Thursday 26 December 2013

The Role of Technology in Education

In the current age we live in, technology has become an important component. Every day there is some new gadget or software that makes lives easier and improves on the technology and software that already exists. Making lives easier is not, however, the only role technology plays in our lives.

Technology is playing an increasing role in education. As technology advances, it is used to benefit students of all ages in the learning process.

Technology used in the classroom helps students adsorb the material. For example, since some people are visual learners, projection screens linked to computers can allow students to see their notes instead of simply listening to a teacher deliver a lecture.

Software can be used to supplement class curriculum. The programs provide study questions, activities, and even tests and quizzes for a class that can help students continue learning outside the classroom.

Technology has also become part of many curriculums, even outside of computer and technology classes. Students use computers to create presentations and use the Internet to research topics for papers and essays.

Students also learn to use the technology available to them in computer and tech classes. This ensures that after graduation they will be able to use the technology in a work setting, which may put them ahead of someone who didn't have access to a particular technology or software in their own school setting.

As technology advances, students have better access to educational opportunities like these. When something new and "better" is revealed, the "older" technology becomes more affordable, allowing it to be used in educational settings, even when schools are on a tight budget.

Technology has also advanced to help children even before they've started school. Educational video games and systems for young children helps them prepare for school and in some cases get a head start on their education.

There are people who may say children are "spoiled" by technology. Instead of being able to add a long column of numbers in their heads, for example, they turn to a calculator. Regardless of these arguments, technology is an important part of today's society. By incorporating it into the classroom, students will be better equipped to transition from the classroom to the work place.

Write a Better Persuasive Essay for the SAT or ACT: Having Examples Ready

Imagine a criminal trial that consisted of JUST the attorneys' closing statements, without the testimony of even ONE witness. Obviously, a lawyer could hardly expect to convince a jury that way. So you might be surprised to learn that the essays that most students write on standardized tests are just like such a trial! As an English teacher I can tell you that nearly every essay I have read has boiled down to 4 or 5 paragraphs of "I think I am right because...", and I can also tell you that that is NOT the way to impress the test graders. To accomplish that, just like the attorneys you will need "evidence".

Your evidence should take the form of examples from the following areas:

Literature - books, plays, poems, movies, song lyrics
History - people, places, events
Pop Culture - politics, famous people, famous movements
Family History - not YOUR life, but your grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. Especially think about your traditions and culture or how your family came to live where they do.
But here are a few caveats:

Don't use your own life: It's not very persuasive, resembling too closely the "I think I'm right" style of argument.
Don't EVER use any of the following examples: They are overused to the point of horror!
Romeo and Juliet
The Great Gatsby
The Catcher in the Rye
Martin Luther King, Jr. or Rosa Parks
Hitler
The current president or George Washington Don't make up stuff: You may expand a bit, to be sure, but fabricated evidence is hard to write with authority and will only serve to weaken your essay.
The fact is that you can use almost ANY example to prove almost any point. Seriously. This works especially well with examples from literature, because a great piece of literature always communicates ANY number of themes within the same story. For instance, consider Romeo and Juliet. You could say that the theme is any of these:

Love at first sight really happens.
True love is worth your life.
Gang warfare causes nothing but sorrow.
Lying to your parents always leads to disaster.
Absence does make the heart grow fonder.
... depending on your point of view.
LONG before test day pick 4 or 5 different sources. Choose some with which you are at least somewhat familiar. THINK about them, and then use them for EVERY essay you write. For example:

"However, as The Great Gatsby shows, what we love is more dangerous than what we fear."
"However, as The Great Gatsby shows, it is better to live in the country than to live in the city."
"However, as The Great Gatsby shows, challenges bring out our inner strengths."
"However, as The Great Gatsby shows, we need others to truly understand who we are."
So instead of spending ten minutes (or more!) of the precious test time trying to come up with evidence after you read the prompt, select your evidence BEFORE you go into the test room.
Do it right now! Make the following list and you will be READY!
Examples:

History -->
Literature -->
Pop Culture -->
Family History -->
If you go into the writing section of the test with examples in hand you will waste less time, avoid the "I think because...' type of essay and write a more authoritative and ultimately higher-scoring paper.

How to Write a College-Level Essay

Writing an essay is pretty much like pouring your own experience and accumulated knowledge from a certain field into words. That's why it's called academic writing. For some people it comes as naturally as drinking water, but for others it can prove to be challenging.

There are several major issues students come across in essay writing, and they can be divided into two groups.

Group one is pretty much your standard how to find and extract information. This bit is very easy to overcome, it just takes a bit of practice and effort. Let's say, for example, you have to write a paper on Shakespeare, his life, work and place him within a historical context.

Where do you start? First, you have to formulate a question, or questions, that will help you decide what your essay is about. In this case, questions like:

-When was Shakespeare born, where did he live and when did he die?
-What was the political structure of his country in the time he worked?
-What did Shakespeare do that made him so famous?
-Why is his work so appreciated?

After you asked the questions, it's time to look for books, journals and other sources that will help you learn how to answer them. Google books, Google Scholar and your College library are as good a place to start as any, so head there. Important part about literature research is to ask the database correct questions. We need data on Shakespeare, so phrases like English Medieval literature; Shakespeare - life and work and similar are a great place to start.

Once you found 3-4 core readings, additional sources will pop up by themselves as you read. Check the sources sections of the works you found, they will usually hold a great deal of potentially useful titles.

Now that we taken care of the sources, and we know what should we write about, the only thing remaining to do is to actually write the damn thing. Easy? No, but it can be, with a bit of effort.

Group two is much trickier to master, as it requires grammar, vocabulary and synthesis capability. Hey, nobody said that custom essay writing is easy.
Essentially, what you have to do is constrict the material from the sources into an essay (usually 5-10 pages long) about a single topic. Keep in mind that the information within must be focused on the topic, so any type of buzzing around the bush is not a good idea.

Best bet would be to divide your essay, physically into smaller segments, for example

-Introduction
-Body 1
-Body 2
-Body 3
-Body 4
-Body 5
-Conclusion

These segments should correspond with the essay questions we talked about earlier. Try to answer each question in as much detail as you possibly can, while adding a pinch of personal view. Not much, but just enough to give it that personal touch.

Writing a College Application Essay

The truth is, nobody really wants to be writing an essay for college during what feels like your last break before the chaos starts. But by the time fall rolls around and it's application crunch time, you'll be glad you did. Here is a composition of tips straight from the horse's mouth. That's right, from the very people themselves that slogged through countless college essays each year.

There is no better way to start your essay then with a grabber of a line. Something lighthearted, descriptive of yourself, and something that shows off your personality. Writing a college essay is not about making yourself seem already perfect, but more about giving them a chance to see, hear, taste, smell, and feel the type of world you live in. You don't need to share every detail of your life, but giving them a thin slice of the pie is recommended.

Be genuine in what you write. The college admissions team doesn't want you to try to impress them, but more so just tell them what is important to you. Don't rely too heavily on how to books. If you need them to help get your brain flowing that's okay, but chances are if you pick one of the suggested topics, they've already read one just like it. Be as original and creative as you can. The last thing you want is to write an essay that has been written by hundreds of other applicants. Your goal should be to stick out to the admissions team.

Before you complete the final draft of your essay, test it out orally on some family and friends. Pay attention to their reactions and body language to help you decide where you could use improvement. Make sure that your essay is written with your voice, and that no one else could write one just like it. You want to be heard as an individual who is unique and different.

Write about things that are of great importance to you. They want to know what you're passionate about. Think about the things in your life that make you special and different. Everyone has different qualities and attributes to show off, so think deep and find out what makes you who you are. It's important to realize that people who read essays for hours on end will read this essay. Do your best to stand out. You want them to remember you!

AIPMT Question Papers - Towards Quality Medical Education

"In nothing do men more nearly approach the gods than in giving health to men"

Cicero

The All India Pre-Medical Test that is AIPMT is conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). This entrance examination is held on the first Sunday of April, every year. This year, i.e, in 2010, this falls on 4th April. The Board has taken up a decision to reschedule the conduct of AIPMT Examination. They are doing this so that the students who are appearing in more than one exam do not face any kind of problem arising out of clash in dates of two or more such entrance examinations. And dates of other examinations do coincide and at times cause lot of grief to the aspiring students.

For instance, the date of the Preliminary Stage Examination for the All India Pre-Medical is on 11th April, 2010 (Second Sunday). And the Indian Institute of Technology is also conducting Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) on 11th April itself.

The rescheduled dates for AIPMT for this year, 2010 are:
AIPMT Preliminary Examination:- 3rd April, 2010 (Saturday) 10.00 AM to 1.00 PM
AIPMT Final Examination:- 16th May, 2010(Sunday)

Paper-1: 10.00 AM to 12.00 Noon
Paper-2: 1.00 PM to 3.00 PM

It would be a three hour paper. There are 200 objective type questions in the Preliminary Exams. These questions are from Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The questions have to be answered on uniquely designed machine-gradable sheet, on which only ball pen could be used for writing.

Those who clear the Preliminary Examination sit for the Final Examination. The final examination has Two Papers. The duration of each paper is Two Hours. The 1st Paper consists of questions from Physics and Chemistry. Whereas the 2nd Paper consists of Biology which includes both Botany and Zoology. The questions that appear in these papers are non-objective. Hence the answers have to be written on the answer sheets provided.

The medium to answer this AIPMT Question Papers is Hindi or English. But what language you are going to answer in, has to be stated at the time of filling up the application form.

The AIPMT is a somewhat difficult exam. Hence, in order to score nicely proper preparation is required. Now, you may wonder how to prepare properly for the AIPMT. The best way is of preparation is to solve the AIPMT Sample Papers. These are available online. These question papers within themselves cover the entire AIPMT Syllabus. Therefore, being at home, you can get hold of these samplers and practise them. These question papers are available for free on these sites. One can simply download them and have full practise sessions. Question Papers on all the required subjects -- Physics, Chemistry and General Knowledge can be availed of from these sites.

To crack these exams with flying colours do good practise of these samplers. So keep practising!!

Challenges in Introducing Value Education at Higher Education in India

Value Education is the much debated and discussed subject in the plethora of education in India. Of course it is true that the main purpose of any education will go with Value orientation. More concentration on Value education has been given at the primary and secondary level of school education than in higher education in India. Values could be effectively imparted to the young minds rather than to the matured ones. It may be the important reason for this prime importance given at the school level. There are so many modules designed with the help of agencies like NCERT and others for effectively imparting the value education to the school students. In this context, many innovative educational practices are being identified by the experts. Good number of experiments and studies are being conducted in the recent days on the effectiveness of teaching value education at school level. Some schools have very innovative and radical course designs to impart the values.

Effective teaching practices in imparting value education ranges from story telling, exhibitions, skits, one act play and group discussions to various other formats. New methods have been evolved by educationists to create an effective learning sphere. The usage of electronic gadgets also gains importance in the teaching-learning practices of value education. But at the higher education level, due to various reasons, the importance given to value education is not as much as it is given at the school level. The curriculum and the teaching methods also could be subjected to scrutiny. It is true that colleges are meant for a kind of specialization in some field of education. But in the Indian social context, the youth require direction and counseling at this stage. They have been exposed to various challenges at this stage which demands the intervention of educationists for his/her betterment. His/her character building also strengthens at this juncture. Students' perception on various life factors and events are getting shaped at this stage. On the whole they evolve their own philosophy of life. Their sensitivity and knowledge are getting direction at this stage. Hence, an effective value orientation becomes inevitable to the students of colleges. Keeping this requirement in mind, States like Tamilnadu introduced a compulsory paper/course on value education to undergraduate students of all colleges in the State under the choice based credit system. Though this kind of effort is made with the good intention of imparting values to the youth, many limitations in bringing out the expected outcome could be identified.

The problem mainly begins with the definition of values. Defining the term 'value' poses a challenge to all scholars. The term value is loaded with varieties of meaning. Each meaning reflects its own philosophical position. Generally the term value is spontaneously associated with religious values. It is believed by many Indians that values are nothing but the religious and spiritual guiding principles of life. Hence, it is supposed that the path is already been laid for the life journey. But in the context of modernity and modernism there rises a fundamental question of whether value education is required at all in a modern state. There are those who argue that modern life is based on science and technology, and both are value neutral. They view that the values are bugbear held out by people living in the past, glued to outdated religious principles that have no relevance to the 21st century. At this point, there is also another group of modernist who propagate the necessity of value education at learning centres in order to safe guard the democratic state and its values. The values they wish to cultivate are modern secular values such as honesty, respect to other, equality, collectivity, democracy, respecting the human rights, sharing equal space in the public sphere and so on. These values are considered as the products of enlightenment period. Hence, four positions could be arrived at on the basis of the above understanding. The are:
1. There are religious values which are very much essential for every one and must be included in the curriculum.
2. The religious values should not find place in the educational system. They may operate at the private sphere.
3. There are non-religious secular values and they must find space in the education.
4. There is no need for teaching value education in the academics because they cannot be cultivated through formal learning and such value cultivation will make the individual biased.

In consequence to these positions, following questions arouse.
1. Whether value education should find place in the educational system?
2. If it is required, then what sort of values should be given preference in the curriculum?
3. What is the importance to be given to the religious values which are primarily developed on the basis of scriptures?
4. Can modern values alone are sufficient enough or is there any possibility of blending the values of modernity with religious values?
5. If religious values are to be given importance in the curriculum, which religion will find prime place? If there are contradictory propagation on a single virtue by two religions, then how are they to be handled?
6. Similarly religions differ on the practices also. Right from eating patterns, dress mode, marriage systems, war tactics, killing, punishments to various other aspects, religions differ on their outlook. In this situation, what sort of perceptions need to be taught?

Besides these questions, another billion dollar question would be raised on the methodology of effectively imparting those values. Then again as it is mentioned earlier, the school education can very well include this education easily because the system itself is advantageous for it to accommodate. But at the college level, the system finds it very difficult to work out. So this study could analyse the theoretical problems relating to the identification of values to be included in the curriculum at the one side and the problem of effective designing of the curriculum and imparting those values on the other side.

II

The necessity for imparting values to the students of all levels has been felt by everyone. The world today is facing unprecedented socio-political and economic challenges. Problems of life are becoming increasingly intense and complex. Traditional values are decentered. 'An environment of strife pervades all countries and broken homes have become common. An insatiable hunger for money and power, leads most of people to tension and absence of peace of mind and all kinds of physical and mental ailments have become common place" 1. In the present day context of frequent and often violent social upheavals, we have to look at the problem of restlessness of the youth, their frustration born out of futility of their search for meaning of life and the purpose for which they are living, often leading to evil and wickedness. This calls for a new approach to, and a new vision of education. It is obviously felt that the present educational system promotes rat race and keep the student community in a sense of insecurity. Educational institutions have become the pressure cookers building pressures in the minds of youth. Also a loft sided educational pattern which insists on instrumental and technical rationality for the successful life in terms of gaining money and power has invaded the educational system of India. The person who is deemed to be unfit for this survival race becomes disqualified and ineligible to live in this market economy based life. The spate of industrialization and economic growth in developed nations has brought about a perceptible change in this scenario. And developing countries including India are feeling the ripple effects of this development. Values earlier considered essential by all societies have been eroded and have given way to unethical practices around the globe. Where honesty and integrity were loved and appreciated, greed, corruption and red tapism have come in, bringing in their wake, unethical responses which have pervaded all walks of life and are thwarting efforts of a few enlightened individuals to promote value based society.2 Hence, implementation of well structured education is the only solution available with all states. With growing divisive forces, narrow parochialism, separatist tendencies on the one hand and considerable fall in moral, social, ethical and national values both in personal and public life on the other, the need for promoting effective programmes of value orientation in education has assumed great urgency. Development of human values through education is now routinely seen as a task of national importance. Value education though supposes to be the part and parcel of the regular education, due to the market influences, it could not be so. Hence, it has become an inevitable need to include an exclusive curriculum for value education at all levels.

Now the next question would be about the nature of value education. What sort of values should be given preference in the curriculum is the prime problem in the introduction of value education. This problem surfaces because we can find varieties of values prescribed on the basis of various scriptures and theories. Sometimes they are contradictory to each other. This issue has been thoroughly discussed earlier. But the solution to the problem of the nature of value education is primarily dependent on the social conditions that prevail in the state. There need not be an imported value educational pattern to be prescribed in India. The burning social issues would demand the required value education. Though India is considered to be the land of divinity and wisdom, the modern value system throws challenges to the ancient value pattern. Right from the Gurkula pattern to the varna ashrama values, all values are under scrutiny by modern rationality. Hence, the relevance of the golden values prescribed by the then society is questionable in the present situation. On the other hand, the so called modern values which have been listed earlier also subjected to criticism by philosophers like post modernists. They question the very nature of the rationality of the enlightenment period. Because critics of modernity strongly declare that the modern rationality is the reason for the deterioration of human concern in the world and they paved the way for inhuman killing and escalation of values. The reason of the modernism is considered as the root of power politics which leads to inhuman behaviour of the power system, according to them. Hence the modern values like democracy, civil rights, environmental ethics, professional ethics, discipline and all such values are found useless in bringing harmony in the society. The values like discipline, tolerance, peace bears the negative connotation in this context. Hence, what sort of modern values are to be included in the curriculum is a challenge thrown towards the educationists. At one side the fanatic and fundamentalist features of religious values and on the other side the modern values based on the market economy and other factors are to be excluded and a well balanced curriculum with genuine worthy values suitable to the society has to be identified and included in the educational system. In this context, it becomes obvious that there cannot be any universal pattern of values to be prescribed in the system. When a suitable blend of religious and modern values is to be done, the designing of such course demands an unbiased, scrupulous, intelligent approach on the part of the academician who designs such course. Thus the spiritual values of sensitizing the youth for happy world and rational values for a just world are very much required. Religious values can be taken but not with the label of any particular religion, democratic values are to be included but not with its dogmatic inhuman approach. Thus there need a perfect blend of both. This is the real challenge thrown to the Indian academicians.

After the identification of these values, they need to be inculcated not to be informed to the students. Mostly listing the values is done very easily, but imparting them effectively requires genuine spirit and innovative educational practices. In the Vedic period, the gurukula system prevailed in which the student has to thoroughly undergo a pattern life with the guru shishya hierarchy. Whatever the guru declares are the values of life. But in the modern context, which is supposed to be the democratic sphere, a sense of equality and freedom has to prevail the learning situation. Also the values identified cannot be preached on the basis of the religious faiths. So the teacher has to find effective working module to internalize the values in the minds of the youth. The teachers' understanding about the values prescribed and his/her commitment in imparting them also play a crucial role here. How to sensitize the teacher before carrying the values to the students is also a challenge to the educationists. The value education class room, if it is dealt with full seriousness and sincerity would be very interesting and challenging sphere for students and teachers. At times they need to sail at the same level with the students. The hierarchy may get disappeared. Value education demands a total responsibility from the teachers. They become more accountable. On the other side, a teacher who is committed to a set of values would always like to preach and impose them on the young minds. That extreme should also to be avoided with a balance of mind. Value education cannot be done by just delivering lectures and screening films. It requires a strong interaction between the students and the society. A lot could be experimented at this sphere. For which the supreme value 'integrity' is expected from the educator.

It is observed that many modules of teaching values have been designed and tested. Some are seemed to be very effective. In Tamilnadu, especially in aided colleges, with all good intention the government has introduced the value education as a compulsory scheme at the undergraduate level. But each university has its own syllabus for the same. The scrutiny of those syllabi also reveals a lot of variations in conceiving the value education. In some universities, some religion based institutions are given the responsibility of designing and even carrying out the course. Similarly the teachers who have not been exposed to any such type of training in value education are given the responsibility of teaching values. The introduction of value education for all under graduate courses is done at the cost of a core paper of that course. The teachers who have been handling their hardcore subject papers had to meet the shortage of workload due to this programme and to solve this problem, they have been entrusted with the job of teaching value education paper. This is done with the aim of avoiding the workload problem of existing teachers. The most valuable and sensitive part of education has been made like a mechanical dogmatic part. At this juncture, the fate of value education at the college level could be imagined. How to solve this issue is again a challenge to the educationists of Tamilnadu. The same fate could be observed in many other states of India. Hence, two important problems surfaces here, one at the syllabus level and the other at the teaching level. As it is discussed earlier the syllabus could be designed by way of paying attention to all aspects but imparting the same requires not only innovative teaching methods, but also innovative training method of the educators. It is as good as training the driver to drive the car; the teacher needs to be trained in imparting the values. The technical education employs teachers with sound knowledge in the subject, similarly it is essential to have teachers with sound mind and creative teaching skill to teach value education. Value education is definitely not to be dealt with compartmentalization but it should be taken as a part of the whole educational system. As Nietzsche puts it, the society requires masters to create and impart values, not the slaves who accept all the values imposed on them without any critical understanding.

JMET Question Papers - For Successful Entry Into Quality Management Education

It is true that the CAT hogs all the limelight. But having said, that, it is also true that the Joint Management Entrance (JMET) Examination is equally tough, prestigious and what is more clearing it will gain you admission into the Management Departments of IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras and IIT Roorkee, IISc Bangalore and do their 2-YEAR FULL TIME Post-Graduate Degree Programmes in Management.

Lakes of students appear in the JMET every year and try to get into any of these esteemed institutions. Clearing the JMET is not easy. Not at all. Far from it. This Management is considered by some as even tougher than CAT. While there cannot be a one shot solution to such a difficult and complex entrance,

The students themselves who have opted to attempt JMET are intelligent enough to decide as to what particular method of preparation to adopt. There is also no substitute for long-term systematic, sincere and relentless toil. One method that can be safely recommended here is to do as many Question Papers as possible. The Question Papers here refer to Previous Years IIT JMET Question Papers and IIT JMET Solved Papers.

The JMET Papers are available online in various web sites. The students can easily log on to any of these sites and access these papers. Some of these papers are solved and others unsolved. Solving even say three to four such IIT JMET Question Papers or IIT JMET Solved Papers in about a week's time is bound to instill the requisite confidence in the minds of the young aspirants. This exercise is certain to lend a definite direction to their preparation and provide them a concrete idea about the kind of questions that are regularly asked in JMET and their difficulty levels.

Once you are through with say about ten such IIT JMET Question Papers or IIT JMET Solved Papers papers, you can afford to pick and choose the really complex papers. Care should be taken to get your efforts evaluated by a senior who has cleared JMET or your any of your faculty, etc. Only then will you know exactly how well you have done.

In order to help you further, we are providing below the pattern of Question Papers that is generally found in JMET.

Question Paper Pattern

There will be only Objective Type Questions. Your answer sheet called the Objective Response Sheet has circles. You have to darken the appropriate circle against the question being answered. The other factor that candidates attempting JMET need to to cautious about is negative marking. Thus, it is better to leave those questions unattempted for which you do not know answers than doing a guess work. Negative marking involves deduction of 25% of the allotted marks for each wrong answer.

In all, 120 questions will be there. All of them falling under the objective / multiple choice type of questions. The time duration allotted for this many questions is three hours. The questions fall under the following sections--

Verbal Communication

This section tests the candidate's comprehension and communication abilities.

Logical Reasoning

In this section, there will be questions on Analytical Reasoning, Argument Analysis, and Analysis of Explanation Questions.

Quantitative Ability

Your grasp of Basic Mathematics will be evaluated in this section.

Data Interpretation

Basically, the data interpretation abilities of the candidate is tested in this section. Here, a mass of data is provided to him or her and to find out how well they are able to make business sense out of the same. This exercise is also extended to include different representative forms such as simple tables, histograms, pie charts, graphs, scatter diagrams, etc. It is worth while to mention here that only simple data manipulations are expected of the candidates and no complex calculations will be asked.

The IIT JMET Question Papers or IIT JMET Solved Papers are very much there to help you out. But ultimately nothing pays like diligent hard work and a goal-oriented approach.