Assistive Technology, Needs Assessment and Devices For Seniors and the Disabilities

Many senior citizens or people with disabilities or injuries make use of assistive technology-tools, products, or kinds of equipment that help people perform tasks and activities. They can be as simple as a hearing aid, a walker, or a magnifying glass, or as complex as a computer or motor scooter.

More specifically, assistive technology or adaptive devices are services or instruments that help senior citizens or people with disabilities perform the activities they used to perform but must now perform differently. Anything that helps the elderly continue to do daily activities in the context of in home care is considered assistive technology.

Assistive Technology Options and Devices

Many kinds of disabilities exist, so many kinds of assistive technology have been created to help people overcome a great range of disabilities. Some kinds of assistive technology are described below: 

• Adaptive switches. These are modified switches that senior citizens can use to adjust devices like air conditioners, power wheelchairs, etc. by using the tongue or voice.
• Communication equipment. This is anything that helps someone send and receive messages, such as a telephone amplifier.
• Computer access. This is special software that helps senior citizens access the Internet or basic hardware like a modified mouse or keyboard to make the computer more user-friendly.
• Education. This category includes audio books, Braille writing tools, and resources for people to get additional vocational training.
• Home modifications. This can include some remodeling to overcome physical barriers and live more comfortably. An example is constructing a ramp to allow wheelchair access.
• Tools for independent living. This is anything that allows senior citizens to enjoy daily life without additional assistance. An example is a handicapped-accessible bathroom with grab bars in the bathtub.
• Job-related items. This is any process or device that facilitates your job. This could include a special type of chair or pillow if you work at a desk or a back brace if you perform physical labor.
• Mobility aids. This is any device that allows a senior citizen to move around more easily, including a power wheelchair, a wheelchair lift, or a stair elevator.
• Orthotic or prosthetic equipment. This is a tool that compensates for a missing or disabled body part. This could include shoe inserts for someone with fallen arches or an artificial arm for someone who has undergone an amputation.
• Recreational assistance. This is a method or device that enables people with disabilities to enjoy fun activities. A couple examples are swimming lessons from recreational therapists and specially made skis for senior citizens who have lost a limb.
• Seating aids. This is a modification to a chair, wheelchair, or motor scooter that helps someone remain upright, move up and down without assistance, or decrease the amount of pressure on the skin. This could be as simple as an extra pillow or as complex as a motorized seat.
• Sensory enhancements. These are devices that help people who are partially blind or deaf to participate in more activities. This could include a caption option on a television for a senior citizen who is hard of hearing.
• Therapy. This could include equipment or processes that encourage and work toward recovery after an illness or injury. This may involve both services and technology, like having a physical therapist use a specialized massage unit to restore a more complete range of motion in stiff muscles.
• Transportation assistance. This category includes devices for senior citizens that facilitate getting into and out of vehicles and driving safely, including adjustable mirrors, seats, and steering wheels. Drive-up windows at the department of motor vehicles that allow the elderly to maintain and register their vehicles are also included.

Now that you know what falls into the category of assistive technology, you may be wondering what the benefits are. For starters, many senior citizens view assistive technology as a way to live independently without worrying about having long-term elder care or living in a nursing home. It allows in home care to be conducted in areas of living such as bathing and going to the bathroom.

Studies show that the majority of senior citizens who use methods of assistive technology have reduced their dependence on others, including paid assistance. Families may need to make monthly payments for this kind of equipment, but the costs are generally less than those associated with in home care or nursing homes. This means that assistive technology can reduce the cost of elder care for senior citizens and their families.

Assistive Technology Needs Assessment in the Elderly

Is assistive technology right for you? Planning and assessment are important parts of deciding whether to use assistive technology since it can interfere with your current services or the way in which those services are provided.

This assessment is most thorough when it involves many people within your spectrum of support. For instance, if you have trouble communicating or are hard of hearing, you may wish to consult with your doctor, an audiology specialist, a speech-language therapist, or other elder care provider to identify your specific problem and determine the plan that will best address your needs. If assistive technology is a part of this plan, your team can help decide which devices are appropriate for you, choosing the most effective tools at the lowest cost. Training to use the devices chosen may also be included in your plan.

A case study shows the benefits of conducting a needs assessment and working with a team in terms of improving the quality of life of an elderly woman:

A team worked together to help Christina find and buy a hearing aid that allowed her to hear well again. She could watch television again with the help of special magnification equipment and a telecaption decoder. More assistive technology allowed her to talk on the phone and use the computer like she used to. When combined with her hearing aid, assistive technology improved the quality and ease of Christina's life.

When you're considering assistive technology, it's helpful to look at both simple and complex solutions to find the one that's best for you over a range of time. Complex, high-tech solutions may be more expensive, but they're usually more adaptable if your needs change over time. Simple, low-tech solutions may be cheaper in the short-run, but they aren't as adaptable. Before purchasing any expensive assistive technology, make sure it can be upgraded to change with your needs and upgraded as improvements are designed. Here are some questions to ask when considering assistive technology:

• Which tasks do you need help with, and how frequently do you need help?
• Which types of assistive technology will enable you to be most independent?
• Is there a more advanced device that addresses more than one of your needs?
• Does the manufacturer have a preview policy so you can try out the equipment and return it for credit if it isn't what you need?
• How do you expect your needs to change over the next six months? the next six years or longer?
• Is the equipment up-to-date? Will it likely be off the market in the near future?
• Which kinds of assistive technology are available that meet your needs?
• Which types of assistive technology have you used before, and how did those devices work?
• Will you always need help with a certain task, and can the device be adjusted to fit your needs as your condition changes?

Costs and Payment Options for Assistive Technology

Another important aspect of deciding whether you'd like to use assistive technology is cost and financing. Currently, no single private insurance plan or public program will cover the entire cost of assistive technology under any circumstances, but Medicare Part B can cover up to 80 percent of the cost of equipment that falls under the category of "durable medical equipment." This includes devices that are "primarily and customarily used to serve a medical purpose, and generally are not useful to a person in the absence of illness or injury."

Some state-run Medicaid programs also cover some assistive technology. This may help you, but it will not cover the entire cost of buying an expensive device like a power wheelchair.

If you're a senior citizen who is eligible for veterans' benefits, you may also want to explore the possibility of financial assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA). This agency has an existing structure to pay for the large volume of devices it purchases, and it invests in training people to operate assistive technology.

Other options to pay for assistive technology are private health insurance and paying with your own funds. Paying out-of-pocket is generally a viable option for simple items like modified eating utensils, but most senior citizens need assistance in paying for more complex devices. Another option is finding discounts, grants, or rebates from not-for-profit organizations or companies that want you to try a certain product that you might not otherwise consider. If you're looking into this option, you may want to be careful-businesses with commercial interests have the potential to be fraudulent.

Since private health insurance does not cover the entire cost of this equipment, you may want to look into subsidy programs, which can provide some kinds of assistive technology at a reduced cost or for free.

The Caring Space
http://www.TheCaringSpace.com

David Crumrine at the Caring Space
We are an organization that connects caregivers and care seekers, providing an easy and affordable resource for families seeking care for friends/loved ones and caregivers seeking employment.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3019490

Beware the Seductive Power of Technology

I Like Technology. I'm conceding all the good and fun things that computer-based technology has brought into our lives; I'll not fight that battle. Not only would I lose any argument against the wonderful additions technology has made to our lives, I would be fighting against myself. I love it that I can flip open a Star Trek "communicator" and talk to almost anyone, anytime. I love the very idea of having a communication device out in my back yard, near the bird feeder, that is communicating with a satellite in low earth orbit. Wow! And do I ever love my computer-oops, computers. As in many computers. In fact, my job is strongly tied to technology and I love to get paid. However, this article is a warning, a plea to open our eyes wider than our big screen TVs, to step back out of cell phone range, to put down our PDAs for a minute and look at what has gotten a hold on us.

Technology is Seductive

Technology has the power to draw us in and cause us to lose perspective about what is happening. Just try talking to your child (or maybe your spouse or best friend) the next time some slick TV program or commercial is shimmering across the screen and you'll see what has all of their attention. Technology draws us in. But if we're drawn in, we're also leaving something behind. We could be abandoning loving or developing relationships or the quiet time necessary to think purposefully about our lives, where we are going and how we want to live five years from now. To continue this idea, that technology is seductive, let's look at the natural progression of how we respond to new technology.

Technology as a Toy

All new technology comes to us in the guise of a toy, thus its initial seductive pull on us. No matter the age, the new technology feels like a toy. It is smooth, pretty and flashes little lights. It makes cute sounds and we respond to it from the childlike (or childish) center of our being. It is not the sophisticated 35 year old business executive that is responding to the new all-purpose, highly-evolved technology thing, it is instead the seven year old child inside that is gushing and filled with Christmas morning lust. We might not even have any way to use it yet, but we play with it. We turn channels, set the volume on the 96 surround sound speakers (yours doesn't have 96?), take pictures of our toes with it, and enthusiastically pursue carpel tunnel problems as quickly as our thumbs and fingers can fly over fun little colored buttons. It is a toy. But it does move evolve into our next category and that makes us feel a little better about it and helps us avoid the fact that we just spent a year of future retirement on a toy.

Technology as a Tool

The toy usually becomes a tool. In our strong desires to justify the purchase of the toy, we look for things it can do. Ah, it keeps my calendar. Cool! Now I won't have to keep track of my $29.00 day planner and worry about losing it. I just need to worry about losing my $495 PDA. But it can also take pictures. That's important. It's also good that it can erase them because I find I take a lot of pictures that are really crap and now I not only spent time taking the pictures, I also get to spend time erasing them. But the toys often turn into very serious tools. I may continue to use my cell phone toy as I unconsciously blow through red lights and make turns without signaling (need that spare arm for the cell), but I also realize this toy is a serious safety tool. I don't want to be broken down on the highway and not have this link to help. The same 50" flat screen wall hanging that is a toy is also a tool to be aware of threatening weather and important current events. And the notebook computer that empowers me to look at pictures of potential Russian brides helps me write this article and project investment returns. Toys have the potential of becoming tools. From puppies to working dogs. But there is a third and more dangerous level.

Technology as a Tyrant

Dictionary.com offers one definition of a tyrant as, "a tyrannical or compulsory influence." Wow! Think cellphone, e-mail, Skype, compulsive checking of forums, chat rooms, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and all the other current flavors of Turkish delight known as technology. These things can be toys (relatively harmless except for what they might be replacing), they can be tools, or they can become tyrants. When deeply engrained into our work or social structure, they change from being puppies or work dogs and become pit bulls that can bite and clamp down so that it is very difficult to dislodge them. I used to be able to keep up with the demands of my job. Once upon a time I actually had a little time that I could budget weekly that was "walk around and get to know everyone better" time. No more. Now I am constantly juggling attention among appointments, drop-in unannounced visitors, snail mail, phone calls with the pink reminders, cell phone calls, and e-mail. I can never get one caught up without intrusions from all of the others. The first four were barely manageable, with cell and e-mail added, I'm no longer in control, the pit bull is. So, what happened?

How Did We Get Like This?

Okay. Here is the crux of this article. Technology is on a different evolutionary rate than us humans. It reproduces faster than mice and changes species with each generation. We were enticed, and continue to be enticed, by technology due to its seductive dark side. It beckons to the seven year old inside and draws us in. As a tool, technology is embraced and embedded into our lives, seemingly as a partner, one called alongside of us to help us. But, without an understanding of the evolutionary path of technology, we do not control its place in our lives. It becomes a tyrant that bullies us and pulls us around on its lease instead of the other way around. Because of the initial seductive nature of technology, we don't easily see that it will tend to take us to where we don't want to go and make us pay more than we first thought we were willing to pay. So, what shall we then do?

What We Must Do

I'm not offering a plan but an approach. The approach depends upon fully understanding what has gotten a grip on us. I suggest the following critical pieces for beginning to manage technology and protect our humanity:

• Clearly see that technology is seductive and separate out and control the childish reactions to the initial toy aspects of new technology. Gratification can be delayed (an adult response) and toys can be both played with and put away.
• Think through both intended and unintended consequences of bringing a shiny, new technology toy into your life. What is it replacing? How will you control it so it doesn't put you on a leash?
• Do not assume that a new technology tool is better than an older one that worked well for you in the past. I have a colleague who keeps in a pocket a little list of things to do, thoughts, and insights. His pen and paper list worked a lot better than my PDA when when my technology tool lost both primary and backup batteries and I lost passwords to multiple accounts and forums. Which is better?
• Many new technology tools cannot be avoided. However, they can be managed. Think of ways to limit their use and how to communicate your policies for your use to your colleagues, family, and friends. For example, I check my email once a day and make it clear to my colleagues that I am not sitting at my computer all day waiting for the chime (evidently, they are).
• Finally, pay attention to the things that technology tends to replace and redouble your effort to work on relationships so you have no regrets.

To rewrite a common adage, no one's last words are likely to be, "I wish I had purchased the 60" HD instead of the 54".

Jacob is involved in learning and teaching effective parenting. Since he is a math guy, he is also a gadget lover. Head on over to his site [http://www.electronicnotepad.org/] to learn about a Electronic Notepad [http://www.electronicnotepad.org/] and how this inexpensive tech tool (yes, tool) can save you time by producing both a digital copy and a hard copy of your notes and sketches.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3444728

The Importance of "Doing" Hands-On Science

What makes "difficult subjects", such as science, so difficult to teach and to learn? It could be that the concepts aren't quite as easy to learn via rote memorization or by simply reading about them in books. Based on how people learn, science is a subject that is best taught by using hands-on experimentation and relating it to the physical world around us.

Why Is Science So Hard?

Science often gets a bad rap as being one of those subjects we need to teach our kids - but since we don't understand it all that well ourselves, we dread teaching it and our kids can't get excited it about learning it, either.

And that's a real shame, because children love science before any formal schooling takes place. According to the National Academies Press book by John Bradsford, Ann Brown, and Rodney Cocking, How People Learn, gaining knowledge about science is a natural part of development, "Developmental researchers have shown that young children understand a great deal about basic principles of biology and physical causality, about number, narrative, and personal intent, and that these capabilities make it possible to create innovative curricula that introduce important concepts for advanced reasoning at early ages."

So we know that young kids can innately understand science... why do they have a difficult time learning it in school?

One problem is that homeschool teachers expect to be able to purchase a science textbook, open it up, and start teaching straight from its pages. This presents several problems, however. For one, it's boring. Kids don't get excited about seeing things on the pages of a book. For another, it's ineffective. This type of teaching promotes rote memorization. That's difficult for most of us because we have so much data in our brains already and years later, we usually forget most of that information because it's not tied to other, more important areas of our lives.

A Better Way To Teach Science

Fortunately, you don't have to thoroughly understand the topics you teach. What if you could learn along with your child? There is a way to do this, and it involves finding a curriculum that supports this type of study. It's referred to as "building block" methodology that introduces students to essential topics first, then builds on that foundation to introduce more and more complex topics. This logical progression allows students to begin understanding science at an early age and even learn college-level science by the time they are in middle school.

Not only should science education use a building block approach, it should serve as more of a guide rather than a listing of dry, hard facts. In order to help students come to the "right" conclusions, an effective science curriculum sets up the scenario, then allows students to explore the concepts in a hands-on manner. This occurs while connecting the new concepts to information they already know, thus allowing them to assimilate science in real life situations. In other words, students form a hypothesis based on science learning, then perform an experiment to prove or disprove the belief. This is how real scientists work and how kids are best able to understand real science.

When you are considering any homeschool science curriculum, look for a depth of understanding over a breadth of knowledge. It's not important to cram a bunch of science "facts" into a student's head; what is important is allowing him or her to explore and have fun with the process of science. Doing science rather than simply memorizing it is what results in true comprehension.

Dr. Rebecca Keller is the founder of Gravitas Publications, which produces Real Science 4 Kids homeschool science curriculum. RS4K includes student textbooks, lab workbooks and teacher's manuals on the topics of biology, chemistry, astronomy, geology and physics which makes teaching these difficult subjects easy and FUN! Please join her and other homeschool parents on Facebook or visit the Real Science 4 Kids blog [http://www.realscienceblog.com/]. Receive Dr. Keller's 10 Tips for Teaching Real Science by visiting either page!

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Platonic Fullerene Science and World Peace

The national or tribal political will that puts modern science and technology to work, seeks to control economic employment for the masses and maintain a defence structure to ensure the continuation of political power. This can be done in the name of democracy, plutocracy, dictatorship, religion, monarchies, etc. All vie to develop emotional mind control spin-aesthetics to convince their subjects that they are better off than their competitor nations or tribes. It follows that the idea of a one world government must constitute a threat to such various mind control systems. However, it is possible to override this concern by using riorous science to develop a sustainable medical code of ethics, designed specifically to guide civilisation into a state of perpetual world peace rather than perpetual conflict. The only thing preventing this to occur is science itself.

As the full potential of nanotechnology emerges, nations with nuclear weapons at their disposal will begin to realise that they will soon be no longer protected by them. It is obvious that futuristic nano-machines will be able to mass produce undetectable nano-weapons of mass destruction and there are plenty of willing zealots who would be greatly honoured to use them against civilian populations. Some might declare this to be a natural culling of people on an overpopulated planet. There will be plenty of high-ranking military personnel determined to use nanotechnology to stop the religious zealots. On the other hand, nanotechnology has the potential to create anything from very little, including the construction of food and water. Without a responsible science those controlling nanotechnology will bring hell on earth. However, with a responsible science to guide them to it, utopia is possible. In order to obtain that utopia, the scientific will to create it must first exist.

The fanatic will to bring about violent destruction is not limited to religious zealots who inflict instant entropic destruction upon innocent civilians. This fanatical will is fundamentally basic to almost all highly trained scientists as well. The prevailing scientific world-view's desire to move civilians toward entropic destruction is just as fanatical, but it operates in a slower and more organised manner. Scientists need to realise why this is an accurate depiction of the mainstream scientific mindset and to dissociate themselves from a inner compulsion to worship destructive chaos.

The Nobel Laureate Lord Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein used mathematics to convince themselves that people must worship chaos destruction. Russell's most popular essay was entitled 'A Freeman's Worship' in which he wrote that scientists must be governed by the physics law that Einstein called the premier law of all of the sciences, the law of universal chaos. At the very end, Russell wrote, all human creative genius will be utterly destroyed within a universe in thermodynamic ruin.This fanatical mindset cannot be emotionally negated by people continually telling each other to have a happy day. The time period for entropic human extinction, in nano-terms, is not at all linked to the lengthy one that Russell and Einstein predicted.

Arguing totally the opposite to the worshipping of Diabolic chaos, was the Platonic tradition of scientific philosophy that, during the 3rd Century BC, created the 'Science for Ethical Ends'. One may well ask, what makes Platonic logic so important in this matter of human survival? The answer to that question is that Platonic logic defined 'evil' as a destructive property of unformed matter within the physical atom, which can emerge to destroy civilisation.

The same mathematical logic that predicted this threat of nuclear destruction also applies to the misuse of nanotechnology. One may then ask, who can you trust to guide ennobling ethical government for the benefit of all? Platonic 'good' was defined as being for the health of an infinite universe. Therefore, the answer is that you can trust a medical science based upon a sustainable infinite evolutionary ethic. The next question arises, how can you locate an infinite evolutionary ethic that functions for the health of the universe when modern mainstream physics prohibits it to exist?

The answer to that question is obvious. Nanotechnology has shown that the molecule of emotion discovered in 1972 by Dr Candace Pert is part of a complex dynamical fractal energy system extending its logic to a universal infinity in contradiction to Russell and Einstein's world-view. The molecule of emotion continuously upgrades the structure of the endocrine fluids maintaining human health within an evolving infinite universe. That process is the basis of the emerging science of quantum biology, which entangles with the energies of chaos to evolve human consciousness. Quantum biology tells us that it is time to stop worshipping the god of chaos that the ancient Greeks called Diabolos.

Buckminster Fuller used the Platonic ethical mathematics to develop his synergistic model of the universe and the three 1996 Nobel laureates in chemistry named the basis of their new medical science as Fullerene Chemistry. Fuller wrote a book entitled 'Utopia or Oblivion' in which he postulated that we now have a choice to be governed by the law of chaos or by the Platonic engineering principles of creation. To the non-scientist this means living in a universe governed by Platonic love.

From Fuller's balanced energy perspective, derived directly from Platonic mathematics, the necessary medical science can be envisaged in which nano-technology can be guided by an ethical Platonic Oath, upgrading the ancient Hippocratic one, used in medicine today. During the 18th and 19th Centuries, a PhD in science meant a doctorate in philosophy and the great philosophers of that time, who made the great electromagnetic discoveries, used the mathematics belonging to the Platonic ethical science to develop ethical electromagnetic physics. Any leading encyclopaedia will explain that the discoverer of the electromagnetic field, Hans Christian Oersted, wrote his doctoral dissertation, based upon the electromagnetic ethics postulated by the philosopher of science Emmanuel Kant.

Friedrich Schelling and Alexander Humboldt upgraded the electromagnetic ethic in terms compatible with recent discoveries made by nanotechnology. The Platonic tradition of philosophy classifies modern scientists as ignorant barbaric engineers, only fit to help engineer continual Diabolic chaos. Although Kant's work is held to greatly influence 21st Century scientific culture, it is a good bet that extremely few scientists reading this article would have the faintest clue that anybody ever reasoned about any sort of electromagnetic ethic, or that scientists in the past wrote formulae to demonstrate how electromagnetic ethics balanced E=Mc2.

They might therefore ask themselves, is it true that I cannot even begin to reason about such things, even though my PhD confirms me to be a philosopher? Have I been taught that I cannot challenge Einstein's entropic world-view? Am I aware that some scientists simply assume that the universe is infinite in order to derive practical solutions to complex engineering problems? Is it possible that I might be only be fit to accelerate entropic chaos in all of my reasoning unless I consider linking my hard earned knowledge to the holographic reality of quantum biology?

These question are rather serious ones. In emotional universal energy terms, there is little difference between a suicide bomber accelerating instant entropic chaos upon innocent people and the development of modern science doing the same thing in slow motion. By ignoring the existence of electromagnetic ethics within nanotechnology, huge machines are digging are up raw materials for entropic industrial development and huge fishing trawlers are netting dolphins as the nets rape the oceans. The perpetrators remain oblivious to the potential of nanotechnology to produce both the raw materials and food supplies from almost nothing.

It appears to be futile to try telling these things to a society hell bent on accelerating destructive chaos and fearful for job opportunities via an economy that converted Kantian ethics for world-peace on earth into an unattainable entropic cancerous economic growth concept. Could it become possible for scientists to allow their brilliant but unbalanced training to become entangled with the newly emerging quantum biology? People need to become aware of what they are doing when they feel obliged to remain in complete servitude to any of the dictates of 20th Century entropic mathematics, physics, politics, economics and religious certitude. Then they may be on the lookout for ethical opportunities in order to become a responsible part of the future nano-quantum biology supra-science.

Georg Cantor's mathematics is now a fundamental part of modern science. It is time to stop adding to him being the most vilified mathematician in history because of his objective to use his infinity mathematics to bring about world peace. The reader is urged to download 'Physics of life: The dawn of quantum biology' on Google to read about NASA findings relevant to this article, as published in the journal Nature and containing two subheadings 'Nature knows a few tricks that scientists don't' and 'This might just give us a few clues in the quest to develop quantum biology'.

© Professor Robert Pope, Advisor to the President Oceania and Australasia of the Institute for Theoretical Physics and Advanced Mathematics (IFM) Einstein-Galilei for Theoretical Physics and Advanced Mathematics (IFM) Einstein-Galilei

http://www.science-art.com.au

Professor Robert Pope is the Director of the Science-Art Research Centre of Australia, Uki, NSW, Australia. The Center's objective is to initiate a second Renaissance in science and art, so that the current science will be balanced by a more creative and feminine science. More information is available at the Science-Art Centre website: http://www.science-art.com.au/books.html

Professor Robert Pope is a recipient of the 2009 Gold Medal Laureate for Philosophy of Science, Telesio Galilei Academy of Science, London. He is an Ambassador for the Florentine New Measurement of Humanity Project, University of Florence, is listed in Marquis Who's Who of the World as an Artist-philosopher, and has received a Decree of Recognition from the American Council of the United Nations University Millennium Project, Australasian Node.

As a professional artist, he has held numerous university artist-in-residencies, including Adelaide University, University of Sydney, and the Dorothy Knox Fellowship for Distinguished Persons. His artwork has been featured of the front covers of the art encyclopedia, Artists and Galleries of Australia, Scientific Australian and the Australian Foreign Affairs Record. His artwork can be viewed on the Science-Art Centre's website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7271944

Degree Training for an Education (Teaching) Career

The need for educational instructors is increasing as the population continues to grow. Students can obtain a degree in the field of education by enrolling in one of a number of degree schools and colleges. Degree training for an education (teaching) career in the field of education can prepare students to work in elementary schools, middle schools, high school, higher education programs, and much more. With an accredited degree in teaching students will gain the knowledge and skills needed to pursue a variety of careers. Available degrees in this field consist of a bachelor's, masters and doctorates level degree. Students must hold a minimum of a bachelor's degree in order to qualify for entrance into an education training program.

Educational degree training programs are provided to help students prepare for the world of teaching. With an accredited school or college students will gain the skills to work with children of all ages as well as adults. Coursework will vary depending on the program of enrollment and the level of degree desired by each individual student. Most professional in this field are required to study subjects like:

• English
• Discipline
• Science
• Computers
• History
• Psychology of Learning
• Art

...and more. Some schools and college may also offer training in philosophy of education, social studies, music, physical education, teaching methods, and other related course subjects.

Students who are looking for the opportunity to enter into a career training program for a degree in education can do so by entering a bachelor's degree program. Most schools require that an associate's degree be obtained prior to enrolling in an educational degree training program. With a bachelors degree in this field students can obtain the skills needed to work with a variety of ages teaching a number of subjects. Teachers with a bachelor's degree have a number of responsibilities when providing an education to others. Accredited schools and colleges will train students to provide educational instruction to their class in a variety of ways. Students can obtain a masters or doctorates degree in education as well.

With an accredited masters or doctorates degree program students can prepare for a career providing an education to others. Education teaching programs at this level provide a more in depth program of study for students looking to specialize in a specific area of the field. With a masters or doctorates degree in education students can find employment specializing in areas like early childhood education, special education, physical education, reading, electives, and much more. Masters and doctorates degree are the highest level of degrees available in this field.

By requesting more information regarding a training program in education students can prepare for the career of their dreams. Students who wish to provide an education to others can gain their own education at various levels in order to become a professional in the field of teaching. Students can also enroll in continuing education certificate courses in order to stay current on various teaching methods. Accredited education schools and colleges that are approved by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education ( http://www.ncate.org/ ) can provide students with the training needed to pass state exams and receive their license.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERIC OUTLINE and may or may not depict precise methods, courses and/or focuses related to ANY ONE specific school(s) that may or may not be advertised at PETAP.org.

Copyright 2010 - All rights reserved by PETAP.org.

Renata McGee is a staff writer for PETAP.org. Locate Education Schools and Colleges as well as Online Education Schools and Colleges at PETAP.org, your Partners in Education and Tuition Assistance Programs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5815534

Higher Education and Society

Institutions of education, and the system of which they are a part, face a host of unprecedented challenges from forces in society that affect and are influenced by these very institutions and their communities of learners and educators. Among these forces are sweeping demographic changes, shrinking provincial budgets, revolutionary advances in information and telecommunication technologies, globalization, competition from new educational providers, market pressures to shape educational and scholarly practices toward profit-driven ends, and increasing demands and pressures for fundamental changes in public policy and public accountability relative to the role of higher education in addressing pressing issues of communities and the society at large. Anyone of these challenges would be significant on their own, but collectively they increase the complexity and difficulty for education to sustain or advance the fundamental work of serving the public good.

Through a forum on education, we can agree to: Strengthening the relationship between higher education and society will require a broad-based effort that encompasses all of education, not just individual institutions, departments and associations.

Piecemeal solutions can only go so far; strategies for change must be informed by a shared vision and a set of common objectives. A "movement" approach for change holds greater promise for transforming academic culture than the prevailing "organizational" approach.

Mobilizing change will require strategic alliances, networks, and partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders within and beyond education.

The Common Agenda is specifically designed to support a "movement" approach to change by encouraging the emergence of strategic alliances among individuals and organizations who care about the role of higher education in advancing the ideals of a diverse democratic system through education practices, relationships and service to society.

A Common Agenda

The Common Agenda is intended to be a "living" document and an open process that guides collective action and learning among committed partners within and outside of higher education. As a living document, the Common Agenda is a collection of focused activity aimed at advancing civic, social, and cultural roles in society. This collaboratively created, implemented, and focused Common Agenda respects the diversity of activity and programmatic foci of individuals, institutions, and networks, as well as recognizes the common interests of the whole. As an open process, the Common Agenda is a structure for connecting work and relationships around common interests focusing on the academic role in serving society. Various modes of aliening and amplifying the common work within and beyond education will be provided within the Common Agenda process.

This approach is understandably ambitious and unique in its purpose and application. Ultimately, the Common Agenda challenges the system of higher education, and those who view education as vital to addressing society's pressing issues, to act deliberately, collectively, and clearly on an evolving and significant set of commitments to society. Currently, four broad issue areas are shaping the focus of the Common Agenda: 1) Building public understanding and support for our civic mission and actions; 2) Cultivating networks and partnerships; 3) Infusing and reinforcing the value of civic responsibility into the culture of higher education institutions; and 4) Embedding civic engagement and social responsibility in the structure of the education system

VISION We have a vision of higher education that nurtures individual prosperity, institutional responsiveness and inclusivity, and societal health by promoting and practicing learning, scholarship, and engagement that respects public needs. Our universities are proactive and responsive to pressing social, ethical, and economic problems facing our communities and greater society. Our students are people of integrity who embrace diversity and are socially responsible and civilly engaged throughout their lives.

MISSION The purpose of the Common Agenda is to provide a framework for organizing, guiding and communicating the values and practices of education relative to its civic, social and economic commitments to a diverse democratic system.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

I believe social justice, ethics, educational equity, and societal change for positive effects are fundamental to the work of higher education. We consider the relationship between communities and education institutions to be based on the values of equally, respect and reciprocity, and the work in education to be interdependent with the other institutions and individuals in society.

We will seek and rely on extensive partnerships with all types of institutions and devoted individuals inside and outside of higher education.

We realize the interconnection of politics, power and privilege. The Common Agenda is not for higher education to self-serve, but to "walk the talk" relative to espoused public goals. We understand the Common Agenda as a dynamic living document, and expect the activities it encompasses to change over time.

THE COMMON AGENDA FRAMEWORK The general framework for the common agenda is represented in the following diagram. It is clear that while goals and action items are organized and aliened within certain issues areas, there is considerable overlap and complimentarity among the issues, goals and action items. Also, following each action item are names of individuals who committed to serve as "point persons" for that particular item. A list of "point persons," with their organizational affiliation(s) is included with the common agenda.

ISSUES

ISSUE 1: MISSION AND ACTIONS

Public understanding more and more equates higher education benefits with acquiring a "good job" and receiving "higher salaries." To understand and support the full benefits of higher education the public and higher education leaders need to engage in critical and honest discussions about the role of higher education in society. Goal: Develop a common language that resonates both inside and outside the institution. Action Items: Develop a common language and themes about our academic role and responsibility to the public good, through discussions with a broader public.

Collect scholarship on public good, examine themes and identify remaining questions. Develop a national awareness of the importance of higher education for the public good through the development of marketing efforts.

Goal: Promote effective and broader discourse. Action Items: Raise public awareness about the institutional diversity within and between higher education institutions.

Identify strategies for engaging alumni associations for articulating public good and building bridges between higher education and the various private and public sector companies. Develop guidelines of discourse to improve the quality of dialogue on every level of society. Organize a series of civil dialogues with various public sectors about higher education and the public good.

ISSUE 2: DEVELOPING NETWORKS AND PARTNERSHIPS

Approaching complex issues such as the role of higher education in society that requires a broad mix of partners to create strategies and actions that encompass multiple valued perspectives and experiences.

Broad partnerships to strengthen the relationship between higher education and society involves working strategically with those within and outside of higher education to achieve mutual goals on behalf of the public good.

Goal: Create broad and dispersed communication systems and processes.

Action Items:

Create an information and resource network across higher education associations Create information processes that announce relevant conferences, recruit presenters and encourage presentations in appropriate national conferences Develop opportunities for information sharing and learning within and between various types of postsecondary institutions (e.g. research-centered communities).

Goal: Create and support strategic alliances and diverse collaborations.

Action Items: Establish and support on-going partnerships and collaborations between higher education associations and the external community (e.g. civic organizations, legislators, community members) Explore with the public how to employ the role of arts in advancing higher education for the public good Promote collaboration between higher education and to address access, retention, and graduation concerns

ISSUE 3: INSTILLING AND REINFORCING THE VALUE OF CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY INTO THE CULTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Education should attend to the implicit and explicit consequences of its work, and reexamine "what counts" to integrate research, teaching and service for the public good to the core working of the institution.

Goal: Emphasize civic skills and leadership development in the curriculum and co-curriculum.

Action Items: Develop and implement a curriculum in colleges and universities that promote civic engagement of students Create co-curricular student and community programs for leadership and civic engagement development Develop learning opportunities, inside and outside of the classroom, that promote liberty, democratic responsibility, social justice and knowledge of the economic system Develop student leadership and service opportunities that focus on ethical behavior Teach graduate students organizing and networking skills, and encourage student leadership and Diversity education

Goal: Foster a deeper commitment to the public good.

Action Items: Work with faculty on communication skills and languages to describe their engagement with the public, and educate faculty for the common good Identify models for promotion and tenure standards Identify models for faculty development

Goal: Identify, recognize, and support engaged scholarship.

Action Items: Identify and disseminate models and exemplars of scholarship on the public good Encourage the participation in community research Help institutions call attention to exemplary outreach. Establish a capacity building effort for institutions

Goal: Bring graduate education into alignment with the civic mission.

Action Items: Work with disciplinary associations to hold dialogues on ways graduate student training can incorporate public engagement, involvement and service Promote "civic engagement" within academic and professional disciplines according to the disciplines' definition of "civic engagement" Incorporate the concept of higher education for the public good into current graduate education reform efforts

ISSUE 4: EMBEDDING CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM

Promoting the public benefits of higher education requires system efforts beyond institutions to intentionally embed values of civic engagement and social responsibility in governance practices, policy decisions, and educational processes.

Goal: Align governing structures and administrative strategies.

Action Items: Develop ways to improve student and the community involvement in the governance and decision making process of educational institutions. Identify and promote ways for institutions to improve involvement with the public and the practice of democracy within their own institution. Establish public good/civic engagement units that orchestrate this work throughout institutions.

Goal: Publicly recognize and support valuable engagement work.

Action Items: Offer public awards that reward institutions with demonstrable track record in serving the public good in order to encourage institutionalization of performance around the public good and civic engagement.

Develop a comprehensive inventory of funding sources, association activities, initiatives, and exemplary practices that advance the public good. Identify, recognize, and support early career scholars who choose to do research on higher education and its public role in society.

Goal: Ensure that assessment and accreditation processes include civic engagement and social responsibility.

Action Items: Identify service for the public good as a key component in provincial and federal educational plans (e.g. Master Plans, provincial budgets, and professional associations).

Bring higher education associations and legislators together to broaden current definition of student outcomes and achievement, and develop a plan for assessment.

Develop strategies and processes to refocus system-wide planning, accreditation and evaluation agendas to consider criteria assessing the social, public benefits of education.

Goal: Cultivate stronger ties between the university, federal and provincial government.

Action Items: Develop a 2-year implementation plan that joins the university rector / Pro-rector and Director with provincial legislators to engage in an assessment of the needs of the public by province Host a series of dialogues between trustees and provincial legislators to discuss the role of universities and public policy in advancing public good at a local, provincial, and national level.

Ms. Afshan Saleem
Senior Lecturer
Bahria University
Karachi

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