Free Essays on What Motivates Me

My selves My five selves are physical, intellectual, social, emotional, and spiritual. My physical self is quite healthy because I fulfill the requirements Dave. Dave is the P.E. instructor. My intellectual self is interesting because I am mainly right-brained which means that I tend to use my creativity more than my mathematical skills. I am also a visual learner which is connected to me being right-brained. My social self consist of friends, family, and my surroundings. I spend most of my timeout with my friends. Whenever I am with my friends, I observe their behaviors and listen to their opinions. I am more of an independent type of person. Being with different people who have influenced me into appreciating different cultures and beliefs. I have learned things that have now been incorporated into my own set of beliefs and values. I greatly value freedom of thought, friends and family. My emotional self deals with feelings and my ability to handle the demands of life. The spiritual self is all about my beliefs, values, religion and my life philosophies. By satisfying the needs of all five selves, the result can be my happiness which is the ability to feel good about myself and others. Physical fitness is having ample energy and the ability to perform daily activities without being exhausted. My energy usually depends on the amount of sleep and food I get. If I have too much or too little sleep, I don't look forward to the day and am not enthusiastic about doing things. If I do not have a complete breakfast, it affects my energy level. When I have a good breakfast, and enough sleep, I can go through a whole day with enough energy and alertness to do many things. I have relatively good flexibility because I stretch a lot, well every morning with Dave. Which increases the range of movement around my joints. I have muscular strength which means I can lift medium/heavy amounts of weight a few times.. Althought I have muscular stre... Free Essays on What Motivates Me Free Essays on What Motivates Me My selves My five selves are physical, intellectual, social, emotional, and spiritual. My physical self is quite healthy because I fulfill the requirements Dave. Dave is the P.E. instructor. My intellectual self is interesting because I am mainly right-brained which means that I tend to use my creativity more than my mathematical skills. I am also a visual learner which is connected to me being right-brained. My social self consist of friends, family, and my surroundings. I spend most of my timeout with my friends. Whenever I am with my friends, I observe their behaviors and listen to their opinions. I am more of an independent type of person. Being with different people who have influenced me into appreciating different cultures and beliefs. I have learned things that have now been incorporated into my own set of beliefs and values. I greatly value freedom of thought, friends and family. My emotional self deals with feelings and my ability to handle the demands of life. The spiritual self is all about my beliefs, values, religion and my life philosophies. By satisfying the needs of all five selves, the result can be my happiness which is the ability to feel good about myself and others. Physical fitness is having ample energy and the ability to perform daily activities without being exhausted. My energy usually depends on the amount of sleep and food I get. If I have too much or too little sleep, I don't look forward to the day and am not enthusiastic about doing things. If I do not have a complete breakfast, it affects my energy level. When I have a good breakfast, and enough sleep, I can go through a whole day with enough energy and alertness to do many things. I have relatively good flexibility because I stretch a lot, well every morning with Dave. Which increases the range of movement around my joints. I have muscular strength which means I can lift medium/heavy amounts of weight a few times.. Althought I have muscular stre...

7 Things Youre Not Doing That Will Get You Promoted in 2017

7 Things Youre Not Doing That Will Get You Promoted in 2017 Been in your job a couple of years and feel you’re ready to take the next step? Watching select few of your colleagues move up the ladder while the vast majority of you are still stuck in your old jobs? Trying to figure out what to do to be one of those select few? If you’re itching to get to the next rung, here are a few steps you can take to put yourself in prime position.1. Get clear on your value.Chances are your boss is not just magically aware of all the great work you’ve done so far. Maybe you’ve lost sense of it too. So start by making a list of your accomplishments. Detail the projects you’ve been a part of, the teams you’ve led, the accolades you’ve earned. Make yourself a â€Å"brag† folder of your quantifiable accomplishments, those concrete examples of the results you have produced. Be ready to outline all of this to your boss when the time comes.2. Clarify your expectations.You can do all the work you want in one d irection, but you won’t get anywhere if it’s not the same direction as your boss would like. Ask your boss, frankly, what you would need to do to exceed her expectations and be in line for advancement. Make a list of what she says and start following it to the letter. Don’t be afraid to state outright that you’re interested in promotion and eager to do whatever it takes- and to ask exactly that â€Å"whatever it takes† would entail.3. Ask for a review.It never hurts to mention that you’re eager for a quarterly or six-month review. If you have this system set up, you can be sure of feedback four times a year. This will help you fine tune what you’re working towards and make sure to stay on the same page as your boss. Eventually, you’ll both be ready for you to advance to the next level.4. Tell your boss your value.This is a case, unfortunately, where you have to tell not show. And be sure to do it in advance of the time when you would ideally want to receive said promotion. Compile your accomplishments list, walk into your boss’s office, and be ready to make your case. That way, when it comes time for decisions, she will have all of the information.5. Find a friend in HR.It never hurts to have a wee birdie to tell you when certain positions might be coming open in the future. It will help you hit the ground running with your wow-the-boss plan. Having a pal in HR can help you keep an ear out for promotion opportunities in other departments as well.6. Go for more.Push yourself to go that extra mile, beyond your job description. Take on that project that’s a bit of a stretch for you. Take on a leadership opportunity you might not have gone for otherwise. Distinguish yourself from your peers.7. Go outside.If it becomes clear that you’re getting passed over unfairly for promotions at your company, start looking at other companies. Start thinking how you can make a move to a higher level pos ition (with a nice salary bump to boot!). This keeps your options open and has the added benefit of making you that much more attractive to your current employer.

Ethetical ramifications of medicine and psychiatry in cyberspace Essay

Ethetical ramifications of medicine and psychiatry in cyberspace - Essay Example The matter is even more complicated when it comes to ethics in cyberspace where they may be different questions with regard to privacy and confidentiality. Therefore, to fully understand the ethical ramification of medicine and psychiatry in cyberspace, it is important to understand what ethics are and then to see how various ethical issues in cyberspace can be tackled by psychiatrists as well as medical practitioners. The word ethics comes from the Greek language word ethikos which means ‘based on habit’. In scientific terminology, ethics is a branch of philosophy which discusses individual and collective behavior as being right, wrong, good or evil. In business and professional fields such as finance, public relations, advertising and many others, the application of ethical principles is said to be a part of the good practices which establish and increase the credibility of an organization or an individual (Wikipedia, 2006). When it comes to medicine and psychiatry, the world today is very much concerned with ethics since media attention as well as professional organization focus has come to ethics in a very significant way. Velasquez et. al. (1987) report that when people on the street were inquired about the meaning of ethics, they came up with very different answers. Some said that ethics have to do with internal feelings of what is right and wrong while others suggested that ethics are religious beliefs or that ethics are legal requirements. People also considered ethics to be acceptable behavior as given by the rules of society and some people simply did not know what the term ‘ethics’ means. While the responses stated above may come naturally due to the way the word is used, it must be clarified that ethics have nothing to do with internal feelings (Fisher, 2003). In fact, personal feelings and individual emotions about something may lead a

The Relationship between the BBC and Public Broadcasting Corporation Essay

The Relationship between the BBC and Public Broadcasting Corporation and the Commercial Sectors - Essay Example First, before going into BBC’s relationship as a public broadcasting corporation with the commercial sectors, it is helpful to identify first what is meant by public service broadcasting. The Communications Act 2003 (CA 2003) sets a duty on the Office of Communications (Ofcom) to obtain accessibility of a broad range of both â€Å"television and radio services† all over the United Kingdom that is of high quality and considered to draw diverse â€Å"tastes and interests† (Communications Act 2003 s. 264); and to keep an adequate number of providers for various â€Å"television and radio services† (Ridgway 48). While the Communications Act has not defined what comprises â€Å"public service programming†, the Office of Communications (â€Å"Ofcom†) characterized this kind of programming by setting forth â€Å"its  purposes  and  characteristics.†Ã‚   Ridgway in his article â€Å"All change for public service broadcasting in the UK?à ¢â‚¬  enumerates the following purposes and characteristics of public service broadcasting: Purposes: †¢Ã‚  Informing our understanding of the world  --to inform ourselves and others, and to increase our understanding of the world through news, information and analysis of current events and ideas.Stimulating knowledge and learning --to stimulate our interest in and knowledge of arts, science, history and other topics, through content that is accessible and can encourage informal learning. †¢Ã‚  Reflecting UK cultural identity  --to reflect and strengthen our cultural identity through original programming in the United Kingdom, at both national and regional levels, on occasion bringing audiences together for shared experiences. †¢Ã‚  Representing diversity and alternative viewpoints  --to make us aware of different cultures and alternative viewpoints through programmes that reflect the lives of other people and other communities, both within the United Kingdom a nd elsewhere. Characteristics: †¢Ã‚  High quality  --well funded and well produced. †¢Ã‚  Original  --new UK content rather than repeats or acquisitions. †¢Ã‚  Innovative  --breaking new ideas or reinventing exciting approaches, rather than copying old ones. †¢Ã‚  Challenging  --making viewers think. †¢Ã‚  Engaging  --remaining accessible and attractive to viewers. †¢Ã‚  Widely available  --if content is publicly funded, a large majority of citizens need the chance to watch it. (48) McGonagle on the other hand, defines public service broadcasting (PSB) as those broadcasted TV programs which are for the benefit of the public instead of solely for commercial ends (235). These programs consist of â€Å"local news coverage, arts programs, religious broadcasts, and augmented broadcasts featuring (for example) subtitling, visual signing and audio description† (McGonagle 235). It may also include â€Å"original drama, documentaries and chil dren's programming† (Ridgway 49). A particular quota on â€Å"public service broadcasts† is also required in their â€Å"license to broadcast,† in accordance with Ofcom’s regulations (Ridgway 49). The objectives on the other hand for the so-called â€Å"plural public service broadcast provision† are the following: â€Å"Sources of high quality impartial news at local, regional as well as national level, including the nations as well as the United Kingdom as a whole;† high level â€Å"original British content†; a broad range of both â€Å"voices and talent from across the whole United Kingdom,† to guarantee â€Å"continuation and development of creative talent clusters in the regions and nations,† currently assured â€Å"through regional production quotas on some public service broadcasters†; â€Å"guaranteed levels of investment in independent production† in order to ensure the supply of â€Å"the best crea tive ideas and the healthy development of this

Operation and Strategy management for Ryanair Essay Example for Free

Operation and Strategy management for Ryanair Essay Introduction The company chosen in this report is Ryanair in the airline industry. Ryanair is a low cost budget airline travelling across 1600 routes from 57 bases connecting 180 destinations in 29 different countries (Ryanair.com). Ryanair first started its operations in 1985 between Ireland and London. The first year it commuted around 5000 customers but the company really took off in 1990 when Michael O’ Leary was appointed the CEO of the company. The company was envisaged by its CEO Michael O’ Leary and adapted the Southwest airline model from America and brought it to Europe and since then the company has also embraced a no frills, low cost model where it plans to get their customers from A to B at the cheapest rate possible. This has revolutionised the travel industry and made travel cheaper and reliable within Europe. Ryanair has a strong hold on market in most of the countries Europe with 44% in Ireland where its headquarters are, followed by 23% to 21% in Poland, Italy and Spain (centreofavaiation.com). In the UK the company holds a modest 16% of the market with its overall customers estimated at 81.5 million for the year 2014. The company gets a stiff competition from Easyjet, Lufthansa, Aerlingus and Alitalia. These airlines try to follow the same model as well but Ryanair has been the leader by far  generating revenues of â‚ ¬3.789 billion for the fiscal year 2013 with profits of â‚ ¬374.6 million. Figure 1: Market share of different airlines ( Source: Centreofaviation.com) PEST Analysis Political Factors: The political factors tend to affect the airline industry the most if they are flying from one country to another. In case of Ryanair, it only flies within the EU, thus there is no question of arising uncertainties. One factor which has helped the airline sector grow is deregulation. In 1978 the United States removed government control over many aspects of air travel, including fares and routes, in the Airline Deregulation Act (Liberty of Economics and Liberty). This shifted the power to the market sphere. Following the success of this, Europe completed their own faze of deregulation by April 1997. This allowed passenger planes to fly between member states freely. Ryanair added several new routes to their repertoire after deregulation, taking the opportunity to add routes to new parts of Europe and Scandinavia. A further form of deregulation came in March of 2008 when the EU and United States agreed to let any city within each other’s territory fly between each other. This was called the Open Skies Agreement. Although Ryanair have still to take full advantage of this, they have announced their desire to start transatlantic flights at a very low cost to the consumer (RTE, 2007). This unprecedented step could shake the air flight market, increasing the volume of passengers able to fly more freely across the Atlantic and could have a knock on effect with Ryanair’s transatlantic competitors, forcing a change in the market. In 2012 a new law was introduced where all flights coming to and from the EU had to buy their CO2 emission allowances, whereas before they were exempt from the Emissions Trading Scheme. Many airlines have expressed their anger at their inclusion in the scheme, pointing to the fact that only 2% of global CO2 emissions are caused directly by air traffic. Many airlines have increased ticket prices to cope with the extra costs incurred. Ryanair have passed on the cost to customers in the form of a 25c charge (Irishtimes.com) Economical: During a deep recession Ryanair has flourished, recording a +18.71% 1 year return in 2012 ( Bloomberg, 2014) and announcing that it is Europe’s leading scheduled airline. In comparison to other airlines that are cutting jobs and have planes grounded, Ryanair are experiencing high demand and adding extra flights, creating new jobs for many sectors in their business, from pilots to sales and marketing people (RTE, 2007) One of the upmost problems facing the airline industry is the fluctuating oil prices. To compensate the rising oil prices most airlines have to put ticket prices up, which directly affects their customers. However, under the exceptional leadership of Michael O’Leary, Ryanair has addressed the problem through hedging. Hedging could be termed as an agreement between the oil companies and the airlines where oil prices are agreed in advance. In Ryanair’s case they have increased its fuel hedging capacity to 90% of its requirements (Centre of Aviation). This exceptional thinking by Ryanair gives them a cost cutting advantage over its competitors and thus still being able to offer its customers the same low fares which have been Ryanair’s forte. Social: The airline industry as per any other industry has to comply with the customer’s requirement to sustain in the market. A very god example that could be stated in this case is that of Ryanair, whereby, during the recession times when the unemployment grew to almost 15% and thus people did not have much money to spend, Ryanair gave its customers cheap flights to commute from one place to another taking away all the inflight luxuries. This has helped the airline grow even in the toughest times the economy has faced and thus also creating new jobs. But also to with stand the competition by other luxury airliners, Ryanair would offer its customers to book their cars and train tickets while booking their flights as it mostly flies to secondary airports. This, therefore not only attracted middle class customers but also people on business. The airline industry especially in Europe has had a last few troublesome years due to natural disasters that have cost the company extensive amoun ts. To point out a few, the ash cloud in 2010 cost the company 29.7 million Euros (Irish times, 2011) and these are huge costs for the airline to bear and thus, to compensate these compensation chargers Ryanair now chargers a â‚ ¬2 levy to compensate these claims in the future (Irish times, 2011). Technological: In the current climate technology plays an important part in the airline industry. Firstly, with the increasing fuels costs, fuel efficient aircrafts can save the companies a substantial amount of money. Another way is the internet; with the growth of internet all the companies’ use online advertising to push the sales and television advertising is also second to none. The internet is also a medium where people look for cheap airline tickets. In the case of Ryanair, the company makes the utmost use of technology to cut the human involvement out and thus keeping the costs down. It has a very good online ticket booking system where 85% of its tickets are booked (Ryanair.com). In 2009, Ryanair introduces the self-service kiosks whereby the passengers can check in using the machine and thus taking the human element out of the equation. This service was already available for passengers travelling without luggage but it was now developed for the customers travelling with check-in lu ggage. This was a chip and pin service developed in collaboration with Ingenico and thus gave the company a competitive advantage over its competitors and thus delivering low price flights for its customers (BBC News, 2009). Value Chain Analysis: A firm’s competitive advantage could be determined by the value chain analysis. The value chain consists of primary and support activities. Understanding the company’s linkage between the primary and secondary activities gives the company’s business model and helps one understand the secret of withstanding the competitive advantage. Figure 2: Value Chain Analysis model In the case of Ryanair, a clear linkage could be made between the inbound and outbound logistics in the primary activities to the Technology development in the support activity. Now, to obtain a clear understanding of this model, inbound logistics are the deals that the company is able to acquire from its suppliers on the promise of higher volumes. These include food, drinks, duty free goods, fuel which have to be delivered, stored and controlled on time as to avoid any delays for the aircraft. Ryanair, also puts a great deal of  effort in its operations as it promises its customers a 25 minute turnaround period which could be one of its core competencies and for the company to do so all the inbound logistics should be delivered on time. This 25 minute turnaround period also, gives the company the advantage of flying two extra flights on the same route compared to its competitors and enables high aircraft utilisation. The company also offers nonstop direct services to its destinati ons and does not link with any other airline, thus giving them a timely departure from the airport and also avoiding the costs for through services for its passengers and does not have to rely on other flights coming on time to schedule their departures. This has helped them gain a competitive advantage over its competitors as 95% of Ryanair’s flights are on time compared to 88% that of EasyJet. Ryanair also uses the standard Boeing 737 model of aircraft and thus, the company manages to get maintenance services and spares at a very minimum cost. This also reduces the cost of staff training and offers flexibility in scheduling aircrafts and crew assignments. On the outbound logistics, Ryanair operates to the secondary airports and thus have to arrange onward journey for their customers. They have teamed up with certain vehicle companies to give its business customers the advantage of that service however some of the routes are so obscure that these services cannot be provided constantly, a prime example are some of the Scandinavian routes. Thus, Ryanair has certain limits when acquiring the market share. On the contrary, Ryanair’s competitor EasyJet does the opposite and flies to major airports and cities and thus paying higher landing charges which are then reflected in the fares for their customers. The advantage of flying to secondary airports is that Ryanair pay fewer chargers and they are also in a position to bargain with the airport authority and get a deal that favours them and the secondary airports are less congested and thus turnaround times are much faster (Centre of Aviation), 2014). The inbound and the outbound logistics are coupled nicely with the technology to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors. Ryanair has tried to eliminate the human element as much as they can. They have introduced kiosks at the check-in desks for customers to check-in themselves at their own leisure. Thus, reducing staffing costs which is then reflected in the prices they charge their customers. The company doe s not invest much in advertising as well, the main advertising is  done through its very own website and 90% of the tickets are booked through the website as well( Ryanair.com). It only uses ticketing agents when they’re opening new routes and trying to venture into unknown markets; otherwise it is the website that people book their tickets through. The company constantly monitors its planes minute by minute through its own website and thus, keeping the human element out and using its website for mainly everything saves them on an average â‚ ¬6 million a year (BBC news, 2014). Amongst all the competitive advantage the company have, the one that has not been mentioned is the good leadership of Michael O’ Leary and his ability to create a vision for the company. He has successfully managed to adapt to the change as and when required and adopt different model to envisage the change for the betterment of the company which has helped the business to grow. Conclusion: To conclude this report, Ryanair has emerged as a successful company since it was established in 1985. It had a few hiccups on the way for the first 5 years but since Michael O’ Leary took the reigns over in 1990 as the CEO the company has gone from strength to strength. Its success has been helped by the conducive nature of the industry and the external elements within the airline industry. This industry has its threats but since the de regulation act and the expansion of EU, there have been a lot of commuters within these countries for business and leisure, thus this higher demand and low costs have helped Ryanair emerge as a low cost budget airline. Just because the company operates all its routes within the EU, it does not really have to deal with changing political factors and that it has always used them to their advantage. Ex. De regulation act and the open skies act even though the company has not started its flights to the US as of yet. The changing oil prices are a c oncern for every airliner but Ryanair counteracts through a process call hedging and uses the most advanced technology to remove the human element to curb the costs down for its customers and another reason for its success even during recession is because it gave the customers cheap flights to commute taking the luxuries out which were the demands at that time. Ryanair has a competitive advantage by the virtue of its inbound activities and the outbound activities combined with the technological  aspect of it. It uses the same standard Boeing so the costs are less and also, flying at secondary airports mean less landing charges and they’re also in a position to get a favourable deal for themselves from the airport authorities. The turnaround time is only 25 minutes as well and thus giving their customers more daily flights from the same destinations compared to its competitors. Refrences: Belobaba, P., Odoni, A., Barnhart, C. (2009). The global airline industry. Hoboken: AIAA, Inc Helm, C., Jones, R. (2010). Extending the value chain: A conceptual framework for managing the governance of co-created brand equity. The Journal of Brand Management, 17(8), 579-589. McCormick, T. (2010). Understanding costs using the value chain a ryanair example. Dublin: Institute of Chartered Accountants In Ireland. Research and markets: European low cost airline industry continues to prosper.(2004, Business Wire, pp. 1. Research and markets: European low cost airline industry continues to prosper.(2004, Business Wire, pp. 1. Research and markets: PEST analysis.(2003, M2 Presswire, pp. 1. RTE 2007. http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2012/q1_2012_doc.pdf[Accessed 20 March 2014]. http://www.ryanair.com/en/about/ryanair-and-the-environment[Accessed 20 March 2014]. Aviation, C. C. (2011, May 25). CAPA Centre for Aviation. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from Ryanairearnings up 26% but change in tack for 2012: http://www.centreforaviation.com/analysis/ryanair-earnings-up-26-but-change-in-tack-for-2012- http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0112/breaking26.htmlEdwards, N. (2012). http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=27620789 accessed on 2/04/14. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22659822 accessed on 1/04/2014 http://www.air-passenger-rights.co.uk/tag/the-irish-times/ accessed on 5/04/14 http://wwwnews.live.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23487106 accessed on 10/04/14

My American English Lessons :: Education Language Learning Essays

Mezimene's sonorous singing rang clearly above the voices of her classmates. A, B, C, D . . . L-M-N-O-P . . . W, X, Y, and Z. Wednesday night language classes all started the same way; we introduced ourselves and a neighbor: I am Mezimene. He is Francisco. All eighteen students came for the same reasons. Learning American English would allow them to pass the U.S. citizenship exam and interview, to advance at work, or to find better employment. Listening, speaking, and writing were our tasks. The women did very well; they learned to collaborate and worked together filling the gaps in their understanding of the reading or writing assignments. Most of the men struggled to stay awake as we worked into the late evening hours, lagging behind in their lessons-but Francisco managed to excel and always stayed on track. Tired, weary-the students trickled in before 6:10 pm, coming from work or taking care of children. They paid forty dollars for six months of classes, money invested toward achieving their goals and dreams in America. I had never taught adults before, but embarked on the endeavor full of idealistic hope and fervor. My students came to America from Ethiopia, Somalia, Haiti, and Cape Verde. None were younger than forty and some were already in their sixties, but that, for me, was the charm of teaching the class: nurturing the desire to find new opportunities through citizenship or assimilation into the American way of life. I saw the class as an avenue of passage, a beacon, a training ground, where the students could complete the difficult passage from being seen as outsiders to becoming full-fledged Americans, even of a hyphenated variety: Ethiopian-American, Somali-American, Haitian-American, and Cape Verde-American. Finding out the goals and aspirations of my students was as important as marking down progress notes about their reading and writing skills. I was not there to teach language in isolation, or phonics alone; I felt called to teach my class about American English in the real world, in their world. Yet there were those who disagreed with me: the alphabet and kinesthetics practitioners, who touted the importance of writing the alphabet over and over again at each class session and engaged in physical activities that would reinforce classroom learning. The program director was one of these devotees, and I watched as she began instruction one week. The program director was a tall, bony woman with wild, frizzy hair and a smile that seemed more snide than kind.

Cement Industry Essay

In today’s world of rapidly increasing competition, firms are selling goods and services through a variety of direct and indirect channels. In mass advertising, marketers are exploring new forms of communication, such as experimental, entertainment and viral marketing. Creative Advertising is the means to break clutter in such new forms – it helps Differentiation, Recognition, Recall and Persuasion in an effective manner. Creativity in advertising involves disciplined thinking and requires the creative person to think differently within specific constraints. The advertisement project is a complex exercise that that consumes a lot of effort, cost and time from different experts in the team which requires every part of the project process to be well-studied, documented and well planned. A lot of research needs to get conducted about the audience, product and media of the advertisement. Increasing sales is not the only goal of the advertising decision and could also involve introducing a new product, delivering the product message, etc. The most important aspect of the creative advertising process is the idea and the creative concept. Advertisers use different ways of thinking via several types of creative strategies to promote publicity, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion. One such creative advertisement campaign is the Vodafone’s ZooZoo ads which caught the fancy of the consumers and helped the company develop its own entity in a splendid and innovative manner. The advertising landscape has experienced dramatic change over the past several years and as the advertising medium gradually shifts to the digital platform, agencies are finding new ways to connect with the customers and build their brands. This media confluence is one of the foremost challenges of creative advertising as the advertisers have to reinvent the mass message model, help consumers tell stories, play in an evolving arena and develop talent with creative vision. INTRODUCTION Advertising has long been viewed as a method of mass promotion in that a single message can reach a large number of people. But, this mass promotion approach presents problems since many exposed to an advertising message may not be within the marketer’s target market, and thus, may be an inefficient use of promotional funds. However, this is changing as new advertising technologies and the emergence of new media outlets offer more options for targeted advertising. Advertising also has a history of being considered a one-way form of marketing communication where the message receiver is not in position to immediately respond to the message. In fact, it is expected that over the next 10-20 years advertising will move away from a one-way communication model and become one that is highly interactive. Another characteristic that may change as advertising evolves is the view that advertising does not stimulate immediate demand for the product advertised. That is, customers cannot quickly purchase a product they see advertised. But as more media outlets allow customers to interact with the messages being delivered the ability of advertising to quickly stimulate demand will improve. It is estimated that worldwide spending on advertising exceeds (US) $400 billion. This level of spending supports thousands of companies and millions of jobs. In fact, in many countries most media outlets, such as television, radio and newspapers, would not be in business without revenue generated through the sale of advertising. Most organizations, large and small, that rely on marketing to create customer interest are engaged in consistent use of advertising to help meet marketing objectives. However not every advertisement achieves its objective as the consumer is subjected to innumerable ads daily in newspapers, television, billboards, websites, etc. Therefore those Ads which catch customer’s attention have something unique which makes then interesting and unforgettable. The majority of copywriters agree that creativity is extremely important in ads and it usually works more effectively in catching the interest of people/customer than all other techniques put together. The originality of the idea or ad makes it more recognizable and is able to beat the competition. Creativity is the marriage of imagination and execution, thinking and doing. Creativity in the context of today’s world is underpinned by the fact that almost anything is possible given technology and platform advances. Technology is changing behavior, but ideas and how we tell the stories are everything – this is how we influence behavior. It’s about the idea and the story, not simply the devices or technologies, which create great and enduring ideas and are the hallmark of Creative Advertisements. ABOUT ADVERTISING Definition of Advertising: Advertising is defined differently by different authorities and the institutions dealing with the subject of advertising. The American Marketing Association defines advertising as â€Å"the placement of announcements and persuasive messages in time or space purchased in any of the mass media by business firms, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and individuals who seek to inform and/ or persuade members of a particular target market or audience about their products, services, organizations, or ideas.† Purpose of Advertising: Through advertising, one can disseminate the message very effectively. Within few seconds the message can be disseminated to masses. The basic purpose of advertising for commercial advertisers is to identify and differentiate one product from another in order to persuade the consumer to buy that product in preference to another. Non-commercial advertisers (political parties, interest groups, religious organizations and governmental agencies) use advertising to educate people for their cause. Major Decisions before committing for any advertising campaign: Like other area of marketing management, decision-making is necessary in advertising. This relates to 5Ms – mission, money, message, media and measurement. Mission: What are the advertisement objectives? Decision in regard to mission is a basic one as other decisions are to be adjusted as per the mission or objective or purpose of advertising decided. It can be: Introduction of new product or service, or information about new features, repositioning of the brand or just reminder campaigns etc. Money: How much money to be spent. Advertising is costly and companies have to spend billions of dollars for this purpose. Advertising objectives determine the required budget. Message: What is the message to be sent? Positive results depend on message. It should be attractive and meaningful. It’s the job of the creative copywriters and artists. Message can be communicated by written words, pictures, slogans and so on. Media: What kind of media to be used. Selection of media depends upon cost, coverage, effectiveness and budget in hand. Wrong decision on media may make advertising ineffective and money spent will be wasted. The steps here are deciding on desired Reach, Frequency and Impact. Measure: How are the results to be determined? Evaluation of advertisement in order to judge its effectiveness. The post advertising sale is one major consideration. The other consideration is visibility of the advertisement. Steps involved in influencing customer decision: There is a very famous principle in ad world called as AIDA principle, which describes the steps that a prospective customer goes through before deciding to buy. AIDA stands for A- Awareness, I- Interest, D- desire and A- Action. Awareness – Ad should surprise the customer. Interest – This is usually where benefit phrases come heavily into play. Desire – Third step, customer realizes that product is good and beneficial. Action- The fourth stage occurs when the prospect decides to take Action and become a customer. HISTORY OF ADVERTISING History of ads can be traced back to 3000-4000 BC. There are signs that Romans used to announce gladiator fights by painting on the walls. Egyptians used papyrus to make sales messages and wall posters. Commercial messages and political campaign displays have been found in the ruins of Pompeii and ancient Arabia. Lost and found advertising on papyrus was common in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Active advertising in print media started in late 19th century. 20th century has witnessed evolution of advertising through various media. The concept of creativity in advertising was not discussed much until the 1960s, when a sea change in the way of producing advertising transformed the field forever. The central feature of this Creative Revolution was that creativity came to be valued over the formulas and research that previously drove the production of ads. Creative teams, a mainstay of nearly all agencies since the 1960s, did not exist prior to that time. The reigning paradigm was reason the why advertising that spoke to consumers in terms of unique selling propositions (USPs). The Creative Revolution changed not only the ground rules for making advertising, but also the kinds of people who were recruited into the business. The preeminence of creativity over formulaic advertising was strongly articulated and the effect was to place creativity before the other services of an advertising agency – market research, media analysis, and other support functions. CREATIVE ADVERTISING To really stand out in the crowd, an ad concept has to be really out of the box, something that intrigues an audience or at least make them look twice. There is no second chance at making a good first impression. With both online and offline advertising you only have seconds to catch the attention of your consumers. If that doesn’t happen, your ad campaign is considered a failure. Today’s advertising message must be better planned, more imaginative, more entertaining and more rewarding to customers. Inclusion of creative ideas (original, novel, out of box and useful ideas) in the ad campaign is called creative advertising. Creative advertisements are made not only to sell the product but to entertain the target audience. Creativity in advertising does not arise in a vacuum; it requires a certain degree of both general knowledge and field-specific knowledge. This is clearly true if we think of creativity as a form of innovation – we cannot know what is novel without a sense of what is already known in any area. The ad’s impact depends not only on what it says, but often more important, how it says it – execution is decisive and this is the crux of Creative Advertising. TYPES OF CREATIVE STRATEGIES Creative Strategies are used in order to obtain consumer attention and provoke shoppers to purchase or use a specific product. Creative Strategies promote publicity, public relations, personal and sales promotion. Creative strategies are divided into three basic forms: Weak Strategies: Generic and Pre-emptive strategies describe the two weakest forms of advertising that were most popular through the 1940s. A generic strategy gives a product attribution. Consumers aren’t learning anything new about the product. It enhances the product in no other way. A pre-emptive strategy is a form of advertising that makes a generic claim stronger. Middle Strength Strategies: Unique positioning and Brand Image are the two types. This proves that something about your product is truly unique. This is commonly found when producers take an average product and add a new, unique element to it. In brand image, an advertiser is not trying to create rational thinking. This type of advertising strives to create emotion and give a brand a personality. A common way of doing this is by using a celebrity as a spokesperson. Strong Strategies: Affective and resonance advertising are the two types. Making people feel really good about a product is called affective advertising. This is difficult to do, but often humor and an honest character can make affective advertising possible. Resonance advertising is a way of identifying with consumers. If an advertiser can create a campaign that certain target markets identify with, then resonance advertising has been achieved. FUNDAMENTALS OF CREATIVE ADVERTISING The Fundamentals of Creative Advertising provides an understanding of how to create and produce ad campaigns. The focus is on the various media available, the thinking and planning behind the campaign, the creative brief, and the creative solution and execution of the ad campaign. Market research underpins virtually all of the decisions made at the campaign planning stage. Through market research both the client and the agency are better able to understand the marketplace, identify and profile the target audience, test their creative ideas, choose the most appropriate media form and, finally, evaluate the success of the campaign. The client will normally provide basic and initial research about the target market and audience in the client brief, which is then supplemented by research undertaken by the agency. Having received the brief from the client, the creative ad team must now take all the knowledge that they have and use it to develop a campaign that will meet the requirements of the brief. They need to look closely at all the information they have been given and understand what it really means. The creative ad team must also identify any gaps in their knowledge that can be filled through market research. The Creative Brief: Role of the brief: A creative ad team will transform a client brief into a creative brief. Together they will develop an advertising strategy based on the information supplied in the client brief and the supplementary research undertaken. The campaign strategy is then articulated in the creative brief, which is approved by the client. Developing the brief: Before the creative brief can be formulated, the objectives of the advertising campaign have to be identified, together with a strategy for achieving those objectives. It is important to remember that the advertising medium itself is only one part of the communication strategy, which in turn is part of the overall marketing strategy. As such, the broader marketing strategy has to be considered before the creative brief can be formulated. The Creative Concept: The creative team: At the heart of every successful advertising campaign is the creative concept. The task of having an original concept, and a range of ideas allied to this concept, is in the hands of the creative team. The best creative teams have the capacity to be both original and fluent when it comes to generating such ideas. In other words, it is not just about having a novel idea†¦it’s about having lots of them! Research and Familiarization: The way the creative brief is written and its content can be an important trigger for your ideas and will also provide an important point of focus in terms of advertising objectives; who you are talking to, what you want to say to them, and how you want them to respond. For this reason it is best to keep referring back to the brief every so often during the creative process to make sure that you are staying on track. Idea Generation (Ideation): The secret to having good ideas is to have lots of ideas to choose from. The more ideas, the greater the chance, that there will be few ‘winners’ among them. Quantity equals quality, so don’t hold back and pre-judge your ideas, just have lots of them – the wilder the better! Wild ideas may be unusable in their raw state, but they can provide a springboard to a better idea as they can help you to see things from a different perspective. Once the basic campaign concept for the advertisement has been formulated and agreed by the client, it’s down to the creative team to coordinate its execution. In traditional creative partnerships, the copywriter will write any body copy so that the message is conveyed in a punchy and memorable way, using the correct tone of voice to evoke the right mood or provoke the desired reaction. The art director will be responsible for ‘crafting’ the advertisements – making sure that they look visually strong and have a consistency of layout and composition across the campaign. Crucially, they must also exude and reflect the brand values. EXAMPLE OF A CREATIVE ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN Creative ad campaigns instill a sense of awe and marvel in the people they target. They cause us to stand back and wonder, â€Å"How did the brand even come up with that?† When a brand gets an ad campaign right, they stand out amongst the myriad of typical, hackneyed, and lackluster ads that bombard us daily. Just like the Vodafone ZooZoo ads. Vodafone is known for its unique advertisement campaign such as pug, happy to help service and the â€Å"ZooZoo† advertisement campaign. As Vodafone was a new brand in India, it had a challenging task to develop its own entity. The previous name of this Indian company was associated with a pug. Vodafone decided to come with a new persona for itself, so the people of the country can associate it with the company. The company came with a brilliant persona for itself, which was very apt for it, The â€Å"ZooZoo†. With 25 such commercials planned, releasing one a day, to sustain interest till the end of the IPL SEASON 2.HaritNagpal, chief marketing officer, Vodafone India explains, â€Å"†¦the brand was in need of an idea that would work doubly hard, as it was planning to spend some four months’ worth of marketing monies in one month†¦Ã¢â‚¬  ZooZoo are advertisement characters promoted by Vodafone during the Indian Premier League Season 2. O&M experimented with several characters and finally â€Å"ZooZoo† was born as a completely Indian concept. The name had to be catchy, funny and memorable, though the name actually never pops up in any of the communication. Zoozoos are white creatures with ballooned bodies and egg heads who were used to promote various value added services of Vodafone. Each ad used a story which was enacted by the Zoozoos. These ads though look animated are actually real humans in the ZooZoo costumes. The ZooZoo advertisements were created in South Africa by Ogilvy & Mather, an international advertising, marketing, and public relations agency and Nirvana Films. Ogilvy &Mather were asked by Vodafone to create a series of 3D advertisements which could be aired each day during the IPL Season 2. They spent near Rs. 30 million to make these advertisements. The campaign created the buzz both in the traditional media as well as in social networking sites like Face book and Twitter and video sharing website, YouTube. Zoozoos are part of a unique and innovative advertisement strategy aimed at outdoing the strategies of Vodafone’s competitors. By the means of ZooZoo, Vodafone has tried to represent an image of the urban common man who is the main drive force behind the increased usage of telecom & VAS services in the tele-communication industry. Through ZooZoo characters they have tried to showcase how the various offers by Vodafone can be useful for an urban common man. What Vodafone did was they projected the usage of their VAS services through various advertisements based on different themes as per the product (VAS) that they were offering. The various services offered by Vodafone such as chota recharge, group SMS service, busy alert service, fashion tips, recharge anywhere, bhakti songs, stock alert, voice SMS etc were shown to the viewers not by normal advertisement ways but through some funny & catchy ZooZoo ads which were successful in immediately drawing the attention of urban population including all age groups. Each of the advertisement was specific to one particular VAS service & revolved around the same to make the customer understand the service. Because of the uniqueness & attractiveness of these Zoozoos, Vodafone was able to draw the attention of the audiences quickly towards these ads which became soon very popular & thus the VAS offered by Vodafone. The success of ZooZoo is the success of minimalism and simplicity. As a part of a unique and innovative advertisement strategy which was being tried for the first time in India, the ZooZoo also generated tremendous mass appeal through the internet. The ZooZoo campaign has been able to generate a lot of curiosity among the viewers. The fan club of ZooZoo touched to several million and various interactive quizzes came up in these days as evident in the wallpapers and screensavers in the cell phones. All these transformed into a great viral marketing event. Another important advantage is that it involves very low cost in the implementation of the ZooZoo campaign and this amount as compared with the benefits it generated was infinitesimal. There is no celebrity required as a brand ambassador, unlike the campaigns being run by its competitors like Airtel and Idea, which resulted in a dual advantage. ZooZoo advertisements helped Vodafone increase its customer base by 3.8 % in the 1st quarter of 2010. The reason behind the Zoozoos becoming so famous is its familiarity with the cartoons which people used to watch as kids and invokes pleasant memories and fantastical world people used to live as children. It also does not produce bias of any kind (class, creed, religion etc) and hence this advertising strategy of Vodafone has been able to capture the imagination of millions across the country. The ad campaigns have given Vodafone a new look that will go a long way in further improving its brand image. The commercials have hit the Indian market like storm and will now probably go into history as one of the most brilliant advertising idea for the industry and the results it achieved are instructive for marketers and advertising agencies. Vodafone has benefited immensely from this campaign as the Zoozoos have become a brand in themselves. The creativity in the advertisement campaign caught the attention and fancy of the consumers, aroused curiosity, told stories and made people retell the story. In their remarks about the brand, the campaign achieved a remarkable success. We are all familiar with the standard measures of advertising effectiveness — memorability, message comprehension, persuasion and likeability. However, getting people to talk and discuss the advertising gives it a multiplier effect that helps to reach and impact more people than before. As the media gets more cluttered and expensive and viewers get cynical about the message, there is a need for advertising to be spoken about to make the brand and it’s messaging more impactful. It is not just traditional 360 degrees integrated communication by using multiple media to bombard the consumers with the message. Rather effective advertisement is all about developing creative content that naturally lends itself into being talked about and thus gets present in multiple media. CREATIVE ADVERTISING IN DIGITAL WORLD As consumers spend more time online, they have more control over traditional advertising vehicles, and chose to create and share their own content. As a result, some advertisers are evolving to a confluence culture where traditional methods of work must adapt to embrace the new reality of interactive content, emerging media, and production/consumption methods. Confluence culture thus suggests that agencies as units and the advertising profession as a whole face numerous challenges to their traditional ways of operation as they grow and morph and react to cultural shifts, particularly when it comes to creativity and ideas. Interactive creativity is built around engagement, and it recognizes that people are inherently social and look to create and maintain relations not only with other people but also with brands. Brand stories, both in traditional media and online, provide ways for advertisers to engage consumers more deeply with their brands. An engagement perspective changes the view of a brand from a transactional perspective, in which a brand addresses a transient need, to an interactional perspective, by which the brand story becomes part of a person’s own story about him or herself. The act of consuming media online has become synonymous with the act of producing media. Many online users are not content with accessing and viewing or listening to content from established sources; rather, they want to interact with message content by adding to it or repurposing it for new and different uses. Some traditionally closed models of information distribution (e.g., Web pages) therefore have given way to new, open models. These new systems, including the social media sites Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube, enable consumers to distribute content that they create. Interactive creativity therefore involves providing consumers with the tools they need to be creative themselves. To promote its new line of coffees, McDonald’s developed a site where visitors could create their own coffee ring snowflakes. On the CNN site, consumers can select news headlines to make into t-shirts, branded with the CNN logo. In each of these settings, the brand becomes the base for the creative product, and the time spent on the sites during the creation process allows brand registration to occur. Participation suggests that brand stories actually are created and disseminated in a partnership between advertiser and consumer. Leaders in the confluence culture will be those creative strategists who have an understanding of all aspects of the advertising process and use creative skills to solve brand problems. These individuals-nimble, digital, and prepared for new challenges will be able to consider the stories people tell, craft resonant brand narratives, and help clients use these stories to connect people to brands in new and exciting ways. Agencies embracing the creative strategist approach will be poised to provide outstanding messages for clients, protect against economic downturns as clients embrace the value of such messages, and find even more innovative ways to communicate. CONCLUSION Creative Advertising comes with its own set of challenges, particularly when it comes to harnessing the power of creativity so that the message gets conveyed in an appropriate manner keeping the holistic vision of the brand into context. The real success of an ad campaign for its creativity can be measured by evaluating the sophistication level of below parameters: * Time and Space consumed * Superiority over competition * Distinguish Products * Influence customers * Was it Eye Catchy * Relate with the Values of Target Audiences Advertising is an exciting field and the industry is constantly changing to provide new challenges and creative problems to solve. The true test of creativity is the ability to adapt to change, and consistently find new and original solutions. Advertising is likely to play a crucial role in marketing products and services for the foreseeable future, but the opportunities offered by new technology and media provide a much broader canvas for advertisers and creative teams. REFERENCES 1. Marketing Management – Kotler, Keller, Koshy, Jha 2. Advertising in Rural India: Language, Marketing Communication, and Consumerism – Bhatia 3. What is Advertising? Advertising & Society Review 6, no. 3 (2005) 4. The fundamentals of Creative Advertising by Ken Burtenshaw, Nick Mahon & Caronine Banfot 5. Inclusive Branding by Klaus Schmidt & Chris Ludlon. 6. Zenith International Journal of Business Economics & Research 7. Rediff.com Business – The Magic of the Zoozoos 8. Wikipedia – Creative Strategies

Causes of the English Civil War

Causes of The English Civil War In this assessment I will be analysing the many causes and roots of the English Civil war which broke out in 1642. The English civil war was a long chain of conflict and rivalry, which was set between two very powerful forces, who consisted of The Royalists (King Charles I, and his supporters), and the Roundheads (Parliament, and their supporters).The feud erupted on the 22nd of August 1642, and lasted for 7 years, when its final action took place in 1649. There were many reasons for this intellectual battle, including political arguments, economical arguments and also religious arguments, which will be categorised and stated in this essay. To begin with, one of the fundamental causes of The Civil War includes a religious argument, about James I’s and Charles I’s dedication to the ‘Divine Rights of Kings’.The Divine Rights of Kings was a religious doctrine, which states that a monarch is to have no authority to the will of hi s/her people, deriving the right to rule directly from the will of only God. James and Charles were both very firm, believers of The Divine Rights of Kings especially that, as to begin with James expected a great amount of attention from Parliament, by letting him make his own decisions, and did not expect any of his decisions to be argued with.However at this time, Parliament consumed a major advantage over James, as parliament contained a great amount of money, whereas James was constantly short of it. It was from his father that Charles acquired to also be a very strong devotee to the Divine Rights of Kings, as he realised the damaged relationship which was left between his father and Parliament, and blamed this action entirely on Parliament. This led to a complete ignorance with the Parliament, from Charles, and set his Godly rights to do as he pleased.But this action was considered a huge shock to Parliament, during this time, as parliament had experienced to be more powerful u nder the period of the Tudors, and anticipated current Kings and Queens to listen and abide by their commands, just like Elizabeth I had done, by being a succeeding sovereign, listening wisely to the Parliament, and standing by their rules. But the actions of Charles meant that the power of Parliament had been undertaken by the monarch, and their reputation continued to weaken. Because of this parliament now despised Charles very much. All these actions shows that TheDivine Rights of Kings is implied as a very significant reason to foundation of the civil war, as it is considered as the main reason for the start of the whole dispute and disagreement between the Royalists and Roundheads. This whole feud continued to develop, as parliament were increasingly getting more frustrated, with the fact that James I and Charles I, were acting even more foolishly upon idiotic decisions they made. An important political reason for this is that both Charles I and James I, thoughtlessly and carel essly, choses the most unhelpful advisors for themselves.James I choose the Duke of Buckingham, for the most idiotic reason; because he was good looking. James thought that the Public would be attracted to this reason, but unfortunately were not, as Buckingham came out to be very stupid and a waste of choice. Charles also foolishly chose his advisor, by selecting his best friend the Earl of Strafford, which was a he mistake as he public hated him, which led to a bad impression on the king. Another action that Gave Charles a bad impression was the amount of money that was wasted by him, by spending a hefty amount on insignificant things, such as cloths, parties and palaces.But this meant that Charles was continuously losing his money, and therefore, always ended up asking Parliament for more money. Charles found other ways to get more money, as he also need money for a war taking place against Spain at the time. One way Charles’s used was asking Parliament to increase taxes, s o that he could gain the money he needed, but unfortunately this didn’t happen as Parliament refused to give the money to Charles, as Parliament had a list of demand to get more power off the King.But Charles did not take any of this, as he would not allow his power to be destroyed and taken away by Parliament, and in a terrible rage of anger he made the simple decision to shut down Parliament in 1629 for 11 years, which changed England politically, as it meant that there was now less control over England, to guide its path! making this decisions also lead to consequences, as now that Parliament was gone, he needed to depend another resort to get more money.In 1635, Charles decided made a very important economic decision to resort to the ancient custom of demanding ship money. Ship money was an ancient tax, when kings were able to order coastal towns and villages to pay for the expenses of the navy and ships. However, Charles demanded more ship tax the following year, and int ended to ask for it every year. But this gained Charles a vast amount of complaints. Especially when in 1637, a man named John Hampden was prosecuted for refusing to pay ship tax. This made people very angry. And eventually in July 1641 ship tax was abolished.

Endings for Latin Verbs in the Indicative

Endings for Latin Verbs in the Indicative Latin has different endings for the 3 persons singular and the 3 person plural. The standard order for a paradigm for verbs progresses from 1st to 2nd to 3rd person in a column, starting with the singular. The plural is often in a second column to the right of the singulars, but on this page, it is below the singulars. There is a separate ending for a singular you and a plural you think, you all. Both are 2nd person. The 3rd person singular default subject is he, but a 3rd person can also be used for a female or a neuter subject. First personI or weSecond personyouThird personhe (she or it) and they. The singularsI, you singular, and he (she or it).The pluralswe, you plural, and they. Verbs can be active, with the subject the agent of the act (e.g., laudoI praise) or they can be passive, with the subject acted upon (e.g., amaturhe is loved). Active Singular Endings -o, -m-s-t Active Plural -mus-tis-nt Passive Singular -or, -r-ris-tur Passive Plural -mur-mini-ntur Perfect Active Endings Singular -i-isti-it Plural -imus-istis-erunt Pluperfect Active Endings Singular -eram-eras-erat Plural -eramus-eratis-erant Future Perfect Active Endings Singular -ero-eris-erit Plural -erimus-eritis-erint See: Paradigm of a 1st Conjugation Regular VerbParadigm of a 2nd Conjugation Regular VerbParadigm of a 3rd Conjugation Regular VerbParadigm of a 4th Conjugation Regular Verb Index of Quick Tips on Latin Verbs Latin SupineLatin ImperativesLatin InfinitivesLatin Verbs - Person and NumberLatin Words - Where Do You Add on Endings?Passive Periphrastic

The Best (and Worst) Online AP Courses, Reviewed

The Best (and Worst) Online AP Courses, Reviewed SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips There are hundreds, if not thousands, of online AP courses. So how are you supposed to find the best one for you? To help you sort through your options, I’ll quickly go over what makes a good online AP course. Then I’ll discuss the best-reviewed online AP courses, some popular online AP class providers, and wrap up with some classes that you should avoid. 7 FactorsThat Make a Good Online AP Course If you're searchingfor the best online AP courses, these are the qualities you should look for. #1: It's Accredited There’s no reason why you can’t self-study for an exam with non-accredited online resources- but if you are going to take an entire AP course online, it makes the most sense to take one that is accredited by the College Board. This means that they have looked over the syllabus and course requirements and approved it, and that it can be listed as an AP course if your high school agrees to list the online course on your transcript. #2: The Material Is Presented Well You want the material to be interesting, engaging, and presented clearly. The coursework may not be your first choice of activity, but if you’re bored out of your mind, you won’t want to study, and if you’re confused, you will be frustrated. #3: Teachers Are Accessible and Give Good Feedback Teachers should be easy to reach and give useful, timely feedback. If you are waiting for them to return assignments from months ago when you take the AP, that’s not particularly helpful. #4: The Workload Is Reasonable Many AP courses are demanding, which is to be expected. But you want to make sure that you have a good sense of how many hours per week you have available to spend on online coursework and how many hours a week the class will take. #5: There's an Easy-To-Use Interface and Tech Support A good course will be easy to navigate on your computer. You should also have easy access to tech support resources should something go wrong. #6: The Class Preps You for the AP Exam If you can get any information on how students tend to score on the exam after taking the course, that will be very useful in making a decision on a course. #7: It's Well-Reviewed A good online AP course is one other students have had good experiences in! Check forum sites like College Confidential for reviews of a given course. With those seven criteria in mind, we’re ready for a more in-depth look at some of the best-reviewed online AP courses out there! You can master the universe...of online AP courses! 8 GreatOnline AP Courses Below I’ve compiled a list of someof the bestonline AP courses. Ideally I would be able to provide an option for every AP, but unfortunately, some APs have very few online options (if any). That is why, as you may notice, there are some popular AP courses like Calculus and English Language that do not appear on the list below. AP US History AP US History From the UC System’s Scout Program Students like the material, the pace, and the focus on AP exam prep. Multimedia lessons are praised for being engaging, and assessments and assignments are full of variety, which keeps things interesting. Students appreciate the consistent pace of the assignments. A special bonus is that the end of the course involves an AP workshop with study strategies, practice AP exams, etc. This is also one of the cheaper online AP course providers, and it’s discounted for CA students. AP Art History AP Art History From the Florida Virtual School Students appreciate that the course spends so much time on non-European art. The interactive gallery format is engaging and helps you retain the material. Finally, the class content is not overly difficult, but students still feel prepared for the AP exam. AP Human Geography AP Human Geography From the Florida Virtual School Students recommend this class, finding it interesting without being frustrating. They also praise the teaching staff and like that teachers are accessible by text, e-mail, and phone. AP Psychology AP Psychology From the Florida Virtual School This course is interesting and fairly easy. Some assignments are fun, and the online textbook has helpful interactive video components and simulations. Overall, this course is straightforward and will prepare you well for the exam. With that said, students advise that some of the course material does require boring rote memorization. AP Biology AP Bio From Johns Hopkins CTY Students felt that this course overprepared them for the AP Bio exam, but in a good way. They also appreciated that the two lowest grades on tests were dropped, so you could dive into difficult material without fear that some struggling along the road would completely tank your grade. AP Biology From Apex Learning This class hasa combination virtual/in-person lab component,which ishelpful given that many online courses do not have labs at all. Students do mention that this course is reading-heavy. AP Chemistry AP Chemistry From ChemAdvantage The main selling point of this class is that students get mailed a small lab kit and do at-home labs; lab components are often missing from online science courses. The course is taught and managed by a husband and wife team. Students receive lots of instructor attention and feel that instructors are flexible when necessary. The course is demanding, as AP Chemistry usually is, but students feel well-prepared for the exam. Unfortunately, this class is primarily offered to homeschoolers, but their FAQ says that they may be able to accommodate students whose schools simply don’t offer AP Chem. AP Computer Science A AP CS A From the Florida Virtual School This is one of the most highly-praised online courses out there. According to students, the FLVS course imparts a strong coding foundation, good habits, and conceptual understanding. Students find that they easily retain the material for months and feel very prepared for the exam. They warn that you may spend 10 hours a week or more writing programs, but that you will enjoy yourself and it is time well-spent. There you have it- a selection of some of the most popular online AP classes available. Still at a loss? Keep reading for a brief list of three of the most well-regarded online AP providers. We briefly interrupt this broadcast to bring you this mesmerizing jellyfish. 3High-Quality Online AP Course Providers In addition to some specific courses being like by students, there are also some online providers that are particularly well-regarded.It’s still a good idea to look for reviews and making sure a course has what you are looking for before you sign up, but these are some online schools that have a reputation for high-quality coursework. Pennsylvania Homeschoolers For homeschooled students in any state, PA Homeschoolers AP Courses are well-reviewed, with excellent teachers being the number one benefit. AP History and English classes are particularly well-liked, and they appear to have the only online AP Environmental Science course that is praised and not widely disliked. However, you must be a homeschooled student to register. Florida Virtual School Though there are a couple courses that aren’t highly reviewed (see below), most students found AP offerings from FLVS to be comprehensive, cost-effective, worthwhile, and adequate preparation for the AP exam. They also have a wide variety of AP courses available. It's one of the cheaper online providers, has no admissions requirements, and is free in Florida! Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Johns Hopkins CTYis an online course provider for gifted students. To take courses, students need to get qualifying courses on the PSAT. In general, students found AP courses from this provider to be thorough and enjoyable. The material used is said to be top-notch. This is an expensive provider, though there is some financial aid available. Allow me to steer you away from AP online danger! 3BadOnline AP Classes Of course, not every online AP course is a great experience. There are some classes that are known throughout the world of high school distance learning as particularly terrible, and I’ll discuss why here. AP US History From Apex Learning There were two chief complaints here: logistical and technical issues with the course, and poor preparation for the AP. Students found that they lost points on quizzes due to technical errors when they had selected the correct answer. They were annoyed by all of the faxing they had to do, and that their faxed documents frequently got lost. Even more disconcertingly, students did not feel prepared to get 4-5 level scores on the exam, but only a 2-3. They found they learned more from prep books than the course! If you’re having better luck studying on your own, there’s no point in taking the class. AP Environmental Science From the Florida Virtual School This is probably the most widely disliked online course I saw. Students were frustrated by the workload, assessments, and lack of teacher accessibility. They found that lessons focused on information that was not relevant to the AP exam. They pointed to a high workload of busywork with low exam preparation payoff. Assessments were brutally long. Teachers took a long time to get back to students. The general consensus was that no one should take this course. AP Government From the Florida Virtual School This course, again, was disliked for its poor preparation value for the exam. Students found that assessments were frequently based on minor, unimportant details instead of major concepts. Even diligent students who carefully read the lessons and took notes felt that assessments were unfairly specific and did little to prepare them for the actual AP exam. As you can see, there are several running themes in what makes a course disliked: there are technical problems with the way the course is run, the material is presented in a way that is boring or overly specific, students do not feel prepared for the exam, and teaching staff is inaccessible or not helpful. If you see any of these issues cited in student reviews on College Confidential or elsewhere, these are major red flags. Keep this in mind to avoid any bad eggs! These eggs are good, so you don't need to avoid them. Choosing the Right Online AP Course: Final Thoughts There are high-quality AP online classes available out there, with excellent teaching, good exam prep, and engaging material. There are also less amazing online offerings, with frustrating technological meltdowns, vanishing instructors, and long assessments. I’ve listed some highly-praised options and some that aren't as well-liked, but this is by no means a comprehensive accounting of every course available. I’m sure you’ve noticed that some APs are easier to find online than others, and some have more options than others. This means a few well-known APs (World History, English Language) are conspicuously absent from this list of the best online AP courses. Keep in mind what’s available when you are planning your online AP coursework, and do research carefully! A smart investment in an online AP course can have a great payoff. What's Next? If you're not quite sure if online AP courses are for you, check out my pros and cons to online AP classes. Once you've selected your course of choice, you may need help registering for the AP exam. Want more information about the AP program before you decide? See our expert guide to AP classes and tests. Want to improve your SAT score by 160points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Principles of Adult Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Principles of Adult Education - Essay Example Fron this discussion it is clear that  the focus is on the individual, and particularly that person’s conscious, rational activities of perceiving, interpreting, categorising and storing knowledge. Basically it depends upon the capabilities of an individual as to how he perceives learning. Schemata theorists, for example, suggest that as learners we first acquire new information, interpret it according to our previous experiences, then evaluate and remember concepts using our existing mental schemata or categories, and restructure our concepts and organising schemata as we are challenged by new experiences.This paper highlights that  in the everyday process of ‘meaning-making’ and problem solving, reflective theories explain that pupil learn procedural knowledge (how to do things or solve problems) and propositional knowledge (what things mean) through reflecting on experiences. But in critical reflection people question how they framed the problem in the firs t place. Even if no apparent problems exist, the thoughtful practitioner questions situations, asking why things are the way they are, why events unfold in the way they do.  One problem with explaining adult learning as a straightforward matter of individuals reflecting carefully and even critically on their experiences is that we are embedded so thoroughly in our cultures that we may not be able to distance our thinking from our own experiences.

MySQL Information Technology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MySQL Information Technology - Research Paper Example The database of MySQL enables the users to develop a structure of relational database somewhere in the web-server so as to store information and do the necessary computing. When compared with the Microsoft Access, MySQL facilitates the users by organizing tables for them. Amongst other elements, the PHP serves as the queries. User’s forms play the role of individual web pages that contain fields. A combination of all these features allows the user to develop wonderful projects upon web which are very difficult to create without the use of MySQL. â€Å"The SQL part of â€Å"MySQL† stands for â€Å"Structured Query Language.† SQL is the most common standardized language used to access databases and is defined by the ANSI/ISO SQL Standard† (MySQL, 2011). Since the year 1986, SQL Standard has been evolving. Today, users can choose from numerous versions of SQL. MySQL is absolutely freely downloadable from the Internet and licensed by the GNU General Public Lic ense (GPL). GLP sets the rules for the use of MySQL in various situations. One of the most fundamental elements of MySQL that distinguish it from the conventional databases is its open source nature. Being open source, anybody can make use of and make alterations in the MySQL software. The source code can be altered as per the requirement of individual users. In a vast majority of cases, when a user already has a web-page or is getting one, PHP and MySQL are supported by the host. Servers which they are normally linked with include Linux. A user may check out the Dreamhost if he wants to gain the support of PHP and MySWL while getting his page. Some users have a difficult time dealing with the MySQL database because of their lack of prior interaction with the WYSIWYG interface which is afforded by the Microsoft Access. Therefore, when they have to develop tables, they either use SQL Statements for it or else, make use of some open source tool that can be downloaded from the Internet . Such tools are commonly referred to as the PHPMyAdmin. PHPMyAdmin provides the users with a user friendly interface which makes it easy for them to develop tables and forward their queries by providing the required information. This becomes particularly convenient for a user when he is tired or does not want to indulge in the lethargic SQL Statements. MySQL is significantly different in its properties, characteristics and uses from Microsoft Acess. After the creation of tables, it becomes very easy to use MySQL. MySQL far exceeds Microsoft Access in terms of both reliability and speed. In a relational database, data is kept in individual tables instead of one storeroom. This promotes flexibility and enhances the speed of the process. Microsoft Access is not much more than a system of desktop database. Small organizations can do with up to 20 users of Microsoft Access at one time, but hits as many as 10000 per day require a much more efficient and stronger system that is provided b y MySQL. The tables in MySQL can use real data unlike Microsoft Access. Need a text field that can hold over four billion characters? Not a problem, just use the LongText data type. Want the field to hold that many characters and be case-sensitive? Easy, just use the LongBlob data type. Need to store numbers from 0 to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 (for those of you who are curious, that would be over 18 Quintillion), then use the BigInt data type. Indeed, 18 quintillion is a big integer. (Blue Moose