Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Influence of Social Media on Political Views

Influence of Social Media on Political Views Social media’s influence on citizen’s democratic beliefs and political ideology and impact on elections From the beginning the internet has been used as an archive tool for human behavior. Around the globe, social media has provided an outlet and has made it easier than ever in allowing individuals to voice their opinions and beliefs about government; to talk about issues, mobilize around causes, and hold various leaders and lawmakers accountable. This review will attempt to summarize how the spread of beliefs and opinions by others on social media very much influence the those who use social media as a source of getting news as well as if social media is changing the way we view a democracy. It is just recently that in the year 2011, social media took a vital role in the Arab Spring uprisings in places such as Egypt and Tunisia as it was proclaimed a liberating technology. A considerable amount has changed from that point forward. The 2016 US presidential election conveyed to the fore the dangers of outside meddling and fake news and political polarization. The impact of web-based social networking on legislative issues has never been so significant to observe. The majority of this brings up a critical issue: what impact does social media have on people’s democratic beliefs, values, and political ideology? By and large, 20% of social media clients say theyve adjusted their position on a social or political issue on account of material they saw on social media, and 17% say online based social networking was the underlying factor that assisted in changing their perspectives about a particular political hopeful (Anderson 2016). Among online-based social networking users, Democrats and liberal Democrats specifically are more likely than Republicans to state they have ever changed their perspectives on a social or political issue, or on a specific political candidate, as a result of something they saw via the internet. The Pew Research Center conducted a survey asking respondents a time where they can recall social media having an effect of their views on the 2016 presidential election. â€Å"Many of the responses we received in this survey, conducted this summer, mentioned one of the major presidential candidates as the â€Å"political or social issue† they changed their minds on. Around one-in-five users mentioned either Hillary Clinton, 21% or Donald Trump, 18%, and around one-in-ten referenced Bernie Sanders†. (Kent 2016). In addition to asking whether they had changed their opinion in this way due to what they saw on the internet, social media, the survey also asked respondents to tell share in their owns words the time when this change occurred. â€Å"I saw a video on Reddit †¦ that ultimately swayed me from voting independent in this election to voting for Hillary Clinton.† â€Å"I thought Donald Trump was leaning one way on an issue and a friend posted something that was opposite of what I believe. This caused me to think less of him than I once I did.† â€Å"Originally, I planned on voting for Hillary Clinton in the election, but then I found out about Bernie Sanders through social media. I decided I would vote for him instead.† (Staff P.S 2016)    It is evident that there is no deficiency of challenges at the intermix of online networking and democracy. â€Å"As of August 2017, 67% of Americans claimed that they get in any event some of their news via social media with two-in-ten doing as such frequently, as indicated by a review from Pew Research Center† (Shearer and Gottfried 2016). Note that this is only a slightly modest increase from the middle of 2016 during the peak of the primaries where 62% of U.S. adults revealed getting news from social media. A strong correlation is evident that the use of technological applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube and support of civil liberties. People who spend more time self-publicizing on the internet appear to value freedom of expression highly but also value the right to privacy; in contrast to those individuals who use social media less often. A cross-sectional survey was then conducted to determine the connection between online behavior, political attitude, and social media use in 2010. 913 people were surveyed with questions that pitted concerns about security and safety. In order to see a measure of these civil liberties Swigger then designed a test to measure individual’s support for privacy and freedom of expression against concerns of security and safety. In conclusion of this test, among online socializations came back with a negative attitude for the right to privacy and to note the results seem to be spearheaded by respondents 25 and younger. (Swigger 602: 2013) This pattern suggests that social media may be altering American’s attitudes and beliefs about democratic values (Swigger 590: 2013). In contrast to conventional media such as television and newspaper articles where the audience passively pays much attention to, web based social media is designed to encourage users to create and share content about their lives which formerly would only be shared in private face-to-face conversation. This change in behavior has led to people livening their lives in the light of the public. With regards to the 2009 German election, a study was conducted by the research institute Forschungsgruppe Wahlen and an analysis of more than 100,000 messages containing a reference to either a political party or a lawmaker. The results demonstrate that Twitter is utilized widely for political pondering and that the even a small number of party mentions precisely mirrors the race result (Tumasjan 2011). The tweets assumption (positive and negative feelings related with a lawmaker) compares similarly to voters political preference. In the examination 104,003 tweets examined between 13 August and 29 September 2009 prior to the German election. Of those tweets analyzed, about 70,000 of them mentioned the political party and about half of them referenced specifically the politicians name. Given the large samples size, a sentiment analysis was used, an automated mechanism to quantify the information contained in these messages. To extract such data, they used Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC2007). LIWC2007, a text analysis software developed to assess emotional, cognitive, and structural components of text samples using a psychometrically validated internal dictionary (Tausczik & Pennebaker, 2010). In particular, this product determines the rate which certain cognitions and feelings are present in the text. There appears to be two facets to assess in determining if Twitter can fill in as an indicator of a race result. The foremost being the share of attention the political parties gets on social media, specifically Twitter, with the results of the 2009 German election. The latter being whether tweets can forecast the ideological ties amongst parties and potential political coalitions post-election. The MAE (mean absolute error) of six research institutes published election polls in the sample period, ranges from 1.1% to 1.7%. Thus, Twitter comes close in mirroring these accepted results. It is noteworthy to mention the predictive accuracy when compared to the historical backdrop of the IEM, a prediction market whose sole purpose is to predict election results. The IEM produced a MAE of 1.37% in U.S. presidential elections and 2.12% in non-U.S. elections based on election eve market prices (Berg, Forsythe, Nelson, & Rietz, 2008). In conclusion, the negligible number of tweets saying a political party can be viewed as a plausible reflection of the vote turnout and its prescient power even approaches conventional election polls (Tumasjan 2011). â€Å"Overall, our results demonstrate that Twitter can be considered a valid indicator of the political landscape off-line† (Tumasjan 2011). On the off chance that theres one essential truth about social media’s impact on democracy it’s that it  amplifies human intent  (Toyama 2011) both good and bad. At its best, it allows us to express ourselves and take action. At its worst, it allows people to spread misinformation and corrode democracy. References APA Anderson, M. (2016, November 07). Social media causes some users to rethink their views on an issue. Retrieved March 06, 2018, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/07/social-media-causes-some-users-to-rethink-their-views-on-an-/ Davis, D. W., & Silver, B. D. (2004). Civil Liberties vs. Security: Public Opinion in the Context of the Terrorist Attacks on America.  American Journal of Political Science,48(1), 28-46. doi:10.1111/j.0092-5853.2004.00054.x Forsythe, R., Rietz, T. A., & Ross, T. W. (1999). Wishes, expectations and actions: a survey on price formation in election stock markets.  Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization,39(1), 83-110. doi:10.1016/s0167-2681(99)00027-x Kent, D. (2016, November 04). When social media changes minds. Retrieved March 06, 2018, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/07/social-media-causes-some-users-to-rethink-their-views-on-an-issue/ft_16-11-07_socialpolitics/ Shearer, E., & Gottfried, J. (2017, September 07). News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2017. Retrieved March 06, 2018, from http://www.journalism.org/2017/09/07/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2017/ Staff, P. S. (2016, November 08). Your Friends Unhinged Political Facebook Rants May Actually Make a Difference in the Election. Retrieved March 07, 2018, from https://psmag.com/news/your-friends-unhinged-political-facebook-rants-may-actually-make-a-difference-in-the-election Tausczik, Y. R., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2010). The psychological meaning of words: LIWC and computerized text analysis methods. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 29, 24-54 Toyama, K. (2011). Technology as amplifier in international development.  Proceedings of the 2011 iConference on iConference 11. doi:10.1145/1940761.1940772 Tumasjan, A., Sprenger, T. O., Sandner, P. G., & Welpe, I. M. (2011). Election Forecasts with Twitter How 140 Characters Reflect the Political Landscape.  SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.1833192

Sunday, January 19, 2020

ESL Lesson Plan: Celebrating Christmas in Canada :: essays research papers

Students: 14 adult ESL students at an advanced level in the English language. They all have high levels of literacy in their L1 and are learning English for academic purposes. The students are seem to be very interested in the Canadian culture and have been asking many questions about the upcoming holiday, Christmas. Many of the students have been living in Canada for close to one year and have not experienced the â€Å"Canadian Christmas†. Context: It is the early month of December and the students have been already reading, writing and hearing about Christmas in Canada. To date, they have already shared their cultural practices during Christmas, if any, and are now interested in the Canadian culture. They are familiar with the concept of Christmas and some key terms, like Santa Clause, Christmas tree, etc. The length of this class is two hours with one fifteen minute coffee break, after one hour.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Objectives: ▸  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To practice scanning for information ▸  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To recall and use vocabulary previously learned ▸  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To learn and use new vocabulary: -Christmas/Evergreen tree  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  -Christmas Decorations (tinsel, ornaments, etc.) -Christmas Carols  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  -Christmas Presents -Church Services  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  -Roasted Turkey -Christmas Stockings  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  -Santa Clause -Christmas Eve ▸  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To foster interpersonal relationships through group work ▸  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To practice using different descriptive words to illustrate an idea to a peer Materials: ▸  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marx, D.F. (2000). Christmas. Toronto: Children’s Press. ▸  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Chalkboard/Chalk or Dry Erase Board/ Markers. ▸  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Describe and Draw game rules (from Bryrne, D. (1979). Communication games: a teaching aid. Windsor: NFER Publishing.) ▸  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Christmas pictures for Describe and Draw Game from magazines ▸  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Magazines with Christmas pictures ▸  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  14 pieces of poster paper ▸  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scissors/glue/tape  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ▸  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tape/CD player with Christmas carols Procedures: (1) Students participate in a discussion of the following questions: (45 min)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What do you already know about the Canadian Christmas? Have you ever celebrated Christmas in Canada before? What would you like to learn about celebrating Christmas in Canada?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (The teacher reads the book Christmas by David F. Marx, ensuring that all students can see the illustrations, to improve comprehension) What words come out of the book that you are unfamiliar with? (The teacher makes a list on board of unknown words). Following completion of the book, the class approaches the unknown word list on the board. The teacher explains the words using pictures from the book as well as relating the words to other things that they already know.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What are some interesting things that you have learned about the multicultural Canadian Christmas? (2) Students will participate in the â€Å"Describe and Draw† game. (See attached rules and pictures). (15 min.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (The teacher explains rules to the game, and then walks two volunteers through a couple of rounds until students feel comfortable).

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Unit 7 – Childcare and Education Level 3 Cache

E1 Collate evidence which describes the role of the practitioner in meeting children’s learning needs. Gather and present information about the role of the practitioner whenchildren's learning needs. A practitioner’s role in meeting children’s learning needs are to understand and work with each and every child’s learning needs. They can do this by providing different opportunities to individual children because each child is unique and learns differently. The practitioners’ role would therefore be to plan and resource an environment that is challenging and helps children learn in many different areas of their learning.The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is there for the rights of children should allow children priority as they are more venerable. It states that all children’s wants and learning needs should be met. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has 4 cores principles and they are: Non-discrimination regardless of race, sex, gender, religion, disability and any other reason (Article 2), the best interest of the child for example; prevent child from being separated from their families unless separate on is necessary for the best interest of the child, the right to live, survival and development, freedom of speech and thought etc†¦ Article 11, 14 ; 13). Another thing as a practitioner, we need to do is promote a positive environment for parents, colleges and the children because a positive environment can mean that everyone within the setting can get a positive outcome in order to help meet the child’s needs best. Having on-going training can also benefit the practitioners role in meeting children’s needs, teach them about childcare and can help them meet the child’s learning needs because the practitioners go on training outside the setting to get a better insight on how to work with different practitioners, adults and children.E2 Provide information about current influenc es on play +E4 Include examples of different theoretical models of how children play and learn. One theorist which currently influences children’s play is Jean Piaget (1948). His theory was a theory on Cognitive development. He believed that children develop in stages and that they progress through these stages in chronological order. Piaget (1948) said that there were 4 stages of development from birth to adulthood; serisori: motor- birth – 2 years, pre-operational: 2-7 years, concrete operational: 7-11/12 years, formal operations: 11/12-16 years old.He carried out a study which is called ‘mountain study’ to investigate further into his theory. This study was done in a group of children being arranged in front of a simple plaster mountain range and than he sat himself to the side and asked the children to pick from four pictures. This study showed that older children picked what Piaget (1948) saw and the younger children would pick the view they could see . When looking back at this study, Piaget (1948) found out that the older children tend to understand other peoples views.The practitioners would have a role within the Early Years setting to support the children through the different stages of development and the adults should work alongside one another to help the child develop. His theory of cognitive development is based on the importance of active discovery learning where children have child-centred classroom (Maureen D 2006). Piaget theory (1948) allows practitioners to have opportunities to learn without teaching them, appropriate activates are set up through observing the child and these activities are than suitably challenging with real experiences (Maureen D 2006). ’the balance between adult-directed play and child-initiated play should be tipped heavily in favour of child-initiative play. ’’ (Maureen D 2006). Another theorist which currently influences children’s play is Susan Isaacs (1930). Sh e was a psychoanalyst who believed that free play indoors and outdoors is important for children’s needs, development as well as helping them to learn better. She said that free play was important and necessary for children.In 1924 Susan Isaacs became the principle of Malting house, where she set up an educational experiment alongside Geoffrey Pkye(1942) to experiment with different teaching ideas on a small group of children aged two and a half to seven years. Inside the house were three interesting features; the use and development of language to promote thinking, the attention paid to children’s emotions needs and the emphasising on animosity and finding out. Piaget (1948) and Sigmund Freud (1988) were both influenced by Susan Isaacs’s (1930) theory.This theory allows children to understand what is being asked and gives the children challenge in answering a question where they can think on their own. E3- Provide information about current influences on the pla nning and provision Gather information about what currently influences planning and provision of learning opportunities. Every Child Matters Framework which is currently in the process to be changed is part of the Children Act 2004; it is a piece of legislation which has and influences planning and provisions of learning opportunities.The Every Child Matters ensures that settings provide quality of children’s and young people’s play and learning. This supports children from birth to 19 years. When practitioners plan, they should relate their work to the five outcomes for children; be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve though learning, make a positive contribution to society and achieve economic well-being. OFSTED is a regulatory body which makes sure all childcare settings are carrying out correct planning and allowing the children to learn. This is done by having inspections which are based on the five outcomes of Every Child Matters framework.They also do this by looking at each childcare setting to see what curriculum is being offered. Each childcare setting’s curriculum will be varied and this is something the OFSTED will understand for example: every child care setting will follow the (EYFS, 2012) Early Years Foundation Stage but if a setting has children of the age of 6they would follow the National Curriculum. OFSTED requires that practitioners and workers are familiar with the relevant curriculum and requirements of OFSTED. E6 Include TWO (2) examples of information from agencies outside the settingwhich may contribute to the assessment of learning needs.School Nurse A school nurse provides a variety of services such as undertaking health interviews and administering immunisation programmes. They can be employed by the local health authority, community trust, primary care trust or by the school directly. The responsibility of a nurse would include these roles: * Providing confidential health advice for individual children * Asse ssing the whole need of the school community and develop a health plan including a policy on bulling * Promoting good parenting skills by helping and supporting parents * Co-ordinating immunisation programmes Health plans for children with any disability * Providing training for school-based staff to support children with healthcare needs e. g. : asthma * Giving advice to parents, carers or school staff on childhood illnesses and the management and control of infection in the disease * Drug and alcohol abuse and smoking * Sexual health and relationship for example pregnancy * Exercise and healthy eating * Mental health and wellbeing * Obesity * Eating disorder * Disabilities E7 Include TWO (2) plans for curriculum activities which show different approaches to planning learning opportunitiesE8 Include information about the importance of consulting with parents and others when planning and providing learning opportunities. It is important to consult with parents and others when planni ng and providing learning opportunities for the child because the parents know their child’s best interests. This is because parents are their first educators and they know what resources their child likes to use and the likes and dislike of the child. It is also important because parents you may need permission from parents in order to carry out a certain activity.Effective partnership between a childcare setting and parents will help the environment of the setting become more positive for both the child and parents using the provision. It will make the setting and parents understand each other better as well as benefit the child because the child will feel safe and want to learn and achieve better. E9 Provide evidence of current and relevant research throughout the portfolio. Evidence of current and relevant research is provided in my appendix at the end of my assignment.D1 Include an explanation of the key issues in recording assessments. D2 Include an explanation of the k ey issues in recording assessments. + C2 Analyse the role of assessment in informing planning and respecting learning needs. There are many important points to consider when recording assessments of children. The most important issue in recording assessments would knowing the different techniques available to use and find the one that suits most when recording the assessment of the child.These techniques maybe; written narrative, video, photographs, target child observation, checklist observation, tick charts, time sampling, event sampling and mapping to record assessments of the children. The practitioner would need to decide what type of technique would be appropriate in assessing the child and the activity carried out. When using one of the techniques the practitioner would need to check if it was reliable and valid. A technique would be good when the practitioner is able to monitor the child’s behaviour, progress and development as well as keeping them frequent and up to date.Another important factor to consider when recording assessments of children is confidentiality. C1 Analyse the importance of planning and providing learning opportunities to meet children’s diverse needs. In order to plan and provide learning opportunities to meet children’s diverse needs practitioners need to make sure that all children are included within the task and activity. This can be done by providing a large range if motivating opportunities which are accessible to all children to help them develop and allow to support them.Another thing would be a safe environment for children to learn in which is free from any discrimination and bullying. This can be done by valuing and respecting one another (children, teachers, parents and other professionals). The practitioners would be working with other professionals such as an occupational therapist to help the child have the best learning opportunities available. B1 Evaluate how the current influences on play and different theoretical models affect the planning and provision of learning opportunities.Jean Piaget’s theory influenced today’s practice as†¦ Susan Isaac’s theory influenced today’s practice as she believed that play is very important and relives freedom which allows settings to have child lead activities. Another thing she influenced was the parents and carers of the children because she showed and made practitioners aware of the fact that parents are seen as the child’s first educators and therefore they are the most important when providing learning opportunities for the child.Susan’s theory is based on working with parents and carers and this is very vital to today’s influences on play in settings which than allows practitioners to be able to plan learning opportunities for the children in their care. This can also affect planning because the practitioners may not be interacting with the children very well because they are having child lead activities and the practitioners are not experiencing what the parents and cares say about the child and how they act during the activities toward the practitioners.Research has shown thatyoung children learn best when they are actively interacting with others†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. E Wood and N Bennett (1999) International Journal ofEarly Years Education 7 (1) 5-16. This affects planning because†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Discussion might also consider whether models are appropriate for all settings and factors which might be barriers to implementing change This affects planning because†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. A Include a reflective account of the role of the practitioner in supporting the learning needs of childrenDevelop the information gathered for E1 and use your experiences to consider learning needs of children and show understanding of your practice in supporting the learning needs of children. Use this reflection to suggest appropriate ways you could develop your role as a practitione r when working with children. My role as a practitioner in meeting children’s learning needs are to respect and value each individual child’s learning needs as well as understanding them.This will than allow me to provide different opportunities to individual children because ach child has individual needs and wants in the way that they learn by. Another role of mine is to plan for stimulating activities which are high in challenge to allow them to develop and learn new skills and abilities. Having a challenging environment for children allows the children to extend their learning in various styles and ways. The Equal opportunity policy is also taken into consideration by all practitioners in the setting so that all children are treated equally with respect and can enjoy and achieve their full potential.Staff ratio is also taken into account because we need enough staff in a setting to avoid accidents and keep all children safe and in a secure environment Bibliography: Books: Tassoni. Penny, Kate. Beith, Kath. Bulum and Harriet. Eldridge (2007) CACHE level 3 Child Care and Education 4th edition, London: Heinemann Marian. Beaver, Jo. Brewster, Sandy. Green, Sally. Neaum, Heidi. Sheppard, Jill. Tullack and Miranda. Walker (2008) Childcare and education Cache level 3 Cheltenham: Nelson Thorns

Friday, January 3, 2020

A Brief Note On Raising Minimum Wage - 1088 Words

Brendan Mason Mrs. Scruggs 08/07/15 Raising minimum Wage There is always talk about the problems of North Carolina’s economy, and these problems then become publicized and put throughout the media, informing people on the condition of their state’s economy. A popular topic lately is the state’s minimum wage, and whether it should be raised or if we should keep the current minimum wage. Usually, opinions vary on what to do about minimum wage, however there certainly seems to be a larger group of people going for the raise in minimum wage, more than â€Å"three quarters† of the population (as of 2013). .Recently, the lower class has begun to grow substantially larger, and although raising the minimum wage would certainly help many lower class†¦show more content†¦Given that the unemployment rate is so high, it would be many times more difficult to get a job after being unemployed, and will not be able to pay their house payments. This is a result that surpasses normal lower class citi zen issues. Leaving many people homeless and without a way to support their family will raise even more issues involving the economy. This is exactly what an increase in minimum wage is supposedly trying to avoid, however studies have shown that just a one dollar increase in minimum wage results in a 1.48 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate, and that high state minimum wages have increased unemployment by 747,000 workers. . These tolls being taken are not worth the small increase in minimum wages. The unemployment rate is just the beginning of the issues an increase in minimum wage will create. In 2013, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ data revealed that states with minimum wages above $7.25 per hour averaged lower net job growth rates that states with a minimum wage of $7.25. . Table 3: Results Interpretation†  Variable Unemployment Rate Net Job Growth Rate Teen Unemployment Rate Teen Net Job Growth Rate Minimum Wage 1.48** -0.18* 4.67** -4.01** *Significant at the 5% level ** Significant at the 1% level † Interpretation of results assume average percent of population 25+ with high school degrees (87.37%) This information shown in â€Å"Table 3† shows that a raise in minimum wage has an almost direct correlation