B. F. Skinner Essay - 1590 Words

B.F. Skinner B.F. Skinner was one of the most influential theorists in modern psychology. His work was very important and has been studied by many for years. Skinner was a very straightforward man and a very educated man. His theories have helped mankind in many ways. He has studied the behavior patterns of many living organisms. Skinner was a well-published writer. His work has been published in many journals. He also has written many books on behaviorism. His most important work was the study of behaviorism. First began by John B. Watson, behaviorism is one of the most widely studied theories today. B.F. Skinner and His Influence in Psychology B.F. Skinner was one of the most famous of the American psychologists. He was†¦show more content†¦He also read about animals. He collected toads, lizards, and snakes. He trained pigeons to do tricks after he saw them performing one year at a fair. Training the pigeons probably was where he got his ideas of operant conditioning. He attended Susquehanna High School just like his mother and father. In his graduating class there were only eight people including him. He was a very intellectual person. He reported that he really enjoyed school. Over the four years in high school Skinner became good at math and reading Latin, but was no good at science. He was always performing physical and chemical experiments while he was at home. His father was a book collector. Skinner always had a good library of books around his house. Skinner recalled the little collection of applied psychology journals that his father had bought. Those books could have been the starting point in his psychology career. Skinner grew up in a very religious family. After high school Skinner went to Hamilton College where he majored in English Literature and minored in Romance Languages. Skinner’s freshman year did not turn out to be what he expected. He felt that the college was pushing him around with unnecessary requirements, such as daily chapel and physical education. Skinner’s college life became better as the years went on. He was very comfortable with college life by his senior year. He and a friend once printed up a poster that said that Charles Chaplin wasShow MoreRelatedEssay on B. F. Skinner802 Words   |  4 PagesB. F. Skinner Burrhus Frederic Skinner, psychologist and behaviorist, was born in Susquhanna, Pennsylvania in 1904 to William Skinner and Grace Burrhus. His father was a lawywer and his mother was a naturally bright woman. Skinner had only one sibling; his brother died at the age of sixteen. Skinner lived most of his life in Susquhanna. He did not leave the house he was born in until he left to go to college. He was raised very close to his grandparents, who had a major impact on his early lifeRead More B. F. Skinner Essay1073 Words   |  5 Pages B. F. Skinner Burris Frederic Skinner was born on March 20th, 1904 in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. His mother, Grace M. Burrhus, was a stenographer and a secretary, in a law office and later in a railroad chief executives office. His father, William A. Skinner, was an attorney, who studied law with another local attorney at a New York Law School. Skinners parents were both good students. His father had bought several sets of books, so there was a lot of reading material their children. SkinnerRead MoreOperant Conditioning by B. F Skinner1580 Words   |  7 Pagesrealizing it, and most of the time, they don’t know why they do them. Certain reinforcements, some positive, and some negative have conditioned their actions and thoughts. In this essay, I chose Burrhus Frederic Skinner who came up with the theory of operant conditioning. B. F. skinner,(March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) is an American psychologist who believed that we do have such a thing as a mind, but that it is simply more productive to study observable behavior rather than internal mentalRead MoreIvan Pavlov, John Watson, And B. F. Skinner1272 Words   |  6 Pagesemotional, and environmental influences as playing roles in how we understand the world. With the rise of learning theories, three main theorists stood out, whose works are still in effect today. These theorists were Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, and B. F. Skinner. The theories created by each of these psychologists are still in effect to this day, and laid the groundwork for modern learning theories. Ivan Pavlov was a Russian psychologist born in the 1800’s. He was mainly influenced by the ideas of PisarevRead MoreThe Theory Of Behavioral Learning Theory901 Words   |  4 PagesB. F. Skinner is one of the top psychologist who invented the radical behaviorism and critical psychiatry. B. F. Skinner believed that behavior is maintained from one condition to another through similar or same consequences across situations. Skinner believed that actions followed by a positive effect tend to be repeated, while actions followed by negative effect were not. I believe the behaviorist theory states that individuals develop certain behavior traits based off of their reaction to certainRead MoreCarl Rogers Vs. F. Skinner : Which Perspective Is The Most Important?1419 Words   |  6 Pages Carl Rogers vs B. F. Skinner – Which Perspective is the Most Important? A long-debated argument in the field of Psychology has been which theory or explanation of human behavior is the most important and the most viable. Is B. F. Skinner’s theory that behavior is the result of man’s response to external stimuli or is Carl Rogers’ theory that man’s behavior is the result of his determination to achieve self-actualization the best explanation? After much research and thought, I will argue in favorRead MorePsychology Should Be About Behavior And Not About An Inner Force994 Words   |  4 Pages B.F. Skinner was a psychologist that seemed to go against what many other psychologists thought about personality. He did not believe in personality. In a way, Skinner has a point about personality not existing because we do change our behavior based on the environment we are in. (Olson Hergenhahn, 2011.) Since there is no proof of a personality, I believe that psychology should be about behavior and not about an inner force. I do not believe a person is consistent across time because if theyRead MoreUnderstanding the Psychologist Called Burrhus Frederick Skinner1190 Words   |  5 PagesAssignment 4 Valerie Rountree Walden University Management in Human and Social Development - MGMT 8010 June 28, 2014 Understanding Burrhus Frederic Skinner B. F. Skinner was one of the most influential of American psychologists. A radical behaviorist, he developed the theory of operant conditioning, the idea that behavior is determined by its consequences, be they reinforcements or punishments, which make it more or unlikely that the behavior will be repeated again, (NNDB, 2014)Read MoreEssay Burrhus Frederic Skinner1132 Words   |  5 PagesBurrhus Frederic Skinner People do on a day to day basis, many actions without realizing it, and most of the time, they don’t know why they do them. Certain reinforcements, some positive, and some negative have conditioned their actions and thoughts. All organisms, including humans, are greatly influenced by the consequences produced by their own behavior. The environment holds the key to most of the changes that occur in the way a person behaves and a human’s own behavior brings consequencesRead MoreBiography of Burrhus Frederic Skinner Essays1329 Words   |  6 PagesBurrhus Frederic Skinner Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born in a small town called Susquehanna, Pennsylvania on March 20, 1904. His dad was a lawyer and his mom was a house wife. Skinner was the typical boy, he enjoyed playing outside and to build things. He created many inventions as a kid. He and a friend made a cabin in the woods and Skinner created a cart with backwards steering. When working for a shoe store he thought of and invention that helped the broom pick up dust. Skinner also invented

Summary of Unteaching the Five-paragraph Essay - 481 Words

In an excerpt of Unteaching the Five-Paragraph Essay, Marie Foley reveals how the Five-Paragraph Essay formula contradicts writing instructors most basic goals. Foley shows that the formula deters from generating individual thinking. In todays society, essays are used by millions of people in order to express their different ideas. The Five-Paragraph Essay formula was originally developed to help retain the efficiency and clarity of the essay. Foley, however, believes that this process eventually separates the student from his or her written expression and should be used only as a first step tool for beginning student writers. Foley insists that the formula blocks discovery, squelches authenticity and undermines the readers need for†¦show more content†¦The formula is comfortable and familiar to them. It becomes imprinted. Foley contends that in addition to blocking discovery, the Five-Paragraph Essay formula squelches the students authenticity. Foley states, filling the structure with the requisite 500 words, they go through the motions of writing, but they seldom create something authentically theirs, (232). Foley knew that students feel much more at liberty to freely express themselves in their personal journals and in their letters to friends, but take on a different identity for the essay. The students character, personality, and convictions are locked away until given the opportunity to free write. On a more serious level, coherence is undermined while being one of the writers and readers most basic need. The problem is not that the Five-Paragraph formula produces incoherence but rather that it limits students to a superficial, predictable level or coherence, (232) states Foley. This allows for students to throw any three liberally related ideas together for the body of the essays. Once students fabricate a thesis statement that elucidates for their three ideas, the students feel they have mastered structure. Foley states, To be asked merely to enumerate three aspects of any topic relieves the student of the need to probe relationships... it robs them of any motivation to do so, (232). Juxtaposition is notShow MoreRelatedMy Wiriting Process1206 Words   |  5 PagesWriting Strategy Writing, something that has never befriended me, will always be an obstacle in my life. For me, it’s difficult to just sit down at a table and write something interesting and creative. I try to do so every time I am assigned a essay, and sometimes it turns out to be successful, but most of the time it is unsuccessful. Every time I am given a written assignment, I go through the same routine: I sit at the table and stare at my computer with my fingers on the keyboard. I have

Remote Access free essay sample

Remote Access By Matthew Benack Karen L. Paullet ISSC481 IT Security Planning and Policy February 20, 2011 Remote Access Nowadays, computers are a part of everything that people use. We use them for news, communication, find information, online education, banking transactions and working on a computer in the office from across the world. Time and money are always issues in business so when things go wrong with technology or your computer how does it get fixed? This can be a problem especially if you are away from home or the office. The days of computer technicians being paid to fly cross country or around the world for three days to fix computers are obsolete. This has been replaced by remote computer support or remote access. Giving a person access to your computer from outside network can make a person uneasy. The best way to ease that uncertainty is to learn about the technology and understand it. Remote access is a way for users and IT support to access a computer or network from a distant place away from the home server. This can also be used to make use of any resources like stored data or programs that might not be available on the computer that you are using. Most corporations that have employees that work from remote locations or work from home use some type of remote access. This is a valuable asset to the company because it does not always have to have a paid employee at the location to get the work done. With computers becoming a more common place item in business the benefits of using remote access keep on growing. Many benefits of remote access have only become more prevalent as the stability and speeds of the Internet have improved and increased in the past five years. The first thing that comes to mind as a benefit is the essential software used by companies such as the Microsoft Office Suite or the Adobe Acrobat Suite. These are major players in the business world and are not cheap if you were to have to buy a copy every time. Sage Accounts and Microsoft Dynamics CRM are a couple of other programs that are used by remote access. Use of Secure E-Mail thru Microsoft Exchange server email is a large one that business professionals use while on the road. Use your hosted desktop anywhere in the world with an internet connection and computer. Everyone hates to lose data, remote access provides a housed secure data center and provides encrypted signal both up and down to the server keeping prying eyes away from the data. Remote CRM hosting is also largely used by business professionals on the road increasing customer retention and sales all over the world. Finally the one that everyone likes to hear and see, the bottom line and cost-savings. Some major cost saving comes from businesses not needing to purchase Adobe Acrobat Suite software in multiple copies. Another that is really great is Microsoft Office suite usually comes included with remote IT system setup. This all sounds great and can do many things for the business but there are risks. On top of the growing list of risks that have already been addressed in the security of the network like: malware, spam, DoS attacks, USB devices, web-based email and so on, along comes this cool thing called remote access. When the company trusts a person with remote access privileges this is done with limited knowledge about the network being used to connect to the company network. If a remote connection is made with the company network on a company provided computer, but the home network being used is not secured properly then you have opened a potential door for access to the company. This would also apply to a trusted connection to a supplier that has a â€Å"trusted connection† with another company that is not secured and is infected with a worm; you have now become a victim of the same worm because of this connection. The potential for unsecured connections, even though the connection to the office network is secure, is an endless list. Lets add another variable like laptop theft, which is on the rise in corporate America. What better way for a hacker to gain access than thru a workstation already setup because the employee that was given remote access set the laptop to remember login information. So ask yourself is remote access really needed for that executive just to allow them to work from home? The benefit of comfort for one could have devastating effects on the company as a whole. If you have chosen to allow this then one must know what is involved with remote access. Everyone knows that in the end most things in business come down to cost of start-up, and maintaining the system after that. Let’s start with pcAnywhere, one of the first of its kind that allowed cross-platform capabilities that allowed Windows, Mac and Linux systems to access one another’s servers. Then came VNC that allowed keyboard and mouse events from computer to computer. Not sure the cost was the issue for the failure more than the ability of these systems to be hacked. Since these two hit the market there has been a large number of these pop up to try and take their share of the market each with advantages and disadvantages and Each with their own idea of how to charge as well. PcAnywhere is still around and charges $99 to $199 depending on the options that are chosen (Symantec. com, 2011). Next is Timbuktu that runs $89. 95 for one computer to $1,599. 95 for a thirty pack (netopia. com). Then comes LapLink Four that cost $49. 95 for one user of for a three pack $99. 95 you get access to multiple computers (laplink. om). Finally there is GoToMyPC which offers standard, pro and corporate. Standard is $99 a year, Pro is 198 a year which is for 1 admin and 2 – 50 computers and then corporate which requires contacting the company for pricing. The use of these remote access programs allows a lot of flexibility but security is a big concern with companies now days. Computers, no matter how they are connected to a network, are at risk. Privacy and security concerns will always arise the best you can hope for is to control it. Some things that will minimize and help control the use of remote access are: * Expect hostile threats will occur (laptop theft, data interception). * Develop policy defining telework, remote access. * Configure remote access servers to enforce the policies. * Secure client devices against common known threats. * Employ and enforce strong encryption and user authentication Each one of these might seem inconvenience but when using remote access security should outweigh convenience (Chabrow, 2009). Remote access can help business professionals conduct their daily business nd stay connected to the home office but at what price? Businesses need to look closely at how much the remote access is needed because it does keep IT professionals very busy trying to secure the connection and maintain privacy. Does the benefit outweigh the risk and if so how much risk is the company willing to take? These are questions only the IT staff and executives of the business can answer. References: Bradley , T. (2011) The Secret Passage. Retrieved on February 19, 2011 at: http://netsecurity. about. com/od/perimetersecurity/a/aa060304. htm Chabrow, E. 2009) 5 Steps to Secure Remote Access Retrieved on February 18, 2011 at: http://www. govinfosecurity. com/articles. php? art_id=1247pg=2 King, C. (2010). Everything You Need to Know About Remote Computer Support. Retrieved on January 16, 2011 at: http://computeruser. com/articles/everything-you-need-to-know-about-remote-computer-support. html Smith, L. (). What Are the Benefits of Remote Accesss and Hosted Desktop IT Systems? Retrieved on February 19, 2011 at: http://ezinearticles. com/? What-Are-the-Benefits-of-Remote-Access-and-Hosted-Desktop-IT-Systems? amp;id=1318909 Tatum, M. (2010). What Is Remote Access? Retrieved on February 19, 2011 at: http://www. wisegeek. com/what-is-remote-access. htm Unknown. (2011). Compare Plans Retrieved on February 18, 2011 at: http://www. gotomypc. com/remote_access/remote_desktop Unknown. (2011). LapLi nk Everywhere Retrieved on February 19, 2011 at: http://www. laplink. com/lle5/pricing. html Vamosi, R. (2003). The Dangers of Remote PC Access Retrieved on January 16, 2011 at: http://reviews. cnet. com/4520-3513_7-5053016-1. html

Venus Hair Review Essay Example

Venus Hair Review Paper Essay on Venus Hair The whole world one, communicating vessels. The stronger somewhere in some misfortune, the stronger and sharper than others should be happy. And love is stronger. To balance this world, that it is not turned over, as the boat In the story, the hero -. Interpreter (translator) for the Committee for Refugees of Switzerland, daily recording dozens of horrific stories of people seeking asylum. Among them, the history of the interpreter and read their memoirs the singer Isabella St George and the book was, which in a nutshell, and not tell. She looks like a giant tree trunk, but not solid, and woven of thin shoots billion-lives. A great story of mankind in the history of private, truly horrible, no matter, invented them for refugee status or not they still occurred, nbsp; not with it, so with the other, because the history of hand, you mitten. stories change you as mittens . We will write a custom essay sample on Venus Hair Review specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Venus Hair Review specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Venus Hair Review specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer And yet, this is a book about the word. We have what we say. We will be what will be recorded in the minutes. The words . Ultimately, if something is written down, it means that it was not; the writing becomes a reality: since people are given new life in the protocols; since the ancient Greeks, retreating to the sea, there are only because Xenophon wrote about them in Anabasis; so the interpreter himself alive for us in the confession letters, addressed to his son. Among the billions of stories were only those that animated the word But this nbsp for me a book about equilibrium:. Nbsp; if someone cut off his head, then someone first love Once everyone to be happy all the same it is impossible so happy to be the one who can right now I must be happy now, today, no matter what someone says he can not be heaven if there is a hell.. . Allegedly, it is impossible to dwell in paradise, if you know that somewhere there is suffering Nonsense () nestydno:.. sing when all around the revolution and civil war, love, when the wound GOVERNMENTAL somewhere finishing off with rifle butts, smile no matter what happens here or there. The larger the circle of death, the more important it countered life, love, beauty! Laugh: Today you plummet in the global balance bowl Why is bezralichen interpreter to the daily horrific stories.? He is heartless? No, he is also his balance. Just here, in Russia, the conditions are. () We have a houseplant, otherwise not survive without human warmth, but here [in Rome] weed So, this is a dead language, denoting living, -.. Adiantum capillus veneris kitchen herbs of the genus maidenhair . Venus hair. God is life. Do not try to keep track of private and history grow into each other, and deliberately confused. Shishkin all may be one. And the life and history, and we are with you. In equilibrium.

Corkd Essays

Corkd Essays Corkd Paper Corkd Paper Gaining traction with wineries was an integral part of Ronas core strategy, but the finances of the company made getting signing even more vital. Start-up funds were delighting, and Corked was shorthanded on developers; the demands of the new site placed a heavy burden on the lone developer on the payroll. It was encouraging that despite the work needed on the site, users loved it, quickly became loyal, and were growing in number. But the $999 winery sign-up fees were the companys primary source of revenue, so Rona knew that to hire another developer, let alone cover the current payroll, Corked needed more wineries to join?and soon. Background In February 2006, entrepreneurs Dan Benjamin and Dan Stockholder launched Corks, a website dedicated to wine lovers. Corks was Initially Intended to provide people with a place to rate and review wines, and Benjamin and Stockholder envisioned ultimately expanding the site Into a fulfilled wine social network. In this early version, Corks used an ad-based business model and featured a limited relationship with wine. Com whereby users could shop for selected wines from wine-com. The most loyal Corks advertiser was Gary Evanescence, a brick-and-mortar and online wine retailer based in New Jersey. In May 2007, Benjamin and Cathedral felt that Corked had grown large enough that it needed a more suitable home, and they sold the site to Evanescence. Evanescence had developed a passion for wine at a very young age, since wine was his familys business. By the time he was 30, Evanescence had grown the familys local liquor shop into a national brand, renamed Wine Library, by becoming one of the first retailers to sell wine on the Internet. As Wine Library expanded, Evanescence pursued several parallel business ventures that complemented wine retail. In addition to purchasing Corks, Evanescence created a ally wine video blob (a flog) he called Wine Library TV. Wine Library TV aimed to demystify the often Intimidating world of wine, offering viewers an accessible approach. Evanescences humorous, hyperactive style (e. G. , spitting wine into a metal New York Jets Ducked, Ana s Eng Lord Ana rocks on alarm to demonstrate Tailor) struck a chord with web-surfing wine aficionados. Evanescence and Wine Library TV quickly Professor Peter Coles prepared this case. Research Associate Matthew Chaos provided excellent assistance. HOBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright 2010, 2011, 2012 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www. Hobs. Harvard. Deed/educators. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School. This document is authorized for use only by Pretests Nair in Understanding the Customer VIM Alamo Square at , 2014. 91 1-026 Corked: Building a Social Network for Wine Lovers developed a dedicated following, eventually reaching over 90,000 daily viewers (self- described as Maniacs). Evanescence activities led some in the media to dub him a wine social media guru and the first wine guru of the Youth era. Evanescence built on his success through consulting, speaking engagements, appearing on talk shows (notably getting Cowan OBrien to put a dirty sock in his mouth), and publishing two books, the second of which, Crush It! , became a New York Times Business Best Seller in 2009. While business ventures and traveling engagements were keeping Evanescence busy, Corked received less attention. Not wanting to go halfway with a project, Evanescence let Corked stagnate almost as soon as he bought it. Meanwhile, Rona was getting her MBA at Harvard Business School. Prior to business school, Rona had spent four years in investment banking and private equity, but her real passion lay in wine and technology. In the summer of 2008, Rona worked for Charmer Sunbelt, a large wine distributor in Brooklyn, N. Y. , where she studied the wine supply chain, measuring the value added in its various stages. That summer, Evanescence and Rona met over beers and instantly connected, talking about wine, social media, business, and family. The next year at Harvard, Rona became president of the HOBS Wine Cuisine Society. She invited Evanescence to visit HOBS and shake things up at the schools sometimes pretentious wine tasting. Evanescence agreed to come that fall. During the visit, Evanescence and Rona talked some more and realized they shared a passion for making wine less intimidating. Evanescence agreed to supervise Rona on an independent field study of Corked. Over the year, the woo hired an outside developer and design team, and put together a plan to overhaul ten Wesley. Six months into the field study, Rona decided that after HOBS, she wanted to work for Corked full time. She put together a proposal for a role and a compensation package, and went to New York City to discuss the idea in person with Evanescence. Rona was nervous; she had never proposed anything like this before, worried that her requests were too aggressive, and didnt know how Evanescence would react. Rona met with Evanescence at an event where he was an invited speaker, which added to her fears of appearing too presumptuous. He stepped outside the event to meet with Rona for, as she described it, as long as it took. She put her offer on the table. Evanescence looked away and thought for about 15 seconds. Then he said, Okay, but then I want you to be CEO. Under the arrangement, Evanescence would provide the initial funding for the company?enough to hire Rona and a full-time developer. Rona would receive equity in addition to her salary. Any additional capital would come from revenue generated from the site itself. Rona accepted the offer, and after she graduated in May 2009, the wheels at Corked started to turn. Evanescence and Ronas first hire was a chief technical officer, Kyle Bragger; subsequently, Rona hired five interns for the summer. Since Evanescence purchase of Corked the site had received no development attention and, at one point, was even hacked and redirected to a pornographic website for a day. Despite the stagnation, the user base had continued to grow. But the lack of maintenance, combined with a flaw in the early site design, created an unusual problem. Corked relied heavily on user-generated content, but the site lacked functionality to check for errors. As a result, the Corked team was faced tit an extensive wine-review database, but one filled with misspelled wines, duplicate listings, and incorrect information. Convinced this data was worth salvaging, Rona spent several weeks correcting errors herself. And to partially address these problems going forward, Bragger developed a wine-input system that made it nearly impossible to add a duplicate wine and let users flag duplicates that slipped through. 2 Envisioning the Corked Community The new version of Corked accommodated two types of users: individuals and wineries (see Exhibit 1 for a screens). For individual users, Corked offered several eaters shared by social networks like Faceable and review sites like Yelp, but with dedicated functionality for wine. Corked users could upload profiles, interact with other users, and choose friends (aka drinking buddies). Users could also review and rate wines, maintain a wine cellar, create wine shopping lists, and, importantly, actively engage Walt wellness. Slice well coeducation was a primary Touch, users could easily navigate to learn about grapes, producers, and wines. Users generated much of this information themselves. Corked directed users to an external, third-party site o purchase wines, and it received commissions for outbound clicks. Individuals could also link their Corked profiles to their Faceable and Twitter accounts. At the same time, wineries could maintain profile pages where they could post information, provide links to their own websites (where, among other things, they could presumably make wine sales), and interact directly with devotees of their wines. Corked hoped that these features would help wineries establish engaging, direct-to-consumer relationships. Accounts for individuals were free, and there were no paid, premium features anywhere on Corked. Only after exiting the site to purchase wine would individuals make any payment. In contrast, a winery account required a $999 annual fee. For this fee, in addition to having access to a profile page, wineries were identified as and were occasionally featured on the sites home page. Corked also featured wines from verified wineries in promotional tasting (during which tasters used Corked to review and comment on the wines), and interviewed verified winery owners for publication in Corks weekly e-mail newsletter. For each winery in the database that did not have a paid account, Corked created a bare-bones page. Wineries could click on a link to claim their page, go through a verification process, and upgrade to full membership. In theory, this could be a means to attract paid accounts, but as of January 2010, no wineries had signed up this way. Rather, direct interaction with Rona and Evanescence accounted for all winery sign-ups. Unlike the original version of Corked under Benjamin and Stockholder, the new version was free of advertisements. Rona reasoned that by creating an ad-free site, she could offer users the best possible experience, which would attract the greatest number of users?those who would remain loyal for the long term. Wineries in turn would respond to a large and active community, and would recognize the value of marketing to such a dedicated group of customers. The marketing that wineries might in engage in?responding to fans and posting detailed information about their wines and vineyards?would itself be valuable content, Rona believed. In developing this ad-free, higher-for-wineries approach, Rona drew from a model used by Sermons, a social network designed for doctors, which let pharmaceutical companies offer information about their drugs if they paid a fee to Sermons. (For information about Sermons, see HOBS case No. 809-142. )1 Competitive Landscape As of January 2010, several websites offered wine social networks, although the most popular of these were somewhat distinct in emphasis and appealed to different kinds of users. (See Exhibit 2 for a floggers perceived positioning of several wine sites. ) 3 For ten exclusive use AT P Snoots. Mom Snoots. Com, launched in June 2007, described itself as the worlds largest and most comprehensive online wine destination. After creating a free account, users could browse wine scores and reviews, and could interact with fellow users, wineries, and other merchants. Shopping was an important part of Snoots offering: users could reach for specific wine varieties, compare pric es across merchants, and make purchases via links to third-party vendors. Snoots also allowed users to track their own inventories online, link their accounts to Twitter and Faceable, and use a free phone application. Online traffic comparisons suggested that Snoots consistently outpaced other wine sites with social networking features (see Exhibit 3 for user trends). In November 2009, Snoots reached 250,000 registered users, which represented a 500% growth rate over a 12-month period. In 2008, Snoots. Com won the Enforcement Group Model of Excellence Award. 2 Accelerated. Mom In 2003, former Microsoft manager Eric Levine designed an online system to track his own extensive wine inventory and document his experiences at wine tasting. Impressed with his work, Olivines friends encouraged him to expand the system so they too could manage their wine collections and record reviews. On April 25, 2004, Levine opened Accelerated. Com to the public, letting users register free. By integrating wine reviews with their own inventories, users could better understand whether to open a particular bottle or to hold it until it matured, which was often a critical question for wine collectors. In January 2010, Cellar Tracker reported 93,374 users with a total of 1 5,922,545 bottles in their collective inventories. Though registered use was free, Levine solicited voluntary payments of $30 per year for users with fewer than 500 bottles, $60 per year for those with 500 to 1,000 bottles, and $100 per year for those with larger collections. Paid users could access the sites premium features, which included automatic valuation of ones collection using data from Wined. Com. 4 In January 2010, Cellar Tracker announced and demonstrated a site redesign that further emphasized social networking features. Over the 12 months preceding January 2010, Cellar Tracker ranked Just behind Snoots in traffic, but had a large lead over its competitors in time spent per user visit. Venire. Com Founded in 2005, Venire. Com was primarily a wine search engine that offered limited social networking features. Venire had a database of over 1 million wines and used proprietary crawl technology to maintain current price listings for each entry. By creating a free account, users could review wines and retailers and could malignant snooping lists, out Vulture 010 not offer tracking AT personal well collections. As of 2009, Venire ranked consistently lower than its competitors in daily page views and time spent on the site. September 2009 Reliance By September 2009, Corked was ready to reliance with its new social networking features and pricing structure. The companys reliance strategy consisted of two components. First, Corked planned a broad PR and social media campaign timed to coincide with the coming public launch. Just before the launch, Corked would host a grand unveiling of the site and wine-tasting perchance party 4 in New York City to which it would invite key influences. Second, Corked had in place variety of features and promotions to sustain momentum after the launch. The Corked team was confident that it could use Evanescence celebrity to grab attention and attract new sign-ups. But equally crucial was keeping newly recruited wine lovers engaged while on the site so they would ultimately become desirable, long- term users. Rona and Evanescence recruited 14 wineries to sign up for full memberships and join in the unveiling of the new Corked. 5 The team also sent loyal Corked users and New York supporters invitations to the party, to be held on Monday, September 14, at Corked headquarters. Over the course of the evening, a collection of wine lovers sampled wines, while Evanescence and Rona personally demonstrated the new features of the website. Attendees tasted wines from the 14 reliance wineries and wrote reviews on their laptops. Representatives from the reliance wineries as far away as South Africa sat in front of computers at home awaiting user comments. Soon, tasters were interacting with the winemakers and vineyard owners of the wines they were sampling. The community was operating Just as the Corked team had envisioned. As hoped, the tech-savvy attendees spread the word about their experience by tweeting, posting Faceable updates, and blobbing. (See Exhibit 4 for one of the blob posts. ) Although the tasting was a success, Corked needed to do significant development work before it could release the new site to the public. But two days after the release party, Evanescence was featured in the Wall Street Journal for his growing social media influence. Because of the hits to the website and the number of e-mails Corked started receiving, Rona wanted to open the site ahead of schedule. Even though a number of bugs still needed to be fixed, Evanescence agreed, and Corked opened to he public on September 16, 2009. A flurry of blob posts and several articles in influential tech outlets accompanied the launch, and user traffic spiked (see Exhibit 5 Tort an article In electronic). To build on the excitement of the launch, the Corked team devoted significant time and effort to recruiting more users. A first step was to reach out to users from the old, stagnant Corked to let them know that the site was active again. The team found that many of these former users had migrated to competing wine review websites, but some were amenable to returning. Evanescence celebrity was a key tool in reaching UT to new users. By posting links on Twitter approximately three times per week, Evanescence was able to direct many of his followers to the site. Wine Library TV was also a useful recruiting tool. After each tasting episode, Evanescence would provide viewers with a direct link to Corked so they could post a review of the wine he had Just discussed. Corked also used Twitter to recruit users unfamiliar with Evanescence. By searching for wine-related tweets, interns at Corked would find and correspond with users who indicated an interest in wine. If there was a mutual fit, the Corked interns, Ewing careful not to be too aggressive, would encourage the posters to add their commentary to the Corked site. In the weeks following the launch, Twitter led to about 200 fresh Corked user sign-ups each day. (See Exhibit 6 for growth trends. ) Corked provided incentives to keep new users engaged. It introduced a newbie badge that users could earn once they performed certain activities, like uploading a picture to the site and posting a minimum number of reviews. Corked also launched a contest in which the users who wrote the most reviews each month won a trip to New York to a wine-tasting party with Evanescence and the Corked team. Evanescence believed that maintaining fresh content was important in bringing repeat users to the site. While user-generated reviews were a source of material, Corked introduced a feature to ensure that new articles about wine were available on the site on a regular basis. Led by senior editor Jonathan Trumann, Corked Content employed a model inspired by the Huffing Post. Guest 5 writers would create content that would be available on Corked. Corked would simultaneously license the content to other websites, and since the articles included links to Corked, they generated traffic (and potentially new users) back to the site. Corked also made plans to release a mobile application. The company signed a deal with Bridgeheads development team BOOK to craft a tool for Corked users to read, rate, and review wines while on the go. Corked competitors Snoots and Cellar Tracker each offered their own phone application, although user reviews of these applications suggested that reception had been lukewarm. Challenges Ahead Reflecting on wineries concerns when deciding whether to Join, Rona knew that wellness wanted to De addle to measure ten Detentes AT cork to Justly D TN ten price and the resources they would need to maintain an account. How could current, verified wineries know how much business their paid account at Corked had brought them? And more important for recruiting purposes, how could wineries predict the relevant metrics before signing up? Other concerns arose, such as the sites limited ability to allow wineries to customize their profiles?for example, by adding photos. Most of these seemed easy enough to fix, but then again, development resources were limited. The $999 price point seldom came up as an obstacle, although Rona knew that she could never really be sure if silence on price reflected politeness or an unwillingness to sound petty or damage relationships with Evanescence. Broader questions lurked in the background. Had Corked properly balanced effort spent on recruiting wineries with effort recruiting individual users? Was recruiting wineries essential to developing a thriving community? Was there a risk of signing wineries up before enough users were active on Corked, leading to wineries frustration about limited activity? Perhaps Corked should focus on other ways to increase its user base and activity on the site, so that down the road, wineries wouldnt think twice about the value of signing up. But how long would that take? With a tight budget, it was not clear that Corked had the luxury of patience. 6 Exhibit 1 Corked. Com Home Page Source: Corked LLC, http:// www. Corked. Com, accessed January 27, 2010. 7 Exhibit 2 Article In grape (September 22, Class vs.. Mass and the Battle for Your Tasting Notes By Jeff Leftover Its somewhat De arguer for wine enthusiasts to state that they believe in the demagnification of wine: a chicken in every pot and a wine glass on every table. As the saying goes, if I had a nickel for every time somebody said they wanted to demystify wine Id be a very wealthy man, indeed. Vive been thinking about this since word came out last week via a press release and an article at Outstretch that tasting note and social community site Corked reluctance with a new CEO (Lindsay Rona?a freshly minted Harvard MBA hired by Gary Evanescence who assumes the mantle of Chairman). In my opinion, watching these various communities develop and grow is some of the most dynamic and interesting water cooler action in wine today. Historically, tasting note sites like Cellar Tracker, Evincible and Corked started out as a closed-off combination of personal cellar management and tasting notes, but has quickly morphed into their own communities on par and exceeding many of the most heavily trafficked wine sites on the web. Pick Your Flavor Each of these sites brings the same basic premise to the table, with very different executions. Evincible is the Wine Advocate of the online wine tasting note scene collectible wines with a very high-end user. Cellar Tracker, easily the largest service of its kind, is more of the Wine Spectator / Wine Enthusiast audience?educated and smart while casting a wider net of inclusiveness for wine lovers. And, Corked. Well, Corked is a bit of a mystery and deserves time to develop under focused leadership, UT its not a stretch to say that their audience consists of a significant population of those Just earning their first wine merit badge. How else to explain the fact that one of the top rated wines is a Timescale dessert wine, alongside a 95 Chateau Maraud? It is ironic that these three sites represent the three different strata of customers in the wine world. And, each takes different approaches to their ongoing development strategies. Evincible is one of a myriad of services offered by wine company Finally. Evincible aids the Finally cause as a complementary vehicle for their high-end audience interested in cellar management and other wine portfolio needs, with tasting notes acting as an ancillary benefit. Credit where credit is due, Alder Yarrow, the online wine communitys most influential writer is, by day, a user-experience expert who worked on the Evincible redesign project. His combination of wine knowledge and usability expertise creates a very elegant site experience. Cellar Tracker, the grand old dame of this space, is more community and tasting notes driven with a very high-level of activity from their user base, having recently notched their one millionth tasting note. Compare to Evincible self-reported number of ASK tasting notes and you can see the wide delta in user engagement, if not quantity of users. 8 For ten exclusive use AT P Offered as a donation-based service with some premium offerings, Cellar Tracker sprung out of founder Eric Olivines desire to create exactly what he has today?an online community of wine lovers trading thoughts and notes on their bottled wine adventures. Whats lacking in elegance in design (Eries rolling out a new version sometime in the next couple of months) is made up for by depth and breadth. Corked, on the other hand, is definitely more proletariat if Evincible and Cellar Tracker are bourgeoisie. With a decidedly more common touch, Corked is re-launching with the idea of bridging the gap directly between winery and consumer. Leveraging Faceable Connect, a universal web sign-on of sorts, with direct integration into Faceable, Corked has a tremendous opportunity to tap into the very significant segment of the wine consuming public that drinks the stuff, but doesnt wax poetic with purple prose. The fact that Corked is directly integrated with Faceable also allows them to ramp up number of users very, very quickly. Heres the thing about these tasting note sites they havent been tapped for marketing from wineries, though Corked is looking to change that. Their business model is to engage wineries to setup a page on the Corked site for an annual subscription fee of $999, allowing the winery to directly engage with consumers. Its a smart move, with a lot of implications. Life Gets More Complicated I can imagine a very near future where even the most casual of wine fans is avidly logging their notes as an ongoing historical Journey of their wine adventure. And, given my belief that winery marketers will come to tasting note sites, all tasting note ties, coupled with what could be a huge expansion in people doing tasting notes online, this has me wondering what it all means. Unfortunately, people want to associate with people that are like them. Sure, I want to demystify wine and I want more people to enjoy wine because a rising tide raises all ships, however, Id prefer not to have to spend a whole lot of time around somebody who thinks Burgundy is a jug of wine, or somebody whose self-proclaimed love of wine takes them about as far as the wine aisle at Safety looking for a $7 Reselling?especially if I have a choice of where I hang out online. So, ultimately the question is this: as tasting note sites become a widespread tool in the arsenal of people who pursue their love of wine online, and wineries engage on that turf, what will ultimately happen?

Spin Drift essays

Spin Drift essays I visited the Currier Gallery of Art and I truly enjoyed myself. I had never been to an Art Gallery and only had the impression that I had received through the movies. It was as I pictured it to be, and I would go their or another gallery again. The Currier Gallery had some outstanding pieces of art, they had everything thing from giant wall paintings to small wall paintings and giant sculptures to small sculptures. They even had a room dedicated to technology; they had the old models of vacuums, a boat motor, chairs, a jukebox, and much more. But out of all the big pictures, the bright colors, the big sculptures, and the big name artists such as Picasso and Monet, the one piece by Andrew Wyeth caught my eye. It was a smaller piece with little color that held so much meaning. Andrew Wyeth is an American, who was born in 1917. This piece is Tempera on Masonite. This piece was painted in 1950 and was named Spindrift. Spindrift had an old wooden rowboat that had been used and worn-in sitting on the beach with the waves flowing to about mid boat. The ocean was a grayish color flowing onto the dark sand. There was a bucket of silverfish sitting in the floor of the boat below the seat with a hole in it. An over used ore lye in the boat, while a small black colored bird flew just above the ground past the boat. In the side of the boat you could see the reflection of the waves. Even the frame had an old sense like the picture; it looked like it was made from driftwood or possibly old wood from a boat. When looking at the picture I had my thoughts about what did it mean and stand for. It reminded me of when I was younger and would go to the beach and Mr. Stuvola, an older man, would come home from fishing. But instead of silverfish they would be flounder and everything had more color. I think that the old boat being on the dark sandy shore and the gray water hitting the boat symbolizes Andrew Wyeth ...

The love canal case Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The love canal case - Article Example By going through the case, under-examination, the first questions appears how the situation appeared at the first place. Since, toxic wastes had been buried in the trench, once specified for the canal by William J. Love, the Board and Education and the land developers must have not constructed anything on it, as their act not only destroyed the entire region, but also put hundreds of precious lives in grave jeopardy. Secondly, the governmental agencies also appear to be responsible for demolishing of houses, schools and other places built on the trench carrying fatal waste. Had they not allowed construction of the buildings at there, the area would have not witnessed spread of cancer and other diseases, along with occurrence of abnormal births in that region (Business Week, 32). Thus, the main problem is the (mis)appropriate allocation and use of the land without cleansing it for residential, educational and commercial purposes. However, since Occidental Petroleum Company had informe d about the presence of heavy toxic wastes buried while selling the land to the Niagara Falls Board of Education, in the wake of the latter’s threatening behavior, the Company did not have any responsibilities for the losses in men and material to be occurred for the future years to come. On the contrary, the Board of Education, land developers and governmental agencies are liable for the losses took place in the form of seepage and leakage of the toxic wastes. Thus, the loyalties certainly go to the Occidental Company, and the poor masses due to the very fact that the former agreed to pay heavy ransom for the loss it did not have any involvement or intention to get involved, while the latter suffered in the form of experiencing seepage, breakout of diseases, and demolishing of their residences and workplaces at large (Business Week, 33). Another important issue, appeared while

PESTEL Analysis of Alibaba Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

PESTEL Analysis of Alibaba - Assignment Example The researcher states that a number of political factors and legal issues that come up due to the government regulations affect Alibaba. In China, the political force is the most turbulent force in the electronic commerce industry in which Alibaba is a player. For instance, the ministry of information industry has guidelines on the standards of operation in e-commerce. In fact, the Chinese government has laid a lot of emphasis on the development of the e-commerce. By so doing, the ministry of information industry has an obligation of coming up with summaries on the development of technology as time goes by. For instance, it has to provide a summary of both the middle and long-term goals on the development of information technology plan. Thus, this is a major booster in the development of Alibaba since it already has the support of the government and by the fact that it is the largest company in e-commerce in China. There is no clear legal legislation on the e-commerce industry in the Chinese government. This is because the Chinese government has not dealt with the issues for long. There minimal experience in coming up with legislation like transactional security, tax and intellectual protection of business rights in the Chines government. Much worse is the fact that there are no laws written on consumer rights, privacy, and recognition of digital signatures and validation of online contracts. This is one of the major threats to the growth of Alibaba as a company. Development in a countries economy has a great impact on the operation of a particular business. For instance, fiscal and monetary policies, of employment, GDP per head, rate of inflation and the banking policies. In China, there has been a prolonged rapid growth of its economy, at the same time, there is a continued improvement on the country’s GDP per head. This is one of the major advantages of the company Alibaba since it leads to increased shopping rates by the residents. Alibaba is affecte d by the global economy because it has now spread its wings further to serve most developed and developing countries.

The Impact of Assistive Technologies as Learning and Teaching Essay Example for Free

The Impact of Assistive Technologies as Learning and Teaching Essay Traditional classrooms in which the teacher delivered content by standing before a class of students, patiently waiting to be filled, much like empty vessels, have long been noted for their inherent shortfalls in meeting the cognitive and developmental needs of each of the range of students in their care. Research has proven that such methods do not work effectively to the benefit of all learners in a classroom because each learner has specific cognitive needs that may not be met in such a situation. Theorists as recent as Howard Gardner with his multiple intelligence theory in 1989 have emphasized the point that no two children learn in the same. The implication of this is that the teacher has to incorporate a variety of teaching strategies, tools, aids and other facilities in the classroom in order to provide the students with the best possible learning environment. Moreover the challenges that students with disabilities face are in themselves several, thus it is an added strain for them to attempt to cope with traditional teaching and learning methodology. For each child in the general education system, but even more so for these special learners, instructional modes have to be adjusted to cater for the specific needs of each learner if the overall curriculum goals are to be achieved. The use of Assistive Technologies (AT) in the classroom contributes to improvements in the performance and motivation of students across subject areas. Assistive Technology refers to the range of equipment and products that a teacher can introduce to the teaching learning situation as a means of improving the capabilities of students with disabilities. Such technologies are numerous. Non electronic equipment such as picture and alphabet boards, as well as light pointers, can be introduced to the special needs classroom (Beck, 2002). Technological advancements have facilitated the development of a number of software packages that can be used to supplement the resources that the teacher already uses in the classroom. Speech synthesis and voice recognition software and other subject specific software that have been created for use in the classroom are useful tools that have the potential, when used appropriately and effectively to enhance the classroom environment. In this paper reference will be made to several specific researches that have examined the usefulness of Assistive Technologies in the general education classroom. Since most of the research was necessarily specific to students with special needs, they bear considerable relevance to meeting the needs of these specific students. The findings could, however, be easily used in a multicultural classroom where learners are of varying physical and cognitive abilities even if their disabilities are not extensive. Armed with the knowledge of these assistive technologies teachers have the potential to transform their classrooms into an environment that caters for the specific needs of all students, whether those needs come in the form of physical disabilities, cognitive, social, psychological or other peculiar needs. In this paper a number of researches conducted on the impact of the use of assistive technology in the classroom would be presented. The research discussed initially will highlight how in one classroom a teacher created material with the aid of several assistive technology tools and demonstrate the endless possibilities for their usage in the classroom. A further research will be more specific to the advantages of using individual personal computers in the classroom. Further research will demonstrate how this tool and other assistive technology, used along with other medium can improve learners’ literacy (reading, writing and speaking) and numeracy (geometry) skills. Additional research into the tools introduced into the classroom for two other specific subject areas (social studies and environmental science) will be discussed. The result of examining these researches will show that the use of assistive technology in the classroom does in fact contribute significantly to improvements in learners’ performance and motivation. The research that Beck (2002) discusses follows the progress of three-year-old students in the Preschool Education Program. The ten students observed in this case study demonstrated various physical and cognitive shortcomings. Multiple assistive technologies were used to help develop the literacy skills of these students and allowed them to participate in different learning activities eventually leading to improved performance (Beck, 2002). Beck (2002) argues that students with disabilities have more difficulty meeting their goals in literacy skills than other students in the general education system. To facilitate easier interaction in the classroom specific assistive technology tools were created and employed by the classroom teacher. One of the first daily classroom activities is modified using a piece of software a picture communication schedule. This shows the students a picture and written text of its meaning. This approach facilitated student’s reading as they were able to associate the words with the object depicted. The second type of assistive technology was implemented at the language learning center.   Class books for reading were modified and recreated into story boards. These story boards were placed in the classroom. Students could independently follow the book by examining the pictures created to match specific words. The creation of the picture boards was facilitated through the computer software Overlay Maker (Beck 2002). The BIGmack technology was also used. This allowed students to participate in group reading activities by replaying preprogrammed phrases from the book being read, while the rest of the class read aloud (Beck, 2002). Additionally through the use of Intellipics the teacher recreated stories from the class book by using pictures that include sound and animation when selected. Students were permitted five-minute rotations at a computer to practice recognition and reading independently as facilitated by the Intellipics program. Beck (2002) gives a broad assessment of students’ attitude and performance prior to using these technologies. She notes that before, students were not engaged effectively in the reading corner as they just browsed through books, making little attempt to read the pages. She observed that improved interest in reading is the most significant and pleasing result of the introduction of the assistive technologies. The success of the introduction of these equipments in the classroom, though not overly extensive is, nevertheless, informative. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the use of assistive technology in this classroom was done primarily in the form of observations, checklists and informal teacher observations. Following a rubric, students were rated on their ability to activate the switch on the BIGMack when appropriate, their ability to name and identify a picture symbol or point to a picture after hearing its corresponding word. The results showed that approximately 90% of the students activated the BIGMack switch and 80% were able to satisfactorily match picture to word. A similar 80% of students were able to correctly name the picture symbols (Beck, 2002). This clearly shows a significant improvement in student performance when the assistive technology was used. Though these observations were not very scientific they still give a good impression. Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) has become an important element in today’s classroom environment. This type of instruction is becoming a significant assistive technology tool when enhancing student learning in various subject areas. It must here be noted that most schools in the United States have a form of CAI in the classroom. The article presented by Boling Martin (2002), sought to determine the effects of CAI on the development of vocabulary on 21 first grade students from a mid-Atlantic elementary school. Ten boys and eleven girls were involved in this six week study. These students were determined to be of a low socio-economic status and had limited exposure to educational experiences outside the school. They were also of mixed ethnicity, thirteen (13) Caucasians, six (6) African-Americans, one (1) Hispanic and (1) Pakistani. The study randomly assigned students to one of two groups. One group the control group, had 10 students and the experimental group had 11 students. All students continued to receive regular reading vocabulary instruction by their teachers. During their assigned 20 minute drop everything and read (DEAR) program both groups read a total seven pre-selected stories. In the control group the story was first read to the students by the teacher, next they listened to it on tape while following in the story book, and finally they were permitted to read any preferred printed literature after the first two tasks were completed. The experimental group used a computerized story board to explore the story first with each student having access to a computer, mouse, keyboard and headphones. Students would read and follow a story independently and where unfamiliar words were met, a click on the word would give its pronunciation. The program used in this study was the WiggleWorks software that offered literacy curriculum based on a combination of speech, sounds, graphics, text and other features.   Students were also able to create word banks by clicking on a plus sign and later develop their own stories or sentences using those words (Boling Martin, 2002). Determining the success of one method over the other was dependent on the students’ performance on vocabulary tests administered before and after the commencement of the study, regardless of the assistive technology used. The results were examined using both pairs of tests. The results showed significant positive effect for both groups but students using the assistive technology software showed greater improvement in their ability to remember more vocabulary words. According to Boling Martin (2002), the experimental group gained significantly as reflected in the difference between the mean scores for the pre test 3.7 and the post test 16.9. Overall the experimental group benefited to a larger extent than the control group. The use of the computer in the learning corners in the Preschool Education program and the Computer Assisted-Instruction testify to the immutable usefulness of this piece of equipment – the computer in the classroom. Acknowledging this fact several laptop immersion programs have been initiated in a number of states across the U.S. including Maine, California, and South Carolina. The Microsoft Corporation caught on to this program in 1996. Report from these immersion programs has suggested that the incorporation of laptops in the general education system not only led to improvements in students’ motivation but have also shown increase in students’ participation and in the rate at which they complete scheduled tasks (Bulek Demirtas, 2005). While educators have been arguing about the utility of laptops in the classroom, some people have questioned the degree to which these have contributed to improvements in student performance. A study was conducted at the Harvest Park Middle School to ascertain what specific impact the use of laptops have on students overall learning, specifically on their individual class grades, grade point average, writing skills and scores on standardized and other external exams (Bulek Demirtas, 2005). This school participates in the laptop immersion program which involves parents and students first applying and then each parent is required to purchase the laptop for his/her child.   In cases where there is economic disadvantage there is the option of a one year loan of a laptop subject to application and approval. Training in the use of the computer is provided. Subsequent to that the students use their laptops independently across their specific subject areas to perform any variety of curricula-related tasks such as researching, preparing presentations, typing essays and note-taking. The school, located in Pleasanton, California has approximately 24% of its population enrolled in the program. Their grade levels range from sixth through to eighth. A representation of Asians, Filipinos, Whites and Hispanics are enrolled in the program (Bulek Demirtas, 2005). The data collected from test results of students enrolled in the laptop immersion program as compared to those not involved, shows something pretty impressive. Five categories of grades were collected for students in the program over a three year period and these were pitted against the grades obtained by students not involved in the program. Their end-of-course grades were collected for each subject and from this their G.P.A. was calculated averaging their grades for all courses taken by each student. Grades were also gathered from the district writing assessment for the sixth and eighth graders and from the California Standards Tests. For sixth and eighth graders this test is strictly multiple choice while for the seventh graders a writing test is included. The last set of grades came from a Norm-Referenced Test in which all three grade levels were tested in spelling, language, reading, and mathematics. The data reveals significant difference in the scores received for all these assessments between students involved in the program and those who were not. In the initial year not much distinction existed between grades but subsequently the laptop users began to showed marked distinction in their grades. The grades obtained by both groups for English Language Arts and Mathematics showed laptop users had higher GPA scores than non-laptop users.   Sixth grade students had a better significant score by 37 points, seventh grade students by 36 points, and eighth grade students by 16 points. The end-of-year grades for these same subject areas showed more A scores and fewer F scores than non-laptop users (Bulek Demirtas, 2005). There was a very considerable difference at the seventh grade level where students in the immersion program had 16% more A’s than non-laptop users (Bulek Demirtas, 2005).   In the eighth grade, however, there is a slight shift in statistics, non-laptop users actually received 3% more A’s than laptop users.   Overall, 90% of students in the laptop immersion program received a letter B grade or performed better in English compared to 79% among the non-laptop users (Bulek Demirtas, 2005). In the district writing assessment for sixth and eighth graders, a higher percentage of laptop-using students met or surpassed their grade level expectations by 16% in grade six and 8% in the eighth grade (Bulek Demirtas, 2005).   The study showed that students in the laptop program scored more Solid Consistency Scores, 3, than the others. In the state mandated exam, students in the laptop program scored at or above the national average in the mathematics and language arts part of the exam for all grade levels (Bulek Dermitas, 2005).   There was considerable difference also in the mathematics sixth grade category where it showed students in the immersion program had a higher percentage by 13 points. The California assessment exam also showed a significantly higher result in the scores of the laptop users compared to the non-laptop users in all grade levels.   Bulek Demirtas (2005) reveal that the laptop users scored higher by a difference of 17% in language arts and 18% in mathematics. The results obtained from the study of the Harvest Park Middle school prove that the laptop immersion program had a positive impact on student achievement (Bulek Dermitas, 2005). The potential uses of the laptop in coordination with other software and technological tools therefore present boundless opportunities for the classroom teacher to modify technique and vary delivery strategy so as to ensure improved student performance. In a study exploring the use of a word processor for teaching the academic outcomes of students with special needs that had been tested as having writing disabilities, Hetzroni and Shrieber (2004), further add merit to the argument for the use of assistive technology in the classroom. In a case study involving three 7th grade students with writing disabilities, the computer word-processing program, when used correctly, was proven to be effective in increasing their writing scores. In this study the researchers functioned under the premise that the slow completion of classroom tasks caused by weaknesses in writing skill could be compensated with the use of assistive technology tools. Three male students, aged 12 to 13 were selected for the study based on their noted learning disabilities and even though they all showed reading scores appropriate to their required age level, it was believed that poor writing skills significantly accounted for their consistent underachievement. They were also required to demonstrate basic keyboarding competence. The study aimed to compare the percentage of spelling and reading errors present in the students work at the end of each language arts and Bible class, the amount of work completed (by examining the exact number of words written) and overall organizational quality, with and without the use of a computer equipped with word processing software. The study was carried out in the two subjects specified and was conducted on the basis of two alternating phases. Phase A (separated further into A1 and A2) covered the period when the students worked independent of the computer and word processing tool. Phase B (separated further into B1 and B2) covered the period when the students were allowed to use a portable computer. The sequence of the program was in-class observation and evaluation of each student by the invigilator under phase A1, an intermediary training session for four 45 minute sessions on basic word processing followed, phase B1 was conducted involving in-class observation and evaluation of the impact of the use of the word processing tool on each student’s performance, in phase A2 the computer was removed and students had to resort to using paper and pencil/pen and then in the final phase B2 the computer was reintroduced. The results of this study proved that the three students improved their writing skills by 5%, reading skills by 3%, organization skills by 30% and decreased errors by 50% (Hetzroni Shrieber, 2004).   There was, however, no noticeable difference in the average number of words the students were able to produce when assisted by the word processor (Hetzroni Shrieber, 2004). While the sample used in this study was very small (only three) it is still important. It goes a far way in demonstrating that, because writing difficulties can impact performance, assistive tools catered to the needs of such students could potentially yield improvements in student’s performance. Even if this is only to a small degree, any improvement in students’ performance is welcomed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Given that students who have a Learning Disability (LD) have demonstrated significant weaknesses in their writing and reading skills, probably more so than any for any other skill, the use of technology must continue to be integrated in the classroom to assist students with LD’s. In a study presented by Zhang Brooks (1993) the benefits of one particular writing assistive technology, called ROBO-Writer is examined. The purpose of this article was to study the effects of ROBO-Writer as a writing tool for students with LD’s.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The study was conducted over a three month period in a mid-western school and consisted of thirty-three students classified as having a LD. These students included twenty-three male and ten female students ranging in age from 7.7 to 13.2 years in grades 2 to 6 (Zhang Brooks, 1993).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A week prior to the commencement of the study, students were requested to hand-write freely on any topic of interest. From the papers produced, students were matched based on their mechanics, organizational quality and length and placed into groups of three and then further dispersed randomly to form three distinct groups (Zhang Brooks, 1993). The groups were assigned to use three different writing tools over the three month period. One group (MS), used Microsoft’s Word Processing, the second group (RW), used the ROBO-Writer, and the third group (CT), used the traditional paper-and-pencil writing method (Zhang Brooks, 1993).   Assessment of the merits of one method over another would be dependent on the syntactical and linguistic quality of the texts produced by the students irrespective of the particular technology used during the study period. A one-week training in their assigned technology was provided for the students in the MS and RW groups. Three assignments were given initially. All students were required to produce essays on topics of interest, written during normal assigned class writing time lasting for approximately 20 minutes, using their assigned technology. Later the students had to compose and develop a story over the course of 2 weeks using eight twenty minute sessions. A week after completing this assignment they were given a third story to produce in only 20 minutes this time. The final writing assignment was done a month afterward. For this task students spent 30 minutes writing on a specified topic. Initial observation of the students revealed that the MS and CT made little attempt to revise or edit their work before submitting while the RW group were involved in editing their work using the tools available in the software. Assessment of the written work was done by graduate students enrolled in a holistic assessment seminar. The basis of assessment was a modified rubric because the students have learning disabilities (Zhang Brooks, 1993). The results of the study show that the method used to produce the tasks had a significant influence on the overall quality of the written products. The statistical results obtained from correlation of the scores reveal that there was a considerable disparity in the average performances on the last three tasks. Without exception the students in the RW group received considerably higher scores than those in the MS or CT groups (Zhang Brooks, 1993). The above studies testify to the benefits of using assistive technology in the form of special word processing software, as opposed to traditional paper and pen methods particularly for students with learning disabilities. The research discussed by Craddock and Eng (2003) broadens the scope by demonstrating that, while assistive technology could be useful, they must be catered to the specific need of each student if they are to be effective. In a study proposing to look at how assistive technology improved students’ grades and performance, Craddock Eng (2003) provided information on how assistive technology was effectively used in the classroom with students having disabilities. The study was done over a two year period but was not confined to the classroom. Students were also observed in their interaction outside of the classroom setting.   There were forty-five students with learning disabilities that participated in the study and more than 25 individuals engaged in evaluating the students during this period of time using different forms of evaluations including formal assessment, observations, and written reports (Craddock Eng, 2003). The students were selected on the basis of their special needs. These students were lacking in assistive technology that could prove beneficial. An initial evaluation was done to assess each student’s specific need (Craddock Eng, 2003).   After evaluation and approval, each student received a specific assistive technology. The range of assistive technology provided to the students included touch screens, alternate keyboards, Reading/Writing Programs, screen enlargements, and talking processors.   Subsequently the study focused on assessing whether or not the selected technology would effectively assist or had no effect on these students’ performance. Prior performance data was obtained for each student and this later formed the basis for comparison with performance after the introduction of the assistive technology. Later on, according to Craddock Eng (2003), data was collected periodically after students were capable of using the assisted technology. After students became relatively comfortable with using the technology, they were able to use their new tools to help them improve many skills in different areas such as reading, writing, and speaking. The students were formally assessed every six weeks. Since students were using different types of assisted technology and were in different classrooms, evaluations took different forms, for example, improvement in interaction was assessed for students with speech problems as they were now able to communicate with the teacher and other students using a talking processor instead of a writing pad. Other students who couldn’t write used a Word-Processor program that allowed them to type their answer or message. The evaluation of these students did not only focus on changes in their academic performance. Certain important achievements, not capable of being formally evaluated, such as their new ability to communicate with peers and teachers as never before, were quite evident (Craddock Eng, 2003).   The findings concluded that more than two-thirds of the assisted technologies provided allowed students to work, communicate, and interact in the classroom with students and teachers.   Students using a talking processor showed improvement particularly in oral exams (Craddock Eng, 2003). Those students using a Word-Processor program were able to communicate with others and increased speed in communication by typing their message. One of the most significant improvements for these students was speed in communication and response (Craddock Eng, 2003).   Students using these technologies improved their scores by over 30% because the appropriate technology allowed them to answer correctly and freely.   However, some of the findings concluded that some students did not improve in response time or student performance using the talking processor (Craddock Eng, 2003).   Some students were able to answer rapidly but their answers were incorrect.    This concluded that even if students had the appropriate assisted technology improvements on exams was not guaranteed.   These technologies were able to facilitate and improve interaction, communication, and response time as never before.   The study concludes that, besides improvement in their grades and performance, they were also observed to be better able to interact and communicate with others (Craddock Eng 2003). Most of the researches presented so far have focused primarily on the language arts program. This may suggest that assistive technology could only be useful in helping develop language skills. This, of course, is not a true picture. Three further articles expound on research of the use of assistive technology in other subjects areas, specifically social studies, mathematics and environmental science. In Funkhouser’s (2002/2003) presentation, he points out that Mathematics software is part of the growing demand on assistive technology. A thirty six week study at a large high school aimed to ascertain if student success in geometry could be improved with the introduction of assistive technology. The study aimed to compare effects of a constructivist approach to a behaviorist instructional approach using a mathematics software program as assisted technology (Funkhouser, 2002/2003). Forty nine tenth and eleventh grade student participated in the study including both males and females. Using a normal scheduling process students were divided into two groups. One was the control group and the other was the treatment group. The control group consisted of twenty-seven students and the treatment group contained twenty-two (Funkhouser, 2002/2003). Two different learning environments were created each using different textbooks one employing a constructivist and the other a behaviorist approach.   Both groups covered the same topics. However, only the treatment group used the Geometry Supposer software as assistive technology. The pre-test and a post-test evaluation of both groups, consisting of ten questions pertaining to math attitudes, student approaches, student procedures and geometric calculations performance showed that there was significant improvement in knowledge by the treatment group by a t-test value of 2.06 (Funkhouser, 2002/2003). The results on improving student attitude were not significant between both groups. However, according to Funkhouser (2002/2003), students received significant benefits from constructivist computer-assisted instruction. This next research, discussed by Boon, Burke, Fore Spencer (2006), involves the integration of technology in an effort to enhance learning in social studies classes. The researchers attempted to assess the impact of cognitive organizers, with the integration of technology, Inspiration 6 software, on increasing content-area learning for secondary students with and without disabilities in inclusive social studies classes. There were forty-nine tenth grade students who participated in the study that lasted three weeks. From this group, twenty students were classified as having a learning disability (Boon et al 2006).   This school was located in the southeast part of the United States.   A general education teacher and two special education teachers participated in the study.   The method consisted of comparing a pretest and posttest on the result of cognitive organizers opposed to traditional textbooks. The group of students was separated into two groups classified as a control group and an experimental group. Both groups used the same textbook. In addition to the text book the control group used were involved in group activities, used guided handouts, worksheets, and video presentations. The experimental group used desktop computers, disks, guided outlines, reading materials, and Inspiration 6 software (Boon et al. 2006). The teacher in this classroom was also provided with a folder containing presentations, templates, and lesson plans.   The teacher also participated in one forty-five minute training on how to use Inspiration software.   Students in this group were also trained on using the software and creating outlines, charts, webs, using the voice converter, and converting outlines into a cognitive organizer.   This software allowed them to insert photos, sound, graphics, highlight text, change backgrounds. In the experimental group, students were introduced to a new chapter and given a pretest consisting of thirty-five questions.   Students were provided with a cognitive organizer for writing the chapter’s attributes as a class guided activity.   When students finished the chapter, they were able to input all the information they wrote in an outline on the Inspiration software.   The software allowed students to transform it into a cognitive organizer and diagram (Boon et al. 2006).   Using this cognitive organizer, students were able to study the chapter’s concepts throughout the study.   At the end, the teacher administered the posttest with the exact questions as the pretest. In the control group, the students completed the same pretest as the experimental group.   Afterwards, the students read orally as a class discussing the chapter’s concepts and later completed a ten-question worksheet to review vocabulary, people, and important events (Boon et al. 2006).   Throughout the study, students watched videos, completed group activities, and read the chapter various times.   At the end, the teacher administered the same posttest as the experimental group.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Both tests administered consisted of grading each question using points from zero to two.   The same score procedure was used for students with learning disabilities.   Ã‚   The results indicated that prior to the technology intervention no major significance in scores was found.   After the technology interference, a major difference was found as students in the experimental groups scored a mean average of 52.54 compared to the 26.84 of the control group (Boon et al. 2006). Students in the experimental group also improved their scores between the pretest and posttest by 41 points.   Overall the students who use the cognitive organizers performed better that those who just used the traditional textbook instruction. The use of cognitive organizers therefore has the potential to notably improve content-area learning for students with and without disabilities (Boon et al 2006). In the third subject-specific research Chanda, Sharonda Briers (2003) discussed how technology programs implemented in a classroom of economically disadvantage students, including disabled, enhanced their performance on the subject of Environmental Science.   The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of classroom strategies involving computer use on the performance of economically disadvantaged students (Chanda, Sharonda, and Briers, 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The setting for this study was the Pennsylvania Middle school.   There were 311 students ranging from age 11 to 14 years (Chanda et al, 2003). The study was done using a quasi-experimental design meaning it included a pre-test, intervention, and post-test (Chanda et al., 2003).   Only 249 students were eventually analyzed because the other 62 missed one part of the design.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the pre test the researchers designed a 25 multiple choice exam consisting of questions dealing with Environmental Science, computer skills, and student demographics (Chanda et al, 2003).   The post test consisted of 49 multiple choice questions dealing with the same subjects.   Students had 30 minutes to complete the items. According to the Chanda et al. (2003), students had a 1 week intervention on Environmental Science using special software that allowed them to work in groups. Students worked in groups but were still tested individually. Students working together from two separate stations could take on the role of driver or navigator. The drivers in each group could control the computer program and all actions. The navigator’s purpose was to guide the driver in everything. The navigator would tell the driver what to click, where to go, and type all answer in the program. However, both students had to jointly decide on the answers working together to complete the assignments (Chanda et al, 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The post-test data concluded that students managed to improve their performance on the post-test after the evaluation due to the program based on the driver navigator method (Chanda et al, 2003). What the article fails to detail though is an explanation or depiction of the exact numbers, percentages, or data on their improvement. The students were also evaluated on the basis of gender and this produced significant results. According to the Chanda et al. (2003), when students were grouped by different gender, the males dominated the driver part and would take over the navigator part giving them less improvement on their post test. Significantly also students in the same gender had a more significant improvement on their post-tests after following their proper roles by working together to meet the objectives in the subject areas (Chanda et al, 2003). In conclusion, the special program did enhance their performance on the specific subject areas due to its driver navigator method on doing assignments and projects (Chanda et al, 2003). In their article Cramer Smith (2002) argue that the argument for the use of technology as an assistive tool is not very convincing. While they believe that the integration of technology into the classroom, not as a substitute to the traditional instructional method, but as a way of supporting the teaching learning process is useful, they do not find that there is enough evidence to support the claims that they impact student performance extensively. In an article Cramer Smith (2002) present the findings of a study assessing the effectiveness of these new forms of learning tools. The research examined whether the use of an innovative program titled â€Å"The Movie Project† designed to improve essential literacy, oral, technology and grammar skills in a fun and exciting way makes a impact on student’s productive skills. â€Å"The Movie Project† is a unit of content delivery designed by educators that seeks to have students actively involved in the productive aspects of language. At the beginning of each school year a topic is chosen for a movie and students in groups prepare a movie script, the best one voted on in class. Between January and April the entire class works on producing an eight to ten minute movie, each student vying for positions as actors, producers, camera operators etc. To complete their movie students had access to a variety of technological tools such as camcorders and computers (Cramer Smith, 2002). The research presented by Cramer Smith (2002), compares the performance of students from two schools, one actively involved in â€Å"The Movie Project† – called the Movie Project School, and the other and the other where technology was not integrated into the teaching process – called the Traditional School. The number of participants was eighty-eight and fifty five students and three and four language arts teachers respectively. Besides their use of â€Å"The Movie Project† teachers were interviewed to discuss their use and integration of technology in various aspects of the classroom. The Movie Project School was thus identified to be the most technological rich school while the Traditional School had less access to and used technology far as an assistive tool. Writing samples were collected from a randomly selected group of students from both the Movie Project and the Traditional School. Two separate sets of writing samples were collected for each student involved. One was collected at the beginning of the year and the second was collected at the end of the year. All language arts teachers at the two schools participated in the study except one in the traditional school because no beginning-of-the-year writing samples were obtained. A total of 148 writing samples were submitted by the language arts teachers, eight were used during the standardization procedure and one had to be discarded. A writing sample represents both the beginning and the end of the year work for each student. Each student’s paper was scored on the basis of the quality of the development of ideas and how well these ideas are articulated and organized (ideas, organization and voice). For each of these three areas a separate aggregated score was produced for each grade level with the scores for the beginning and the end of the year also separated. At the beginning of the school year the average scores received for students at the Movie School for ideas, organization and voice were 2.89, 2.61 and 2.81 correspondingly with a median of 3.0 across. For the Traditional School the equivalent scores were 2.46, 2.24 and 2.30. The comparative results between beginning-of-year and end-of-year samples for each student and between the Movie School and the Traditional school did not demonstrate any significant changes. The average scores for the end-of-year samples for the Movie School were 3.2 for ideas, 2.93 for organization, and 3.19 for voice. The median was again 3.0. For the Traditional School the mean scores were now 3.28, 3.08 and 2.97 and they too had a mean of 3.0 overall.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The argument put forward by Cramer Smith (2002) is clear, there is not enough empirical evidence to conclude that assistive technology dramatically increases students’ performance. They believe that the lack of success of research into the impact of assistive technology could be because it is very difficult to measure the extent to which assistive technology as isolated factors contribute to improvements in students learning. By its very name assistive technology suggests that other traditional methods are employed in the classroom as well. Cramer Smith (2002) argue that a vast number of factors can also mitigate either for or against improvement in student’s performance with the aid of assistive technology. In the research just outlined for example, it was noted that students in the Traditional School for given more writing samples to produce as well as journaling was required at least twice per week as opposed to only once per week in the Movie School. Additionally, even though in the Traditional School computers were not as prevalent, their students used technology more often than those in the Movie School.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The conclusion is that, in order to assess the overall effectiveness of assistive technologies as opposed to the traditional method, other independent variables would have to be removed as these could obscure the results in favor of one position over the other. Too many factors are at work in the classroom for this isolation to be possible. Until such a research becomes possible teachers should not, however discount the use of these technologies in the classroom. The traditional teaching methodology is ever changing and teachers are constantly pressed to develop new ideas and strategies to meet the needs of their students. Even if there is no broad consensus on the overall impact of assistive technology, the task of determining its usefulness for individual students must be left up to the teacher. It is the teacher who interacts daily with these learners. It is the teacher who can determine whether or not changes in attitude arise from exposure to assistive technologies. It is the teacher who feels rewarded when a child’s life, even if it is only one, is shown to be positively impacted when their learning disabilities are offset by the use of assistive technologies. While some of the researches presented were not specific to the learning disabled classroom, they are still of relevance. The goal should not only be to separate the learning disabled from the main stream system, but to see how best to integrate them into the regular school system. A multicultural classroom where each student is able to function effectively in the classroom, despite whatever physical, psychological or cognitive difficulties they may have, where ethnic, gender and other differences are accommodated, is the ideal. Training in the use of assistive technology cannot be only for special education teachers. All teachers, across all grade levels, must learn to incorporate these and several other technologies in the classroom so as to create the healthiest environment for student motivation and cognitive, social, psychological, physical and other forms of development.       REFERENCES    Beck, J. (2002, Nov/Dec). Emerging Literacy Through Assistive Technology. Council for Exceptional Children, 35, 44-49. Boling, C. J., Martin, M. (2002). The Effects of Computer-Assisted Instruction on First Grade Students’ Vocabulary Development. Reading Improvement, 39, 79-88. Boon, R.T., Burke, M.D., Fore, C. Spencer, V.G. (2006). The Impact of Cognitive Organizers and Technology-Based Practices to Promote Student Success in Secondary Social Studies Classrooms for Students with Learning Disabilities. Journal of Special Education Technology, 21(1), 5-15. Bulek, J. Demirtas, H. (2005, January) Learning with technology: The Impact of Laptop Use on Student Achievement. The Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment, 3 (2). Chanda E., Sharonda P., Briers G. (2003) Evaluating Classroom Strategies to Enhance Performance: Using a Computer-Assisted Program. NACTA Journal, 12, 1-5. Craddock, G. Eng, B. (2003). Satisfaction in Assistive Technology Use: Factors that Impact on Students with Disabilities, Research Results. Cognitive Processing, 4, 28-39. Cramer, S. Smith, A. (2002). Technologys Impact on Student Writing at the Middle School Level. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 1-9 Funkhouser, C. (2002/2003). The Effects of Computer-Augmented Geometry Instruction on Student Performance and Attitudes. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 35(2) 163-75. Hetzroni, O., Shrieber, B. (2004). Word Processing as an Assistive Technology Tool for Enhancing Academic Outcomes of Students with Writing Disabilities in the General Classroom. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 37(2), 143-154. Zhang, Y. Brooks, D. (1993). The Holistic Quality of Texts Created by Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities is Improved when Appropriate Computer-Based Software is Employed as the Writing Tool. Retrieved November 2, 2006, from http://dwb.unl.edu/Diss/YZhang/YZDissPaper.html