Tim has a long record in the Telemarketing and consultancy arena and was one of the first proponents of Direct Marketing in the UK as a business to business tool. At Gartner between 1998 and 2003, the world's largest IT research, measurement, consulting and event organisation, Tim was the global expert in EEC Data Privacy legislation and compliance, driving global compliance with national legislation. A good proportion of Gartner's published Data Protection Compliance research is published around Tim's work as Gartner's Chief Privacy Officer for Europe, Africa and the Middle East . He is one of Europe 's leading experts in compliance with data privacy regulations, and is in the forefront of implementing Permission Based Marketing. He publishes regular articles on Data Protection.
He tries to blog daily, and brings a unique insight to matters of Data Privacy.
Can We Take the Acoustic Emissions of Failing Materials to Power Up Self-Heal...
In the future, it is my estimation that we will have self-healing technologies for ships, aircraft, and perhaps even spacecraft. We might have them for bridges, buildings, and our important infrastructure such as dams. Let me explain at least one possible theory of how this could be made possible.
What if you had carbon nanotube like structures and inside of the carbon nano tubes you had molecules designed to attach themselves on the ends of the compounds or materials which appeared in the coating of the skin, surface, or between the layers of composite of whatever item it was that had been built. And what if you used the acoustic emissions of failing materials, those squeals, squeaks, and groaning noises that materials make just before they fail, and what if those acoustic emissions were enough to break open the carbon nanotube's nearest, allowing the self-healing compounds and molecules within the carbon nano tubes to escape.
Once these self-healing materials escaped, they would dutifully attach themselves to the nearest possible molecule that had created an opening due to the fact that they were failing and then opened up a spot on their chemical chain. In this case you would have these self-healing materials already built into the material, just waiting for a chance to go do something great, by solving a problem and preventing a tear, or repairing the tear which was occurring. In doing so it would actually make the material stronger in the place where it had ripped open.
In many regards this is similar to theories that we believe organic matter uses to heal itself. Human bones for instance, human skin, and things of this nature. Why couldn't we create such surfaces, composites, and materials? The reality is we can, it's just material science, chemistry, and manufacturing compounds on-the-fly, perhaps literally, as in healing the wing of an airplane while it is in flight because it has structural damage, or cracks in the skin.
Okay so, you ask; "can we really do that?" Yes, I believe we can, and I believe we will, and even if this isn't the exact strategy we use where we put self-healing compounds inside of buckyballs, or carbon nano tubes, or similar type nanoscale structures, you are beginning to see what is possible, and why we must pursue these technologies and science for the betterment of all mankind. It is my sincere hope you will please consider all this and think on it, and if you are a breakthrough scientists working in these matters; all the best.
Article Source: Lance Winslow
How Cell Phones Can Act As an Effective Teaching Tool?
It would be a mistake to ban cell phones in classrooms. Why? Well, researchers have found that cell phones can create the right environment for learning. Studies have also revealed that 75 percent of all kids aged between 12 and 17 carry mobile phones wherever they go. Hence, there is an urgency to allow cell phone usage in schools, colleges, and universities to foster learning amongst students.
Cell phones are cheaper than laptops and desktop computers. They are handy as well and highly portable, can be easily carried to any where you go. The emergence of camera phones has made it a lot easier to capture texts, images, and videos anytime in the classrooms. Cell phones can also be used to email important learning documents or website hyperlinks to friends and fellow classmates.
Let's discuss in detail the major advantages of using cell phones in classrooms.
Accessing the Internet
Students can access the internet to search for relevant reference materials and websites. For example, you are looking for good write-ups to prepare your life science project. In between classes or during lunch time, you can use your handset to quickly find out useful information to help complete your project work. Many schools cannot afford internet connection in the classroom. Students with mobile phones can easily work on assignments without thinking internet access.
Calculator
Almost all cell phones come with a built-in calculator that can be used to solve math problems and equations. Some software's can be downloaded for free on your cell phone to solve complex arithmetic, trigonometry, and logarithms. Therefore, you don't really need to buy a calculator and carry it to class every day, since your handset has it already.
Calendar
Mobile phones also include a calendar, which can be utilized to set reminders for examination dates or course fee dates, instantly. It becomes easier for students to store relevant memos on a single place, which means there are negligible chances of students to forget about important school events.
Parental Contact
Parents can easily stay in touch with their children during school hours if they carry a handset with them. During an emergency, such as: natural calamities, school shooting, etc. children can get in touch with their parents instantly. You can send your parents an SMS or leave them a voice mail when you need to tell them something urgently without waiting until the end of the school day. Students can also contact their parents in case they have forgotten to bring an important textbook or left notes at home.
Article Source: Jonathan Reynold
Core Controversy Surrounding Consciousness
Consciousness is the ability of nature to perceive reality and respond to it. All of us have experienced this natural ability and therefore there can't be any controversy about its existence.
However origin of consciousness is surrounded in controversy. Some say it preceded the creation of universe while others say that it came into being in the course of progressive development of nature and universe. Therefore, it is a horse and cart problem - whether the horse is before the cart or the cart is before the horse.
Matter is divided into nonliving matter and living matter. Majority of thinkers have held nonliving matter to be devoid of consciousness and it has been further held that somewhere along the path consciousness crept into matter to give rise to living matter or life. But this view does not explain origin and source of consciousness.
Majority of religious philosophers have sought to resolve this dilemma by drawing a strict line of distinction between soul and body. They say that body is different and soul is different and accordingly realization of this difference is one of the pious goals of human life. Almost all the religious philosophies except Buddhism hold that soul is eternal, different and separate from body even though residing in body and death means soul deserting the body. Buddhists preach that soul has no separate existence from body and it is all in the ensemble. However even Buddhist leave one question unanswered "Who is the designer?"
Lewes in the first volume of Problems of Life and Mind (1874) endorsed the Buddhist view. He stated that regrouping of physical motion of molecules in to chemical action lead to emergence of novelties and the same is true of vital phenomenon, social phenomenon and psychical phenomenon, there is regrouping, not the introduction of new material, above all not a casting away of old. However I wish to point out that mere regrouping is not sufficient to explain emergence of novelties (not detailed).
However Hegel in The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807) portrayed a self-actualizing universe which came to understand itself through the minds of conscious beings. Hegel noted that in human species mind evolved through discontinuous, ascending perceptive levels.
Jain philosophy recognizes ascending perceptive levels as ranging from organisms with a single sense to organisms with five senses.
Sherrington explicitly described the core controversy surrounding consciousness as two alternatives:-
"We are once more at a crucial parting of ways. And I think at bottom it comes to this. One route leads to the view that mind is emergent in the course of evolutionary history. The other path leads to the view that mind is not emergent. It is not an evolutionary stage in the natural history of the psychical correlates of physical events. It enters the world endowed with an original capacity for apprehending that world, with its several categories, through the use of sense-organs and brains, evolved to that end in a manner which it is for biologists to disclose. This apprehension is part of the mind's inherent activity which with the conduct it sub served, affords instances of a kind of causality elsewhere not to be found in nature. The two views are...irreconcilable."
Therefore, which view is correct has to be decided but direct evidence to decide the issues is inaccessible, since it is not possible to travel backward in time to the conditions that preceded creation of universe. Therefore, one has to rely upon the other two properties of truth i.e. rationality and plausibility to determine and test the truth.
For any particle to keep existence, several mandatory conditions have to be satisfied all the time. There are inherent contradictions among these mandatory conditions which need to be kept resolved all the time through appropriate tools, techniques, controls, mechanisms etc. (Existential dilemma). Hence, for existence of any particle pre-existence of appropriate tools, techniques, controls, mechanisms etc. has to necessarily precede its origin/creation.
Therefore, if we assume for the sake of discussion only that physical universe began with origin of photons, being the simplest of particles, then we find that even photons in order to keep their existence needed to conserve their energy against the tendency to energy flow in accordance with 2nd law of thermodynamics. Therefore creation of appropriate mechanism i.e. oscillating electromagnetic field and time lag to onset of entropy had to necessarily precede origin of photons. This raises a question about the agent responsible for origin of these mechanisms. The agent responsible for creation of these mechanisms can only be consciousness or is consciousness.
This view is plausible in its essence without exception with the entire evolutionary progress of physical and biological universe. It is not being detailed further herein for the sake of brevity. In short consciousness is an original property of the world endowed with capacity for apprehending the world, which is capable of resolving existential dilemma. However as the consciousness has evolved, so has the physical world. Therefore elevation of consciousness is the common thread to the evolutionary history of the world.
Summarizing all above, consciousness had to precede origin/ creation of physical universe, is embedded in its material creations and has evolved to the level of human mind in order to explicitly realize itself.
Consciousness, since origin of universe up to evolution of man has proceeded subconsciously or without self-awareness as a hidden condition behind things and events and has been described as involuntarily consciousness, since its bearer has no control over its activities but in man it has evolved to the level of awareness or voluntary consciousness permitting not only self-realization but also apprehension of the world and individual control. Therefore, it can be readily seen that in universe Involuntary Consciousness has played a much bigger role then Voluntary Consciousness. Even Sachin Tendulkar can not explicitly calculate before hitting a ball, it has to be in his subconscious.
Article Source: Mahesh C Jain
Skill Development Through Aviation Schools
If you are looking for opportunities to see the different parts of your country or the world and also wishing for high income and a lifetime of satisfaction then aviation schools could be your chance at these. Flying for the reasons that you are seeking pleasure and recreation is also another thing to be gained out of this although this may not be as cheap. North America and several parts of the world come with schools which can help you in skill development and to find the best one for your need is even easy given the free information found online.
Offers from Great Aviation Schools
Most people take flying lessons and try to finish up a number of hours in order for them to gain a professional flying license. Aviation schools come with tuition programs meant by aviation teachers to have a target of ensuring that the number of hours completed by a student also coincides with him or her already skillful enough to apply for a license.
Take note that one's skills can actually be developed through experiencing different flying conditions however requires competence as the learner's base or foundation.
Good aviation schools come with one significant asset in learning in the form of a simulator. For those who have previously learned driving in an official driving school it is so likely for them to have a similar experience when it comes to this simulator. You see, flight simulators work and operate in very similar manners only that its technology is more focused on flying. It may be expected that one gets truly nervous at first given that flying can be quite further apart from the normal driving activity. With a few hours in the simulator you can definitely get over these difficulties.
The Importance of Training Locally and With a Simulator
The experience in a simulator however is not at all being offered in all aviation schools therefore it is best that you find one with such as it could largely help you out with actual flying. Because a simulator enables you to be more at ease in operating airplane controls progress during the early actual flights can be quicker. Having such an early exposure on the simulator brings you more confidence causing the learning of actual flight rather easy. Take note though that lessons on actual flights can be quite pricey so be sure that you are prepared to address this before getting into one.
Learners aiming at having a career as commercial pilots would be able to find several aviation schools to help them. Take into consideration how spaced apart the cities in the United States are thus requiring air travel on a regular basis. Several schools for this can be found in all parts of the country and if you want some of the best ones you should try to check New York near JFK airport and Florida, places with greater opportunity for good weather aviation training. Being a beginner in flying you will truly need good visibility and weather conditions.
Choosing the Location for Prospective Aviation Schools
For advertisements of these aviation schools the internet is a good place along with bearing a significant local profile. Training locally can be cheaper because when you have to travel to other parts of the country for training surely you will need to shell out expense although one time lessons which come available would also be beneficial to your local training. The best use for this is when you are used to training in a good weathered environment and to experience other conditions becomes helpful. Search the internet for great offers from different schools.
Article Source: Jars Marley
Future of Education: Going the Online Way!
No longer is education limited to just traditional 'brick and mortar' classrooms. Right from kids to adults, everyone is going the online way as far as educathon is concerned via a series of online classes and courses. These classes are offered either by experienced independent teachers or by schools and colleges that also conduct regular classroom-based teaching.
According to a survey conducted by the Sloan Consortium, over 5.6 million students took an online class in 2011, accounting to about 30 percent of the total U.S. college students. The number of students taking online courses has definitely increased compared to the 2009 Sloan Consortium survey report that showed just negligible 10 percent of students taking such internet-based courses.
Now, what can be the reason behind the increasing popularity of online classes? Let us find out.
Flexibility of Learning
Today, students prefer to learn at their convenience. With online classes, they can easily choose their time to study and likewise schedule time for other tasks like tuitions or sports. Many students find traditional classrooms to be hectic, as they need to sit all day long attending individual classes on a continuous basis. Breaks are short and the ongoing learning process can sometimes be quiet overbearing.
Anytime, Anywhere Studying
A student can attend a class anytime and from anywhere across the world. They do not need to worry about travelling across miles to attend school or stay in hostels away from their parents for education sake. Students only need a PC with an internet connection to instantly access a wide variety of courses of their choice and interest. Even their parents can sit with them through the duration of the online class or help them with their homework, anytime of the day or night.
Course Material Accessible 24 Hours a Day
One can access the course materials 24 hours a day and 365 days a year from any remote location. Students can easily view or download relevant course materials such as course catalogs, calendar, examination forms, etc. from the online school or college website. Online classes provide students the freedom to read and refer back to notes, discussions or comments, as and when desired.
Increases Class Participation Rate
Supporters of online education have argued that student interest in attending a class increases when classes are conducted virtually. This is because online education lets the teachers and students utilize modern technology, including audio-visual components and multimedia. For example, students connect and interact with teachers online via forums or communities. They can chat, email or post their queries or questions on the online discussion board to let the teachers view and get back to them in due course.
Facilitates Team Learning
Online classrooms foster team learning. They let students connect and discuss learning topics in a virtual environment. Such virtual classes eliminate the chance of mismatched schedules, finding suitable locations, and encourage team work and group development.
Article Source: Jonathan Reynold
Why Are Schools Welcoming Cell Phones in Classrooms?
In many schools, students are checked at the entrance to see whether they are carrying a cell phone or not. The widespread ban on the usage of cell phones in classrooms is because of a number of reasons. The school administrators believe that its use is disruptive and distracting, giving access to students to talk and chat and unnecessarily focus on things not related to learning.
However, a good number of researchers have found its usage within school grounds a highly appealing prospect. The 2011 Speak Up report titled "The New 3 E's of Education: Enabled, Engaged and Empowered - How Today's Students are Leveraging Emerging Technologies for Learning," have found 64% of parents saying they would purchase a mobile device for their child's learning purpose at school.
Of course, there are a number of benefits to support the usage of cell phones by students in the classrooms.
Convenience and Flexibility
Mobile learning can be indulged into from anywhere around the globe. Many high-tech, advanced mobile phones such as: Smartphone's contain a built-in wireless internet functionality that lets you easily browse through websites, check for meanings, etc. on the internet without connecting it to your laptop or PC.
High Interactivity
Learning via cell phones encourages verbal discussions on important points in between classes. For example, you are studying about the life of Christopher Columbus and you want to know his birth date but no one in the class including your teacher has the answer. In such a situation, you can easily use your cell phone to call up a peer to get the information.
Fits Many Learning Styles
Students like to study in different ways such as: some like to read a lot while others love a hands-on approach. Cell phone learning lets such diverse groups of students easily learn and remember lessons via a series of learning styles. It allows you to read (text and graphics), check out videos, animation, presentations, contribute to discussions (via forums or SMS), and research on the internet.
Fosters Social Learning
Mobile or cell phone learning nurtures social learning in the sense you can easily communicate with peers and teachers via SMS texting, knowledge sharing via communities and forums. You can ask questions anytime, 24x7 and use the handset to interact with fellow classmates and the teachers on the move.
Enables Voice Recording
Some of the cell phones come equipped with a voice recording service that allows you to record any specific discussions and thoughts.
Cost-effective Solution
Mobile learning is a good option for many students who cannot afford to buy a PC or a laptop for improved learning. Cell phones are easy to carry and is space saving as well. It doesn't hurt your pocket, as they are relatively low on maintenance and user-friendly.
Article Source: Jonathan Reynold
Live Forever Through Death By Robot
The other day I was talking to a gentleman who wanted to use exoskeletons to help folks with damaged brains reconnect their muscle memory around those parts of the brain. The exoskeleton would do the walking, and that motion would slowly be training the individual how to walk again. Yes, that's pretty cool, and better yet all the technology exists today already, and all we have to do is plug and play, and hope these exoskeletons have batteries that last longer than your average iPad. Okay so, let's take this conversation to the next level, because there is something that I'd like to explain to you.
First, if these exoskeletons are teaching people how to walk again, and keeping track of their gait, and human mobility overall, and if each one of these exoskeletons is hooked into the Internet via Wi-Fi, and can all work together on a central computer system or set of servers, then they will learn about how human bipedal motion works, and exactly how humans move, and how they tried to move. This is very important.
Secondly, once we know this, why do you need a body in the first place? All you need is some sort of a helmet and enclosure, where you can put your brain inside, and the brainstem connected to the motion sensors for the exoskeleton. In essence what I'm suggesting is you could live forever in a robotic body, one which walked exactly how you might walk if you still have body of flesh and bone, or the organic counterpart to your new carbon nanotube stronger than steel frame.
Would you still be alive? Would you still be human? Would you be part man and part machine? Would you even care? If you had all the same abilities, were fully mobile, and perhaps only needed to sleep for a while and plug-in, you'd be good to go, wouldn't you? And if your robotic machinery were done correctly, and if some 40 or 50 years in the future we are able to take your DNA and make another organic body, we could transplant your brain back into it, if you preferred to have the organic body once again.
Yes, there would be a temporary inconvenience, but you wouldn't have to die, nor would humanity lose your information, insight, or wisdom. Everyone would win, and your relatives would not be at a loss because you are no longer with them, and none of your family or friends would ever have to die either. Indeed, I hope you will please consider the ramifications of this future and think on it from a philosophical perspective.
Article Source: Lance Winslow
Human Brain Space Robot for Long-Term Travel to the Stars - We Can Do That
There is a philosophical dilemma with sending humans on long-term spaceflight. The reality is they may not get there before their time of living has passed, and their life expectancy will be quite shortened by the fact that they are enclosed in an environment untypical of their evolutionary genetics. It is assumed that these future space travelers will continue to have offspring, who will be trained in carry out the mission. However, if that doesn't work out, the spaceship will continue on its path, but by the time it gets to its destination all the humans inside will have expired. Okay so talk about this for second shall we?
Some say it makes sense to genetically modify humans therefore, this does not become a problem. What if we could make humans 1/5 the size, therefore they wouldn't eat as much, could have larger surroundings, which would give them an advantage? What if we could take the brains of humans and put them on exoskeletons and incorporate a new life form; man and machine.
This obviously will not sit very well with those who are religiously inclined, as perhaps God wouldn't have wanted it this way.
Sure, I can understand that debate, although I am not particularly a religious person, however, if we don't solve the problem, that we can't send these humans into a long-term space mission in good conscience. Simply because we know they will not survive, and their odds of surviving, even multiple generations is not likely. It's not that we can't solve all these problems eventually, it's just that maybe if we really wish to solve these future challenges, we should be looking to future technologies, and start doing the research on them now.
Not long ago, I was talking to an individual about exoskeletons and how they were being used to help handicapped people, or folks that have lost limbs, or replace their wheelchairs so they could use bipedal motion like all of us. He seemed to believe that if we hooked all of these exoskeletons to a giant network we could indeed make them perfectly stable, balanced, and walk exactly like humans. In fact, although they would be made out of other material, perhaps even better than the original, not flesh and bones, if you didn't already know, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
What if space travelers left Earth in the next couple of decades, and we took older folks with their brain still intact, and made a human machine to do all that? What if we found a way to keep their brains at optimum, fully enclosed, and protected at all times, able to harness the wondrous miracle of stem cells, to maintain their mental acuity for a thousand years? Could any of that be possible, or are we still going to be calling these concepts science fiction for a few more decades? Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.
Article Source: Lance Winslow
Chicken Little Is Dead
Chicken Little was right! The sky is falling. Humpty Dumpty is broken! Man laid an egg that cannot be unscrambled. You can see it on his face. We have been looking to the chicken as our source; but, it has crossed the road.
Princeton, Harvard, and Yale were founded as Bible schools to prepare pastors and people to go out into the world, to love others, to conduct honest business in the market place. The design, purpose, and culture of these great schools were to prepare man to rule the planet in love and truth. The students would be equipped to govern, to teach, to care, and proclaim Truth. But, a snake hissed into the ears of learned men, "God didn't really say that."
So, we traded the best for second best. We traded Truth for a lie. We traded prayer for pornography and love for lust. We gave up guidance for control and need for greed. We traded sweet for bitter and light for darkness.
We accepted man's ethical values instead of God's moral values. We replaced God's will with man's will and now we have the audacity to blame God.
Today, prayers in schools are silent, spiking just before tests. The day our educational system kicked prayer out of the schools, the system and grades started a steep downward spiral.
Incompetent amateurs are playing out on the world stage the final act, the epic production of human failure. Everything seems to be crashing and burning. The world is coming apart at the seam and there's no zipper. Earthquakes, beyond the Richter scale, are crumbling giant corporations and world governments. Will any structure be spared the economic crumbling? The sky is falling. Infighting and rocket launching into neighboring territories are leaving region after region in devastation of rubble. Whole countries are bankrupt and the world economy has nowhere to turn but to prey on each other.
Why? Why, if there is a loving God, would He allow chaos that lets the world crumble, governments to fail, corporations to go bankrupt, families to fall part, and children to suffer? Don't blame God, it was man who spoke our current chaos into being.
The deafening sound of toppling structures reverberate around the world as governments, corporations, educational systems, medical systems, and families fail. The finger pointing of blame is in every direction. Governments blame corporations. Corporations blame the government. The systems blame each other. The educational system blames the family. The parents blame the children. The children blame the parents. The father and mother blame each other. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the snake. And, the snake didn't have a leg to stand on. But, then neither did Adam or Eve or you. You cannot blame the snake, your parents, your teachers, your boss, your church, or your government. It's time you stand up on your own legs and take responsibility.
When a child honors father and mother even when they don't deserve to be honored, something great comes out of that. When the mother honors the father even when he doesn't deserve it, something great comes out of that. When fathers turn to Almighty God, something really great comes out of that and the world will be righted. As families turn to the Creator, the educational system will come into order. As the educational system turns to the King of the Universe, the corporations, medical systems, and governments will be righted.
The adults have failed the planet. Flailing amateurs as an incompetent baby contemplating a mobile dangling above its crib, slap it into greater chaos. Perhaps it is time for a child to lead. Listen to the cries of the children! Not listening to the cries of the children is what got us in this mess. Not seeing the value of another life is what got us into this mess.
Here's good news. The kingdoms of this world WILL become the Kingdom of our Lord. The world will be turned right side up after it has crashed and burned. From those ashes will arise a people who care for and help each other. The students will again be equipped to govern, to teach, to care, and to proclaim Truth.
Article Source: JC Spencer
Can We Build Space Ships to Surf a Sun's Boundary Layer to Refuel and be On T...
As a futurist, and the coordinator for a think tank which happens to operate online, we often go out of our way to find the latest and greatest new technological gadgets being produced. In fact, some people are news junkies, but I am a technology junkie through and through. Another hobby of mine, in the search of new innovative ideas to propel the future of mankind is to continually partake in science fiction. Okay so let's talk about this for second shall we?
You see, yesterday's science fiction is today's realities, today's technology if you will. In fact, DARPA recently sent out a tweet asking people which technologies in what science fiction movies would folks like to see come to fruition, as in what should they work on next. This might sound like a bold statement, but considering all the wins DARPA has had with their various challenges, they have brought forth incredible technologies, they know no bounds, and they aren't afraid of the future, they are busy creating it.
Yes, that's a rather bold way to play it, but I would submit to you that it is the right way to attack this problem. Now then, along with this science fiction venue, I think we should also add UFO conspiracy theories to it. We all know that most of the stuff we hear is bunk, but we need to imagine future propulsion systems, and perhaps we can create some of the technologies involved in some of these conspiracies. There was an interesting UFO Video posted to YouTube on June 19, 2012 titled; "Massive UFO Re-fueling at the SUN!"
Yes, another YouTube viral video. And yet, doesn't that make sense? Wouldn't it be great to build a spaceship which could skim the surface of the sun, collect unused hydrogen fuel, use some sort of heat exchanger, and use all of that energy it collected to travel the solar system, perhaps beyond? Interestingly enough, there have been science fiction stories that have had such concepts discussed. Did you know that we are sending probes, and a manned mission to an asteroid?
Did you know that asteroids have continuous out gases? Why couldn't a probe or manned spaceship attach itself to an asteroid, hitch a ride for a while, collect all those out gases for fuel, and then when it got close to a new trajectory point, merely propel itself to its next intended location. Actually, nothing would stop us from using this concept, nor the concept that was discussed in the conspiracy theory UFO viral video on YouTube. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.
Article Source: Lance Winslow
What Are the 7 Laws of Adult Learning?
Organizations should unite to take a different approach when teaching the adults. They need to understand the learning strategies, which are appropriate for these adult learners. Malcolm S. Knowles is known for adopting the theory of "Andragogy" ("andra" meaning "man or adult"). According to Knowles, teaching an adult is different from teaching a child since the maturity levels between the two age groups differ largely.
Anyways, coming back to the laws of adult learning, let us discuss them one by one.
Law of Previous Experience
Adults are generally experienced, possessing a high degree of knowledge about the real world. Hence, training programs should be framed in such a way that incorporates new learning with links to the learner's experiences.
Law of Relevance
Organizers should design courses in terms of its relevance with the trainee's life and work. You can include multimedia elements and role-plays to increase connections between the learning situation and real world.
Law of Self-direction
Adults are generally self-directed. Hence, instructors should try to engage the attendees with the training process rather than just lecturing on the topic of discussion. Moreover, mature students prefer to get involved with the training or learning situation rather than just sit back listening to idle lectures.
Law of Expectations
Adults have many expectations from a meeting, conference or a training program. They will not attend events that have no elements of satisfying their needs. Similarly, they will participate in a specific class or event with the mission to fulfill their demands and business objectives. As a trainer, you should plan and execute a program leading to maximum attendee satisfaction and ROI.
Law of Active Learning
Adults love active learning. Therefore, you can include audio-visual and multimedia elements to make the learning process highly interesting than just organizing mere reading or passive listening to lectures. Many organizations that host onsite as well as online educational classes or corporate training programs include text chats, online forums, etc. to discuss and share website links, videos, and images with the learners.
Law of Practice and Feedback
Adult students like to do homework and repeatedly practice things they have recently learned. They also wish to get relevant feedback and participate in polls or Q&A sessions to gain in-depth knowledge about new concepts discussed in during lessons.
Law of Individual Differences
Each individual has his own learning style. Keeping this in mind, instructors should prepare the learning sessions accordingly to satisfy the needs of all participants. An overall, general learning strategy may not be successful when teaching a class full of heterogeneous people.
Article Source: Jonathan Reynold
Is Tenure Eroding Our Education System?
A recent classroom discussion during one of my MBA classes got me thinking about the idea of tenured professors' place amongst college and universities. Tenure can be obtained after a junior or assistant professor proves his or her worthiness through their work in research publications, teaching, or academic service amongst other criteria. If granted tenure, one acquires unlimited job security which so many of us can only dream about. Outside of extreme circumstances, a professor can hold onto their position for the duration of their lifetime as long as they meet the institutions minimal requirements for teaching, research, and service. How is it that such a generous job perk came to be? Tenure was initially introduced in the 19th century as a way to protect professors from exploring research topics that may have proved to be controversial; mainly those that interfered with religious principles. Tenure allowed for academics to pioneer research topics not previously considered, ensuring that research not become subject to conformity.
A doctrine designed to provide protection, tenure is now compromising the education of students, along with the reputation and mission of academic institutions.
Lifetime job security can create an environment where professors may not be motivated to provide their best level of instruction. Inadequate instruction can lead to a decreased reputation for an institution which in turn could lead to a reduction in the number of applicants. If the schools are not receiving a large enough pool of applicants, than the acceptance requirements will be lessened which will further diminishing the reputation of the institution. Outside of the classroom, professors may not find the motivation to improve their department or curriculum because they don't receive any additional financial compensation to do so. What develops is something known as the free rider problem. The biggest deterrents of the free rider problem would be their own self conscience, reputation, and pressure from other colleagues. Professors are willing to do the minimum because there are no severe consequences to do otherwise. This can lead to incompetent professors that think of their own self-interest instead of the education of the next generation. This idea is exemplified by a professor of physics that I read about from the University of California at Berkeley. After receiving his tenure in 1962, Charles Schwartz stopped work on physics and began researching the relationship between science and warfare. Mr. Schwartz was denied increased earnings, but his tenure allowed him to continue his work outside of physics.
Professors such as Mr. Schwartz create this free rider dilemma were they rely on their colleagues to maintain the department, and revamp or improve the curriculum to keep up with the times. This free rider problem also negatively impacts the junior or associate professors. Sometimes to allow themselves more research time, tenured professors delegate a majority of the teaching to the non-tenured professors. These non-tenured professors may feel inclined to comply with the wishes of their superiors in hopes that they will receive favorable consideration when their own name comes up for tenure. These "adjunct" professors may be taking on close to a full load of classes while being compensated at a fraction of what tenured professors make. This also means the students are receiving their education from far less experienced instructors. Some statistics estimate that with community colleges included, adjunct professors make up as much as 70% of the teaching force in the United States. Studies have also indicated that a 10% increase in part-time instructors leads to a 3% drop in graduation rates.
What can be done to correct some of the inefficiencies that can come about as a result of free riding professors? A possible suggestion is to consider short term-contracts with professors. For example, after a three or five year time period, the professor could be re-evaluated to see if the contract should be renewed; similar to being re-elected to office. Student evaluations should potentially play a larger role in determining the performance of a professor; after all they are the paying customers of the education. Additional peer evaluations should play a role in determining whether or not a professor is fulfilling the duties of his or her job. Critics may argue that tenure is what enables universities to attract and retain professors who may otherwise have considered other higher paying job opportunities. My answer to these critics is they need to put the interest of the students first, and protect the mission of the academic institutions. These institutions were formed to educate and to explore new academic boundaries. The current structure needs to be examined so that the goals of the instructors become congruent with the goals of the institutions they represent.
Article Source: Patrick O Krieg
Human-Machine Astronauts for Long-Term Space Flight and Mental Space Ship Con...
If we use a human brain with a robotic body as our futuristic model for an astronaut then what decision choices would it be making to control the space craft and ensure it continues its mission? Further what must it be able to do once it gets to wherever it is going? What data will it collect as it goes? What should it do with this information it gets, and will it modify its mission just as the Star Ship USS Enterprise did in Roddenberry's famous Star Trek? Okay so, let's talk shall we?
While discussing this concept with an acquaintance as a Sci Fi topic he mentioned the technology now used in electronic gaming which is using the brain to direct the computer game's characters. "Brain Reading" is one strategy they are now using which so far can do simple things such as "get up" or "start walking" or turn left or right. These things are also done with those with missing limbs to control prosthesis.
Interesting yes? But simple controls like that don't take a whole human brain, so if that's all we need we could use a bird's brain, or that of a small smart rodent, or tiny monkey like tree shrew. If we do use a human brain, well, it would seem to me that we need an outlet for thought recording, etc. otherwise the individual brain would be collecting information, but have no use for it, therefore it would stop remembering that, including the thoughts, and ideas that it had.
It needs interaction, even if it is only controlling things in a similar way as a computer game does. What if we could make the microsatellites a 1 foot box, and use a mouse brain, or 1/5 of a mouse brain? Or perhaps we could grow a new brain using stem cells, and if you only wish to go up, go down, stand up, walk forward, or press a button, that you don't really need a human brain at all. Further, consider if you will that if we use human brains, or even human brain cells, that anyone who is a religious person will stand up and scream bloody murder.
After all, humans scientists should not play God, as that's for God to do, at least that is what the major religions of the world believe which will turn out to be a major stumbling block if we try to take this research forward, especially if we determine that it makes sense to use government funding to move forward the science, regardless of what the benefits might be to humanity, or what we might learn doing so. Indeed I hope you will consider all this and think about it.
Article Source: Lance Winslow
Enclosed Human Brains in an Exoskeleton - Can Human-Machines Handle Long-Term...
If we put human brains into an exoskeleton, can that strategy be used to travel to the stars? Yes, I am talking about long term space flight using a futuristic human-machine combination. Okay so, let's talk about this, because not long ago, I was discussing all this with an acquaintance. We discussed this in a purely Sci Fi setting or perhaps 50 years in the future, once we create human-brain interfaces for thought-swapping, and coupling the current technology enabling humans with lost limbs to control their prosthesis devices with thought alone.
If we create such a strategy for future astronauts, as humans will have a challenge traveling for 100s of years through space, then how big should these human-machines need to be? Well, my acquaintance suggests the same size as normal bodies might be best? Perhaps, and that makes a lot of sense, still consider this; basically you need a reliable power system, blood filter, and nutrient delivery system. That would not require an apparatus as large as the human body, just a sturdy platform for mobility.
If we make it very small, we can also make the spaceships very small, this would mean to break the gravity well of Earth as we blasted into space would be small, meaning more supplies for a much longer flight. The actual living quarters could remain the size of a small capsule, but there would be plenty of room for everything. Indeed, we could build a small exoskeleton which would be four-legged, and look something like a turtle, housing the brain in a sophisticated helmet system. That might actually be a better design. As far as being different dimensions I'm not worried about that, as it would be relative, smaller size, smaller environment, think about a doll house of GI Joe toy.
Also the Brain would not have the same organic sensors anymore. No tongue for taste, no nerve endings and because we're also going to change all the sensors it wouldn't perceive the size of the interior of the ship the way my acquaintance has suggested, at least I don't think it would, or it would just have to adapt, which might take 3-4 days, the mind is very fast at adapting, studies show for instance a person can wear goggles that see everything upside down and adapt in a day or so, then when you take them off it takes a day or so to revert back. Also, organic eyes are quite sensitive to radiation for long-term spaceflight, so they are a weak link we can't use them. The need for smell isn't so serious, and the spaceship and have devices to warned of various poison gases or anything like that.
We can build haptic sensors on just about any robot platform, whether it walks on feet, or roles on wheels. A brain that has most of its body controlled by other types of sensors, would mean that it doesn't need such a large brain capacity to run its body, therefore it has a lot of extra space and capacity for other things, other tasks things like language, mathematics, and deep thinking in the spatial part of the brain. And who says we can't create a brain with a larger cavity or helmet, allowing the brain to grow bigger, or slightly modify the DNA so they can allow it cells divide a few more times making it extremely smart.
The human brain has evolved to what it needs to survive, if there were other requirements, it would be bigger, and the body would be bigger to help supply it with the calories it needs, and it might become much fiercer so it can hunt down what it needed to power up that larger brain. Obviously, this entire topic might be too much for many people to consider, especially folks coming from a religious background. Nevertheless, the challenges of long-term space flight are so great, that we need to consider all options, so please consider all this and think on it.
Article Source: Lance Winslow
Can We Use Space Travel and Space Colonies to Unite Humankind and Prevent Wars?
The other day, I was speaking to an acquaintance about some real world challenges we have where humans of various nations seem to want to control other nations, or settle disputes, often trivial ones by way of force; war for instance. That's a bummer, and for such an intelligent species wars seem like a not so smart activity. However, we all know that the best way to unite groups is when they have a common challenge. This seems to work for all species on the planet. Did you know when there is a terrible storm animals of prey and predators, or normally deadly competitors will hold up in the same cave or safe haven until the danger has passed, normally they'd have tried to kill one another. Also, humans do this too, when two groups unite to fight a bigger enemy; "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" motif, or when there are natural disasters, humans band together in that common cause, something I was reminded of by my acquaintance.
Ronald Reagan once postulated that if humans had a bigger threat perhaps from an alien species, they'd stop fighting each other and join together to defeat the bigger challenge to the future of the human race. Also, we've joined in space exploration with many nations to share technology rather than building weapons of war to fight each other. So, as my acquaintance said, maybe space colonies and long-term space travel would solve that problem. Roddenberry, Sagan, Hawkings, and Arthur C. Clarke all had considered this. Indeed, sharing space technology, or the technology at CERN is something that humanity can do together, and it opens communications for a higher purpose. The Council on Foreign Relations had also talked of sharing technology to do an off-world project, and who knows maybe private space flight could help towards that as well. NASA has done a great job with the "International" Space Station. The biggest obstacle of course is the dual-use technology with rocketry which can also be used for ICBM nuclear weapons. With rogue nations in the world, you can understand how the "trust" factor isn't always there. If we can trust each other, we can do this, and in the process eliminate future wars and turn the competition humans often exhibit in war to competition for future technology in space exploration. Indeed, I surely hope the human race can get beyond all this nonsense so we can make it so. Please consider all this.
Article Source: Lance Winslow
Complete list of Bloggers featured by Compliance and Privacy:
Please note: Blogs contain items that are the responsibility of the author and are presented "as is" with no endorsement from, nor editing by, nor approval from complianceandprivacy.com. The copyright owner for the blog items is that of the originator of the item. Each blog item is reproduced from the relevant feed from the originating blog, either in full or in part as that feed itself determines. All blog item header links lead directly to those items on the original blog. Blogs are dynamic. We offer them in good faith, but, where the content is outside our control we cannot be responsible for their errors, omissions or other conduct. Some of the links on this page remain on this site, others go to other sites; that is the nature of a blog. When you leave this site you are encouraged to be aware of the privacy policy of the new site before leaving personal data there.
This site is independent of all its sources
The contents of the site are sourced from across the industry. All copyrights are acknowledged.
