Examine and analyse the impact of digital media Essay Example for Free

Examine and analyse the impact of digital media Essay Before examining the effect that Digital Media has on society and indeed western culture, we need to discover what the term Digital Media actually means Just what is it that distinguishes Digital Media from previous forms of combined media? It is the fact that the bits that represent text, sound, pictures, and so on can be treated as data by computer programs. A computer program is able to control the order in which various components are presented and combined, and can do so in response to input from a computer user. In other words, Digital Media can be interactive, in a way that, for example, a TV news bulletin is not, and that goes far beyond the simple control afforded by a VCR. Digital Media is a term used to describe any computer application that uses more than one type of output medium, such as text, graphics, video, animation or sound. Strictly speaking, the term media is the plural of medium, just as data is the plural of datum. Digital media has two states: Static and Dynamic. Static digital media are items, which do not have the capability to do something, move or react with the environment, for example, text and graphics. Dynamic digital media consists of audio, video and animation, which all have the ability to stream and play or move, i. e. do something dynamic. There are many areas of society that have been affected by Digital Media including education, commerce, communications, entertainment, among others, which are to be explored in this essay. When discussing education nowadays Digital Media is a vital ingredient not only in the learning of students but also as a teaching aid for tutors. In secondary schools and universities, Digital Media is always apparent in the classroom, lecture hall or laboratory. Digital multimedia teaching materials can be used to present information in more direct ways than traditional books and lessons. For example, film clips and original recordings of radio broadcasts can be integrated with a textual account of events leading up to the Second World War in a history lesson. Virtual Science lessons can take place, where equipment and materials are insufficient; students can work on a digitally mastered piece of software that allows the experiment to occur virtually. In both instances allow pupils to work at their own pace and indeed pursue individual interests they may have. An example of how teaching has been affected by Digital Media is Computer Aided Learning (CAL). CAL commonly uses CD-based digital and multimedia systems for delivering staged lessons and for testing learning. Individual records of progress can be stored on hard disks. Many reference materials designed for browsing, such as encyclopaedias, are now designed in digital media format. Computer Aided Design (CAD) has also had a huge impact on the designing world. Garden designers and house invaders alike can now simply use Digital Media elements to create a life-like 3-Dimensional garden or room. This has allowed CAD to take off and now is commonly used as a norm for such designers. As with the virtual science experiments in schools, Digital Media can be used to produce interactive stimulations of equipment and procedures, in cases where it could be expensive and in some cases hazardous to use the real thing for training. The social impact of Digital Media on education speaks for itself (literally) if students knew less now than their historical counterparts because of the impact of digital forms of educational media, the state of the health of the nations academic benchmarks such as University Challenge would have dumbed-down noticeably. This has not been the case at all; in fact more points are now gained than ever before. Digital Media has a contrasting impact on commerce to that of education. Much of the material used in business is produced for a specific company or client, often in-house. Ebay is the most recognised and most used commercial machine ever, Digital Media has allowed this to happen. Ebay works like a virtual auction, where the public view an image of the item for sale and bid for it. Without Digital Media Ebay would not exist, digitally crafted images have a huge impact on the consumer market, without a well-captured image of the product, customers will not bid. It would be like roulette, you would not know what you are going to get! Digital Multimedia is also extensively used in sales presentations and promotions; for example, computers on sale in a show room often run high quality graphic media to show off their capabilities, and web pages often function as catalogues or brochures. Graphic designers are able now with the use of Digital Media applications are able to create electronic versions of their portfolio. An electronic portfolio can be inexpensively duplicated onto CD-ROM and sent to potential clients, or even posted on a web site as an online virtual exhibition. This is not only the case for graphic designers but also the general trend for documentation is electronic-books or e-books. This move from a hard copy to digital format has provided the opportunity to make use of Digital Media elements such as video clips, animation and images to explain thoroughly and supplement the text. Kiosks are a further of example of Digital Media making and impact on society. Kiosks are used to provide information in public places such as museums, train stations and airports. They are usually using digital touch-screen technology. These kiosks have enabled the general public and in-particular tourists to have access to essential information at their fingertips, literally. Kiosks do have to be robust to withstand frequent use, and occasional misuse, by the general public. An example of where kiosks have had a considerable impact on society is in Toronto, where digital kiosks have been installed in shopping malls, which allow people to pay local taxes and court fines. Digital Media has allowed communications such as teleconferencing to take place. With use of a Wide-area network, including the Internet, online meetings can be carried out in real-time with the use of video and live sound. This technology can cut the considerable costs and time of travelling to meet people face-to-face. Space Invaders was the first video game to change the habits of people on a national scale. Every pub, bar and club had games machines making money spawned whole industry of games manufacturers and the hardware to go with them so jumpers for goalposts was out and Super Mario was in. Whole generations altered their learning streams and we all became soundbite-oriented. Youngsters today probably will only know about the D-Day landings from playing games like Medal of Honour. No one reads a book anymore is the cry from parental bodies and school governors (but its not true witness the meteoric success of JK Rowlings Harry Potter series for one). Actually what is the difference between digitally streaming a novel through headphones or ear buds to the reader and opening the paper pages of a book? One is more eco-friendly than the other, thats all. Some argue that literacy is a major issue, but surveys show that literacy rates have never been healthier. Old fashioned values are having to adapt the romance attached to old format books and magazines is equitable with that between vinyl L. P. s and MP3 format music files. There are still music aficionados who actually prefer the surface noise produced by a stylus on a record to the silence of Dolby-enhanced CDs Most computer games exploit digital media techniques to the fullest. Indeed, it has been this sector of the IT industry, which has led the way in developing compression and other techniques to get around the inherent limitations of the hardware and communication devices.

Of Mice And Men Essay On Loneliness -- essays research papers

In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck looks at the theme of loneliness as it affects many characters on the ranch. Crooks, Curley's wife, and Candy are the most excluded characters on the ranch, because they all have dreams that they will not be able to live out and they all are at loss when it came to companionship. Crooks is lonely because he is the only black man on the ranch. Since this book is set during the Depression, Jim Crow laws are still in effect, whites and blacks had separate facilities for socializing and living. Crooks comments that he can't live in the bunkhouse, and cant even play cards in there. "I cant' play because I'm black. They say I stink."(68) This quote illustrates that Crooks feels the pain of rejection more that he let's people see. In fact, Crooks protects himself by acting like a "proud and aloof man."(67) The full extent of Crooks's suffering is made clear in chapter 4 when Crooks lashes out at Lennie. Viewing Lennie as a symbol of all the white men who had hurt him, Crooks strikes out in anger, saying "You got no right to come in my room...Nobody got any right in here but me."(68) Steinbeck states that "Crooks's face lighted with pleasure in his torture."(71) Crooks's anger, though, is really just a cover for the pain he experiences from constant isolation. "A guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody ... A guy gets too lonely and he gets sick."(73) This desire to have a connection is apparent later in the scene when Crooks hears Lennie and Candy's plan to buy a little ranch. Wistfully, he suggests, "If you guys want a hand to work for nothing, just his keep, why Id come and lend a hand."(76) No matter how hard Crooks may try to hide the hurt he feels, he clearly would like to be included in this venture with the other men. Crooks's dream, however, lasts only for a few minutes. When Curley's wife threatens Crooks with a lynching, he quickly remembers the terrible reality of his situation . Steinbeck writes "Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego - his voice was toneless."(81) The character of Crooks reflects the universal need for human connection as well as the brutalizing effects of racial prejudice. Like Crooks, Curley's wife is very lonely, but she is lonely for different reasons. Like Crooks Curley's wife suffers from... ...ion. But Candy gets some life back in him when he hears George and Lennie talking about their dream farm. Hearing this gives Candy a reason to live. He would love to join George and Lennie on there farm and he even tells them that he'll give them money to help finance it "I aint't much good with on'y one hand. I lost my hand right here on this ranch...an' they give me two hunderd an' fifty dollars ‘cause I los' my hand. An' I got fifty more saved up right in the bank, right now...and I got fifty more more comin... S'pose I went in with you guys. Tha's three hundred an' fifty bucks I'd put in."(59) When George agrees to let Candy jump on the wagon and join the farm, you can tell Candy is extremely pleased. But with death of Lennie the dream of the farm dies to. Like the other characters Candy's dream was stolen from him. Candy's character was lonely because he needed human contact but his only companion was his dog which was killed. Loneliness affected many characters in John Steinbecks novel, Of Mice and Men. Crooks, Curley's wife and Candy were affected the most by this loneliness because none of them had a real companion and all of them had dreams which were shattered.

Parenting Techniques

Behavior Parent Training on Fathers Parenting The Behavioral parent training programs have been developed to address child behavior problems through improvement in parenting practices. The triple P or Positive Training Program is widely reported as an effective, evidence based program for parents. However this journal demonstrates that there are significant differences in the program’s effectiveness for mothers and fathers. The analysis on this journal demonstrates that The Positive Parenting Program shows a large effectiveness on mothers while having a smaller effect on fathers parenting practices.Considering that fathers make a significant contribution to child development. It is now well accepted that â€Å"poor† parenting practices will have significant impacts on children’s emotional and behavioral wellbeing. Parents’ harsh inconsistent discipline, inadequate supervision, and a lack of positive relationship have been shown to increase children’ s behavior problems and later on in life lead to substance abuse, antisocial behavior and criminal activities.In order to strengthen parenting competencies and improve parent-child interactions a wide range of Behavioral Parent Training programs have been developed. According to the journal’s analysis the Positive Parenting Program is very effective when involving the mother and the father, and the children are the beneficiaries of better parenting skills. The study does not show which population the program is working on therefore we have to take into consideration how can we make the proper adjustments in order to make it work for other populations.It is a known fact that mothers are more involved with the program and the children than the fathers are, but fathers are getting involved more every time. Prior parental training programs did not focus on fathers or valued any input on it and there was very little literature for the fathers. The fathers’ involvement plays a very important role on the children’s life and upbringing and the fathers’ impact on the child’s life is separate from that of the mothers’.On the one hand, fathers positive parenting (sensitive to children’s’ interests, supportive of their autonomy) has been identified as protective against externalizing problems in young children; on the other hand negative training by fathers (harsh discipline, unstable presence) has been found to increase the behavior problems on both boys and girls. Fathers participation on the program improves the child’s behavior and helps to support each other as parents. So the fathers’ involvement on the program is crucial not only for the child but the mother also.Providers need to support the involvement of fathers in the parenting trainings. The Positive Parenting Program focuses on the participation of both the mother and father, and fathers actually benefit from the program. The Positive Paren ting Program has five levels; the first level focuses on community media, and information on how to deal with basic child problems. Level two offers individual support, providers offer advice and tips on how to deal with child issues, level three does four thirty minutes behavior counseling sessions in order to manage the progress or lack thereof.Level four was developed for children with disabilities, these sessions deal with the child’s misbehavior and offer strategies for encouraging their development, and level five covers a home-based skills training sessions that offer coping with stress and emotions, marital communication support. It is designed for parents at risk of child maltreatment; it also focuses on anger management. The Positive Parent Program has been used by culturally diverse parents, multi languages, face to face, telephone, and electronic modalities with remarkable results.

Therapies For Autistic Children.Individuals Take For Granted

Therapies for Autistic Children Individuals take for granted the luxury of embodying qualities such as communication, interaction, and social and motor skills. Although, individuals may determine the aforementioned skills are more difficult to obtain because of a disability. Autism or autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder that effects many children in the United States of America. Communication, interaction, and motor and social skills are usually effected in the autistic child. According to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC), an estimation of prevalence rate for autism spectrum disorder individuals is one in 68 children in the United States of America (CDC, 2016). Early intervention in the form of†¦show more content†¦According to Gabriels, after research that occurred over a ten-week period, it was concluded that school-age children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder that used therapeutic horseback experienced improvements in se lf-regulation behaviors, motor planning, and language (Gabriels, 2012). Children that struggle with holding a conversation, making eye contact, expression, and verbal communication may gain incredible experience by physical communication with horses. Equine therapy is an enjoyable therapy where children with autism skills that are needed to function in society. Music as a therapy Music therapy is a unique approach to addressing the challenges of autism. According to Center, â€Å"music therapy is a health profession in which a music therapist uses music and its facets- physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual, to help improve and maintain their health. It is considered an expressive therapy† (Center, 2013). Through the practice of music therapy, an individual can obtain skills such as cognitive function, motor skills, emotional and affective development, behavior and social skills are all benefits that can reap from the practice of music therapy (Center, 2013). Music therapy is a truly unique