Persuasive Essay On Teen Suicide - 1235 Words

In America today, most schools have a plethora of diversity. Students in schools all have different cultures, talents, and views that make them unique from one another. Schools feel full of culture due to diversity. A student s voice helps a school become a wonderful and lively place to learn. However, what happens when a student silences their voice forever by committing suicide? When a student dies in an accident, schools can mourn the death as a random occurrence. However, when a student kills themselves, a school feels guilty as they mourn. While the teachers feel guilty because they failed to help someone. The students feel bad for not knowing the student. Those who are responsible in some way are conflicted inside by guilt. A school†¦show more content†¦Depression does not only come from people with disabilities. Anyone can feel depressed. A person’s depression may come from a lack of feeling appreciated by one’s peers or one s family. In the film The Breakfast club, there exists an epitome of a depressed character. In the film, the character Brian considers shooting himself. Brian’s desire was caused by his failing grade on a major assignment. Throughout the film, Brian acts like a young and intelligent man. He does not stand out as a mentally disabled person or a troublesome youth. Yet, Brian still has depression. His depression stems from bullies constantly harassing him for his imperfections, which damages his self-esteem and confidence in himself. It also stems from his parents putting very high expectations on him. His parents do not appear that frequently in the film, though later in the film Brian describes them as people who give him pressure. They make him feel that he must succeed academically to be accepted into a prestigious college. To feel fulfilled in life, Brian feels he must live up to the standard that his parents set for him. In his explanation for having the gun, Brian says, ‘†™ I can t have an F, I can t have it and I know my parents can t have it! Even if I aced the rest of the semester, I m still only a B. And everything s ruined for me! (Ned Tanen (Producer), Michelle Manning(producer), John Hughes (Producer and director), The breakfast Club,Show MoreRelatedPersuasive Essay Topics1228 Words   |  5 Pages101 Persuasive Essay Topics By: Mr. Morton Whether you are a student in need of a persuasive essay topic, or a teacher looking to assign a persuasive essay, this list of 101 persuasive essay topics should be a great resource. I taxed my brain to create this huge list of persuasive essay topics relevant to todays society, but I believe I am happy with the results. I appreciate any and all comments or feedback. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24Read MorePersuasive Essay873 Words   |  4 PagesEvan Bennett November 4, 2010 Persuasive Essay Gay discrimination is a major problem that affects individuals all across the country. The Defense of Marriage Act needs to be repealed. First, the Defense against Marriage Act will be explained and then why it needs to be repealed, then the effects the law has on society. The federal government needs to give same sex couples the same health benefits that heterosexual couples receive. Currently, the government offers employees benefits such as healthRead MoreGender Dysphori Misunderstood.1779 Words   |  8 Pages Gender Dysphoria: Misunderstood Haley Harrison Ethics 212: Professor Cockerham Research/Critical Thinking Essay December 5, 2015 Gender Dysphoria is a name given to the condition of children who express a gender that is opposite of their biologically given gender. Children and teens who present and verbalize the desire to be of the opposite gender for at least six months are then diagnosed and treated medically. This issue is ethically controversial due to many parents, medicalRead MoreEssay Writing9260 Words   |  38 PagesThe Essay Writing Process In Greek legend, the goddess of wisdom, Athena, was born fully armed from the head of Zeus. Unfortunately, this is the only recorded instance of instant wisdom. Especially in the medium of the written word, the communication of complex ideas is a process—a process that requires thinking and rethinking, working and reworking. The student who claims to have dashed off an A essay at one in the morning the night before it was due is either a liar or a genius. ThisRead MoreEating Disorders and Free Essays8687 Words   |  35 Pagesï » ¿2 = 2 dfhnmxpd h Free Essays Home | Search Essays | FAQ | Guarantees | Privacy | Lost Essay? | Contact Search Results eating disorder Free Essays Unrated Essays Better Essays Stronger Essays Powerful Essays Term Papers Research Papers Search by keyword: Sort By: Your search returned over 400 essays for eating disorder. To narrow your search results, please add more search terms to your query. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [Next ] These results are sorted by most relevantRead MorePopular Culture and Violent Behavior Essay11795 Words   |  48 Pagessupports the belief that popular culture can influence violent behaviour, and whether research agrees with statements such as this from McGraw Hill Education Centre in California, stating that: Violent behaviour is learned. Children and teens learn it from adults and see it on television and in movies. Messages in sports, in the lyrics in music, and even some games reinforce violence. The more violence people see, the more willing they are to act violently. [6] This sectionRead MoreMetz Film Language a Semiotics of the Cinema PDF100902 Words   |  316 Pagesconstitute Chapter 5 was first read, and the Festival of the New Cinema (Pesaro, Italy), which organized the round-table discussion during which the last chapter in this volume was originally presented. The idea of bringing together a number of my essays in a single volume, thus making them more easily available, originated with Mikel Dufrenne, Professor at the University of Paris-Nanterre and editor of the series in which this work was published in French. He has my very warm gratitude. C . M. CannesRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesCommunication 341 †¢ Nonverbal Communication 341 Organizational Communication 342 Formal Small-Group Networks 343 †¢ The Grapevine 343 †¢ Electronic Communications 345 †¢ Managing Information 349 Choice of Communication Channel 350 xiv CONTENTS Persuasive Communications 351 Automatic and Controlled Processing 351 †¢ Interest Level 352 †¢ Prior Knowledge 352 †¢ Personality 352 †¢ Message Characteristics 352 Barriers to Effective Communication 353 Filtering 353 †¢ Selective Perception 353 †¢ InformationRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesCan only God decide when a person’s life should end? 10. What values has the doctor set for himself in his own personal code of behavior? 11. Can society afford to let anybody end his or her life whenever he or she desires? 12. Can society allow suicide or mercy killing and still protect the lives of individuals who want to live? From the list of questions above, select the four most important: _______ _______ _______ _______ Most important Second most important Third most important Fourth most

Title II Request For Funding - 1322 Words

Title II Request for Funding a) Decide on a program/initiative that you think would be worthy of the team creating. Describe the program/initiative. Aligning Research with Literacy Initiatives While Advocating for the Role of Media Coordinator According to CMS Superintendent Ann Clark regarding literacy as our North Star, it â€Å"is the most important skill we teach. Literacy is the foundation for academic success from pre-kindergarten through high school.† Literacy is key to achieving academic success and the responsibility of literacy encompasses every educator and discipline. Many media coordinators have been trained in Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and district adopted reading initiatives, such as Balanced Literacy and Reading Apprenticeship. However, most struggle with linking our programs with literacy initiatives. According to the 2015 Nation’s Report Card percentages of fourth graders and eighth graders reading on grade level continues to decline, especially among urban school districts (nationsreportcard.gov). â€Å"That is, when reading grade appropriate text these students cannot extract the general meaning or make obvious connections between the text and their own experiences or make simple inferences from the text. In other words, they cannot understand what they have read.† (National Assessment of Educational Progress). And, furthermore, principals are trading media coordinator positions at an alarming rate as evidenced by the more than 30 schools which no longerShow MoreRelatedRacial Disparities Within Nursing Home ( Nh ) Care Quality Essay1497 Words   |  6 Pages(CMS)-funded NH’s that are in violation of current anti-discriminatory laws. The proposed policy would be passed and implemented at the federal government level, however it would also require cooperation from public, state agencies. II. Analysis of the Problem When Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibited segregation in 1964, NH’s were not prioritized for enforcement of desegregation (1). NH’s were not inspected for civil rights violations, nor were they required to provide information on the racial/ethnicRead MoreThe Usa Patriot Act : An Essential Step Against The Constitutional Rights Of All Americans1185 Words   |  5 Pagesjeopardy of American freedom in the modern war against terrorism. To understand why the Patriot Act is a threat to society and freedom, one must understand the basics. First, the most powerful â€Å"Tool† under the Act is Title V or â€Å"Removing obstacles to investigating terrorism†. Under Title V, any Special Agent who is in charge of a bureau field office of the FBI can issue a National Security Letter, or a demand for information by the FBI which compels the recipient to release private data in relationRead MoreSarbanes Oxley Act # 11 Titles Essay889 Words   |  4 PagesSarbanes-Oxley Act contains 11 titles, which provide the specific guidelines and regulations for financial reporting. The titles are: Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), Auditor Independence, Corporate Responsibility, Enhanced Financial Disclosures, Analyst Conflict of Interest, Commission Resources and Authority, Studies and Reports, Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability, White Collar Crime Penalty Enhancement, Corporate Tax Returns and Cor porate Fraud Accountability. The introductionRead MoreSarbanes Oxley Act # 11 Titles971 Words   |  4 PagesSarbanes-Oxley Act contains 11 titles, they provide specific guidelines and regulations for financial reporting. 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General subject boundaries of the collection:Read MoreSarbanes Oxley Act # 11 Titles1734 Words   |  7 PagesSarbanes-Oxley Act contains 11 titles, which provide the specific guidelines and regulations for financial reporting. The titles are: Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), Auditor Independence, Corporate Responsibility, Enhanced Financial Disclosures, Analyst Conflict of Interest, Commission Resources and Authority, Studies and Reports, Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability, White Collar Crime Penalty Enhancement, Corporate Tax Returns and Corporate Fraud Accountability. The introductionRead MoreGeneral Purpose Of Career And Technical Education1517 Words   |  7 Pagesinform them of the possible career choices, if they decide to pursue a career path (CTE), they are enrolled in the program. They are made aware, through advising, what the program entails and the level of commitment required. Most often, students who request to enter a CTE program have d ecided their career choice. At the high school level, according to Mrs. Nora Escobedo, counselor, exiting the program usually does not require any specific procedure, the student is made aware of the consequences of withdrawingRead MoreAccountability Makes No Sense When It Undermines The Larger Goals Of Education1986 Words   |  8 PagesAdministration reauthorized ESEA with the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 (IASA) Manna, 2011, p.6). IASA focused on educational reform and provisions through creating a Title 1 program, providing extra help to disadvantaged students and holding schools accountable, charter schools, safe and drug free schools, increased funding for bilingual and immigrant education and education technology (wiki). As a result of IASA, states began to pay more attention to local school districts. For example, in 1998Read MoreHistory Of The Small Business Program1500 Words   |  6 PagesFinance Corporation (RFC). The purpose of the RFC was to try to help businesses no matter what size large and small by providing federal funds. In 1942, Congress created the Smaller War Plants Corporation (SWPC) to help small businesses during World War II. Funds were provided to financial institutions to help give credit to struggling small business owners. When the war ended SWPC was liquidated, on the other hand some of the authority went to the RFC such as lending and contract capacity. In theRead MoreThe Effects Of Federal Mandates On Virginia2659 Words   |  11 Pagesdiscriminate against those with disabilities. At the end of every war, there were newly disabled American veterans that wanted improved civil rights and proper accommodations for the disabled that needed them. In the 1960’s, veterans from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War saw progress in civil rights movement and pushed harder for equal rights for those with disabilities. In 1973 it was declared that people with disabilities could not be discrimina ted against. A couple of years later

Exploring the Impact of Epidemiology and Political Economy on Fighting Cardiovascular Disease Essay Example For Students

Exploring the Impact of Epidemiology and Political Economy on Fighting Cardiovascular Disease Essay Society is unaware of how vital epidemiology and political economy is to cardiovascular disease and as well as their well being. One of the leading causes of death in society is cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease usually occurs in low income families. An epidemiologist studies the causes and transmission of the ailment within a population. As an epidemiologist, they need to take into account factors such as: the population’s usage of tobacco, an individual’s unhealthy diet, and the person’s physical inactivity. In political economy the use consumption of tobacco products is one of the most profitable and an influential cash crop as it heavily influences individuals. Political economists see â€Å"different groups as having inherently contradictory views or interests and capitalism, characterized itself by contradictions and specific trends (Coburn, 2006)†. Without epidemiology and political economy it would be difficult for cardiovascular disease to further its research to find preventive measures on the spread of the disease. Political economy is crucial to everyone in society. The three Esping-Andersen Typology of Welfare States is the Social Democratic, Liberal and Conservative. The wealthy have unlimited health resources such as private health care. For middle class families, clinical care of cardiovascular disease patients can be extremely expensive and long-lasting. The direct costs avert the sparse family and â€Å"societal resources to medical care (World Health Organization, 2009)†. Cardiovascular disease usually affects individuals in their mid life years which interrupts families reliant on them and undermining the developing of the nation by â€Å"depriving valuable human resources in their most productive years (World . .Graziano, T., Graziano, M. (2002). Clinical Evidence Cardiovascular Disorders. Loveland: Bmj Publishing Group. Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario funded research Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. (n.d. ). February is Heart Month Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. Retrieved January 31, 2010, from http://www.heartandstroke.on.ca/site/c. pvI3IeNWJwE/b.3748577/k.1DCA/Heart_and_Stroke_Foundation_of_Ontario_funded_research.htm Maclean, D. (1992). Canadian heart health surveys: a profile of cardio. CMAJ. 1992 PubMed result. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved February 2, 2010, from http://www.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/pubmed/1596846 World Health Organization. (n.d.). Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Retrieved February 1, 2010, from www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs317/en/index.html

Conflict Resolution Conflict Resolution Strategies

Question: Discuss about the Conflict Resolution for Conflict Resolution Strategies. Answer: Introduction Conflict implies a form of friction, disagreement or discord that emanate among a certain group of individuals whenever their right is infringed. Conflict may arise within a group sharing a common background or predicament. Such form of a conflict is referred to as intragroup conflict. This conflict may occur among individuals belonging to two or more groups. It may entail violence or the general disagreement among the members of the group. The other form of conflict is intergroup conflict. This form of conflict occurs between members of distinct groups (Leidner, et al. 2013, pp.181-192). For instance, members belonging to one ethnic group ganging up against members of another ethnic group. This form of conflict may be triggered by the presence of or a lack of a motivating factor. For instance, members of one ethnic group may attack those of another ethnic group due to scarcity of resources or on belief that the other group is enjoying a bigger share of the national cake over themselves. Such form of conflict leads to a stage of conflict resolution. Conflict is deemed as having been resolved when the disagreement between the wishes as well as actions of the conflicting parties is addressed amicably. One means of conflict resolution is negotiation. This form of conflict resolution entails a process that tries to incorporate the positive conflict with the main aim of preventing the conflict from degenerating into negative conflict (Kim, 2016, pp.39-47). It entails striking a balance between the conflicting parties so that all parties feel that they have not lost as a result of the conflict. Another form of conflict resolution mechanism is mediation. This entails involvement of a neutral party in the process of conflict resolution. The neutral party does not take sides. He or she listens to both the conflicting parties and tends to give his or her view. However, the mediator does not judge or decide for the conflicting parties. They only listen and give their opinion. Racial conflict in Australia Racial discrimination is a conflict that has existed for a very long time in Australia. Members from Indigenous families have since the pre-independence era suffered as a result of racial discrimination (Le Nguyen Ali, 2015, pp.159-175). The racial discrimination has been witnessed in all spheres of Indigenous persons lives. Economically, socially, politically, Indigenous groups have been. marginalized. Racial discrimination refers to a situation when individuals of a particular race are treated less favourably as compared to how the members of the other race treated because of their colour, descent, ethnic origin or their nation of origin as well as their immigrant status. The nation of Australia was at independence defined as a white territory. This definition contributed to a wide range of rapid intensification that was based on racial ideologies of superiority during the period of the spread of the ideals of Charles Darwin. Social Darwinism affirmed racial bigotry as a value to be embraced in Australia. The Australian riots of 1857 and 1861 driven by the perception among the European-Australian miners that the Chinese were present in Australia illegally and that by virtue of the quarries falling in their cultural capital, they enjoyed undue right to send away immigrants. This riot widened the boundaries of who should be called the white and how much privileges members enjoying this definition held. The end result was the growing discrimination against members of other races other than the white race. The riots ended up defining who deserved to be called Australian and who did not (Ralph, et al. 2013, pp.19). During the formation of Australia as a nation, the driving force for nationality was based on the belief that only members of European origin held enough enough of the civilization blood in them and hence this was the definitive factor in setting the conditions of a commonwealth of equality. Members of other racial inclination felt offended by this and hence the up rise of the various conflicts based on race. Members of the black race as well as those of Chinese race felt unfairly treated and ended up revolting. This for a very long time led to animosity and conflicts between members of the European race against members of other races such as the black race and the Chinese race. The conflicts were driven by the delusional politics among the Australian population. What followed was a history of a series of attacks stretching from the revolutionary pro as well as anti Soviet Russians occupying the Brisbane region of Eastern Australia, spreading through the inter-Asian as well as anti-W hite confrontations of Broome which eventually degenerated to the bloody clashes witnessed at Kalgoorlie. Australia is home to the worlds most diverse cultures. In this nation are people who identify with over 270 global ancestries (Little McMillan, 2016, pp1-19). Despite this rich diversity, a large number of individuals face unfair treatment as well as racism on the basis of how they look or on the basis of their place of origin. Racial discrimination as a conflict can degenerate to the level where barriers are created that lock people out of the economic as well as social opportunities. Racial discrimination began in Australia in 1788 when the British settlers took away land belonging to the Indigenous groups. The Indigenous groups were deprived of their right to full citizenship and regarded as immigrants subjected under strict immigration laws based on the doctrine of terra nullius (Little McMillan, 2016, pp1-19). At independence, the discriminatory treatment were transferred to the new Australian government which discriminated the Indigenous groups based on their colour and cultu re. They were viewed as an inferior race unable to equally contribute to the nation development. As a result, they were not allowed to hold positions of significance in the society. Most members of Indigenous groups ended up holding subsidiary roles in society such as acting as home guards and domestic workers for the white race. The policies implemented by the government hindered members of the Indigenous groups from accessing national resources such as education. The education system implemented after colonization emphasized on promotion of the white culture as opposed to Indigenous culture. Due the love of their culture which they wanted to preserve, members of Indigenous groups opted not to attend schools. This made them economically disadvantaged as they lacked the skills to get employed in the formal sector leaving them exposed to poor living conditions. Moreover, government policies that segreted people based on race further disadvantaged members of Indigenous groups. These group of people were only allowed access to facilities that were substandard such as schools that lacked adequate teaching and learning resources, health facilities that lacked adequate treatment facilities (Ralph, et al. 2013, pp.19). As a result, most members of Indigenous groups preferred using traditional treatment methods which was not up to standard as they could diagnose the disease to be treated. This contributed to the high mortality rate among members of Indigenous communities. These groups could not embrace the culture that was being promoted in the schools and as a result, most of them stayed away from school to engage in their own economic activities such as farming. Racial discrimination rose so high leading to the 1934 Kalgoorlie riots. This riots led to massive deaths as well as destruction of homes of the Dings at Dingbat Flat and at the same time led to the rising horror in the town. This horror was fuelled by how the alcohol-fuelled attack occasioned on foreigners degenerated into sustained mayhem. This situation led to an ambiguous anxiety that to date lurks at the heart of all Australian race riot. For the sake of conflict resolution, individuals caught up by the rising wash of vengeance fuelled by the believe of righteousness against the outsider and by the emotion of self-justification are called upon to confront an awareness of a fragile and civilized society and the essence of building bridges of peace rather than animosity. In 1967, a referendum concerning Aboriginal rights was conducted. After this referendum, lives of the Indigenous groups started improving as measures were put in place to reduce the racial conflict. The government in an attempt to address conflicts caused by racial discrimination has enacted various measures. For instance, education policies that consider members from Indigenous families have been implemented. The education curriculum has incorporated the study of Indigenous culture as away of reducing cultural conflict in among the whites and the black race. Mediation teams have been deployed to various conflicting regions to help mediate between the warring groups. Conclusion Contrary to the widely held view, not all conflict result to negative consequences. There are cases where conflict is constructive. For instance, moderate level of conflicts could be mutually beneficial, leading to conditions of understanding, tolerance, efficiency and effectiveness as well as boosting the process of learning (Le Nguyen et al. 2016, pp. 559-568) At this stage, there emerges two levels of conflict; content conflict in which persons disagree on how to handle a particular issue hence increases individual motivation and in the process stimulating discussion and relational conflict. Here, persons disagree with each other leading to decrease in individual performance, reducing loyalty and contributes to negative and suspicion among members of the group. Bibliography Cowan, A., 2013. [22PacRimLPolyJ247] UNDRIP and the Intervention: Indigenous Self-Determination, Participation, and Racial Discrimination in the Northern Territory of Australia. Darian-Smith, K. and Edmonds, P. eds., 2015. Conciliation on colonial frontiers: Conflict, performance, and commemoration in Australia and the Pacific Rim (Vol. 34). Routledge. Leidner, B., Castano, E. and Ginges, J., 2013. Dehumanization, retributive and restorative justice, and aggressive versus diplomatic intergroup conflict resolution strategies. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(2), pp.181-192. Little, A. and McMillan, M., 2016. Invisibility and the politics of reconciliation in Australia: Keeping conflict in view. Ethnopolitics, pp.1-19. O'Toole, J.R. and Burton, B.V., 2015. Cycles of harmony: Action research into the effects of drama on conflict management in schools. Le Nguyen, H., Larimo, J. and Ali, T., 2016. How do ownership control position and national culture influence conflict resolution strategies in international joint ventures?. International Business Review, 25(2), pp.559-568. Le Nguyen, H., Larimo, J. and Ali, T., 2015. Control Position Strategy, Cultural Distance, Conflict Resolution Strategies and Performance of International Joint Ventures. In The Rise of Multinationals from Emerging Economies (pp. 159-175). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Kim, K.H., 2016. Impact on the Collective Claims and Conflict Resolution Strategies Related to Infant Policy Integration. International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology (IJACT), 4(3), pp.39-47. Ralph, N., Welch, A.J., Norris, P. and Irwin, R., 2013. Reflections on power, conflict and resolution for the perioperative environment. ACORN: the journal of perioperative nursing in Australia, 26(1), p.19. Stone, J. and Rizova, P., 2014. Racial conflict in global society. John Wiley Sons. Petersen, N. and Ward, G., 2015. The transmission of historical racial violence: Lynching, civil rightsera terror, and contemporary interracial homicide. Race and Justice, p.2153368714567577. Williams, D., 2016. Conflict Resolution: An Examination of Perceptions of Cultural Conflict Resolution Strategies in Organizations.

Victorian Age Unit Review Flashcard

Victorian Age Unit Review

Carboxyl Group Definition and Examples in Chemistry

Carboxyl Group Definition and Examples in Chemistry Carboxyl group definition: The carboxyl group is an organic functional group consisting of a carbon atom double bonded to an oxygen atom and single bonded to a hydroxyl group. Another way to view it is as a carbonyl group (CO)that has a hydroxyl group (O-H) attached to the carbon atom. The carboxyl group is commonly written as -C(O)OH or -COOH. Carboxyl groups ionize by releasing the hydrogen atom from the -OH group. The H, which is a free proton, is released. Thus, carboxyl groups make good acids. When hydrogen leaves, the oxygen atom has a negative charge, which it shares with the second oxygen atom in the group, allowing the carboxyl to remain stable even when oxidized. Also known as: The carboxyl group is sometimes referred to as the carboxy group, carboxyl functional group, or carboxyl radical. Carboxyl Group Example Probably the best-known example of a molecule with a carboxyl group is carboxylic acid. The general formula of carboxylic acid is R-C(O)OH, where R is any number of chemical species. Carboxylic acids are found in acetic acid and the amino acids that are used to build proteins. Because the hydrogen ion detaches so readily, the molecule is most commonly found as a carboxylate anion, R-COO-. The anion is named using the suffix -ate. For example, acetic acid (a carboxylic acid) becomes the acetate ion.

Interpretative Panel of Cypriot Bichrome III equestrian figurine, Article

Interpretative Panel of Cypriot Bichrome III equestrian figurine, Cypro-Archaic II, c. 600475 BCE - Article Example The artifacts had originally been excavated from Cyprus between 1955 and 1961 after the famous James Stewart’s expeditions to Cyprus.2 Despite being a professor of archeology at Sydney University, James Stewart received significant support for his archeological expeditions from the University of Melbourne. As a result, the expeditions were largely known as Melbourne Cyprus Expeditions and many artefacts such as Cypriot Bichrome III equestrian figurine were later allocated to the University of Melbourne. Historically, figurines of horses mounted with riders were particularly common in during the cyproarchaic II periods. Cyprus the origin of the figurines is a Mediterranean island situated south of Turkey, Easy of Greece, North of Egypt and west of Syria and Lebanon3. Equestrian figurines are small sculptures of horses and their riders. Generally, similar historic artifact of equestrian figurines like the one currently housed in the university of Melbourne art collection have been found in various sanctuaries and tombs belonging to stone age Cyprus societies4. It is widely believed that during the antiquities (particularly between 600 and 475 BCE), little figures were commonly left by worshippers at sanctuaries as part of the offerings of the ancient Cypriots to their gods and goddesses5. However, it was expensive to own a horse during the cypro achaic II period and it is only probable that the figurines like the cypriot Bichrome III equestrian sculpture may have been left by the wealthy and nobles who may have wanted to emphasize how important or wealthy they were. Sagona, A., ‘Horse and rider figurine’, in C. McAuliffe and P. Yule, Treasures: Highlights of the Cultural Collections of the University of Melbourne, The Miegunyah Press: Carlton, 2003, pp. 134–

Implications of the UK Employment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Implications of the UK Employment Law - Essay Example The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and also in in the community as a whole . This law is made up of three major statutes which include; - Sex Discrimination Act 1975 . This act was put in place to prohibit any form of discrimination either in the workplace or any other place on the basis or grounds of sex, marital status and gender reassignment. This should also apply in fields of education. This law is applicable in Wales, England and also in Scotland. The Race Relations Act 1976 came immediately after the Sex Discrimination Act. An amendment The Race Relations Act 2000 is a development of this Act and the Race Relations Act 1976 Regulations 2003 . This act prohibits any form of discrimination on the basis of the individual’s colour. This law is applicable in the fields of employment where racial discrimination is likely to be witnessed, education and in the provision of goods and services. Any individual breaking the law is cul pable in the three countries named above. To deal with discrimination on the basis of disability the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was put in place. This act discourages any form of discrimination of the basis of disability in the field of education, employment and the access to goods and services. It purports that the disabled people should be accorded similar treatment in these fields as the ones who are not disabled. Equal job opportunities and educational opportunities should be given to all citizens.

Chinatown Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Chinatown - Case Study Example Water has a sexual meaning in the movie and this is portrayed by the different characters present lie Jake and Cross from the movie. Water is a very essential commodity for both internal and external use. Poor planning in the water system may not achieve the desired effect on urban planning because good urban centers have stable water supply system. Transparency in the urban water commission enhances urban development as individuals are attracted to places with availability of such factors like water and security. Urban centers are characterized by large populations who cannot stay permanently in areas without water for a long period, therefore, most urban planers take into consideration the availability of water when erecting structures or drawing up the map of a new urban center. Suburbanization is eminent in Chinatown movie by the culture presented by the film producer in the movie. A perfect example of the differences in the suburbs is the presence of the Mall which greatly differs in the different areas mentioned in the movie. Urban growth and suburbanization are a process where developments happen gradually and within a set period of time. It is traced through the obscure era when there was scarcity of resources to an era when the mission of drought management, water quality and good control of the environment is achieved. Urban growth must be accompanied by a tremendous increase in the population of individuals within a given urban center. The increase in the urban centers will promote the development of suburbanization since there will emerge class difference amongst the individuals living in the area. Political corruption is an issue of concern in Chinatown movie. An example is that Polanski flees from the unfair verdict of the judge who was corrupt and wanted to wreck political career. The movie is filled with issue of political and moral corruption and this lies the political planning of the movie.

Skill Requirements for IS Professionals in E-learning

Skill Requirements for IS Professionals in E-learning Skills requirements for information system professionals in the e-learning sector This research project is an investigation into the skills required for Information Systems (IS) professionals working in the commercial e-learning sector. This involved determining the perceived skill requirements for IS professionals, the actual skills held by current employees in this sector, and identifying any skills gaps that existed. The survey obtained information from a representative selection of the IS professional population. The questionnaire sample included IS professionals at all levels and grades of employment and reflected the composition of participating organizations. The table below summarises the objectives of this investigation: Identify the state of the UK IS workforce and the e-learning industry, Investigate the skills required to work as an IS professional in the e-learning industry in Berkshire, Investigate what skills gaps exist and Investigate the possible causes of these skills gaps. The main outcome of the study was a matrix of the skills required that can be used by universities and training organisations to tailor their course content to suit the constantly evolving demands of this industry. To combat the skills gaps that emerged and prevent performance problems arising, a number of recommendations need to be adopted to address the problems discovered: (1) Improve training strategies for IS professionals within the sector, majority of organisations have no set training strategy or budget; this is something that needs to change, (2) Create an annual ‘e-learning skills report’ detailing gaps and shortages, allowing education and industry to understand emerging and established skills needs. It would allow changes in demand and type of skill to be monitored. This would allow organisations to structure their internal training strategies, to eliminate skills gaps and (3) Form direct links between industry and education partners to allow course content t o be improved and improve employment prospects for graduates. The most important action is to integrate education with industry. If courses as specialist as-learning could be developed with an industry partner, the correct content would be guaranteed. 1. Introduction Many organisations have come to realise that certain new technologies can optimise efficiency and make processes more effective. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can bring industry closer to their customers, partners and suppliers through more integrated business and communication systems, and can provide enhanced educational opportunities. â€Å"There is a well-established relationship between improvements in Information Systems (IS) skills and increased productivity.† (Dress, 2001) The opportunity to gain competitive advantage through technology has consequently contributed to demand for skilled IS professionals outstripping supply. The label used to describe this effect is a ‘skills shortage’. The Computer Services and Software Association estimate that IS skills shortages will cost the UK over  £30 billion over the next three years(e-skills NTO, 2001). There is a growing recognition that the gap in skills for IS professionals is widening. The gap in skills does not only affect the ICT (primary) sector but all other sectors (secondary)which apply information technologies in their production, processes, products or services. The E-revolution of the information industries has created a new labour force, professional IS roles are becoming diversified and a generic IS curriculum will not meet all the needs for all IS jobs in the future. It seems that in any system that has an â€Å"E† placed in front of it; e-learning, e-business, e-commerce, are the development of new skills. Never before have new skills appeared at such a rate. Even if industrial structure is only changing slowly, employers of ‘IS ‘practitioners rarely found it easy to articulate their current and particularly future skill needs very precisely. â€Å"Nearly one third of the IS skills in the market today have only emerged in the last year. Sixty seven of the one hundred and thirty three internet related skills are totally new.† Chris Bennett, MD SAP Australia (Hawking, 2002) New curricula need to be developed which consist-’of separate distinctive concentrations, which target specific roles in the job market. A new stronger relationship needs to be formed between educational institutions and companies; to allow the required skills to be taught and help alleviate the current IS skills shortages. In the rapidly changing field of IS, educational programs must be continually re-evaluated and revised. â€Å"There is presently a gap between what industry wants characteristically in it IS personnel and what academia provides to them.† Gupta and Watcher( 1998) The first step in the curriculum revision process is to conduct a study to determine the expected skills and knowledge required for IS professionals in industry. This will allow academic institutions to create programs that more accurately reflect the demands of the marketplace. At present, there is no identifiable data about the requirements of IS professionals specific to the e-learning sector. This is the gap in knowledge that needs to be investigated. This dissertation has been commissioned to do precisely that; to investigate the skills required for IS professionals working in thee-learning industry. The results can then be used as a foundation for developing a suitable postgraduate course at the University level. The main outcome of the study will be a matrix of the skills required that can be used by universities and training organisations to tailor their course content to suit the constantly evolving demands of this industry. The research carried out in this project can be used by other universities to clarify the skills required for employment in this sector, allowing course content to be tailored to suit the changing demands of industry, and improve the opportunities for students seeking employment upon graduation. 2. Aims Objectives The research will be cantered on the key area of skills gap analysis. This will involve determining the perceived skill requirements for IS professionals and the actual skills held by current employees, then determining the differences. This study aims to obtain information from a representative selection of the IS professional population, and from that sample the researcher will then be able to present the findings as being representative of the population as awhile. The characteristics of the total population will be represented justly in the sample to enable the researcher to say with fair confidence that the sample is reasonably representative. The sample will include IS professionals at all levels and grades of employment and will reflect the composition of participating organisations. The study will allow users to simultaneously score both their own self-assessment of their ability and their perceptions of the levels of skill actually required by their job. The sample population will include organizations in the e-learning sector with a history of close association with Business Link Berkshire and Wiltshire. Summary of Research Objectives †¢ Identify the current state of the UK IS workforce and the e-learning industry †¢ Identify the most important/prevalent issues from the literature †¢ Investigate the skills required to work as an IS professional in the e-learning industry in the Berkshire region †¢ Identify the skill gaps from the perceived and actual skill levels †¢ Discuss the finding and compare against those of relevant previous studies 3. Literature Review The foundation for revision of curriculum process is the review of literature and investigation into the expected industry skills and knowledge for IS professionals. In the introduction chapter an outline of this study was given. This section will focus upon academic literature related to the subject area, which will go onto further support the data already mentioned. As well as academic literature, reports are of particular importance to this dissertation, due to the dynamic nature of the industry, reports are able to offer the very latest up to date information, which may take months to be peer reviewed and published in journals. There are a number of reports, which have been consulted in the preparation of this report that have provided valuable insight into the subject area. In addition the background chapter that follows this contains greater detail into the region and industry trends, separated to avoid over-powering the critical issues highlighted here. 3.1 Background The literature in general Skills Requirements Analysis (SRA) is extensive. Related areas include Training Needs Assessment (TNA) and the broader area of Learning Needs Assessment (LNA). Recent work in the area, such as that by Sine (1998) and earlier, by Kidd (1984) in knowledge acquisition adds to more traditional texts from skills training practitioners including Peterson (1998) and Major (1988). These papers all identify skills training as one of a number of initiatives to solve performance problems in an organisation. Using the performance problems identified, how far the skills identified are present, and how big is the gap between the performance objectives and the performance resulting from actual skills in place. This process is referred to as a skills audit. The skills audit links directly to the research questions in chapter one. A skills assessment or audit has three main objectives: 1. To determine what skills are required by each employee; 2. To determine which of the required skills each employee has; 3. To analyse the results and establish the specific training needs. Authors such as Hamel (1994) openly express the increasing value of employee’s skills, leading to knowledge within an organisation. More recent articles, such as Birch all and Tovstiga (1999) describe how this knowledge manifests itself primarily as organisational competencies and capabilities, leading to that all-important competitive advantage. Onaway to increase a company’s organisational competencies and capabilities in order to gain competitive advantage is through carefully implemented training and development, Schuler (1984).Education and training provision are important strategic practices in the development of organisational competence, but without understanding the precise skills needs first, how can the appropriate training be applied? 3.2 Information System Curriculum There is extensive literature surrounding the area of IS curriculum design. Although this study will not involve any design of curriculum, it is none the less useful to have an understanding of some of the issues that arise in designing IS curriculum; if the findings of this study will be used as a foundation to develop IS curricula. A common theme in the literature is the difficulty in creating curriculum that can fulfil all requirements in an industry that evolves so rapidly. Martinson and Cheung (2001) suggest that recent developments of IS industry jobs and career paths have made understanding the knowledge/skills requirement of an IS professional even more difficult. This is supported by Latham (2000) who explains that the complexity and multi-disciplinarily nature of Information Systems makes identifying a common curriculum both difficult and contentious. Skills requirements will inevitably change over time and it is important to take a strategic view of the needs of industry. There are a number of papers that highlight the differences between industry and academia strategies, and strong suggestions that these need to be merged and greater links formed between the two. Kim, Shim, and Yoon (1999) found that, â€Å"IS organisations perceive managerial and organisational issues as more important than educators†. They also found that educators consider emerging issues more important than industry organisations. Curriculum should be developed working with corporate partners. Similar work of Srinivasan, Duane, and Wright(1999) supports the importance of this idea of improving links between education and industry. In Lightfoot’s (1999) research on IS curriculum design, it was suggested that curriculum needs to be developed to satisfy both the current and future needs of the industry at the sometime. This is impossible without the links mentioned above. 3.3 Information System Skills Although the growing demand for IS professionals is evident, the exact combination of skills required is not. This could be attributed to the scope and divergence of IS roles that are now available. Hedge (now known as Dress) highlighted that â€Å"The fast-moving technological change in 1CT and rapid innovation, mean that it is much more difficult than in the past to determine the type and combination of skills that are needed† (Dee, 1999). While the reported growth of demand for IS workers is very evident, the identification of specific skills required for the variety of positions in Information Systems is not as clear† (Noll and Wilkins 2002).Research by Young and Lee (1997) and Lee, Trough, and Farwell (1995)confirm the increasing importance of these â€Å"soft skills†, which include writing, teamwork, presenting, project management, and interpersonal relationships. E-skills NTO, the industry representative body for IT skills, recently published a comprehensive report detailing the current situation regarding the supply and demand of IT and telecommunication professionals in the United Kingdom. This survey, called e-skills 21(2002) was the most comprehensive study of IT and Telecom Professionalism the UK in history, it included over 4000 interviews with professionals at all levels and across all sectors during 2001. The results of the comprehensive e-skills 21 survey mentioned earlier are characterised into technical and generic skills. More detail into what each compromises of will be given later. Aspects of the e-skills study have been used to develop the research instrument used in this study, to allow the skills gap findings to be directly compared. This E-Skills survey revealed a consensus among the companies that there was no major skill gap among the IS workers. However the one’s that did mention about a gap, pointed out the skills gap related to operating system, application usage and networking skills. It was common opinion among most of the respondents that technology was evolving at a much faster rate than they could grasp. These issues will be looked at during the study. Several studies indicate that verbal skills, work in cross-functional groups and written communications skills were the three most highly rated qualities to seek in staff Gupta and Watcher (1998) This view is supported in a recent report (lackey et al., 2000) quotes one respondent who said that: ‘There is a real lack of people who can combine ICT and business acumen.’ The biggest challenge for technical CT staff is in understanding the dynamics of business; including sales and marketing processes, supply chain processes, and internal processes. They also need to continue to develop and evolve customer facing business systems to enhance and improve the end user experience. CT staff were also identified as a central resource in teaching skills to other areas of the business; consequently communication skills and an understanding of the organisation are essential (E-skills 21, 2001). Another requirements paper by Lewinski (2003) suggests that IS skills can be more effectively developed through on-the-job training. The classification of requirements was not as specific as the other literature mentioned, but similarities can be seen in the results. With regard to technical skills; troubleshooting was required by 97 preceptor respondents, 91 services and facilitation, 82 installation of hardware/software and configuration, and 67 expressed a need for systems operation, monitoring and maintenance. Equal importance was placed upon non-technical skills, including; good communication, analytical/problem solving, flexibility and the ability to learn quickly. The only other study to include both a perceived and actual approach to skills assessment (as this study does) is by Hay (2003). The report by Hay (2003) concludes that there are four skills that are consistently higher than perceived needs of the job; basic computer use, word processing, spread sheet and database use. The areas repeatedly below the required level were presentation and graphics software, and use of a browser. There was also a reported â€Å"clear gap in the market† in the areas of knowledge of operating systems and networking. These skills gaps are readily identifiable by the employees themselves, with over 50% of participants lacking the required skills in at least one area. There are so many papers, with so many different classifications that comparing them directly was extremely difficult in writing this literature review. The common themes that came out were the technical and generic split of skills. There is a need for combination of both sets of skills. The skills gaps appear to be entered on OS and Networking skills on the technical side, and all skills related to the generic side. The only way to breakdown the mixture of skills from various papers to be able to understand and compare in a scientific way is by using an industry standard framework. The chosen framework and a number of other frameworks are described inspection 3.5. 3.4 E-Learning Skills Any employee, in any role, requires some overall, understanding of the business within which they work. Therefore, as this study is of IS professional skills in the e-learning industry each individual employed is required to have some understanding of the basics of teaching, tallow them to function as part of an educational organisation. The skills mentioned in this section will be required, though the depth of pedagogical skills will by dependant on the individual’s role. For example, the pedagogical skills of a training professional should be considerably stronger than that of a programmer. There was surprisingly little literature in the area of IS professionals working in-learning. The most useful research found was by Massy (2000 and2001). Both these studies were critically analysed by the Scottish enterprise research report published on their website. Both the papers suggested that the skills and competencies required by on-line training professionals can be broadly categorised as technical, pedagogical and managerial. Massy (2001) pointed out that there has been a consistent shift from the importance laid on Information Communication Technologies skills requirements with increased efforts now being placed on the acquisition of the above mentioned categories. The SFIA framework appears to cover every aspect of IS skills, the area of education and training was looked at closely being of particular importance to this study, and was found to give enough detail for IS professionals in general. Although more detail was required in the design of the instrument used in this study. â€Å"In line with developments in technology generally, the impact of technology-supported learning (TSL), and in particular e-learning(EL), has given rise to new combinations of skills, featuring how people learn with a sound understanding of the available technology in the design of learning experiences.† (Massy, 2000a cited in SERR, 2005) The first survey by Massy (2000) showed some interesting differences from the follow-up survey (2001). There was a marked change in focus of skills from technical (ICT) to pedagogical skills. The key concern in2000, was that technology had become the central focus for e-learning development, appeared to have been address in the 12 months that passed before the second survey. Greater emphasis was now being placed on the managerial and pedagogical attributes required for producing and presenting e-learning. In the same 12 month period, over 60% of respondents had taken part in some informal training, and a further 30% formal classroom-based learning. The step down in attaining ICT skills was reportedly due to the basic fluency being established and the focus being directed to attaining new skills in e-learning content design. This requires a greater understanding of management and pedagogy. The study by Martin and Jennings (2002) followed the same approach as Massy. In this survey a distinction was made between users and suppliers of e-learning. Unfortunately it is not possible to make that distinction, as more often than not they are the same person. This problem of identifying groups was also expressed in the report, â€Å"Unreality, most user organisations are also providers of e-learning, such as universities.† Suppliers identified an increased interest in gaining in-depth Information Communication skills; others suggesting this were a major problem. Stronger leadership and ‘championing’ of projects is also required. The most important ICT skills identified, with regard to-learning were: To effectively utilise web-page design, including text, audio and video conferencing materials, E-mail, Bulletin boards, Discussion forums for communication with and between learners (SERR,2005). These are relatively common and well-developed skills for IS professionals. Another important issue, which has continued to braised throughout this literature review, is the need for better collaboration between industry (supplier) and academia. To aid this it is also suggested that e-learning needs to be integrated further in to university and college education. 3.5 Information System Frameworks IS management and occupational analysts in different-organisations and countries have tried to distil the structure of the industry, from the constantly evolving picture, so it is understandable that a number of different occupational frameworks have therefore emerged. The most important frameworks to this study are those that have been used for surveys. While there are broad similarities, different surveys, using different frameworks, produce different results, and although they may enrich the overall picture of the industry, they cannot generally be usefully compared. A number of academics have developed their own skills frameworks. Allot these follow the same format of grouping technical and business skills, against various levels of competency. Examples of academic frameworks developed include early research by Ashen Hurst (1972) that identified 37 skills and abilities that a student in a graduate IS program should expect to acquire into six categories: people, models, systems, computers, organizations, and society. Similarly the work of Todd et al. (1995) classified IS knowledge into seven categories: hardware, software, business, management, social, and problem solving, and development methodology. It was also reasoned that interpersonal and managerial skills are more important than any technical skills for IS managers. Nelson (1991) classified 30 skills into six groups: organizational knowledge, organizational skills, organizational unit, general IS knowledge, technical skills, and IS product. This paper found that IS personnel were deficient in general IS knowledge followed by organizational knowledge, technical skills, organizational skills, IS product, and organizational units (in that order). Lee and Gosling (1999) classified three key abilities of IS professionals: ability to learn new technologies, ability to focus on technology as a means (not an end), and ability to understand technological trends into technology management knowledge and other technology-related knowledge into technical specialized knowledge. There port classified non-technology-related knowledge into business functional knowledge, interpersonal and management skills, letting interpersonal and management skills contain some personal traits. Also included was the ability to teach others interpersonal and management skills. It was found that non-technological knowledge is now more important than technical skills. A skills framework gives organisations: A clear, well-structured view of their staffs skills; A tool for more accurate planning and management of resources; A tool for accurate development of careers, so improving retention; A better way of targeting training; A method of risk assessment for the loss of key skills; A tool for accurate and efficient recruitment (Taken From Skills Framework ). In the UK, in June 2001 e-skills NTO published a Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). It provides a common reference model for the identification of the skills needed to develop effective Information Systems making use of Information Communications Technologies. It appeared to be a simple and coherent two-dimensional framework consisting of areas of work on one axis and levels of responsibility on the other (SFIA ). Previously there was no industry benchmark for organisation to measure the skill levels of their organisation. The methodology for this study will be developed to allow the results to be mapped directly onto the framework. Therefore, the findings can be compared to those of previous research carried out by-skills NTO. 3.6 Summary The literature presented has highlighted some important issues, provided grounding for this study and has helped eliminate some of the preconceptions of what was expected. The purpose of identifying skills gaps is to allow the appropriate training to be adopted, therefore eliminating the performance problems that exist. The career paths of the IS industry are no longer straight forward and the complexity and diversity of the sector makes understanding it in a scientific way very difficult. The literature suggests that as the industry is so dynamic, relationships must be improved between education and industry. The problems that exist relate to academic and training practitioners not providing the correct skills in their graduates. Research focused academia tends to provide graduates with the latest emerging technologies, these skills quickly become out-of-date, while the more fundamental technologies appear to be neglected. This is expressed in the views of many industry speakers, it is assumed that an IS professional will be capable of learning new programming languages, once the method of logical thinking has been established. It is more important to develop the established fundamental technologies, and allow the professional to develop the niche skills required as they move into a specialist area, for example e-learning. The technical skills gaps that exist are focused around Microsoft Programs; including Windows/NT, MS Application skills (especially MS Access), and Networking technologies. The generic skills gaps that exist include both written and oral communication, user IT skills, industry awareness, and problem solving. The combinations of these two types of skills gaps are from literature that investigated the whole IS industry. It will be interesting to see how they compare with thee-learning sector, which you would presume at this stage to have stronger focus on generic skills. The literature that was focused one-learning highlighted all forms of communication (e.g. oral, written, and electronic) as the most important generic skills. The most important technical skills required included web related technologies and presentation or audio visual skills. The final area to look into was to see if the focus change from technical to pedagogical was visible in this study. This could not be done in the same way as the literature by repeating the study again after a 12 month period. As different approach the structure of the instrument could be written in way to allow comparisons to be made between importance levels of the three categories of skill. The main reasons cited for skills gaps in the ICT sector are a lack of skills/experience of new technologies and organisations failing to train/develop staff sufficiently to meet their needs. This in turn causes difficulty in introducing technological change. The other effects highlighted include delays in the development of new products/services and difficulties meeting business objectives. Much of the literature suggests the most obvious actions to address the problem of skills gaps would be to provide further training and increase recruitment of direct staff. These can be included in the changing of working practices. The chapter on research methods will explain exactly what instruments are used and the approach taken. The literature was used extensively to create the instruments and followed previous research to allow comparisons of the results to be made. They follow the form set out in this review; combining technical, generic and pedagogical skills. Instruments used in the literature were modified and extended for the purposes of this study. The results chapter also uses some of the literature as a source of ideas for the descriptions and highlighting the most significant findings. This is to allow direct comparison with previous studies. The main gap identified in the literature is with regard to quantifying the pedagogical skills mentioned. In Masons work the skills are mentioned but not in enough detail. In the e-learning industry the pedagogical skills will not match that of a â€Å"normal† teacher or lecturer, as there is not only a significant difference between the methods of teaching and learning, but also in content provision. The student in an e-learning environment is a researcher, which is quite different from classroom based taught learning. There are also further technical skills that are only required in this sector that need to be assessed. This study should provide the reader with an understanding of the requirements of an IS professional working in e-learning and highlight the gaps that currently exist in this sector in Berkshire. It will be of particular benefit to persons working within the industry or closely linked to it. This study can be used as a basis to start an investigation into the requirements of an IS e-learning undergraduate or postgraduate course. 3.7 Research Hypothesis Null Hypothesis is defined as ‘The state opposite to that suggested in a hypothesis, postulated in the hope of rejecting its form and therefore proving the hypothesis.’ Hence the null hypothesis for this research may be stated as H0: â€Å"There is no skills gap among Information system professionals in the e-learning sector.† The following research hypothesis is derived from the literature and will be tested using the primary research conducted by the researcher. H1: â€Å"There exists a skills gap among Information system professional in the e-learning sector† 4. Research Methodology 4.1 Introduction An appropriate research methodology is a general plan of how the researcher will go about answering the research questions considering the sources to collect data and the constraints that one might have(access to data, time, location and money, etc.). It should reflect the fact that the researcher has thought carefully about why a particular strategy/method has been employed. Data intended for almost any study can be obtained from two sources: Primary Data and Secondary Data. This chapter describes the process of method selection and justification for the method chosen. The sample selection method is described and the design of the instrument used is included. There is an introduction into how the results were analysed before the results chapter which holds greater detail. Then there is a short description of how the methods chosen could have been improved or expanded on given greater time or financial resources. 4.2 Choice of Methodology A small-scale research study of this kind can use a survey to obtain large amounts of data in a short space of time. This study has produced a statistical analysis of the skills r Skill Requirements for IS Professionals in E-learning Skill Requirements for IS Professionals in E-learning Skills requirements for information system professionals in the e-learning sector This research project is an investigation into the skills required for Information Systems (IS) professionals working in the commercial e-learning sector. This involved determining the perceived skill requirements for IS professionals, the actual skills held by current employees in this sector, and identifying any skills gaps that existed. The survey obtained information from a representative selection of the IS professional population. The questionnaire sample included IS professionals at all levels and grades of employment and reflected the composition of participating organizations. The table below summarises the objectives of this investigation: Identify the state of the UK IS workforce and the e-learning industry, Investigate the skills required to work as an IS professional in the e-learning industry in Berkshire, Investigate what skills gaps exist and Investigate the possible causes of these skills gaps. The main outcome of the study was a matrix of the skills required that can be used by universities and training organisations to tailor their course content to suit the constantly evolving demands of this industry. To combat the skills gaps that emerged and prevent performance problems arising, a number of recommendations need to be adopted to address the problems discovered: (1) Improve training strategies for IS professionals within the sector, majority of organisations have no set training strategy or budget; this is something that needs to change, (2) Create an annual ‘e-learning skills report’ detailing gaps and shortages, allowing education and industry to understand emerging and established skills needs. It would allow changes in demand and type of skill to be monitored. This would allow organisations to structure their internal training strategies, to eliminate skills gaps and (3) Form direct links between industry and education partners to allow course content t o be improved and improve employment prospects for graduates. The most important action is to integrate education with industry. If courses as specialist as-learning could be developed with an industry partner, the correct content would be guaranteed. 1. Introduction Many organisations have come to realise that certain new technologies can optimise efficiency and make processes more effective. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can bring industry closer to their customers, partners and suppliers through more integrated business and communication systems, and can provide enhanced educational opportunities. â€Å"There is a well-established relationship between improvements in Information Systems (IS) skills and increased productivity.† (Dress, 2001) The opportunity to gain competitive advantage through technology has consequently contributed to demand for skilled IS professionals outstripping supply. The label used to describe this effect is a ‘skills shortage’. The Computer Services and Software Association estimate that IS skills shortages will cost the UK over  £30 billion over the next three years(e-skills NTO, 2001). There is a growing recognition that the gap in skills for IS professionals is widening. The gap in skills does not only affect the ICT (primary) sector but all other sectors (secondary)which apply information technologies in their production, processes, products or services. The E-revolution of the information industries has created a new labour force, professional IS roles are becoming diversified and a generic IS curriculum will not meet all the needs for all IS jobs in the future. It seems that in any system that has an â€Å"E† placed in front of it; e-learning, e-business, e-commerce, are the development of new skills. Never before have new skills appeared at such a rate. Even if industrial structure is only changing slowly, employers of ‘IS ‘practitioners rarely found it easy to articulate their current and particularly future skill needs very precisely. â€Å"Nearly one third of the IS skills in the market today have only emerged in the last year. Sixty seven of the one hundred and thirty three internet related skills are totally new.† Chris Bennett, MD SAP Australia (Hawking, 2002) New curricula need to be developed which consist-’of separate distinctive concentrations, which target specific roles in the job market. A new stronger relationship needs to be formed between educational institutions and companies; to allow the required skills to be taught and help alleviate the current IS skills shortages. In the rapidly changing field of IS, educational programs must be continually re-evaluated and revised. â€Å"There is presently a gap between what industry wants characteristically in it IS personnel and what academia provides to them.† Gupta and Watcher( 1998) The first step in the curriculum revision process is to conduct a study to determine the expected skills and knowledge required for IS professionals in industry. This will allow academic institutions to create programs that more accurately reflect the demands of the marketplace. At present, there is no identifiable data about the requirements of IS professionals specific to the e-learning sector. This is the gap in knowledge that needs to be investigated. This dissertation has been commissioned to do precisely that; to investigate the skills required for IS professionals working in thee-learning industry. The results can then be used as a foundation for developing a suitable postgraduate course at the University level. The main outcome of the study will be a matrix of the skills required that can be used by universities and training organisations to tailor their course content to suit the constantly evolving demands of this industry. The research carried out in this project can be used by other universities to clarify the skills required for employment in this sector, allowing course content to be tailored to suit the changing demands of industry, and improve the opportunities for students seeking employment upon graduation. 2. Aims Objectives The research will be cantered on the key area of skills gap analysis. This will involve determining the perceived skill requirements for IS professionals and the actual skills held by current employees, then determining the differences. This study aims to obtain information from a representative selection of the IS professional population, and from that sample the researcher will then be able to present the findings as being representative of the population as awhile. The characteristics of the total population will be represented justly in the sample to enable the researcher to say with fair confidence that the sample is reasonably representative. The sample will include IS professionals at all levels and grades of employment and will reflect the composition of participating organisations. The study will allow users to simultaneously score both their own self-assessment of their ability and their perceptions of the levels of skill actually required by their job. The sample population will include organizations in the e-learning sector with a history of close association with Business Link Berkshire and Wiltshire. Summary of Research Objectives †¢ Identify the current state of the UK IS workforce and the e-learning industry †¢ Identify the most important/prevalent issues from the literature †¢ Investigate the skills required to work as an IS professional in the e-learning industry in the Berkshire region †¢ Identify the skill gaps from the perceived and actual skill levels †¢ Discuss the finding and compare against those of relevant previous studies 3. Literature Review The foundation for revision of curriculum process is the review of literature and investigation into the expected industry skills and knowledge for IS professionals. In the introduction chapter an outline of this study was given. This section will focus upon academic literature related to the subject area, which will go onto further support the data already mentioned. As well as academic literature, reports are of particular importance to this dissertation, due to the dynamic nature of the industry, reports are able to offer the very latest up to date information, which may take months to be peer reviewed and published in journals. There are a number of reports, which have been consulted in the preparation of this report that have provided valuable insight into the subject area. In addition the background chapter that follows this contains greater detail into the region and industry trends, separated to avoid over-powering the critical issues highlighted here. 3.1 Background The literature in general Skills Requirements Analysis (SRA) is extensive. Related areas include Training Needs Assessment (TNA) and the broader area of Learning Needs Assessment (LNA). Recent work in the area, such as that by Sine (1998) and earlier, by Kidd (1984) in knowledge acquisition adds to more traditional texts from skills training practitioners including Peterson (1998) and Major (1988). These papers all identify skills training as one of a number of initiatives to solve performance problems in an organisation. Using the performance problems identified, how far the skills identified are present, and how big is the gap between the performance objectives and the performance resulting from actual skills in place. This process is referred to as a skills audit. The skills audit links directly to the research questions in chapter one. A skills assessment or audit has three main objectives: 1. To determine what skills are required by each employee; 2. To determine which of the required skills each employee has; 3. To analyse the results and establish the specific training needs. Authors such as Hamel (1994) openly express the increasing value of employee’s skills, leading to knowledge within an organisation. More recent articles, such as Birch all and Tovstiga (1999) describe how this knowledge manifests itself primarily as organisational competencies and capabilities, leading to that all-important competitive advantage. Onaway to increase a company’s organisational competencies and capabilities in order to gain competitive advantage is through carefully implemented training and development, Schuler (1984).Education and training provision are important strategic practices in the development of organisational competence, but without understanding the precise skills needs first, how can the appropriate training be applied? 3.2 Information System Curriculum There is extensive literature surrounding the area of IS curriculum design. Although this study will not involve any design of curriculum, it is none the less useful to have an understanding of some of the issues that arise in designing IS curriculum; if the findings of this study will be used as a foundation to develop IS curricula. A common theme in the literature is the difficulty in creating curriculum that can fulfil all requirements in an industry that evolves so rapidly. Martinson and Cheung (2001) suggest that recent developments of IS industry jobs and career paths have made understanding the knowledge/skills requirement of an IS professional even more difficult. This is supported by Latham (2000) who explains that the complexity and multi-disciplinarily nature of Information Systems makes identifying a common curriculum both difficult and contentious. Skills requirements will inevitably change over time and it is important to take a strategic view of the needs of industry. There are a number of papers that highlight the differences between industry and academia strategies, and strong suggestions that these need to be merged and greater links formed between the two. Kim, Shim, and Yoon (1999) found that, â€Å"IS organisations perceive managerial and organisational issues as more important than educators†. They also found that educators consider emerging issues more important than industry organisations. Curriculum should be developed working with corporate partners. Similar work of Srinivasan, Duane, and Wright(1999) supports the importance of this idea of improving links between education and industry. In Lightfoot’s (1999) research on IS curriculum design, it was suggested that curriculum needs to be developed to satisfy both the current and future needs of the industry at the sometime. This is impossible without the links mentioned above. 3.3 Information System Skills Although the growing demand for IS professionals is evident, the exact combination of skills required is not. This could be attributed to the scope and divergence of IS roles that are now available. Hedge (now known as Dress) highlighted that â€Å"The fast-moving technological change in 1CT and rapid innovation, mean that it is much more difficult than in the past to determine the type and combination of skills that are needed† (Dee, 1999). While the reported growth of demand for IS workers is very evident, the identification of specific skills required for the variety of positions in Information Systems is not as clear† (Noll and Wilkins 2002).Research by Young and Lee (1997) and Lee, Trough, and Farwell (1995)confirm the increasing importance of these â€Å"soft skills†, which include writing, teamwork, presenting, project management, and interpersonal relationships. E-skills NTO, the industry representative body for IT skills, recently published a comprehensive report detailing the current situation regarding the supply and demand of IT and telecommunication professionals in the United Kingdom. This survey, called e-skills 21(2002) was the most comprehensive study of IT and Telecom Professionalism the UK in history, it included over 4000 interviews with professionals at all levels and across all sectors during 2001. The results of the comprehensive e-skills 21 survey mentioned earlier are characterised into technical and generic skills. More detail into what each compromises of will be given later. Aspects of the e-skills study have been used to develop the research instrument used in this study, to allow the skills gap findings to be directly compared. This E-Skills survey revealed a consensus among the companies that there was no major skill gap among the IS workers. However the one’s that did mention about a gap, pointed out the skills gap related to operating system, application usage and networking skills. It was common opinion among most of the respondents that technology was evolving at a much faster rate than they could grasp. These issues will be looked at during the study. Several studies indicate that verbal skills, work in cross-functional groups and written communications skills were the three most highly rated qualities to seek in staff Gupta and Watcher (1998) This view is supported in a recent report (lackey et al., 2000) quotes one respondent who said that: ‘There is a real lack of people who can combine ICT and business acumen.’ The biggest challenge for technical CT staff is in understanding the dynamics of business; including sales and marketing processes, supply chain processes, and internal processes. They also need to continue to develop and evolve customer facing business systems to enhance and improve the end user experience. CT staff were also identified as a central resource in teaching skills to other areas of the business; consequently communication skills and an understanding of the organisation are essential (E-skills 21, 2001). Another requirements paper by Lewinski (2003) suggests that IS skills can be more effectively developed through on-the-job training. The classification of requirements was not as specific as the other literature mentioned, but similarities can be seen in the results. With regard to technical skills; troubleshooting was required by 97 preceptor respondents, 91 services and facilitation, 82 installation of hardware/software and configuration, and 67 expressed a need for systems operation, monitoring and maintenance. Equal importance was placed upon non-technical skills, including; good communication, analytical/problem solving, flexibility and the ability to learn quickly. The only other study to include both a perceived and actual approach to skills assessment (as this study does) is by Hay (2003). The report by Hay (2003) concludes that there are four skills that are consistently higher than perceived needs of the job; basic computer use, word processing, spread sheet and database use. The areas repeatedly below the required level were presentation and graphics software, and use of a browser. There was also a reported â€Å"clear gap in the market† in the areas of knowledge of operating systems and networking. These skills gaps are readily identifiable by the employees themselves, with over 50% of participants lacking the required skills in at least one area. There are so many papers, with so many different classifications that comparing them directly was extremely difficult in writing this literature review. The common themes that came out were the technical and generic split of skills. There is a need for combination of both sets of skills. The skills gaps appear to be entered on OS and Networking skills on the technical side, and all skills related to the generic side. The only way to breakdown the mixture of skills from various papers to be able to understand and compare in a scientific way is by using an industry standard framework. The chosen framework and a number of other frameworks are described inspection 3.5. 3.4 E-Learning Skills Any employee, in any role, requires some overall, understanding of the business within which they work. Therefore, as this study is of IS professional skills in the e-learning industry each individual employed is required to have some understanding of the basics of teaching, tallow them to function as part of an educational organisation. The skills mentioned in this section will be required, though the depth of pedagogical skills will by dependant on the individual’s role. For example, the pedagogical skills of a training professional should be considerably stronger than that of a programmer. There was surprisingly little literature in the area of IS professionals working in-learning. The most useful research found was by Massy (2000 and2001). Both these studies were critically analysed by the Scottish enterprise research report published on their website. Both the papers suggested that the skills and competencies required by on-line training professionals can be broadly categorised as technical, pedagogical and managerial. Massy (2001) pointed out that there has been a consistent shift from the importance laid on Information Communication Technologies skills requirements with increased efforts now being placed on the acquisition of the above mentioned categories. The SFIA framework appears to cover every aspect of IS skills, the area of education and training was looked at closely being of particular importance to this study, and was found to give enough detail for IS professionals in general. Although more detail was required in the design of the instrument used in this study. â€Å"In line with developments in technology generally, the impact of technology-supported learning (TSL), and in particular e-learning(EL), has given rise to new combinations of skills, featuring how people learn with a sound understanding of the available technology in the design of learning experiences.† (Massy, 2000a cited in SERR, 2005) The first survey by Massy (2000) showed some interesting differences from the follow-up survey (2001). There was a marked change in focus of skills from technical (ICT) to pedagogical skills. The key concern in2000, was that technology had become the central focus for e-learning development, appeared to have been address in the 12 months that passed before the second survey. Greater emphasis was now being placed on the managerial and pedagogical attributes required for producing and presenting e-learning. In the same 12 month period, over 60% of respondents had taken part in some informal training, and a further 30% formal classroom-based learning. The step down in attaining ICT skills was reportedly due to the basic fluency being established and the focus being directed to attaining new skills in e-learning content design. This requires a greater understanding of management and pedagogy. The study by Martin and Jennings (2002) followed the same approach as Massy. In this survey a distinction was made between users and suppliers of e-learning. Unfortunately it is not possible to make that distinction, as more often than not they are the same person. This problem of identifying groups was also expressed in the report, â€Å"Unreality, most user organisations are also providers of e-learning, such as universities.† Suppliers identified an increased interest in gaining in-depth Information Communication skills; others suggesting this were a major problem. Stronger leadership and ‘championing’ of projects is also required. The most important ICT skills identified, with regard to-learning were: To effectively utilise web-page design, including text, audio and video conferencing materials, E-mail, Bulletin boards, Discussion forums for communication with and between learners (SERR,2005). These are relatively common and well-developed skills for IS professionals. Another important issue, which has continued to braised throughout this literature review, is the need for better collaboration between industry (supplier) and academia. To aid this it is also suggested that e-learning needs to be integrated further in to university and college education. 3.5 Information System Frameworks IS management and occupational analysts in different-organisations and countries have tried to distil the structure of the industry, from the constantly evolving picture, so it is understandable that a number of different occupational frameworks have therefore emerged. The most important frameworks to this study are those that have been used for surveys. While there are broad similarities, different surveys, using different frameworks, produce different results, and although they may enrich the overall picture of the industry, they cannot generally be usefully compared. A number of academics have developed their own skills frameworks. Allot these follow the same format of grouping technical and business skills, against various levels of competency. Examples of academic frameworks developed include early research by Ashen Hurst (1972) that identified 37 skills and abilities that a student in a graduate IS program should expect to acquire into six categories: people, models, systems, computers, organizations, and society. Similarly the work of Todd et al. (1995) classified IS knowledge into seven categories: hardware, software, business, management, social, and problem solving, and development methodology. It was also reasoned that interpersonal and managerial skills are more important than any technical skills for IS managers. Nelson (1991) classified 30 skills into six groups: organizational knowledge, organizational skills, organizational unit, general IS knowledge, technical skills, and IS product. This paper found that IS personnel were deficient in general IS knowledge followed by organizational knowledge, technical skills, organizational skills, IS product, and organizational units (in that order). Lee and Gosling (1999) classified three key abilities of IS professionals: ability to learn new technologies, ability to focus on technology as a means (not an end), and ability to understand technological trends into technology management knowledge and other technology-related knowledge into technical specialized knowledge. There port classified non-technology-related knowledge into business functional knowledge, interpersonal and management skills, letting interpersonal and management skills contain some personal traits. Also included was the ability to teach others interpersonal and management skills. It was found that non-technological knowledge is now more important than technical skills. A skills framework gives organisations: A clear, well-structured view of their staffs skills; A tool for more accurate planning and management of resources; A tool for accurate development of careers, so improving retention; A better way of targeting training; A method of risk assessment for the loss of key skills; A tool for accurate and efficient recruitment (Taken From Skills Framework ). In the UK, in June 2001 e-skills NTO published a Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). It provides a common reference model for the identification of the skills needed to develop effective Information Systems making use of Information Communications Technologies. It appeared to be a simple and coherent two-dimensional framework consisting of areas of work on one axis and levels of responsibility on the other (SFIA ). Previously there was no industry benchmark for organisation to measure the skill levels of their organisation. The methodology for this study will be developed to allow the results to be mapped directly onto the framework. Therefore, the findings can be compared to those of previous research carried out by-skills NTO. 3.6 Summary The literature presented has highlighted some important issues, provided grounding for this study and has helped eliminate some of the preconceptions of what was expected. The purpose of identifying skills gaps is to allow the appropriate training to be adopted, therefore eliminating the performance problems that exist. The career paths of the IS industry are no longer straight forward and the complexity and diversity of the sector makes understanding it in a scientific way very difficult. The literature suggests that as the industry is so dynamic, relationships must be improved between education and industry. The problems that exist relate to academic and training practitioners not providing the correct skills in their graduates. Research focused academia tends to provide graduates with the latest emerging technologies, these skills quickly become out-of-date, while the more fundamental technologies appear to be neglected. This is expressed in the views of many industry speakers, it is assumed that an IS professional will be capable of learning new programming languages, once the method of logical thinking has been established. It is more important to develop the established fundamental technologies, and allow the professional to develop the niche skills required as they move into a specialist area, for example e-learning. The technical skills gaps that exist are focused around Microsoft Programs; including Windows/NT, MS Application skills (especially MS Access), and Networking technologies. The generic skills gaps that exist include both written and oral communication, user IT skills, industry awareness, and problem solving. The combinations of these two types of skills gaps are from literature that investigated the whole IS industry. It will be interesting to see how they compare with thee-learning sector, which you would presume at this stage to have stronger focus on generic skills. The literature that was focused one-learning highlighted all forms of communication (e.g. oral, written, and electronic) as the most important generic skills. The most important technical skills required included web related technologies and presentation or audio visual skills. The final area to look into was to see if the focus change from technical to pedagogical was visible in this study. This could not be done in the same way as the literature by repeating the study again after a 12 month period. As different approach the structure of the instrument could be written in way to allow comparisons to be made between importance levels of the three categories of skill. The main reasons cited for skills gaps in the ICT sector are a lack of skills/experience of new technologies and organisations failing to train/develop staff sufficiently to meet their needs. This in turn causes difficulty in introducing technological change. The other effects highlighted include delays in the development of new products/services and difficulties meeting business objectives. Much of the literature suggests the most obvious actions to address the problem of skills gaps would be to provide further training and increase recruitment of direct staff. These can be included in the changing of working practices. The chapter on research methods will explain exactly what instruments are used and the approach taken. The literature was used extensively to create the instruments and followed previous research to allow comparisons of the results to be made. They follow the form set out in this review; combining technical, generic and pedagogical skills. Instruments used in the literature were modified and extended for the purposes of this study. The results chapter also uses some of the literature as a source of ideas for the descriptions and highlighting the most significant findings. This is to allow direct comparison with previous studies. The main gap identified in the literature is with regard to quantifying the pedagogical skills mentioned. In Masons work the skills are mentioned but not in enough detail. In the e-learning industry the pedagogical skills will not match that of a â€Å"normal† teacher or lecturer, as there is not only a significant difference between the methods of teaching and learning, but also in content provision. The student in an e-learning environment is a researcher, which is quite different from classroom based taught learning. There are also further technical skills that are only required in this sector that need to be assessed. This study should provide the reader with an understanding of the requirements of an IS professional working in e-learning and highlight the gaps that currently exist in this sector in Berkshire. It will be of particular benefit to persons working within the industry or closely linked to it. This study can be used as a basis to start an investigation into the requirements of an IS e-learning undergraduate or postgraduate course. 3.7 Research Hypothesis Null Hypothesis is defined as ‘The state opposite to that suggested in a hypothesis, postulated in the hope of rejecting its form and therefore proving the hypothesis.’ Hence the null hypothesis for this research may be stated as H0: â€Å"There is no skills gap among Information system professionals in the e-learning sector.† The following research hypothesis is derived from the literature and will be tested using the primary research conducted by the researcher. H1: â€Å"There exists a skills gap among Information system professional in the e-learning sector† 4. Research Methodology 4.1 Introduction An appropriate research methodology is a general plan of how the researcher will go about answering the research questions considering the sources to collect data and the constraints that one might have(access to data, time, location and money, etc.). It should reflect the fact that the researcher has thought carefully about why a particular strategy/method has been employed. Data intended for almost any study can be obtained from two sources: Primary Data and Secondary Data. This chapter describes the process of method selection and justification for the method chosen. The sample selection method is described and the design of the instrument used is included. There is an introduction into how the results were analysed before the results chapter which holds greater detail. Then there is a short description of how the methods chosen could have been improved or expanded on given greater time or financial resources. 4.2 Choice of Methodology A small-scale research study of this kind can use a survey to obtain large amounts of data in a short space of time. This study has produced a statistical analysis of the skills r