Impact Of Population Growth On The Environment Environmental Sciences Essay

Impact Of Population Growth On The Environment Environmental Sciences Essay The world has been experiencing a rapid increase in human population for the past 10, 000 years. According to the most recent U.N. statistics, population has grown from several millions back in the B.C. to over 6.6 billion in the 21st century. Even though the growth rate is gradually slowing, the U.N. population Division still expect the worldwide population to very much hit 9.1 billion by 2050. We have all known for long that the human population is no doubt the chief contributor to environmental woes. The humans are the one demanding fossil fuels to power their tech-savvy lifestyles, clearing forests for agricultural use, and polluting the environment with their industrial activities. More people means more demand for natural resources either mined or drilled from below the Earths surface to be burned for energy. Assuming that each person contributes to a certain amount of the total demand, one could very much imagine the kind of strain that this 2.5 billion of additional population is going to cause to the Earth. With the population expected to rise by that phenomenal amount, environmentalist and the others are getting more concerned with whether the Earth is still able to withstand that loads of demand. We also being concerned aims to examine the causes and impacts of this issue in the report, so that solutions could be proposed to alleviate it. 1.3 Focus In our opinion, we feel that if we can solve the problem of the rising human population growth, we can also solve the environmental problems that is likely to stem from it. The explaination for this reasoning is simple and rather fundamental. The problems merely justify the need to do something about it, whereas the causes is the one that set off the problems. As mentioned earlier on, the crux to the solutions lies very much with the causes itself. Therefore, one could very well expect us to first introduce the problems in the report, before moving on to the more crucial part, its causes and solutions. 1.4 Methodology Information used for this study was mainly obtained from secondary sources such as books, online databases, U.N. publications, and other useful websites. A listing of these useful sources of information can be found at the Appendix 1 as attached in the report. Human population The world population refers to the total number of living humans on Earth at a given time. For the past 10, 000 years, the world has been experiencing a rapid increase in human population. According to the most recent U.N. statistics, population has grown from several millions back in the B.C. to over 6.6 billion in the 21st century. Even though the growth rate is gradually slowing, the U.N. Population Division still expect the worldwide population to very much hit 9.1 billion by 2050. With most of the increase in Asia and Africa, in particular, the poorer nations that have no access to proper family-planning programmes. An alarming issue Rising human population We have all known for long that the human population is no doubt the chief contributor to environmental woes. However, what little know of is that the human population is only one of the several factors that affect the environment. The extent to which population increase can be considered a problem is still reliant on other factors. One widely used formula that could help us understand what factors could actually interplayed to cause that significant impact, would be the IPAT model that John Holdren from Harvard University came up with. This model represents how the total impact on the enviroment results from the interaction among population, affluence and technoloy. An Increased population intensifies impact on the environment as more individuals take up space, use resources, and generate waste. As the population gets older it gets more affluent too, thereby demanding higher living standards to satisfy their wants. To meet the humans instatiable wants, better technology would have to be developed to better mine fossil fuels, clear old-growth forests, or fish. Assuming that everybody has to be fed, clothed, housed and hopefully supported by gainful employment. An increased population would actually means the intensification of the impact that the human population has on the Ecosystem. Hence, the problem is not only that the population is burgeoning. It is also that the usage of the resources, and environmental damages are also increasing at a phenomenol speed. Approach All of us would have known by now that a rising global population has devasting impacts on the Earth. It not only erodes the living standards of the world population, results in poverty in already poor countries, affect a countrys economy, but most importantly has a negative impact on the Ecosystem. We will in this chapter, look in depth how the rising global human population develops into a problem, and the various environmental impacts it has on the Earth. The Problem of Rising Global Human Population Urbanisation is being defined as the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. Moreover, It can also be interpreted as the movement of people from rural to urban areas with population growth equating to urban migration. The United Nations project suggested that 60% of the worlds population would live in urban areas at the end of 2030. An increased in the population residing there would lead to an increase in consumption of energy, food, water, domestic goods, and land. To accommodate to this increase in demand, more resource extraction, manufacturing, and agricultural production will have to take place. Considering the limited existing resources of an urban city, an expansion of the city would be needed for the above mentioned activities to take place. This expansion of urban areas across the landscape is something also being defined as urban sprawl. In order for urban sprawl to take place, surrounding areas adjoining the edge of the urban cities will have to be made ready. This is usually done through habitat alteration such as, deforestation for urban cities surrounded by forest/mangroves, or land reclaimation for cities corteminous with islands. Environmental Impacts From the above illustration, we can see that a rising population will not only highten the rate of human activites but will also give rise to newer problems such as urban sprawl. All of these problems will then contribute to certain environmental woes which would interplay and lead to further consequences. The following are some environmental issues that are either the direct or indirect impact of a rising global population: Depletion of natural resources Global climate change Loss of biodiversity Depletion of natural resources Depletion of natural resources refers to the over exploitation of the exhaustible group of natural resources. This group of resources comes in the form of renewable and non-renewable resources. Renewable natural resources are those that can replenish themselves in a resonable amount of time, however, it can also be depleted should the rate of usage exceed the rate of regeneration. Whereas, non-renewable resources are those that only exist in a fixed quality, and either takes up to millions of year to replace themselves or does not possess the ability to recyle themselves. As the human population rises, human activities such as urban sprawl, resource extraction, manufacturing, and agricultural production are expected to increase too. As all of these activities each demand a certain type of natural resources and energy to support them, an increase in human activities would equate to an increase in demand for these natural resources. Some of the resources that are affected as a result of them are namely, fossil fuels, land, water, and minerals. Fossil Fuels Alongside the increasing demand for petrol and diesel to power transportation, industries and farming, huge quantities of fossil fuel such as crude oil is also needed in the manufacturing of plastic-made products. With oil production likely to increase by nearly 40% from 2006 to 2030; as a result of only the increasing world energy demand of 60%. The real demand for oil is believed to be much more higher. According to British Petroleum the current world oil reserves stand at 1238 billion barrels. And present yearly world oil production stands at 31 billion barrels.  If the current rate of oil discoverage were to remain stagnant or low, oil, the primary source of fossil fuel used to produce energy might very well be depleted before 40 years (The figure as calculated with current consumption rate and the level of reserves). The following is a graph (Figure 1.0) that highlighted the increasing gap between the production rate and discoverage rate of oil supplies. Figure 1.0 (adaptedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..) Land and Water Land degradation refers to deterioration or loss of fertility or productive capacity of the soil. Urban sprawl can dramatically transform the properties of soil, causing it to lose its water permeability and ability to perform essential duties. These duties include the loss of ability to sustain soil biodiversity, crop cultivation, and the reduced effectiveness as a carbon sink. The following graph (Figure 1.1) showed the amount and types of land loss in various European cities that were the result of urban sprawl. Figure 1.1 (adaptedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) On top of all that, rainwater which falls on areas with deterioted land will also be heavily polluted by tire abrasion, dust and high concentrations of heavy metals, which when washed into rivers will degrade the hydrological system. To add insult to injury, the level of water table will also decline as deterioted land can no longer allow water to penetrate throught it. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,   If current trends continue, 90 percent of freshwater supplies will disappear by 2030. Setting all that aside, one still has to take into consideration the soaring increase in use of water for crop cultivation and human consumption. With the supply of water on the shorter end and demand for it on the rise, the UN Millenium Project, 2008a estimated that 3 billion people might face water scarcity by 2025. A remarkable increase from the current figure of 700 millions people. If nothing done about this, the Earth will very soon run out of arable land to support crop cultivation and no longer have enough safe drinking water to support the rising global human population. Minerals Minerals are the backbone of the human civilisation, they are needed in almost all sectors of industries. If we were to look into the manufacturing sector and bulding sector, some minerals used by them would be gold, silver, iron, cemet, and copper. Since there is a direct relationship between the human population and the industries, a booming population will also lead to an increase in the consumption of minerals. A good example to substantiate the direct impact a growing population would have on minerals would be the example on Spain. For years, the efforts to support the growing population in Spain, have resulted in major expansion of construction activities, mainly along the coast and around major cities. As a result, the consumption of concrete has also increased by a wide margin of 120 % since 1996, reaching a level of 51.5 million tons in 2005. Taking into account the non-renewable characteristic of minerals and the direct relationship it has with the human population. A surge in the human population might cause the limited stock of minerals to undergo depletion in the near future. Loss of biodiveristy Biodiversity may be defined as the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or the entire Earth. Biodiversity is earths primary life support system and is a pre-condition for human survival. As population grow, develop and modify their environment, their activities inevitably affect biodiversity. To understand the impacts of human population growth on biodiversity, a study into it had been carried out in Canada. The findings reveal that human activities such as agricultural activities, urbanisation, and manufacturing are the primary causes of the decline of biodiversity in Canada. Agricultural activities Agricultural is the production of goods and food through farming. It is reported that Agriculture has had a significant effect on biodiversity because of its prevalence over the landscape. Loss of native habitat in Canada due to farming has been significant. As a result of agricultural activities, Canada lost more than 85% of shortgrass prairie, 80% of mixed-grass prairie, 85% of aspen parkland and almost its entire native tallgrass prairie. Loss of habitat, coupled with farming practises of using only a few strains genetically-engineered crop, has resulted in the endangerment of a disproportionately large number of plants and animal species in Canada. To prepare a piece of land for agricultural activities, the natural vegetation has to be first removed from it. Without the natural vegetations protection, the topsoil, a surface layer of soil that is rich in nutrients and beneficial microorganisms, can be easily eroded away by surface water, or winds. In Quebec, it is estimated that 3.4 million tonnes of soil per year are eroded by water. Soil erosion renders an area barren and unsuitable for plants that were initially growing there. To add on to that, soil that has been washed away and deposited in waterways, also destroys the fragile life forms in it. If water can carry away soil, it can also cause the runoff of pesticides and fertilizers that are applied in abundance to commercial crops, and of course the wastes of cattle and livestock. In Quebec, between 1990 and 1991, an impressive amount of 190 000 tonnes of nitrogen and 120 000 tonnes of phosphorus were applied to agricultural lands in the form fertilizers, or were present as livestock wastes. As these excess nutrients enter the lakes and rivers, Eutrophication of aquatic environment can occur; altering and degrading the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems. With 64 out of 105 developing countries studied by the UN Food and Agriculture Ogranisation seeing their population growing at a speed faster than the food supplies, the increase in agricultural activities worldwide is imminent. Therefore, one should expect the loss of biodiversity as a result of pollutants coming from agricultural activities to swell around the globe. Urbanisation It is estimated that between 1871 and 1991, the Canadian population living in urban centers have increased from19% to  77%. To accommodate to this increase, the initial urban centres that stand on 0.7% of Canadas total area, have been expanding over the last few decades. In the twenty years spanning 1971 to 1991, the total area of the Montreal Urban Community increased from 2674 km2 in 1971 to 3509 km2, the Quebec City area increased from 907 km2 to 3150 km2, and the Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivieres became classified as urban centers. With the majority of large cities located within the St. Lawrence lowlands, a ecozone that is very biologically rich. An expanding city is bound to displace the many species that depend on that ecozone as habitat. Manufacturing In Cananda, manufacturing is the main economy in Quebec, it not only employs the most number of people, but also contribute the highest proportion of Quebecs GDP. Due to the unique nature of this sector of industry, many harmful pollutants are constantly being emited from its operations. Water-borne pollutants include metals, organic chemicals, and suspended sediments that are usually found in industrial discharges. These toxic discharges when flow into the water, can inversely affect the biota in an ecosystem by killing them, weakening them, or deterioting their ability to reproduce. As mentioned earlier on, the majority of large cities are concentrated within the St. Lawrence watershed. Therefore, any harmful discharges from the industries can quickly reach and harm the living organisms in it. Air-borne pollutants include carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and acid precipiation that can usually be found in the smoke fumes from factories and motor vehicles. It had been found out that air emissions from the Inco steel smelter in Sudbury, Ontario were directly responsible for a significant portion of the acid rain in eastern North America. Consequently, the surrounding lakes, which is home to fish, mollusk and other amphibian populations, were acidified. Since these amphibian species will not be able to survive in acidic condition, a lake hit by acid rain will result in the death of them. Furthermore, air-borne pollutants such as carbon dioxide and methane also give rise to a whole new environmental problem, which is being known as Global Climate Change. We will in the following paragraphs look into what this is all about. Global Climate Changes Global climate change refers to the change in global temperatures and precipitation over time due to natural variability or to human activity. Climate change may be limited to a specific region, or may occur across the whole Earth. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), ever since the start of the industrial revolution, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have rose from 280 parts per million to 379 parts per million in the last 150 years. Furthermore, findings also concluded that there is a higher than 90 percent probability that human-produced greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have caused much of the observed increase in Earths temperatures over the past 50 years. While we all know that human activities were the cause of global climate changes, the main causes of the current global warming trend is actually the result of human expansion of greenhouse effect a process in which the heat leaving the Earth is being trapped by the greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases include, water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitirious oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. On Earth, the composition of natural greenhouse has been constantly altered by human activities. Over the years, the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. On a smaller scale, the clearing of forests for agriculture, industry, and other human activities, have also resulted in an increase in the concentrations of greenhouse gases. From the relationship between the human population and humans industrial activities, it is undisputed that any increase in the human population will lead to an increase of greenhouse emissions, which will eventually accelerates the rate of global climate change. The following table summarises the regional impacts of global climate change by the IPPC: Region Impacts North America Decreasing snowpack in the western mountains; 5-20 percent increase in yields of rain-fed agriculture in some regions; increased frequency, intensity and duration of heat waves in cities that currently experience them. Latin America Gradual replacement of tropical forest by savannah in eastern Amazonia; risk of significant biodiversity loss through species extinction in many tropical areas; significant changes in water availability for human consumption, agriculture and energy generation. Europe Increased risk of inland flash floods; more frequent coastal flooding and increased erosion from storms and sea level rise; glacial retreat in mountainous areas; reduced snow cover and winter tourism; extensive species losses; reductions of crop productivity in southern Europe. Africa By 2020, between 75 and 250 million people are projected to be exposed to increased water stress; yields from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50 percent in some regions by 2020; agricultural production, including access to food, may be severely compromised. Asia Freshwater availability projected to decrease in Central, South, East and Southeast Asia by the 2050s; coastal areas will be at risk due to increased flooding; death rate from disease associated with floods and droughts expected to rise in some regions. Figure 1.2 (Adapted from: http://climate.nasa.gov/effects/) On top of all that, the global climate change also indirectly resulted in the loss of biodiversity. As the global temperature rises, crop that used to grow best at certain temperature, will not be able to adapt, and will die off eventually. On the other hand, the higher temperature will also melt the glaciers and the artic sea ice, a habitat to animals such as, polar bears and penguins. Conclusion According to U.N. population division, the worldwide population has a high likelihood of hitting 9.1 billion by 2050. From this figure, it is easy to see that even if the current world population of 6.6 billion does not increase it consumtion per capita, we will still have to use up more resources to support this higher number of population. Hence, there is an urgent need to do something about the rising global huamn population, as the devasting envrionmental effects we discussed earlier on have a direct relationship with it.

Mobile Learning In Higher Education

Mobile Learning In Higher Education This essay provides the research done on various colleges and universities on the usage of mobile application in promoting Mobile Learning or mLearning within the premises of the college. It also gives a brief overview of the fundamental learning advantages and some of the challenges that occurred in adoption of the mLearning over the learning done by the use of mLearning than through traditional face to face instruction or paper based learning and the current trend which is being followed. This essay also tells us about what are the various projects or programs or models going all around the world to promote the mLearning and how many have already implemented mLearning. KEYWORDS Educational Technology, Higher Education, Mobile Applications, Mobile Learning, mLearning. INTRODUCTION The aim of this essay is to investigate the concept of m-learning and the extent to which it is being implemented in higher education and to educate the students and institutes that how technology can be helpful in learning the programmes or getting the knowledge about the subject of their interest anytime anywhere they are located with the help of devices such as Smart Phones and the applications are being used in those Smart Phones. Examples of the mobile apps: Apples iTunesU, BlackBoard Mobile, the Amazon Kindle etc. Ally (2009) stated that Mobile learning is done through the use of wireless mobile technology that allows anyone to access information and learning materials from anywhere and at anytime. As a result, learners have control of when they want to learn and from which location they want to learn. Students and trainers/teachers are empowered to communicate with each other from anywhere at any time to share thoughts or data with each other and at the same time they can access the learning resources from anywhere at any time to plan the lessons which are too delivered to the students. Bereiter and Scardamalia(1994) said that the users can upload contents such as videos, word file or photos through their smart phones directly, into the discussion threads just by logging into the thread which is ongoing or they can create a new thread at any time they want despite of their location. This will enhance the functions provided by 3rd generation mobile phones and help in making the discussion more interactive. Lonsdale et al (2004) Mobile learning is distinguished by rapid and continual changes of context, as the learner moves between locations and encounters localised resources, services, and co-learners. Informal learning covers any learning that takes place beyond the classroom and formal curriculum, including learning for hobbies, curiosity, personal development, community involvement and everyday survival. What is Mobile Learning or mLearning? Osman et al. (2010) cited learning by means of wireless technological devices that can be pocketed and utilized wherever the learners device is able to receive unbroken transmission signals. Sharples et al. (2007) argues that learning supported by mobile devices such as cellular (mobile) phones, portable computers, and personal audio players. It has been suggested by Brasher and Taylor(2004, p33-37) any sort of learning that happens when the learner is not at a fixed, predetermined location, or learning that happens when the learner takes advantage of the learning opportunities offered by mobile technologies. Rajasingham (2011) states that an activity that allows individuals to be more productive when consuming, interacting, or creating information, mediated through a compact digital portable device that the individual carries on a regular basis and has reliable connectivity and fits in a pocket or purse. With the help of Mobile learning participants are not required to sit in the classroom, just similar to distant learning. Because of increase in Mobile Learning, learning has taken a new route that can occur anywhere and at any point of time. Sharples et al (2007) states that Mobile Learning can occur wherever people, individually or collectively, have problems to solve or knowledge to share. Traxler (2007) and some others defined mobile learning as learning that is wireless and is done with the help of digital devices and technologies that are currently in trend, which is generated to help the general public, and it is being used by anyone who is trying to learn something remotely. And some of the others define mobile learning by concentrating only on the mobility of learners and the mobility of learning by the means of mobile devices used by learners such as smart phones. Osman (2010) cited in his article that Traxler (2007) writes: so, mobile learning is not about mobile or about learning as previously understood, but part of a new mobile conception of society. Mobile Learning is not only to provide learning to learners whenever they are mobile but it should overcome the outdated concepts and the assumptions that were made about learning and how what it can change in the society(also from the technological point of view). Osman (2010) notes that some of the definitions and the understandings for mobile education/learning, which put the basic focus on the technologies and hardware, and it doesnt matter that it can be a handheld device such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), and mobile device such as Smartphones or Tablets. He also states that These definitions undermine a proper understanding of the uses of mobile technology in learning by confining their explanations and descriptions to the actual physical way in which the technology operates. According to him some of the definitions puts more focus on what learners experience when they use mobile technologies in education, while others inquire how mobile learning can be used to make a unique contribution to the advancement of education and other forms of e-learning. Ally (2009) writes in his book of Mobile Learning the major benefit of using wireless mobile technology in his book which is to reach people who live in remote locations where there are no schools, teachers, or libraries. With the help of Mobile technology that can be used by anyone despite of their geographical location which will in turn benefit communities in such places as a result students and workers will stay with their families and are not suppose to move for jobs or to go to a different location to learn or to access information. He also said that At the same time, business owners, agriculture workers, and other working sectors can access information to increase productivity and improve the quality of their products by learning about agriculture and there aspects remotely using mobile devices. Finally, because remote access using wireless mobile technology reduces the need for travel, its use can reduce humanitys carbon footprint on earth to help maintain a cleaner environme nt. ECAR (2012) reported that students value anytime, anywhere access to the Internet. In the most recent ECAR study of students and IT, 78% of students considered Wi-Fi extremely valuable to their academic success. While a wireless telecommunications network is obviously preferable because it allows interaction, updates, hyperlinks, and more, it is still not ubiquitous. The ECAR research report Mobile IT in Higher Education, 2011 found that 76% of institutions report good or very good mobile communication signal coverage in the area of our institution. This is a positive trend for on-campus mobile learning; however, off-campus access to networks is important as well. Application Store for Mobile Learning in the Market According to a survey done by ECAR in 2011 it states that App Brain BlackBoard website where Stand-alone mobile learning applications are proliferating at an astonishing rate: As of September 2011, the iTunes App store offered 46,340 apps in the education category, accounting for 9.35% of all apps available; as of October 2011, the total number of education apps for the Android platform (available from the Android Market) was 12,129. Established e-learning systems have evolved to offer mobile components, fostering anytime, anywhere access to coursework. Blackboard Mobile is a mobile interface for the Blackboard learning management system that runs on iPad, iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and WebOS mobile devices. Description about the use of BlackBoard App in Higher Education Most effective use of this use is to provide the users or learners with the benefit of accessing the information anytime irrespective of their geographical location and enhance the ways to enrich teaching learning. As a result it gives the students the benefits to stay connected to teachers the discussion forum and updated to the information regarding their studies. Everyone will have everything they need right on the mobile devices they wanted just a click away or a touch away from their variety of mobile devices including Android, BlackBerry and IPhone OS. With this application students and teachers can access and upload and download the multiple format document or information. This application also provide user to create thread or discussion forum to share their thoughts on a particular topic or they can seek help online by posting their problem in the discussion thread and get a reply as soon as possible from the ones who are in present in the thread. Benefits of using a BlackBoard application on a mobile device at just  £1.99 a year or  £5.99 for life: Drop Box Integration: it helps to stay updated on the android devices or iOS with the content on the phone and their drop box account so they can upload as well post that information on to the discussion thread. Mobile Tests: students can take online test which are available on the blackboard and can submit the test as well at the same time. Push Notification: students can receive notifications for new announcements, new graded items, a test being posted, and many other course activities Announcements: this place is where instructors will post the news that students need to know. Students can access them instantly anywhere, anytime. Grades: here students can have the access of their marks of their midterms or homework assignments. Discussion: is a communication tool which helps to post a topic and all the participants can post their comments in that discussion forum. Content: can have the access of all the information related to students course they opted for. Roster: this feature provides the access to the roster of the class i.e. class list and can create a group to study. Three basic concepts of Mobile Learning Osman(2010) showed Figure 1 in which he tried to cite the three basic concepts of Mobile Learning. Mobility of Technology: means with advancement of technology nowadays the processors of mobile phones are very fast as compared to the earlier smart phones. At present day we can say that there is a tsunami coming in respect of the technology as new mobile phones are being launched in every two or three week of time. Wi-Fi networks are moving the capability as of a home broadband with 3G and now 4G in market: Wikipedia states 4G networks promise up to 1 GB per second transfer speed for walking or stationary pedestrian usage. Wikipedia says that 4G wireless began rollouts in the United States in late 2010, and by 2015 the United States will have the largest 4G coverage in the world. The processing of mobile devices is increasing along with that of the networks: Phone CPUs, the chips that power mobile computing; have recently reached the 1 GHz speed, comparable to netbooks. Almost every smart phone has sensors for landscape portrait depending upon the comfort of the user for example Nokia N8, iPhones etc. Mobility of Learning/Learner: with the help of this it doesnt depend where the user or learner is located he or she can get the access of the information whenever they want to and from wherever they are located geographically, for example: Distant Learning. The m-learning projects WITHIN HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR Through out the world many projects and programs are going on in development of the mLearning applications and to promote mLearning within the educational institutes among the students and educators or trainers and help them to communicate remotely to share views and data. Projects going on within US Almost all the colleges and universities are taking Mobile Learning into the account to help learners to get the benefits of Mobile Learning and according to the ECAR research report done on mobile IT, 53% of colleges and universities had mobile-enabled at least one service, application, or website in the previous year. Similarly, a 2011 U.S. survey by the Campus Computing Project showed that 55.3% of public universities, 43.6% of public colleges, and 40.9% of community colleges have activated mobile apps as of fall 2011. Projects going on within UK ECAR (2012) states in their research bulletin that Outside the United States, mobile learning is growing by leaps and bounds. The U.K. MoLeNET program, possibly the worlds largest and most diverse implementation of mobile learning, fueled by more than $25 million in funding by government and academia, involves upwards of 40,000 learners in 104 different projects involving 147 colleges and 37 schools. ECAR (2012) states in their research bulletin that mobile learning project called MyArtSpace provided children on school trips to museums and galleries with mobile phones running apps linking multimedia content with the exhibits they were attending. The students could take photos, record themselves speaking, and enter notes, which the app then relayed to a website that students could share upon returning to their classrooms. Challenges in adopting mobile learning A major challenge for educators and trainers is how to develop learning materials for delivery on mobile devices. The learning materials should be in manageable learning chunks and should make use of multimedia. One approach is to develop the learning materials in the form of learning objects and then link them to form a learning segment. There are many advantages of using learning objects in mobile delivery including: they can be re-used and changed without affecting other learning objects, and they can be stored in an electronic repository for remote access at any time. YouTube (2012) states some of the challenges in a video for adopting Mobile Learning and they are as follow: Flash player which is in every smart phone but adobe said that they will not give it for every mobile device. How many devices users should have with them to access the mobile learning? To upload the data or information onto the mobile devices as the data are of heavy size so they are more and are not as good as for a Tablet(iPads, PDAs) more than a Smartphone. INCREASE IN production of Smart phones and iPads then laptops or desktops The above figure tells the increase in the production as well as the sale of the smart phones and tablets gradually since the year 1995-2010 as compared to that of a notebook or a desktop. CONCLUSION This paper gives a brief overview of some of the challenges and benefits of mLearning within the educational society to improve the outcome for learners and teachers as well. Mobile applications are growing day by day in market to help and support the learners and the teachers which in turn affects the way to communicate and share the information regarding learning perspectives. With the development of the technology the mobile technology is also increasing and it has advanced in such a way that mobile have the same chip size of the normal computer so we can use the same device to produce same outcome but it is more portable now and smaller in size. There are various applications like Blackboard Mobile in the market using which we can study on the portable devices such as smart phones, tablets, iPods etc which are smaller in size and they do the same work as a laptop or desktop wherever and whenever it is required to submit or download a document and can meet the deadlines on time. The use of mobile learning is new in education, it is important for learners and teachers to share what works and what does not work in mobile. This is critical because mobile devices are changing constantly with increasing capabilities and there is not enough time for everyone to conduct research and complete projects to learn about the best practices in mobile learning. This book is one attempt to give educators and trainers the opportunity to learn from the research and mobile learning projects so that they can build from where others have left off rather than start from the beginning. REFRENCES Scardamalia M and Bereiter C (1994). Computer support for knowledge-building communities. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 3, 265-283. Chan T, Sharples M, Vavoula G and Lonsdale P (2004). Educational metadata for mobile learning. In J Roschelle, T Chan, Y Kinshuk and SJH Yand (eds) Proceedings of the 2nd IEEE International Workshop on Wireless and Mobile Technologies in Education (WMTE). Computer Society Press. At http://csdl2.computer.org/comp/proceedings/wmte/2004/1989/00/19890197.pdf IEEE (2002). IEEE Standard for Learning Object Metadata. IEEE Std 1484.12.1-2002. NewYork:The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Mohamed Osman M. El-Hussein and Johannes C. Cronje, Defining Mobile Learning in the Higher Education Landscape, Educational Technology Society 13, no. 3, 2010, 12-21, http://www.ifetsinfciliournals/133/3.pdf Mike Sharples, Josie Taylor, and Giasemi Vavoula, A Theory of Learning for the Mobile Age, in Sage Handbook of Elearning Research (London: Sage, 2007), 221-247 Andrew Brasher and Josie Taylor, Development of a Research Plan for Use of Ambient Technology to Test Mobile Learning Theories, in Mobile Learning Anytime Everywhere: A Book of Papers from MLEARN 2004, eds Jill Attewell and Carol Savill-Smith, 2004, 33-37. Watanabe T (2001). Knowledge management architecture of integrated educational support. In Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Computers in Education, Seoul, 12-15 November, 1138-1141. Ally, M. (2009) Mobile Learning Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training 1-2, Sharples, Taylor, and Vavoula, A Theory of Learning for the Mobile Age, 224. Traxler, J. (2007). Defining, Discussing and Evaluating Mobile Learning: The Moving Finger Writes and Having Writ The International Review in Open and Distance Learning, 8, 1-13. Eden Dahlstrom, Tom de Boor, Peter Grunwald, and Martha Vockley, ECAR National Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2011 (Research Report) (Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Centre for Applied Research, October 2011), available from http://www.educauseedu/ecar This information comes from the website Mobile IT in Higher Education, 2011 Report, Resources for ECAR Subscribers, Data Tables, available from http://www.educauseedu/ECAR/MobiIelTinHiqherEducation20l1R1238470 This information comes from the website Mobile IT in Higher Education, 2011 Report, Resources for ECAR Subscribers, Data Tables, available from http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/future-mobile-learning Gregory Dobbin, with Eden Dahistrom, Pam Arroway, and I1ark C Sheehan, Mobile ITin Higher Education, 2011 (Research Report) (Boulder, CC: EDUCAUSE Centre for Applied Research, December 2011), 15-18. Big Gains in Going Mobile; Slow Movement Towards Cloud Computing, Campus Computing Project, http://wwwcampuscomputincjnetlitem/campus-computincj-2011-biq-qains-qoing-rnobile Mike Sharples, Dan Corlett, Susan Bull, Tony Chan, and Paul Rudman, uThe Student Learning Organiser in Mobile Learning: A Handbook for Educators and Trainers, eds. A. Kukulska-Hulme and J. Traxier (London: Routledge, 2005),139-149. Taylor, J., Sharples, M., and OMalley, C., Vavoula, G., and Waycott, J., (2005) Towards a Task Model for Mobile Learning: A Dialectical Approach, International Journal of Learning Technology, Special Issue: Interactions, objects and outcomes in learning, eds. P. McAndrew and A. Jones Passey D (1999). Anytime, anywhere learning project evaluation. Lancaster: Lancaster University/AAL. Romiszowski, Hows the e-learning baby? Factors leading to success or failure of an educational technology innovation, Educational Technology, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 3-27, 2004. L. Rajasingham, Critical Factors for Successful E-Learning: ACase Study of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, E-Learn Centre, Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), Barcelona, Spain, 2010. L. Rajasingham, Will Mobile Learning Bring a Paradigm Shift in Higher Education? (Education Research International Volume 2011 (2011), Essay ID 528495, 10 pages doi:10.1155/2011/528495 R. Van Eck, Digital game-based learning, Educause Review,pp. 17-30, 2006. R. Shen, M. Wang, and X. Pan, Increasing interactivity in blended classrooms through a cutting-edge mobile learning system, British Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 39, no. 6, pp. 1073-1086, 2008. H. Ryu, Designing situated learning experiences, in Innovative Mobile Learning, H. Ryu and D. Parsons, Eds., pp. 255-272, Information Science, New York, NY, USA, 2009. C. Quinn, mLearning:Mobile, wireless, in-your-pocket learning, 2000,http://www.linezine.com/2.1/features/cqmmwiyp.htm. 4G, Wikipedia, http://enwikipediaorqwiki4g YouTube (2012). The 5 Big Challenges of Mobile Learning YouTube . July 23rd 2012. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofBjtGQsfX0 [Accessed 3 November 2012].

Magical and Sublime Characteristics of A Very Old Man With Enormous Win

Magical and Sublime Characteristics of A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings      Ã‚  Ã‚   "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" is a short fiction story written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 1955. It has both characteristics of magical realism and of the modern sublime. Therefore, Magical Realism and the Sublime seem to be related in many ways depending on how a person looks at a story. From all of the research I have read, magical realism and the sublime help to explain the characteristics of one another. This story definitely meets the criteria for magical realism and the sublime because of the many elements described. The very old man with wings, the unusual miracles, the woman spider, and the crab infestation, represent elements of the sublime and magical realism. Marquez makes these magical elements seem like the natural thing to occur. Angels, miracles, crabs, spiders, and money -making events are very real, but in this story he makes them sound so real and normal, whereas in real life they would be crazy and hard to believe. I discovered that that this story is based on a spiritual subject rather than something that is just completely not able to be related to some certain thing or place. Longinus talks about different authors stating that "the import of the sublime is clearly that it plumbs the depths of natural, visible reality to evoke an aesthetic and psychological experience of its hidden and invisible dimension of mystery, magic, and spirituality"(461). Sublime, having spirituality as a characteristic, and magical realism, having magic as a characteristic, are mixed in the story. The very old man with wings is sublime and magical because of its spirituality and the magic he made as he lived in the town. It is a r... ...all based on opinion. I know that there will be many people will place the two genres in different categories based on what they see. When a magical element is given, not everyone gets the same view out of it. I stand by my point, though; magical realism and the sublime are more alike than different. Works Cited Arensberg, Mary. The American Sublime. Ed. Mary Arensberg. Albany; N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1986. 1-5. Faris, Wendy B. "Magical Realism : Post Expressionism. "Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community." Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham; N.C.: Duke UP, 1995: 163-190. Longinus. On the Sublime. Cambridge. Harvard UP, 1995. Shopenhauer, Arthur. The World as Will and Idea! Philosophies of Art and Beauty. Eds. Albert Hofstadter and Richard Kuhns. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976. 448-468.   

Negative Effects of False Media Images :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

The Negative Effects of False Media Images      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Since the birth of communication, media has been used to convey information to those willing to absorb it. Beginning with publications and simple spoken words, and soaring to new heights in the twentieth century with radio, television, and the internet, media have been made accessible to people in every aspect of their daily lives. With such a strong hold on modern society, mass media have been able to shape popular culture and often influence public opinion. However, when abused, the power of media can harm the general population. Biased media tend to make people strive to be someone else's idea of perfect while subconsciously ignoring their own goals. Stereotypes formed by the media that include thin, tanned women, and wealthy, muscular men have led to a decline in self-acceptance. The majority of media today often present the perfect body to the public, hoping that consumers will strive to achieve fitness using a certain product or idea. While this form of adv ertising may somewhat increase a product's market share, many people suffer from inner conflicts as a result of failure to achieve the body of a top athlete or fashion model. Along with emotional conflicts, those influenced by the media have encountered physical problems, including bulimia, anorexia, and the employment of harmful dietary plans. Unless reality is discerned from what is presented in certain media, some people will continue to suffer. Consumers could find the truth more easily if media offered products advertised by normal people without all the extra glamor. In addition to this, if the public could view advertising only as something to get one's attention and not a portrayal of how one should look, there would be fewer problems. Until either is accomplished, the negative effects will be felt by the vulnerable, and companies will continue to make their money. Those consumers given a false impression about a product through various forms of media are the ones who suffer most from our society's portrayal of the perfect body. After being influenced by a television commercial or a magazine pictorial, certain people in this world will purchase an item hoping that the same success shown in the medium will be had by them as well. The truth of the matter is that this hardly ever happens. Every day, ugly people wear sensual cologne, and slow runners wear Carl Lewis track shoes.

The Pitfalls of Title IX :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

The Pitfalls of Title IX Living with a family that includes three very athletic sisters and me, I attend a number of girls/woman's sports and in a few cases, boy's sports. Nothing makes me happier than to see my 11-year-old sister tackle some little smart-ass boy who thinks that the only thing she should be doing is playing with dolls. Or to hear my other two sisters brag about how they both pinned boys in their younger years of wrestling, even though the kid probably never stepped on a mat again. I would like to see each of my sisters go on to have very successful careers in both athletics and in the economic world. I believe that Title IX is doing this job, but I am sure that this can be gone about in another way. What eurchs me the most is that in order for my dream of my sisters to become so successful in sports, men's sports have to be cut. This means that the opportunities that many young men have put so much time into are not available to them because of Title IX(every source that I have but one or tw o). In 1972, Congress passed the Educational Amendments. One section of this law, Title IX, prohibits discrimination against girls and women in federally funded education, including in athletics programs(Empowering). Since 1972, the number of women athletes that were attending college was represented by only 15% compared to a study taken in 1995 that showed that 37% were competing in college athletics while attending college. In the years 1992-1996 woman gained 23,166 participants in 17 different intercollegiate sports. In the same years, men only gained 12,518 in 21 different sports. The problem is that in many of these 21 men's sports there are a negative number of participants. In the same years and the same study, there was about 1,160 woman's teams added to college sports. In the same study there was a gain of 576 men's teams which again there was a negative number of teams added in many sports(Riley). There has been multiple men's sports cut while over the same period of time woman 's sports has done a nine fold. So, women are catching up to men's athletics, but they are doing it in the wrong type of manner. Men's sports are being cut to get this equity(Powers). In 1996, the Clinton administration

The Garden of Remembrance

I spent much of my childhood in a tree. Our garden was big and if you ran down the path, avoiding the wolves that lived next door you were very safe, isolated from the outside world by soaring bushes, their leaves cool to the touch. A huge mulberry bush grew by the lawn, its branches making a woven screen. With little difficulty, it was possible to enter a clearing inside the bush, and eat the juicy fruit, the juice running down your chin, and staining indelibly your clothes. On the lawn were rings of mushrooms where the fairies held their council, of which I always dreamed of being a member. Beads of dew formed on the long grass, lanterns the fairies had left behind. To the left of the lawn was a wall, and an archway entrance. It was a deserted castle of which I was the princess. From the top of the wall, you could see the whole garden. It was easy to get up there, by climbing on the hard stone bench and then up the mossy lion. A few apple trees grew on the other side of the stone room near to the crumbling shed. The third tree from the shed was my tree. Its bark familiar, and its branches smooth from years of touch. The highest branch was my throne where I spent most of my time, watching the brown ovals of people's heads and listening to their conversations. I especially enjoyed watching her. The light bounced off her hair impressively, like it did off the kingfishers we saw in Devon. If I leant forwards until the tips of my fingers reached the branch below, I could see her whole face. She was very beautiful. Every one said so. Her eyes were big and brown, just like I wanted mine to be. Her long, straight nose seemed to be made for looking down. Often I would practise in the mirrors in the hall that look of hers until I could mimic it exactly. In fact, most of my early childhood was spent copying her, trying to be like her. I was almost eight when I realised she was not my mother. I suppose she must have been my stepmother. I had spent the morning out at the goldfish park with her. Marine Gardens it was called. The salty air was uncharacteristically warm and I took my bike. The little cafi was full and people overflowed onto the grass of the putting green. They were mostly tourists with their cheap cameras and bulging waists. The cross old man who ran the place where you got balls and clubs for the mini-golf was trying to shoo them away. Just behind the mouldering cafi were the goldfish ponds. Despite all the people round the front, it was empty. The grey courtyard was damp and moss protruded through small cracks as it always did. The pond was made of the same slimy stone. Inside each of the four ponds were the darting fish. They only just shone through the murky water. Some one had put an empty coke can in with the fish and I spent some time untwisting it from the weeds. She held my hand as I jumped across the pond, round, and round without touching the ground. With my added height, I could watch the men playing bowls with the big heavy balls. It looked easy from far away but the previous time I had come, I had tried and had found that it was not easy at all. We danced all the way home that day. I remember it vividly. I could not have been more happy, or more proud of her. No one else at the park had such a beautiful, agile, and fun-giving parent. But this was the last day that I would have fun with her. When we got back, my father was in my room. He broke all the rules when he told me. I was sitting on my bed tracing the swirls on the ornate wooden bed head. I imagined a chisel whirling round and round, making the courtly curls. My duvet was creased, slightly rumpled and I itched to straighten it. He stood at the door giving no warning of what he was saying. No hints. Just the bare facts. As soon as I realised what he was saying I ran to the garden, bawling in the way very young children do. All my life, I had wanted to be like her, was content in the knowledge that I would grow up to be just like her, but now to find she was nothing but a stepmother. It must have been around a week later, it was hard to tell; the days after he told me seemed very long, I went into my father's study in search of string so we could tie up some runner beans. The lights were off and I couldn't see my father anywhere. Approaching the desk I found him slumped on his desk, a glass of whisky clamped in his hand, sobbing. The thick velvet curtains cast a red light on his face. On the edge of the desk was his calendar; in the strange light, the white card of the calendar glowed scarlet. In this red gloom, I could just pick out the date. 16th March. My father never knew that I had seen him in that state. I crept away knowing that I had no business there and fearful of the consequences of having been seen Exactly a year later, I had almost forgotten that I had ever had a mother it was so far to the back of my mind. I woke up to the sound of someone bellowing. Hastily, I ran down the stairs to the breakfast room. As I came into doorway, the figure of my father loomed over me. He stood there fully dressed in his best suit. The inky black seemed to suffocate him, and cast an uneasy blue on his unusually pale face. Unlike most mornings, he was clean-shaven and his shirt was tucked in and pressed. Why are you dressed like that? I said, â€Å"Has someone died? † My words seemed to choke him, and ignoring my questions, he ordered me to change into my best clothes. I dare not ask why so I quickly did as he told. We drove in silence. I did not even wave at the seagulls as I normally would. My mind was occupied with what was happening. Something was wrong. My stepmother, as I had learnt to call her, was not with us. Even the cold wind did not taste right. About 15 minutes later, though it seemed like much longer as these things always do, we arrived at what seemed at first to be a large park, enclosed by a stone wall. As soon as I stepped out of the car I realised, that this wasn't a park at all, but a large graveyard. My father seemed to know exactly where to go, so I trailed behind him, sadly looking at the small shiny white lozenges. We started to move towards what had to be the older graves. They were no longer glaringly white and the flowers on them were withered, the grass long. It wasn't possible to see the names anymore; a green moss writhed across each headstone. Here and there, there were small bouquets, but the wind quickly blew small petals away. My father stopped on end of the fifteenth row. He beckoned for me and, brushing aside some off the moss, revealed the name. I looked at him blankly. It meant nothing to me, until I realised that this was my mother. I felt no emotion. I was not sad in the least. This was not someone I knew. I began to wonder what was for lunch. I was hungry after missing my breakfast. Then it hit me all of a sudden. I was at my dead mother's grave and I felt nothing. A wave of guilt flew over me. I felt inadequate, an emotional cripple, horrified at the person that I was. I started to cry. Not for my mother. For me.

A Rose for Emily: the Characteristic of Miss Emily

Emily’s â€Å"Rose† The characteristic of Miss Emily’s house isa symbol for her appearance as she starts aging and deteriorating with time and neglect. â€Å"It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Then it became an â€Å"eyesore among eyesores†. Miss Emily changed the same ways as her house did and she too became an eyesore. She had once been â€Å"a slender figure in white† and later she becomes â€Å"bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water with eyes lost in the fatty ridges of her face†. During Miss Emily’s death she had been referred to as a â€Å"fallen monument†, which could mean she was once something beautiful and prosperous but with time she grew old and poor. These same changes from prosperity to poverty occurred in the South after the Civil War. (Faulkner 521-527) The mailbox is another symbol that leadsyou to believe Miss Emily is still living in her post bellum era when she was in her prime with her father. The mailbox is Emily’s refusal to move forward, it is a visual representation of the communication she has severed, for her time stands still. She will not allow the town to put a house number on her home for the free postal service. She also tells the tax collectors to talk to Colonel Sartoris (who has been dead for ten years) to resolve her problem that she doesn’t pay taxes. This shows Miss Emily’s, maybe even shows the South’s neglect of time and desire to live in the past. (SparkNotes Editors) The symbolism for the â€Å"rose† which in my opinion is the most intriguing symbol throughout the whole story is actually the symbol for the ending that includes Emily murdering her â€Å"sweetheart that went away†. Homer is Emily’s rose, roses are often acquainted with love, seeing that the rose was preserved we can take it to mean that Emily wanted to preserve the rose and thus also mean she would like to preserve her love. The â€Å"rose for Emily† was the room where she neatly placed the body of Homer Barron (her sweetheart), or possibly just Homer himself. The room was described as having â€Å"rose-shaded lights† and the curtains giving off a â€Å"faded rose color†. Knowing from having a girlfriend, many women like to dry out their roses in order to keep them forever, maybe in Emily’s distorted mind she wanted to keep Homer forever. (SparkNotes Editors) Faulkner uses crafty symbolism for the sake of the story itself, and also takes it a step further by using the changes of Emily Grierson as a symbol for the changes in the post-bellum south. Creatively Faulkner uses the unordered chronology to set the stage of the fallen south, which just wants to keep holding on the past when it reigned. Work Cited