Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Pros and Cons of Bilingual Education

Bilingual education has become very popular lately, with perhaps the most compelling reason for bilingual education being the concept of equality of education in our country. How is it possible for someone to obtain a great education when he or she doesn't fully understand the language the lessons are being taught in? Isn't that student going to become a second-class citizen? Should we just allow that to happen or should we teach them in their native language and worry about assimilation at some later time? The fact is that there are a lot of pros and cons about the subject.

On the positive side, there are many benefits of students learning another language at a very early age. It has been proven that children who learn to speak another language early in life have an easier time grasping the vocabulary, grammar, and nuances of both languages. It has also been shown that these same students will be able to move on to learning third and fourth languages just as easily. The reasons for this are varied, but one of the principal reasons is that many languages have their roots in a single ancient language such as Latin or Greek. As the nationalities have developed, their languages changed but kept a lot of the same words and word structure. Also as the world shrinks and everything becomes more global in nature, it is going to become ever more important to be able to communicate in more than one language.

Reference And Education

There is no denying that bilingual education lessons should be taught to students at the elementary level. Waiting until high school will only make it more difficult on the children. Once a student becomes familiar with a second language it is much easier for him or her to master it as they grow older. It is also a good thing when students learn about the culture of different countries, which is enhanced by learning the language. Studies have proven that the ability to speak multiple languages does not confuse the mind. In fact, it helps to develop it faster and lead to a well rounded future.

Pros and Cons of Bilingual Education

On the negative side, there are people who feel that bilingual education is a bad idea because it takes away our sense of national identity. The United States has always been known as a "melting pot" of cultures where everyone is treated equally and every culture becomes assimilated into the primary culture of the United States. Historically, newcomers to this country have been forced to learn our English language and many of our ways, all the while contributing parts of their historic culture and making the entire culture better as a result. The argument is that by retaining the language of their old country, they are no longer as easily assimilated into this country.

Bilingual education is a concern in other countries as well as in the United States. For example, there is currently a movement underway in France to ensure that French remains the dominant language and that all citizens learn to speak French. Similarly in the United States many people feel that we as a country have gone too far overboard in making all the other cultures comfortable by printing everything in their home languages. The problem that is brought up is that, by printing everything in multiple native languages, the newcomers don't have to learn English. And if they don't learn English they will never be fully assimilated into the United States. By thus creating nationalistic cliques some people say that we are potentially creating the same type of societal issues that are found in other parts of the world and that those who are immigrating to the United States are frequently running away from. My personal belief is that children from other cultures who may speak other languages at home need to become familiar with English and that English should be the required language for all governmental affairs.

In summary, bilingual education is not a way to take anything away from American students. In fact, it is just the opposite. Language is an important part of the learning process. Young students are in position to learn a second language early on, which will benefit them greatly in the future. This is why so many school districts are implementing bilingual education criteria at lower grade levels. However, let us all recognize that there are issues to be faced in bilingual education and our schools and our society will need to face these issues fully.

Pros and Cons of Bilingual Education

Grace Mckenna writes on a wide range of topics concerning teaching, the school system, and particularly how the internet (aka the World Wide Web) impacts teachers and their interaction with the school, parents and children. More of her articles can be found at http://www.HomeroomTeacher.com

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Monday, May 28, 2012

Adults Returning to Education

Education is essential for every human being. We cannot survive in this world without education. It is in the best interest of the governments of every nation to ensure that at least basic education is provided to all their citizens.

There are several socio-economic reasons that lead many people to discontinue their studies when they are young. Most of them may have had burning desires to continue their education further, but their commitments to their families or their economic status may have been a hindrance to their continuing their studies.

Reference And Education

Many of these adults who were dropouts from the schools in their childhood yearn to continue their education at a later and more convenient time. This has lead to the development of several adult education programs worldwide. These adult education programs come as a boon to those adults looking to complete what education they've left incomplete.

Adults Returning to Education

When the government started these adult education programs, initially there was not a lot of response to such programs from most people. They were very reluctant to join such programs.

Though many of them wanted to make an attempt, they were not sure whether they could pick up their educational threads at that age. The governments had to take a lot of steps to encourage people to join.

There is a saying that is very popular, and can apply to many different situations: "better late than never." Many adults have realized the importance and necessity of education and have come forward to enroll themselves in the many adult education programs available. They consider it a privilege to be able to educate themselves, even at an advanced stage of their lives.

These educational programs are organized by both government as well as voluntary institutions. Adult education programs not only provide basic education, they also guide their students towards higher education. These programs arrange financial aid and scholarships for students.

Adults can pursue their careers and enroll themselves in these programs simultaneously. This is made possible with the availability of online programs.

The people are provided with coursework that deals with politics, spirituality, self development, and other things. Adults usually tend to find these programs useful and interesting. They normally end up urging their relatives and friends to join these programs.

Adults Returning to Education

Adult Education provides detailed information on Adult Education, Adult Education Schools, Adult Continuing Education, Adult Education Online and more. Adult Education is affiliated with Life Centered Career Education [http://www.e-CareerEducation.com].

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Sunday, May 20, 2012

Smart Meters

What is a SM (SM)? A SM is an electrical meter that records consumption of electric energy in intervals of an hour or less and communicates that information once or more daily to your energy supplier for monitoring and billing purposes. In December 2009, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced its intention to have these meters in all homes by 2020. This UK rollout of SMs is considered to be the largest programme ever undertaken - involving visits to more than 27 million homes to replace meters for both electricity and gas.

The purpose of introduction Traditional electrical meters only measure the total energy consumption and have never offered further information as to when and how the energy was consumed. SM's provide an economical way of measuring this information and can provide a number of potential benefits for homeowners. These include:

Reference And Education

A much desired end to the dreaded estimated bill. Through the rollout of the SM, householders will always receive accurate energy bills as their energy consumption will be correctly measured and submitted to their utility once or twice daily. In House-Display to help consumers manage their energy bills. The home-display SMs allow you to see how much your using and when it's being used. Through this understanding you can pick a more suitable energy tariff/supplier or make changes to your current habits by managing your household's energy consumption during peak usage hours. Full control of your energy costs.The home-display will allow householder to have a better idea of how much your next bill is going to be, there will be no big surprises and it will be easier to budget. A better environmental awareness. As you will have a better and more present idea of what you are spending, any cut back you make to decrease your overall energy usage will benefit the environment and reduce CO2 Emissions.

Smart Meters

The 'in house-display' (IHD) In January 2011, the most intensive study of its kind was conducted by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. They reviewed more than 36 different residential SMing and feedback programmes internationally and their conclusion was: "To realise potential feedback-induced savings, advanced meters (SMs) must be used in conjunction with in-home (or on-line) displays and well-designed programmes that successfully inform, engage, empower and motivate people." Last July, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) set out 'proposals for a minimum set of functional requirements for the IHD that should be provided to domestic customers. In the design requirements - SMing implementation programme it was concluded that:

The SMing equipment should store 13 months (instead of 12 months) of half hourly consumption data. There will be guidelines for ambient feedback (i.e. visual, non-numerical display features of the IHD) and accessibility will be developed as part of the technical specifications work in the next phase of the programme.

As we get closer to the official 2012 launch for this initiative there will be a wider variety of SMs available in the domestic market, however these proposals have now been concluded and consumers should see the above functions* embedded within the new SM devices. The DECC should be announcing comprehensive proposals for the technical specifications this month (July 2011).

Who will be installing my new Meter? Energy suppliers, such as E.ON UK and British Gas, have taken it upon themselves to kick-start this installation process and have outlined plans to install 100,000 SMs in customers' homes by the end of 2011 and 'reach 1 million by the end of March 2014,' taken from E.ON's website. This determination to be at the forefront of SM installation has led companies like E.ON to specially train installers; a spokesperson at the company says: "Eon-UK has helped develop a SMing qualification, which is aligned to our current training offerings, and is now supporting the work to develop an apprenticeship route."We are also hoping to be one of the first organisations to gain accreditation from NSAP for the quality of our SM training programmes and academies."Eon-UK has also just opened a SMing Centre of Excellence in Nottingham, providing a dedicated contact point for customers with SMs."

The SM Installer According to an article published on Utility Week, 'SM installers will need to have both technical know-how and customer interaction skills.' However, the main recruitment challenge will be in identifying and training installers who have both dual-fuel technical skills and the "softer" skills required to explain the operation of SMs to customers - this dual-fuel cross-training and up skilling is a key training need." Some feel the government should sponsor the development of suitable apprenticeship schemes to support the mandate."Eon-UK, however, has taken the initiative itself." "Field force engineers will have to have dual-fuel capability, know how to commission the communications for the SM, pair up the in-home display device (IHD) and explain how it works to the customer."This requires a much broader set of technical and softer skills than is normally expected from a meter installer," says the spokesperson from Energy & Utility Skills, whose qualifications are funded by the National Skills Academy." The Energy & Utility Skills suggest that up to 6,300 installers will be required to complete the SMing rollout across the UK between 2014 and 2019. EU Skills also indicates that, with a high proportion of the existing metering workforce approaching the average retirement age for the industry over the next five years, we could see a need for around 4,000 new recruits during this period."

Protecting the householder To stop energy companies from making their sales pitch whilst installing your SM, independent expert advice company Which?, have encouraged other suppliers to take up their 'Which? Smart Meter Challenge.' Companies who accept the challenge will not sell during the installation and their SM installers will not be on sales-related omission or have to make any sales leads. Several companies have taken up the challenge so far; Co-operative energy, Ecotricity and First Utility are amongst the first seven.

Smart Meters

Chloe Bennett
PR Manager
Trade Skills 4U http://www.tradeskills4u.co.uk
Electrical Courses http://www.tradeskills4u.co.uk/pages/courses
Renewable Energy Courses

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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Migraine Aura: Is a Headache Coming or Something Worse?

Migraine aura is a symptom or group of symptoms that precede a migraine. They can last a few minutes or as long as a week. The most common migraine aura is the visual aura. This can manifest as blurry vision, flashing lights, zigzags, or a mirage effect. It is thought that these are caused by a depression of blood flow that ultimately leads to the excruciating headaches. Visual disturbance is one of the warning signs of stroke.

Numbness or tingling on one side of the body can also be a symptom. Facial drooping is common, and can be confirmed by trying to smile. And, while migraine aura will eventually resolve itself, these symptoms can also be attributed to stroke which needs immediate treatment. Better safe than sorry.

Migraine sufferers are some of the most misunderstood people, literally. When having aura, sometimes they just don't make any sense. Another type of migraine aura which requires immediate medical attention is the slurred, or garbled speech, and trouble forming thoughts. Anytime this symptom occurs, it is a medical emergency. It is thought that migraines do not leave permanent damage. However, this symptom could be sign of a stroke and, in that case, minutes count.

There are also mini-strokes, Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIAs), which closely resemble migraine aura. They resolve within 24 hours and leave only minute damage behind. They are also called warning strokes, because there is a high likelihood of having a real stroke within one week. These are extremely important to diagnose. If you have migraine aura, you are almost three times as likely to have a stroke.

The Stroke Awareness Foundation features the acronym FAST! It stands for Face, Arms, Slurred Speech, and Time. Face refers to the facial drooping that can occur. Arms refers to the one-sided numbness or tingling. Slurred speech is self-explanatory. Time refers to the critical nature of the stroke emergency. Brain cells begin dying within minutes of the onset of stroke. The best stroke treatments are those given within the first three hours.

Visual Disturbances, numbness and tingling, and garbled speech and thought are all frightening experiences. It could be bad, or it could be worse. At best, you could have a very bad headache coming on. Even if you are a seasoned migraine sufferer, you need to go to the ER when you experience migraine aura symptoms that mimic stroke. It may be an inconvenience, but it could save your life.

April Preston writes about Migraines with Aura and other health-related topics. Currently, there is no cure for migraines. There is only prevention, control, and treatment. For more information on how you can prevent migraines visit http://www.migrainecenter.info

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