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mallorax2 · 5 years

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Technology?

` Mallory Shaw 14 March 2019 ENG105–21-R21-SP19 Technology, it’s all around us. We use it everyday in all sorts of situations. Often times technology is used in classrooms. The use of technology in classrooms has sparked debate. The debate being is a useful tool or is it distracting. Many are on the side that is distracting. Those who believe this primarily focus on cell phones. They focus on the use of computers and the internet. The point can be seen as relevant however that's not the only type of technology. Many overlook other technology used in the classroom. Technology in classrooms a normal thing. Most of it is rather useful. It is used to help students study and to be able to learn. The point being technology should be in the classroom. Technology is a useful tool that helps to promote learning no matter the level of education. There are many reasons to use technology in the classroom. The first being it creates an engaged environment. How does technology do this though. It is through the use of interactive technology. Even this can be split into categories. Physical technology such as clickers are used when studying as a class. Another type of technology used is through the internet. Blackboard which was a part of the dot.com boom was a tool to engage students (Behrens 427). It is still used to today at many schools. Since blackboard many other services like it have popped up. They have also been integrated into use at schools. Technologies like these are quite useful in everyday application. However some people can argue that they are distracting. They argue that the distraction from using technology hinders learning. To counter this tools like Blackboard are meant to help students learn. It is a place to learn and do school work. Technology in the classroom is used to help the students not to distract them. Technology is useful for learning and us not distracting. That is why it is important to use technology. If technology is widely used, which it is can prove its value. When looking at the technologies present in schools most are useful. Most technology brought in schools is there to help. It is there to help students learn and to help them grow. That idea really is the purpose of technology in schools. Technology within schools can help them to run smoothly and without issues. Technology is widely used in schools. Most common are mobile learning apps. These type of apps make students want to learn.However it is the individual classroom that really shows the use. Every classroom is different. It depends on the students and the teacher. The teacher is really the maestro of an orchestra of students. So how technology is used varies in each classroom. Variation amongst classrooms is important. Primarily because each student is vastly different. Focusing on students who are active learners. Sig Behrens makes a point about active learners and the use of mobile apps (428). While their use might be for social media use their phones to help them learn. There are plenty of mobile learning apps that can be applied in classrooms. They can be used to help study for test and for reviews. An example would be the kahoot app. Teachers can use kahoot to help review a subject before a test. The game is competitive and makes the student think. Again people make the argument that it is a distraction, but it can be taken further. Simply because the use of mobile apps that are on cell phones it is distracting. The thing is when cellphones are being used they are being used to study. This can be countered by the fact the use of cellphones makes it okay to use it at all times. Again teachers create their own cell phone policies for their classes. The use of cellphones and mobile apps for learning are fine. It helps to engage students in the classroom. Using technology like this makes learning fun and easier. It allows students to enjoy school rather than hating it. Using tools like mobile learning apps make students want to learn. It can make a student want to come to school. Knowing that they are able to learn something in a fun and engaging way. You want your students to enjoy learning. With technology you can make that happen. To continue technology is a tool to help students. So what about the classroom itself? The way a classroom is set up is important. The way technology is used in said classroom is key. Focusing on primarily how the two work together. Terry Byers along with Elizabeth Hartnell-Young and Wesley Imms conducted a study on this topic. Beyers and his colleagues concluded the physical layout of classrooms can be used as leverage to make digital technology more effective (10). Their research is crucial to the argument of technology in classrooms. The article gives great insight into how classroom setups functions best. Aside from their findings classrooms that are interactive are important. It goes back to the idea of engaging students. Students have to be engaged to learn. Students being able to learn through the use of technology is important. The world is evolving and is becoming technology based. Learning to use technology at its fullest potential is key. The research by Beyers and his colleagues show this. Using it to help improve test scores and just improve the overall class is amazing. Yet, again we have people that argue its bad. There primary reason being it is a distraction. Nothing about engaging students and teaching is distracting. People that are against technology can also bring up the point of money. No one can tell you it isn’t expensive to use technology. However when you look at the benefits of money can be addressed. Whether that is allocating part of the budget provided by the state to new technology. It can be addressed. Again going back to what has been stated previously it helps schools run. Without technology in the classroom how could you teach in today's world. The use of projectors to show videos and powerpoints. How could you do that without technology. Having technology like that to engage your students makes them learn. Harkening back to the previous discussion you want students to enjoy learning. You want them to enjoy the learning process. Being able to have a classroom that does that job is vital. Focusing on the students with a classroom that functions with visual aids that help learning. Technology does that, that is why it is so important. Focusing again primarily on students and their use of technology. Most students have access to the internet and computers. Both can be used in the classroom. A computer with internet is a valuable tool. Computers are one of the most accessible forms of technology. Most people today have some form of a computer. Computers have many tools that are useful. The main ones being writing papers and doing the appropriate research. That being said research is done on the internet. You can look up articles, books, and journals. Anything can be searched on platforms such as Google or Bing. Google even offers programs to write papers, Google Docs. This has made the accessibility to being able to learn greater. A computer along with the internet is a powerful tool in the classroom. Being able to use a computer while at school is important. Simply because while most have computers some people don’t have one. Schools being able to provide this type of resource is phenomenal. Having this type of resource for students is great. Not only can it be used to write papers but you can do a variety of assignments. However this comes with some backlash. Backlash comes from those who think students are becoming addicted to the internet. Eva Milkova along with Petra Ambrozova discussed this in their article. They discussed this along with the use of plagiarism ( Milkova, Ambrozova 22-23). Their focus was primarily on the deviance technology seemed to cause among people and students. The research done create a solid argument against technology in school. It gives a foundation on the distraction found within technology such as cyberloafing ( Milkova, Ambrozova 23). Milkova and Ambrozova focus on cyberloafing as the use of internet for other purpose than learning while in class (23). This also harkens to Ruth Starkmens article on cyberslacking. Both articles discuss this idea. In Starkman's she quotes Joshua Landy, a Professor in French Language, Literature and Civilization and Stanford. “ Laptop free Zones” ( Starkmen 431) is tool to create better learning. This is another argument brought up by those who disagree with the use of technology. The usage of technology in schools can be monitored. It can also be limited by the teacher. The thing is computers are a useful tool. They are a needed tool as well. No one is saying students aren’t going to do that above cause they will. Yet, the effectiveness of technology outweighs their points. A teacher wants a student to be able to learn. They want their students to be able to do the research they need. The use of computers is not a hindrance like most think. The internet is a valuable place for those who want to learn. It is a useful resource for students and teachers. How do you contact a teacher or other student. Usually you do it through email or through a service provided by your school. That connection is made through technology. Simple tools like those are showing technology functioning in the best way. Technology can be used to connect within class or outside of class. Services like Blackboard and Canvas allow that. It is a way for student to receive feedback on assignments. It is a way for students to do assignments even. Platforms like this are to ease learning. They make it simple, easy and fun even. Students need a way to contact teachers and these services are a way to do just that. Having the use of technology like that is how things run in society now. Another way of connecting is email. Email might sound archaic but it's another way. It is like the other way of communication. You just simply have to do it. Some people might argue that you can connect with teachers in person. However people might have an online class. Emailing then is the best way of contacting your teacher. Technology in this sense is helpful. Being able to access help through simply connecting to your teacher. Also you can connect to classmates this way. If you have a question about anything you can talk to a classmate. Connecting to one another can help with study questions or just general life questions. There is a value in being able to talk to your peers. Again we have people that might comment on the fact you see them in class. Well, people might have online classes or they might have missed class. Using email or Blackboard to connect for questions and advice is a nice element of technology. It proves the usefulness of technology. It proves that it can be used in a manner that it good. The uses like this greatly contradict the argument that technology is a distraction. When it can be used to help students achieve goals. Is it not useful then? You have to look at all the aspects that it provides. Technology is a useful tool in schools. Let's talk about the other side against technology. One way they oppose technology is the fact that it is distracting. They say that students play on their technology and don’t pay attention. However this can be countered. Teachers can install classroom policies on devices to curb the distraction that they cause. By doing this teachers can cut back distractions. With policies in place teachers can control the use of technology and when it is used. If teachers are using it for review then it can be used only for review then out away. Again distractions are cut back. They also use idea students are slacking off with technology. Again the use of teacher policies can help this. Students who are using the resources at school to get work done aren’t slacking off. If you can complete your work in a timely manner using technology you won’t abuse it. People also discuss the idea of it is to expensive. Technology is not cheap. However money from the schools budget can be used. Schools can receive funding for technology. People use this excuse to create a problem. The problem being technology and its cost. With the correct funding a school can have technology. The last argument they make is face to face interaction. Yes that is important but not always possible. Being able to use services like Blackboard to connect with someone to you can’t meet. Also using email to set up appointments is sort of important. First off you can’t walk into your teachers office or advisors. It is a rude thing to do. Aside from that being able to use technology to connect to others is important. All these arguments have value to them however can be easily out argued. Technology is a useful tool that helps to promote learning and higher education in classrooms. It has a reason to be in classrooms. Technology helps to engage students so that they want to learn. That is why it valuable. Using for such a purpose to help students enjoy school. Also technology helps to create a better classroom. Having it function within the classroom creates a better environment. Overall the environment it creates is one where students are able to learn. Technology takes the stress out of learning. Using it to create spaces for students to learn. The use of computers to help students research and learn. To help them do assignments that require it. Technology plays a major role in this. It also allows us to connect with each other. Allows us to meet people from our classes to learn from them. Technology is useful in classrooms. To sum up everything that has been stated technology is a valuable asset in schools. It overall helps students to learn in a manner suited for them. It needs to be given a chance to show its full potential. Though some might argue that it is useless. Some might even propose it has no place in the classroom. Yet, it goes to show with studies of the subject it’s useful. Technology isn’t going away. Instead it is going to create a better learning environment for students. Works Cited Behrens, Sig. The Education- Technology Revolution is Coming, “ Current Issues and Enduring Questions” pp.427-429. Beyers, Terry , et al. Empirical Evaluation of Different Classroom Spaces on Students' Perceptions of the Use and Effectiveness of 1-to-1 Technology, “ British Journal of Educational Technology”, January 2018, vol.49, pp.153-164. Milková, E., and P. Ambrožova. Internet Use and Abuse: Connection With Internet Addiction. “Journal on Efficiency and Responsibility in Education and Science”, Vol. 11, no. 2, June 2018, pp. 22-28. Starkmen, Ruth. Cyberslacking in Shanghai: What My Students Taught Me. “ Current Issues and Enduring Questions” pp. 429-432.

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funnydove-blog · 4 years

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You’ll Manage: THE BREAK UP WITH MAKE UP

Let’s discuss breaking up with unnecessary beauty products and the companies that put their corporate profits before their customers’ health. Women are the target market, the dominant demographic, and the driving force behind the 50 billion dollar a year beauty products industry. The products are marketed to them as ‘personal care’, implying that these products are a necessity. Most are not.

While we’ve touched on the health hazards of many beauty products, we should also address the financial impact. One of the biggest drains on a woman’s budget is the constant purchase of beauty products. This expenditure makes money management difficult. Women have billions of advertising and marketing dollars directed at them persuading them to spend money on beauty products and services that they do not need.

Seeing certain products or services as ‘not necessary’ can be challenging. Women have been brainwashed to believe that they actually do ‘need’ these things and ‘must’ have them. (Women are not alone in being brainwashed by advertising: I see plenty of metropolitan men driving big, burly pick-up trucks they’ve seen advertised on television. The closest some of them get to going ‘off road’ is when they pull up to valet parking.)

It’s not just advertising and marketing that reinforce this ‘need’ belief associated with beauty products. It’s the formative experiences of childhood and adolescence: watching your mother, grandmother, sisters, aunts, and friends apply makeup and share advice about it. It’s almost a ‘rite of passage’ which many women include in their memories of what they think of as ‘growing up’ and ‘life’.

What you need to remember as well is that your mother and grandmother were probably very selective about purchasing makeup and parting with their hard-earned and well-managed money. Cosmetics for previous generations were a luxury. Women rarely owned more than two of any particular item: a compact, a tube of lipstick, hand or face cream, and some lotion. That was about it, and they used all of it before they purchased more.

Today, many women can’t imagine living without an abundance of these products. They’re just a part of daily existence—routine and essential.

I have some shocking news for you: food and shelter are essential. Everything else is optional. This seemingly hardcore concept is foreign to many people, but when you endure an extended period of limited resources, you will learn the truth in it. Your life can go on just fine without television, designer labels, ‘accessories’, four-dollar coffees, overpriced manicures, and many beauty products. Again, you’re going to have to do your own personal calculations as to how overspending on beauty products impacts your personal bottom line and your progress toward financial independence.

You also must weigh its health impact, as we’ve discussed. Foundations and powders applied all over your face just clog your pores and set you up to purchase even more products to get your skin clean and healthy again. Be aware that your skin is your body’s largest organ. It absorbs up to 60% of whatever you put on it. When chemicals are absorbed through the pores of your face, those chemicals enter your bloodstream. Think about that.

Note: if you need some color in your cheeks, skip the rouge and exercise on a regular basis. Get the blood flowing. If you want to avoid wrinkles, avoid cigarettes, excessive alcohol consumption, and overexposure to the sun.

Anti-aging creams, face powders and foundations, eye-shadow, lipstick, blushes, mascara, nail polish, nail polish remover, face primer, hair, hair, and more hair products—the list is long and the costs add up, especially for women trying to get ahead. Trim your shopping list.

I support you doing things that make you feel beautiful, that make you feel more confident, that make you feel more empowered. However, I would encourage you to seek those positive feelings through education, exercise, and effort first. Then turn to cosmetics to only enhance the inner beauty and wisdom that are yours. Know your value, then spend your hard-earned money wisely. Remember the words of Bob Marley, who said, ‘A smile is the most beautiful curve on a woman’s body.’ I’d add that it’s also the most beautiful thing she can put on her face.

The good news about this break up is that there really are ‘a lot of other fish in the sea’, i.e., other companies that you can look at and perhaps start a relationship with. These are cosmetics companies often owned and operated by women (a total of 43 as of this writing). They are also companies that have done serious work to offer their customers products at a greater value with higher health and safety standards. Some of these companies include:

Deborah Lippman—Founded by celebrity manicurist Deborah Lippman, the beauty company that bears her name is one of the most renowned in the world.

Charlotte Tilbury—From age 13, Charlotte Tilbury knew she wanted to work in the beauty industry. After training at the Glauca Rossi School of Makeup in London, Tilbury jumped into the world of makeup. Now, her brand is a household name.

Honest Beauty—Actress Jessica Alba founded Honest Beauty when she saw a need for responsible, quality products with maximum ingredient transparency.

Edible Beauty—The naturopath and nutritionist Anna Mitsios launched Edible Beauty with the sole intention of creating a luxury botanic brand that is equally safe and effective. Anna’s strong belief in the natural power of herbs is evident in her formulas.

It’s A 10 Haircare—Founder Carolyn Aronson made history as the CEO of the first indie hair care brand to land a national Super Bowl ad. She also founded Kyana’s Dream Foundation (in her daughter’s honor) which focuses on providing emergency response for children in schools.

AveSeena—After spending 20 years researching the effects of estrogenic and endocrine disrupting chemicals on the immune system, Dr. Ebru Karpuzoglu decided to pour her scientific discoveries into a 100% naturederived skin care brand.

MaBrook & Co—In 2014, Aliya Dhalla launched her brand of 100% natural and aluminum-free deodorant. The Clean Deodorant fully harnesses the benefits of activated charcoal, baking soda, and sweet floral scents.

Fact—Founder Cassy Burnside has launched her brand of Paleo-friendly and cruelty-free skin care products that are packaged and formulated for women on the go.

Aphorism Skincare—After battling a rare but curable cancer, Urvashi Singh set out on a journey to research the links between the toxic chemicals in cosmetics and disease triggers. This led her to launch a luxurious line of non-toxic skin care products.

Also consider Joshua Onysko’s Pangea Organics, Dr. David Bronner’s Magic Soaps, Greg Starkman’s Innersense, and Olown N’djotehala’s Alaffie. These are just a few companies to consider. Do your own research and find those that are best for you.

It’s important to look at the beauty industry in political terms as well. While women purchase the vast majority of beauty products sold around the world and are often featured in the advertising and promotional campaigns for these products, they are vastly underrepresented in the executive ranks of these companies. As of this writing, women comprise less than 25% of the Boards of Directors of major beauty companies, and only 24% of their executive teams. Only 23 of the 500 largest cosmetics companies in the world have a woman as their CEO. The 6 most dominant corporations in the beauty industry all have men as CEO. These include L’Oreal, Estee Lauder, MAC, and Revlon.

A question you might ask yourself is this: with so many qualified female executives out there, why wouldn’t the Board of Directors and the shareholders put a woman in charge of a company that sells most of its products to women?

It’s important to remember that with beauty products—and all your purchasing choices—your dollars are your vote. Your dollars are your voice. In order to make informed choices, it’s important to know which corporation owns your favorite brand or brands of makeup. There are reasons for this: one is to determine if a company is prioritizing the health of its customers. Another is to determine if a particular company is being a good corporate citizen.

Are they building strong communities by paying their employees fairly? Is their philosophy inclusive and their workforce diverse, both on the assembly line and in the executive ranks? Do they invest in a sustainable future? Are they attentive to their environmental footprint with regards to manufacturing, packaging, and distribution? Do they have ‘green’ goals? Do they participate consistently in charitable giving? (Not just feel-good publicity campaigns around charity events.)

It’s also important to know if a company is selling two almost identical products, but marketing and pricing one ‘brand’ differently—and pricing it more expensively— than the other (the ‘drugstore brand’ and the ‘luxury store’ brand.) Some large corporations do this—produce essentially the same product and market it as two different products—to reach more customers in different demographics, saving the company money on production costs. Many times, only scents, textures, or packaging differentiate the products. This is the reason, for example, that Lancome Eau Micellaire Douceur and L’Oréal Paris Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Solution are almost identical products. The same corporate owner manufactures them with the same active ingredients. Only different ‘brand names’ and packaging separate the two in the eyes of the consumer.

It is true that some high-end products are made using more expensive ingredients and innovative technologies. However, the truth is they usually cost more because people expect expensive products to work much better than inexpensive ones and are, therefore, willing to pay more for them.

So, before you spend lots of money on a luxury product, do a little research on the company and its line. Compare the luxury product line’s ingredients to those of their less expensive sister brands. Make an objective, informed determination if the difference in the ingredients is really worth the difference in price. To make your initial research easier, we’ve provided a starter list of ‘who owns what’ in the cosmetics industry in an appendix in the back of this book. It is not comprehensive, and the information may change as companies buy and sell brands, but it will give you a bird’s eye view of the landscape.

Having this information will preserve your health, encourage good corporate governance, and save you money. Hopefully, this will also help you see beauty products for what they are: a big, profitable industry.

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