The Fuel Behind the Rapid Spread of Islam During

The religion of Islam is the second largest belief system in the world with over one billion believers. As of 2009, almost one quarter of the world's population follow after Islam, second only to Christianity. But roughly 15 centuries ago, this was not true at all concerning Islam. The populations that now embrace Islam have roots in a polytheistic society where Islam did not yet exist. Christianity was clearly the dominant religion of that time period and the wide influence of the Byzantine Empire ensured the continued influence of the Church. Some historians have noted that nothing substantial seemed to stand out culturally or militarily concerning the emerging Muslim population when compared with Europe. Simon Barton of the University of Exeter writes in his book review concerning the work, The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In: â€Å"Why did Islam prove so conspicuously successful in galvanizing the energies of its adherents? Why was it, given that the Muslims achieved no significant breakthrough in military technology that the well-established great powers with which they came into conflict – notably the Byzantine and Persian empires in the east – or the Visigothic kingdom in the west proved unable to halt their advance? † (Sidelko 2009, 466) The fact that the emerging Muslim society didn't appear to have an overwhelming advantage in the years leading up to the seventh century growth explosion of Islam begs the very question that Simon Barton just asked. In this paper, I will attempt to discuss some of the conditions that help account for the rapid spread of Islam during the 7th century, such as the political conditions surrounding the Byzantine Empire, conditions surrounding Orthodoxy and Catholicism, and conditions surrounding the introduction of Islam as a religion. From the 6th century leading into the 7th century, the Byzantine Empire became locked in a series of wars with the Persian Empire. These conflicts began around 500 A. D. , and lasted nto the first decades of the 7th century. These disputes brought about a great strain upon resources for both empires. Both lands were diminished and did not have enough time to lick their wounds before raids from Muslim groups started becoming more and more frequent. Although the Byzantine Empire seemed to have some form of victory over the Persian Empire, that notion became meaningless when Persian Empire under the rule of the Sasanian dynasty began to fall to the Arabs raiders who were becoming more organized as time progressed. Eventually, the Persian Empire was completely absorbed– just as the Oxford Islamic Studies Online article states, â€Å"The surprising speed at which the conquests took place can be attributed to the weakness of countries debilitated by long external conflicts (the Sasanian Empire) or by the fragility of internal structure (The Spread of Islam). † The Byzantine Empire lost much of their territory that they had claimed from the Persians. They simply were not ready for a fresh, new challenger after dealing with a century long war. This is one of the conditions that accounts for the rapid growth of Islam. Many Arabs had become fervent followers of Islam at this point and Muslims had gained established, strong leadership which was directing their growing forces despite Mohammad's death. With the gaining of new territory, the message of Islam would no doubt follow along. Without successes from the likes of Charles Martel, the Byzantine Empire could have ended up like the Persians. Again, the Oxford Islamic Studies Online article writes, â€Å"The eighth century saw further expansions eastwards as far as the river Indus and the Sind region and westwards through northern Africa to Spain and France where the over-stretched army was stopped at the battle of Poitiers by Charles Martel†. (The Spread of Islam) The Byzantine Empire was greatly diminished, but still managed, however, to stay intact enough to prevent total assimilation of the Arab conquest. During the time of the 7th century, Christianity was largely split into two main groups– Orthodoxy and Catholicism. These two counterparts of Christianity often times were at odds because of discrepancies over where the true source of Church authority actually resided within the Byzantine Empire. As a result, Christian fringe groups in countries such as Egypt or Palestine would be easily labeled as heretics and would find themselves disassociated from the Church. When the Arab conquest claimed these lands, they tended to show more tolerance for non Muslims in exchange for good citizenship within he new Islamic environment. Also, Islam was fresh and hadn't begun to suffer from its own power struggles from within the belief system. As Shenk writes, â€Å"One wonders what parallels to Muslim Spain might be found in the rise of an Islamic presence in the heart of the European Balkans. Bosnia's capital Sarajevo adds the intrigue of its location along the historic fault line between the two major branches of the Christian heritage in the region, Orthodox and Catholic. In any number of centuries since the arrival of Slavic peoples in migrations dating from the sixth and seventh centuries (C. E. ), recruitment efforts based both in Rome and in Constantinople (Istanbul today) were zealous to secure the allegiance of the newly arriving tribes for their respective church orbits. † (Shenk et al 2006) This tolerance is described as a sort of legacy that some regions of the Muslim world have left behind. Many oppressed throughout history after the seventh century could flee to certain parts of the Muslim world for refuge. Muslims believed in one true God, and they determined that the rule of the land and Islam should be the same– one people, one government, and one religion without any distinctions. This characteristic, along with Muslims early tolerance of fringe Christian groups seems to have given Islam a subtle, but unique advantage over the appeal that Orthodoxy and Catholicism had towards other Christians. As a result of this, Islam was better able to retain more territories and perhaps even convert more people over to their faith. These conditions also help account for the rapid spread of Islam during the 7th century. Paul Sidelko s remarks in his review of Hugh Kennedy's book, â€Å"Whether it was demographic decline and internal political divisions that sapped the morale of many of Islam’s rivals, or the motivation, leadership and mobility that characterized the Muslim military machine, Kennedy wisely concludes that in the final analysis timing was everything. If Muhammad had been born a generation earlier, it is unlikely that he or his successors would have achieved what they did. (Sidelko 2009, 466) One cannot know for certain what would have happened if Muhammad started spreading Islam a generation earlier. But, I would tend to agree with Sidelko (and Kennedy's) notion that if Muhammad had lived to spread Islam in 300 A. D. rather than in 500 A. D. , Islam may not have spread so well. Also, nothing really stood out about early Muslim culture or technology during the times leading up to their conquest. â€Å"The main reason the early presence of Muslims is difficult to find in the archaeological record is not because we don't know where or how to look for it; it is because it isn't there. Outside of Arabia, Muslims have been a minority of immigrants at first and have tended to assimilate to the local material culture. Local converts to Islam have tended to keep their own material culture. † (Morony 2006, 437) Early Muslims simply didn't stand out even with the archaeological record. To me, this suggests that Byzantine Empire would have been stronger, and far more equipped to handle a growing adversary who was still a minority if Islam's rise happened earlier in history. The Persian Empire may not have yielded so readily, perhaps keeping Islam contained even further. And the conditions in Arab society may not have been quite so receptive to Muhammad's new religion. Muhammad faced opposition for many years before he was successful at gaining any traction for his Islamic teachings among the Arab people. One hundred years earlier may have been even more difficult to do– especially since the Arabs were polytheistic well before Muhammad started to spread Islam. There is also something to be said about how fervent the Muslims became about Islam once it finally started to become popular after Muhammad's death. The Arabs took with them a fresh faith with a fresh sense of fervency that was not equally matched the war torn Byzantine and Persian Empires. â€Å"For the first five centuries or so since the earliest, and most traumatic, encounter between Christendom and Islam in the second quarter of the seventh century, Christian attitudes to Islam had been compounded of ignorance, misperception, hostility and fear. † (Fletcher et al 2003). Such hostility and fear may not have been aroused by a younger, stronger Byzantine Empire. So then, the mere timing of the introduction of Islam seems to account for why this faith spread so rapidly during the 7th century. When one considers how the present is interwoven with the past, it is amazing to consider how the teachings of one man could spread so quickly across the world hundreds of years ago, and yet still maintain a quarter of the world's population as followers in present times. It is amazing to think that Islam perhaps wouldn't be prevalent at all if Muhammad or his successors were born too early or too late for the Muslim message to catch on due to unforeseen cultural influences. What if Muhammad had been born elsewhere? And to think– what if somehow the Byzantine Empire had found a way to better manage their constant fighting with Persia, or if the Catholic Church had exercised more tolerance like the Muslims first did after acquiring new lands that had a noticeable Christian population? A change in these factors could have certainly changed the course of history. But as things are, these conditions of the past are the reasons why Islam spread so rapidly centuries again, and is still one of the largest religions in the world today.

Chapter II Related Literature

The aim of this project is to develop performance evaluation System to achieve quality education and training and maintain high academic standards in all education programs offered in the college. This Teacher's Evaluation Information System for Department Heads of Manuel S. Never University Foundation Candelabra Incorporated is an automated system designed to use as a tool for the department Heads of MISCHIEF to monitor or observe the teachers under their department.This system can conduct unit evaluation as a web based system that can lower the costs, increase timeliness of feedback and make the record keeping and analysis easier. The Teacher's Evaluation system was developed based on RADAR Methodology. The framework of the system is based on Apache Web Server, Adobe Dreamier and Myself Database. Summary The main goal of the researchers is to develop student evaluation for their teachers for the improvement of teaching and consequently also of education results and to provide the s tudents freedom of expressing their opinions and ideas about their concerns to their teachers.And Isis also develop to stimulate teachers to further their own improvement through learning about their strengths and weaknesses. The users consists in three categories the Department Head, Faculty and the Student. This will enable to all users to going. The Department Head will register all the faculty and students under his department and he will also assign all the students and the faculty member that they will evaluate. The Faculty can view the results of his evaluation and also the student comments.The Students will evaluate their teachers and give some comment's regarding to the performance of his teachers. They can also view the profile of all the teachers. The research methodology that the researchers used is the RADAR, or Rapid Application Development where it is complete methodology covering systems development from business requirements to ongoing development. The researcher al so used the Unified Modeling Language (JIMS) based free open source software tools in developing the application. PH programming language, Macromedia Dreamier, Apache and Myself are also used in developing the proposed system.The proposed system had been evaluated by the end-users to measure the functionality, reliability, usability, efficiency, maintainability and portability of the proposed system. Conclusion The results of the research and development used in the creation of this application have successfully met the goals of this project study. The system s a manifestation of a software developed using PH programming language for creating web pages and the Macromedia Dreamier. Though it seems that social networking seems to very easy and simple web application, this project study had met the specific goals of the research. . The proposed system which has been developed of the researchers will serve as an automated evaluation for the teachers to ensure them to perform at their be st to enhance student learning. And it supports the aspiration of the student to comment out the worst and even good things that they observe with their professors regarding their teaching behavior and ability. . This study made effective use of the TOAD Methodology, the Unified Modeling Language in the design of the system. PH and Macromedia Dreamier as the development tools, and My SQL as the database in creating the application. . Users and the respondent agree that the proposed evaluation system is a way to improve the process of the student evaluation for Teachers. The evaluation of the respondents on the questionnaires provided for the proposed system had made a great impact to the end-users and it revealed that the system will be useful and the evaluation has a good and fair result. Recommendations Upon gathering the results and examinations of the findings of the proposed system, the following are the researcher's recommendations on future studies that will be conducted by f uture researchers: 1.It is recommended to enhance the design of the proposed system. 2. In order for the system to be more effective, future researchers may enhance the functionality of the system in terms of adding some features like evaluation of grades so that the system complies all the needs of the students. 3. Also, it is suggested for the future researchers to undergo further study about the new rends in the field of dynamic web developing. Synopsis After reviewing this study, the researchers have read that this study has the same characteristics that the proposed system will have.The only difference that the previous study and the proposed study will have is that the latter will have a supporting mobile application. The stud's recommendations will be taken to account in developing the proposed system. A Web-Based Student Evaluation for Teachers of Manuel S. Never University Foundation Candelabra Incorporated This study was about a Web-Based Student Candelabra Incorporated. I t has the purpose Of transforming the manual into a more systematic and computerized process.Abstract The project aims to improve the existing student evaluation for teachers to a more practical manner in order to develop the competence of the institution when it comes to evaluation management. This system entitled A Web-Based Student Evaluation for Teachers of Manuel S. Never University Foundation Candelabra Incorporated is constructed for use as a tool to benefit the students, teachers and administrators of the institution. The Web-Based Student Evaluation for Teachers was developed based on RADAR methodology. The framework of the system is based on Apache Web Server, Adobe Dreamier and Myself Database.Summary In general, the main goal of the proposed system is to alter the students manual evaluation into a more systematical and effective manner that is held within the university. Furthermore, the system is associated with the goals of developing the inconvenience of management of the evaluation and providing every concerned individual and effective tool for the accomplishment of their goals rest Ting for a better output. In this system, there are sort of users, namely the facilitator, the students and the faculty. The facilitator has the control of the entire evaluation.He will register accounts for the faculty and students for them to access. He will also take over the assignment of the faculty with its respective subject to the random selected students for the evaluation. As the student accesses his account, he automatically sees the assigned faculty with its respective subject that he will evaluate. He will response with the interactive form of the evaluation and just submit it. The faculty can browse the results from the evaluation for the observation of their teaching performance and influence to the students.Conclusion The study and the construction of the proposed system that is executed by the proponents for the development of the existing system ha ve efficiently met its respective goals and objectives. It is successfully constructed by the use of the tools and techniques Of the modern technology such as the programming language of PH that is used for creating web application and the Integrated Development Environment (DID) of Macromedia Dreamier. The following statements are the considered objectives and goals that have been done productively: 1 .The proposed system that has been built by the represents has provided the facilitator an instrument that will promote the convenience of the management of the evaluation. It also provided the students a tool to conduct the evaluation effectively. Lastly, the faculties have been given the privilege to monitor their performances impact without any hassle. 2. The Object Oriented Analysis and Design (TOAD) methodology and the Unified Modeling Language (ML) have been used effectively for the software development. 3.The evaluation of the users and the respondents on the questionnaires por trays the effectiveness and usefulness of the system's functionalities. The respondents provided a good and a fair evaluation on the proposed system. Recommendations Upon gathering the outcome from the researches and implementation of the proposed system, the following listed recommendations are cited for the studies that will be conducted by future researchers: 1 . It is recommended to develop and seek for more appropriate page design of the proposed system. 2.It is also advisable to include feature such as an automatic random selection of the students to promote the unbiased selection of the facilitator. 3. If possible, for gaining the competency of the system, it is recommended to lid and connect the system with the enrolment system of the University for an Automated Registration of the students and schedule management in the evaluation system. 4. Also, it is highly recommended to conduct further researches to gain more detailed information about the evaluation procedures to deve lop ideas that will contribute to its full effectiveness.Synopsis have a supporting mobile application. The stuffs recommendations will be taken to account in developing the proposed system. A Web-based System for Teaching Evaluation This research is an attempt to develop and implement a Web-based system to elect teaching evaluation data for summarize and formative purposes. The research entitled â€Å"Implementation of a system for on-line evaluation of teaching' is a sub-project under the UGH-funded project â€Å"SEEP implementation†.Abstract This paper talks about a joint university (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, university of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University) effort to develop and implement a Web-based system to collect students' evaluation of teaching on a large scale in local Higher Education Institutes. It is a subproject of the University Grant Committee funded project â€Å"Evaluation of Student Experience Project – imple mentation†. Title of the project is â€Å"Implementation of a system for on-line evaluation of teaching'. A trial run of the system was conducted in March in one of the University.Rest Its of the trial indicated that the majority of the students preferred the Web-based system to the traditional paper-based system for student evaluation of teaching. The response rate was also much higher than anticipated. The paper discussed key issues concerning the use of the Web for collecting teaching evaluation data and directions of future work. Synopsis A Teacher Evaluation System That Works Educators are among the most numerous of public servants, and K-12 education is one Of the most vital Of all public investments.Research shows that individual teachers are the most important school-related factor in student achievement gains, that effectiveness varies greatly between teachers, and that differences in effectiveness are not well predicted by traditional qualifications. Yet teacher per formance in the classroom is seldom evaluated in any rigorous way. Commonly, a teacher is observed at most once a year by a principal who rates the teacher in the highest category unless some egregious fault is noticed.In efforts to improve educational outcomes for students and increase accountability for teachers, the public and policymakers are calling for a better approach to teacher evaluation, including more systematic observation of classrooms, use of multiple measures of teacher effectiveness, and more attention to using evidence of teacher effectiveness in improving student outcomes. Abstract Status quo approaches to teacher evaluation have recently come under increasing criticism.They typically assign most teachers the highest available score, provide minimal feedback for improvement, and have little connection tit student achievement growth and the quality of instruction that leads to higher student growth. A more comprehensive approach has been demonstrated for ten years by TAP†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement. This system includes both classroom observations and student achievement growth measures, provides feedback to teachers for improvement, is aligned to professional development and mentoring support, and provides metrics for performance-based compensation.This paper describes the TAP system, and examines data from a large sample of teachers o assess the distribution of TAP evaluations and their alignment to student achievement growth. We find that TAP evaluations provide differentiated feedback, that classroom observational scores are positively and significantly correlated with student achievement growth, that TAP teachers increase in observed skill levels over time, and that TAP schools show differential retention of effective teachers based on these evaluation scores.Related System/Software Products Online Course Evaluation System Since 2006, the College Curriculum Council has worked to develop a flexible ours e valuation system that will help departments evaluate their courses and teaching more effectively. Following the Sac's recommendation, the College piloted an online course evaluation form in spring 2008. Every semester since then, some version of the online course evaluation form has been made available to departments. Each semester's form was revised according to extensive feedback from faculty, students, and departments.In fall 2010, the online course evaluation system was used by 22 departments. Emcee's Teacher Evaluation System Emcee's Teacher Evaluation System standardizes the evaluation process, revised opportunities for coaching and knowledge building, and helps talented teachers and education leaders realize their potential. By helping to identify areas of needed professional development and by improving the communication between teachers and evaluators, the evaluation process becomes a positive force for change.McRae has also created a corresponding software application in r esponse to district requests for a valid and reliable online version of the process. Professional development for IT, central office staff, and school administrators is required to use the online tool. With this evaluation software, you can: Access evaluation forms from desktop, laptop, or notebook devices Aggregate data and customize reports by grade, subject, building, or district Export data for use in most databases (e. G. Excel, Access) Provide timely and effective feedback Track teacher performance longitudinally See both principal and peer observations in one summary report Teacher Evaluator: Teacher Evaluations For [email  protected] & Any Web Browser Reedier Software's Teacher Evaluator is a stand-alone, web-based application that can be accessed through a dedicated [email  protected] app and any web browser. No matter what SIS you use or if you are a private school, public school, district or diocese, Teacher Evaluator has the tools you need to schedule and complete ev aluations quickly, effectively and unobtrusively.Comply with state mandated requirements. Raise professional standards and expectations. Identify strengths and needs. Streamline classroom walkout's and data entry. Allow teachers to reflect, comment and self-evaluate. Set goals and track progress on growth and improvement plans. View and group evaluations by department, grade level, school and more. Features & Benefits Evaluating staff can be a challenging task for any school. Each school has a unique approach with different requirements. Teacher Evaluator's features make evaluations fast and accurate.Built-Len Form Builder with Pre-Loaded State Rubrics Create your own evaluation forms or copy and edit a pre-existing form with the built-in form builder. Have multiple forms for different departments, grade levels and schools. Teacher Evaluator includes pre-loaded state mandated rubrics. Custom Rating Scales, Goals and Improvement Plans Enter custom rating scales or use state-mandated rating scales to easily spot your top performing and under performing teachers while identifying strengths and needs. Set goals and create improvement plans. Reference goals while reviewing evaluations.Real-Time Dashboards & Reports Data is always at your fingertips with dashboards and reports that track and compare how your teachers are performing individually, by department and by school within a district or diocese. Use the Excel†/ wizard to export data for state reporting and qualification for Race to the Top funds. Evaluation Scheduler To Help Manage Your Day Schedule evaluations and receive reminders on upcoming evaluations. Send your scheduled evaluations to your Google Calendar W, Outlook or [email  protected] Improve Communication Between Evaluator & Teacher Observe a teacher doing something noteworthy?Quickly take a photo, video or create a memo on the spot and have it sent to them via e-mail. Once evaluations are completed, teachers are automatically notified via e-mail and are provided with a direct link to view their evaluation. Teachers can comment on evaluations based on reflection before or after completion and electronically sign evaluations. Furthermore, self evaluations can be conducted by teachers to encourage professional development. Tiered permission levels allow proper access for teachers, department heads and administrators. Chapter II Related Literature The aim of this project is to develop performance evaluation System to achieve quality education and training and maintain high academic standards in all education programs offered in the college. This Teacher's Evaluation Information System for Department Heads of Manuel S. Never University Foundation Candelabra Incorporated is an automated system designed to use as a tool for the department Heads of MISCHIEF to monitor or observe the teachers under their department.This system can conduct unit evaluation as a web based system that can lower the costs, increase timeliness of feedback and make the record keeping and analysis easier. The Teacher's Evaluation system was developed based on RADAR Methodology. The framework of the system is based on Apache Web Server, Adobe Dreamier and Myself Database. Summary The main goal of the researchers is to develop student evaluation for their teachers for the improvement of teaching and consequently also of education results and to provide the s tudents freedom of expressing their opinions and ideas about their concerns to their teachers.And Isis also develop to stimulate teachers to further their own improvement through learning about their strengths and weaknesses. The users consists in three categories the Department Head, Faculty and the Student. This will enable to all users to going. The Department Head will register all the faculty and students under his department and he will also assign all the students and the faculty member that they will evaluate. The Faculty can view the results of his evaluation and also the student comments.The Students will evaluate their teachers and give some comment's regarding to the performance of his teachers. They can also view the profile of all the teachers. The research methodology that the researchers used is the RADAR, or Rapid Application Development where it is complete methodology covering systems development from business requirements to ongoing development. The researcher al so used the Unified Modeling Language (JIMS) based free open source software tools in developing the application. PH programming language, Macromedia Dreamier, Apache and Myself are also used in developing the proposed system.The proposed system had been evaluated by the end-users to measure the functionality, reliability, usability, efficiency, maintainability and portability of the proposed system. Conclusion The results of the research and development used in the creation of this application have successfully met the goals of this project study. The system s a manifestation of a software developed using PH programming language for creating web pages and the Macromedia Dreamier. Though it seems that social networking seems to very easy and simple web application, this project study had met the specific goals of the research. . The proposed system which has been developed of the researchers will serve as an automated evaluation for the teachers to ensure them to perform at their be st to enhance student learning. And it supports the aspiration of the student to comment out the worst and even good things that they observe with their professors regarding their teaching behavior and ability. . This study made effective use of the TOAD Methodology, the Unified Modeling Language in the design of the system. PH and Macromedia Dreamier as the development tools, and My SQL as the database in creating the application. . Users and the respondent agree that the proposed evaluation system is a way to improve the process of the student evaluation for Teachers. The evaluation of the respondents on the questionnaires provided for the proposed system had made a great impact to the end-users and it revealed that the system will be useful and the evaluation has a good and fair result. Recommendations Upon gathering the results and examinations of the findings of the proposed system, the following are the researcher's recommendations on future studies that will be conducted by f uture researchers: 1.It is recommended to enhance the design of the proposed system. 2. In order for the system to be more effective, future researchers may enhance the functionality of the system in terms of adding some features like evaluation of grades so that the system complies all the needs of the students. 3. Also, it is suggested for the future researchers to undergo further study about the new rends in the field of dynamic web developing. Synopsis After reviewing this study, the researchers have read that this study has the same characteristics that the proposed system will have.The only difference that the previous study and the proposed study will have is that the latter will have a supporting mobile application. The stud's recommendations will be taken to account in developing the proposed system. A Web-Based Student Evaluation for Teachers of Manuel S. Never University Foundation Candelabra Incorporated This study was about a Web-Based Student Candelabra Incorporated. I t has the purpose Of transforming the manual into a more systematic and computerized process.Abstract The project aims to improve the existing student evaluation for teachers to a more practical manner in order to develop the competence of the institution when it comes to evaluation management. This system entitled A Web-Based Student Evaluation for Teachers of Manuel S. Never University Foundation Candelabra Incorporated is constructed for use as a tool to benefit the students, teachers and administrators of the institution. The Web-Based Student Evaluation for Teachers was developed based on RADAR methodology. The framework of the system is based on Apache Web Server, Adobe Dreamier and Myself Database.Summary In general, the main goal of the proposed system is to alter the students manual evaluation into a more systematical and effective manner that is held within the university. Furthermore, the system is associated with the goals of developing the inconvenience of management of the evaluation and providing every concerned individual and effective tool for the accomplishment of their goals rest Ting for a better output. In this system, there are sort of users, namely the facilitator, the students and the faculty. The facilitator has the control of the entire evaluation.He will register accounts for the faculty and students for them to access. He will also take over the assignment of the faculty with its respective subject to the random selected students for the evaluation. As the student accesses his account, he automatically sees the assigned faculty with its respective subject that he will evaluate. He will response with the interactive form of the evaluation and just submit it. The faculty can browse the results from the evaluation for the observation of their teaching performance and influence to the students.Conclusion The study and the construction of the proposed system that is executed by the proponents for the development of the existing system ha ve efficiently met its respective goals and objectives. It is successfully constructed by the use of the tools and techniques Of the modern technology such as the programming language of PH that is used for creating web application and the Integrated Development Environment (DID) of Macromedia Dreamier. The following statements are the considered objectives and goals that have been done productively: 1 .The proposed system that has been built by the represents has provided the facilitator an instrument that will promote the convenience of the management of the evaluation. It also provided the students a tool to conduct the evaluation effectively. Lastly, the faculties have been given the privilege to monitor their performances impact without any hassle. 2. The Object Oriented Analysis and Design (TOAD) methodology and the Unified Modeling Language (ML) have been used effectively for the software development. 3.The evaluation of the users and the respondents on the questionnaires por trays the effectiveness and usefulness of the system's functionalities. The respondents provided a good and a fair evaluation on the proposed system. Recommendations Upon gathering the outcome from the researches and implementation of the proposed system, the following listed recommendations are cited for the studies that will be conducted by future researchers: 1 . It is recommended to develop and seek for more appropriate page design of the proposed system. 2.It is also advisable to include feature such as an automatic random selection of the students to promote the unbiased selection of the facilitator. 3. If possible, for gaining the competency of the system, it is recommended to lid and connect the system with the enrolment system of the University for an Automated Registration of the students and schedule management in the evaluation system. 4. Also, it is highly recommended to conduct further researches to gain more detailed information about the evaluation procedures to deve lop ideas that will contribute to its full effectiveness.Synopsis have a supporting mobile application. The stuffs recommendations will be taken to account in developing the proposed system. A Web-based System for Teaching Evaluation This research is an attempt to develop and implement a Web-based system to elect teaching evaluation data for summarize and formative purposes. The research entitled â€Å"Implementation of a system for on-line evaluation of teaching' is a sub-project under the UGH-funded project â€Å"SEEP implementation†.Abstract This paper talks about a joint university (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, university of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University) effort to develop and implement a Web-based system to collect students' evaluation of teaching on a large scale in local Higher Education Institutes. It is a subproject of the University Grant Committee funded project â€Å"Evaluation of Student Experience Project – imple mentation†. Title of the project is â€Å"Implementation of a system for on-line evaluation of teaching'. A trial run of the system was conducted in March in one of the University.Rest Its of the trial indicated that the majority of the students preferred the Web-based system to the traditional paper-based system for student evaluation of teaching. The response rate was also much higher than anticipated. The paper discussed key issues concerning the use of the Web for collecting teaching evaluation data and directions of future work. Synopsis A Teacher Evaluation System That Works Educators are among the most numerous of public servants, and K-12 education is one Of the most vital Of all public investments.Research shows that individual teachers are the most important school-related factor in student achievement gains, that effectiveness varies greatly between teachers, and that differences in effectiveness are not well predicted by traditional qualifications. Yet teacher per formance in the classroom is seldom evaluated in any rigorous way. Commonly, a teacher is observed at most once a year by a principal who rates the teacher in the highest category unless some egregious fault is noticed.In efforts to improve educational outcomes for students and increase accountability for teachers, the public and policymakers are calling for a better approach to teacher evaluation, including more systematic observation of classrooms, use of multiple measures of teacher effectiveness, and more attention to using evidence of teacher effectiveness in improving student outcomes. Abstract Status quo approaches to teacher evaluation have recently come under increasing criticism.They typically assign most teachers the highest available score, provide minimal feedback for improvement, and have little connection tit student achievement growth and the quality of instruction that leads to higher student growth. A more comprehensive approach has been demonstrated for ten years by TAP†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement. This system includes both classroom observations and student achievement growth measures, provides feedback to teachers for improvement, is aligned to professional development and mentoring support, and provides metrics for performance-based compensation.This paper describes the TAP system, and examines data from a large sample of teachers o assess the distribution of TAP evaluations and their alignment to student achievement growth. We find that TAP evaluations provide differentiated feedback, that classroom observational scores are positively and significantly correlated with student achievement growth, that TAP teachers increase in observed skill levels over time, and that TAP schools show differential retention of effective teachers based on these evaluation scores.Related System/Software Products Online Course Evaluation System Since 2006, the College Curriculum Council has worked to develop a flexible ours e valuation system that will help departments evaluate their courses and teaching more effectively. Following the Sac's recommendation, the College piloted an online course evaluation form in spring 2008. Every semester since then, some version of the online course evaluation form has been made available to departments. Each semester's form was revised according to extensive feedback from faculty, students, and departments.In fall 2010, the online course evaluation system was used by 22 departments. Emcee's Teacher Evaluation System Emcee's Teacher Evaluation System standardizes the evaluation process, revised opportunities for coaching and knowledge building, and helps talented teachers and education leaders realize their potential. By helping to identify areas of needed professional development and by improving the communication between teachers and evaluators, the evaluation process becomes a positive force for change.McRae has also created a corresponding software application in r esponse to district requests for a valid and reliable online version of the process. Professional development for IT, central office staff, and school administrators is required to use the online tool. With this evaluation software, you can: Access evaluation forms from desktop, laptop, or notebook devices Aggregate data and customize reports by grade, subject, building, or district Export data for use in most databases (e. G. Excel, Access) Provide timely and effective feedback Track teacher performance longitudinally See both principal and peer observations in one summary report Teacher Evaluator: Teacher Evaluations For [email  protected] & Any Web Browser Reedier Software's Teacher Evaluator is a stand-alone, web-based application that can be accessed through a dedicated [email  protected] app and any web browser. No matter what SIS you use or if you are a private school, public school, district or diocese, Teacher Evaluator has the tools you need to schedule and complete ev aluations quickly, effectively and unobtrusively.Comply with state mandated requirements. Raise professional standards and expectations. Identify strengths and needs. Streamline classroom walkout's and data entry. Allow teachers to reflect, comment and self-evaluate. Set goals and track progress on growth and improvement plans. View and group evaluations by department, grade level, school and more. Features & Benefits Evaluating staff can be a challenging task for any school. Each school has a unique approach with different requirements. Teacher Evaluator's features make evaluations fast and accurate.Built-Len Form Builder with Pre-Loaded State Rubrics Create your own evaluation forms or copy and edit a pre-existing form with the built-in form builder. Have multiple forms for different departments, grade levels and schools. Teacher Evaluator includes pre-loaded state mandated rubrics. Custom Rating Scales, Goals and Improvement Plans Enter custom rating scales or use state-mandated rating scales to easily spot your top performing and under performing teachers while identifying strengths and needs. Set goals and create improvement plans. Reference goals while reviewing evaluations.Real-Time Dashboards & Reports Data is always at your fingertips with dashboards and reports that track and compare how your teachers are performing individually, by department and by school within a district or diocese. Use the Excel†/ wizard to export data for state reporting and qualification for Race to the Top funds. Evaluation Scheduler To Help Manage Your Day Schedule evaluations and receive reminders on upcoming evaluations. Send your scheduled evaluations to your Google Calendar W, Outlook or [email  protected] Improve Communication Between Evaluator & Teacher Observe a teacher doing something noteworthy?Quickly take a photo, video or create a memo on the spot and have it sent to them via e-mail. Once evaluations are completed, teachers are automatically notified via e-mail and are provided with a direct link to view their evaluation. Teachers can comment on evaluations based on reflection before or after completion and electronically sign evaluations. Furthermore, self evaluations can be conducted by teachers to encourage professional development. Tiered permission levels allow proper access for teachers, department heads and administrators.

Aggressive driving Essay

(1)Aggressive driving is a phenomenon, which has only recently got the public worried. (2)The National Highway Traffic Safety Council (NHTSC) defines aggressive driving as â€Å"the operation of a motor vehicle in a manner that endangers or is likely to endanger persons or property†. (3)Actions such as running red lights, improper passing, overtaking on the left, improper lane change, failing to yield, improper turns, running stop signs, tailgaiting, careless driving and speeding are examples of aggressive driving.. (4)Such actions are dangerous to other road users. (5)Aggressive driving should be avoided because it causes crashes, injuries and fatalities. (6)The first reason why aggressive driving should be avoided is it causes crashes. (7)According to NHTSC between 78 percent (excessive speed) and 100 percent (improper passing) of the cases of aggressive driving resulted in traffic crashes and 96 percent of the drivers cited for â€Å"following too closely† or tailgaitng caused crashes as a result of their aggressive driving. (8)Moreover, â€Å"running red light†, â€Å"improper passing†, and â€Å"overtaking on the left† topped other categories of aggressive driving in contributing to traffic crashes. (9)Another reason why aggressive driving should be avoided is it causes injuries.(10) NHTSC states that the percentages of the injuries caused by aggressive driving are, in almost all categories of aggressive driving, above 100 percent. (11)Furthermore, the Department of Highway Safety (DHS) reports that this is due to the fact that each motor vehicle crash accounts for one or more injuries. (12) It was found that of the ten categories of aggressive driving, â€Å"running red light†, â€Å"failing to yield†, and â€Å"running stop signs† are the most serious factors contributing to injuries. (13)Yet another reason why aggressive driving should be avoided is it causes fatalities. (14)†Overtaking on the left† appears to be the most important contributing factor in traffic fatalities as it relates to aggressive driving. (15) â€Å"Improper lane change†, â€Å"running stop sign† and â€Å"running red light† rank second through four in terms of their contribution to traffic fatalities (DHS, 2008). (16)The above evidence shows that aggressive driving causes crashes, injuries and fatalities. (17) Hence, aggressive driving should be avoided. (18)Since the opening of the North-South Highway, the number of kilometers of roads in the country has increased by one percent while the number of vehicle miles driven has increased by 35 percent. (19) More cars and more drivers are also on the road, leading to more aggressive drivers.

Racial and Ethnic Relations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Racial and Ethnic Relations - Assignment Example This led to the migration of more Portuguese from Europe who came to own plantations in Brazil that used Native Indian and African slaves as cheap labor. The secret to the Portuguese domination of Brazil laid in the fact that they had a stronger military that used superior technology. Due to this, the seized the fertile lands of Brazil and suppressed all efforts for fairness and justice. This led to the establishment of a wealthy elite made up of White Portuguese land owners. These Portuguese were assisted in the middle-ranks by Moors and other mixed race mulattoes who suppressed Black Africans and Indians. This racial stratification led determined the distribution of land and wealth in Brazil and this transcended throughout the generations till this day. In South Africa, the Dutch first settled in the Western Cape and found fertile lands that was fit for agriculture and cultivation. The British also settled in the Eastern Cape and some of them seized lands from the native Xhosa peop le and began plantations. At this time, the natives were used as cheap labor on the White farms.

FAMILY BUSINESS CASE STUDY Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

FAMILY BUSINESS CASE STUDY - Assignment Example The bottom line of the company is affected due to this limited view whereby the competitive abilities and the quality of human capital suffers (Kothari and Tobwala). Essentially the issue with women as leaders in a male dominated society has a lot to do with the stereotypical roles that they are supposed to confine themselves in. This can lead to females having credibility issues and not being able to effectively lead the company. This can negatively impact the company and even cause failure. It effects multiple levels in the company which includes employees and even clients who do not think a woman can run a stable company. This could affect revenue and make it difficult for the company to survive in such an industry. The current scenario between the two sisters in the company can be a cause of sibling rivalry that can outgrow generations. The conflict is mainly between the two sisters. The eldest one belongs to a creative profession and has little know how about the actual business itself whereas the youngest sibling has been working in the business so far and does have the much needed experience. However, the eldest wishes to take charge of the company after her father from the virtue of her being the eldest. If the eldest is given the major chunk of responsibility, this can cause a great source of resentment for the younger sister since she will feel cheated out of her rightful place. Despite her obvious greater experience, if she is not given the position, she will feel that she has been treated unjustly and she might direct her anger towards the older sibling or refuse to work in the company at all. And the impact doesn’t end there, since the eldest daughter does not know much about t he business, her management and business skills are in questions. She will take a lot of time to adjust to the business and a longer time to run it in an effective manner. Most companies cannot handle this impact or adjustment period and the company might run

Skilled Human Resource Management In Africa Essay

Skilled Human Resource Management In Africa - Essay Example The topic of our discussion is brain drainage from the continent that is not yet established and due to such actions of individuals they tend to loose many important resources that could have been utilized in the betterment of their economic position. The world is currently facing diversion in terms of human resources from one part of the world to the other, it is fair to say that educated people do not want to stay in their country until and unless their country is fully supporting them and providing them with every basic of life, countries like America and England do not have a drainage problem due to many reasons which are also related to their currency value, however Africa is facing a serious problem as it cannot afford its skillful people to leave it which is happening. Almost every country is having a class that is willing to stay in it and work with dedication, but such organizations are providing its employees with something wonderful and they are motivated to work for the same without thinking about any struggle to earn more. As early as the 1500s, the African slave trade had already brought thousands of Africans to the new world. In what the mid period, Africans were exported from their homelands to the America to deve lop and sustain plantation agriculture and to work the mines of South America in a new and unfamiliar environment, the Africans were indentured for specified periods, but as the economic advantages of their forced labor became clearer, the period of serving soon came to be expanded to the duration of their lives. The Africans brought not only their labor, but also skills and knowledge in areas useful to the white colonizers. In Africa, the captives had been farmers, builders, artisans, craftsmen, healers, and even the rulers. For many of the African immigrants, the journey to the United States involves a global migratory pattern, leaving because of Africa's worsening economic and political problems, or to pursue education, or to join up with family members, these immigrants typically reach the United States in stepwise fashion, sometimes living in several other countries before managing to secure a visa for their ultimate destination in the United States. Relative to other immigrant population groups such as Hispanics or Asians, the African immigrants have a low rate of naturalization. Many consider themselves as visitors in United States, intending to return home when economic and political conditions improve. Africa's brain drain is taking place as the continent stands at the crisis of economic development and Africans appeal for the establishment of democratic institutions and political accountability. Africa's dilemma starts from the fact that the colonial and post-colonial policies of economic, political, and cultural development have been framed from a Euro American perspective that offers little or no relevance to the needs of the people on the continent. For instance, the rapid expansion in secondary and postsecondary education since 1945, although essential for economic and cultural development, was undertaken without any assessment of how school leavers would be incorporated into the labor market. The inability of the labor market to absorb school leavers has resulted in massive underemployment and unemployment. Unable to find jobs, both skilled and unskilled workers are compelled to search for jobs in Western

Strategic management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Strategic management - Coursework Example The article gives an illustration of Mintzberg model which tends to be in a limited context. However, the context is seen to be a valid prescription for success in strategic management. The article is important as it illustrates the factors that result to variation in strategic management, and it also attempts to give the valid prescriptions for success. The author is a lecturer at United States international university. The varying business environments tend to alter the way various organizations conduct business. Strategy is an area of management characterized by controversial theories. The article does not question the essence of strategy. The article states that strategy should reflect the demands of an organization. Strategy should be dynamic. Strategies tend to evolve as the organizational patterns also change. The approach to strategy making, can normally take a deliberate end, which tends to be more rational. The other approach is the trial and error type of approach. An organization can normally follow a specific approach, or may combine both. The article is important in relation to strategic management, as it depicts the controversial theories associated with strategic management. It also gives the different approaches to strategic management. The authors; Marius Pretorius is an associate Professor and Rachel Maritz is a senior lecturer at the University of Pretoria. The article gives an illustration of company strategies, these strategies can be as a result of deliberate internal decisions, they may also depend on one extreme, and, however, there are those that may emerge as a result of external forces. The article uses an example to illustrate how a company moved from the emergent to a more deliberate strategy, despite the external forces that tend to influence its decisions. Looking at Alcan’s organizational structure, it is evident

The sports facility in Stratford-Upon-Avon Essay

The sports facility in Stratford-Upon-Avon - Essay Example Marketing programmes within the organization should reflect a commitment to meeting the needs of the members of the community in which the organization will serve. Therefore, analysis, both internal and external, should include members of the community, as stakeholders. It should also include the current position of the organization, available resources and identification of the organization’s core competencies or strengths.By assessing the organization’s strengths and weaknesses, the marketing team can develop a marketing programme that focuses on matching the organization’s strengths with needs of stakeholders. The sports facility is currently facing a recent loss of revenue, due to decreased sales of membership. To combat this phenomenon, the marketing strategy has made the decision to offer an all inclusive family membership, which can be used by any and all members of the family. The stakeholder analysis and market segmentation activities suggest that busine sses in Stratford-Upon-Avon should consider the entire family, in this family-oriented community. The goal of the marketing plan align is to align organizational strategy with the marketing strategy, in order to reach the target markets, with a cohesive message that speaks to target segments. Target segments need to understand how the sports centre can benefit them. Situation Analysis The sports facility that once offered individual memberships is not as profitable as it once was. Membership has decreased, likely due to financial concerns and the current state of the UK and global economy.

FDT 1 week 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

FDT 1 week 4 - Essay Example Pena-Nieto’s administration should consider applying border initiative-operation Rio Grande. Rio Grande centralized local, state, county and federal law enforcement intelligence. Similarly, Pena-Nieto’s government should use current available assets including the National Guard under the supervision of Texas Homeland Security Director (Hesterman, 2013, p. 153). There should be viable strategies aimed at enhancing security at the Mexico-Texas border. Sustainable techniques include paying officers overtime to enhance patrols, coordinating state agencies, and sharing information with federal agencies (Hesterman, 2013, p.154). Pena-Nieto’s government should initiate programs that offer ammunition and training to law enforcers and oversight of security agencies operating at the Mexico-Texas border. Currently, Pena-Nieto’s government uses the army to conduct police related activities, in contradiction of provisions outlined under the Posse Comitatus law. Nieto has an established and healthy working condition with bordering countries. The administration employs foreign-based agents to work in coordination with Interpol and other international organizations on drug-related issues (Gaines, 2011, p. 231). Employment of more law enforcement agents is a key success of the administration in addressing challenges of drug cartels along Mexico-Texas

Conceptualize a hypothetical information system project Essay

Conceptualize a hypothetical information system project - Essay Example This system also allows performing manual entries of products there is a problem with bar code reader. At the end of the day system offers the sales records along with possible stock availability details. The system works with a Bar Code Reader that extracts the overall details of products from the bar-code (Shelly, Cashman, & Vermaat, 2005). After that system adds the product details to database. The database accumulates the overall details of products and shopping and creates final bill. System also adds each sale to daily sales list. This list offers a comprehensive overview of daily sales which business has made throughout a day. On the other hand the system product details are also entered at the back-end. For instance, each product’s status like availability, items details, product prices, etc. are entered into the back end database. Hence, at the end of the day the system compares the sold and available sock and offers a comprehensive overview of product supply chain. Currently, the business utilizes customers, products and sales information in a number of ways. In this scenario, sales and products information can be used for business supply chain management operations. The business makes use of the information and data to maintain the stock at the shelves and also maintains the customer needs regarding rapid availability of stock. The business also makes use of information for overall sales management. The sales management operation utilizes cost benefit analysis form customer operational management. The business can also make use of customer data for marketing purposes. The business can offer attractive offers to their regular customers, which will improve its operational capability. These all information can be used as system requirements. We can use a data collection methodology (such as interview or questionnaires) to collect data and information

The Toro Companys' No Risk Program Research Paper

The Toro Companys' No Risk Program - Research Paper Example The winter during the year 1982/1983 was mild and thus, the premium rate of 2.1% was low given that there was a high risk that a bigger number of customers were going seek refund (Squires, 1999). In other words, the American Home Insurance Company had erred in the calculation of 2.1% premium. To recover this, the insurance company raised the premium rate to around 8% during the following year. Further, the insurance company seemed to take advantage of the increased sales since the premium rate is calculated as a percentage of total retail sales. Estimating a fair insurance rate A fair insurance rate can be estimated based on historical performance of an organization. For Toro Company, historical data on the sales of the Snowthrowers can be gathered and then used to determine the optimal rates that a company should be asked to pay (Vanderhoof & Altman, 1998). The sales data distribution for Toro indicated that there were strong sales between the financial years 1978/1979, and 1979/198 0. The increase in demand was triggered by severe winter conditions during the period. The next three winters were mild causing a reduction in sales for Toro. However, the winter for the year 1983/1984 was snowy and thus, the risk arising from low sales was reduced. As such, a fair insurance rate should have been lower than that of the previous three years. However, the American Home Insurance Company raised the premium rate from 2.1% in the year 1982/1983 to around 8% in the year 1983/1984. Customer perspective of the structure of paybacks The paybacks were structured in a manner that triggered immediate and enormous interest and excitement among the consumers. This led to customer preference for the products of Toro to those of competitors. However, with only two out of 172 government-run weather stations reporting snowfall below 50%, most consumers were shy from seeking refund. The winter for the year 1983/1984 is snowy, reducing chances for customers to seek refunds. Since intro duction of the program resulted in removing of the 10% discount program, the new program made snowballs less affordable for customers, leading to reduced interest for paybacks especially if winter conditions are projected to be severe. Running the discount and payback programs would be more appealing, where a consumer makes a choice between the two programs, (Banasiewicz, 2009). Common decision traps and impact of the No Risk program on customer ‘regret’ The decision traps that Toro Company and the American Home Insurance Company as susceptible to are as follows: Decision traps Toro Company American Home Insurance Company Limiting the Search Trap Failure to Evaluate Trap Ignoring Ethical Questions trap None (50%) Negative (50%) Positive (70%) None (30%) Positive (60%) None (40%) Possible outcomes for the consumer The decision matrix shows that the program is likely to lead to consumer regrets. Argument to achieve desired objective from the Toro Company’s perspect ive The desire for Toro Company is to win more customers and increase sales for Snowthrowers in the long-run. To achieve this, it will be essential to do research related to the success of the program, and its short and long-term impact on consumer demand (Hoyer & Macinnis, 2009). Toro will need to evaluate possibilities of consumer regret and use the information to improve decisions. In case the program has already caused consumer regret, it will be essential to take actions that will reduce customers’

Trust Among Project Managers and Their Team Essay Example for Free

Trust Among Project Managers and Their Team Essay One of a Project Manager’s most important roles is that of building a team. In building that team, he or she must gain the respect and trust of all of the members within that team. In the book trust is defined as â€Å"the confidence one person places in another that the other will honor all commitments†(Thompson, p. 93). This is a vital component because the team must have faith in the person who is leading the project. Being the project manager is a very important job which requires not a lot of experience, but also hard work and determination. The project manager has to have a good understanding of what the objective is, understand what is needed to get to that objective, and be able to communicate all levels of the project effectively to the team. Basically, the project manager must go above and beyond that of meeting the expectations of all of the members in order to gain their trust. It is not only important that the members of the team trust the project manager, but also that the project manager can trust the rest of the team. Being a part of a team involves risk, especially when there is a level of self-management that the team members will have to do. Having trust in the team can have many benefits such as improving communication, better performance and less conflict among the members. Many times in groups we see implicit trust which is when we trust someone for little or no reason at all based on short interactions that we may have had. (Thompson, p. 95) When we have extremely high levels of trust in a group, we can tend to see the level of performance go down. We can see the performance of a team improve when the project manager and the team members are all monitoring each other’s activities or keeping themselves aware of what is going on in all different areas of the team. Monitoring the team is not necessarily an indicator in a lack of trust, but merely an attempt to assess the project and the progress of the team. It is important to use discretion when choosing when and how much to monitor the team activity because too much monitoring can affect the performance of the team. It has been said that high levels of trust are associated with low monitoring and low trust is associated with high monitoring. (Langfred 2004) Although the team needs to have a strong and organized leader, the team also needs to feel a sense of independence and trust. The image below shows how trust can affect a team’s performance. http://search. ebscohost. com/login. aspx? direct=truedb=buhan=13405639site=ehost-live As we can see, there are several different aspects of trust that can affect the team and its performance. By placing more trust in the members of team and giving them challenges that will require them to work individually as well as together as a team, you will have a more successful outcome. Team members will work better together and separately when they feel that they can be trusted and that what they are contributing to the project is making a difference.

Virtual Reality in Todays Society

Virtual Reality in Todays Society Virtual reality is a computer-generated simulation of the real world. This simulation is not static, instead it responds to the user’s input, whether vocal or tactile, in real time. In order to achieve this interactivity, the computer must constantly monitor the user’s movements or verbal commands and react instantaneously in order to change the synthetic world experienced by the user and in response to him or her. [1] By making use of all of a human’s sensory experience in this way, virtual reality takes the quality of interactivity achieved, say in a computer game, one stage further. Users of virtual reality can see and move objects, they can also touch and feel them. [2] This essay explores the evolution of virtual realities and the many uses of virtual reality in society today, as well as considering its ethical implications. Burdea, and Coiffet comment that the history of virtual reality dates back more than forty years. The Sensorama Simulator virtual reality video arcade game was invented by Martin Heilig in 1962. This game had the capability to simulate a motorcycle ride through a city, using 3-D effects, seat vibrations, appropriate smells, sounds and wind effects using fans. [3] Head-mounted displays were introduced in 1966 by Ivan Sutherland, but were heavy and uncomfortable. In 1985, Michael McGreevey of NASA developed a cheaper and lighter version of the helmet, fitted with mini display screens and sensors to track movement. The sensory glove had been designed in the early 1980s, but it was in 1986 that Jaron Lanier designed a new glove to fit in with the helmet to create a full virtual reality. [4] Advancements continued to be made in graphics and then in 1993 virtual reality became the theme for a major conference of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in Seattle, makin g it clear that virtual reality had entered the main stream scientific community. [5] Since the end of the 1980s, new interfaces communicate three-dimensional images using the head-mounted display (HMD), using video cameras to track the image of the user in a virtual world where he can manipulate objects. More recently there has been a development called CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment), where the user is enclosed in a six sided environment surrounded by projection screens which they view wearing light stereoglasses, giving the impression of 3-D. [6] The suggestive impression is one of one of immersing oneself in the image space, moving and interacting there in â€Å"real time†, and intervening creatively’. [7] However, Burdea and Coiffet point out that with the swift advancements in technology, ‘virtual reality today is done mostly without head-mounted displays, by using large projection screens or desk top PCs’, and sensing gloves are now regularly replaced with joysticks. [8] The world of computer games has become a major area of importance for virtual reality, where the sense of immersion is important for gaming excitement. This creation of interactive virtual worlds has used grand, sweeping cinematic sequences and other techniques used in traditional cinema, such as ‘the expressive use of camera angles and depth of field, and dramatic lighting of 3-D computer generated sets to create mood and atmosphere’. [9] Actors could be used, superimposed over 3-D backgrounds, or as the games became more advanced, synthetic characters were created moving in real time. [10] This means that the space in which the characters move can now change over time, rendering the same space different when visited at a later time during the game. These changes enabled computer designers to integrate the player more deeply into the gaming world cinematically and to create a sense of visual reality. The immersion experienced when playing a computer game is made a much more total and intense experience when the player becomes a part of the game, that is, physically enters a virtual world. Virtual reality ‘provides the subject with the illusion of being present in a simulated world.’ [11] This virtual world, unlike the purely visual engagement of a computer game, allows for bodily engagement with the synthetic world. Virtual reality also allows the user to change elements of this simulated world: it gives an added feeling of control. Virtual reality allows people to experience elements of life without any physical commitments, possible dangers or general inconveniences of a real experience. Lev Manovich comments that virtual worlds are sometimes put forward as the logical successors of cinema, that they are ‘the key cultural form of the twenty-first century just as cinema was the key cultural form of the twentieth century’. [12] Indeed, Grau and Custance compare virtual reality with film, saying: ‘virtual reality now makes it possible to represent space as dependent on the direction of the observer’s gaze: the viewpoint is no longer static or dynamically linear, as in the film, but theoretically includes an infinite number of possible perspectives.’ [13] Technically, virtual reality ‘utilises the same framing’ as a cinema rectangular frame. This kind of frame only allows a partial view of a wider space. The virtual camera, as with a cinema screen, moves around in relation to the viewer in order to reveal different parts of the shot. [14] This framing device is vital to the virtual reality world in that it gives a small shot of a larger world, thereby providing a wholly subjective and totally personal viewing experience. While Manovich looks to cinema as a basis for virtual technology, Grau and Custance look to art. They argue that the idea of virtual reality ‘rests firmly on historical art traditions, which belong to a discontinuous movement of seeking illusionary image spaces’. [15] Taking into account the lack of technology further back in history, Grau and Custance believe that ‘the idea stretches back at least as far as classical antiquity and is alive again today in the immersive visualization strategies of virtual reality art.’ [16] Indeed, for Grau and Custance, this basic idea of finding these ‘immersive spaces of illusion’ is threaded through the history of art. Grau and Custance also point out the lack of natural involvement with the world through the technological illusion of power and control. They say, ironically that ‘the adherents of virtual reality †¦ have often reiterated their claim that immersion in virtual reality intensifies their relationship with nature’. [17] Indeed, an experience so totally reliant on technology and devoid of anything natural can bring about this feeling of connection to nature due to its resemblance of the real world. Manovich too comments on the illusive quality of any ‘natural’ involvement or control. He says that the user is only altering things that are already inside the computer, the data and memory of the virtual world. [18] The realm of virtual reality is driven by the desire to find a perfect recreation of the real world, a perfect illusion. The ideal interface seems to be one in which the interface or computer itself is entirely invisible, it seeks to block out the very means of creation of the virtual world, making the existence of the user in the virtual world seem totally ‘natural’. [19] The experience means that the user is totally isolated from the actual world whilst at the same time given this feeling of total ‘natural’ immersion in a new world as well as a sense of omnipotence. The user in effect becomes a kind of fictional character that they have themselves created, doing whatever they like, whenever they like, always with a sense of immortality. There are ethical problems relating to the potential decrease in real physical interaction and normal human relationships as people may potentially come to prefer their virtual world to their real life. Indeed, in virtual reality, the physical world no longer exists at all, as all ‘real’ action takes place in virtual space. [20] There is another ethical concern, that of the possibility of children accessing unsuitable experiences in a virtual world, as censorship would be difficult. This is similar to the problem of violence and adult themes in films and on the internet being available to chi ldren today. Virtual reality is an area of even greater concern, however, as children will have the opportunity to take part in the action themselves. Another concern is that criminals could practice their crimes in a virtual world before acting in reality. There are many positive uses for virtual reality today in areas such as: medicine, education, entertainment and psychology. For example, virtual reality can provide flight and driving simulation, operation simulation, it can help with architectural design or treatment of phobias. These things can be practised realistically without the fear of anything going wrong with flying training, driving experience or surgery. Virtual reality can also potentially be used in medicine to evaluate a patient and diagnose problems as well as possibly aid in operations. Disabled people have the opportunity to join in activities not usually available to them. An architect can use the method to plan out a building before starting work constructing it: using virtual reality avoids the need to build several different prototypes. Someone afraid of spiders can meet one in a virtual world under careful programming to reduce sensitivity over a period of time, indeed, any phobia could be treated using this kin d of virtual reality exposure therapy. The field of education is a huge potential area of use for virtual reality; it can even be used to practice sport. There is another important use for virtual reality that is not related to entertainment or education. Telepresence is an ever-increasing part of the digital and virtual world. Telepresence combines three kinds of technology: robotics, telecommunications and virtual reality. With telepresence, ‘the user of a virtual environment, for example, can intervene in the environment via telecommunication and a remote robot and, in the opposite direction, to receive sensory feedback, a sensory experience of a remote event .’ [21] Manovich calls telepresence a ‘much more radical technology than virtual reality, or computer simulations in general’. [22] Indeed, Manovich explains that with virtual reality, the user controls a simulated world, that is, the computer data. In contrast, ‘telepresence allows the subject to control not just the simulation but reality itself’ because it allows the user to ‘manipulate remotely physical reality in real time through its image’, [23] that is, the user’s action affect what happens right then in separate place, useful for tasks such as, Manovich suggests, ‘repairing a space station’; [24] the technique can also be used successfully in battle to direct missiles. [25] So, virtual reality operates on two very opposing grounds. On the one hand it allows great freedom for the user, as he feels he can move anywhere through space with the camera, but at the same time, virtual reality totally confines the body in its simulated world. Manovich recognises that the physical world is subordinated in this way as he says virtual reality renders ‘physical space †¦ totally disregarded’, [26] However, with telepresence, the physical world is very much regarded. Indeed, Mark Hansen thinks Manovich’s comment on the lack of physicality overlooks the experience of space in the potential of virtual reality, even if the body is actually confined. [27] Hansen uses the example of telepresence to explain how simulation and space can coincide to be effective. Indeed, with telepresence, the physical actions, although limited in the space where the user resides, do have an effect at another location. In this way space has been found and used, if not in the same location as the user, their movements have still had a physical effect somewhere else. [28] It seems that virtual reality has many uses in society today, from entertainment to medicine; from psychology to architecture. Telepresence is now a powerful and extremely useful part of the virtual and digital world. With the continuing advancement of technology and the many great uses virtual reality can surely have in society, it is important to bear in mind the negative consequences if virtual reality techniques are not closely monitored, especially as they become more widely available. The ethical implications of a society plugged always into their private, virtual worlds would not be a positive development for human relationships; children also need to be protected from an environment where anything and everything can appear real and personal to the user. However, as long as we are aware of the potential negative implications, the development of advanced virtual reality has great potential benefits for society. Sources Used Burdea, G. C. and Coiffet, P. (2003). Virtual Reality Technology. Chichester: Wiley-IEEE Grau, O. and Custance, G. (2004). Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion. Cambridge: MIT Press Hansen, M. B. N. (2004). New Philosophy for New Media: A New Philosophy for a New Media. Cambridge: MIT Press Heim, M. (1994). The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality. Oxford: Oxford University Press Manovich, L. (2002). The Language of New Media. Cambridge: MIT Press Sherman, W. R. and Craig, A. B. (2003). Understanding Virtual Reality: Interface, Application, and Design. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann http://library.thinkquest.org/26890/virtualrealityt.htm Footnotes [1] Burdea, G. C. and Coiffet, P. (2003). Virtual Reality Technology. Chichester: Wiley-IEEE, p. 2 [2] ibid. p. 3 [3] ibid. [4] http://library.thinkquest.org/26890/virtualrealityt.htm [5] Burdea and Coiffet, op. cit. p. 8 [6] Grau, O. and Custance, G. (2004). Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion. Cambridge: MIT Press, p. 18 [7] ibid. p. 3 [8] Burdea and Coiffet, op. cit. p. 1 [9] Manovich, L. (2002). The Language of New Media. Cambridge: MIT Press, p. 83 [10] ibid. [11] ibid. p. 166 [12] Manovich, op. cit. p. 82 [13] Grau and Custance, op. cit. p. 16 [14] Manovich, op. cit. p. 81 [15] Grau and Custance, op. cit. p. 339 [16] ibid. [17] ibid. p. 201 [18] Manovich op. cit. p. 166 [19] ibid. p. 178 [20] ibid. p. 114 [21] Grau and Custance, op. cit. p. 278-279 [22] Manovich, op. cit. p. 166 [23] ibid. [24] ibid. p. 167 [25] ibid. [26] Manovich, op. cit. p. 114 [27] Hansen, M. B. N. (2004). New Philosophy for New Media: A New Philosophy for a New Media. Cambridge: MIT Press, p. 40 [28] ibid.

Understanding The Current Trends In Product Placement Media Essay

Understanding The Current Trends In Product Placement Media Essay Product placement is a paid product message aimed at influencing movie (or television) audiences via the planned and unobtrusive entry of a branded product into a movie (or television program). (Balasubramanian 1994, 29; Immonen 1998, 14) These are the prominent definitions given for the concept of product placements by academicians in the past. The pertinent points that relate to product placements in these definitions are that a) its used in entertainment programs/productions b) its paid for by the brands involved. Entertainment mediums like television and radio have long been targeted by advertisers to pitch their products in the mindset of the consumers. Initially these took the form of Spots on these mediums between the programs. They were specialized productions in themselves whose whole purpose was to advertise these products. However with time this method started getting increasingly cluttered. First there was an inherent mental switching off by the viewers during the advertising. The viewers paid little or no attention during the breaks of the program. Morever with technological advent, viewers had the option to switch to another channel, both for television and radio, known as the phenomenon of zapping. Product placements presented a way out of this problem of zapping. The appearance of the products is incorporated as a part of the program itself. Therefore there is no chance of the viewer leaving it for something else. Also the audience is in a high state of involvement, so it is easier to for the brand to leave a mark on the mind space of the viewer. The viewer is also generally very involved with certain characters in a program. If the product is placed in conjuction with the character, it becomes a sort of endorsement by a loved character, which can be very desirable. An example is the placement of Mars chocolate in E.T, where the product got linked with the kids and E.T itself. Another example is James Bond being with a lot of products in the movies. The products acquire a different aura when they are associated with a strong character like James Bond. From the perspective of the producers of the movie/television program product placements are a source of income. In the present times, when the shelf life of the movies has decreased and the budgets have sky-rocketed it makes sense to indulge in this process to make some money even before the movie has even been filmed. The concept of product placement has become so popular that it has started being incorporated during the scripting stage of the movie or T.V program itself. There are specialized agencies which broker between production houses and the brands the following diagram illustrates how this works. Product placement and AIDA model The AIDA model of consumer behavior is as drawn above. Product placement can be used in all of these stages to pitch a product to the potential viewer. However in most of the cases, product placements are used in cases where awareness regarding the brand is to be generated or interest is to be generated regarding it. Awareness In a lot of instances, product placements have been timed to coincide with the launch of a new product. The goal is to integrate the product placement with the other activities related with creating awareness of the new product. With an established actor mentioning the product or better using the product, the launch creates a huge buzz. An example in the Indian context was product placement of Maruti Swift in the hit Bollywood movie Bunty and Babli, coninciding with the launch of the product. The characters of Abhishek Bacchan and Rani Mukherjee are shown to run from the police in a Maruti swift in the climax. Amitabh Bacchan specifically mentions the name of the brand in a subsequent scene. Thus the viewer gets to actually look at the product for the first time. Interest In this case, a brand which has already been launched for quite some time, benefits from product placement by having its working explained for the first time. This works very well for the technology products, where the features of the product get explained when the user is in a very high involved state of mind. However the example which I will quote is that of a services firm, Western Union money transfer service. In the movie Virudhh, the character of John Abraham is shown to transfer money using the service. The character explicitly mentions that with Western Union money transfer, the transfer gets done efficiently and instantly. Desire Product placements lend themselves very nicely in situations designed to provoke desire among the viewers. By nature movies and television characters have an aspirational air about them. Therefore when they use products on screen it creates a desire among the viewers to own the product. Examples are the high end automobiles used in the Bond franchise over the years. This works very well for products like apparel or accessories because of the perception of good looks attached with the stars on screen. Ray ban has extensively been placed in movies over the years. A notable example is Slyvester Stallone using Ray Bans in the Rocky franchise. Product placement and FCB model Affective Informative Thinking Feeling Self-satisfaction Habit forming High involvement Low involvement If we analyse product placements by the lens of the FCB model, examples can be given for each of the quadrants. Starting with the bottom most quadrant of self satisfaction, cigarettes were one of the earliest users of product placements, with the lead actor of the hit T.V show I dream of Lucy smoking a prominent brand on the show. These days, Coke is placed on the American Idol. Also in a lot of movies, the banners of Coke are placed in the background suggesting subliminal advertising. In the affective quadrant, these are products which evoke very strong feelings and are high involvement. Here automobile has been another sector which has bet heavily on product placements. Examples have already been given above. The products in the informative category are a little tough to push in a product placement scenario since it will require quite an amount of screen time. Also unless the product is highly engrained in the plot, the placement for a large screen time may actually become jarring. In spite of this, it has been tried quite successfully. The Western Union money transfer example has already been taken previously. Also Microsoft has plugged its software in the hit T.V series 24. However the limitation of screen time and plot involvement restricts itself in categories of products which are habit forming. There are no prominent examples of product placement which can be given in this category. Global vs Local In the Indian landscape product placements have mostly been done till now. However, now regional movies have started to tap this source of revenue as well. Examples include the recent Bengali film Antaheen where the hair oil Nihar was placed in a prominent manner. In the Telugu movie, Â  Anukokunda Oka Roju, actor Jagapati Babu is seen carrying a pack of Real juice most of the time. However the very nature of product placements means it can be done for mass produced entertainment productions, and therefore cannot be used at a more local, say a town level because the number of eye balls captured will be much too less. Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages Product placement can offer many advantages over other forms of advertising media, especially cost efficient communication. Over the life of a film, including its theatrical run, premium cable appearances, other televised broadcasts and home video rental, cost-per-thousand exposures continues to decrease, eventually declining to mere pennies on the dollar. Product placement also narrows (and often obliterates) the gap between movies and the rest of our marketer-dominated culture. Films can be selected that target consumers who may be difficult to reach with more conventional advertising methods. Nearly three-fourths of the audience for theatrical films is 16-39 years old, a group highly prized by advertisers. Associating brands with particular actors, films or contexts allows the marketer to associate a brand with congruent lifestyle or usage situations. Films offer these brands the full sight, sound, and motion capabilities they do not have access to in radio and television. Finally , product placements are one means for overcoming the all-to-common problem of advertising avoidance via zipping, zapping and muting. Additionally during movies and television shows, viewers are in a very involved and perceptive state of mind, thus making it easier for a product to leave an impression. Disadvantages With the increase in use of product placement, analysts fear that consumers will develop ad-blindness, becoming so accustomed to ads that they stop noticing them. This may happen because when an ad is repeated too often, people adapt to their presence and start filtering them out of their vision. The movie E.T. and Reeses pieces were an example of successful product placement. The use of a recognizable candy added to the appeal of the story. However, poor use of product placement can compromise the integrity of the story. The latest James Bond movie Casino Royale, has been lambasted in the movie for being too much like one long commercial. Although at that time most of the release had used more product placement yet probably due to the way is was done, product placement id Casino Royale led to ad-resentment; the audience to felt like they were being cheated and the whole movie was an ad. Comparison of TV commercial and Product placement Parameter TV commercial Product placement Cost Very high (usually millions `) Low compared to TV commercial Viewers high Very high % viewers watching Very low, usually less than 10% at a time Very high, chances of missing the product are too less, usually 90-100% watching CPM High compared to product placement Duration of Advertisement Very less Extremely high, can be many years Investment to create the commercial yes no Number of Countries Usually One Can be in many countries Number of times shown Once Hundreds to thousands of time Conceptual Model for effectiveness measurement A three dimensional model is used for product placement and the best methodology to capture the user response on product placement is lab experimental A Three-Dimensional Construct Product placement can be categorized along three dimensions i.e. Visual, verbal and plot connection. Video dimension relates to screen placements which depend upon number of appearances on the screen, the style of camera shot for the product etc. The verbal refers to the brand being mentioned in a dialogue. Its variation depends upon the context in which brand is mentioned, frequency and emphasis placed on brand name (tone of the voice, place in the dialogue, character speaking at the time, etc.). Third dimension, plot connection refers to integration in the plot of story1. The relevance of product placement can be judged by the level of plot placement, a high plot placement is done by taking major roles in story or building persona of the character and a mere mention of the name is considered lower plot..Cases of higher plot placements are where a character is clearly identified with the brand, e.g. James Bond with his Aston Martin, then BMW Z3, or where the brand becomes a central part of the plot, as in the Pottery Barn episode of Friends or the Kenny Rogerss Roasted Chicken episode in Seinfeld. Most of the empirical studies on product placement tried to measure its effectiveness in term of how well it is remembered.These measures assumes that effects of memory are similar to effects of attitude but there are counterviews which dictates that there is no correlation between memory and attitude measure. Since recall may be a poor predictor of persuasion, research on the effectiveness of product placements should investigate both memory and attitude effects. This model focus by determining not only how a placement is cognitively processed and thus whether it will be recalled but also how it affects consumers attitudes The Theater Methodology Traditional approach of experimental testing the theoretical framework involved quasi-experimental e.g. finding existing TV shows with product placements which goes well with script, screen and plot dimensions. This procedure was complicated and also introduced noise, making it imprecise. These issues were removed and a new methodology was developed i.e. called theatre Methodology It uses a videotaped screen play as the setting for presentation of stimuli. The branded product are strategically placed inside some written original screenplay The main motivation for using a theatrical setting is to increase the level of experimental control while providing an environment similar to existing television shows. These days a huge chunk of brand placements happens through television shows or movies, so the experiment had to be conducted in audio and visual environment. Moreover, developing a new script and videotaping different versions of the plays allowed the production of multiple treatments. In addition, the use of a specially developed screenplay eliminated any contamination related to prior exposure. This methodology provided a unique environment for the empirical testing of product placement. By placing different brands within the same environment, it offered an opportunity to experimentally test messages that varied only on certain specified dimensions, thus maximizing the internal validity of the experiment. Suggestion for experimental design We have found that some of the previous studies have used experimental design so we are suggesting one of those. Experimental designs which can be used to test the effectiveness of product placement. The design would includes Modality We have studies earlier that key component of Tripartite Typology of Product Placement, has focused primarily on programming differences between visual and auditory information. Research on modality of presentation in audio-visual contexts suggests that the visual and auditory channels indeed differ in the amount of meaning that they carry. The visual channel serves to create the perspective in which the story is set and auditory channel, on the other hand, carries the script of a television program, and, as a result, serves as a conveyor of semantic information through speech. Modality signals how much meaning a stimulus carries, modality of presentation will thus be crucial in determining the effectiveness of a placement. Plot Connection Plot connection is third dimension of the product placement framework, which is discussed earlier. The level of plot connection will determine the role and importance of a placement in a story and will qualify the effects of modality. Now for experimental design, we can use within-subjects design i.e all the subjects saw all the brands. Each placement can be considered to consist of a different combination of modality and plot connection level which can be shown on a 2X2 matrix with each cell represented by one or more brands. We can ask different subjects about the product placement of similar brand sin different categories which will help us in identifying the effectiveness of the product placement Sample Revenue Model There are many different models followed by the parties to product placement and the model shown above is an example of one of these models. This advertising model is based on 30 second time slot for product placement. It is centred on the broadcasters, which includes TV networks, cable and satellite service providers. A broadcaster usually buys the airing rights for different TV shows and then airs the shows for consumers. To make a profit, the broadcaster sells placement spots to advertisers or ad agencies. The cost for the ad spot varies with the Tv channel and the kind of program. Some of the examples of cost of slot is from year 2005-2006, the cost of a 30-second ad spot in the top-10 shows ranged from $705,000 (American Idol) to $293,000 (Two and A Half Men). In this model, the broadcaster sells all the ad spots, and earns all of the advertising revenue. The only revenue source for the content creators, or the production studios, is the licensing fees broadcasters pay for the r ights to air their shows. Compatibility with other form of communication Maximum value can be created out of product placement if it is integrated wit other forms of communication. The key is to avoid using isolated product placement opportunities and create connections to other elements of advertising plan. Product placement can be combined with celebrity endorsement for instance to create much better communication e.g. Santro being used in a Shahrukh Khan movie will be much more noticeable than with other actors or Scooty pep+ being used in Priety Zinta movies. In addition, a product placement can be just the right thing to complement other advertising initiatives that attend the launch of new products. At other places the product placement itself can be used at other places or in other forms of communication e.g. Ray Ban glasses used in Men in Black were used in print media Examples Movies: Movies are the most common place of product placement. The appearance can be traced back to as early as 1920s but it became a commercialized business only after 1950. Of many new product placements in movies few are Aston Martin in Casino royale, iPhone in Gulliver, Everlast and Budweiser in Jackass. Television: Product is very common on television. It can be done on reality shows like big brother which often features one of the participants stating something along the lines of: Oh, did you check out the new product X by company Y yet? after which the camera zooms in onto the named product. It has been claimed that the participants get paid for it. Other example is placing Coca cola in American Idol Comic publishing: SA football comic uses product placement to promote many brands, and the comic is distributed free of cost to all its readers around the world. Product placement occurs at many places in the publication; on the shirts of the players, through placed billboards, and through the branding of locations or scenarios. Music and recording industries: This type of product placement is fairly newly and has not been used much even though the viewership is fairly high. A recent example is the song of movie Dabangg, where Mallaika Arora mentions Zandu Baam.