olenik 23). During this period, the Imperial house had the power although the real power was held by the noble Fujiwara clan who had intermarried with the Japanese emperor. In Japanese, the term Heian means peace and tranquility. The establishment of Kamakura shogunate in Japan happened after the then ruling Taira clan was defeated in Genpei war. Kamakura shogunate was headed by shoguns (Mason & Caiger 158). The shoguns were hereditary military dictators of Japan. The shogunate was based in kamakura, and controlled the entire nation. Court Life in Heian Japan The Heian period saw the Fujiwara clan hold the real power. The Fujiwala clan was noble and so, they had great influence on politics and culture in Japan (Mason & Caiger 249). The noble families’ life was focused on manners and beauty guided by a powerful civil code called miyabi. At the Kyoto court, etiquette, appearance and self-discipline were stressed (Mason & Caiger 106).

1984 Quote Journal Essay

â€Å"On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. Big Brother Is Watching You, the caption beneath it ran. † (Orwell 5) This quote is an example of how effective and convincing The Party can make a simple poster. The Party has put posters everywhere constantly reminding the Party members that they are being watched. Being watched played a major role in every Party member’s life in the book. Winston who was constantly scared of doing things, such as having a face of anxiety or not cheering with as much enthusiasm in the two minute hate. Everything that Winston did throughout the novel that he thought was not seen by the Thought Police was seen by them. Winston even tried to make sure that his diary was not bothered with so he sprinkled some powder on the corner of the book. That powder was carefully replaced as if it was the same as when it was first put there, by the Thought Police, that is how watchful and investigative the Thought Police is. The Thought Police are continuously spying on the Party members through the televisions, hidden microphones throughout Oceania, and spies of their own. The Party wants to keep an eye on their Party members to have control over them. They have no freedom. Winston can’t even take a walk on a good day with out suspiciously being watched. Winston and Julia underestimate the power of the Party. Julia thinks that she has got the Party and Thought Police figured out. She believes that she can hide from the Thought Police. Yet when her and Winston think they have beaten the Party and were working and representing the real brotherhood. Though in the end they were the ones that were actually figured out, by the Thought Police. The Thought Police are actually watching, when least expected. The Party watches the people of Oceania as to control them. This quote basically shows that there is no freedom or privacy in Oceania. That people in Oceania live afraid to take a walk on a good day. All of this connects to the theme of the book. Orwell made the novel to show people what would happen in the future, or 1984, if the west turned into a totalitarianism government. This quote shows one of the dangers of the government controlling everything. â€Å"He discovered that while he sat helplessly musing he had also been writing, as though by automatic action. And it was no longer in the same cramped awkward handwriting as before. His pen had slid voluptuously over the smooth paper, printing in large neat capitals-DOWN WIH BIG BROTHER† (Orwell 19) The quote is an occurrence of what happens to Winston when he dazes off while writing in his diary. Since Winston wrote this, there is obviously a part of him that hates Big Brother. Of course Winston is afraid of what he has written. Because the Thought Police can catch someone even because of their thoughts. Since the dairy itself was already a risk now what he wrote was a risk. And even if he didn’t write it just thinking about it was a risk. Why would he write this? The Winston that was writing this was his real conscious. His mind realizes that what the government does doesn’t seem to be right. Like the constant watching. He notices that he had before been brainwashed to accept Big Brother. Though in the back of his mind he always knew that something wasn’t right. And now his back thoughts have came forward by writing â€Å"DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER†.

The Magic Finger

The Magic Finger’s exposition is that there was a girl that has super powers. If someone was very mean to her, she pointed her finger at them and they turned into what ever they were mean to her for. This took place near her house like in the backyard. One of the main characters are Mr. and Mrs. Gregg and there two children William and Philip Gregg. In the book the main conflict was that the Gregg family was killing birds and their neighbor’s hated it. One day, the little girl next door put a spell on the Gregg family. They turned into birds. Then they were very sorry for killing innocent birds. The climax of the story was when the Gregg family turned back from being birds to humans. They were very sorry and they proved it by destroying their guns with a hammer. That was the most exciting part in the book. The resolution of the story is the Gregg family did not let anyone kill poor little birds. They buried the sixteen birds that they killed. If they heard a gun shot they would talk some sense into them. That is the end of the book. I think that they changed throughout the book. In the being of the book she was against the Gregg family and now she was not against anyone. Mr. Gregg, William and Phillip changed in a variety of ways. One way is that they were always in the woods and in the end they of the book they refused to go in the woods. I think that the book the magic finger is excellent. It is very interesting. The author’s purpose is to entertain his readers. The author likes to talk in first. I love the book.