Community

At a time when policy consensus at the federal level seems impossible, a grassroots movement is sweeping the nation and kindling a radical transformation in how Americans grow their local economies. Cities, communities and regions are building “ecosystems” of entrepreneurial innovation to generate new businesses and jobs that America needs. It’s no longer enough to recruit businesses from other regions in a perpetual zero-sum game. Nor is it enough to construct buildings, infrastructure, airport terminals or other projects that require heavy subsidies. Instead, we’re witnessing the birth of a new model of economic development — one based on collaboration among entrepreneurs and innovators that elevates culture as a driver of economic growth.

These ecosystems are not only located in the coastal states most readily associated with innovative economies, they are emanating from the center of America.  are offering both hope and optimism for renewed economic growth. With the presidential race providing seemingly no new solutions, Americans should support and expand this movement, for it provides the best hope of revitalizing economies throughout the nation.

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Among the top five metropolitan areas in the Kauffman Foundation’s 2016  are Columbus, Ohio and Nashville. Among the top five metros in the 2016 Kauffman are Austin and Las Vegas.

These are not isolated examples. A majority of U.S. states saw a  in 2015. Ninety-two cities are participating in an initiative that began in Kansas City called “.” Educating, engaging and connecting entrepreneurs, this activity is based on the notion that entrepreneurs discover solutions and network over a million cups of coffee. The number of cities involved in the Startup Champions Network, a coalition of leaders building ecosystems in their respective communities through a variety of activities, is expected to reach 50 this year.

“Ecosystems” are entrepreneurial environments that reflect an organic dynamic quality, rather than a planned linear progression. They are more like rainforests than cultivated fields. They thrive on a culture of encouraged yet unpredictable interactions, rather than on prescribed plans.

Cities and communities create their own designs by  to form environments that spawn businesses in new and unexpected ways. How those ingredients are connected is the key: who meets whom; what culture they share; why people collaborate; how much freedom they have to strike out in new, even wrong, directions and then start again.

How then can these connections be encouraged? The first step is to recognize the available local assets: they may be cultural, historical, educational or attitudinal. Every community or collection of communities has them; that’s why this model is so equitable and far-reaching. But they need to be acknowledged, appreciated and unlocked.

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The next step is to connect individuals who can put those assets to work, which may involve introducing dissimilar people for the first time. Startup community guru Brad Feld calls this the “,” referring to startup entrepreneurs (wearing untucked shirts) and startup supporters (wearing tucked shirts in government, academia, finance or other professions). The collaboration of disparate individuals to forge shared goals is the secret sauce of this movement. That’s an especially important point today when we see so much tribalism in the national dialogue, in the paralysis in Congress and on city streets where anger and even violence erupt from fragmented communities.

In the context of entrepreneurship, diversity is crucial: in background, heritage, perspective, skills and experience, among other attributes. It is the mixing of those attributes in unexpected ways that becomes so dynamic. It is, therefore, not surprising that  have played such a central role in the evolution of so many high-growth companies in America.

Education, too, is key: providing quality education at all levels, increasing access to knowledge, facilitating the transfer of knowledge to market. Education should be more hands-on, more project-based and more design-based to give students skills to transform their ideas into real-world practice.

Most of all, in dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystems people listen, share dreams, take risks and endure failures together. Deep cultural values provide those ground rules.

There’s a pay-it-forward mindset in healthy ecosystems. Although businesses must compete, people still help each other. People recognize that they need each other to build their futures together. Trust is critical when people seek long-term benefit more than short-term gain. Among the many lessons that I learned from years in Silicon Valley is that handshakes are more durable than contracts and altruism is more efficient than selfishness.

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Listening and sharing are core values of 1 Million Cups. The linking of 92 cities in that endeavor is more than a number — it’s a sign of a broader movement emerging. Those 92 cities are in more than 35 states, one U.S. territory and six time zones — from Alaska to Puerto Rico.

Creating effective entrepreneurial policy is not simply about helping entrepreneurs. It’s about unlocking local assets, connecting individuals of diverse backgrounds, improving practical skills and training, and assembling a distinctive environment of trust where innovation can flourish.

That’s what Americans are doing for themselves in communities across the country. They’re not waiting for their leaders. It’s time for our nation’s aspiring and currently elected officials to jump in and fuel this movement. As Mahatma Gandhi , “There goes my people. I must follow them, for I am their leader.”

Professional Career Action Plan As the health care industry grows, the request for higher education is also at a demand. With health care evolving and technology expanding, professional within the health care category must utilize and planning resources. As a student of higher education, one must analyze his or her professional aspect within the health care system. This essay will discuss my views on my professional goal, the health care Job I plan to have, the skills I currently have and the skills that I will need to alter.

Thus the essay will further discuss my plan to achieve my professional goal, he resources available with organizations that will help further professional goal, and the benefits of acquiring a professional career action plan. Professional Goal As I went through my Journey at University of Phoenix, my professional goals have changed many times. With so many knowledgeable facilitators in the fields and receiving feedback on the fields have helped construct a definite decision on what my professional goals will be.

There are so many opportunities in assisting the community and health care organizations from small clinics to larger health organizations. I would like to be an advocate for the Hmong community. I believe that within the Hmong community there is much needed guidance for the children of this generation and many generations to come. This goal does not necessarily remain with the health care industry however; I believe that it is the foundation of all generations to have a successful ongoing community for the Hmong population.

This professional goal is to Join a nonprofit anti- bullying association and volunteer my free time to gain knowledge on educating the society on how prevalent bully is and the effects. From there I wish to gain access to reach out to the Hmong Women’s ssociation. This association is a Sacramento based organization dedicated advance the knowledge of the Hmong community. I want to help educate the Hmong community on bully within the community because all forms of bullying can have an impact on these children who will be able to help shape our society and our health care system (“Hmong Womens Association”, 2012).

My next professional goal is to work in a health care facility within a hospital setting. The Job I wish to acquire in the Health care facility is to be a management coordinator for the utilization unit at a hospital. Job Skills The Job skills that I currently have for the health care management utilization coordinator is I am a confident speaker, the desire of being a patient advocate, and the self will to retain and gain higher education and the ability to adapt to changes.

I believe that my skills are essential to this Job because I am able to speak confidently on the work I do, my desire for being a patient advocate will ensure that patients are receiving quality of care, attaining higher education to expand my knowledge in the field and the ability to adapt to the new health care reform that will be taking place within the health care industry. The skills that I need to hone for this Job is to advance my knowledge in technology. Another skill that is needed is on now to use an excel program. As the health care industry evolves so does technology.

I believe that technology is forever changing and growing. Therefore, I need to have knowledge because health care systems are becoming paperless and becoming digital. For example, the use of video conference is very common in the health care field and the knowledge to run such program is beneficial. The use of excel spreadsheet is a growing skill within this field because it helps track the patients ases that are and need to coordinated. Having such skill is extremely beneficial because it will help organizing cases to make sure patients receive quality care (“Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet”, 2012).

Another skill that I may need to obtain is experience of the Job. I see while Job search on Monster Jobs is health sectors are searching for candidates with Job experience. While looking through there I also notice that for this Job it requires me to have a degree of Bachelor or higher. I can understand that within this economy, the education I have is a good aspect, however I must be able to market my education and my knowledge (Health Care Administration, 2011). Achieving Professional goals I think that my career goals are within reach and I can accomplish anything that I sent my will to.

My plan to achieve these goals is to keep expanding my knowledge and education myself on the changing and evolving health care system. I also plan to further my education and obtain a Master’s degree in management and leadership. I want to obtain a degree higher than bachelor degree because I want to my children, family and community to look up to me and realize that education will be a lifetime orth investment. The professional organizations that will be able to help me achieve these goals are to belong to the American College of Health Executives

The second theme stresses the importance for community ithin our world. Jesus was a relational person creating intimate friendships with all people. Therefore, we are to imitate His act and be interactive with humanity. Being relational includes discipleship, brotherhood, love, and reconciliation. The final theme–vocation discusses the difference between career and calling. When we are patient, seek Him first, and listen for his quiet voice, He will reveal our true calling.

Although the three themes have distinct characteristics and differences from one another all three intersect and are important in the Christian life. When we lose our ense of purpose and meaning, we lose our sense of connection to others and God; we lose our sense of community. Without a sense of purpose we forget that we are created in His image and other people mean little to us because we no longer value ourselves. The image of God is in all creation. We see his reflection in kind and gentle humans and we marvel at the beauty of a summers’ sunset.

His reflection is found in every living thing and in the God-created beauty of nature. Man is the most unique among all of God’s creation because we have a material body and a soul. “Then God aid, let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26, ESV). Having the “likeness of God” means that we were made to resemble God. Man is free to make decisions and reason-this is a reflection of God’s intellect and freedom. “Not only are we created as trustees of God to experience the goodness of creation, we are created to be in community with all creation” (Birch).

Since God has given us a responsibility over “the fish of the see and the birds of the air… over all the earth” (Leviticus 25: 23-24, NIV), we are to fulfill this responsibility by taking care of these things. Creation relates to community in the fact that man was created for fellowship. This reflects God’s nature and His love. In Eden, Adam’s primary relationship was with God, but He made the first woman because “it is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18, ESV). “Relationality is a part of the image of God.

If we are free and responsible persons, and everyone else is similarly free and reasonable, we are inseparably linked to one another through our choices” Oacobsen ; Sawatsky). Creation relates to our calling as well in this way, “Our special status as bearers of God’s image brings special responsibilities. In particular, we are called to use our gifts and talents in the service of God, in helping others, and in caring for the natural world” Oacobsen ; Sawatsky Man has been created as a relational people.

This sense of community can be seen in many aspects of our lives such as the church, our families, our friends, and many other places. While Jesus was on this Earth, He made numerous connections with people through stories, sharing, and demonstrating acts of love. We are to follow in His footsteps. Not only are we supposed to reach out to others, but we are also supposed to reconcile with them. Reconciliation is key to having a relationship with someone, and sustaining it. Reconciliation can happen, because as Christians, we understand that God reconciled with us by sending Jesus Christ to save the world.

Community is the perfect means to demonstrate how God has loved us. We can’t practice authentic Christianity without Christian fellowship because love is at the very root of God’s character. “God is love. Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16, NIV). The church is the central place within Christian community. It is important to walk with other believers who can build us up, call us out, and who ill love us no matter what. We find strength in numbers and it makes our walk with God easier when we have people supporting us.

A Christian community is necessary to help us recharge, be renewed, and be refreshed. “Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another” (Hebrews 10:25, NIV). Community and vocation are connected to one another in the sense that it is important for us to be a part of our local and nonlocal communities. We are called to be the hands and feet of God and He uses us to reach out to people we are in contact ith. We need to be attending to the needs of our communities and actively loving our neighbors by using out gifts, talents, and strengths.

With what ever our calling may be, God insists that we use our abilities to encourage, strengthen, aid, and educate others because that is what Jesus did here on Earth. As Christians, we become whole persons through healthy relationships with God and others. This means that “we feel the need to encourage and support families, churches, and local communities, and the larger civil society so that these various social places can emain places where healthy relationships are able develop and where human dignity is protected” Oacobsen ; Sawatsky).

Community and creation are connected to one another in the sense that God created an interrelated creation. “Not only are we created as trustees of God to experience the goodness of creation, we are created to be in community with all creation” (Birch). This is the only way we will be able to experience the wholeness God has intended for us. Each part of God’s creation finds its fulfillment in interrelatedness with all. “The place God calls man to is the place where his or her deep gladness and the orld’s deep hunger meet.

The kind of work God usually calls man to is the kind of work that man need most to do, and also the work that the world most needs to have done” (Buechner). Calling and career are two separate things, but ultimately go hand- in-hand. Knowing the difference is an essential part of finding where God wants us to be. “A career is a particular line of work one does to earn an income. A calling is a specific vision of how God wants to use our time, energy, and abilities to serve Him in the world” (Sittser). As a Christian, we are to seek His kingdom first in our lives, but a alling often uses a career.

Our calling should be bigger than Just a career. Many people think that finding a calling only applies to the Christian world , but everyone can contribute to the common good. Discovering God’s will for our lives is not something that happens overnight. Often it is very hard to truly hear what He is saying to us. God can speak directly to us, but He often is heard through other the people, church, nature-even art and music. It is obvious that prayer is essential to the Christian life. It is especially important in discovering our calling. “Prayer is listening.

It is attentiveness, being in the presence of God, waiting expectantly for God to speak to our hearts” Oacobsen & Sawatsky). Waiting involves patience, which is often hard to achieve. Being able to understand that God will always show us where He wants us will help us get through that waiting period. God gave man the responsibility to be caregivers over the earth; this arises from being created in the image of God. God entrusted His own function as Creator to man along with abilities required to do so. This includes exploring, discovering, understanding, developing, and using creation to honor the Creator.

Work is not incidental to man’s being, but an essential part of his purpose of being on the earth. Community is also an essential part of using our vocation to honor Him. God wants us to meet our own needs and the needs of our own family and our own friends, but he also calls us to provide for the needs of others. “Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2, NIV). Whatever our career may be, within the work place we need to be aware of those who are around us. Creation, community, and vocation are three important aspects of the Christian ife.

As has been shown throughout the previous paragraphs, each of these themes can be looked at separately, but they are often seen in connection with one another. Throughout the course, this connection wasn’t specifically addressed, but reflecting back on the three themes, I am now able to intersect creation, community, and vocation. As people, we were created in the image of God; therefore He has provided us with skills, abilities, and strengths also achieved through experiences and our careers”to make a difference in our surrounding communities and throughout the world. References

The most notable growth in technology that is accessible to the general populace has been seen in the sector of communication technology in the form of telephones particularly cell phones, and computers. Communication across wide geographical disparities has been narrowed to create what has commonly been referred to as a global village. Community leaders can now post bulletins via any of the public media available like the radio, television or newspapers and expect feedback through Short Message Systems (SMS), emails, feedback forms on websites among others. Information gathered therein can be used to make important decisions that will affect the relative communities.

Balancing effective controls on decision making against rules and regulations designed to protect the core objectives of a project is a very difficult task. In order to succeed, a project must be continually active. In order to be continually active, decisions need to be made quickly and contributions need to be encouraged by avoiding long decision making process. An ideal situation is one where community consensus is achieved before making a contribution. However, in some instances, it can prove to be too difficult to gain consensus. In such cases the best approach would be for the potential contributors to notify the community of their intentions. For example, a bulletin similar to marriage bans may be posted stating “the local municipal council intends to do ABC, unless someone objects within two weeks, the project will proceed.” The biggest benefit of this approach is that in the absence of an objection, the council can assume it has achieved consensus. Community members with no objection or any input to the proposed action need not take any action. Only those who can either improve it or present grounds for stopping the whole activity will need to spend any time contributing or objecting to the proposal.

Community involvement in decision making removes the risk of slipping into despotism where community consensus is required. No contribution can be made without implicit approval of the community and consequently no member of the community can cry “foul” later.

Community involvement is an important component of career development. Leadership skills developed in the service projects allow one to comprehend the dynamics of groups and teams.  Interaction with other students and people of various walks of life leads to development of better communication skills.

It also enables one to make use of business skills and knowledge to obtain practical results. Involvement in community activities increases ones knowledge base because some activities expose one to things they did not know about before.

Community involvement and social responsibility are presently areas that are critical in the career development of complete managers and leaders. Involvement in them at early stage of one’s career helps one to start to understand these ideas. Participating in community work provides opportunities to meet the leaders and managers who are responsible for achievement of goals and those in a position to hire one for a job enhancing networking, an important process of career development.

Presently, I am involved with Junior Achievement whose purpose is to educate young people to value free enterprise. I use my personal experiences and training to make the Junior Achievement curriculum practical. By providing children with role models, Junior Achievement helps to build self confidence, increases their work readiness and increase levels of financial readiness. All these lead to more robust community in terms of economic development because the children are empowered with the skills on how to create jobs and how to impact the world around them as workers and consumers.

Involvement in Junior Achievement has impacted my career in various ways.  It has increased my knowledge on finance issues as I have to prepare well before instructing the students. Also my communication skills have been tested and well-developed due to the challenges involved in passing a message to young people.

The list of people who could be potential employers has also been added as I have met other volunteers in the JA program.

Opportunities for further involvement in community development include working with Net Impact Service Corps. It is an initiative to provide pro-bono consulting help to local, non-profit organizations. The consulting projects are related to finance, marketing, new program development, business planning, fundraising and strategic planning.

Another opportunity would be involvement at a careers centre where my contribution would be giving advice to students as they charted a career path for themselves.

Impact of dual-career family on children

Families where both parents have careers are becoming more the rule than exception nowadays. While the impact of a two-career family on children may not always be positive once in a while, more often than not, the results are negative.

First, a two career family may leads to the child spending most of his childhood in daycare due to parents being away at work. Children in daycare suffer from separation, anxiety and depression despite competent staff. (Christensen, 2003). This goes to show that the absence of the parents will lead to poor emotional growth for the child. Christensen states that lack of sensitivity and responsiveness may be developmentally detrimental to the child. (Christensen, 2003). A child who has had developmental problems will most likely be a maladjusted adult.

When parents are stressed out at work it leads to parental withdrawal and negative emotions at home .This inevitably will lead to degradation in the quality of relationships between the parents and children, leading to breaks in the fabric of our society.

Studies have linked maternal employment to drug abuse and crime (Christensen, 2003) When both parents are working, there are increased chances of divorce. Divorce in turn leads to a wide range of social pathologies among them being poverty, suicide, child abuse and drug abuse.

From personal experience, in most two-career families, money often replaces some parental roles, for instance, whenever the child accomplishes something commendable, mostly the reward will be in the form of money. This is easier for the parent to give because other rewards that would be more beneficial to the child are time-consuming for the parent. Accumulating money when the child is well- provided for means that the child looks for alternative ways to spent it, most likely these are in destructive habits.

In the absence of parents, the child seeks guidance from hisher peers who are as poorly informed as him/her leading to development of bad habits.

It has been pointed out that the girls from families where the mothers are in high-status occupations have a wide range of acceptable models and higher self-esteem (Keith P.M).This, though true does not necessarily mean that those where the women are the housewives have low-self- esteem ,so this does not make a convincing argument for families with two-career status.

Job searches in the Internet

After failing top find a job I am interested in pursuing on the internet using the major sites, the next step will be listing the companies I am interested in working for. I will then visit the companies’ career sites and check for vacancies there. In addition to this, I will publish my resume on my web-page so that employers have access to a graphically pleasing version of the resume and also so that it can serve as a tool for showcasing successful projects.

To take the job hunting process further, I will also use the cold-calling technique where after listing the companies to work for; the next step will be gathering the names of the people who have power to offer a job in those companies. The names will be gotten by calling the departments they are responsible for and finding out the name and title of the manager.

This will be followed by a dynamic cover-letter and my resume sent to each one of the managers. Each letter will be addressed to a named individual and will include something about the company to show my interest in the company.

Finally, I will persistently contact the people I have written to for an interview. If they refuse, I will request for an informational interview so I can get to know more about my field and also get a chance to show off my knowledge and expertise.

Handling a subordinate who would like to change jobs

To begin with she needs to find out what makes her unhappy about her present job, whether it is the company, the job itself or whether she would be happier moving to another department. Also, encouraging her to know herself more will enable her to find out her unique qualities. This may be a challenge for her and she could do this writing down her thoughts and her feelings concerning different issues. She should also try to find out what personal traits she has that would steer her in the right direction.

Focusing on her talents and strengths will also help her narrow down on a job that she would be able to do easily and be rewarding for her.

Some of the tests that would be used include tests that measure her abilities, interests, values and personality. Another test will involve examining her use of leisure time, this provides further insight into her interests and abilities .Also, to highlight transferable skill, her skills and experiences need to be identified to find out whether she has skills that can be utilized in many different careers such as managerial experience, computer know-how, writing proficiency, sales knack and event- planning.

The subordinate also needs to find out if there are any requirements for the job change she wants. Whether additional training is required, certification or a license. If additional training is required, she needs to know where to get it from. Also providing her with information on the companies training programs will help her select if any is suitable for her, as this will help reduce any training costs she may have to incur.

Handling a subordinate who would like to move ahead

The subordinate needs to focus in their talents and strengths, and to find out whether they have personal traits that can steer them in the right direction. Since additional education is required in their quest for upward mobility, they can seek training programs in the company that allow them to cutback  working hours while the time is spent training.Also,encouraging the person to participate in seminars where he/she will be exposed to people with home networks can be formed. This may assist in exposing individual to training opportunities that are subsidized.

Research shows that balancing career, upward mobility and family is not an easy task. It becomes difficult especially in a dual career family. With two spouses working eight or more hours in a day there is a struggle to maintain household chores, child rearing and to fit in daily errands. (Spence, 1999).The stress resulting from such a situation in turn is expressed at the workplace with decreased productivity being a result.

To maintain talented employers and also help them keep a balance between personal and professional lives, such solutions as telecommuting, compressed work weeks and part- time jobs have come up (D’angelo, 1994). Telecommuting allows one to work from home, compressed work weeks provide more time at home than the usual evenings and weekends. The subordinate can look into this to utilize some of the free time obtained to further his education.

Role of a manager in providing career guidance and advice

One of the ways to serve subordinates seeking career advice or guidance is to begin by pushing for change in institutions policy statements regarding career guidance. This is to ensure that all career advice and guidance is aimed at reaching not just managers or middle-managers but every other employee. Also changing the focus on opportunities only available at the company to other opportunities available elsewhere. This will in turn lead to teaching on network to enable employees have as many contacts as possible.

Making available careers education materials in accessible format at the careers centre of the company. More specifically implementing computer-aided career guidance would make the career development search for employees simpler. Ensuring that the company’s career center is staffed with guidance providers who are knowledgeable and will provide incentives for workers to participate in career guidance and development workshops.

Methods of assessment that may be employed include administering and scoring vocational interest and aptitude tests. Other tests include the Interest Inventory, career Decision Scale and Career Planning System. (Betz, 1998)

The career planning system is an integrated package of materials based on a matching model where the individual’s world and occupational world are assessed for a relationship between the two. The individual discovers career related information about themselves, interests, values and learn information about occupational information.

These enhance narrowing of occupational options for the individual to consider a few. From here the individual determines the next steps necessary to take in their career planning process. The advantage with this system, (CPS) is that it considers different age and cultural groups by focusing on the individual’s world where issues to do with cultural, political and social influences on the worker’s value and interests will come up.

References

1. Career guidance assessment and consultancy. Retrieved from www.springerlink.com.
2. Damian, A. Spence (1999), Understanding Needs of the Dual Career Family from
3. a Human Resources Perspective downloaded from hppt://lousville.edu/cbpa/lmc/research/sr.spenc.pdf
4. Danielle D’angello (1994) Family Issues to Shape Professional’s Future, The CPA
5. Nancy E. Betz, (1998) Career Planning System, Career Decision Making edited by
6. Samuel H.Osipow and W.Bruse Walsh, ISBN 089857560

Background

In Hong Kong, it has already been a long clip that schooling puts the chief focal point on persons ‘ abilities, temperaments and chances without profoundly researching the possibility of larning through community interaction. Normally merely formal cognition and incontrovertible accomplishments are taught in traditional schoolrooms. The bulk of this sort of cognition is inert that does non promote deep thought and enquiry. There is no mechanism for pupils to get expert-learning accomplishments. In add-on, informal or silent cognition is by and large ignored in school course of studies, though it is every bit of import as the formal cognition. The acquisition aims are besides crystalline to pupils. Students are occupied with undertakings and activities but they do non hold a clear thought about the grounds why they have to make those undertakings and activities.

Problem 2: Pedagogical Paradigm Shift due to the Introduction of the NSS Curriculums

Since 2009, the course of studies of most secondary schools have undergone a dramatic alteration due to the acceptance of the New Senior Secondary ( NSS ) course of studies. Two major alterations are the debut of broad surveies and project-based acquisition. The broad surveies subject enables pupils to do connexions among different subjects, examine issues from a assortment of positions, and construct personal cognition of immediate relevancy to themselves in the modern-day universe. On the other manus, project-based acquisition ( PBL ) aims to enable pupils to build cognition through developing their independent acquisition capablenesss, generic and collaborative accomplishments. It is obvious that the new course of studies emphasise on the cultivation of abilities of pupils to incorporate information gathered to build their ain cognition independently and collaboratively. However, most instructors and pupils are still non prepared for this polar alteration and experience perplexed about the new manner of instruction and acquisition.

Problem 3: The Problems of the Commonly Used Learning Platforms

Even though some Hong Kong schools understand the jobs of the traditional permissive instruction attack, good acquisition platforms that can carry through the demands of this new acquisition environment are rare in the market. Despite that many schools have installed computing machines with Internet entree in schoolrooms, there is no obvious difference in pupil larning quality between this sort of computer-supported schoolrooms and the traditional 1s. Intentional acquisition and expertness development.can barely be fostered in this sort of schoolroom scenes.

In order to better larning quality and effectivity, some schools in Hong Kong have been following certain learning platforms for about ten old ages, yet they can merely let pupils to upload their work, download stuffs mandated by instructors, station messages to or read messages from electronic notice-boards, etc.. The platforms merely act like electronic information depositories that can non truly assist pupils to larn and build cognition on their ain or collaboratively, non to advert that the user interfaces are non easy-to-use in general. This sort of larning platforms contradicts the e-learning systems suggested by Angehrn, Nabeth and Roda ( 2001 ) . They claimed that e-learning should be extremely personalised, learner-centric, societal, active, synergistic, connected to scholars ‘ ends, supportive of uninterrupted acquisition and so on.

Research of Existing Learning Platforms Supporting Collaborative Learning

Sing the issues mentioned above, pupils in Hong Kong need a learning platform that can supply utile and effectual installations for them to pull off and build cognition, and larn collaboratively and continuously. The platform should besides assist them to do better usage of the bing on-line resources and manage and consolidate the information they have obtained for self-regulated acquisition.

After researching preliminarily on bing acquisition platforms, there are three major computing machine supported collaborative work/learning ( CSCW/L ) systems available for instruction intents: FLE3, Synergeia and Knowledge Forum.

FLE3 ( Leinonen et al. , 2002 ) , which is an unfastened beginning platform developed under the ITCOLE undertaking, entails a depository, a forum and a shared workspace called WebTop tool, Knowledge Building tool and Jamming tool severally. The last tool allows scholars to do usage of all sorts of multimedia digital artifacts.

Synergeia ( Stahl, 2004 ) is besides designed within the ITCOLE undertaking that provides free licences for educational establishments. It portions paperss and informations through depositories ( the Basic Support for Cooperative Work system ) and forums ( Instant Messages ) severally in an asynchronous environment. The most singular tool is MapTool that enables a group of participants to make concept map collaboratively and synchronously. The confab tool is besides synchronal.

Knowledge Forum was initiated by Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter. They have proposed that schools should be restructured as cognition edifice community based on the thought that larning, expertness cultivation in peculiar, requires enormous attempt and societal support that is non accessible in the first-order school environment. Students should get non-asymptotic acquisition accomplishments, i.e. , learn to continuously accommodate to alterations in the environment caused by others ‘ version. This procedure will invariably do parts to the corporate cognition of a school community, transforming the school into a second-order environment.

Multimedia Learning

A acquisition platform that can steer pupils efficaciously to build cognition from assorted sorts of information, particularly the multimedia one ( Shank, 2005 ) , is of paramount importance. Van Merrienboer ( 1999 ) proposed some guidelines of bringing of instructions in multimedia acquisition environments. He considered multimedia larning in web-based environments really important in the approaching hereafter as it facilitates distributed distance bringing and combines presentation and communicating installations. He believed that multimedia acquisition can be used to back up competency-based acquisition, and effectual, efficient and appealing collaborative acquisition. The multimedia capablenesss of all of the three platforms literally satisfy the guidelines.

Concept Maps

The MapTool of Synergeia allows participants to build corporate cognition through pulling construct maps: a graphical artifact that expresses cognition of scholars in a signifier that can be understood easy. The development of construct maps was initiated by Novak and Gowin ‘s ( 1984 ) research refering human acquisition and cognition building. In a construct map, besides called cognition map, a construct is normally placed inside a box or circle that is connected to one or more other constructs via directed discharge, stand foring the relationships between the constructs concerned. The relationships are described by verbs normally. The constructs are contrived hierarchically with the most general constructs at the top of the map.

The construction of a construct map is dependent on its context. Concept maps holding similar constructs can change from one context to another and are extremely idiosyncratic. Concept maps can be used to mensurate the cognition of a individual about a subject in a specific context. Therefore, construct maps constructed by different people on the same subject must be different. In the same sense, there is no such a thing as the “ right ” construct map about a peculiar subject, as there can be many available right representations of the subject.

Concept function has assisted people of different ages obtain cognition in assorted Fieldss. When constructs and associating words are carefully chosen, these maps are powerful tools for detecting niceties of significance. Each construct map allows its Godhead to do usage of a virtually limitless set of associating words to demo how significances can be developed. There are no limitations on what words can be used to organize constructs or associating phrases. Concepts are normally nouns and associating phrases verbs. It is recommended to utilize as few words as possible for constructs and associating verbs. Associating phrases can show any types of relationships and are non limited to a defined set.

Knowledge Building

Knowledge Forum is designed harmonizing to the 12 Knowledge Building Principles proposed by Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter. It is a collaborative acquisition platform operated in a networked environment. It can work on both wired and wireless webs and users can entree it via the Internet. The model of Knowledge Forum is cross-sector, cross-age and cross-cultural. It has been used in instruction, wellness attention and concern communities in the Americas, Asia, Australia, Europe, and New Zealand. This reflects that the sociocognitive and cultural procedures underlying cognition acquisition and cognition creative activity are basically the same that are applicable to knowledge builders of all sectors, ages, and civilizations.

The 12 Knowledge Building Principles are as follows:

Real Ideas, Authentic Problems

Ideas are every bit existent as touchable things. Learners are much more interested in existent life jobs than textbook jobs and mystifiers. Knowledge Forum fosters a civilization for scholars to work with thoughts creatively.

Improvable Ideas

All thoughts are improvable. Learners can actively better their ain thoughts and those in the community if they are encouraged to take hazards without being afraid to attest ignorance and have ague and unconstructive unfavorable judgment. Knowledge Forum allows continual betterment, alteration and theory polish.

Idea Diversity

Idea diverseness is indispensable to the development of cognition promotion as it creates a rich environment for thoughts to germinate into new and more refined signifiers. Knowledge Forum facilitates associating thoughts in different notes and positions together to advance interaction and productive usage of thought diverseness.

Rise Above

New syntheses of cognition can be obtained by unrelentingly working with improvable and diversified thoughts. High-order thought can be cultivated. In Knowledge Forum, rise-above notes and positions enable participants to larn accommodating progressive alterations in the environment.

Epistemic Agency

Learners are responsible for their cognition promotion that can be stimulated by the thoughts of other community members. They learn how to pull off their acquisition by puting ends and programs, inquiring inquiries, and measuring accomplishment. Knowledge Forum offers characteristics like scaffolds that help scholars synthesise high-ranking cognition by utilizing a assortment of epistemic footings such as speculation, admiration, speculate, etc..

Community Knowledge, Collective Responsibility

Community accomplishments are valued more than single accomplishments. Participants portion duty for the overall cognition promotion in the community. Knowledge Forum provides an unfastened and collaborative environment that allows community members contribute conceptual artifacts that can be linked together effectual for future mention.

Democratizing Knowledge

All participants, including the more and less talented, are empowered to prosecute in cognition invention in Knowledge Forum. Every member strive for cognition promotion in a joint venture mode.

Symmetric Knowledge Advancement

It can be achieved from cognition exchange between members of different sorts of intelligence in a community as to give cognition is to acquire cognition. Knowledge Forum supports practical trials and co-construction of positions across user groups, both within and between communities.

Permeant Knowledge Building

Knowledge edifice utilizing Knowledge Forum can be carried out in and out of school through the Internet.

Constructive Uses of Authoritative Beginnings

Authoritative beginnings such as intelligence and multimedia stuffs found on the Internet can be attached to Knowledge Forum that can be acted as the foundation for cognition builders to progress community cognition.

Knowledge Building Discourse

Knowledge Forum accommodates discourse of cognition edifice communities that refines and transforms knowledge through the dianoetic patterns of the community.

Embedded and Transformative Assessment

Knowledge Forum allows a community to explicate its ain internal appraisal, which is both more bespoke and flexible than external appraisal

Research Focus

After comparing the chief characteristics of the three collaborative CSCL/W tools, it is blunt that Knowledge Forum emphasizes deeply on the procedure of community cognition edifice based on rules like improvable thoughts and progressive job work outing. It should be a more executable declaration for instructors and pupils to manage the approaching pedagogical paradigm displacement than the other two. It is perceived that Fle3 is simply designed as a package of depository, forum and shared workspace without important emphasis on the procedure of collaborative cognition building. Refering Synergeia, it is empowered by the notable construct maps that are widely accepted as a really effectual manner for cognition building. Nevertheless, the rise-above and build-on characteristics of Knowledge Forum maximize the learning capacity of each scholar through community attempt that triumph the concept-organising belongings of construct maps.

Largely significantly, there are already many instructors rehearsing cognition edifice teaching methods utilizing Knowledge Forum in many topographic points. Apart from Toronto, Hong Kong has the largest instructor community giving excessive attempt to learning pupils collaborative larning accomplishments. However, the instructors who have experience in utilizing Knowledge Forum reported some insufficiency of the acquisition platform. For case, when a instructor wants to read a certain sort of messages, such as inquiries, he/she has to shop through all the notes straight in the present design. It is one of the grounds why it is non really easy to measure pupils ‘ parts. Sometimes a subscriber may desire to hold a list of his/her ain parts so that he/she can size up the acquisition procedure ; however, this map is non available in the current version.

Research Aims

The aims of this research are as follows:

To look into extensively how Knowledge Forum can assist pupils build community cognition.

To understand the jobs faced by instructors and pupils in utilizing Knowledge Forum, particularly those refering assessing pupils ‘ acquisition advancement and public presentation.

To research a set of appropriate web and database engineering, particularly knowledge and information visual image, that is utile to strengthen the functionality of Knowledge Forum, particularly assessment tools that can avail instructors to measure pupils ‘ parts.

To develop a paradigm of back uping tools that can reenforce Knowledge Forum sing appraisal, information storage and retrieval.

To measure the quality and public presentation of the paradigm.

Relevant Literature and Guiding Framework

Knowledge Building and Problem Solving through Knowledge Forum

Scardamalia and Bereiter believe that a school should be a topographic point for knowing acquisition and expertness cultivation. However, traditional schooling merely tackle seeable parts of cognition, i.e. , formal cognition and incontrovertible accomplishments. These sorts of inert cognition rarely touch pupils ‘ idea and behavior and utile informal/tacit cognition is seldom embraced in traditional school course of studies.

Furthermore, in a traditional school, many instructors project their focal point on undertakings and activities without underlying the associated acquisition aims, so pupils are by and large incognizant of cognition aims behind the undertakings and activities they are supposed to make. Scardamalia and Bereiter point out pupils can accomplish knowing larning merely if they actively try to achieve a cognitive aim. Therefore, the current schooling system merely benefits those with high persons ‘ abilities, temperaments and chances, merely those alleged “ bright ” pupils are able to prise into the “ secrets ” of those undertakings and activities.

Expertness cultivation in schools is besides of paramount importance, i.e. , pupils should be able to larn to be an expert-like scholar who processes progressive job work outing accomplishments. It is believed that job work outing accomplishments can be achieved through meaningful acquisition that metacognitive cognition is obtained by agencies of self-acting procedures. Richard and Wittrock put frontward seven instructional methods that stimulate job resolution: load-reducing, structure-based, schema-activation, productive, guided find, mold and learning thought. The first six methods train pupils to be domain job convergent thinkers while the last one enhances their general job work outing capablenesss. There are four characteristics of successful learning believing accomplishments plans: focal point on the most chiseled accomplishments, contextualize the accomplishments within reliable undertakings, personalise the accomplishments through societal interaction and language-based treatment of job resolution procedures, and speed up the accomplishments that pupils can larn with lower-level accomplishments. Simply expressed, Richard and Wittrock suggest that general expertness or job work outing accomplishments can be transferred from instructors to pupils based on dogmas similar to those 12s knowledge edifice rules advocated by Scardamalia and Bereiter. However, traditional schooling offers no mechanisms for instructors to reassign their expertness to pupils, so most pupils can non come on into expert-like scholars through reinvestment of mental resources released from following progressive job work outing methods such as form acquisition and automaticity.

Scardamalia and Bereiter impulse that, with the drift of engineering, schools should be transformed into cognition edifice communities. The discourse framed by this sort of sociocognitive procedure transcends the barriers of didactic instruction and child/activity-centred cognition development. The advancement of the acquisition accomplished through cognition edifice discourse should be able to be orchestrated and mediated alternatively of the unpredictable acquisition advancement in traditional schooling. In add-on, all members in a school community, including both instructors and pupils, should take up corporate cognitive duty which “ refers to the status in which duty for the success of a group attempt is distributed across all the members instead than being concentrated in the leader ” ( p. 68 ) . Every community member should understand the cognition required by the community and do certain others know what they are supposed to cognize.

In a cognition edifice discourse, a pupil referee can hold their cognition advanced from groking the parts made by other pupils in the community, so it is one of the inducements for pupils to take part in the discourse. Once a pupil makes a choice part, he/she gets acknowledgment and regard from other community members. The desire of being recognized and respected, together with the craving for doing outstanding impact on the community, may be two of the other motives. A to the full well-designed equal reappraisal system is indispensably required and the discourse should be near to pupils ‘ personal lives: “ pupils work together to do sense of the universe around them and work

towards progressing their ain province of cognition and that of the category ” .

The features of a successful cognition edifice discourse are “ concentrate on jobs and deepness of understanding ” , “ decentralized, unfastened cognition environments for corporate apprehension ” and “ productive interaction within loosely conceived knowledge-building communities ” ( p.274 ) . Technology plays a critical function in carry throughing a successful cognition edifice discourse. Knowledge Forum and its former version, Computer-Supported Intentional Learning Environment ( CSILE ) , have a community database at the Centre of a schoolroom discourse. Students ‘ thoughts can be extended to a broader cognition edifice community if necessary. In the discourse environment, pupils act as both writers and referees who can lend their thoughts by making text or graphical notes, hunt bing notes, and form notes into more complex informational constructions. Auto-notification through electronic mails will be sent to writers when others comment on their notes. The note-writing environments are specially designed for participants to specify enquiries as jobs alternatively of subjects. Discourses are carried out through saying theories and information for progressing theories. The scaffold map provides participants with phrases refering cognitive procedures, such as “ I need to understand ” , “ My theory ” , “ A better theory ” , “ This theory can non explicate ” , “ Put our cognition together ” , to call a few, that help participants contour discourses. The frequent usage of these theory-building footings can assist scholars tackle expert-like acquisition accomplishments that can be employed in their day-to-day lives. Knowledge Forum and CSILE besides pinpoint intentionality as scholars deliberately submit jobs of what they require to understand and asseverate justifications for linked attached. The knowing scholars can larn how to do determinations and deploy diagnostic procedures.

Knowledge Forum and CSILE render a decentralized and unfastened discourse environment that reverses “ the instructor initiates, pupil responds, teacher evaluates form for unwritten and written discourse ” . By using a distributed theoretical account, information fluxing between participants is non audited by a cardinal authorization. Since different pupils possess different sorts of cognition, the cognition exchanges can be really productive. Students of different ages and abilities can take portion in the same discourse. Students with better viva voce or written linguistic communication accomplishments can non rule the discourse as the other pupils can border their thought by pulling diagrams or edifice on information in others ‘ notes or external resources. Those who are non familiar with the subject can lend to the community by inquiring inquiries and composing contemplations. The inefficient turn-tasking job in normal schoolroom treatments is automatically eliminated as discourses in Knowledge Forum are held asynchronously over a computing machine web or the Internet. Students can compose their statements at any coveted clip and have all the clip they want to explicate the statements, without force per unit area like that happened in an unwritten treatment. This encourages pupils to print independent idea and polish their ain thoughts and those in the community, ensuing in progressive self-acting acquisition and job work outing preparation.

Information / Knowledge Visualisation

Some users reported that the current design of Knowledge Forum is non really intuitive to utilize, particularly for complex undertakings and ill-structured capable affairs. The new coevals of knowledge/information visual image engineering seems to be an effectual solution. The purpose of information visual image is to supply knowledge-based entree to information resources and aid users in doing sense of the resources they are looking for during information retrieval. On the other manus, the end of cognition visual image is to help pupils in acquisition and job resolution by supplying tools to further externalised knowledge.

There are many good practiced information visual image techniques available, such as landscape metaphors, cartograms, ticket clouds, etc.. Some pedagogues claim that these techniques can assist users understand the information better. In the context of cognition building, apprehension of information is non sufficient, pupils need to be exposed to the information in different ways and be able to lucubrate a personal experience from it.

Some other similar tools using visual image techniques have besides been developed in recent old ages, like Topic Maps Strand Map, VisIT ( Visualization of Information Tool ) , Model-It, Microworlds, etc.. Some web hunt engines even implement explorative hunts with the aid of information visual image techniques to polish user hunt questions. Users can now transport out explorative hunts on the WWW through consecutive loops on the ocular interfaces of these tools. Examples are KartOO, UJIKO, Crokker, Simploos, Quintura, oSkope, News Map, etc..

It is evident that educational tools using cognition visual image engineering can help pupils in undertaking topics like broad surveies to a great extent as this sort of topics require pupils to larn from resources in assorted subjects and develop capacities to construction and organize their cognition and acquisition stuffs for effectual learning direction, non to advert that cognition from different topics and spheres is complex, interconnected and ill-structured in a complex mode.

The Amish culture qualifies as an example of social construction because it is a belief that has important consequences for a large group of people. The people of the Amish community have specific rules they must follow. They believe that the outside culture has a morally polluting effect and that it promotes pride, greed, immorality and materialism. Some of the Amish beliefs include the concept that God will judge them on how well they have obeyed the church rules during their lifetime and that contact with the “outside world” makes it harder to obey their rules.

This is the reason for their extreme isolation. Even though the Amish culture believes that the “outside world” has a polluting effect on them and their children, there is a time within the Amish community that the parents throughout the community allow their children to participate in events and activities that they usually wouldn’t be allowed to participate in. This time is referred to as Rumspringa. Rumspringa is also referred to as “running around” This is the term used to describe the period of adolescence Amish experience starting at around the age of sixteen.

The parents of the children who choose to participate in this opportunity feel that their children cannot be shunned from the Amish community because they are not yet baptized and they are not yet under the authority of the church. Rumspringa helps the young adults to choose whether they want to join the church or not. Young adults can choose to join a youth group on the weekends usually. These different youth groups have different activities or events they participate in. There are two main groups; one considered the slower or plainer group and the other considered the faster group.

The slower groups participates in activities such as volleyball games, and singing groups and are even sometimes supervised by adults while the faster group participates in parties and other activities considered less conservative. Although most people seem to think that the youth who participate in these groups are participating in heavy partying, drug use, premarital sex or other extreme behaviors this is usually not the case although these are not unheard of throughout the faster youth groups. The Amish community serves as an example of social construction because the ideas of this culture are passed along by xplaining each aspect of the community through personal interactions and friendships, people begin to believe these strict aspects are what are to be expected because so many other people of the Amish community are believing them and practicing them. Then the strict aspects of the Amish culture are eventually accepted and passed down from generation to generation. “The Amish people are direct descendants of the Anabaptists of the sixteenth century Europe. Anabaptism is the religion that came about during the reformation era.

The term Anabaptist first started out as a nickname that meant re-baptizer, because this group rejected the idea of infant baptism, since an infant doesn’t yet have the knowledge of good and evil. The Anabaptists were seen as a threat to Europe’s religious and social institutions and were therefore persecuted. ” The idea of Rumspringa first begins because of this specific aspect of the Amish culture, the belief that their children cannot be shunned by the Amish community because they are not old enough to know the difference between good and evil.

This then allows the people of the Amish community to consider what the specific age of knowing good from evil is and then they present the specific idea of Rumspringa to the Amish culture. The Amish community passed through the three phases of Berger and Luckmann’s analysis by first; externalizing the ideas of the culture by putting an explanation of the ideas “out there” The Amish community first presented the idea of Rumspringa to the entire community when they felt that their young adults should have a choice whether or not they wanted to continue to practice the Amish believes and pass them down to their children.

Although it may seem that this act of Rumspringa is going completely against what the Amish community believes, the Amish parents do not encourage their youth to leave home and participate in sinful behaviors but they feel there must be at least some room for free choice in the decision to become Amish. Rumspringa was also explained as the time the Amish community allowed their young adult children to participate in youth groups that would lead them to finding a spouse and if this happened and the two young adults decided to get married their time of Rumspringa was over and they were now to be baptized.

The second phase they passed their belief through is objectivation. This is the most crucial phase of construction. The strict rules of the Amish community led the people of the Amish community to believe that being exposed to the outside world would pollute their minds. But, when the idea of Rumspringa was first put out there for people to consider, it showed that this would allow their children to participate in activities and groups that they were not usually allowing them too.

At first the people of the Amish community felt this idea was crazy, but after it was explained that their children would not be shunned from the community because they had not yet been baptized and were not yet under the authority of the church and that their young adult children needed free choice in whether or not to continue the practices of the Amish culture, people began to really consider this idea. Many Amish families decided this was a good idea and began to practice this new belief.

They felt this could actually help their family continue from generation to generation. The third phase of Berger and Luckmann is the phase of internalization. This newly introduced belief of the Amish community was spreading quickly and more and more people began practicing this belief. More people of the Amish community began to involve this belief into their everyday lives because they felt this could lead their children to marriage and then they would soon be baptized and be considered under the authority of the church.

People of the Amish community had children and has these children grew up they were introduced to the idea of Rumspringa and as these children grew into adults and had their own children they passed down the belief to their children and eventually the belief of Rumspringa throughout the Amish culture was now passed down from generation to generation religiously. Even though the idea of Rumspringa was doubted when it was first presented to the Amish community, the people of the Amish community began to actually consider the aspects of this new idea and realize this could help their children and even their families for generations.

This is how the beliefs of the Amish community passed through the third phase of Berger and Luckmanns reality of construction. I believe that the beliefs of the Amish community could either be effectively challenged or accepted depending on the person who is examining and judging the culture. The Amish culture thoroughly explains each aspect of their culture and why they participate in each aspect. They have specific background information on why they now accept the idea of Rumspringa.

I feel he Amish culture could also be effectively challenged because, even though the Amish culture presents their ideas of Rumspringa and explains that they feel this certain period of time in their children’s lives could effectively alter their lives for the better, this time doesn’t actually let their children move outside the community or even the home. The young adults of the Amish community don’t actually get to experience what it is like to live in a house where there is television or dress differently or even eat food they have never tried before.

I feel the period of Rumspringa should be widened completely. The young adults should be able to spend six months to year physically living and working in a whole different world and this would actually allow them to make a completely honest choice about whether to join the Amish community church without the heavy influence of their parents. I feel this would effectively allow the young adults experience Rumspringa.