PROJECT TITLE
An investigation into the effects of DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES on US PRINTING INDUSTRY

1.INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
*emergence of digital technology in the us printing industry
*challenges
? compare and contrast different authors' views on an issue
? group authors who draw similar conclusions
? criticise aspects of methodology
? note areas in which authors are in disagreement
? highlight gaps in research
? show how your study relates to previous studies
? show how your study relates to the literature in general
? conclude by summarising what the literature says

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
(primary or secondary) with proof

CHAPTER 3: RESULT AND FINDINGS

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION & FUTURE RESEARCH

REFERENCE & BIBLIOGRAPHY

Is digital technology a "natural" consequence or product of human evolution?

Argue this question and give examples (images) in your field of study (Jewellery Design) to validate your reasoning.

Use the two supplied readings and an additional two reputable academic sources of your choice.

In-text referencing is of utmost importance.

1. Early sound in films,early experiments
2. Crucial innovations and Commercialization of sound cinema in the U.S , Europe and Japan
3. Sound design,the introduction of sound designers in Cinematography
4. Modern sound recording technologies in films and Digital Technology

Paper Question is : Will digital knowledge open new horizons for human art of thinking and creating knowledge? (Belisle 2006, p.55).
Consider Belisle's question with reference to both

. the possibilities which digital technologies offer for knowledge and

. Some possible problems or draw backs which digital technologies might pose for knowledge.

Please answer each question and write inline citations. List references.

1. Job Specialization
Given the challenges organizations face in a dynamically changing marketplace, identify and discuss the key issues associated with linking organizational design and structural decisions to strategic fits, outcomes, and goals.

2.Resistance to Change
Successful organizations often go through a series of planned changes. How do you define the term planned change? Give an example of a planned change. Can unplanned change be good for an organization? Explain

3. Technology and Art
We normally think of the arts as very different from technologies in spite of the fact that art (with perhaps a few exceptions) is practiced with the help of technology. This practice creates interdependence between technology and art. To what extent does art respond to, or is shaped by, the technology that enables it? To what extent have advanced and accessible digital technologies, such as websites, digital photography, and YouTube, changed the relationship between art and technology? Are these technologies reshaping our attitudes toward artists?

4. Digital Technologies
With the introduction of computer-generated animated films (CGI), there has been much discussion of the impact on the movie industry. For example, illustrators need to have different skill sets. Have story lines and musical scores changed in these films? What impact does the emphasis on special effects have on plot and character development?

Request for Celeste! No other writers take.

Context of the problem
The first thing that one notices is that most of the finance and funds donated by the state governments, parent and/or other agencies, have been invested in the purchase of computers and other technologies within the field of education and hence has increased the use and dependence on Internet over the past ten years as well in the United States alone. A rough estimate of student accessibility to computers is that nearly 95% of the public schools utilize computers, although this figure also includes public school where computers are used solely for administrative purposes as well. However, another report showed that 75% of the total public schools in the U.S. have a computer setup for utilization as a medium of instruction. An alternative way that student accessibility to computers can be calculated is by calculating the total amount of students that are using the instructional computers setup in a classroom. Many researchers have conducted numerous studies on this and concluded that the number of student accessibility calculated like this has progressively and considerably increased over the past decade (Coffman, 2007).
According to Castells (2001) a realistically efficient and practical way for the efficient utilization of technology within schools has to allow a maximum of 4 to 5 student per computer and this target has yet to be achieved. Other researchers also concluded that the level of poverty in schools had no effect on the percentage of access that the students had to the computers.
Another important statistic developed over the last decade is that the accessibility to and the use of Internet has seen a steady and steep rise amongst the school-going students. In fact, research showed that at least in 95% of the schools a minimum of one computer had Internet access. To verify this figure, it is important that the examiners also study the number of schools that allow an instructional computer with Internet access within a classroom. Of course, there has been a high rise in this particular number as well and by the end of last millennium almost two-thirds of all classrooms in public schools had an instructional computer with Internet access. The percentage of all classrooms has also increased from 63% to 90% when one includes the additional accessibility of 28% to 30% that the students have outside of the instructional classrooms i.e. in computer labs (Appelman, 2005).
Jonassen (2004) asserts that the problem with the rise in accessibility of the Internet has practically been ineffective to decrease the unequal distribution percentage of students within classrooms. The level of accessibility to classrooms and school criteria in the extremely poor school districts and well-off school districts has improved significantly with time but the difference in the general percentage of allocation is still very obvious. The fact of the matter is that the difference in the level of accessibility to the Internet access is steadily and steeply increasing between the extremely poor school districts and those that are well-off. The difference was shown in one of the reports where the well-off districts had a total of 7 students for every instructional computer while the extremely poor school districts had a whopping of 16 students for every instructional computer (Jonassen, 2004).
All of these findings and conclusions have shown that while the use of technology and student access has steadily increased over the last ten years, the digital divide still exists. The credit for most of the advancements made in the instalments of technology in the educational sphere goes to the attention that the federal government has given to the topic through the expansion and employment of numerous financial aid agendas and technology literacy challenge funding. The efforts of the federal government have been thoroughly and extensively backed up by fiscal funds given by the numerous states, districts, businesses, and parents. However, the social and financial status of the districts determines the level of accessibility that the students are allowed to both computers and the Internet (Jonassen, 2004).
The focus of most studies has been on how and where the students are given access to the Internet, yet there are very few studies that have actually focused on what the Internet is used for by the students once they gain access to it. A survey concluded that more than 50% of the students in the U.S. were using both the computers as well as the Internet facilities more than a few times on a weekly basis. The amazing statistic in this report was that there was minimal difference between the students going to poor school districts and those going to well-off school districts. Again, this report only shows that a large amount of the students in the U.S. use the Internet yet this report too does not focus on what they use it for (Castells, 2001).
One of the main concerns in this technology-driven world is that most of the teachers do not use technology available to enhance the educational domain of the students; in fact, they do not know how to use technology for that purpose. In one study researchers explained that mainly the use of computers within the classroom setting still reflected the conventional mediums and standards of education which basically means that the students use the computer to enhance their skills of office tools, use the dictionaries available on the computer or mainly familiarize themselves with the general functions of the technology (Castells, 2001).
Jonassen (2004) asserts that this particular way of utilizing the computer, even though, does allow students to expand their computational abilities but are more or less useless when considering how much they actually help in the development of their learning curves. Another important fact is that the social and financial standing of the school also determines the way in which Internet is mostly used by the students. For example, the students studying in a poor school district are more likely to use the Internet for more constructive and sophisticated educational purposes like constructing slides for presentations, etc. Whereas, in contrast, the students that are studying in well-off school districts are more likely to use technology for the mastering skills they have just been taught and discovering to study without-help (Jonassen, 2004).
Effectiveness of digital technology
The most common instructional setting that is used in schools and that is technologically-oriented is the computer-based instruction (CBI). The CBI has now been effectively used for almost 35 years in school districts. The computer-aided instruction (CAI) is perhaps the most popular CBI used in schools. The CAI usually presents the student with short reading materials and then asks them relevant questions that will help it understand how much the student has been able to comprehend the piece of writing. Most of the time the answers are in the multiple-choice or true or false format so that it is easy for the computer to assess the answers and present an accurate evaluation of the students understanding as well as give suggestions on how to design a more challenging and suitable test in the future (Jonassen, 2004).
Over the past 15-20 years one can see numerous statistical studies that have focused on the use and effects of the CBI in a school setting. Kulik (1994), in his work took on the task of condensing the results of 97 separate quantitative surveys that were conducted in different lower, secondary and higher schools. All of these studies concentrated on the effect on the academics and achievements of the students who studied under the CBI mode and compared them to the effect on the academics and achievements of the students who did not study under the CBI mode. His conclusion was that those who studied under the CBI mode developed more quickly and were more efficient as well as attained higher academic scores then those who studied in the conventional format of education.
Kulik, in his stdy, also included another angle when assessing the effect of the CBI mode. He identified the varying sample sizes that were used in the studies that assessed the effects of the CBI mode. The effect of the CAI applications like that of tutoring tactics and drill-and-practice tactics amongst others showed extremely high percentage rates. Kulik and Kulik (1991) in one of their prior studies also concluded the CAI programs were more useful to the students who went to the poorer school districts as opposed to the ones who went the school districts that were well-off.
Kulik (1994) analyzed numerous other statistical surveys that were carried out on other technologies that were used in a school setting to have a comparison scale on the efficiencies of the use of computers. He concluded that the tutoring done through the use of computers was far more effective when it was teamed up with mastery learning, classes for gifted and peer and cross-age tutoring. The combination of computer tutoring and accelerated learning had by far the most significant effect of all. Jonassen (2004) asserts that all the technological advancements that are still being made in this domain however can render some of the conclusion of Kulik insufficient. Hence it is safe to conclude that the comparative and associative benefits of the CAI are only bound to increase in the future.
Jonassen (2004) confirmed the conclusions made by Kulik and asserted that there has been evidence presented in other studies that suggest that technology has it benefits outside the realm of education as well. Studies have concluded that the effective and successful use of technology helps in developing the students incentive to work, enthusiasm, class ethics as well as self-confidence and personal worth in both a social and business environment (e.g., attendance and time-on-task). Other researches have also highlighted the positive changes that can occur within a classroom ambience with the employment and use of technologies (Jonassen, 2004).
To sum it up, there is theoretical and practical evidence available in numerous researches that suggest that the use of technology as a medium of instruction in educational settings has, more or less, progressed constructively and is going to continue to do so provided it is given the right attention. The CBI and CAI programs when employed appropriately have shown reliable signs for constructive growth of fundamental abilities especially for students who are studying in poorer school districts. The CBI has also shown vastly obvious and lucrative outcomes in numerous other education-related fields like associative or collaborative activities, tutoring, designing and constructing projects. In some cases, the use of CBI has also resulted in expanding the students superior or intricate thought processes, increase incentives, make them more enthusiastic, help in the development of social ethics, and make them more innovative and adaptive to the situations amongst many other things (Jonassen, 2004).
In spite of the criticisms and conclusions made in different research studies, the use of technology, computers and Internet as a medium of instruction will grow to become extensive within the U.S. schools. To achieve this however, the use of technology and the attentions given to this sector will need to be consistent and experimental from both the federal and state organizations as well as other service providers and efforts will have to be made so that the students going to different socioeconomic schools will not face drastically different access or facilities. Nonetheless, the most discouraging factor is how the technology is currently being used in schools, particularly in the poorer African American districts. It is a known fact that there are a handful of teachers who can actually employ technology in a way that will be educationally beneficial. This basically means that these teachers will be highly in demand in numerous schools districts and will get employment in well-off school districts as their personal financial and peripheral demands will most likely be met there; leaving the AA districts at the hands of lowly skilled teachers.
Statement of the Problem
In the 1990s the term digital divide had been conceived primarily to describe the gap between people who had access to digital and information technology and for those who did not have access or had limited access to digital resources (Wikipedia, 2007). This study will attempt to identify if the digital divide can be attributed to race or socioeconomic issues. All students should have adequate access to the Internet as well as any other information technology tools that 67% of their White counterparts have access to. One major disadvantage of students not having access to these resources is for educational purposes as well as employment opportunities.
Research Questions
The aim of this study is to investigate the effects that the digital divide has on students access to digital resources and educational opportunities in todays society. The general purpose of this study is captured in the overarching research questions:
1. What effects does the digital divide have on access to technology resources and educational opportunities over the last decade?
2. What effects do lack of access to digital resources?
3. What programs are available to help improve access to digital resources?
Significance of the study
The significance of this study is that there is a digital divide for many African American students. Access to digital resources is paramount to the growth of the African American community. This community itself is key to helping their students graduate from high school prepared for college. The educational community can benefit from this study as well, form a better understanding of the needs of AA students to assist in providing access to these digital resources. Students are one of the largest users of the Internet today. Since students are as ethnically diverse as the information on the Internet, access to its digital resources for all students should be examined to try to remove all racial and socioeconomic barriers. The educational community can guide the AA community regarding the importance of technology and access to digital resources for their students.
It is important to note that several research studies related to access to digital resources have been carried out. Similarly, research studies on the effectiveness of current programs aimed at closing these gaps have also been published. However, no research has focused on evaluating the effects that the digital divide has on AA students access to digital resources and educational opportunities. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring the effects that the digital divide has on students access to digital resources and educational opportunities in todays society.
Moreover, this study offers several theoretical contributions as well. Common systematic and functional issues have become increasingly vital as schools move from comparatively simple teaching methods, to complicated multi-channel communication and teaching models. In addition, the collective forces of demography, technology, control, as well as, globalization have been pushing educational organizations, all over the world, to change their systems so as to keep pace with the ever changing world (Bartley and Golek, 2004). In this context, exploring the effects that the digital divide has on students access to digital resources has been a neglected topic. This study will shed light on this vital subject.
Lastly, an examination of the use of technology in education is quite significant. More specifically, many problems appear in the application of technology in educational activities especially within classrooms while the response of governments worldwide is too slow and limited. On the other hand, it seems that the participants in the educational arena especially teachers do not have the required competency and willingness to use technology for the improvement of students performance. Perhps teachers are under the assumption that the intervention of technology within the classroom will do little to improve student participation in educational activities, which as some studies point out, is a wrong assumption to make. For these reasons, this study is important to teachers and students.

There are faxes for this order.

Reading Below, No Faxes!

The essay should have 2 parts: first, a SUMMARY of the reading, its main arguments. (About 1/3 of the essay) Second:a RESPONSE to the reading. Consider whether you like the text or not, if you find the argument valid or invalid, whether you agree with the authors conclusions or not. You may explain why you like or dislike the text but you must provide sophisticated and argumentative reasons. (About 2/3)
========================

In early July 2006 the government of North Korea tested a long-range ballistic missile that was supposed to be able to deliver a nuclear warhead as far as Alaska. The missile test did not go well for North Korea. The long-range missile fell into the sea just minutes after launch. 1 President George W. Bush's reaction to the news of the test was to boast that the freshly deployed (albeit limited) U.S. missile defense system would most likely have been able to protect the western continental United States from such a missile. "Yes, I think we had a reasonable chance of shooting [the North Korean missile] down," Bush said at a news conference in Chicago two days after the failed Korean test. "At least that's what the military commanders told me." 2 Just the day before, Bush had reinforced his commitment to a missile defense system. "Because I think it's in~{!*~}I know it's in~{!*~}our interests to make sure that we're never in a position where somebody can blackmail us," Bush sa
id at a news conference in Washington, D.C., after meeting with Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper. "And so we'll continue to invest and spend. And since this issue first came up, we've made a lot of progress on how to~{!*~}toward having an effective system. And it's in our interest that we continue to work along these lines." 3

In these statements, Bush expressed a dangerous level of faith in an unproven technology. Since a missile-defense system first emerged as a vision of President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, the U.S. government has spent from $2 billion to $10 billion dollars per year on various systems that would track intercontinental ballistic missiles through the stratosphere and send small intercepting vehicles up to disable or destroy the incoming warhead. This plan gathered enough enthusiasm among defense contractors to justify development and experimentation for more than a decade, despite the ease with which any potential attacker could simply evade even the best system (overwhelming the defense with "dummy" or multiple warheads, shifting warheads to low-flying cruise missiles, relying instead on human carriers to deliver warheads in luggage, [End Page 555] etc.). Every test of every part of every prototype of missile defense has failed. 4 After repeated embarrassing failures and news a
ccounts of them, the United States merely opted in 2002 to cease testing the system. Despite having no evidence to suggest it might work, the Bush administration activated elements of a system over Alaska and California in response to tensions with North Korea in June of 2006. 5

Does it matter that the technology is neither empirically viable nor theoretically effective? Such faith in technology in the absence of critical analysis or empirical support is an example of "techno-fundamentalism," the belief that we can, should, and will invent a machine that will fix the problems the last machine caused. It's an extreme form of technological optimism or Whiggishness. Techno-fundamentalism assumes not only the means and will to triumph over adversity through gadgets and schemes, but the sense that invention is the best of all possible methods of confronting problems. Techno-fundamentalism is not the exclusive property of any one political ideology or agenda. Both Thorstein Veblen and Friedrich Hayek expressed unhealthy faith in technologies to solve complex social problems. Veblen, an anticapitalist iconoclast, believed that putting important decisions in the hands of engineers was the surest path to human fulfillment. Hayek, a free-market economist and i
nspiration for modern conservatism, believed that distributed knowledge and unfettered competition would unleash technological creative forces that would mold human society justly and democratically. 6

In the United States at the beginning of the twenty-first century we pay a heavy price for techno-fundamentalism. We build new and wider highways under the mistaken belief that they will ease congestion and speed traffic. 7 We rush to ingest pharmaceuticals that might alleviate our ills with no more effectiveness than placebos. 8 We invest based on self-fulfilling phenomena such as "Moore's Law," which falsely predicts that computer processing power will double every eighteen months, as if computer speed were a force of nature above and beyond specific decisions by firms and engineers. 9 Perhaps most dangerously, we maliciously neglect real problems with the structures and devices we depend on to preserve our lives, as we did for decades with the levees that failed to protect the poorest residents of New Orleans. 10 In lieu of deploying deliberation and recognizing complexity at the roots of social and political problems, we operate, it seems, in a techno-fundamentalist cloud
, waiting for someone to invent the next great things that can clean up the air, reverse obesity, and magically stop missiles from landing in our cities. We need not depend on messy diplomacy or credible military force to curb the activities of hostile states. We have "Star Wars." 11 [End Page 556]
Beyond Techno-fundamentalism

Those of us trained in the history of ideologies, ideas, and cultural processes can and must step up to challenge techno-fundamentalism. It's imperative that we employ our critical faculties to unravel the rhetorical tangles and habits that get us into so much technologically fueled trouble. American studies scholars, with their traditions of public engagement, interdisciplinary thought, and ecological predispositions, are ideally positioned to confront misguided faith in technology and progress.

In his 1959 manifesto, The Sociological Imagination, C. Wright Mills instructed social scientists to situate their work between the poles of grand theory and numbing empiricism. "The sociological imagination," Mills wrote, "enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals." Thus the "imagineer" (as Mills would never have put it) can "take into account how individuals, in the welter of their daily experience, often become falsely conscious of their social positions." Mills posits three questions, or lenses, that enable scholars to generate interdisciplinary, influential, and~{!*~}most of all~{!*~}interesting work: What are the essential components of a society and how are they related to each other? What historical changes are affecting a particular part or function of society? Who are the winners and losers in a society and how did they get to be this way? 12

Revising and riffing on Mills, this volume offers a variety of examples of the ways scholars of culture are using the study of technology to examine the flows, conflicts, tensions, and hazards of American culture. The articles in this special issue are, in a sense, employing what one might call a "techno-cultural imagination." 13 If a scholar relies on a techno-cultural imagination, she asks these sorts of questions: Which members of a society get to decide which technologies are developed, bought, sold, and used? What sort of historical factors are at work that influence why one technology "succeeds" and another "fails"? What are the cultural and economic assumptions that influence the ways a particular technology works in the world, and what unintended consequences can arise from such assumptions? Technology studies in general tend to address several core questions about technology and its effects on society (and vice versa): To what extent do technologies guide, influence,
or determine history? To what extent do social conditions and phenomena mold tecnologies? Do technologies spark "revolutions," or do concepts like "revolution" necessarily raise expectations and levels of effects of technologies? The essays in Rewiring the "Nation" each address such vital questions, which can be answered only [End Page 557] by considering the complex interconnections among history, culture, politics, and power. This is not an easy task. But it is one for which American studies scholars are uniquely trained. If we want different terms of debate or lines of reasoning in policies of "progress"~{!*~}at home and abroad~{!*~}we need to "rewire" the conversation. The essays in this issue represent a critical mass of current scholarship on the place of technology in American culture.
Technologies of Transcendence

In A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Mark Twain has his protagonist, Hank Morgan, assume the position of "boss" in medieval England by exploiting his scientific knowledge and technical prowess. After telling the story of how he took control, Morgan declares, "That reminds me to remark, in passing, that the very first official thing I did, in my administration~{!*~}and it was on the very first day, too~{!*~}was to start a patent office; for I knew that a country without a patent office and good patent laws was just a crab, and couldn't travel any way but sideways or backwards." 14 For Morgan, as for James Madison, patents enable progress. Without an administered incentive system, invention would halt. This notion of necessary "progress," in contrast to the "sideways or backwards" vectors of an invention-free society, is key to understanding the relationship among law, technology, commerce, and ideology in America. For that reason, Morgan was not the only new boss wh
o decided to install a patent system as a first move. Article I, Sec. 8, of the U.S. Constitution instructs Congress to create a copyright and patent system "to promote the progress of the sciences and useful arts." 15 So from the beginning of the republic, Americans have built their "imagined community" around faith in the idea of progress. 16

In the opening essay of this collection, "Technology and Its Discontents: On the Verge of the Posthuman," Joel Dinerstein shows us that uninterrogated faith in the progressive promise of new technologies tends to reinforce two crucial and dangerous myths: that of Whiggish "progress," and that of inevitable (some might say "natural") white and Western superiority. "The real questions we need to confront," Dinerstein writes, "are these: What is progress for? What is technology for?" Dinerstein issues a stern call for engagement by American studies scholars, particularly those who consider the privileges of whiteness to be central to an understanding of the dynamics of power within American culture, with the rhetorics and realities of technology. Dinerstein posits that the "posthuman" denies the "panhuman." In other words, technologically driven concepts of human progress via genetic engineering or mechanical intervention [End Page 558] is an attempt by technologists to solidify
a future "man" according to arbitrary standards of whiteness and maleness to combat the increasing multiplicity of human types and the multicultural face of human power.

There is much at stake in who designs technologies and what particular vision of "progress" they achieve (and for whom). David Nye's essay "Technology and the Production of Difference" argues that technologies can, simultaneously, restrict and enable individual freedoms. Nye shows us that those who have argued since the rise of mass media that communicative technologies would necessarily generate cultural and political conformity overstated their case. But just as important, Nye paints as naive those who see the newest forms of communicative technologies~{!*~}digital content and global networks~{!*~}as necessarily enriching and diversifying the human experience. In general, Nye argues, cultural groups use new technologies (communicative and other) to shape identity, construct and maintain distinction and diversity, and customize their life experiences. But the power to customize, Nye reminds us, is not the power to shape one's conditions. "The challenge for American studies,"
Nye writes, "is not only to examine how technologies have been incorporated into cultures of difference, but also to prepare students to take part in the social construction of emerging technologies. Too often these are left to the private sector, as if the market alone can adjudicate the best uses of new machines."

While Nye dissolves any grand claims we might make about the progressive and transformative nature of communicative technologies, Susan Douglas explodes them. In "The Turn Within: The Irony of Technology in a Globalized World," Douglas introduces us to "the irony of technology." No matter how potentially transformative or liberating a particular technology may seem, "the economic and political system in which the device is embedded almost always trumps technological possibilities and imperatives." Douglas helps us understand how video technology, once touted as a way to put a camera in the hands of individuals and diversify our views of the world has instead enabled a diverse group of individuals to collectively mistake their navels for the world. Technological devices can indeed enable individuals to challenge and transform power structures, but only if they "work" within systems that will allow it. Our challenge is to see the system and the material when we look through tec
hnological lenses: we need to look both to the television and to the constant negotiations and synergies among technologies, economics, politics, and ideologies.

The winners in these negotiations have had a disproportionate say over which technologies matter in our lives. As Dinerstein, Nye, and Douglas point out, American studies scholars can help us more fully understand the cost when [End Page 559] particular ideologies of technological "progress" win out over others. They can also help us look outside the techno-fundamentalism box and discover alternative systems of technological meaning making. And certainly, there are more important technological divides in our present condition than the digital divide. In "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud: African Americans, American Artifactual Culture, and Black Vernacular Technological Creativity," Rayvon Fouch~{(&~} proposes a "black vernacular technological creativity" that moves beyond standard and reductive notions of African American expressive culture limited to dance, music, literature, the visual arts, and athletic mastery. When one surveys the "great works" of technological hist
ory, theory, and sociology, "it would appear as if African Americans, throughout American history, did not have the ability to make technological decisions of their own and have led lives in which technology was foisted upon them." Fouch~{(&~} offers us the example of white plantation owner Oscar J. E. Stuart's attempt to patent the double cotton scraper that his slave Ned invented. The U.S. Patent Office made it abundantly clear that inventions by slaves were not worthy of patent protection. Thus Africans were systematically omitted from the grand narrative of American progress that defined success and citizenship. Fouch~{(&~} guides us through a set of problems and questions that would "produce a more textured understanding of the roles that black people have played as producers, shapers, users, and consumers of technology within American society and culture."
The Cultural Work of Technological Systems

As my coeditor, Carolyn de la Pe~{~}a, explains in her overview of the literature in the field in this volume, the historian Thomas Hughes first articulated the "systemic" approach to studying technologies. Studying particular devices or artifacts as distinct phenomena disconnected from the economic, political, and cultural ecosystems that join and motivate us necessarily fails to explain the impact of technology on everyday life, Hughes argued. 17 Ricardo D. Salvatore reveals the importance of this approach in his article, "Imperial Mechanics: South America's Hemispheric Integration in the Machine Age." The Panama Canal was a technological marvel, but considering it outside its systems of economic, labor, and commodity flows both between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (the obvious role of the canal) and between North and South America (the implicit vector of such flows) misses the big issues. Salvatore introduces two new and powerful theoretical constructs, that of "spectac
ular machines," such as the locks and gates of the Panama Canal, and of "transportation Utopias," such as the road system that facilitates commerce and migration up [End Page 560] and down the two continents. By envisioning the hemispheric engineering of "connectivity," via such projects as canals, highways, and airports, Salvatore shows how U.S. policy within the Americas was built on, by, and for machines and the infrastructures that supported them. Systems, of course, need not be grand structures of concrete and asphalt.

In "Precision Targets: GPS and the Militarization of U.S. Consumer Identity," Caren Kaplan also suggests that we can best understand the influence of technology by looking to systems of information flow and management rather than specific objects. Her argument focuses on geographic information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS). With its use in activities from military targeting to bass fishing, GPS has become ubiquitous in modern America, just as precise and powerful geodemographic data about U.S. residents has allowed for both commercial and political exploitation of our presumed desires and habits. Kaplan raises the concern that "discourses of precision" promote the rather anti-Kantian public ethic of viewing citizens as means rather than ends. "Yet even as these modes of identification promise greater flexibility and pleasure through proliferation of 'choices' among myriad specificities," Kaplan writes, "they also militarize and thus habituate citizen/cons
umers to a continual state of war understood as virtual engagement." So technologies that we purchase as tools of access, choice, opportunity, and freedom, Kaplan asserts, actually acculturate us to an invisible rigidity by keeping us always logged on, always present and accounted for.

In contrast to Kaplan's exploration of invisible structures tethered to particular technologies, Robert MacDougall's article, "The Wire Devils: Pulp Thrillers, the Telephone, and Action at a Distance in the Wiring of a Nation," connects explicit expressions to visible technologies of mobility and commerce. MacDougall examines a set of pulp novels from the late nineteenth century that reveal the state of American anxiety over "nightmares of 'reach.'" Americans, MacDougall writes, were keenly aware of being enveloped by a network of connection unprecedented in human history: railroads, petroleum pipelines, telephone and telegraph wires, and invisible corporate organs. These "Wire Devil" novels illustrate that "the pace of technological and economic change was indeed violent and wrenching to many Americans," MacDougall writes. "Each advance in the technology of communication and transportation gave new powers to its users, yet also compounded the ability of distant people and ev
ents to affect those users' lives." This was a new way of being in the world. The terms of such new powers (and weaknesses) were worked out through literature and conversations about literature. [End Page 561]
Technology and Knowledge Systems

Knowledge systems often depend intimately on the technologies that facilitate them. Knowledge systems might include universities, professions, libraries, or entire industries. They are nexuses of functions such as commercial practices and markets, cultural judgments and norms, legal regimes, and social capital. And since the rise of global digital networks, most of the major knowledge systems in our lives have been in flux.

Technologically framed battles over copyright have risen in prominence and importance in recent years. They play a large part in both public and scholarly conversations about the future of knowledge and communication. 18 Yet as Andrew Ross explains in his essay, "Technology and Below-the-Line Labor in the Copyfight over Intellectual Property," it's time to move beyond the liberal (or in many cases libertarian) frame through which too many scholars (myself included) have presented the conflicts and tensions over copyright, technology, and the regulation of global information flows. Lost in the debate over the culture and commerce of copyright is the status of workers. "The crusade against the [intellectual property] monopolists continues to be dominated by strains of techno-libertarianism that lie at the doctrinal core of the 'information society,'" Ross writes, "obscuring the labor that built and maintains its foundations, highways, and routine production." The consequence of
this narrow conception of what is at stake in these policy debates, Ross declares, consists of "voices proclaiming freedom in every direction, but justice in none."

What happens when a knowledge system works, but bureaucracies fail? In "Failing Narratives, Initiating Technologies: Hurricane Katrina and the Production of a Weather Media Event," Nicole R. Fleetwood reads the U.S. Congress's report on governmental failures when Hurricane Katrina hit the U.S. Gulf Coast in August 2005 as an exercise in techno-cultural bad faith: the tendency to look at technological failures and solutions instead of examining human catalysts and responses. The horrors of Katrina, the congressional report concludes, were a result of a series of technological failures both large and small. This conclusion, Fleetwood asserts, shifts blame from the human failures that underlay the collapses of communication and transportation that left so many people stranded and endangered. Instead of examining the complete and systematic breakdown in the social and political fabric, enabled by the malign neglect of many generations of political leaders at every level who have
consistently shown themselves willing to sacrifice thousands of African Americans at times of stress, the congressional report focuses on the shortage of cars and buses in metropolitan New Orleans. "Through the Katrina event," Fleetwood writes, "we see both the vulnerability and recalcitrance of the nation-state's [End Page 562] investment in a deterministic narrative of progress, one in which technology is at its core and the marginalization and disposability of certain populations are essential." Examining Katrina ecologically~{!*~}with attention paid to inputs, outputs, flows, dynamics, and long-term problems~{!*~}would yield a better understanding of complex phenomena and ways to deal with their repercussions. The analytical spirit of environmentalism is a healthy response to technological bad faith.

Fields of knowledge can intersect when examining complex phenomena that do not hold to the boundaries we have drawn in our perceptions. In "Boundaries and Border Wars: DES, Technology, and Environmental Justice," Julie Sze connects the history of technology to environmental justice by examining a particular environment that has been the subject of much reckless technological experimentation, women's bodies. Her account of the effects of diethylstilbestrol (DES) on women and fetuses reveals the extent to which human bodies are "technologically polluted." Sze concludes, "beyond knowledge and activism, we need a cultural and political analysis and a vocabulary that makes sense of DES's roots and impacts, which American studies can provide." Because all the standard categories of environmental analysis are porous (mother and fetus, human and animal, production and consumption, and environmental and technological), a properly ecological examination of a phenomenon such as DES dema
nds an interdisciplinary account that goes beyond cultural analysis, medical analysis, or technological analysis. It requires a combination of all these fields.

Offices can be ecosystems as well~{!*~}complex systems of machines, bodies, information, inputs, and outputs. And thus they demand a full ecological examination when trying to make sense of the rapid changes within commercial and financial institutions. Caitlin Zaloom documents some radical changes in financial markets in her article, "Markets and Machines: Work in the Technological Sensoryscapes of Finance." Zaloom takes us to the trading floors of commodity exchanges in Chicago and London to show how firms are adopting remarkable technologies to create new market environments. By paying particular attention to the ergonomic, environmental, and sensory conditions of their employees, trading firms are standardizing the experience of commodity trading while opening opportunities to classes and ethnicities previously excluded. This is not necessarily an innocent or progressive story, however. Zaloom demonstrates that the sensory regulation these firms employ serve the expansion
of a U.S-centric neoliberal ideology. There are costs as well as benefits to the shift from the traditional cacophonous trading floor to the serene cubicle. [End Page 563]
Technology, Mobility, and the Body

American studies scholars are at the forefront of connecting the corporeal to the mechanical. In "Educating the Eye: Body Mechanics and Streamlining in the United States, 1925~{~}1950," Carma R. Gorman revises the history of streamlining and industrial design and demonstrates that humans were made by revealing the influence of the educational and public health movement to improve American posture. Both producers and consumers of the new streamlined products were well versed, Gorman shows, in the "body mechanics" school, which emphasized "good form." Through this study, Gorman shows that it is insufficient to examine a technology or a design phenomenon as an artifact alone. One must study the cultural and ideological system in which the artifact operates. "Further," Gorman writes, "paying attention to the body mechanics literature explains more directly than many previous theories do why technological products that looked like human bodies (i.e., streamlined, formerly artless
goods) would have resonated with consumers: they had been taught, through body mechanics instruction, to understand both bodies and formerly artless goods as 'mechanical,' and as products of similar Taylorist technologies of improvement."

Vision and the sensory experience of transport are essential corporeal experiences. Technologies that move our bodies can impact how we interpret our environments and the time lines we impose on them. In "Farewell to the El: Nostalgic Urban Visuality on the Third Avenue Elevated Train," Sunny Stalter delves into the almost instant nostalgia that arose in the 1950s once New York City abandoned and destroyed its elevated train system in favor of buses and subways. Stalter argues that the elevated train "structured New Yorkers' knowledge of urban space in a way that was no longer possible on other modes of transportation." At a time of rapid technological and urban change, Stalter writes, "the El showed postwar artists a city dissociated from progress, haunted by machines of the past and visions of modernity from seventy-five years ago." The defining aspect of the El, Stalter declares, "was its openness to city space." Thus in its waning days, the El's importance to New York Cit
y was less about mobility than about visuality.

Transporting and manipulating one's body become part of the same process when people seek partners, opportunities, and new lives through online dating services that connect Latin American women with North American men. In "Flexible Technologies of Subjectivity and Mobility across the Americas," Felicity Schaeffer-Grabiel connects women's discourses of self-improvement to technologies and the marketing methods that spread the "promise of modernity [End Page 564] and mobility" by investigating why they see the need to surgically alter their bodies while engaging in online match-making. For the Latin American women Schaeffer-Grabiel has interviewed, there seems to be a unified sense of ascendancy connected to such technologies as Internet connections with potential partners, life in the North, and plastic surgery. Using ethnography as a means to push beyond the liberatory analyses of flexible subjectivity that have marked early studies of identity and the Internet, Schaeffer-Gra
biel argues that "the concept of transcending the body or recombining one's identity in Cyberspace is a privileged position that elides the labor of the body and asserts neoliberal values of choice and democratic nations of upward mobility." At a time when U.S. borders appear less permeable than ever, Schaeffer-Grabiel shows that there is nothing playful about malleable identities and neoliberal fictions of both upward and northward mobility.
American Studies and the Techno-cultural Imagination

The techno-cultural imagination need not be anti-technology. Far from it. A healthy and effective attitude toward technology demands an appreciation of the pragmatic value of inventions, devices, and conveniences tempered by a critical stance toward the ways they are promoted, marketed, and adopted. Debra DeRuyver and Jennifer Evans deploy the techno-cultural critical stance in their review essay of electronic resources for American studies research. While walking through the rich garden of primary sources for cultural scholarship, they warn against relying on these resources without subtle human guidance. "Regardless of format, it takes time to locate primary sources," DeRuyver and Evans write, "and while search engines, like card catalogs, are useful, they cannot totally replace a well-informed librarian or the human thought behind a portal site." In that spirit, they provide a service to all American studies scholars by guiding us through the most valuable sites and the be
st ways to use them.

As Carolyn de la Pe~{~}a writes, with this issue of American Quarterly we are attempting to "revitalize a 'technology studies' core" within American studies. Technology was for a brief time at the center of a particular~{!*~}almost quaint~{!*~}notion of American exceptionalism that orbited the "myth and symbol" school of cultural history. 19 But for most of the past thirty years the most exciting moves within American studies have included fresh analyses of ethnicity and diversity within the United States and flows of people, cultural processes, and ideologies across borders and within borderlands. As de la Pe~{~}a asserts in her essay, "American studies has largely left questions of technology [End Page 565] to others, in spite of our early leadership in innovative methods of technological analysis and cultural critique." But, as she rightly points out, because of the emphases within American studies on questions of identity, power, and ideology, American studies is the idea
l scholarly community to ask powerful and poignant questions about technology and its effects on our bodies, eyes, ears, minds, families, economies, armies, and academies. Our current political and economic conditions are overdetermined by techno-fundamentalism (as well as too many other fundamentalisms). The essays in this collection are examples of healthy ways to think through technological, social, and cultural problems. The unhealthy ways are too dominant in our daily deliberations. Technology is an entry point for American studies scholars to engage in public conversations over issues ranging from race to labor to war. Such contributions are imperative.
* * *

Along with many other scholars of American studies, communication, and cultural studies, Carolyn de la Pe~{~}a and I were saddened by the news of the passing of James Carey in May 2006. Jim was a brilliant and influential scholar. His work had a profound effect on both of us when we first encountered it in graduate school. He influenced many of the questions we asked in our own work and guided how we would grow to view the relationships between technology and culture. Jim will be best remembered, however, as a passionate and influential teacher who has guided the intellectual pursuits of dozens of important American scholars. He remains a role model and an influence to many. We dedicate this collection to his legacy and his memory.

Siva Vaidhyanathan , a cultural historian and media scholar, is the author of Copyrights and Copywrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Property and How it Threatens Creativity (2001) and The Anarchist in the Library: How the Clash between Freedom and Control is Hacking the Real World and Crashing the System (2004). Vaidhyanathan is currently an associate professor of Culture and Communication at New York University and a fellow at the New York Institute for the Humanities. He writes and edits a Weblog called sivacracy.net.
Notes

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution~{~}ShareAlike License. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ or send a letter to: Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA. I wish to thank Marita Sturken and Carolyn de la Pe~{~}a for their helpful comments on this article. Working with both of them over the months leading up to the completion of the issue taught me much about their strengths and my limitations. Marita Sturken deserves particular praise for her patience and wisdom, and for the leadership and vision she has demonstrated as editor of American Quarterly these past three years. For many discussions leading up to the conception of this issue and the critical sensibility that made it possible, I must thank Joel Dinerstein, Shelley Fisher Fishkin, and Jeffrey Meikle.

1. Dana Priest, "North Korea Tests Long-Range Missile: Controversial Rocket Fails as Other Types Are Fired; U.N. Session Set after U.S., Japan Condemn Action," Washington Post, July 5, 2006. [End Page 566]

2. George W. Bush, "President Bush Holds a News Conference in Chicago," July 7, 2006, Washington Post, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/07/AR2006070700727.html (accessed July 8, 2006).

3. George W. Bush, "President Bush Meets with the Canadian Prime Minister," Washington Post, July 6, 2006, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/06/AR2006070601022.html (accessed July 8, 2006).

4. BBC, "Missile Defence Shield Test Fails," December 15, 2004, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4097267.stm (accessed July 8, 2006). For a comprehensive analysis of the problems with missile defense in general, including the ease with which an aggressor might evade or fool even an effective system, see Steven Weinberg, "Can Missile Defense Work?" New York Review of Books, February 14, 2002. For an analysis of the steady degradation of the standards of testing elements of the missile defense systems, see Andrew M. Sessler, "Countermeasures: A Technical Evaluation of the Operational Effectiveness of the Planned U.S. National Missile Defense System" (Cambridge, Mass.: Union of Concerned Scientists/Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000).

5. Bill Gertz, "N. Korean Threat Activates Shield," Washington Times, June 20, 2006.

6. Thorstein Veblen, The Instinct of Workmanship, and the State of the Industrial Arts (New York: Macmillan, 1914), and The Engineers and the Price System (New York: B. W. Huebsch, 1921); Friedrich A. von Hayek, The Counter-Revolution of Science (Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press, 1952), and The Road to Serfdom (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1944).

7. Martin Wachs, Curbing Gridlock: Peak-Period Fees to Relieve Traffic Congestion (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 1994).

8. Bo Carlberg, Ola Samuelsson, and Lars Hjalmar Lindholm, "Atenolol in Hypertension: Is It a Wise Choice?" The Lancet 364.9446 (November 6, 2004).

9. Gordon E. Moore, "Cramming More Components onto Integrated Circuits," Electronics 38.8 (1965). For a critical analysis of Moore's law, see Ilkka Tuomi, "The Lives and Death of Moore's Law," First Monday 7.11 (November 2002).

10. Timothy H. Dixon et al., "Space Geodesy: Subsidence and Flooding in New Orleans," Nature 441.7093 (2006). Also see Ivor van Heerden, The Storm: What Went Wrong and Why during Hurricane Katrina~{!*~}the Inside Story from One Louisiana Scientist, ed. Mike Bryan (New York: Viking, 2006).

11. For an excellent historical account of the follies of missile defense and the ideologies and corruptions that have kept the dream alive through two decades and billions of dollars, see Frances FitzGerald, Way out There in the Blue: Reagan, Star Wars, and the End of the Cold War (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000).

12. C. Wright Mills and Todd Gitlin, The Sociological Imagination (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000).

13. In another context I have used "techno-cultural imagination" to describe the conditions and habits that contemporary artists have enjoyed since the dissemination of digital technologies and networks. See Siva Vaidhyanathan, "The Technocultural Imagination," in 2006 Whitney Biennial: Day for Night, ed. Chrissie Iles et al. (New York: H. N. Abrams/Whitney Museum of American Art, 2006).

14. Mark Twain and Bernard L. Stein, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Berkeley: University of California Press in cooperation with the University of Iowa, 1983).

15. For a valuable historical account of the patent clause and its importance to the early republic, see Doron S. Ben-Atar, Trade Secrets : Intellectual Piracy and the Origins of American Industrial Power (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2004).

16. Benedict R. Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, rev. ed. (London: Verso, 1991).

17. Thomas Parke Hughes, American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm, 1870~{~}1970 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), and Human-Built World: How to Think about Technology and Culture, Science, Culture (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004).

18. Siva Vaidhyanathan, "Critical Information Studies," Cultural Studies 20.2~{~}3 (March~{~}May 2006).

19. Leo Marx, The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America, 2d ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000). To put Marx and his work in the context of both the history of technology studies and American studies, see Jeffrey L. Meikle, "Leo Marx's The Machine in the Garden," Technology and Culture 44.1 (2003), and "Reassessing Technology and Culture," American Quarterly 38.1 (1986).

I have the trailer needed to complete this order - [email protected]

We will offer more money for this one!!

Email [email protected] for the source.

Hi

Can you help with this?

I worked with another student to editing produce a film trailer but we have to produce our own write-up/report of 2500 words.

The situation is that we were given thirteen minutes of film which was edited from the film ?A Touch of Evil?. The brief was to produce a one and a half minute trailer from the piece of thirteen minute film, which we did.

Neither I nor my colleague had any previous knowledge of how to use the editing software which was Adobe Premier Professional although we both had good knowledge of Windows XP.

Our only knowledge of editing was what we read from lecture notes and books on previous sessions via the Internet.

We attended on three sessions at the University. On the first session we watched the film A Touch of Evil. On the morning of the second session we watched a critical review of the film which lasted about fifteen minutes. After this we were put into groups and given instructions on what we had to do - this included how to use the software. We were also given the thirteen minutes edited version of the film.

We spent the rest of all that day and half of the following day producing the trailer.

We tried to create a trailer which incorporated ? as best we could - all the elements of a good trailer.


One of the things that I would like to do as part of this report is to add a shot from the trailer

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I will e-mail you the trailer I/we made.


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The following is an example of one student?s work from a previous year:

`Touch of Evil' Film Trailer

The process of constructing our trailer involved continual oscillations in our focus between the various stylistic, structural and functional objectives we wanted our sequence to satisfy. It was the tension between these elements vying for dominance in the creative decisions plus our desire to make a unified whole through which these separate strands would interact to evoke meanings that was one of the most challenging aspects of making the trailer. A crucial question, not 'unlike that in writing this report, was where to start: how to find an initial route in amongst the various qualities and considerations in our minds; which of these strands should take priority in shaping each editing decision.

On a stylistic level we wanted the editing and images to perform both aesthetic and functional roles in contributing to the showcasing of the film. We wanted to incorporate editing techniques that would be aesthetically pleasing or arresting in their own right, such as match or contrast of graphic features, but also that would contribute to the meanings and mood of the sequence they were part of. Our concerns for the rhythmic relations between shots pulled in several directions. We wanted to construct a rhythmic pattern that would contribute to the shape of the trailer as a whole, would reflect the mood and meanings of specific parts of the sequence, and would respond to the musical features of the soundtrack.

A central question on which several other issues hinged, such as the temporal and spatial relations between shots (Bordwell and Thompson, 2001), was that of the narrative structure of the trailer: the degree to which the editing should contribute to the audience's perception of continuity and linearity between shots on the one hand and, on the other, the degree to which it should disrupt the development of linear narrative (for example, through disjunctive edits that break conventions of continuity editing).

It was the function of the trailer (in promoting the film to a modern mixed audience) that guided us through these issues and gave the foundations for shaping our editorial decisions. We sought on the one hand to convey information about the film's genre, style, mood, characters and stars and hint at themes and narrative and, on the other hand, to leave open ambiguities. We wanted to highlight the `classic' status of the film and convey its film noir style and yet portray it as appealing and relevant to a contemporary audience. We aimed to draw the viewer in by leaving unanswered questions about the plot, about the characters, their roles in the narrative and relationships with one another. This quality of ambiguity and uncertainty was also in line with the mood and themes we wanted to communicate. We identified key themes from the film that we were interested in exploring in the trailer: uncertainty, mistrust, betrayal and loyalty; the boundaries between reality, illusion, dream and insanity; questions of guilt, collusion, corruption, accusation and entrapment; and notions of future and fate, control and responsibility versus chance. This sounds like a demanding agenda. However, the images we had available to us were already potentially rich with many of these notions and we wanted to arrange them in a structured way to communicate them.

The function of a trailer is not to tell a story in completeness but to introduce enough of the elements and promise of a story waiting to be told to attract the audience. The trailer variously uses continuity conventions and montage effects to create a structure that moves back and forth between providing a sense of linearity and continuity and then jolts away from the emerging narrative through use of disjunctive and discontinuous cuts. In this way it establishes itself as part of a trailer genre, which bears similarities to other non-narrative forms such as music video. This trailer shares some qualities with music videos. For

example: time and space are unveiled incompletely and unpredictably; editing plays a more salient role than in Hollywood film, sometimes surprising the viewer with an unexpected or disjunctive cut, or drawing attention to visual or rhythmic qualities of the edits; the viewer is required to `fill in the gaps' of incomplete information.
However, there are also some notable differences between the use of editing in the trailer and that of music video, largely relating to the role of narrative. In the case of the trailer, more demands are made on conventional continuity editing techniques and narrative-based classical montage effects than is usual of music videos, although these techniques are generally used in ways that violate certain conventions of Hollywood film. The audience's knowledge of the role of character, of links between events in linear narratives and their knowledge of the syntax of both conventional Hollywood film and of the trailer genre is exploited through a readiness to construct connections and meanings between shots in a sequence. Chains of continued relationships are implied between images and events. Montage is used in a variety of ways: at some points the Kuleshov effect is employed to suggest continuity of space and time (for example, the shot/reverse shot between Orson Welles with rope and the sleeping Janet Leigh). At others, classical montage, in line with Eisentein, implies connections and signification between images. At other points, modernist montage style is employed, similar to that of Goddard, through the use of disjunctive edits that pull away from any narrative structure, into a discontinuous flow of imagery. In the following discussion I will draw on specific editing examples in the trailer to illustrate these ideas.
In the opening sequence meaning arises through the tension between employing and violating continuity conventions of Hollywood film. The opening shot is of Janet Leigh and Charlton Heston embracing. While the primary role of such a shot is to introduce the characters, their relationship and the stars that play them, the absence of sound at this point gives rise to an effect of eerie silence which contrasts with the traditional meanings we might expect to be evoked by such an image (notions of romance and love). Instead the characters appear distant and the scene unreal, as though a memory or dream.
This dissolves to the image of Janet Leigh standing alone outside the deserted motel. A smooth transition between the shots is achieved through use of the slow dissolve and the graphic match of the screen position and outline of the figure of Janet Leigh in the two shots. Both the match of Janet Leigh's figure, and the dissolve, act as continuity prompts, taking us through the jump in time and place between shots. In Hollywood editing language, a dissolve frequently signifies a time lapse (Bordwell and Thompson, 1993) and the graphic match of Leigh's figure in the two shots highlights that she is the same character, now at a later point in time. The contrast in the situation and in the emotional state of Leigh's character in each of the two shots combine with these devices to set up questions concerning the events of the intervening period. Why is she now alone? What has happened in the interim? What is the significance of her apparent exhaustion?
The introduction of the foreboding music also contributes to the sense of a developing narrative and questions concerning it. The opening bars of Portishead's `Cowboy' are a hightoned insistent pulse that conveys a sense of looming menace. This music and the panning upwards of the camera to the view of the horizon seem to forewarn of perils ahead, giving the audience warnings of which the character herself is un- aware. Again, this hints at a continuous chain of events, this time by drawing links to future unknowns, rather than past ones.

Set against these continuity prompts are violations of Hollywood syntax of shot functions, this short sequence being almost an inversion of the conventional order of types of shots. In Hollywood film an extreme long-shot is typically used to establish the context of a new scene (Vemallis, 2001), with the camera then moving in closer as we get to know more about the characters and their relationships, and the close-up relating something intimate about the character. Contrary to this, the trailer begins with a medium shot of Heston and Leigh in an intimate embrace, leaving their surrounding space undisclosed. Then we move further out to a medium to long shot of Leigh, and then gradually pull back to an extreme long shot of the surrounding countryside. It may be through an implicit knowledge of such conventional functions of long-shots that the shot of the horizon provokes questions about future events.
For the soundtrack we opted to use the Portishead track rather than original music from the film to appeal to a modern audience and because of its evocative quality of baleful and moody cynicism.
The abrupt cut to the exploding car fits with a distinctive musical chord that marks a transition in the structural features of the music, thus also signifying a transition within the trailer. We have already been introduced to the characters and to questions about their situation and here the drama begins. The graphic, temporal and spatial disconnectedness of this cut draws attention to the production materials of the trailer, distancing the audience from any narrative and allowing more self-reflexive meanings regarding the function and aesthetic of the trailer and qualities of the film to come to the fore. The billowing smoke from the explosion bears graphic similarities to the clouds of the previous shot, juxtaposing life sustaining nature with human destruction.
A conventional use of the Kuleshov effect in the next cut suggests the people are running in response to the explosion. Here the within-frame movements of people running appear to respond to the faster rhythm of the music - sometimes in the same tempo and sometimes as a counterpoint - and the music takes on a quality suggesting that dark forces already abound.
The slow dissolve to Orson Welles' face functions at more than one level. At the narrative level, the fade of the alarmed people running on to Welles' laughing face employs classical montage to arouse the viewer's suspicion of his role in the catastrophe that just occurred. This is a powerful way of introducing this character and implies causal relationships between shots that contribute to a sense of narrative while still leaving ambiguities and maintaining the stylised non-linear form.
Superimposing Welles' face on to images of the action of the film not only implies his role in contriving events at the level of the trailer's narrative, but also refers to Orson Welles the film-maker and actor. For viewers with the background knowledge, his dark laughter can be seen as referring to Welles the dissident, rebelling against the studio's conventional desires for the film at the time. This is particularly pertinent if the trailer were to accompany the version re-edited in line with the requests of Welles' famous memo, thus his dissolving image can be seen to represent Welles' vindicated ghost.
This shot also had a role in the structure of the trailer in marking the beginning of a sequence of shots that question the culpability of each character. In considering the themes of uncertainty, trust and mistrust, betrayal and corruption, we decided to put together a sequence of shots that would imply the guilt of each character followed by a sequence in which each of

these characters was again portrayed as victims. We separated the two types of sequence with the image of a hand swiping cards across the table. This conjures up notions of chance, luck and fortune telling, and in the absence of dialogue and linear narrative, may take on a role as an image-based `language', possibly as the visual equivalent of Detrich's original words `your future is all used up'.
The pace of the editing increases as we move into these sequences and the development of narrative is curtailed as the edits become more disjunctive and ambiguous. The flow of imagery becomes more focused on evoking mood and associative meanings. For example, the image of the spotlight conveys notions of espionage or searching for a culprit.
Janet Leigh's character plays a more prominent role in this sequence than do the other characters introduced. She has already been introduced to the audience as a central character, as has the importance of her relationship with Charlton Heston's character. Here however her role and true alliances are thrown into question. She is seen in the background reflection of the mirror when we see Grandi (who may be perceived to have a sinister role due, in part, to the implied connection with Welles' character through contiguity of these and also to his posture); and the image of her running desperately into the spotlight follows the shot of a hand grasping for a gun under the bed suggesting a link between these two images and her possible collusion in sinister affairs.
Connections are indicated between the recurrent image of Leigh's feverish sleep and the events portrayed in the surrounding shots. This is enhanced by the use of the dissolve, which appears to imply her dreaming and/or remembering these events. The images of her disturbed sleep may suggest a guilty conscience or a dilemma. For example, the dissolve from Leigh in the spotlight to the image of her tossing in nightmarish sleep may imply either a reliving of the experience or an anxiety-driven dream of what could happen. This sequence of stylised, associative edits is interrupted by a more conventional use of the Kuleshov effect through shot/reverse shot (Bordwell, 1993, chapter 7) by cutting between Welles standing with the rope and Leigh sleeping, apparently about to be strangled, thus putting her in the role of victim. Here a straight cut is used rather than a dissolve.
Following the image of the hand swiping the cards is a series of more abrupt cuts linking images of the individual characters shown as victims, backing away in fear from an unseen assailant. The space and time relations between these shots are clearly discontinuous, the content of the shots acting as the connecting feature and thus creating the theme of victim of unidentified horror and making the edits themselves a salient feature. The climax of this mini-sequence is a figure seen through the darkness smashing the window from within, attempting escape.
The classical montage devise shot/reverse shot is used to less conventional ends with an eyeline match between the window being smashed and Marlene Dietrich watching: following this we cut to the explosion, then the title `A touch of Evil' and back to a continuation of Marlene's gaze. This draws attention to the illusory effect of the edits by throwing into question what it is Marlene is looking at. Still at the smashed window? The explosion? The title? Back at us, the audience? It may be this device along with the relatively long duration of the slow-motion shot of her blowing smoke that gives this image significance. Her worndown unshockabiltity and steadfastness and the slow motion of her actions contrast with much of the drama and exuberant action in the shots that precede her. This calms the pace of the sequence bringing us to a sense of closure and re-stabilisation. This sense of resolution is

continued in the following closing shot of an unidentified body floating in water. At the graphic level, the visual features of the cigar smoke match, through the dissolve, on to the reflection on the water.
Closing the trailer with apparent equilibrium brings the trailer's structure in line with Todorov's narrative structure: equilibrium to disruption to new equilibrium. The trailer's structure can be seen as a loose abstracted reflection of the narrative trajectory of the film; for example, in referring to hinge-points in the film's narrative such as the explosion as the trigger for the events that follow. The sense of resolution at the finish of the trailer is itself, however, only illusory since it opens more questions and uncertainties than it answers, and so is, we feel, an appropriate end-point to our trailer.
Being novice editors, the process of constructing the trailer allowed us to explore using concepts of editing for the first time. The use of non-linear digital editing software not only shaped our experience of editing but also enhanced our learning of editing concepts due to the increased efficiency and flexibility of the process and the opportunities to experiment. Our creative decisions were informed from two directions: on one hand we used our developing technical skills and knowledge of what the software would allow us to do to mould our decisions; on the other hand, we were discussing and imagining the effects we wanted to end up with and working back from this vision, grappling with the technology in attempting to realise our ideas. Thus the software in some ways acted to scaffold and shape our ideas and, in others, was a vehicle with which to realise our vision, occasionally limiting our possibilities. As we became more familiar with the technology, our planning was able to incorporate its abilities and limits, and we were more able to anticipate what we could do. With more experience we also became more adept at anticipating what effect a specific editing decision would yield and thus we were able to shape our ideas more swiftly and smoothly, with less need for a `trial and error' strategy.
One technical difficulty we had was in manipulating the soundtrack. We wanted to be able to separate out the different strands of sound on the sound track - both on that of the original film footage soundtrack and on the Portisheads tracks - in order to split the characters' speech from the music and the singing voice from the instrumental of the Portishead music. We also initially hoped to control the speed of the sound track more easily (manipulating the rhythm of music, for example) so as to blend two music tracks together more smoothly. This would have allowed us to accomplish our initial aim of changing to a different music track partway through the trailer in order to achieve a better fit with the changed the tempo of the trailer. The simple fade in/fade out functions we were using seemed a little crude and the resulting shift in music jarred and failed to give the intended effect.
An unexpected difficulty due to a bug in the software meant that, following our attempts to change the music track, we were unable to revert back to our alternative plan to fade the `Cowboys' track out at the end and to have the original film's soundtrack accompanying Welles' character floating in the water. In an attempt to recreate the sound of the lapping water we instead inserted a `rain' sound available on the Movie programme.
The experience of creating the trailer enhanced our understanding of the way in which the qualities of a sequence can be manipulated for desired effects and how various types of narrative structure can be created from this. The process also highlighted how little information is needed in order for the audience to begin `filling in the gaps' to construct ideas about a narrative. It revealed to us the appeal for the audience of being presented with

ambiguities and the excitement and viewing pleasure that results from the challenge of piecing these ambiguities together. Constructing the trailer therefore further enriched our understanding of the ways in which meaning can be made in putting together moving image and such learning experiences would also apply in school teaching of digital editing.
References
Bordwell, D. and Thompson, K. (2001) Film Art: An Introduction, London: McGraw-Hill, 6`h ed.
Bordwell, D. and Thompson, K. (1993) Film Art: An Introduction, London: McGraw-Hill, 4`h ed.
Burn, A. and Reed, K. (1999), `Digi-teens: Media Literacies and Digital Technologies in the Secondary Classroom', English in Education Vol. 33, No.3
Vernallis, C. (2001), `The kindest cut: functions and meanings of music video editing' Screen vo1.42, no. l
Web References:
Film Education (2001) http://www.filmsttidies.co.uk/teachers/docs/FS1 pdf
Gates, K. Interpretation and the Cinema http://members.locos.co.uk/kevgates/interpretation.htm
Watts, D. (2001). A critical comparison of the narrative structure of "Star Wars" and "Un Chien Andalou"' http://www.frame24.co.uk/articles/chienandalou.html


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Some Notes!


What is editing? Bordwell and Thompson
Film Art (Bordwell and Thompson, 2001), probably the most authoritative book on film form, starts its section on editing with a deceptively simple definition: `Editing may be thought of as the coordination of one shot with the next.' This has percolated into definitions of editing that feature in Media and Film Studies textbooks. Price (1993, p.242), for example, says that editing `structures narratives, shapes screen time, and thus creates meaning'. In the glossary of their Media Student's Book (2003), Branston and Stafford define editing as the `sequencing of text, images, and sounds.' And Susan Hayward, at the start of a comprehensive listing on editing in Cinema Studies: the key concepts (2000), calls it `literally how shots are put together to make up a film'. Both Hayward and Graeme Turner (1993) connect (or confuse?) editing with montage - a term with a more specific meaning than broad editing (see Session 2). Elsewhere, editing tends to elide straight away into `continuity editing', a system of sequencing shots that has come to dominate mainstream, if not Hollywood, film and television production. This reflects maybe not just the predominance of this form of editing in western moving image culture, but also its appearance on exam specifications in this country.

Phillips (2000, p.36) says `Editing combines the images of the mise en scene, thus determining the order and frequency with which we see them. Editing exploits the natural tendency of the human brain to `make sense'. We see a set of images in an edited sequence and immediately, automatically, set to work, making meaning out of them by establishing links and connections'. What Phillips' definition adds is the sense that the edited sequence, and the editor, works in collaboration with the viewer; the edited sequence doesn't create meaning on its own, but in interaction with our expectations, foreknowledge, experience of film grammar, attentiveness etc.

Editing in education
Because the focus of this course is ultimately a practical exploration of " editing, and by proxy at that (i.e., because the emphasis is on how students might use editing technology), it is important to think of editing in terms of the functions it may perform in education. This will need to be tentative, as editing in schools is a relatively recent development, and little is yet known about it. The most obvious functions, however, are:
? Vocational Tonal - a simulation of the craft of editing, premised on its value as an introduction to the practices of media industries
? Analytical - a practical way of understanding the meaning-making practices in moving image media, for the purposes of studying such practices (in specialist media or film courses, for instance)
? Expressive - a use of editing (and moving image media in general) as a creative medium
? Literacy-based - a use of editing to develop `media literacy' - which might include the ability to operate the "language" or "grammar" of the moving image.


Physically, in industrial (i.e. in film and TV) terms, editing is a key part of post-production, after the basic footage, rushes, coverage, have been filmed. Often more filming happens afterwards - gaps are filled, sequences re-shot, alternatives filmed. The purpose of editing, at this stage, is to produce a text, complete according to a design - the conception of a single author, or director, or of a team of people. The design may, rarely, have been prepared completely before editing, even before filming. The director Alexander Mackendnck allegedly filmed The Sweet Smell of Success according to a meticulous design that meant that the studio couldn't interfere and re-edit the film using discarded master shots or `coverage'. This level of detailed preproduction design is rare, however. Traditionally the practice is to overshoot footage and then design and compile the film in the `cutting room'.


Different editing styles/different types of text

Different editing styles
-------- different ways in which editing functions in different kinds of text: in drama or fiction films; in adverts and music videos; in title sequences and trailers; and in documentary. But a higher order distinction pertains between different styles of editing. These styles will relate to the type of text and its practical function, but also to ways of representing the world. The most important stylistic traditions to mention here, perhaps, fall into two main categories.
Montage is the style developed by early Russian theorists and filmmakers, in particular Sergei Eisenstein. The importance in montage was the meaning generated by the conjunction of two shots, rather than a meaning inhering simply in one or the other. This highly formalistic style assumes that meaning is not simply `out there' in the world, waiting to be recorded, but is actively constructed by juxtaposition, and by the inferential work of the spectator. The relation to the real world, then, is very much that reality needs to be interpreted and composed, and that it does not need to look like the world in any simple, analogical way.
There are other, overlapping, definitions of montage. One sense is, loosely, `an impressionistic sequence of images'. Another use of the word, quite specific this time, comes from the classic Hollywood studio era, when film sequences that functioned as extended ellipses were referred to as `montages'. Where we use the term montage in these materials it will be to refer either to `impressionistic sequence', or the Eisenstein version.
Continuity editing is the style developed by classical Hollywood film. Its purpose, unlike montage, is to secure a convincing impression of naturalism, by using editing to build an apparently seamless viewing experience for the spectator. This style emphasizes coherent links between shots which establish continuity of space and time, so that, for instance, the eye line of a character looking out of shot matches up with the angle at which the object or person viewed is seen in the next shot, or a character moving out of shot will be seen moving in the same direction in the next shot. Paradoxically, continuity editing is just as much built out of a fragmentation of space and time as is montage - the difference is in its effort to create the illusion of continuity, where montage plays upon surprising juxtapositions.

Needless to say, there are countless variations on these themes, including many stylistic breaks with the continuity tradition, most famously by the directors of the French `New Wave' cinema in the 60s. For our purposes, the important thing is to identify editing styles in quite specific ways, relating them to the types of text, the functions of these texts, and their aesthetic nature, and the kinds of knowledge and experience of editing that texts assume their audiences can read.


Music videos and adverts
Editing has a different role in the making of music videos or adverts. The major purpose of a music video is to `sell' a song, and a performer, and it does this by creating visual analogues or accompaniments to the music track. Because the emphasis is on marketing the song, it is important, as Carol Vernallis points out, that no single element dominates a video; the images must be compatible with the music, but not overwhelm it. Even so, sometimes music videos are mini-narratives, or showcase the performer, but basically the purpose is to make an almost viscerally appealing piece of film, in which music and image tracks enhance and reinforce each other, and stimulate an emotional response in the viewer. Editing then becomes a case of pacing the attention of the viewer, provoking emotional or visceral responses, and of combining images and music appropriately.
The relation of shot to shot: Editing
Since the 1920s, when film theorists began to realize what editing can achieve, it has been the most widely discussed film technique. This has not been all to the good, for some writers have mistakenly found in editing the key to good cinema (or even all cinema). Yet many films, particularly in the period before 1904, consist of only one shot and hence do not depend on editing at all. Experimental films sometimes deemphasize editing by making each shot as long as the amount of film a camera will hold, as with Michael Snow's La Region centrale and Andy Warhol's Eat, Sleep, and Empire. Such films are not necessarily less "cinematic" than others that rely heavily on editing.
Still one can see why editing has exercised such an enormous fascination for film aestheticians, for as a technique it is very powerful. The ride of the Klan in The Birth of a Nation, the Odessa Steps sequence in Potemkin, the hunt sequence in The Rules of the Game, the shower murder in Psycho, the train crash in La Roue, diving sequence in Olympia, Clarice Starling's discovery of the killer's lair in Silence of the Lambs, the tournament sequence in Lancelot du Lac - all of these celebrated moments derive much of their effect from editing.
Perhaps even more important, however, is the role of editing within an entire film's stylistic system. An ordinary Hollywood film typically contains around a thousand shots; a film centering on rapid action can have two thousand or more. This fact alone suggests that editing strongly shapes viewers' experiences, even if they are not aware of it. Editing contributes a great deal to a film's organization and its effects on spectators.

WHAT EDITING IS
Editing may be thought of as the coordination of one shot with the next. As we have seen, in film production a shot is one or more exposed frames in a series on a continuous length of film stock. The film editor eliminates unwanted footage, usually by discarding all but the best take. The editor also cuts superfluous frames from the beginnings and endings of shots. She or he then joins the desired shots, the end of one to the beginning of another.
These joins can be of different sorts. A fade-out gradually darkens the end of a shot to black, and a fade-in accordingly lightens a shot from black. A dissolve briefly superimposes the end of shot A and the beginning of shot B. In a wipe, shot B replaces shot A by means of a boundary line moving across the screen, as in Seven Samurai. Here both images are briefly on the screen at the same time, but they do not blend, as in a dissolve. In the production process, fades, dissolves, and wipes are "optical effects" and are marked as such by the editor. They are typically executed in the laboratory.
The most common means of joining two shots is the cut. In the production process a cut is usually made by splicing two shots together by means of cement or tape. Some filmmakers `cut' during filming by planning that the film will emerge from the camera ready for final showing. Here the physical junction from shot to shot is created in the act of shooting. Such "editing in the camera," however, is rare and is mainly confined to experimental and amateur filmmaking. Editing after shooting is the norm. Today much editing is done by means of video transfers stored on discs or a hard drive, so that the cuts (or edits, in video terminology) can be made without touching film. Nevertheless the final version of the film will he prepared for printing by cutting and splicing the negative footage.
As viewers, we perceive a shot as an uninterrupted segment of screen time, space, or graphic configurations. Fades, dissolves, and wipes are perceived as gradually interrupting one shot and replacing it with another. Cuts are perceived as instantaneous changes from one shot to another.

from Film Hrt, Bordwell and Thompson, Mcgraw-Hill, 2001, Chapter 8
Consider an example of cutting, four shots from the first attack on Bodega Bay in Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds:
1 . Medium shot
2. Medium close-up.
3. Extreme long shot.
4. Medium close-up.
Each of these four shots presents a different segment of time, space, and pictorial information. The first shot shows three people talking. An instantaneous change - a cut - shifts us to a medium close-up shot of Melanie. [....] In the second shot, space has changed (Melanie is isolated and larger in the frame), time is continuous, and the graphic configurations have changed (the arrangements of the shapes and colors vary). Another cut takes us instantly to what she sees. The gas station shot presents a very different space, a successive bit of time, and a different - graphic configuration. Another cut returns us to Melanie, and again we are shifted instantly to another space, the next slice of time, and a different graphic configuration. Thus the four shots are joined by three cuts.
Viewers sometimes assume that films are shot with several cameras running simultaneously, and that editing is principally a matter of picking the best shot to show at a given moment. Some big-budget films do employ this multiple-camera technique. Sometimes a filmmaker will use several cameras to capture a performance from several different angles and distances; such was the case with Marlon Brando's scenes in Apocalypse Now. Contemporary filmmakers may employ an "A" camera for a master shot and a "B" camera for closer views, as James Cameron frequently does. More often, multiple-camera shooting is used for recording spectacular or unrepeatable actions: explosions like the one in the opening of Lethal Weapon or stunts like Jackie Chan's slide through several stories of department store decorations in Police Story.
Nevertheless, throughout film history, most sequences have been shot with only one camera. In The Birds scene, for example, the shots were taken at different times and places - one (shot 3) outdoors, the others in a sound stage (and these perhaps on different days).
A film editor thus must assemble a large and varied batch of footage. To ease this task, most filmmakers plan for the editing phase during the preparation and shooting phases. Shots are taken with an idea of how they will eventually fit together. In fiction filming, scripts and storyboards help plan cuts, while documentary filmmakers often frame and film with an eye to how the shots will be cut.

DIMENSIONS OF FILM EDITING

Editing offers the filmmaker four basic areas of choice and control:
1. Graphic relations between shot A and shot B
2. Rhythmic relations between shot A and shot B

from Film Art, Bordwell and Thompson, Mcgraw-Hill, 200 1, Chapter 8

3. Spatial relations between shot A and shot B
4. Temporal relations between shot A and shot B
Graphic and rhythmic relationships are present in the editing of any film. Spatial and temporal relationships may be irrelevant to the editing of films using abstract form, but they are present in the editing of films built out of non-abstract images (that is, the great majority of motion pictures). Let us trace the range of choice and control in each area.
Graphic Relations between Shot A and Shot B
The four shots from The Birds may be considered purely as graphic configurations, as patterns of light and dark, fine and shape, volumes and depths, movement and stasis - independent of the shot's relation to the time and space of the story. For instance, Hitchcock has not drastically altered the overall brightness from shot to shot. But he could have cut from the uniformly lit second shot (Fig. 8.6, Melanie turning to the window) to a shot of the gas station swathed in darkness. Moreover, Hitchcock has usually kept the most important part of the composition roughly in the center of the frame. (Compare Melanie's position in the frame with that of the gas station in Fig. 8.7.) He could, however, have cut from a shot in which Melanie was in, say, upper frame left to a shot locating the gas station in the lower right of the frame.

Hitchcock has also played off certain color differences. Melanie's hair and outfit make her a predominantly yellow and green figure, whereas the shot of the gas station is dominated by drab bluish grays set off by touches of red in the gas pumps.

Alternatively, Hitchcock could have cut from Melanie to another figure composed of similar colors. Furthermore, the movement in Melanie's shot - her turning to the window - does not blend into the movements of either the attendant or the gull in the next shot, but Hitchcock could have echoed Melanie's movement in speed, direction, or frame placement by movement in the next shot.

In short, editing together any two shots permits the interaction, through similarity and difference, of the purely pictorial qualities of those two shots. The four aspects of mise-en-scene (lighting, setting, costume, and the behavior of the figures in space and time) and most cinematographic qualities (photography, framing, and camera mobility) all furnish potential graphic elements. Thus every shot provides possibilities for purely graphic editing, and every cut creates some sort of graphic relationship between two shots.

At one level we perceive all film images as configurations of graphic material, and every film manipulates those configurations. Indeed, even in a film that is not pure abstraction, graphic editing can be a source of interest to filmmaker and audience.

Graphics may be edited to achieve smooth continuity or abrupt contrast. The filmmaker may link shots by graphic similarities, thus making what we can call a graphic match. Shapes, colors, overall composition, or movement in shot A may be picked up in the composition of shot B. A minimal instance is the cut that joins the first two shots of David Byrne's True Stories. Similarly, in the "Beautiful Girl" song in Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly's Singin the Rain, amusing graphic matches are achieved through dissolves from one fashionably dressed woman to another, each figure posed and framed quite similarly from shot to shot.

More dynamic graphic matches appear in Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. After the samurai have first arrived at the village, an alarm sounds and they race to discover its source. Kurosawa cuts together six shots of different running samurai, which he dynamically matches by means of composition, lighting, setting, figure movement, and panning camera movement.

Filmmakers often call attention to graphic matches at transitional moments. Such precise graphic matching is relatively rare. Still, an approximate graphic continuity from shot A to shot B is typical of most narrative cinema. The
from Film Brt, Bordwell and Thompson, Mcgraw-Hill, 2001, Chapter 8

A SUMMARIZATION ON The Scope of Technology Learning Environment.

The 1 page summary is base on attached Course Material A that I am sending. The summary should NOT exceed one (1) page However, two is acceptable. Other cited source can be used as well. The summary should be logical and the points discussed should be connected in a way that shows a connected theme.

Introduction

The essence of this article is to explore the issues that are connected with technology learning environment in an effort to provide a definition that reflects a cohesive relationship between the theoretical knowledge and the technical skill. The position taken in this course is that equipping learning environment with various technologies offers little help in promoting learning if such environment is not designed in a way that takes into consideration the proven learning theories, human needs and concerns. Part of the problems teachers are experiencing in integrating technology into teaching is that technology is perceived to be ?out there,? exclusive by itself and independent of the theoretical foundation knowledge which defines its use and justifies its mode of application. Technology-based learning environment does not exist in a vacuum; it is oriented toward problem solving. In this chapter, issues that are relevant to the design and integration of technology into teaching/learning as well as problems associated with them will be considered. Learning is based on some philosophical, sociological, psychological, economic assumptions and presuppositions; therefore technology-learning environment must be designed, and organized in ways that reflect these assumptions. Adults learn in a distinct way and as such technology-learning environment should support adult learning characteristics.
Teaching and learning activities are cumbersome, and some aspects of these activities are considered intangible and as such do not lend themselves to observable measurement. Teaching does not begin when teachers present the curriculum contents to students but when they prepare their lessons and organize their thought processes. The configuration of the technology-learning environment must be considered in the lesson preparation stage and teachers must think about the learning environment as they mentally visualize their teaching approach in their minds? eyes. It is important for teachers and students to be familiar with their various roles in a technology-based learning environment in order to enhance readiness for teaching and learning. Instruction is not merely presenting the curriculum materials but includes the audience (students), learning contents, and methods of presenting the curriculum as well as the material and physical environment. Technology-based instruction is not a monolithic, one-sided pursuit but a multi-dimensional facet that is interactive. Therefore, it should be structured in a way that is compatible with human traits and dispositions, needs, concerns and expectations. In essence, it should be designed and organized in a manner that reflects these human ideals.

Defining Technology Learning Environment


Some educators and technology specialists tend to define technology learning environment from a narrow perspective; primarily emphasizing on the acquisition of computers and their peripherals as well as other technologies physically present in the classroom environment. Limiting the definition of technology-based learning environment to the presence of technologies suggests that learning occurs as a result of the physical presence of various technologies.
Technology is incapable of facilitating learning independent of teachers? resourcefulness, technical and theoretical expertise, ability to coordinate and manage classroom activities and the support systems available to teachers. Writers such as Chang, Honey, Light, Moeller & Ross (1997), Sabelti & Dede (1998) and Ringstaff & Dwyer (1997) believe that administrative and community support as well as social context of school is important in helping students sustain meaningful learning. Technology learning environment refers to a classroom or a learning area equipped with various resources, equipment and tools used for the purpose of enhancing learning in a in a manner that takes into consideration learners? needs, characteristics and dispositions.

Philosophical Perspective of Technology-based Learning Environment

Philosophical perspective of technology-based learning environment provides the justification upon which the design, the organization, the configuration of the learning environment is based. A well articulated instructional purpose would help teachers prepare budget, select appropriate hardware and software technologies, and select media, instructional methods that reflect the purpose of the instruction. It is like a compass which helps teachers navigate through rough edges to a predetermined destination.
It also provides the guidelines for choosing the short-term and the long-term objectives that reflect the needs to be satisfied. Philosophical perspective provides us with the realization that in spite of the advances made in technological innovation, technology is not ?out there? for its own sake, but to satisfy human need; therefore, teachers should select and use technology according to specific learning problem they hope to solve. Philosophical perspective prompts us to ask why we need a lab-based learning environment and at the same time provides us with a reasoned response on how to design, manage, maintain and use the environment to meet students? learning needs. Therefore, philosophical perspective of technology-based learning environment is defined as the rationalization and justification for designing a lab; it also provides us with an informed decision on how to manage and configure the environment in a way that is appropriate for the realization of the purpose of the instruction.

Sociological Perspective of Technology-based Learning Environment
Sociologists believe that individuals operate within a ?network of role relationships? Gray and Herr (1998, p. 92). Educational institution is recognized as an extension of the macrocosm and as such has role expectations and relationships which affect individual?s performance. Therefore, it should be recognized that in any given learning environment, teachers? expectations and role relationship may affect students? performance and also students? expectations of each other and their role relationship can also impact on their performance. Outside influences such as students? economic background, parental educational background and social class are related to role relationships and expectations. Students enter technology-learning environment with varying technological skills; some students may possess higher technical skill than others. Consequently, students with higher skill level may tend to play a more dominant role in the class than those students with less technical skills. Thus, this may define their expectations and role relationship with teachers and with other students. In some instances, student?s expectation of his/her role also affects how he/she performs in a given task. Gray and Herr (1998) argue that
?worker behavior is affected both by role perceptions held by the worker on how his or her job should be performed and by role expectations of what the worker should do as seen by those with whom the worker interacts or for whom he works. In some instances role perceptions by the worker and role expectations by others are in conflict. Such role constructs emphasize that work performance does not take place in a vacuum but occurs within ? environment in which job hierarchies, power and authority relationships ? are played out? (p. 92).

Teachers should therefore endeavor to organize and manage classroom instruction in a way that minimizes adverse role expectations and role relationships based upon the influences within the school or outside the school.

Social-Psychological Perspective of Technology Learning Environment

Social-psychological perspective of technology based learning environment represents a recognition that learning is a social activity where students, teachers, and learning resources interact in order to achieve and improve learning. Social perspective deals with the organization of the learning environment in a way that depicts learning as a social activity. It examines how teachers organize the learning area in such a way that allows for greater interaction between teachers and students. It also deals with the civility with which teachers relate to the students as well as with the civility with which students relate to each other. It provides the benchmark for arranging classroom sitting in a way that promotes greater cooperation among students and also to encourage students to learn from one another. It fosters humanity and team effort in the classroom environment. Therefore, social foundation of technology learning is described as the social organization of the technology-learning environment in a way that fosters greater interaction and cooperation among students on the one hand and between students and teachers on the other hand. It also recognizes that each class member should use technologies in a respectful manner to avoid disrupting other students, bearing in mind that learning is a private activity; everybody learns differently and at different pace.
Recognizing social context of learning is an acknowledgement that learning environment should be interactive, friendly, relaxed, non-threatening, and supportive of the students. The physical appearance of the learning should be inviting and enticing in a way that promotes a sense of belonging among students. Hone, Culp & Carrigg (1999) have shown that learning can be enhanced when the physical aspect of the learning environment are improved. These authors claim that for 10 years, Union City in the State of New Jersey performed poorly in 44 categories out of 52 that were used to measure the effectiveness of their school district performance. The Union school district took action by providing additional learning resources, extending the instruction period and by renovating the classrooms as documented below:
? Class periods were extended to 11 minutes for middle schools and 80 minutes for high school
? Teachers? in-service training were increased from 8 hours to 40 hours a year
? School buildings were renovated, improved, windows were replaced, classrooms and hallways were painted
? Students desks were replaced with cooperative learning tables and
? Class libraries replaced individual textbooks (p. 3).

The authors state that the changes in the school policy, physical environment and methods of instruction are significant in improving students? performance
Psychological Perspective of Laboratory Learning Environment


Psychological perspective of technology learning environment is concerned with how individuals learn, the pace of their learning, their preferred methods of learning, how the instructional methods are selected to match various learning dispositions and learning styles and how various technologies and media are selected to reflect diversity in learning behaviors.

Cognitive Theory of Learning

Cognitive learning theorists believe that students learn by mentally and reflectively processing information. The position taken here is that learning is internal and it is reflective of one?s mental intellect. Jean Piaget (1977), a Swiss psychologist is one of the advocates of cognitive learning process. Piaget characterized learning as comprising of ?schemata, assimilation and accommodation?. According to Piaget, schemata are the mental processes through which individual organizes his/her thought, interprets and makes sense his/her environment. These schemata continue to change during the child development and as learning progresses. The schemata are also used to identify and store information as well as distinguish various experiences. Piaget maintains that a child?s cognitive structures transform through the process of assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is described as a process by which new information and knowledge are incorporated into the existing knowledge (schemata). Assimilation is said to take place through a cognitive process as the individuals grows and gains experience; new knowledge is incorporated into the existing knowledge, thereby expanding the schemata. The modification of information occurs as the existing information expands and new knowledge is created through learning or experience, Piaget maintains that this process is called accommodation. It is noted that schemata change with experience and as a result adults have wider schemata due to experience. An individual may not develop new schemata if he/he is not able to integrate new information with the existing schemata.
Ausbel (1968) is a cognitive theorist who introduced ?advance organizer? as an educational concept. Advance organizer uses previously acquired knowledge to serve as anchor or foundation for new information in order to facilitate learning and retention of new knowledge. The logic behind the advance organizer is that if the newly learned information is integrated into the existing information, it will aid the retention of new information. This existing information plays the role of foundation knowledge by providing a link between the newly acquired knowledge and the already existing one. While cognitive theorists believe that learning takes place through mental structures, it is also acknowledged that learning does not occur in a vacuum; it is more likely to occur in a carefully designed learning environment. The contribution of the cognitive theorists is the insight they brought into modes of learning by describing how information is received, processes and stored into memories. According to cognitive theorists, new information is stored in a short-term memory where it is repeated and ?rehearsed? and ready to be incorporated into the long-term memory for easy retrieval or recall. Unlike cognitive theory behaviorists argue that learning is primarily concerned with observable behaviors.
Behaviorist Learning Theory

B. F. Skinner (19..) a Harvard University psychologist is one of the chief proponents of behaviorism. Skinner?s interest is to discover ways of increasing the likelihood of learning occurring. Like Skinner, Pavlor (19..) is also an advocate of behaviorist learning theory but the latter is more concerned with reflective activities. This is evident in Pavlor?s experiment with a salivating dog. In his study, he tried to demonstrate that the behavior of an organism could be altered in the way desired by offering reward (positive reinforcement) to the dog and by offering negative reinforcement if the dog fails to respond as desired. Skinner?s experiment was based on pigeons but he believes that human learning is an overt action and could be achieved through positive and negative reinforcement. The contribution of behaviorist learning theory is that it stresses the importance of providing feedback (positive reinforcement) as a way of motivating and encouraging students to learn. Negative reinforcement is said to reduce the occurrence of anti-learning behavior. The basic tenet of behaviorist argument is that learning is an overt action and that individuals can learn if the teacher provides positive reinforcement as a motivating factor.

Economic perspective of Technology-base Instruction

Technology learning environment has no use outside the economic needs of those who use the technology for learning. Therefore, the selection of various instructional technologies and multimedia network must reflect the technical skill demanded by the job market. The selection of instructional technologies should also reflect the type of technologies in use at home and workplace as well as for recreational or leisure activities. Quite often teachers use technologies for the sake of following the ?bandwagon? without specific needs of the learners or how the learner may use the technology outside the confine of the classroom. In the context of this course, economic perspective of technology-based learning environment refers to the demand that learning environment matches workplace environment, practice and the skill requirements of the learners. It also includes the selection of instructional technologies that are current and have the potential of being used for specific job requirements. Students? lives are not restricted to job skills, or workplace demands but also they indulge in leisure activities.
Therefore, the designers of technology-based learning environment should
recognize the need for students to develop the rational to enjoy quality time at their spare time. Unless technology-learning setting is designed to nurture all aspects of human uniqueness, it will remain superficial and achieve minimal success. The essence of integrating technology into the process of learning is to use such technology to solve real life problems in the workplace, at homes or create a soothing and a comfortable environment. Technology learning environment should not be a showcase whose main purpose is to create good impression but to solve real problems at work or at home. Some technology learning environments are equipped with out-dated computers and software programs that address basic computer concepts which do not target any specific job skill. Bishop (1995) argued that:
It is unwise to devote one?s entire education to learning things that everyone else already knows (such as basic academic skills). One must select a vocation for which there is market demand and for which one has talent, and then pursue expertise and excellence within the niche. Expertise and excellence are impossible without specialization? (p.3).

Adults have no motivation to learn when they fail to see the relevance of their learning materials or how they could use the materials to solve real life problems. Vella (1994) echoes this view by stating that:
Most recent research recognizes that adult learners need to see the immediate usefulness of new learning: the skills, knowledge, or attitude they are working to acquire. Most adults do not have time to waste. We want to spend our time studying that, which will make a difference now. We are willing to work in an appropriate sequence, and we recognize the need for reinforcement, but we want to see something in hand as soon as possible (p.16).

To be able to design technology-learning environment to reflect the needs of the economy, schools must collaborate with business and industry to identify technical skill in the workplace. No teacher can keep abreast of the latest technological development without being familiar with the technologies businesses and industries use. To be able to do this, it is important for teachers to visit job fairs to learn about new jobs and their technological demands. Internship and job shadowing for in-service teachers in business establishments are recommended as means of becoming familiar with new and emerging technologies. Collaborating with businesses and industries is one way of learning how to apply technology to solve real life problems. D?lgnazio (1993) argued that schools are not keeping pace with technology as businesses are doing. The author stated, ?businesses have been building electronic highways while education has been creating an electronic dirt road. And sometimes on a dirt road, it?s just easy to get out and walk.?
Constructivist Perspective of Technology-learning Environment
Constructivism believes that the learning is an internal activity and that learner analyzes and evaluates the environment and in doing so constructs meaning from the environment. Heinich et al (2002) maintain that the basic tenet of constructivist theory of learning is that ?learning occurs more effectively when students are engaged in authentic tasks that relate to meaningful context. The ultimate measure of learning is therefore based on the ability of the student to use knowledge to facilitate thinking in real life? (p. 7). Technology learning environment that does not provide real life problem solving materials upon which students are expected to draw information to enrich their experience cannot trigger off ideas in students nor stimulate them to engage in critical thinking.
In education, technology learning environment is considered an instructional resource and unless it reflects the requirements of the superstructure (economy) which funds it, it will be difficult to assess its usefulness. Technology learning environment must provide unrestricted rich learning experience to enable students to experiment, discover knowledge, evaluate knowledge and use such knowledge to engage in problem-solving activities. A famous American educational psychologist, Bruner (1966) has argued eloquently that the essence of education is not to make a living library of individuals but to help them to acquire knowledge and to use the knowledge they have gained to create other knowledge.
Technology Integration
In educational context, technology is perceived as any tool, material, device or equipment adapted for educational use and for the purpose of enhancing teaching/learning. Thus, technology is viewed as a process, a tool and a resource through which teaching/learning becomes active, engaging and meaningful. Integrating technology into instructional delivery encompasses a complex network of activities and processes. It includes teachers? understanding of the theoretical concepts and their application to learning/teaching. It also includes teachers? understanding of the impact of learning styles and their role in the teaching/learning. It involves teachers? ability to design appropriate instructional strategies based on the learning objectives and proven learning theories. It also involves the selection of suitable technology based on the learning needs as well as the ability of teachers to remodel such technologies to fit specific learning tasks.
Technology has created a strong connectivity among the home, the school, and the work environment. Continuous dialogue and interaction between teachers and students are now common. This view has been echoed by Honey et al (1999) as they argue that the application of technology into the educational processes can broaden the scope of learning and render such learning more meaningful. The authors maintain that technology has the dynamism to ?create links between schools and the world outside the schools, connecting individuals, providing resources and broadening the cultural and political contexts available to students and teachers for exploration and examination? (p.5). E-mail technology has provided a swift channel of interaction among teachers, students, and school support system.
Information technology has created a sense of urgency and anticipation for change as a result of the rapidity with which both the hardware and the software technologies transform themselves. Business and industry expect schools to produce candidates who can keep abreast with the revolutionary changes in technology and interpret such changes within the context of application. This calls for recognition that technology is more than assembling various forms and shapes of electronic tools and accessories together to create a machine labeled ?technology.?
Technology integration is a familiar term but various educators tend to define and perceive it differently. Technology integration may create problems for students and practicing teachers due to lack of clear understanding of such integration. Gillingham and Topper (1999) believe that if student teachers are to be prepared appropriately, it is important that they understand what ?technology literacy? implies. These authors claim that it involves ?having the skill and dispositions to use technology in a flexible and adaptive ways for the purpose of classroom instruction and professional development? (p. 305). Levin (1994) provided the following guidelines to help teachers acquire knowledge, skill and attitude necessary for technology integration:
1. Use technology for personal and professional productivity
2. Acquire both the content and pedagogical understanding needed to teach with computer-based technologies
3. Gain knowledge about the impact of technology on schools and society (p. 13).

The role of technology in education is not clearly defined in most teacher education programs. In-service teachers are left to discover whether technology is to be used as a tool for improving instruction or part of the learning material to be presented in the classroom. Such uncertainty is bound to affect the teacher?s level of confidence. Therefore, defining the role of technology in teacher education programs should be addressed.
Time constraint also poses problems in teacher preparation. The curriculum is rigidly followed in an effort to maintain the highly structured timetable. Learning within the context of technology needs flexibility to enable students to explore, discover, and seek ways of applying the knowledge acquired. Learning through the use of multimedia may not fit into the tabulated and highly sequenced timetable of the traditional classroom (Bryde et al., (2000).
Inexperienced teachers tend to approach classroom instruction from the standpoint of invoking and applying the methods and strategies they themselves have been exposed to. Their interpretation of reality and determination of flexibility necessary to implement technology in a classroom situation are controlled by their experience while in training. Brookhart and Freeman (1992) pointed out that teachers recycle the methods and procedures they were exposed to during in-service training. Some teachers recreate the learning environment they experienced and pass those experiences to a new generation of teachers, thereby perpetuating a vicious cycle. Niederhauser et al (1999) provided a vivid explanation of ?self-perpetuating cycle?
? a teacher might transform the use of manipulative into a didactic activity by demonstrating the ?correct? way for students to use the manipulatives to solve a problem. Students would be expected to follow the teacher?s directions and learn to use the manipulatives to represent or solve a problem in the same way?rather than having an opportunity to use the materials to explore their own thinking and construct personal problems representation and solutions. In this example, the teacher has integrated the use of manipulatives to fit with established didactic practices (p.155).

The essence of integrating technology in the classroom is to explore the capabilities of various technologies, create new meanings, apply them to problems, create excitement in the classroom and help students to use the excitement to venture into the unknown. Simplified use of technology produces boredom for students and recreates the inflexibility in the classroom which technology integration is designed to eliminate. Technology by itself or its rigid use does not stir up inquisitiveness in students to learn nor does it help them focus on the learning materials.
Mentorship programs will help student teacher understand the demands of technology integration. Mentorship from a more experienced teacher in technology integration will help the inexperienced teacher by providing needed guidance and direction. It is always reassuring for a new and a junior faculty member to establish a rapport with a senior and more experienced faculty member for easy consultation and better flow of information and ideas. Mentorship is very helpful during internship or practicum.
Teachers who practice the use of technology and experiment with some software only during training are less likely to gain an in-depth knowledge of some of the latest technologies. Such limited knowledge usually force teachers to rely on surface application of more advanced software technologies. However, systematic and repetitive use of various kinds of technology will improve teachers? computer skills (Bret et al, 1997). Teachers who did not receive technology training and those who receive a rudimentary training in computer and related technologies view the more sophisticated technology as a mystery, which is far removed from their frame of reference.
Computer intimidation and anxiety usually result from lack of confidence among the in-service teachers and field teachers. It is suggested that those with computer anxiety be given extra time to get comfortable with new technologies (Ng Poh Ean and Glenwright , 1999). Technicalities associated with computers, as an instructional device should be simplified. Frequent use of computer should be vigorously encouraged. The use of technology should be integrated in various aspects of the in-service training program. Computer foundation courses should be incorporated into the teacher education programs. Computer awareness courses should be developed for in-service teachers and they should be encouraged to attend workshops and conferences related to technology integration.
The effective integration of technology into instructional delivery involves a systematic planning and coordination of support groups and teachers who possess the technical skills and the theoretical knowledge for decision-making and for the selection of appropriate instructional methods. It also involves the instructional technologists who will apply the digital technology to the course contents and the teacher who delivers the instruction. Every electronic classroom needs technical support personnel who are to be readily available for consultation should any hitch arise. In a traditional classroom where a chalkboard is the primary visual aid, teachers alone manage the class activities; but as the classroom gets more complex, support services are needed.
In a technology-based learning environment, teachers have a far greater role to play; they must learn to work as a team and in-group, and coordinate instructional activities with various individuals and groups involved. Changes in digital technology are constant, and teachers should be prepared to anticipate changes by regularly experimenting with new technologies so that they could adapt to changes in order to maintain a good comfort level. In-service education program must design in a way to help prepare teachers to integrate technology into instructional delivery and to adjust teaching strategies to accommodate such integration. Teacher training portfolio should include programs to help teachers understand basic computer hardware, to analyze and evaluate the software that they are expected to use as they engage in field practice. They are also expected to be able to troubleshoot and ask for assistance if the problem persists. Teachers must also know how to manage and care for the electronic classroom, and must understand various configurations of a lab-based learning setting. In order to be effective in using technology in the classroom, in-service teachers should know how to select the software that is compatible with the hardware they are using, and evaluate software with reference to learning objectives (Persichitte et al., 1999).
Technology itself poses another problem for teachers and students. The huge volume of information coming from cyberspace creates a demand for teachers to constantly evaluate materials, make decision on what to use, know how to use it, and decide whether it is appropriate in reinforcing the planned instruction. The characteristics of hypermedia present a challenge to the teacher. Liu (1994) noted that ?hypermedia poses additional cognitive overload upon a user as he or she tries to keep track of links and make decision about how to precede? (p.296). Abdat-Haqq (1995) has provided a summary of the obstacles facing the use of technology to enhance learning as reproduced below:
? Limited availability of equipment
? Lack of faculty training
? No clear indication that faculty will incorporate technology in academic activity
? Lack of funds
? Lack of time to develop facility in using equipment and software
? Doubt about the pedagogical validity of using some of newer technologies since the appearance of literature about these tools is relatively recent
? Lack of technical support
? Lack of appropriate materials, particularly integrated media materials suitable for teacher education instruction ?
? Absence of clear programmatic goals for the teacher education program (p.2)

Guidelines for Technology Integration
It must be noted that there is there is no blueprint for technology integration because each classroom differs in a variety of ways, and the circumstances under which teachers operate also differ significantly. The learning contents and instructional methods all have impact on how technology should be integrated into learning/teaching. However, it is necessary to consider the following guidelines.
? Provide teachers with skill in selecting and using technology for learning/teaching
? Develop a basic understanding of hardware and be familiar with current software technologies during training
? Develop troubleshooting skills
? Require that in-service teachers reach a proficiency level in technology integration as part of the core curriculum
? Emphasize on the appropriate use of technology during internship field experience.
? Develop a mentorship program for new inexperienced teachers
? Encourage greater interaction between teachers, such that go well beyond the confine of the classroom.
? Emphasize attending workshops in teacher preparation programs with a focus on hand-on activities on technology integration
? Encourage exchange of information and ideas between in-service teachers and practicing teachers
? Encourage in-service teachers to attend conference to learn new ideas, discover new technologies, and learn how to apply them
? Emphasize the need for in-service and practicing teachers to be familiar with cognitive learning theories
? Engage in professional development effort

Technology integration into educative processes involves helping students develop consciousness about technological innovations and equipping them with the technical dexterity, intuition, high order thinking and problem-solving skills to create solutions in both the social and economic world. The perceived impact attributed to various instructional technologies has been described as ?? dynamic, interactive, and collaborative settings in which learners can search, process, and produce knowledge? (Sabatini (2001) p.19).
Technology integration encompasses teachers? ability and skill to analyze the learning environment as well as their ability to select appropriate instructional methods, define learning objectives, conduct reflective evaluation of the learning activities, choose suitable technologies that match the curriculum and the chosen learning strategies. Technology learning environment also includes teachers? ability to engage in troubleshoot for minor technology glitches.
Philosophical, sociological, economic and psychological foundations are said to constitute the knowledge base upon which teachers justify their teaching practices. For a teacher to be able to apply technology effectively into teaching/learning, the teacher must understand the philosophical assumptions made about knowledge, the economic and sociological implications of knowledge as well as the psychology of learning and teaching. Teacher?s ability to deal with diversity in terms of cultural differences, differing learning ability, varying competencies, differences in learning styles and the ability of teachers to anticipate students? needs and the desire to satisfy those needs should be considered as parts of the learning environment
Managing technology-learning environment is an inclusive concept, which addresses teaching and learning from a broad perspective. The basic tenet of this course is to show that teaching methods, theoretical and technical expertise including technological resources and maintenance requirements are part of the learning environment. These elements must be infused together in a connected, complimentary way for the purpose of enhancing learning. Technology evolves and changes at an alarming rate; teachers must show conscious awareness regarding the rapid technological transformation in order to remain current. It is a mistake to emphasize on technology without reinforcing other educative processes such as structuring and coordinating and maintaining learning the environment.
Learning is an individual activity and it is the duty of the teacher to diagnose each student?s learning mode and reinforce it. Curriculum is like a recipe, a teacher designs learning environment based on the learning objectives, students needs, available resources and instructional methods just like a cook who selects recipes in accordance with the kind of dish he/she plans to prepare. Fancy technology cannot be substituted for curriculum content, the purpose of the former is to enhance instruction and not to replace it. A teacher who has technical expertise but limited understanding of cognitive and learning theories is likely to make minimal progress in his/her teaching. The same is true for a teacher with abundant cognitive theories but with limited technological skill because the modern day economy is technology driven. Education will loose its value if it is not current. What is required of a 21st century teachers is the ability to relate theory to technical skills, and this is the central theme of teaching and learning in a technology-based environment.
What is instruction?

The word instruction is a key term in educational practice. It has been variously defined, and sometimes with confusing and contradictory results. From the point of view of teaching and learning, instruction is defined as a process of communicating an organized body of knowledge to a predetermined audience (students or instructional recipients) using various strategies in a selected environment for the purpose of producing and facilitating learning. Instructional lab is described as a planned learning environment (room) equipped with various resources, and procedures for the purpose of enhancing learning. From this definition, instruction is perceived as having 4 components as represented below:
1. Audience: (recipients of the instruction, students etc.)
2. Knowledge: (learning materials or learning contents)
3. Methods: (various strategies and techniques of delivering or presenting instruction including technological resources and devices to be used to enhance learning)
4. Environment: (physical location)

Heinich et al (1999) defined instruction as ?the arrangement of information and environment? (p.7). This definition is simplistic; instruction is not merely an ?arrangement of information ?? The definition depicts instruction as a mechanistic activity. On the contrary, instruction is a thoughtful activity, deriving its principles from the psychological and philosophical theories. The four components of instructions must interact harmoniously to produce the desired result (learning). Therefore, in designing an instructional lab, the designer will take into consideration the 4 components of instruction.
1 Audience (students or instructional recipients)
The following points should be considered
a. The developmental stage of the instructional recipients, the level of their cognitive development
b. Purpose of instruction
c. Learning style/pace of learning
d. How can the information acquired be applied?

2 Learning materials (knowledge, skills and attitudes to be learned)
a. What kind of material will reflect the knowledge the instructor wants to impart
b. The expected outcome
c. Time and resources available
d. How will the knowledge be evaluated
e. How can the knowledge be applied or
transferred?

3. Methods of delivering instruction
Selection of teaching methods to match:
a. the learning materials
b. the objective of instruction
c. technological and multimedia network

4. Physical Environment
Physical environment refers to the appearance of the lab/room, the fixtures such as electrical wiring, the lighting, the cooling and heating provision, space for storage of items not in use and space for students to move about. The teacher will take the following into consideration when making decision about material and physical environment.

a. What kind of equipment, hardware, software technologies that will be appropriate for the knowledge to be taught?

b. Will the resources - technologies selected be suitable for students in view of their cognitive development and their learning styles?

c. Are the circuits adequate for the operation of the technological equipment?

d. Is the classroom properly ventilated

e. Is there enough space for teachers to move about and provide motivation and feedback?

f. Do students have a clear view of the podium, the projector or the monitor?

h. Do students have enough space to engage in private
work such as examination

i. Is there enough space for group work and for exchange of
ideas among students

j Is the lighting appropriate for a specified instruction?

k What steps are taken to prevent interruption caused by
frequent breakdown of equipment?

m Is support system readily available for teachers?

n. Do teachers have troubleshooting skills?

o. Is the learning environment supervised and maintained regularly?








The Role of a Teacher in a Lab-based Learning

Many writers in the field of instructional delivery have attempted to describe the role of a teacher by outlining various responsibilities a teacher is likely to encounter but most of the analyses fail to capture the unforeseen and the spontaneous decision-making, and actions a teacher must take to deliver an effective instruction. Some of the decisions and activities teachers engage in the course of their teaching are not predetermined. Teachers are required to deal with situations and events that develop spontaneously. Therefore, for a teacher to be able to deal with any emerging event in a classroom situation, he/she must draw from his/her repertoire of knowledge, which reflects the quality of his/her preparation, and personal resourcefulness as well as experience. It is acknowledged that teachers do have some delineated and established functions, which they perform, and which provide a framework for their different roles. Nevertheless, there are other unwritten duties that teachers are required to perform in order to be effective. The best way to describe both the foreseen and the unforeseen roles of a teacher in any given learning environment is to conceptualize those roles as setting the stage for learning. But what does setting the stage for learning really means?
It refers to the teacher?s understanding of the demands of instruction and his/her ability to match such demands with the students? needs, and the preparation of the learning environment in anticipation of the needs. Consequently, for the teacher to be able to set the stage for learning, the teacher must be able to play the following roles.
? Develop the curriculum contents (synthesize, analyze and evaluate the knowledge to be taught)
? Make decision as to whether the knowledge to be taught reflects the purpose of instruction and the needs of the students
? Select appropriate methods that reflect purpose, needs and proper allocation of time etc
? Diversify instructional strategies to reflect students learning styles and pace of learning
? Identify resources to help students consolidate learning
? If laboratory is used, prepare the lab, select hardware and software technologies to match the purpose of instruction, identify computer peripherals and other equipment etc.
? Decide on the seating arrangement according to the purpose of instruction
? Prepare the physical layout of the classroom to reflect the culture of the school
? Select appropriate lighting to reflect the intensity of each learning objective and methods being used
? Establish control and provide guideline in using the computer and other technologies
? Assess the classroom/lab for interference with the instruction
? The lab must be configured so that the students have clear view of the projector or the central monitor
? The teacher must also consider the ergonomic requirements of a given laboratory classroom
? Provide a relaxing learning environment for the students
? Encourage active participation among students
? Provide group network and computer network to encourage collaborative learning
? Provide motivation for students
? Advise and counsel students, diagnose weakness and seek out solution
? Provide feedback
? Encourage resourcefulness among students
? Help students build their self-esteem
? Relate to each student according to need and pace of learning because learning is private and each individual processes information differently
? Provide follow-up studies in terms of further reading, written assignment, library and/or internet research etc.
? Observe students, determine level of progress at regular interval, and make adjustment as necessary
? As a teacher reflect on your teaching and make changes as deem necessary in view of your experience and your assessment of your students
? Continually check if the technologies in use are working and request for repair and/or replacement if they are not
? Evaluate instruction, methods of instruction and students? progress
? Develop troubleshooting ability
? Work closely with business and industries and be familiar with changes in technology
? Engage in self-development activities (by conducting action research, attending conferences, workshops to remain current and to keep pace with the rapid technological changes etc)
? Be firm but fair and acknowledge each student?s strength and weakness
? Keep proper documentation of your school work

The Role of the Students in a Technology-based Learning
Most students enter into the technology classroom without knowledge of what is expected of them, they sit quietly waiting for the teacher to commence teaching. Just as teachers have the responsibility of stating stage for learning, the students also have to prepare themselves in readiness to embrace learning. It is necessary for students to be familiar with their learning environment by mentally surveying the environment in an effort to understand the configuration of the lab, examining the sitting arrangement, discovering how to adjust the chair for comfort, discovering lockers and space to store items not immediately in use, locate the position of the computer peripherals and all the available learning resources as well as making sure that he/she is in a location to make eye contact with the teacher as the instruction progresses. Students? eye contact with teachers is very important, it helps teachers to determine how far the students are coping with the learning activity or how frustrated they are; it also help the teacher to adjust the pace of instruction as necessary.
Students? eye contacts and facial expression can signal positive or negative feedbacks; positive feedbacks provide the teacher with the reassurance to continue delivering the instruction. On the other hand, negative signal from students? eye contacts and facial expression may cause the teachers to engage in a reflective teaching practice. Through the process of reflective teaching activity, the teacher will be able to rewind, restate, reiterate what have been discussed earlier in a variety of ways, using various media to motivate and sustain meaningful learning for all the students.

Hello Isak, unfortunately you are stuck with me the lowly private Alisha reporting for duty as mandated by my father Col. Joseph if I cannot inject some humor talking to you I would go stir crazy. I have my dad's next few discussions as well as his two assignments the assignments are not to until Saturday, April 28 his discussion needs to be submitted no later than three o'clock on Tuesday, April 24. Mom going for surgery on Wednesday, April 25, so dad will need his assignments by Tuesday. They all have websites that have to be access and I will list them in order for you to access them. I will list them in order for you.

(01)Your Devices in the Near Future

Throughout Chapters 1-5, you have learned about various hardware components and software systems and applications. These include multi-core processors, flash memory, optical processors, netbooks, BlackBerry, iPhone, iPod touch, Microsoft Surface, open source Linux, Ubuntu, virtualization, Yapta intelligent agents, and augmented reality. In addition, many new systems and applications are (or will be) arriving to the market such as iPad and many other tablets, Android mobile devices, Project Natal controller, Chrome OS, Google Translate, etc.

Which input/output devices will you be using in the next one to three years as "computing" devices?

Which features/components/form factors will be prominent? Why?

Which features/components/form factors will be important to you? Why?

Which applications will you be using on these devices?

How may these devices change your life in terms of benefits and risks? (Two pages) citations and references are imperative! There aren't any websites needed for this question.

(02). A shared culture. This needs this website connection (http://creativecommons.org/videos/a-shared-culture). This is a three part section

Want to work together (http://creativecommons.org/videos/wanna-work-together).

Lawrence Lessig: Re-examining the remix (http://www.ted.com/talks/lessig_nyed.html)

You have seen how digital technology like YouTube allows people to easily create mashups and remixes - hybrid songs and/or videos through a combination of pieces of many other songs and videos and/or original content - which can violate copyright laws.

Do you think the law should allow these kinds of creative expressions? Why?
How can creative culture of user generated content be revived? Why is it important? Or not?
Is Creative Commons good for copyright holders and market competition? Why? Or not?
How should these intellectual property rights of people who create images, videos, and music be protected? Why is it necessary?
Should digital rights management (DRM) technologies be utilized? Why?

You need to answer all the questions with citations and citations are crucial as well as the reference for each question . These questions are for the discussion board and dad needs them by Tuesday, April 24 because mom goes in for surgery on the 25th. Now, in regards to the two assignments they are not due until Saturday, April 28. This will give my dad a chance to edit your words with his. This assignment has to do with Microsoft word. My dad uses Microsoft word 2003 (office) assignment 1: (three pages)

If you do not have Microsoft Office Word 2007, you may use Microsoft Word 2003 with the following tutorials:

Word 2003: Create your first document
Word 2003: Format your document with styles
Word 2003: Create and format basic tables
Word 2003: Create headers and footers
Word 2003: Revise documents with track changes and comments
.

Next, create one Microsoft Word document utilizing the features you have learned about in the five Microsoft Word 2007 Basic Training Tutorials. You may build upon your practice session documents instead of starting with a blank document. If you utilize features from optional tutorials, be sure to note them. You may create the document using any content that you already have. (Two pages)

(2) this is the second assignment:

Collaborating with Google Docs Document


Google Docs is a part of the Collaborative Computing as described in Chapter 1 of your text. Review the Getting Started Guide to Google Docs Document and videos.

Getting Started Guide ? Google Docs Help
Google Docs in Plain English
Create a new Google Docs Document
Create a Google Doc from a template
Import files into Google Docs
Revision history in Google Docs
Then, create a Google Docs Document by importing your Week Two Discussion 1(?Your Devices in Near Future?) Word document. Format the document and then share it with the instructor as a collaborator.

Create a Microsoft Word document which includes the following:

The link to your Google Docs Document
Aside from allowing others to view your documents, how can you use a Google Docs Document collaboratively with others in 125-175 words? (Two pages)

dear writer-

I work in education, these are high-school kids ages 13-19. I am trying to sell my product, it is called Teens and Technology. I have to see myself and my educational idea. It is very popular and Headteachers are asking about it, but I need help making it look nice so I can give it to them when I meet with them. Please help me make it marketable. it is a a great for challenging teens who are struggling in school. They can develop a skill to take with them and make money once they learn it. Also the policy writing at the end makes them part of a whole school project which is really spectacular in today's economy, they have to be technically savvy! today to survive!.

I am including what it is about.

1. Please try and use professional educational language to spice it up. remember I have to sell this to schools

2.My boss wants it in bullet points so they can make a leaflet out of it-keep the heading and than the point have to be bullet pointed

Teens and Technology teaches uses technology to capture the imaginations of students , to empower them, build confidence, self-esteem and hope.Their vision and voices are shared through exhibitions, books, websites and videos. By linking with local organizations, we work to strengthen the pupils education and general well-being of the individual


Teens and Technology
Technology awareness class



Aims
To raise children's self confidence, self esteem and independence
To enhance children's understanding and use of emerging technology
To give children the confidence and knowledge to face a changing work landscape of the future.
To teach marketable skills for future career opportunities in fields such as:
Awareness of new technology
graphic design,
web page design,
digital and online publishing,
digital technology
collaboration and team project working.
To make the educational process more positive for the students.
To help reduce the disruption caused by current introduction of mobile phones,
Teach children how to use mobile phone and computer to more constructively, and how to use them as personal development and educational tool.
Make children more aware of the positives and negative components of modern technology.


What is created by the program

Students create a digital images, films and audio presentations using mobile devices they already have.
Students will learn how to upload this material on to a computer and edit it.
Students learn how to create interactive and creative presentations using Web based and computer based tools.
Students will learn to work collaboratively as a team to create richer projects and share knowledge
Students will participate in discussion of the proper and improper uses mobile technology in the school,
Students will train as technology mentors to help other students and staff in using digital devices in a more educationally constructive fashion,
Students will work to form a mobile technology audit that they they will present to head teachers as input in to potential school wide mobile technology policy.


The key goal of this program is help students see digital devices less as a distraction from school and more as a strong potential tool for teaching and learning.

Technology is rapidly changing every part of children's lives. And this trend is likely to only increase in the future. Technology opens a world of possibilities to children, offering a space where they can create, collaborate, research and express themselves. But technology also posses a number of threats. Therefore the greatest danger is that children be drawn in to new emerging technology without learning to master it, to understand it, and to form their own beliefs and opinions about it.



There are faxes for this order.

This paper has to be at least 1200 words and use at least 3 outside references. The paper has to be original without any plagiarism; I am sure your custom papers are not plagiarised works, but it was in the instructions given to me. If possible, references that can be found on the internet would be helpful in case I am asked how obtained my material in my remote location. If not, that is fine.
I am interested in how dependence on digital technology effects the US Military. Are we too dependent? Or, is it a big advantage?
Please contact me if you have questions.

Please assign this essay to Alan (preferably) or a native english writer with experience with writing strategic analysis papers. Please READ the ENTIRE description including the requirement to apply appropriate theory/frameworks/analytical tools/graphs to the essay.
===========================
In Focus: The Height of Olympus

Camera manufacturers for the last twenty years have had to consider the changing market
landscape and assess what their reaction to the technological trends, new entrants and
changing tastes in society are going to be. Before digital technology impacted on imaging the
key camera manufactures included many that are no longer trading e.g. Minolta and Contax,
but it also brought in companies such as Sony that were able to use their miniaturisation and
imaging technology from its reprographic and audio platforms into camera manufacture. Sony
also entered the digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera market by purchasing Konica Minolta?s
camera range and eventually rebranding it into the Sony Alpha marque.

In a counter current camera manufacturers were able to use their lens and other imaging
technology to enter the printing/reprographics industry as well as other imaging markets e.g.
medical, life sciences etc. Indeed Olympus, established on 12 October 1919, had initially
specialized in microscope and thermometer businesses and currently has approximately 70%
share ($Bn 2.5) of the global market for gastro-intestinal endoscope.

http://www.olympus-global.com/en/corc/history/about/

Recently industry observers have suggested that the convergence of smartphone technology
where a camera is an essential part of the smartphone and integrated with social media has
made access to a camera ubiquitous.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/05/16/olympus-to-drop-cheap-point-and-shoot-cameras/

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/photo-news/539529/camera-market-slumps-20-as-
compact-sales-plummet

Camera manufacturers have sought to make the cameras competing directly with smartphones
by introducing such innovations as wifi in cameras.

http://tinyurl.com/Yeong-2013

As a response to the changing consumer habits Olympus have indicated they will cease
manufacture of their sub $200 cameras. A competitor, Canon, have reported poor sales in this
segment as well in spite of their claim in a news release of April 22, 2013:

TOKYO,?Canon Inc. today announced that the company?s interchangeable-lens digital
cameras (digital SLR and compact-system cameras) have consistently maintained the No. 1
share worldwide in terms of volume within the interchangeable-lens digital camera market
for the 10-year period from 2003 to 2012.

http://www.canon.com/news/2013/apr22e.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/24/canon-earnings-idUSL3N0DA0BR20130424?type=co
mpanyNews

It has been a tough trading environment for Olympus exacerbated in late 2011 by revelations
from its former British CEO of a loss-concealing fraud which wiped 75% off the company?s
stock market valuation though it did not impact on its sales.

http://tinyurl.com/whistle-blower-2012




Assessment: Strategic Advantage

Currently the penalty is being considered by the courts and may lead to a large fine and
imprisonment of culpable board members .

http://tinyurl.com/court-to-rule

Hiroyuki Sasa, Olympus?s Representative Director and President has previously stated in April
2012 that ?We would like to narrow down our [imaging business] portfolio? by doing so ?we can
make the business fully profitable.? Olympus plan to continue and develop its mirrorless series
of cameras with new features and competitive price range.

http://thenewcamera.com/olympus-plans-to-cut-its-camera-line-up/

Further Hiroyuki Sasa, on the Olympus website stated management policy as:
Back to Basics

Return to Olympus? starting point, taking as its core the ?Opto-Digital Technology? which
has been cultivated since the Company?s founding, and which is characterized world?s top
technology and strong commitment to manufacturing

One Olympus
To realize healthier and more fulfilling lives for humankind, the Company endeavors to
strengthen its existing businesses and earn the world?s trust by offering ?One Olympus? - a
company that provides products and services that are friendly to both people and the
environment, thereby contributing to the health, safety, security and spiritual well-being of
people around the world.

Profitable Growth

Break away from an excessive bias towards sales and seek profitable growth. Position
improvement of profitability and finances as the paramount initiative.
http://www.olympus-global.com/en/corc/rs/

As part of their strategy Olympus are considering tie-ups with Sony.
http://www.olympus-global.com/en/common/pdf/nr121001e.pdf

The financials show the company posted a return to profit in 2013

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/05/16/business/olympus-returns-to-black-in-fiscal-12-
but-digital-camera-sales-weigh/#.UZieQLWTh8E

http://www.olympus-global.com/en/ir/data/brief/2013/

Olympus share price

http://www.barchart.com/chart.php?sym=OCPNY&t=BAR&size=M&v=1&g=1&p=WO&d=X&q
b=1&style=technical&template=

Canon share price

http://www.barchart.com/chart.php?sym=CAJFF&t=BAR&size=M&v=1&g=1&p=WO&d=X&qb=
1&style=technical&template=

Sony share price

http://www.barchart.com/chart.php?sym=SNEJF&t=BAR&size=M&v=1&g=1&p=WO&d=X&qb=
1&style=technical&template=

For Hiroyuki Sasa and the Olympus board the financials are a good starting point but, as for all
companies, how are they going to realise their management policy?

Assessment: Strategic Advantage

Questions

1. What kind of market(s) are cameras sold in and how would you characterise the competitive
environment in each market. What perspective does this provide on Olympus?s decision to
drop manufacture of its sub $200 dollar cameras? (33%)
2. Compared with its competitors, what, if any, are the competitive advantages that Olympus
has and can you characterise any as sustainable competitive advantages. (33%)
3. You have been appointed as a consultant to advise the CEO on options for future competitive
strategy. What would be your recommendations? (34%)

This case study has provided you with some relevant links however you are invited to use other
relevant information in answering the questions. Remember to refer to and apply appropriate
theory/frameworks/analytical tools to justify your arguments

3-page Summary
This is a formal paper, use readings below to help aid in summarizing the reading. When summarizing the readings you must quote from the readings in order to substantiate your points. Use APA format when quoting from the readings. Do Not Use Outside Sources!

Moore & Kearsley

Strategic Planning
For the senior employees of an institution -- its managers -- 1 of the main responsibilities in strategic planning. This involves a number of processes, including: defining a vision and a mission, goals, and objectives for the institution or program regarding distance education, choosing among options so that the priority goals can be achieved with acceptable quality and with the available resources, continuous assessment of changing trends in students, business, and societal demands, tracking emerging technological options that might make for a greater efficiency, and projecting future resources and financial needs and taking actions to meet them.
Defining the Mission
at the institutional level and the same could be said of the state and federal levels strategic planning begins with the defining a mission, a long-term direction based on a concept of the place of the institution in society, usually based also won a self-awareness of its role historically. Not to have such a self-awareness levels of administrative and teaching staff of an institution without a secure point of reference when faced with decisions to be made arising from many changes that take place in the social and economic environment in which they have to plan and deliver their programs. Since there is an almost infinite variety of potential distance education market the organization leadership needs to be explicit about what is attempting to serve, how, and why. Otherwise as they tried to be all the things to all people they're likely to spread their resources to thinly to survive in a competitive educational market. Certainly mission statements must not become a drag on flexibility or readiness to respond to new opportunities and so should be reviewed periodically expressly by lawless tabs institutions were the size and location of their student catchment area is likely to change as technology changes. A good illustration of the importance of the mission as both an anchor for policy in the institution as well as a guide to decisions about change is seen in state universities that have their distance education programs historically grounded in the land-grant tradition of service and outreached residents of the state. It is the job of the institution management to supply of the resources of e.g. people, facilities, time, money needed to achieve its mission and to articulate policies that enabled administrators to select goals and objectives that are realizable within the limits of those resources.


Deciding Whether to Proceed
Before proceeding to invest in a distance education program and institution Management must first consider it distance education is appropriate at all in fulfilling its mission and if it is being to make choices among the various alternative courses that could be offered. One aspect of this checking that there is a real demand and one that is likely to be sustained for it. Generally this would be indicated by market research data showing that there is sufficiently large number of interests students it is also is necessary to examine demographic envisage trains see what changes might be expected in the future that might impact courses and programs. For example changes in immigration patterns that affect the multicultural makeup of the US population means that some colleges that have specialize in multilingual courses may see a new opportunity in distance education. For the trend for multiple to work at home or to have some businesses may create a bigger market for Oakley develop programs of distance education business topics specific to a particular region. In the past it was quite often found a greater demand exist for educational courses that revealed a normal market research procedures. In other words by supply new courses and institutions might stimulate demand for it with the ease with which programs can be offered through a new information and communication technologies the challenge now is correctly identified in a niche market; that is, the subject or population that an institution conserve better than any of its competitors. Also before deciding to proceed to design and to offer a course the manager must be convinced that there is both the technology and -- more difficult than it may appear the staff people will of designing and teaching the course. Unfortunately it is common for the decision to go hit to be taken after there has been a check of the technology but not at the human resources needed to use it properly. A surprisingly number managers seem to think that faculty and trainers can simply add teaching at a distance to their existing workloads. In equally surprising number of property and trainers think so, too. The result can be a low-quality program and eventually disillusionment that would have been best avoided not going into the distance education field in the first place. Further before proceeding managers have to decide if they will be able to recover the cost of investing in a course or program and how they would do it. We know that a considerable amount of investment costs will be involved as equipment is purchased, new staff hired, and other retrained. Some institutions have been able to obtain grants from philanthropic organizations while others have to come up with the venture-capital and worked out how to recover this in tuition fees after the courses are produced. Some projection on this issue is essential, therefore before the decision to proceed is taken. What is not possible is to expect income from tuition to pay for investment costs in the very short term. Again such a policy is a recipe for low-quality and disillusionment. Before deciding to proceed managers also have to consider issues relating to faculty, vertically the effect on workload, compensation, and ownership of course materials. In face-to-face institutions considering moving to distance education will a course be treated as equipment to teaching a traditional class even though more time in design and online interaction is likely? At the most extreme there are universities were faculties have gone on strike because the impact of their workload has been in and we considered prior to the decision to set up a distance education program. Other problems have arisen and are likely to arise in the future regarding who should own the ideas and information contained in the course, professional who created them, or the institution that publish them. Various solution to these questions have been arrived at but whether the solution they are questions that are best tackled before the decision is made to proceed into distance education. Finally before deciding to proceed managers must take a hard look at the problem of sustainability. As challenging as it is to get a distance education program started it is an even bigger challenge to sustain it over the long term. This is demonstrated by a study of Berge and Kearsley 2003, of 31 corporate nonprofit and government organizations that have previously been reported as having started online distance education programs. The authors describe the problems that follow a successful start a and reached the general conclusion that distance education has grown more slowly than predictions over the past decade because it has not been sustained in many organizations asked that is, it keeps getting reintroduced.
Tracking Technology
The quality of the course delivered at a distance of the quality of the students experience will to some extent and on the particular delivery system used so that the management decisions about what technology to purchase will have a significant effect on the cost-effectiveness of institution and its programs. In this periods of intense development of Internet based distance education the decision concerns the reative merits of different course management systems. The administrators responsible for choosing from among various systems have been considered the merits of each system for presenting course materials and also for providing interaction between learners and teachers but they also have to consider differences in cost. For example, angel has an annual license fee determined by the number of users while blackboards fee structure is not tied to the number of uses in the course. Or help in deciding which manages system will be best for one's institution managers and their advisers can use an online resources that compares different systems.
Administering the Program
The administration of a distance education program includes all the major events and activities that support any formal educational process. They include: deciding what courses to offer, diminished during the process of designing and implementing the course, appointing, training, and supervising academic and administrative staff, informing potential students about what courses are available and how to join them, Registry applicants and administering admissions procedure, collecting fees, administering scholarships, and keeping accounts, setting up and running and structural and counseling services to students, administering student evaluation procedures, awarding grades, certificates, diplomas, and degrees, locating and maintaining library's and study centers, obtaining and maintaining technology, especially servers and other computer hardware, and continuously monitoring the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of the program. The extent and complexity of administrative activities will vary according to the type of distance education system thus, in many programs instructors do much of the administration of the courses linked to the resources of the campus administrative system. At other extremes in a single course mode institutions and an entire department will deal with a group of different administrative activities -- particularly recruitment, restriction, finance, and evaluation. As traditional institutions convert to dual mode they decide the special needs of distance learners make it more efficient to set up specialists administrative units alongside such traditional departments as the bursars office or registrar's office.
Staffing
Once the decision to enter the distance education feel has been taken one of the most important task for the miniatures is to identify from the existing staff -- or otherwise to recruit and in training -- the individual who will be needed to set up and run the program -- or to set up and run an institution if it is a new institution that is to be established. The staff that is needed includes: subject experts usually the academic of the teaching institution, instructional designers, instructors to teach courses once they have been designed, specialists and learner support, technology experts and technicians will set up and maintain the communication systems, administrator such as program directors, course managers, and site coordinators, clerks who process enrollments, grades, or materials, and managers such in Deans, presidents, and other executives.
Deciding on Full-versus Part-time Staffing
One of the most challenging questions associated with staffing is whether to appoint full-time or part-time employees and what combination of each. In general the higher the ratio of part-time to four times that the lower the average cost of providing the course teach student. The principal or division of labor that we introduced in chapter 1 supports the idea of having instructors with primary professional skill is interacting with students leaving other people to design, produce commented over the course learning materials. Such professionals become skillful at in a blink each students to have a high quality of personal relationship with a teacher in spite of distance. Because there is a limit to the number of students that instructor can interact with it becomes prohibitively expensive for institution to maintain a large number full-time instructors for this purpose as well as content experts instructional designers, learner support staff, technologist, administrative staff. It becomes more feasible to provide a good student instructor ratio if part-time staff can be engaged in this instructor role. Having part-time staff also allows the Organization to adapt is curriculum more quickly to changing needs and then maybe possible if it has a staff locked into a curriculum that may have been more relevant 10 or 20 years earlier. In general there for hiring instructors on a part-time basis makes for better quality as well as greater cost-effectiveness. But it is a difficult policy to implement in many institutions. In a single mold University it is the normal practice to have full-time staff develop courses usually supplemented with part-time consultants and the end to depend on part-time instructors (tutors) to teach the course. In American universities it is more common for full-time faculty for the university to provide both content and instruction, though it is increasingly common for part-timers including graduate students and adjunct faculty to act as instructors. Other organizations such as school district will corporate training departments may hire consultants as writers, editors, where producers, graphic artists and programmers to design and develop courses and use full-time teachers or trainers to provide the instruction. Managers and administrative staff are usually permanent full-time positions.
Training and Orientation of Staff
Whether full-time or part-time it is imperative that all staff understand distinctive character of distance education including an appreciation of many positive character was learning and distance home or work environment. They need to appreciate the difficulties that distance education students experience and must know how to be helpful, and want to be helpful. As compared with the past there are a few of faculty in traditional institution who disparage distance learner but good intentions are not enough to make good educators. Training is needed and organizing there is an important responsibility of administrators. After the initial training staff should be monitored continuously and provided with ongoing in-service training to enable them to develop their skills and keep up-to-date. Most training is likely to be in-house and on the job. Some members of the staff might be enrolled in one of the various online training programs.
Staff Monitoring and Assessment
Once appointed and trained both academic and other staff should be monitored and evaluated to ensure the quality and effectiveness of their work. The idea of the and systematically monitored has not been understood in academia as long as it has been in the business and industrial worlds or indeed in training departments of the Armed Forces or in school districts. It is essential part of the system approach however. A means has to be set up for gathering data readily and evaluating it so that interventions can be made for remedial training where weaknesses in the delivery system are identified. Among this kind of data to be gather and responses from students and faculty themselves about how satisfied they are with course products and be teaching procedures as well as the learning accomplished.
Learner Support Centers, Libraries, and Teleconference Sites
Although an increasingly large range of learning materials and services for distance learners and and now delivered by means of the Internet there are still some they cannot be inserting there are some services that are better provided face-to-face and/or in group settings by audio-or video teleconferences. A pure distance learning method may be unsuitable for teaching his subjects such as interpersonal relations for trainee counselors or for trainee teachers will need classroom practice or where potential dangerous results could occur without professionals provision as in teaching chemistry. In such cases administrators have to identif laboratory facilities schools for teaching practice, and so on. Contracts may have to be drawn up, fees paid, and other responsibilities incurred in the use of these facilities that lie outside the immediate control of the distance teaching institution. Setting up and maintaining learning centers require many administrative decisions including: where learning center should located, when they should be open, what facilities and equipment are needed, what staff administrative and academic they should have, how they should relate to the main campus, and how they should be funded.
Libraries
most education certainly that University level requires students to undertake some research that uses materials beyond what is provided by the instructor. A great challenge foreign ministers of distance education has now been to provide library resources that could compare with what work available to students on campus. In 1967 the Association of colleges and research library's release formal guidelines for providing the needs of distance learners. These guidelines were updated in 1982, 1990, and in 1998 the Association of College and research libraries sections are guideline committee, in 1998. With the arrival of the Internet the problem has become much leisure to deal with. Academic libraries are beginning to add dedicated distance education Liberians to their staff. Central Michigan University for example employs seven full-time librarians for this kind of service. In Florida, distance learners anywhere in the state have access to dedicated distance education Liberians that the Florida distance learning reference and referral Center. Another way of academic libraries have responded to the needs of distance learners is through the formation of partnerships. Walden University and accredited distance base graduate school formed an alliance with Indiana University to allow Walden students to make full use of the Indiana University library's resources. ILLINET a consortium of 40 academic libraries in Illinois provides cooperative borrowing arrangements for members students as well as maintaining a common online catalog. In California, nine campuses of the University of California forms the California Digital library, which is accessible to the public, and provides online searches and periodical database indexing over 100,000 titles available throughout the state. He Pennsylvania State University is part of several library cooperatives including the virtual electronic library and the consuming academic library connection initiative. The virtual electronic library provides mutual borrowing among the Big 10 universities and the University of Chicago. Online catalogs such as library-spot, ECO (electronic collections online), and the world-cat (both of which are maintained by the online computer library center), provide online users with access to my very resources, catalogs, and information systems. In 1996 survey of academic libraries found that of the 74 respondents, only three indicated that they were not actively supporting their institution distance education programs.
Teleconference Learning Sites
With the arrival of the Internet there has been a decline in the interest on the part of many institutions setting of teleconference learning sites. It is certainly less trouble for the administrator in an institution that delivers instructional program to the students home computer than one that delivers by satellite -- at least regarding the arrangement at the interface between the learner and the system. There are still many programs delivered to learning sites, however, and in a good system there would be an integration of technologies. For an institution using this technology to major problem for administrators are to ensure that the learning site is in a good location that it is well-run and that the staff and equipment are working properly. The size of the learning site can range from a small conference room for a group to four to five participants to a large auditorium with hundreds of people. The most important administrative decision to be made is who is to be the coordinator. There are also many decisions needed about allocation of resources to this delivery system, levels of tuition fees, marketing strategies, and evaluations.
Budgeting
Of all of these areas that administrators must deal with the budgeting is probably the most difficult. Budget decisions are basically about priorities and resources allocations. Administrators should always be concerned with the question of cost effectiveness -- are they getting the best value for the money they spend? This question comes in when making decisions at the most general level of policy e.g. what types of courses the institution will deliver, the most specific e.g. whether the price of a proposed textbook might have a negative effect on the student enrollment. When making up the budget some of the most important decisions administrators make our how much to spend on: developing new courses, buying new technology, hiring academic staff, paying for student support services, running learning centers, running the administration, and marketing their program. The main question is what related proportion of funds and resources should allocated to each of these categories. For example should more of the budget goal toward developing new courses, supporting the existing one's, hiring more academic staff, or improving facilities? In theory, allocating funds among the different item should be based upon a careful analysis of the needs of the distance education program including current deficiencies and opportunities. For example is student evaluation data indicates that students are dissatisfied with the level of interactivity and courses more money could be allocated to buying a new delivery system that allows more interaction, two workshop to train teachers and interactive techniques or to simply hire more instructors to reduce the student-to-instructor ratio. On the other hand if the data from the market research indicates that more students will enroll will get more or certain courses were offered it could be argued that course development should receive a larger share of the budget. Decisions have to be made and in order to make the best decisions is necessary to have reliable evaluation data all aspects of the organizations distance education efforts.
Budgeting and Different Levels
Budget decisions must be made at many different levels: institutional, departmental, programmatic, and in administering individual courses. Each level of decision-making is likely to have different priorities. For example, senior administrators are likely to be concerned with preserving enough money to support marketing projects with a view of keeping up enrollments and thus revenue, whereas faculty are likely to take this background activity for granted and to be preoccupied with maintaining student support services or the number of academic staff which date associate with maintaining quality. Differences like these mean that budget decisions are often accompanied by power struggles within the organization as each constituency attempts to obtain as big a share of the budget as possible. To avoid the struggles turning into acrimonious conflicts administrators must continually emphasized that budget decisions will be made on the basis of data, and that all groups wishing to influence the budget must present data to justify the request or plans.
Budgeting the Administration
One of the most difficult budget categories for administrators to allocate funds is the administration itself. Most administrators feel pressure to run a lean and mean operation having the smallest administrative staff as possible l. If taken too far however this can be counterproductive if it results in an administrative function that is understaffed and not able to run things efficiently. Money spent in running a good performance marching unit would for example almost certainly be a good investment. Similarly good management means extensive planning and this need market researchand other studies which are more difficult to justify to the faculty for the public van creating new courses, hiring more academics staff, or buying new technology. On the other hand, it is true the institution sometimes get top-heavy with administrations that consume an inordinate amount of the budget while producing less than an equivalent benefit. Just like administrators and other units in the organization's senior administrators must continually collect cost-effectiveness data on their ministry of operations justify the portion of the budget that they are allowing to spend.
Scheduling
Budgeting the resources of the time may seem a little strange to people who have only worked in traditional education whether all instruction is organized in a very familiar pattern of class sessions and semesters of fixed the durations. In schools and colleges most of the attention given to budgeting time is a matter of developing and reorganizing schedules timetables for students and teachers. Indeed more love for funding and accrediting such schools are usually based upon student attendance and scheduled classes. In most forms of distance education this kind of scheduling is far less significant. Instead of ministers have to budget the time of the many individuals that make up a course team during the often lengthy process of designing a course and then they have to schedule the instructional staff during its implementation. Because of course material must people peered in advance of their use -- and some of these, such as video recordings, may need Meany Munster produced -- it is essential that a well defined schedule be developed and maintained. Usually this takes the form of a work plan that lists all of the tasks that must be completed, the deadlines for each task, and who is responsible for completing the task. It is the responsibility of the administrator in charge of distance education program to ensure that development schedule is followed so the materials and programs all come together and are ready when the student and structure appears begin the interactive phase of the program. At that time there will need to be a widely distributed schedule for such activities as course registration and tuition payments; and a schedule of dates for the completion of the course assignments, examinations, and graduation procedures. Other major scheduling tests are involved if there is a teleconferencing, such as booking a room at teleconference site; and if the institution is delivering a program as well as receiving it, time on the satellite has to be scheduled with the telecommunications company. Popular methods applied in scheduling design of courses on the program evaluation and review technique, the critical path method, and the Gantt chart. Each technique results in a chart. Program evaluation and review technique charts show each task and its planned duration with each task connected to its successor in a network of nodes and connecting lines. A critical path method chart is similar to a program evaluation and reviewing technique chart, with a critical path showing the set of cash that together task of the longest time to complete and which receive special attention. A Gantt chart is the matrix with the past listed on one axis and with the horizontal axis indicating such variables at the time to be given to the task, and skill needed to perform it, and the person responsible for it.
Scheduling the Student
in correspondence courses students usually set their own schedules and pace themselves toward completing course. Most programs established a maximum period e.g. six months for one year within which time the course must be completed. With this time. Students can complete their assignments and examinations according to their own timetables. Some programs allow open enrollment, while others specify certain registration periods. On the other hand programs that involve teleconferencing or television broadcast usually have a fixed class schedule with well-defined beginnings and ending dates. The general practice with online distance education is to deliver a course according to a strict schedule with groups of students enrolled very much like they do for a conventional class. Most students find this more rigid structure and pasting to be helpful in completing the course. It is important that such schedules are reasonably planned and take into account the most amount of work involved and allows sufficient turnaround time for delivery of assignments.
Quality Assessment
Although everyone in it educational institution has a role to play in producing high-quality instruction, administrators are responsible for its measurement and for using the data gathered in taking action to improve. In one way or another all administrative activities discussed can be evaluated in the search for data pertaining to quality. There are a number of other factors that might be monitored, including: number and quality of applications and enrollments, student achievement, student satisfaction, faculty satisfaction, program/institutional reputation, and quality of course materials. Each of these factors reflects different aspects of the quality of an institution's products and services. Continually increasing or stable rates of applications and enrollments suggest the organization is doing a good job of tracking demographic and socio- economic variables and tailoring its offerings to real needs. It may also be considered to be an indicator of satisfactory teaching and good word-of-mouth promotion by satisfied students. Students achievement should be one other aspects of quality measurement that receives most attention. This is not difficult to monitor in the short-term -- but it is difficult to assess in the long term. In professional fields where students have to take certification exams e.g. law, medicine, engineering; it is possible to examine the achievement of students relative to other institutions. However, the kind of student achievement data that would be most valuable namely job performance or were confidence evaluation is almost impossible to obtain due to the complexities of conducting studies in the workplace. Most programs usually settle for anecdotal information about the impact of their courses, collected from interviews of graduates. Student satisfaction data is important and relatively easy to collect. It is standard practice for students to be evaluated course and its conclusion, being asked to rate or comment on the content, course organization, the instructor, instructional materials, and delivery system. Such data is usually scrutinized by the course manager and sometimes the department head or Dean. This provides at least a minimal check on the quality of course as far as the perception of students are concerned. However student satisfaction data is far from an infallible measurement of how effective the course is in terms of students learning, nor does it assess the validity or relevance of the content taught. Similarly, faculty satisfaction may be a useful measure provided its subjective character is also kept in mind. Faculty can access the extent to which existing teacher strategies and materials appeared to be effective whether student support services are adequate and whether courses appeared to meet the needs of students were their employers. Most faculty are concerned to be effective teachers and are likely to make recommendations that they believe will improve their effectiveness. Taken together the variables listed above that it to a general reputation for quality, which is to a large extent reflected in institution enrollments. If graduates are satisfied with their courses and employers who will hire of those graduates are satisfied with their job performance they will all speak well of the program and this will result in further enrollments. Institutions may spend considerable sums of money on marketing and promotional efforts aimed at establishing a brand image of being a high-quality organization. Finally it is possible for administrators and others to assess th quality of their course materials for their teaching in terms of standards established by a national associations. For example, the University continuing education Association has a distance learning community of practice, one of the purposes of which is to determine information about the practice. It encourages good practice with a series of awards, including a distance learning course or ward and a program of excellence award. The American Association of collegiate independent study evaluates independent study courses for its annual awards.
A Realistic Assessment of Quality
Following a study of six selective colleges and universities (Compora), and what is probably a realistic conclusion about quality beyond the specific cases he said he and pointing to areas in which all institutions would probably do better. He reported there appears to be a discrepancy between the literature cited and the actual practice of the institutions surveyed and concluded: programs specific mission statements are inadequately developed, programs are often implemented in the absence of the needs of assessments, program generally target and tailor programs to a certain type of distance education students, institutions overwhelmingly are creating their own online courses, courses are approved for distance delivery with little consistency and there is little use of carpal approval system, delivery methods are often selected based on availability of technology as opposed to a systematic design process, instructors generally teach distance education courses based on their willingness rather than their expertise, student to not appear to be getting the support they need, little data about matriculation is being gathered making evaluations of the effectiveness of program difficult, no specific trends are note regarding a dedicated budget for distance education programs, there is an absence of marketing strategies, and there is little consistency on how evaluation information is used.
Regional Accrediting Commissions
In higher education, the regional accrediting commission have published guidelines for institutions offering electronically delivered distance education that can be useful for ministers in their internal quality assessments. Most of the guidelines would apply equally well in the fields of practice the size higher education. Distance education and training Council commission was established in 1955 and is recognized by the US Department of Education and the Council for higher education accreditation to a credit distance education postsecondary programs including the first professional degree level. The commission established educational, ethical, and business vendors; it examines and evaluates distance education institutions in terms of these thunder; and a credits those who qualify. His accrediting program employs procedures to those of other recognized educational accredited agencies.
Policy: Institutional, State, and Federal
Some of the decisions that managers face mentioned earlier in this chapter, such as determining and modifying an institutions mission for deciding when to proceed in a particular programming direction our policy decisions. And institutions policy or that of a state, regional organization, or federal authority is relatively general set of principles against what administrators can test plans, proposals, or ideas for specific actions. If, for example, in institution has a policy agreed to with its stock which he that there will be a certain ratio of full-time to part-time teachers hired at that institution, distance education administrators know the limits of the options open to them in planning the human resources needed for the delivery of new courses. Or, to take another example if institutions make a policy that all its programs will be delivered on the Internet and do will be no video teleconferencing a boundary has been set within which they have to make their administrative decisions regarding the purchase of new technology. Making policy and ensuring it stays up-to-date requires a concentrated effort on the part of the institutions management. In fact it is too easy for managers to become so distracted by day-to-day administration that the attention they should give to renewing the policy framework on which everything else is founded can too easily become neglected. In dual mode institutions were distance education in balls, for example, new working arrangements that depend on collaboration among previous separated departments or where it might be necessary to divert resources of money in people's time from conventional teaching, it will be essential to have a systematic way of engaging the staff in the process of formulating new policies for renewing old ones on an ongoing basis. At the state and federal level there is a similar need for policy review and for setting up new policies that are appropriate to the electronic age. Since elected officials are likely to be involved in this process and they are, of course, not expected to be educational professionals, a process of explaining and educating has to go on to prepare them to consider the policy changes needed at those levels.
Policy barriers to distance education are failing -- in the first edition of this book we explained that among the reasons for this slow rate of development of distance education where barriers thrown up by policies that were designed to support an older model of education, which actually have impeded the evolution of new systems. These policy barriers could be found at federal, regional, state and institutional levels. It is now apparent that the situation has improved significantly.
At the Federal Level
THEN: barriers included the criteria used to determine what programs are eligible for federal funding, which are biased toward traditional provision. NOW: more generous treatment of distance education exists. In particular, there have been changes in the US Department of Education policy on the infamous 12 hour rule which stated that financial aid can only be given to students will attend a face-to-face classroom at least 12 hours a week. Another policy area at the federal level were there has been progress concerns changes in the copyright loans. Both the Digital millennium copyright act of 1998 and be technology in education and copyright harmonization act of November 2002 sets policy to restrictions on using materials in distance education courses.
At the Regional Level
THEN: criteria applied in giving institutions their official accreditation to teach are based on the practices of campus based learning, faculty centered teaching, and classroom base instruction. NOW: all regional accrediting commissions have adopted distance education criteria in their procedure for evaluating distance education programs when institutions in their jurisdictions undergo the accreditation process. At state level -- --THEN: there are mechanisms that drive continuing investment in brick and mortar education, and prevent the expenditures that would establish virtual universities based on telecommunications networks. The typical funding formula that states used to decide on allocation of resources, being based on numbers of traditional daytime students, systematically generates on-campus classroom space for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. teaching, and under-provides not only the communications technology but also the building facilities needed for off-campus learner support and instruction for distance learners. NOW: most states are investing in statewide virtual delivery systems.
At the Institutional Level
THEN:... the barriers include some of the administrator structures and procedures that are supposed to serve students but often inappropriate for distance learners. They found in the rules and regulations concerning registration, tuition payment procedures, student support services, library services, examinations, and most especially the provision of instruction at times and places convenient to the learner. NOW: huge improvements at institutional level. Policy is obviously a dynamic concept; the following are some of the areas where policy is still unsettled and is being made as you read this.
Institutional: Faculty Policy
Among the most difficult areas regarding distance education policy in educational institutions concerns faculty especially their compensation, workload, and intellectual property rights. Policy varies considerably between institution and even within institution regarding the rights and responsibilities of Dr. regarding both courses nine and subsequent teaching of the course. At some institutions the policy on compensation for design is for the full-time faculty develop courses for no additional payment with this effort considered part of their normal workload. Other institutions recognize that the level of effort and creativity in designing distance education courses greater than preparing for a course in residence and have established an additional compensation policy when it comes to the delivery of courses one option is for full-time faculty to provide the instruction as part of their low, some institutions treat it as an overload for extra compensation while others depends on part-time faculty to do this. The impact of distance education work on the rental workload is matter of concern to most property. In particular at the university level faculty have to give a high encouraging to their research and to having the results that researched published. This is usually required for faculty to obtain a chain your position and to qualify for promotion. Whereas traditional measures of teaching, scholarship (publications in refereed journals), and services are included in the promotion and tenure formula, work related to innovative instructional products, including those for distance education are not generally given comparable recognition. Thus it becomes necessary if an institution is serious about distance education that it modifies its promotion and tenure policies to give credit for the time spent in designing and delivering course. Another aspect of the work problem in the instructors need for additional training on the use of technologies and learning the pedagogy of teaching at a distance. As the need for training becomes apparent a policy is needed that rewards participation in training and allows the allocation of resources for this.
Implementing Institutional Change
Most educational and training institutions share three significant problems in introducing distance education. They are: an academic culture that views teaching as an individual's act in a classroom, a policymaking structure dominated by staff were satisfied with the system that gave them power, and an administrative system in which technological and human resources are fragmented in a multilayered structure of faculties and apartments, each of which regards its own interests. There is no simple strategy for change for them ensured his face with these issues but there are some steps that seemed to be productive. The first step is to identify the innovator in the organization the small number of people at every level who are interested in change. These people should be encouraged with money and in other ways, to organize themselves and to develop a consensus of ideas about distance education and strategies for bringing change to their organization. The recognition of potential stakeholders is critical. The kind of change needed to establish in distance education system cannot be brought about entirely from the bottom of the institutions and definitely needs leadership from the senior management. On the other hand, low-level support from senior management has to be generated, true it is likely to be in a limited number of areas within the institution. The second step is for the innovator to be an able to undertake a demonstration project. Institutional change will not occur as a result of argument, reasoning, or persuasion alone. The majority of members of the institution will not become persuaded of the viability of distance education in show they see the process of work, see that he can prove a good standard of teaching, and see the achievements of the students. They will lose fear of change as they see the professional satisfaction of the peers who engaged in the distance teaching activity. It is vital that the demonstration projects are of the highest possible standards since failure or mediocre results will have exactly the opposite effect from what is desired. For this reason it is imperative that financial, technological, and human resources are ruthlessly focused. The temptation to spread resources over a number of projects must be resisted. For that to happen the organization needs what is probably the most important ingredient if change is to occur which a high level management with a strong vision of distance education encouraged to implement. Given such leadership and a team of innovators resources can be organized with the aim of showing how a distance education system works. All technologies of the institution must be brought into play; a institution that aspires to deliver programs on a national or even state level several million dollars are likely to be required to design, produce, and deliver a single demonstration project of sufficient quality.
A National Policy Issue: the Digital Divide
A relatively new problem that has been getting attention from policymakers at all levels is that of the digital divide -- defined as the gap between those who have and those who do not have access to the digital technology that is in an essential prerequisite for online learning. As described by Damarin 2000, there are several classes of access to digital technologies: those who state of the art computers and subscribe to an Internet service, those who have access to computers and the Internet at work/library/or other location/and know how to use them, and those who have rare or minimum access to computing technologies and little facility with them, and those experience their everyday lives untouched by computer and information technologies. The national telecommunication information administration has reported on specific groups in the US affected by the digital divide. An engine NBA report, falling through the net: defining the digital divide, describes accessibility by race, income, education, and geographic areas. The 1999 report also identified trends in connectivity from 1984 until the time of the study. Although the national telecommunication information administration found that the number of communications is on the rise, the number of connections for the haves are growing at a faster rate than the have-nots and thus has continued to grow. A study by the progressive policy Institute 1999 ranked the 50 states on how well they are adapting to the new economy. Using criteria such as the number of high-tech jobs, quality of education technology, percentage of population online, commercial Internet domains, and available venture capital, the report identifies a clear geographic pattern. The West Coast and eastern seaboard from New Hampshire to Virginia on the most privileged, and the deep South and the upper Midwest lagged far behind.
Policy Initiatives to Reduce the Digital Divide
The US federal government policy initiatives have included: the Department of Commerce has a strategy for making computers and the Internet accessible, and monitoring the levels of activities in relation to income, education, race, gender, geography, and age; encouraging applications that enable low income Americans to start and manage their own small businesses. The department of education's community technical Center program has provided money to develop model programs to demonstrate the educational effectiveness of technology, especially in economically distressed communities. The star school program has allocated more than 125 million since 1988 to support demonstration projects that use technology to provide programs and activities in underserved areas. The technology literacy challenge fund is allocating $2 billion over five years to help states and local districts mee the administration's educational technology goal. Lessons learned from grant programs and educational technology initiatives are disseminating, with an emphasis on underserved citizens. Giving tax advantages for businesses providing technology to school libraries, community centers, and individual in low income areas the E-rate. Private sector -- policy initiatives from the private sector include: providing low-cost Internet access and computers, funding community computing centers, and encouraging IT professionals to do volunteer training.
Case study in National Policymaking
To obtain an idea of the difference in approach to policy about distance education in the US compared to that of some other countries -- where it is not only the availability of technology that occupies policymakers, but the development and improvement of a system of program design and delivery -- considering the following, which contains extracts from an official government document from the Republic of South Africa. There, the national Ministry of education was considering a proposal to merge the country single mode distance education University, the University of South Africa, with its largest technical school (Technikon) and a teacher training program (Vista) into a single organization. The student body of the new organization would be over a quarter of a million students, generated nationwide. The difference between American priorities that focus on technology ahead of organizational change could hardly be more striking.

Please, develop and correct this essay in two pages.




M.S. Advanced Architectural Design
Columbia University
Office of Architecture Admissions

To the Admissions Committee.


Through the years of high school and college, my visual resources were plentiful and images were imprinted on my mind. Because as a son of an architect, my exposure to artistic forms and cultural designs began at early age. The decision to become an architect was natural and my passion for form and content was a constant motivation. The study of Architectural Engineering at HAN YANG University in Seoul, Korea broadened my knowledge base of theory, but in a short time I realized that my perspective was changing. I thought that I should have to be a designer. So I quitted from school, and I began to work at my father?s architecture firm. After working at the architecture firm, I have decided to be an architect as of designer and theorist, instead of engineer. My desire for a more creative approach led me to Southern California Institute of Architecture(SCI-Arc) where I successfully completed an Architecture Degree. I was, however, struggled to pursue a course of study at SCI-Arc. When I first started my studies in architecture at SCI-Arc, I did not have much knowledge in the field. As time passed and the course work began to increase in difficulty, I thought of quitting many times and felt that I was not qualified. Due to these emotions, I once contemplated whether or not to change my career choice. But I overcame this matters through my effort, finally I completed the couses. After graduation, I began to work at Architecture firm as a chief designer and partner to experience real architectural works. Not only I participated in several projects, but also I engaged in a couple of projects as a chief designer. However, I realized that I really wanted to create computer-generated architecture which is progressive and experimental. Because, The Computer Age has dawned on us almost undiscernibly and prematurely, and I am yet barely to fully understand it?s potential. It was my intention to be admitted into the master of Architecture at Pratt where I am enrolling at this time. I began to study at Pratt Institute with believing which the computer as media for long-distance design collaboration, visualizing negative space as a problem?solving strategy, requirements for code compliance software, and a graphic grammar system that generates designs for human interpretation has become a great inspiration to architects and artists. When I think of presenting architectural design with unique media, especially in digital representation, my enthusiasm is heightened. The intensity I feel is captivating and inspires me to share the interpretations of architecture and digital media that I envision. As an architect?s tool, it supports design metaphors, progress in the digital representation of design knowledge. So, I believe that digital technology provides much more freedom to create architecture and opportunities to meet art, science, and diverse culture than I expected. However, many disappointments were met while working at Pratt Institute. Not only instructor did not provide me to have a freedom to do experimental architecture but also there were not enough experts who are specialized in a certain area. I still deeply challenged to the interpretations of architecture and digital media.

To be a prominent architect, I have realized that merit alone is not going to motivate me to success; I must study to improve my knowledge and understanding. I have chosen to continue my studies at Columbia to gain advanced design. It will not be an easy task to start again. However, my interests are based on the cross-linking of architectural designs and representation in digital imaging. I anticipate a progressive approach to the issues in digital art as they relate to architecture to achieve my future goals. I would like to explore as many aspects of design methodology as possible, using digital media to produce works that are completely functional. To undertake a detailed investigation of the visual art forms and their impact on diverse digital media has not only been a challenge to me, but has also influenced my objective of creating new designs that can enhance abilities in developing communities. I plan to take full advantage of form and space to advance entire communities around the world. Although this may sound a bit ambitious for young architect, developing potential beings with the first step. I believe that your international focus and openness toward non-traditional genres will offer the support needed for the entire journey.

And also I think that the greatest benefit of going to New York is its intellectually challenging environment as well as the people I will meet there. The resources of the school and its influence will be extremely crucial for providing new opportunities in my career. I believe that this is definitely the single most important benefit. I thrive on working, taking on challenges, and accepting responsibilities. I am more than ready for the challenge of graduate work at COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, and I sincerely hope you offer me the opportunity.

The analysis must include:
-A brief, one paragraph summary of the case,
-A statement of your proposed solution to the case,
-The reasons that solution will work for the circumstances described in the case ??" citing course material where appropriate,
-A conclusion restating the important points in yhour analysis in a clear concise manner.

Jobs and Work at R.R. Donnelley
Changes in many industries are occurring in an effort to increase productivity. Re-designing jobs, integrating information technology, and increasing HR training efforts are all critical. One example illustrates what happens when jobs and work are changed.
R.R. Donnelley is a leading U.S. commercial printing firm. One of its primary facilities is in Roanoke, Virginia, where 3.5 million books a month are produced with about 300 employees. To improve productivity and profitability, Donnelley focused on lowering cost, improving workplace safety, and reducing errors. Because making numerous changes was likely to increase employees concerns, significant time and effort were spent communicating with employees about the need for change, improvement in quality, and higher productivity. Training for all employees on quality and workflow changes were conducted that focused on specialized methods such as Six Sigma and other process improvement means. In addition, greater use was made of digital technology to receive and make printing film and plates, which changed numerous jobs at the plant and required employees to learn a number of new methods and technologies.
The payoff of these exchanges is seen in a number of ways. The production time for printing four-color books has been cut by 50% or more. Productivity is up 20% in the past three years. In fact, the increase in productivity has been great enough that Donnelley did not have to set up an additional production line, saving millions of dollars. For Donnelley employees, their fears that the Roanoke plant might close were reduced. They have been trained in new technology, have changed jobs and were in a highly successful plant.
Discuss in study:
1. Discuss why Donnelley had to coordinate HR activities with the changes in jobs and work.
2. Identify examples of how technology has changed jobs where you have worked and which HR activities were handled well and which poorly.
Writergrrl101, just place your work experience there and Ill substitute. Thank you so much your writing style is magnificent!


Customer is requesting that (Writergrrl101) completes this order.

Below are the terms of my CAPSTONE assignment:
Capstone Project Format Requirement

Your Final Capstone Project submission must be professionally prepared and free of typographical, spelling and grammatical errors. Although the specific length of the formal document may vary somewhat depending upon the topic selected, the use of tables, matrices, graphs, PowerPoint or other visual supplements, as well as the degree of reliance upon statistical data, etc., it is suggested that the formal paper should be 5,000-7,500 words in length (equivalent to approximately 25-35 typed pages) inclusive of a title page, a one to two page abstract or project summary, a background or introductory section, a succinct statement of the issues and questions being explored, a literature search, a description of the research design, protocol, or model followed, discussion of findings, results and/or recommendations, an appropriate bibliography and appendices as appropriate.

The Final Capstone Project submission should be prepared using the Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as appropriate), appropriately paginated using a twelve-point standard style font such as Times New Roman, Century Schoolbook, etc.

The use of footnotes and hot linked website addresses in the body of your paper as appropriate is encouraged.

Below is a summary of what I submitted for project topic:

TOPIC: E-Learning: Impact of Information Technology on Education

SUMMARY:

The use of technology in education is not new but has quickly become a become a popular form of education. Electronic learning (or e-Learning) is a type of Technology supported education/learning (TSL) where the medium of instruction is through computer technology, particularly involving digital technologies. In some instances, no face- to- face interaction takes place. In most Universities, e-learning is used to define a specific mode to attend a course of study where the students rarely, if ever, attend face-to-face for on-campus access to educational facilities, because they study online. The forecasts for the growth of e-learning are becoming more extravagant by the month.
Many believe a revolution is taking place in education in the way people learn and the way instruction is given. Technology is affecting education in revolutionary ways, and the momentum toward these changes is irreversible. Teachers who have begun to use the Web see this change occurring, even if they only have experience with static information-gathering and display capabilities. Most of these educators have not yet used or even seen the potential of collaborative technologies for their classroom and their school.
This paper will show the quick growth of e-learning and the impact of information technology on education. This research will look at the current application of information technology in each level of education. Many expect IT to have a profound impact on the delivery and quality of education at every level, from preschool and elementary school to higher education and corporate training.

FOR WRITER JOHNFITZ44 ONLY!!!

Ashford University: MAED Capstone FINAL PROJECT!!!!! 20pts!!!!

Source 1: Online Course Textbook: https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUEDU695.14.1

You will create an ePortfolio that includes redesigned activities from prior coursework in the Masters of Arts in Education (MAED) Program that demonstrate your competency with the nine Program Learning Outcomes, which are also the Course Learning Outcomes for EDU 695. Additionally, you will write a narrative reflection of your experience with the program and the ePortfolio construction. The overarching goal of this Final Paper and ePortfolio assignment is to showcase learning from the MAED Program in a consolidated, web-based format that can easily be shared with anyone: colleagues, potential or current employers, friends, family members, and others. For the ePortfolio, you use a system called Pathbrite. Within this ePortfolio, you will tell the story of your educational journey and value of your personal MAED experience as it applies to the labor market. Remember, the ePortfolio is your chance to show what you know and are able to do in the practice of teaching and learning with technology. You will submit a link to your ePortfolio and attach your paper portion of the assignment in a Week Six discussion for preliminary feedback by peers and the instructor before the final submission. The earlier you submit in the Week Six discussion the more opportunity you have for input from your peers and instructor to improve your work before the final submission of this assignment.

Creating the Final Paper and ePortfolio
Please include a link to the ePortfolio (Pathbrite) within the paper portion of this assignment. As needed, refer to the MAED program learning outcomes (PLOs) list. Then, create your final assignment to meet the content and written communication expectations below.

Content Expectations
ePortfolio Components (5 Points): Include at least one artifact demonstrating mastery for each of the nine MAED Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs).

ePortfolio Design (3 Points): Design the ePortfolio to be professional in appearance. Be sure to exemplify effective and ethical uses of technology so that the ePortfolio logically organized in a visually appealing way.

Narrative ? Ranking (5 Points): Rank and discuss the importance of each Program Learning Outcome to your individual work setting, including an explanation of each ranking and its value to you in your learning environment or your position. Discuss how you currently use each PLO in your work setting and, if PLOs are not used, discuss ways you might begin to use them in your current or future work setting. If you are unemployed or otherwise do not work in a teaching role, you can either (a) use a previous work location, or (b) imagine the perfect work location (e.g., your dream job), and use that fictional work center to rank and discuss each PLO. The overall goal of this section of the narrative is to rank each PLO according to its importance to you as an educator or potential educator, starting by listing the most important PLO to you first.

Narrative ? Challenges/Solutions (5 Points): Discuss the design and development challenges you experienced while creating this ePortfolio in Pathbrite and explain how you overcame those challenges. If you feel that you did not face any challenges during your design/redesign, please state that there were no challenges and clearly support this statement with a discussion of the details, or reflect and think deeply about your design/redesign process and offer a detailed narrative of how the process excelled. Examples of challenges include: (a) getting accustomed to specific technology to communicate and showcase your learning, (b) difficulty ranking the PLOs, (c) finding creative ways to display your newly learned skill sets, and (d) tying together concepts and theories into one cohesive digital collection. When you explain how you resolved or worked around challenges you need to consider how you became proficient in using various digital tools, how you linked PLOs to your job responsibilities, how Internet searches uncovered new ways to utilize your talents, how peer collaboration produced ways to effectively consolidate multiple concepts and theories in one package, and how ePortfolio examples sparked creative thought.

Written Communication Expectations
Page Requirement (.5 points): Include one page per discussion of each of the nine MAED Program Learning Outcomes and a tenth page for the narrative response for a total of ten pages (not including the title and reference pages).

APA Formatting (.5 points): Use APA formatting consistently throughout the assignment.

Syntax and Mechanics (.5 points): Display meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar.

Source Requirement (.5 points): Reference three scholarly sources in addition to the course textbook. All sources on the references page need to be used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.

PLO source from Ashford University:

PLO 1
Instructional Planning for
Learner Development
The MAED graduate designs appropriate and challenging learning
experiences informed by analysis of how learners develop
individually across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and
physical patterns to promote student learning and growth.
PLO 2
Differentiated Practice for
Diverse Learners
The MAED graduate employs differentiated instructional practices
aligned with learner strengths and differences, diverse cultures, and
diverse communities to promote student learning in a safe,
collaborative, engaging, inclusive, 21st century learning
environment.
PLO 3
Assessment for Learning
in the 21st Century
The MAED graduate designs a variety of evidence-based
assessments used for ongoing evaluation of student progress, and to
guide teacher and learner decision making.
PLO 4
Leading Change through
Research
The MAED graduate executes an action research study that draws on
the research and methods of various disciplines to address local or
global educational issues.
PLO 5
Dynamic Curriculum and
Instruction in the 21st
Century
The MAED graduate designs learner-centered instruction aligned
with Common Core State Standards, digital age standards (NETS-S),
and 21st Century skills to promote learner achievement and growth.
PLO 6
Professional Growth,
Leadership, and Ethical
Practice in the 21st
Century
The MAED graduate engages in continuous professional growth
through leadership in educational environments and the
demonstration of legal and ethical behavior in professional practices.
PLO 7
Content Knowledge
The MAED graduate uses knowledge of subject matter and central
concepts of the discipline(s) to create technology-enriched learning
environments that promote learner achievement and innovation.
PLO 8
Communication and
Collaboration in a Digital
Age
The MAED graduate effectively communicates and collaborates
with various stakeholders through written communication, verbal
communication, and a variety of current and emerging digital age
tools to ensure learner growth and to advance the profession.
PLO 9
Information, Media, and
Technology Skills
The MAED graduate uses a range of digital technology tools to
research, organize, evaluate, and communicate information while
exhibiting an understanding of ethical and legal issues surrounding
the use of information technologies.

****Sample from my professor
Capstone Experience & Learner Outcomes
Introduction
Ashford University?s Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program is designed to prepare educators to effectively meet the challenges that can arise in today?s classroom. Modern educators are increasingly faced with a variety of challenges as the student population changes. In the new era of education, classrooms have become more inclusive of students with different learning needs and cultural backgrounds. This change necessitates that educators be prepared with the skills and knowledge to make an equitable education accessible to all of their students. Ashford University has designed its MAED program to produce nine program learner outcomes (PLOs) that insure mastery of the skills necessary to do so. The capstone course is the culmination of the program. The course requires redesigning lesson plans from previous courses to align with various current frameworks as well as the MAED learning outcomes. For example, some lessons were redesigned to include the use of technology, which is a component of MAED outcomes as well as the Framework for 21st Century Learning.
Application of Knowledge
All of the knowledge accumulated over the course of the program is intended to prepare educators for the work that lies ahead in their prospective classrooms. When that time comes, it is imperative to be able to apply that knowledge. Theoretical know how is much different than the actual application. This is because there are always unknown variables that will present challenges in the field. Therefore it is essential to practice the application of any new skills one acquires. The following link is a demonstration of how pedagogical theory and instructional strategy skills can be applied in practice:https://pathbrite.com/portfolio/P25LaP0X/ashford-university-capstone (remember to include a usable link)
PLO Ranking
Although Ashford University lists the PLOs in its own order, each education practitioner may view them in his or her own individual ranking of importance. This ranking can be based on specific job functions or other professional priorities. Coincidentally, PLO 1 remains the top concern on this list. This outcome requires that graduates master the ability to design learning experiences based on knowledge and analysis of the way that individual learners develop in order to promote learning and growth (Ashford University, 2014). As a practitioner heading into the classroom, creating effective learning experiences that enrich student development and meets all learning needs is paramount.
Today, more than ever, students? individual learning needs are being recognized, acknowledged, and respected. Yet, teachers are expected to teach the same content to all students while meeting a single level of standards. This presents a challenge that the modern teacher must be able to meet. In order to meet this formidable challenge, teachers must have the skills to analyze student capabilities, skill levels, and learning needs. Then, they must take this information and use it to design effective instruction that meets the prescribed standards in a manner that addresses each student?s capabilities, skill levels, and learning needs. This is why planning instruction for learner development is such an important outcome in the MAED program. It is essential to any teacher?s repertoire of skills to be able to provide his or her students with instruction and learning activities that teach them content in a way that is meaningful and effective. Otherwise, students are being given loads of random information that has no purpose. When students don?t see the purpose for their learning and cannot connect to the material they are being taught, instruction is ineffective. However, it is extremely important that teachers understand their students? needs in order to facilitate this process as well. This is why PLO 1 also ties in very closely with PLO 2.
PLO 2 requires the mastery of differentiating instructional practices in order to meet the needs of diverse learners (Ashford University, 2014). That diversity may be cultural, lingual, socioeconomic, or a variety of other factors including learning differences. While PLO 1 deals with the design of learning experiences, PLO 2 is about understanding how to incorporate a variety of approaches into instruction in order to make it accessible for students who may need some extra support in order to grasp content and concepts. For example, a teacher who has ELL (English language learner) students in his or her class needs to have the skills to accurately assess those students? understanding and use that information to insure that they generate products of that knowledge that demonstrate their true level of comprehension. This may be accomplished in a wide variety of ways. What works best is highly dependent upon individual student strengths and needs. This is why mastery of differentiating skills is so critical.
Differentiation strategies that work for one student with a particular learning need may not be effective for a different student with the same area of need. In other words, a teacher may have two ELL students who are on the same reading level and speak the same native language. However, a differentiation strategy that greatly benefits one of those students may not work at all for the other. This is due to the fact that each student is an individual. No matter how many similarities they may have in common, there will always be factors that differentiate the needs of one from the other. Those factors may be personal interests, family beliefs, or any number of factors that make the individual unique. The key to successfully differentiating instruction is having a good understanding of who students are and how to meet them where they are with accessible content and learning activities. Another highly important aspect of successfully differentiating instruction is having a solid foundation of knowledge in the content area being taught.
This brings us to the next most important outcome. PLO 7, which requires the use of solid content knowledge and concepts of that content area in order to create learning environments that incorporate the use of technology in order to provide innovative learning experiences and promote learner achievement (Ashford University, 2014). As previously stated, the education field has entered a new era. This new era has been marked by a rapid increase in the use of technology. This integration of technology extends beyond support functions in education. There has been a global movement toward technology as the platform for education. While some educational institutions have blended traditional classrooms with online options, we increasingly see learning institutions that operate exclusively online. This use of technology makes education accessible to many people who otherwise would not be able to continue their education.
Although most people are familiar with this use of technology for higher education, the 21st century has seen this application move into the primary grades through high school as well. For those students and their parents, the draw is often the ability to move at the student?s own pace as well as the individualized focus the child receives from teachers. Even with this movement toward using technology to access education over distances, it still has its place in the traditional classroom. The context is different from that of technology in the distance education setting. In the traditional classroom, technology is used as a support and enrichment tool. Students who have difficulties can be supported through the addition of technology within a lesson. Those who are not struggling benefit from an enriched and interest grabbing addition to the lesson. This integration of technology is also acritical element of education in the 21st century. As technology has come to dominate modern communication and tools used in the work place, students must be exposed to technology in education as a means to prepare students for higher education, career and life (Framework for 21st Century Learning, 2014).
This brings us to the next PLO in the ranking. PLO 5 is the mastery of designing instruction that addresses and aligns with both ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) standards and CCSS (Common Core State Standards) as well as 21st century skills (Ashford University, 2014). CCSS is particularly important as this is an initiative to move toward a single set of learning outcomes across multiple states (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2014). This inherently means that technology must be integrated in the design of lessons in order to create dynamic and innovative instruction. Today?s students were born into the age of constant technological advance. The use of technology has become commonplace in everyday life for even very young children. This widespread presence of technology even crosses socioeconomic boundaries. According to Smith (2012), 46% of all Americans adults own smartphones.
These facts about the prevalence of technology in modern society, coupled with the movement toward the CCSS make it clear that education must include innovative instruction that incorporates technology. Since students are exposed at such early ages by a variety of means that range from applications on their parents? cell phones to laptops, they often arrive to kindergarten with some level of technological awareness and capability. Therefore, today?s students have a natural predisposition toward the use of technology for learning. This allows teachers to address content in a manner that students find appealing, interesting, and comprehensible. Even more cognitively demanding content becomes accessible for students who would have struggled with that content due to the use of technology. Technology allows teachers to prepare students for their future by teaching the multiple 21st-century skills in a variety of ways. This includes creative project oriented collaboration, information literacy, and digital communication skills. Additionally, technology can be used to provide a window into the students? level of understanding via innovative assessment.

This brings us to PLO 3. This PLO addresses the use of evidence-based assessment in order to track student progress and act as a guide to both teacher and learner decision-making (Ashford University, 2014). There are multiple types is assessment. Someone best suited to particular purposes. The two main types are formative assessment and summative assessment. Formative assessment is most widely used as an ongoing tool during the process of instruction. It can indicate student grasp of concept as well as progress towards mastery of the prescribed learning outcomes. Summative assessment is more suited to the completion of instruction. It serves as an indicator as to whether or not students have mastered prescribed learning outcomes.
While both types of assessment have their uses in the classroom, formative assessment is particularly useful in guiding instructional decision. Formative assessment allows teachers to gain insight to what their students may already know prior to teaching a lesson. This allows teachers to construct effective lesson plans that meet students? current level of readiness. During the course of instruction, teachers may use formative assessment in order to figure out how well students are understanding the concepts and content that are being conveyed. If students happen to be struggling with a particular concept, the results of an evidence-based formative assessment can indicate exactly where students are having difficulty. This allows the teacher to make any necessary changes in his or her instructional strategies and methods of conveying content in order to better address the students? learning needs.
Summative assessment has a very different purpose. It is designed to be an indicator of understanding at the end of the instructional process. Summative assessment is often formal in nature. Additionally, the results are usually recorded as evidence of mastery of content will or lack of mastery of content. The results of summative assessment will are also often included in research.

The topic of research leads us to the next PLO, which is PLO 4. This particular PLO requires the completion of an action research study that addresses local or global educational issues (Ashford University, 2014). Action research is a very important part of an educator?s practice because it provides the opportunity for reflective critical thinking. Typically, this type of study is conducted an effort to solve a specific problem. Often, multiple stakeholders participate in this type of research project. This can include teachers and administrators as well as students and their parents. What specific stakeholders participate in the study is largely dependent upon the scope and purpose of the study.
The results of action research can have a far reaching ripple effect in the field of education. Those who conduct the study can, and often do, share the results of their study with colleagues. Although the concept of educational research is not new, action research studies possess a unique element. This type of research gives educational practitioners the opportunity to examine their own practices, strategies, and methods. In many ways, it can be a teacher?s opportunity for self-assessment. Sometimes, the colleagues may be educators in other districts or states. This type of knowledge and skill sharing across distances is an effective way to expand opportunities to grow and develop professionally. Those who conducted the research can benefit from the feedback that is generated by the colleagues that the study results are shared with. The colleagues view any presentations of the study results gain the benefit of knowledge and skills that provide helpful guidance in solving similar problems within their own classrooms or schools. Therefore, this sort of research and networking is beneficial in multiple ways to multiple stakeholders involved in the education process. This leads to the next outcome in the PLO ranking.

PLO 6 requires the demonstration of continuous professional development both leadership and behavioral practices within the PLC (Ashford University, 2014). The PLC (professional learning community) is an integral part of teacher development. The PLC is an invaluable opportunity to receive guidance and feedback. It is also a haven for the exchange of thoughts and ideas. Teachers and administrators alike can collaborate in order to build a support network that enhances the quality of instruction and learning experiences that they provide to students.
While many people tend to view the professional learning community as a continuous training resource that is intended to benefit learner development, the PLC is actually a valuable resource for educators as well. Training and learning are aspects of a PLC. However, they do not encompass the entire purpose. As the name suggests, it is intended to be a community. This means that all participants should work together in support of one another as well as contribute to the positive development of the community as a whole. As previously stated, this means a continuous exchange of ideas as well as providing constructive feedback to members of the PLC. Sometimes, this means participating and learning activities, discussions, and research projects. At other times, it requires assuming a leadership role in conducting research, workshops, and collaborative learning efforts. The key to a successful PLC is approaching it as an opportunity to grow with an open mind and respect for a diverse range of ideas, beliefs, and backgrounds. This openness is best accomplished through effective communication and collaboration with a united purpose of providing an enriched and innovative learning environment that contributes to positive student development.
Clearly, communication and collaboration also play a very important roles and effective teaching in the 21st century. This carries over into the next PLO in the ranking.

PLO 8 is the mastery of effective communication and collaboration with various stakeholders through a variety of me including oral, written, and digital communication tools for the purpose of ensuring learner development and advancing the teaching profession (Ashford University, 2014). Communication and collaboration are critical elements of growth, development, and progress. In order to teach these skills to our students, educators must also possess solid knowledge and skills in these areas.
These skills carry deeper purpose than the simple connotations that they seem to have. Effective communication is essential to the conveyance of information, ideas, and thoughts. Without the skill, thoughts, ideas, and information can become confused or lost altogether. This is especially true in the area of collaboration. Collaboration relies heavily on effective communication between the members of the team. If effective communication is not present, critical information, completed work, and necessary materials can be lost. Therefore, the ability to collaborate effectively is dependent upon the ability to communicate effectively. However, it is important to note that collaboration is important in its own right. Collaboration enables participants to experience a diverse range of thoughts and ideas. Additionally, members of collaborative groups benefit from the support of team members united in a single purpose. This means that no single member of the team must carry the weight of the group?s task more than any other member of the team. Equal distribution of responsibilities makes large projects less daunting for an individual person. When collaboration is performed correctly, individual members of the group can accomplish much more than they would have if they had taken on the entire task alone.
Just as important as communication and collaboration, the sources of information and ideas that are conveyed via these means are significant. This brings us to the final PLO in the ranking.

PLO 9 addresses the use of digital tools to communicate, evaluate, organize, and research information while observing ethical and legal guidelines (Ashford University, 2014). This PLO is so closely related to the previous one because the information used in communication and collaboration must be reliable as well as presented ethically and without infringing on legal rights to that information. Otherwise, the results of that work would be invalid.
In addition, the sources of information and tools used to communicate it are equally important. As we move through the 21st century, digital technology has opened the world to a myriad of possibilities. Whereas we were once limited to what could be found in print, the digital age has allowed us to access information that is literally from all over the planet. Clearly, this is a boon to those seeking information and research efforts. However, this benefit also comes with some responsibilities as well as pitfalls.
In addition to ensuring that we observe copyright laws in the ethical use of information, it is absolutely necessary to ensure that the information we cite as valid and accurate. Many people base their critical decision-making process on the information that is presented to them. Basing decisions on invalid or unreliable information can negatively impact and impede efforts to learn and develop. At the very least, this type of misinformation results in flawed critical thinking and poorly made decisions. However, the fallout could potentially be catastrophic. This is especially true in the education field where learner development is at stake. In addition to that, this is another area where educators must be skilled and knowledgeable in order to impart those skills to students and prepare them for higher education, career, and life in the 21st century.

Challenges & Solutions
In reflecting on this course, it was a challenging experience. The redesigning of previously completed lesson plans was initially very challenging. However, some strategizing and opening up to a new thought process paved the way to a very different view. Eventually, it was easy to see where there were gaps and how to fill those gaps in. This is a valuable skill because it means that there is much more potentially useful instructional material available than before.
New knowledge of software uses and websites was acquired as well. For example, Pathbrite presented a new opportunity for organizing work samples in a creative and professional manner. Although Microsoft PowerPoint was not a new program, new functions such as the poster template were discovered in this course. These two things were not as much of a challenge to navigate. It was actually engaging to learn something new and extremely useful.
While digital technology can still be challenging and even slightly frustrating at times, this course presented an opportunity to learn useful skills and knowledge that will be applied in the field. From instructional skills to instructional design, this course covered a great deal of information in a short period of time. Although some peers were frustrated by the high level of challenge, it was rewarding to make it through the gauntlet with more tools. These skills are very important to being a 21st century instructor. Burnaford and Brown (2014) state that the majority of K-12 teachers in the United States use some sort of media or technology in their classrooms for locating and retrieving information. This fact alone means that education has entered a new era. Therefore, it is critical to be prepared with the necessary skills in order to be an effective educator. This course was definitely a step on the path toward that goal. Learning and developing new skills must always be a continuous evolution.

References
Ashford University. (2014). 2013-2014 academic catalog. Retrieved from https://student.ashford.edu/CMCPortalFileShare/AU-AC%20Forms/Catalogs/2013-2014%20Academic%20Catalog.pdf
Burnaford, G. & Brown, T. (2014). Teaching and learning in 21st century learning environments: A reader. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2014). About the common core state standards. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/
Smith, A. (2012). Nearly half of American adults are smartphone owners. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2012/03/01/nearly-half-of-american-adults-are-smartphone-owners/

You are to write a 3-page paper. State the Question First and then continue to answer. Read the Case Study, and at the end of the Case Study Answer the Discussion Questions. *Do Not Use Outside Sources.*

Qualcomm in China

Company and Industry Background

QUALCOMM was founded in 1985 by Dr. Irwin Jacobs, a former engineer professor. Under Jacobs, leadership, the company developed a digital communications technology for wireless phones known as code division multiple access (CDMA). Introduced in 1989, CDMA became one of the three main technologies used in digital wireless phones. CDMA and the two other digital wireless communication technologies, TDMA (which stands for Time division multiple access) and GSM (which is a form of TDMA and stands for global system for mobile communications), are the digital technologies used to transmit a wireless phone users voice or data over radio waves using the wireless phone operators network. CDMA works by converting speech into digital information, which is being transmitted in the form of a radio signal over the phone network. These digital wireless phone networks are complete phone systems comprised primarily of base stations, or cells, which are geographically placed throughout the service more coverage area. Once communication between a wireless phone user and a base station is established, the system detects the movement of the wireless phone user and the communications is handed off to another base station, or cell, as the wireless phone user moves throughout the service area.
QUALCOMM has more than 800 patents on CDMA, and essentially owns this standard for digital wireless phones. The company licenses its technology to equipment manufacturers in return for royalties on the cell of any equipment, such as base stations and handsets. The equipment manufacturers sell the equipment and service providers. Thus, for example, QUALCOMM might license its technology to Motorola, which then makes base stations and handsets that are based on CDMA technology. In turn, Motorola might sell the CDMA equipment to a service provider, such as Verizon, which offers wireless phone service to consumers in the United States. Every time Motorola makes a sale, QUALCOMM collects a royalty based on a percentage of the price of that equipment (QUALCOMM has not reported that figure, but it is believed to be 4 percent of the value of the equipment). QUALCOMM also makes and sells chipsets based on CDMA technology to equipment manufacturers who then place those chipsets into base stations and handsets. Some 90% of CDMA phones contain chipsets manufactured by QUALCOMM. In 2004, QUALCOMM generated record revenues of $4.88 billion and net profits of $1.72 billion.
The great advantage claimed for CDMA over competing standard is that it uses radio spectrum more efficiently than GSM or TDMA. QUALCOMM states that CDMA equipment has three times the capacity of comparable GSM or TDMA equipment, thereby enabling service operators to attain the same capacity with a lower investment in network equipment such as base stations. Because the wireless service and dish tree is very price competitive, and technology that promises to lower-cost service operation should gain an advantage in the marketplace. However, CDMA was a latecomer to the digital communication market and by 2004 still in third place behind TDMA and GSM with 26 percent of the world market a big reason for this was that in the early 1990s, the European Union backed GSM as the standard for digital communication technology. At the time, Europe led the world in the adoption of wireless phone technology. Since European firms such as Ericsson and Nokia were major suppliers of GSM equipment, this decision benefited them.
Although CDMA equipment can, in theory, handle more data traffic than comparable TDMA or GSM equipment, the larger installed base of TDMA and GSM subscribers mean that a company making this equipment benefit from substantial economies of scale, which to some extent nullifies a cost advantage associated with CDMA technology and helps explain the continued dominance of the standards. Also, since far more GSMA handsets are so than CDMA handsets, economies of scale mean that GSM handsets are less expensive than CDMA handsets. By the end of 2004 there were over 1.6 million wireless subscribers worldwide, some 340 million of which used CDMA technology. Forecasts called for the total number of wireless subscribers to grow to 2.5 billion by 2009. Among the wireless technologies, CDMA was mentioning the fastest growing rate. CDMA is now the most widely used technology and United States, where 47% of the nation's 160 million wireless phone subscribers in 2004 used CDMA equipment. CDMA also has a large and growing presence in Latin America and the Asian Pacific region. The laggard in CDMA penetration is Europe, where GSM dominates and CDMA technology had less than 10 million subscribers in 2002.
Looking forward, the success of the QUALCOMM will be driven by two related factors. First, there is a shift to a new generation of technology, known in the industry as 3G or third-generation wireless technology. This new generation of digital wireless technology is designed to handle much greater amounts of data at rapid download speeds, enabling subscribers to download multimedia applications, such as streamline video or audio, on to their wireless phones, effectively turning the handsets into small computers that are able to access the Internet from any place any time. Two versions of CDMA technology have been developed for 3G, CDMA 2000 and WCDMA. While QUALCOMM developed CDMA 2000, WCDMA was developed by rival telecommunications firms Nokia and Ericsson. However, QUALCOMM's patents cover both versions of technology and the firm will earn royalties no matter which version is used by a particular service carrier, although QUALCOMM favors CDMA 2000 and reportedly makes greater royalties from it. Both CDMA 3G technologies will have to compete with a 3G version of the popular GSM technology, known as GPRS, which was introduced in 2002.
The second factor driving QUALCOMM's success is the penetration of CDMA technology into developing markets where there's still a large potential for new subscriber adoptions, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. Industry forecasts suggest a number of wireless phones drivers in this region will grow from 232 million in 2000 to 780 million in 2005. Top among these expanding developing markets are China, with its 1.2 billion people, and India, with nearly 1 billion. In both nations, wireless penetration is currently low but growing rapidly. Forecasts suggest by 2009 there will be 550 million wireless subscribers in China, up from 250 million in 2003, and 117 million India, from less than 30 million in 2003. Given the large population base in these markets, the standard that dominates there may be the standard that dominates worldwide. China and India have thus become the main battlegrounds for the future of digital wireless technology, and QUALCOMM's future depends critically upon the outcome of this battle.

The Early Days: Great Wall
QUALCOMM's Irwin Jacobs was quick to recognize the importance of China and QUALCOMM's future. He began making business trips to China in 1992 to try to persuade China's fledgling telecommunication provider to adopt CDMA technology. In 1994 and it began to look as if he might make some headway. At the time, China's army was keen to develop a secure communication network. CDMA is well-suited to the application because it was adapted from a technology developed for secure military transmissions. The Chinese army also owned a spectrum that CDMA uses, the 800 MHz band. By building a commercial CDMA network with its spare spectrum, the army believed it could dominate the nascent mobile phone market in China, and use the profits and expertise gained from that business to modernize its own communications network. When the army announced in 1994 that it would deploy a CDMA network, China's top telephone official, Wu Jichuan the minister of Posts and Telecommunications, was caught somewhat off guard. Wu Jichuan saw telecommunications as a national priority and favored state-owned China telecommunication Corp. He had allowed the company to charge high long-distance rates, and in hand forced into use the profits to bring telecommunication services to remote villages. He had little use for competition that might sap China Telecommunications profits and derail his plans. To deal with the threat, the canny Wu invited the army into his camp, proposing that form 50/50 joint venture with China Telecommunications to build a CDMA network. Called Great Wall, the venture won a license to run an experimental CDMA network in four cities; creating a potential boom in demand for CDMA equipment and a royalty stream for QUALCOMM. However, Wu ordered China Telecommunications to roll out as fast as possible a separate, nationwide digital network based on GSM. The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications happened to own the 900 MHz radio spectrum used by the GSM technology. Wu refused to issue permits to the army to allow it to expand its network beyond four cities. By 1998 it was clear that the Great Walls expansion plan has been stymied by Wu, with a corresponding loss of opportunity for QUALCOMM.
China Unicom
However, the story was far from over. In the late 1990s, China separated out to wireless phone operators from China telecommunications, China mobile and China Unicom. Although both were initially state owned, the idea was still some team to private investors and set two entities up as competitors in China's wireless phone market. While China mobile inherited from bulk of existing networks and subscribers, China Unicom was left to choose its own technology, opening the door for QUALCOMM to get back into China. Irwin Jacobs had also been working the political angle in the interim. China's leader decided in the late 1990s that it needed to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) if it wants to participate in the global economy of the 21st-century. If China was to enter the World Trade Organization, it would have to win the support of major trading nations who were already members, including the United States. Behind the scenes, Jacobs lobbied the US government, urging it to pressure China to adopt CDMA technology as one of the conditions for US support of China's entry into the World Trade Organization. For a while the efforts were fruitless, but in March 1999 the Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji decided to the United States commitment to use CDMA technology in return for US support in China's entry into the World Trade Organization. Zu propose that China Unicom work with QUALCOMM and others to roll out a CDMA network in China.
However, before this deal could be finalized, QUALCOMM and negotiate a licensing framework with Wus ministry, which had been renamed the Ministry of information. But the negotiations dragged on, with QUALCOMM demanding a higher royalty rate on sales of CDMA equipment than Wu ordered Unicom to negotiate directly with QUALCOMM. Unicom was trying to become profitable so that it can start selling at team to private investors and gain a listing on the Hong Kong and New York stock exchanges. It had already started to roll out a wireless network based on GSM and was not happy about being ordered to make duplicate investments in a CDMA network. Reports suggest that like Wu, Unicom insisted that QUALCOMM lower its royalty rates or nothing would happen. QUALCOMM relented (the royalty agreement has not been made public), and in February 2000 Unicom announced that a deal had been reached and it would soon start construction on a CDMA network for 10 million subscribers.
The issue was far from resolved, however. At the signing ceremony it was clear that something was wrong Wu and other Cabinet officials declined to attend. In a private meeting between Wu Jichuan and Jacobs it became clear why Wu Jichuan was insisting that QUALCOMM must transfer the design for the chips that run the CDMA system to a Chinese firm. QUALCOMM had never done this and was unlikely to do so. Jacobs said the request could not be met. A few days later China Unicom withdrew its request for bids on a CDMA network, but denied that the project was on hold. In June 2000, after the US House of Representatives approved a bill enabling China to enter the World Trade Organization, China Unicom confirmed it would continue to use a GSM network, the Company held out the possibility that it would use 3G equipment based on CDMA.
According to news reports, while politics played a part in the Unicom decision, Soviet pressure from the local equipment manufacturers, many of whom were joint ventures between Chinese companies and foreigners, such as Ericsson, Nokia, and Motorola. Many of these joint ventures had already made investments to produce GSM equipment and were not ready to produce CDMA equipment. Some of these manufactures reportedly pressuring Unicom to stick with GSM or, the very least, slow down the rollout of CDMA networks. After so many years trying to break into China, Jacobs was not about to give up. In October 2000 and Jacobs visited Premier Zu Rongji in Beijing. What went on in that meeting is not known, but it is speculated that QUALCOMM lowered the royalty rate and Chinese women manufacturers would have to pay the company to 2.65 percent of handset sales, substantially lower than the 4 percent rate reportedly paid QUALCOMM elsewhere in the world. Soon after the meeting, China Unicom reversed course, announcing that it will build a CDMA network to support 10 million subscribers although it would now be mid-2002 before the network started to generate significant handset sales, and thus royalties for QUALCOMM, not 2001 as originally hoped. Analysts speculated that the small size of the network would make it hard for QUALCOMM to get its favored 3G technology, CDMA 2000, widely adopted in China. My 2001 looked as if QUALCOMM had finally cracked the Chinese market. Then, one day before China Unicom was due to sign contracts with equipment suppliers to supply its planned CDMA network, the deal was delayed again. No reason was given. Some speculated that a rising political tension between United States and China was to blame. As US surveillance plane had been forced down by Chinese air force, which accused United States spying on China. Thrown into the mix were heightened tensions between United States and China over the future of Taiwan. A month later Chinese President Jiang Zemin appeared to give the green light to the deal when he told a gathering of foreign business leaders that CDMA could increase competition in China. Shortly after, Unicom sign contracts to build a CDMA network with a capacity of 15.15 million subscribers.
The Rollout of CDMA In China
After years of stop and go, China Unicom turned on its CDMA network in January 2002 following a $2.5 billion investment in equipment. It year-end target for 2002 was 7 million subscribers, but by June 2002 the number stood as a meager 700,000, while China overall and 160 million wireless subscribers, the majority using GSM equipment. Critics were quick to claim that slow rollout demonstrated Unicom's lack of commitment to CDMA, which some view as being forced on them by Chinese politicians. Unicom executives disagreed, and claimed the decision was a sound business decision made because CDMA network equipment is cheaper than GSM equipment. Unicom and QUALCOMM executives did concede that they had priced CDMA phones to high in an attempt to recoup the higher cost of CDMA handsets, which cost $350 each, some $100 more than GSM phones. By the second half of 2002, however, the rollout of CDMA service accelerated. In October 2002, China Unicom reported that it had more than 4 million CDMA subscribers, and that it was encountering rapid growth and should hit 7 million by year end. By February 2005, China Unicom in almost 20 9 million CDMA subscribers. In the same time, subscriptions to its GSM networks were also growing. At the end of 2004, China Unico hand 112 million subscribers in China. Meanwhile, QUALCOMM continue to show its commitment to China. The company opened a 43,000 square-foot research Center in China in 2002 to focus on the development of 3G CDMA technology and applications for the Chinese market, and in June 2003 the company announced it would invest $100 million in Chinese equipment companies to help them develop CDMA equipment. Jacobs also predicted that looking forward to 3G rollout in China, China Unicom would move its network to CDMA 2000, while China mobile would adopt WCDMA technology. Either way, QUALCOMM would benefit.

Discussion Questions

1.Why does GSM have a larger share of wireless subscribers worldwide?

2.To what extent do political decisions explain the global leadership of GSM?

3.To what extent do economic factors?

4.Are the economic and political factors independent of each other?

Using all the sources, below, synthesize relevant information into 4-6 paragraphs. Examine the sources collectively for similarities and differences, and note patterns that emerge. Organize your synthesis around those patterns/subheadings. Use subheadings to structure your synthesis so that there is a logical and coherent flow of thought.

Dissertation Review

1. Social media and the Fortune 500: How the Fortune 500 uses, perceives and measures social media as a marketing tool

Grainger, J. (2010). Social media and the fortune 500: How the fortune 500 uses, perceives and measures social media as a marketing tool. Journalism & Mass Communication). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/516248759?accountid=34899
Abstract
This study aims to explore if and to what extent social media are being used as a marketing tool at America's largest, most prestigious companies. More specifically, this study aims to determine what social media assets the Fortune 500 (based on the 2009 list) is employing, how communication and social media professionals at these companies perceive the importance of social media as a marketing tool and how the Fortune 500 is measuring the effectiveness of social media as a marketing tool.
The rise of digital and social media has brought about significant changes in the advertising and marketing world. Firms are now being forced to look for new and different ways of communicating with consumers as social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have forced companies to approach consumers differently, more informally and more conversationally. This "new approach" to marketing and advertising also comes with its own set of rules to determine, identify and ultimately measure the effectiveness of social media. This study aims to explore these queries through a multi-method approach that includes Internet searches and a Qualtrics online survey.
The theoretical framework of this topic is still in its early stages of development. Much of the current theory on this topic originates from industry publications and deals with how social media and digital technologies have changed the way in which people communicate, in general, and the way in which consumers interact with products, services and companies, more specifically. This study will add to that theoretical framework by exploring how firms perceive this change in communication and ultimately how they are measuring the effectiveness of social media tools when used in their marketing programs. Moreover the literature on how the measure social media as a marketing tool is very underdeveloped. This research will offer significant and original material to the academic literature on the topic of measurement.




2. Consumers' responses to mobile advertising: A normative social behavior perspective
Soroa-Koury, S. (2008). Consumers' responses to mobile advertising: A normative social behavior perspective. Communication). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304383945?accountid=34899
Abstract
As mobile technology continues to diffuse, the numbers of mobile subscribers continue to grow. With a high penetration of mobile subscribers in the United States, the mobile phone and network is promptly becoming a feasible marketing channel as mobile phones facilitate the exposure to mobile technology.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether social norms and perceptions of mobile advertising play any role in predicting consumers' responses to mobile advertising. The study used a questionnaire survey method to measure mobile users' attitudes, perceptions and adoption intention of mobile advertising. A total of 300 college students from a large southwestern public university were recruited to participate in this study.
The study demonstrated that social norms and misperceptions predicted perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) of mobile advertising. The study also found that PU predicted attitude towards mobile advertising, whereas PEOU did not predict attitude towards mobile advertising. Lastly attitude towards mobile advertising significantly predicted the intention to adopt mobile advertising.
Keywords: Mobile Advertising, Social Norms, Technology Acceptance Model, Questionnaire Survey Method
3. Essays on the influence of social networks on the marketing distribution channel and new product diffusion

Li, S. (2010). Essays on the influence of social networks on the marketing distribution channel and new product diffusion. University of Alberta (Canada)). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/305232934?accountid=34899

Abstract
The first essay studies the channel relationship between the reseller and the manufacturer based on a social network theory framework. We propose a conceptual model that approaches this topic from a relational embeddedness perspective. Our analysis shows how the reseller can strategically develop relational ties with a manufacturer that transform the latter's common marketing mix into unique resources that enhance the reseller's own profit.
Results from a large scale survey of beer resellers in a local Chinese market suggest that in a channel setting, social norms (e.g. communication effectiveness and conflict resolution) and social relations influence the reseller's access to the manufacturer's valuable resources. Furthermore, we find that over embeddedness affects the reseller's profit in a non-linear manner. That is, a reseller's effort to develop a relationship with a particular manufacturer may generate information that lacks freshness, objectivity or usefulness, thereby diminishing the reseller's profitability.
Theory of social contagion states that individual's adoption of new product depends on the adoption of his immediate neighbors in a social network in addition to the influence from other sources. This research models the dynamic diffusion process of new drug in a social network of physicians. We simulated the information transmission process in a social network, where each network entity repetitively influences the probability of connected entity's new product adoption. The simulation approach integrates two seemingly contradictive concepts of cohesion and structural equivalence into a single modeling framework. Besides, it incorporates a coefficient that describes an individual entity's efficiency of information transmission. On the one extreme it assumes that information transmits to only one of the network neighbors and on the other extreme it assumes that information transmits to all of the network neighbors.
We revisited Medical Innovation data and empirically find an optimum point for each of the four cities in this data set, using a discrete time hazard model. The four cities demonstrate different patterns of information transmission. Managerially, we suggest different ways of pinpointing initial adopters in different types of social networks.


Article Review

1. Friends, Fans, and Followers: Do ads Work on Social Networks?

Journal of Advertising Research; Mar2011, Vol. 51 Issue 1, p258-275, 18p

Abstract

The article presents research on Internet advertising, which examines consumer attitudes towards advertising presented on social media by users of those media. It is posited that advertising presented on online social networks can be effective, but that a perception of excessive commercial exploitation of a social network can lead its members to abandon it. A mathematical model of consumer attitudes towards advertising on social media is created based on media use and gratification theory and tested. It was found that consumers reacted most favorably to advertising which was perceived as offering entertainment or information value.



2. Following the Fashionable Friend: The Power of Social Media.

Journal of Advertising Research; Mar2011, Vol. 51 Issue 1, p313-320, 8p

Abstract

The article presents mass media research on the effects of publicity about brands and brand name products presented in social media or in other digital media. Consumer responses to brand publicity presented in blogs with large audiences and in online periodicals are compared. It was found that the publicity in blogs generated more positive attitudes towards brand and a higher intent to purchase the product. This is partially attributed to the higher degree of social interaction between blogs and their readers. Marketing implications of the findings are discussed.

3. AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE INTERACTION BETWEEN PUBLICITY, ADVERTISING, AND PREVIOUS BRAND ATTITUDES AND KNOWLEDGE.

Journal of Advertising Research; Mar2011, Vol. 51 Issue 1, p313-320, 8p

Abstract

The article presents mass media research on the effects of publicity about brands and brand name products presented in social media or in other digital media. Consumer responses to brand publicity presented in blogs with large audiences and in online periodicals are compared. It was found that the publicity in blogs generated more positive attitudes towards brand and a higher intent to purchase the product. This is partially attributed to the higher degree of social interaction between blogs and their readers. Marketing implications of the findings are discussed.

4. Schwartz communications, inc
Schwartz communications, inc. (2011). Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/230610833?accountid=34899
Abstract
Schwartz Communications is a public relation firm that focuses on serving companies in the health care and technology industries, including medical technology and biotech companies. The independent agency offers traditional public relations and outreach services, as well as specialized services tailored for government and media relations. Other services include branding, crisis management, and social media marketing. Schwartz Communications has offices in San Francisco and Waltham, Massachusetts, and overseas in London and Stockholm. Husband-and-wife team of Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz started the agency in 1990.

5. The Rogers Group
The rogers group. (2011). Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/230603889?accountid=34899
Abstract
The Rogers Group offers public relations, public affairs, and strategic communications to business, government, as well as non profit organizations. Services include media relations, crisis communications, multicultural marketing, and government relations. It also has Internet and social marketing expertise. The company has worked with clients such as Junior Blind of America, Los Angeles Unified School District, and Watt Commercial Properties. Founded in 1978, The Rogers Group was acquired by Ruder Finn, a public relations firm based in New York, in April 2011. The Rogers Group is being merged with Ruder Finn's West Coast office network and will be known as Rogers/Ruder Finn and Ruder Finn/West.
6. Social Communications in Advertising
Leiss, W., Kline, S., Jhally, S., & Lake, R. (1993). Social communication in advertising // review. Canadian Journal of Communication, 18(1), 104-105. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/219601099?accountid=34899
Abstract
This is a revised and enlarged edition of the 1986 book. Changes include a completely new chapter on political marketing; Chapter 12, "Issues in Social Policy," has been substantially re - written, as has Chapter 7 on the modern advertising industry. The revisions to Chapters 12 and 7 strengthen an already useful contribution to the literature that looks at advertising as something other than merely the manipulation of "false" needs. The new chapter on political marketing is less successful. The many merits of this book issue from the authors' success in pursuing what they call a single thread of argument: "national consumer product advertising has become one of the great vehicles of social communication" (p. 1). To this end they briefly look at neoliberal and Marxist critiques of advertising. Part 2 takes us from the origins of the consumer culture through the linking of media and advertising to a description of the modern advertising industry. Part 3, the Theatre of Consumption, is the main course. The authors apply semiological and content analyses to advertising including a discussion of the pitfalls of each. The advertisements they choose to accompany their text are invariably apt, ranging from a lipstick recommended by a very young Henry Fonda to Castoria, the safe laxative for children.
7. Accidental Activists: Using facebook to drive change
Vericat, J. (2010). Accidental activists: Using facebook to drive change. Journal of International Affairs, 64(1), 177-180. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/821267606?accountid=34899
Abstract
In an interview, Randi Zuckerberg, who works on marketing, politics, current events and nonprofits for Facebook Inc, talked about how 500 million friends are turning the online social network into people power and change for the better. According to Zuckerberg, he thinks it is important to remember that social media used effectively for fundraising is, in many ways, still in its infancy. In the cancer research example, $135,000 was raised, but 5.5 million people were also made more aware of that particular issue. Awareness is an immensely powerful tool to effect social change. He said that Facebook as a whole represents the cumulative interaction of 500 million people, each creating their own story. They are incredibly inspired by the stories they hear on a daily basis, about how people have used Facebook to change their lives and the lives of those around them.
9.Trustine in different advertising media
Soh, H., Reid, L. N., & King, K. W. (2007). Trust in different advertising media. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 84(3), 455-476. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/216935044?accountid=34899
Abstract
Trust has been investigated by behavioral and social scientists from different disciplines. Despite the interdisciplinary research, studies of advertising trust are not abundant in the literature, though both academic and trade investigations have incorporated and measured the construct. This study was conducted to examine consumer trust in different advertising media and the relationship of that trust to media credibility. Results indicate that (1) advertising media are neither especially trusted nor distrusted by consumers; (2) there is variation in consumer trust across different advertising media; (3) trust in specific ad media is differentially associated with education and income; and (4) trust in advertising media and media credibility are correlates, though trust in advertising is distinct and separate from the credibility construct. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
10. Moral distinvtions in advertising, public relations, and journalism
Boynton, L. (2004). Mixed media: Moral distinctions in advertising, public relations, and journalism. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 81(1), 187-188. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/216934414?accountid=34899
Abstract
Although Smith's text is structured specifically for the print and broadcast journalist Thomas Bivins acknowledges the non-vacuous nature of the mass communication profession, and includes journalism, advertising, and public relations issues within his book, Mixed Media. As Bivins notes, it is important to consider the ethical aspects of various forms of communication, particularly in a time when many journalism programs offer ethics courses for all mass communication students, not just those pursuing journalistic reporting and editing.
The author, who is professor and John L. Hulteng Chair of Media Ethics at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, has written extensively on mass communication ethics and the application of ethical theory to public relations. His broad viewpoint helps bring the main mass communication players under the same publication "roof."
The text is designed to provide readers with ethical decision-making guidelines, and calls on students to apply their critical thinking skills to resolve dilemmas. Bivins presents the crux of the teaching challenge: "The only possibility of arriving at anything approaching a satisfactory response to our moral dilemmas lies not with rote answers to prepackaged questions but with real sweat that comes only from real thinking." This approach is most evident in the end-of-chapter questions that ask students to apply concepts and defend their responses.
The book's structure permits examination of ethical issues and dilemmas common to the three disciplines, including avoiding harm and telling the truth, professionalism, and social responsibility. The opening chapter helps set the stage of ethical discussions by providing some much-needed guidance into what constitutes an ethical issue; distinctions among values, ideals, and principles; the interplay between personal and professional ethics; and basic similarities and differences in how ethical foundations are applied in the three disciplines. A chapter on ethics theory, although relatively short, is structured in a way to reflect how these primary philosophies may be useful in resolving modern-day dilemmas. A thirty-plus-page appendix includes codes of ethics for print and broadcast journalism, public relations, and advertising.
Although Bivins includes all three professions, the focal point of the text remains under the umbrella of journalism and less on the inter-relationship that exists among the disciplines. Many of the case examples are journalism-based, and follow-up questions steer students toward dilemmas of the reporters and editors. The text could use more elements of comparison to show how these professions interact. For example, an exercise calling for students to examine one of the media/communication ethics codes could be broadened to ask students to compare codes and see for themselves where similarities, differences, and interactivity exist. A case study called "Defining a Journalist" omits the opportunity to define the other two professions.
Despite this shortcoming, it is encouraging to see one text that acknowledges the three disciplines. It is a practical handbook for students who will enter mass communication fields.
The two other books seem to take the teaching ethics challenge out of its traditional box of practical wisdom, encouraging readers to tackle diverse viewpoints and utilize nonjournalistic catalysts for critical thinking.
11. Marketing changes the corporate culture
Messikomer, E. (1987). Marketing changes the corporate culture. The Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 2(4), 53-53. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/222015606?accountid=34899
Abstract
In order to make a company a first-class marketing organization, a marketing community must be created within the company. This means changing the basic way in which the company and employees see themselves, the business environment, and the future. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. Inc. management saw that new strategies were needed because of changes in the industry and the world marketplace. First, the basic product line was redefined, including rapid diversification. This required no changes in the corporate culture. Then, a major new emphasis was put on marketing. Du Pont's effort to build a marketing community began with the presentation of a series of marketing seminars. Then, programs were instituted to reemphasize quality so that everyone in the firm had higher standards. The organizational chart was revised from departments organized by product technology to a marketplace focus. A Corporate Marketing Recognition program publicly showed management support for the new focus.
12. Are we losing trust through technology
Rich, M. (2002). Are we losing trust through technology? The Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 17(2), 215-222. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/221996944?accountid=34899
Abstract
The field of marketing has had a history of individuals and organizations attempting short-term gain through less than ethical means. The advent of the Web and other technological advances has placed powerful resources in the hands of practitioners. Coupled with that power is an acute public awareness of marketing abuses that have adversely hindered subsequent marketing efforts. Marketers need to address basic marketing skills through old-fashioned personal contact and personal relations that probably never will be effectively replaced with modern IT methodology. Additionally, marketing should take a proactive approach to defining marketing responsibilities to the public it serves to overcome the reputation that is established by a few who are unethical in their approach to the craft.
13. The importance of advertising and the relative lack of research
Johnston, W. (1994). The importance of advertising and the relative lack of research. The Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 9(2), 3-3. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/221993780?accountid=34899
Abstract
An editorial states that although business advertisers rarely expect instant orders from advertising, advertising programs must be held accountable. Expenditures on advertising must also be evaluated in comparison with money spent on other elements of marketing communications and promotion. There is no single measure of advertising effectiveness. In general, there are 2 approaches used: 1. communication-effect research, and 2. sales-effect research. Researchers have a major role to play in advancing the state-of-the-art in business-to-business advertising, especially in measuring effectiveness.



14. Transforming marketing strategy for small businesses
Harris, L., & Rae, A. (2010). The online connection: Transforming marketing strategy for small businesses. The Journal of Business Strategy, 31(2), 4-12. doi:10.1108/02756661011025017
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to review recent developments in online marketing strategy which demonstrate the growing power of online communities in building brand reputations and customer relationships. The work draws upon the results of an ongoing research project which is investigating the use of new technologies by entrepreneurial businesses in the London area. A range of examples from our 30 case study businesses are drawn upon to illustrate some of the opportunities and threats associated with these new marketing priorities. We conclude that social networks will play a key role in the future of marketing; externally they can replace customer annoyance with engagement, and internally they help to transform the traditional focus on control with an open and collaborative approach that is more conducive to success in the modern business environment. Further research should aim to track this activity as it integrates with more mainstream marketing over time. Developments in the technologies themselves, as well as a reduction in costs, will mean that more and more information will be available to consumers. This results in unprecedented levels of transparency of dealings between businesses and their customers. A key challenge when engaging customers through these social networks is how to give away power and control while at the same time avoiding embarrassment to the company. The paper provides practical guidance on the opportunities and threats associated with marketing through social networks, based on lessons learned from early adopters.
15. Social Media and Innovation
The revolution will be shared: Social media and innovation. (2011). Research Technology Management, 54(1), 64-66. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/848133426?accountid=34899
Abstraact
Many executives still hear only the social in social media -- and think recreational time waster. But social media has a place in the business world, and that place is much bigger than LinkedIn and extends far beyond the marketing department. From CEOs on Twitter to corporate Facebook pages, social media has decidedly grown up and gone to work. For most of people, social media means Facebook, Twitter, and maybe LinkedIn. But social media extends far beyond the Facebook profile to include wikis, blogs, sites for sharing pictures or bookmarks, and a host of other focused applications. Users of social media don't consume content or even interact with it. Instead, they generate content, collaboratively creating, editing, sharing, tagging, and organizing information, reshaping the contributions of others and engaging in peer-to-peer discussion. The most obvious uses of social media for innovation fall under the broad umbrella of open innovation.

Please, edit,correct and change structure my essay that I wrote:

Jong Youne Kim
Degree : M.S. Advanced Architectural Design
Columbia University
Office of Architecture Admissions

To the Admissions Committee of the Graduate School of Architecture and Preservation.

When I think about my career in architecture, I realize that my parents were my greatest influence. My father is an architect who is principal of his own company. And my mother is a painter and the current owner of an interior design firm. As the son of an architect and a professional designer, my exposure to artistic forms and cultural designs began at early age.

Through the years of high school and college, my visual resources were plentiful and images were imprinted on my mind. The decision to become an architect was natural and my passion for form and content was a constant motivation.
The study of Architectural Engineering at HAN YANG University in Seoul, Korea broadened my knowledge base of theory, but in a short time I realized that my perspective was changing. I thought that I should have to be a designer.
So, I have decided to be an architect as of designer and theorist, instead of engineer.
My desire for a more creative approach led me to Southern California Institute of Architecture where I successfully completed an Architecture Degree. I am, however, still deeply challenged to further pursue a course of study that allows me to create design works with aesthetic elements in digital language.

After graduated from undergraduate, when I worked at Architecture firm as a chief designer, and my fathers design partner. I realized that I really wanted to create computer-generated architecture which is progressive and experimental.

Because, The Computer Age has dawned on us almost undiscernibly and prematurely, and I am yet barely to fully understand it?s potential.
The computer as media for long-distance design collaboration, visualizing negative space as a problem?solving strategy, requirements for code compliance software, and a graphic grammar system that generates designs for human interpretation has become a great inspiration to architects and artists.

When I think of presenting architectural design with unique media, especially in digital representation, my enthusiasm is heightened. The intensity I feel is captivating and inspires me to share the interpretations of architecture and digital media that I envision. As an architect?s tool, it supports design metaphors, progress in the digital representation of design knowledge. So, I believe that digital technology provides much more freedom to create architecture and opportunities to meet art, science, and diverse culture than I expected.

My interests are based on the cross-linking of architectural designs and representation in digital imaging. I anticipate a progressive approach to the issues in digital art as they relate to architecture to achieve my future goals. I would like to explore as many aspects of design methodology as possible, using digital media to produce works that are completely functional. To undertake a detailed investigation of the visual art forms and their impact on diverse digital media has not only been a challenge to me, but has also influenced my objective of creating new designs that can enhance abilities in developing communities. I plan to take full advantage of form and space to advance entire communities around the world. Although this may sound a bit ambitious for young architect, developing potential beings with the first step. I believe that your international focus and openness toward non-traditional genres will offer the support needed for the entire journey.

And also I think that the greatest benefit of going to New York is its intellectually challenging environment as well as the people I will meet there. The resources of the school and its influence will be extremely crucial for providing new opportunities in my career. I believe that this is definitely the single most important benefit. I thrive on working, taking on challenges, and accepting responsibilities. I am more than ready for the challenge of graduate work at COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, and I sincerely hope you offer me the opportunity.

Please only non ESL writers well versed in Economics with the ability to create graphs/use digital technologies and research properly to accept job.

This is a 2000 word Economics assignment comprising of short answer/essay type questions based on the Australian mining Industry.

It includes the need to create professional graphs and/or calculations using digital technologies, researching and presenting
information and/or data, explanations, analysis and critique.

References must be relevant to Australia\'s econonomic system. Australian sources are preferable.

I will be available to be contacted if unable to access own proper sources and information.

We will pay a lot more for this order! Contact [email protected]

Sources needed for this order have been uploaded.
(Attached is a copy of the outline I sent in the order form box and a PDF file for a resource that might be helpful in completing this paper (Literacy in Secondary Education: Georgia. Paper ID: 71059)

This will be an article describing the current state of secondary literacy (grades 9-12)in Georgia and proposing where we should be heading at this time. I have prepared an outline with topics, questions, and suggestions and a list of possible sources (more can be added).
Quotations should be embedded into sentences and phrases should be used more often than complete sentences. Paraphrases are also encouraged (and both quotes and paraphrases should be cited). Limit full sentence quotations to two per paragraph (and not all paragraphs will need them).
I will need a Works Cited list.
Here is the outline (also available as email attachment if preferred):
Secondary Literacy Education in Georgia (focus on reading, but writing, digital (technology), and media literacies should be included)

Intro Need for focus on Secondary Literacy and Secondary Literacy Teacher Preparation
? Literacy practices for 9-12 grade education are not sufficiently reflective of the opportunities and skills our culturally and linguistically diverse students need to succeed.
(Include examples of 21st century skills needed, describe two or three specific literacy practices
that are not reflective.
What do these diverse students need? (list needs - opportunities and skills))

? The research base on 9-12 school literacy practices is insufficient to guide teacher preparation and school-based practice.
(What research do we have that we can use as a base? Names of authors and summaries would be helpful (citations so I can find them). Where are the BIG GAPS?)

? There is a lack of a concerted focus on 9-12 literacy equivalent to that placed on early literacy.
(Need two or three examples for comparison. What specifically do the early grades have that 9-12 is lacking? (reading programs such as Reading First, Reading Recovery, and ????))

Secondary literacy as it looks today in grades 9-12
Practices? (What does the research say? Possibly, focus on grammar, writing, classic literature, reading comprehension, standardized testing content)

Secondary literacy teacher preparation as it looks today
(Finding existing research here might be challenging: Might look at 2 regional, 2 research, 2 state, and 2 private university teacher prep programs and draw conclusions. Example: Secondary pre-service teachers at ASU are now required to take a certain number of reading courses (three hours, I think). What are some things being done in other GAS schools/areas?
Maybe look at which programs follow INTASC and NCTE/IRA National Standards, which content specific methods courses (English, Math, History/Social Studies, Sciences) offer pre-service teachers strategies for teaching reading and/or writing, etc.)


Recommendations (from scholars and research?)
? Use the Reading Consortium to establish a presence/voice for 9-12 literacy in Georgia
How? (get on the agenda at national conferences?)

? Empower educators to use students out of school, multiple literacy practices to bridge to re-envisioning school learning
(Possible Sources: Hull and Schultz, School's Out!; Smith and Wilhelm, Reading don't fix no Chevys. (there are a whole lot of others). Also: Hull, G., & Schultz, K. (2001). Literacy and learning out of school: A review of theory and research. Review of Educational Research, 71(4): 575-611.)

? Use GPS (Georgia Performance Standards) to create classroom experiences that provide opportunities for building skills our culturally and linguistically diverse students need to succeed in a globalized economy.
(Need some examples. One possible example: Skills needed according to Secretarys
Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS):
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/assment/as7scans.htm )

? Provide ongoing professional development for teacher educators and classroom teachers to supplement content area knowledge with discipline-specific discourse structures.
(what does the research say? Courses? Inservice Workshops? List possible content.)

? Use nationally developed research agendas to examine and evaluate these initiatives.
(Such as? Any current agendas/agencies to contact?)


Conclusion/Summary. Literacy we envision
? Literacy that raises standards and expectations for all students, especially for the 42% in Georgia below the basic level on NAEP tests
(Elaborate on this. Demographics of students in that 42%?)

? Widespread awareness of importance of literacy strategies for student mastery of content in all disciplines
How should we propose to do this? (Professional development? Add/change current course content to include??)

? A recognition that student literacy practices outside school can serve as a bridge to in-school literacy and enhance content area teaching and learning
(How? Using popular culture texts (visual and print). Same possible sources as above: Hull and Schultz, School's Out!; Smith and Wilhelm, Reading don't fix no Chevys. (there are a whole lot of others). Also, Hull, G., & Schultz, K. (2001). Literacy and learning out of school: A review of theory and research. Review of Educational Research, 71(4): 575-611.)

? Development of school structures that support and encourage flexible, dynamic, collaborative, interdisciplinary literacy practices that reflect real world literacy competencies
(Need some examples here.)








Some Resources:

Stephen Phelps (2005). Ten years of Research on Adolescent Literacy, 1994-2004: A review. Learning Point Associates.
http://www.learningpt.org/literacy/adolescent/overview.php
http://www.learningpt.org/literacy/adolescent/define.php
Other learning point resources (bibliography, web sites, articles): http://www.learningpt.org/literacy/adolescent/resources.php

Donna Alvermann (2001). Effective Literacy Instruction for Adolescents. Retrieve from http://www.nrconline.org/publications/alverwhite2.pdf

Donna Alvermann (2003). Seeing themselves as capable and engaged readers: Adolescents and Re/Mediated Instruction. Retrieve from http://www2.learningpt.org/catalog/item.asp?SessionID=568722134&productID=162

Linda Harklau: From High School to College: Student Perspectives on Literacy Practices: Retrieve from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3785/is_200103/ai_n8931286
David OBrien (2003). Juxtaposing Traditional and Intermedial Literacies to Redefine the Competence of Struggling Adolescents. Retrieve from http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/lit_index.asp?HREF=/newliteracies/obrien2
Dana Grisham (Technology and Media Literacy: What do teachers need to know? Retrieve from http://www.readingonline.org/editorial/april2001/index.html
Peter Fuentes (1998). Reading comprehension in mathematics. Retrieve from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3482/is_199811/ai_n8268484
Reading Research Quarterly Abstracts: http://www.reading.org/publications/journals/rrq/current/index.html
Hull and Schultz, School's Out!;
Hull, G., & Schultz, K. (2001). Literacy and learning out of school: A review of theory and research. Review of Educational Research, 71(4): 575-611.
Smith and Wilhelm, Reading don't fix no Chevys


There are faxes for this order.

Scenario Summary

Our Town Photography Studio/Gallery is a photography company that provides photographic services to high profile customers. The owner of this company is Catherin Irvin, a nationally recognized photographer/portrait artist, who can use the latest tools in digital technology to produce archival quality canvas and watercolor portraits as original works of art. She is even beginning to get some international fame for the artistry and originality her work presents. She has been working hard to develop new techniques in portrait and photograph creation and she is very proud of her works.

Mark Bucas is the marketing manager for the Our Town Photography Studio/Gallery. He has helped Catherin and the company to open up many new markets throughout the country and to maintain customer satisfaction throughout the years.

Catherin had recently asked Mark to create a brand-building program for the photography service titled Premier Portraits. Premier Portraits will further employ state-of-the-art digital technological tools to produce high quality portraits for the customers. The target customers for Premier Portraits are corporate executives, high profile sports figures, politicians, actors and actresses, and other such near famous people.


Your Assignment

You, as the new product manager, have been asked to join Mark as he considers the branding decision for Premier Portrait service. You have just completed your master?s degree in marketing with an emphasis on small business marketing and e-commerce. Mark would like your fresh input regarding his decision.

You are eager to get started on this project so that you can put what you learned into practice. Below are some of the key conversations between you and Mark, as well as supplemental materials you will need for your proposal. Review them carefully before completing your report.


KEY PLAYERS

Mark Bucas, Marketing Manager (Conversation #1)

"Thank you for joining me this morning. Catherin wants us to design a brand-building program for our new Premier Portrait service. Our client base has grown over the years to include quite a few prosperous professionals whose children are getting married and having children. Historically, these clients have appreciated our high quality photographic portraits. However, competition is increasing and Catherin has moved into a higher value-add market with the Premier Portrait service. I have been considering the branding for this service and I would like your help in making the decision. I know you are new, but your recent education and past experience with small business e-commerce could help me bring in a new perspective on this project.?

?Before we begin, I would like to show you a portrait that Catherin recently developed."




Sample Portraits for Premier Portraits

The photo here is a family portrait that Catherin developed recently. A 40x60-inch portrait printed on high quality canvas resembling a Rembrandt painting is on view. Catherin used Corel Painter to create the portrait, employing her unique brush style; she also has done some embellishments using real oil paint on the portrait and has signed it using a pure gold paint. The portrait is framed in a hand-carved, gold leaf?coated picture frame and covered with museum quality archival acrylic. The matting for the picture is the best that is available in the industry. Catherin is very proud of her latest creation. This is the area in which the prints are displayed to the customer using highest quality museum display methods. The customers of the Premier Portrait service do not get to see proofs or intermediate stages of the print. The portrait is a work of art meant to be passed on from generation to generation.




Mark Bucas, Marketing Manager (Conversation #2)

"Now you have seen one example of our Premier Portraits product that we are going to establish the brand for. The product is truly a work of art and Catherin has worked very hard to develop her technique. Our traditional market has included professionals wanting a high quality family portrait to put on display in their offices and homes. We believe the brand can be developed to appeal to corporate executives, high-profile sports figures, politicians, actors and actresses, and other such near famous people. We would like you to help us decide our online branding choices."



YOU DECIDE

Based on all of the information above, write an online branding proposal for Premier Portraits. Your proposal should address at least the following points:

Who specifically should Premier Portraits target with the new branding message?
What product should Premier Portraits really offer to this market?
What value should the company?s online presence deliver?
What should the brand equity building focus on?
What are the possible communications methods to use in order to achieve the brand equity the company desires?
You are free to pursue any additional research you may need. Just be sure to include an estimate of the cost in your recommendations.
Submit your final proposal to the Dropbox.

Sources have to just from the readings what I will email to you!

Please choose from ONE of the following two prompts and compose a 4 page essay that answers the prompt. Your essay should have a strong thesis, argument, and supporting evidence. It should draw directly on at least one course reading. Your assignment should be double-spaced, 12 point font, 1-inch margins. Please clearly indicate the number of the prompt that you are answering. Your essay is due on Monday June 9th. (Note: this date differs from the one on the syllabus). Late assignments will not be accepted. The location for dropping off your paper will be announced in lecture and in discussions sections.
1) Do you think that the importance of narrative and/or visual representation is beginning to disappear or change with the arrival of new media forms and digital technologies? Why or why not? Within your essay present and analyze at least one counter-argument to your thesis and answer it. There are multiple ways to answer this question so make sure to create a focused thesis and also draw on evidence from class materials to support and provide evidence for your claims.
2) What happens when the ?magic circle? (the boundary between games and everyday life, between work and play) breaks down? Do you think that this break down is positive or negative? Why? Within your essay present and analyze at least one counter-argument to your thesis and answer it. (Your essay might also analyze films such as eXistenZ or Gamer which have been placed on reserve at the MRC).
Grading: See the syllabus for general grading expectations. In addition, you will be graded on: 1) How well and deeply you engage with course readings and concepts (Are you engaging the readings directly to define concepts and support your claims? Are you moving beyond summary and engaging in deeper analysis? Have you constructed an inventive thesis?) 2) The strength of your theses, arguments, and support for your ideas 3) The clarity of your arguments and ideas (For example, is your essay well-organized? Your writing clear? Do your paragraphs stay on topic? Etc.) 4) Your essay?s presentation (Does your essay contain errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, syntax, etc.?)