Organization Needs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Organization Needs - Assignment Example â€Å"Wishes† are different from needs as they basically refer to desires, which are sought to meet an end product. â€Å"Means & Methods† is a technique through which a result can be produced (Kaufman, Rojas, & Mayer, 1993). Kaufman has underlined three basic level of needs: Mega level, which identifies a gap at the societal level, Macro level, which identifies a gap at the organizational level, and Micro level which is concerned with gaps within individuals or groups. The following case study is an example of a consultant who identifies an organizational need of Micro and Macro level. The company, Farradaw Solutions has been providing bespoke solutions through establishing road tunnels, and rail tunnels etc. The company faced challenges when the CEO introduced a new restraining clause in the employment’s contract. Employees started showing resisting behavior and they did not readily accept the change. Frustration grew among employees and even the most competent workers were showing unreasonable behavior and the organization progress started to decline. At this point, the personnel manager took initiative made changes in the organizational set-up but the results were still devastating. She asked a consultant to identify the gaps. The need analysis identified by the HR consultant affirmed that people resisted sudden change, showed ambivalent behavior (Kaufman, Watkins, & Leigh, 2001) when the new clause was introduced. Hence, the basic need, which was identified, was to arrange meetings to make the employees aware of the new changes in the company through ef fective communication so that they understand the reason why the clause was introduced in contracts and to carry out stress management programs for employees who are showing frustration due to pressures at

Settling the Northern Colonies Vocabulary Essay Example for Free

Settling the Northern Colonies Vocabulary Essay 1. John Calvin: 1. Protestant leader 2. Created dominant religion of American settlers 3. Wrote theories in Institutes of the Christian Religion 2. Anne Hutchinson: 1. Lived in Massachusetts Bay Colony 2. Promoted antinomianism 3. Banished and forced to walk and settle on Rhode Island 3. Roger Williams: 1. Wanted to break from the Church of England 2. Though Massachusetts Bay Colony was unfair to the Indians; banished 3. Built Baptist Church in Rhode Island; complete freedom of religion and shelter for Jews, Catholics, and Quakers 4. Henry Hudson: 1. English explorer 2. Filed a Dutch claim to what he thought was a shortcut through the continent 3. Employed by the Dutch East India Company 5. William Bradford: 1. Lived in Plymouth 2. Elected Governor 3. Feared the non-puritan settlers 6. Peter Stuyvesant: 1. Led a small Dutch military expedition 2. Called the Swedish Settlement that he took New Amsterdam 3. Forced to surrender without firing a single shot by an English squadron 7. Thomas Hooker: 1. Prominent Puritan colonial leader 2. Founded the Colony of Connecticut 3. Outstanding speaker and a leader of universal Christian suffrage 8. William Penn: Founded the Colony of Pennsylvania King Charles II handed over a piece of his American land to satisfy a debt Improved relations between whites and Indians 9. John Winthrop: First governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and served for 19 years Successful attorney and manor lord in England Eagerly accepted offer to become a governor because he believed he had a â€Å"calling† from God to lead the new religious experiment 10. King Philip (Metacom): Massasoit’s son Forged an intertribal unity Mounted a series of coordinated assaults on English villages 11. John Cotton: Massachusetts Bay minister who was prominent among the early clergy Puritan who immigrated to Massachusetts to avoid persecution for his criticism of the Church of England Devoted his education to defending the governments duty to enforce religious rules in the Bay Colony 12. Sir Edmond Andros English military man Generated much hostility because of his open affiliation with the Church of England Taxed the people without consent and strove to enforce the Navigation Laws 13. William and Mary: English rulers Kicked James II out of England (exiled into France), and allowed more power to legislatures Ended the Dominion of New   England, giving power back to the colonists 14. Massasoit: Wampanoag chieftain Signed a treaty with the Plymouth Pilgrims Helped the Pilgrims celebrate their first Thanksgiving 15. Fernando Gorges: Attempted to colonize Plymouth Plymouth was absorbed by Massachusetts Bay after a purchase by the Gorges heirs Was called the Father of English Colonization in North America 16. Myles Standish: Soldier of fortune Indispensible as an Indian fighter and negotiator One of the nonbelongers 17. Martin Luther: German Friar who ignited a fire of religious reform, the Protestant Reformation Nailed his protests against Catholic doctrines to the door of Wittenberg’s cathedral in 1597 Denouncing the authority of priests and popes, he declared that the Bible alone was the source of God’s word 18. Squanto: Taught English by a ship’s captain Befriended the settlers Facilitated Cultural Accommodation 19. Franchise: An authorization granted by a government or company to an individual or group enabling them to carry out specified commercial activities The right to vote The territory over which such a license extends 20. Predestination: The doctrine that God has foreordained all things, especially that God has elected certain souls to eternal salvation The divine decree foreordaining all souls to either salvation or damnation The act of God foreordaining all things gone before and to come 21. Freemen: A person who is entitled to full political and civil rights A person who is not a slave or serf A person who enjoys political and civil liberties 22. â€Å"Visible saints† People who appeared to be godly Christian people who would go to heaven when they died Strict Puritans in colonial days only allowed visible saints to worship with them. They were revered because they were open about their beliefs 23. Conversion: Spiritual change from sinfulness to righteousness change from one religion, political belief, viewpoint, etc., to another The act or process of converting; state of being converted 24. Doctrine of a Calling: A doctrine believed by John Winthrop instructing him to do Gods work Sent from God Many Puritans believed it also told them to do Gods work 25. Covenant: An agreement A formal written agreement between two or more people, businesses, countries, etc a usually formal, solemn, and binding Agreement 26. Antinomianism: The theological doctrine that by faith and Gods grace a Christian is freed  from all laws one who holds that under the gospel dispensation of grace The moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation one who rejects A socially established morality 27. Sumptuary Laws: Laws intended to restrain or limit the expenditure of citizens in apparel, food, furniture, etc. Laws which regulate the prices of commodities and the wages of labor Laws which forbid or restrict the use of certain articles, as of luxurious apparel 28. Salutary Neglect: An unofficial and long-lasting British policy of avoiding strict enforcement of parliamentary Laws meant to keep the American colonies obedient to England A period of time in which Britain left the Colonies alone 29. Passive resistance: Nonviolent opposition to authority, esp. a refusal to cooperate with legal requirements. resistance especially to a government or an occupying power characterized mainly by noncooperation A way of opposing the government without using violence especially by refusing to obey laws 30. â€Å"city upon a hill† religious utopia that would be acclaimed and imitated across the Old World initially invoked by English-born Puritan leader John Winthrop A City upon a Hill is a phrase from the parable of Salt and Light in Jesuss Sermon on the Mount 31. Protestant Ethic: The view that a persons duty is to achieve success through hard work and thrift, such success being a sign that one is saved. an ethic that stresses the virtue of hard work, thrift, and self-discipline important factor in the economic success of Protestant groups in the early stages of European capitalism 32. Dutchification: to make Dutch in quality or traits the process of turning things Dutch To render more Dutch 33. Protestant Reformation Inspires many new religions as it made its way through Europe. Inspires Calvinism in Geneva, migrates to England and inspires Puritans. Started by Martin Luther after he posts his complaints about Catholics on a church door 34. Great Migration 70,000 refugees flee England in the 1630s. Groups of Puritans and many others leave for religious freedom. Charles I and Archbishop Laud calls Protestants swine rooted from Gods vineyard 35. Glorious Revolution Dethrones unpopular Catholic James II, enthrones Protestant ruler of Netherlands William III and Mary II Dominion of New England collapses in the colonies; Andros tries to escape in womans clothing but is caught and sent to England. Puritans lose control of Massachusetts, English James II supporters hold American governing positions are corrupt and stopped the rise of local American leaders. 36. Pequot War Between Pequot Tribe and colonists in the Connecticut River Valley. Colonists slaughter the tribe and establish four decades of uneasy peace between Native Americans and colonists. English critics call out the Puritans. 37. Dutch golden age Dutch West and East Companies thrive. Takes an aristocratic tinted government and controls majority of New York and Caribbean. Leads to invasion from English and Swedish. 38. Pilgrims Make a religious journey like Old Testament with Moses. Protestants from England and Amsterdam that separated from the Church of England that were called Separatists, wanted Calvinism Create Mayflower Compact as their self-government since they did not go to charted land so were not controlled by the King, only members of church can vote (religious intolerance) 39. New England Confederation Defense against Native Americans, Dutch, and French. First time colonies and colonists work together. Had to fight without British support in the English Civil War. 40. Calvinism Starts in Geneva and makes it way to England during Protestant Reformation. Protestants like Calvinists ideas and want the Reformation to move at a faster pace so that Calvinist ideas can be put in place. Seek signs of conversion- receipt of Gods free gift of saving grace 41. Massachusetts Bay Colony Settlers are educated and mainly Puritan, come from the Great Migration. Protestant work ethic- delayed gratification, if they work hard now they will be rewarded later Elected government but only male church members can vote. 42. Dominion of New England Imposed from London in New England, New York, East and West Jersey, Sir Edmund Andros is in charge. Promoted efficiency in the administration of the English, places heavy restrictions on courts, press, and schools. Revokes all land titles and collects taxes without consent. Glorious Revolution ends the Dominion; Andros tries to escape in womens clothes. 43. The Elect Select that are predestine to go to heaven didn’t know if they were or werent sought signs of conversion Anne Hutchinson claims that they don’t have to follow laws or work. Calvinism religion 44. Puritans: Formed during Protestant Reformation in England. Adopt Calvinist views, share extreme views and interpretation of Bible. Extreme Puritans become Separatists and come to New World and start new colonies. 45. General Court: Puritan controlled court in Massachusetts Early form of Puritan democracy Elected by Freemen 46. Dutch West India Company: Located in West Indies Captures Spanish ship with $15 million worth of loot aboard. Establishes New Netherlands off the Hudson for fur trading and buys Manhattan. 47. Seperatists: Extreme Puritans who threaten to leave Church of England. Get kicked out of England and sent to Amsterdam then migrate to New World, Set up Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colony. 48. Bible Commonwealth: Name for Bay Colony, Quakers cause religious indifferences they are punished and hung Anne Hutchinson preaches antinomianism and is banished. Roger Williams speaks out against Puritanism is banned but escapes and starts Baptism in Rhode Island 49. Quakers (Religious Society of Friends): Escape from Massachusetts Bay Colony where they are being punished. Start colonizing in Pennsylvania under William Penns rule Welcome any type of people hand out flyers in England looking for people to come to Pennsylvania. 50. Mayflower: Boat that brought over first Pilgrims, poor quality boat. Mayflower Compact is written on it. Sixty five day trip with 102 passengers. 51. French Huguenots: Dissent from French Protestant adopts Calvinism, not allowed in New World. Had little toleration in Europe, fled to colonies after Protestantism was outlawed in 1685. Over 10,000 killed in Europe 52. Scottish Presbyterians: Dissent of Scottish Protestants No religious tolerance Werent allowed to come to New World 53. Church of England: Ruled by King until Pope is placed in charge but King controls the Pope Those against the Church of England were hung, they fled to New World Catholic Church. 54. Congregational Church: No ties with England purely ran by Puritan colonists Self- governing Puritan church with no connection to Anglican Church Started in New England along with democratic government 55. Institutes of the Christian Religion: Written by John Calvin in Latin in 1536 Introductory to the Protestant religion Attacks certain Catholic beliefs 56. Navigation Laws: Limits colonies from trading with other countries beside England Increases smuggling and upsets many colonists Salutary Neglect- weakly enforces the Navigation Laws 57. Mayflower Compact: Drafted by Puritans coming to the New World that wanted self- government 40 something white males sign it (members of the church) First real drafted form of government in the colonies 58. Fundamental Orders: Established in New England Sets up a regime democratically controlled by the citizens Made to make New England the best and biggest colony 59. Plymouth Bay: Set up by Separatists from Amsterdam, originally kicked out of England Democratic government but only male members of the church can vote Less successful than Massachusetts Bay Colony 60. New Netherland: Set up by Dutch West India Company in the West Indies after they get $15 million from Spanish ship they captured Set up for fur trading on the Hudson River Led to the purchase of Manhattan 61. New Amsterdam: Run by Dutch company interested in stocks Settles first Jews in its aristocratic tinted civilization Gets in disputes and wars with English, Swedish, and Native Americans 62. New Sweden: Swedish invade Dutch land and take it Dutch rebel and regain land New Sweden fades away along with Swedish rule in colonies 63. Penns Woodland: Literal meaning for Pennsylvania name given by the King who wrote the charter for William Penn For Quakers or any other people wanting to go the colonies but not interested or accepted in what the other colonies were offering Best advertised colony in Europe 64. Reconciliation: Restoration of friendly relations The action of making one view or belief compatible with another. Returning to faith or harmony after conflict

An Overview of Security

An Overview of Security Security Introduction Security is the level of imperviousness to, or insurance from, damage. It applies to any powerless and profitable resource, for example, an individual, staying, group, country, or association. As noted by the Institute for Security and Open Methodologies (ISECOM) in the OSSTMM 3, security gives a type of insurance where a division is made between the benefits and the danger. These partitions are nonexclusively called controls, and frequently incorporate changes to the advantage or the threat (Herzoq, 2014). Computer security is considered to be a security that is applied to computing devices such as smartphones, computers as well as computer networks such as private and public networks, including the whole Internet. The computing security covers all the procedures and mechanisms by which information, digital equipment and services are protected from unauthorized access, change or destruction, and are of growing importance in line with the rising reliance on computer systems of most societies worldwide (Musa, 2014). Interview An interview was conducted in order to broaden the views: What is the difference between http and https? Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a convention utilized as a part of systems administration. When you write any web address in your web program, your program goes about as a customer, and the computer having the asked for data goes about as a server. At the point when customer demands for any data from the server, it utilizes HTTP convention to do so. The server reacts again to the customer after the solicitation finishes. The reaction comes as site page which you see just in the wake of writing the web address and press Enter. Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a mix of two separate conventions. It is more secure approach to get to the web. It is blend of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) and SSL/TLS convention. It is more secure approach to sending appeal to server from a customer, additionally the correspondence is absolutely scrambled which implies nobody can recognize what you are searching for. This sort of correspondence is utilized for getting to those sites where security is needed. What is the difference encoding, encryption and hashing? The purpose behind encoding is to change information with the goal that it can be legitimately (and securely) devoured by an alternate sort of framework, e.g. double information being sent over email, or review unique characters on a site page. The objective is not to keep data mystery, but instead to guarantee that it’s ready to be legitimately devoured. Encoding changes information into an alternate organization utilizing a plan that is openly accessible so it can without much of a stretch is turned around. It doesnt oblige a key as the main thing needed to translate it is the calculation that was utilized to encode it. The motivation behind encryption is to change information to keep it mystery from others, e.g. sending somebody a mystery letter that just they ought to have the capacity to peruse, or safely sending a watchword over the Internet. Instead of concentrating on ease of use, the objective is to guarantee the information cant be devoured by anybody other than the planned recipient(s). Encryption changes information into an alternate arrangement in such a path, to the point that just particular individual(s) can invert the change. It utilizes a key, which is kept mystery, in conjunction with the plaintext and the calculation, keeping in mind the end goal to perform the encryption operation. All things considered, the cipher text, calculation, and key are all needed to come back to the plaintext. Hashing fills the need of guaranteeing trustworthiness, i.e. making it so if something is transformed you can realize that its changed. Actually, hashing takes subjective include and produce an altered length string that has the accompanying qualities: The same information will dependably create the same yield. Different dissimilar inputs ought not deliver the same yield. It ought not to be conceivable to go from the yield to the info. Any adjustment of a given data ought to bring about extreme change to the hash. Hashing is utilized as a part of conjunction with confirmation to create solid proof that a given message has not been adjusted. This is proficient by taking given information, encoding it with a given key, hashing it, and after that scrambling the key with the beneficiarys open key and marking the hash with the senders private key. At the point when the beneficiary opens the message, they can then unscramble the key with their private key, which permits them to decode the message. They then hash the message themselves and contrast it with the hash that was marked by the sender. In the event that they match it is an unmodified message, sent by the right individual. Why hackers are a step ahead from security? Moderate size organizations are in a tight spot. As their capacity to gather client information expands, so excessively does the trouble of ensuring that information. Also during a period when computerized data consistently ventures by means of cell phones and in the cloud, a programmers right to gain entrance to that information multiplies. Usually the business runs speedier than efforts to establish safety. Income originates from the business, so there is normally a race [for security] to stay aware of the business. On the off chance that there is another ability to make speedier income by utilizing a cell phone or another portable computer or even another type of purpose of offer in the field, generally efforts to establish safety are not promptly contemplated. How do you deal after being attacked by a hacker? Hackers are winning the battle against todays enterprise security teams. In the year since Target suffered a record-breaking data breach, it has become clear that the lessons learned from that attack have not been widely applied. At the time of composing, 636 affirmed information ruptures have happened in 2014, a 27% expansion over the same period a year ago, with prominent victimized people, for example, Home Depot, ebay, Jpmorgan Chase, Dairy Queen, Goodwill and numerous others. The assault surface as it exists today is not at the border, yet inside the IT environment. Programmers utilized approve certifications to plant charge card taking malware on a number of Targets purpose of-offer (POS) frameworks. Truth be told, as indicated by the 2014 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, approved qualifications were utilized by programmers as a part of 76% of all system interruptions. When a clients certifications have been traded off, programmers can move along the side through a sy stem totally undetected without activating edge based discovery programming. Why the security keep the backup outside the city? A report from Pandalabs found that 30 million new malware dangers were made in 2013 – a normal of 82,000 consistently. There is no real way to stay aware of this quick rate of malware creation, which is continually developing. Firewalls and against infection marks are sufficient to stop normal dangers, however do nothing to stop an aggressor with legitimate certifications imitating a client. Rather, IT groups need to stay one stage in front of programmers by checking the qualification use for suspicious client action as a consequence of stolen certifications or noxious insider (Staying one step ahead of hackers, 2014). Which is the best op.system for security using? There is a list of operating systems that are being widely used; however the best operating system which is being used is one which has security focused. The one of operating systems is OpenBSD which is an open source BSD operating system and is one which is heavily concerned with security. On the other hand, another operating system is EnGarde Secure Linux which is also considered to be a secure platform designed for servers. References Staying one step ahead of hackers. (2014). Retrieved 12 16, 2014, from IBM: http://www.ibm.com/midmarket/us/en/article_security_1402.html Herzoq, P. (2014). Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual. Retrieved 12 16, 2014, from isecom: http://www.isecom.org/research/osstmm.html Musa, S. (2014). Cybersecurity: Understanding the Online Threat. Retrieved 12 16, 2014, from evollution: http://www.evolllution.com/opinions/cybersecurity-understanding-online-threat/

Observations on Emersons Self-Reliance :: Emersons Self Reliance Essays

Observations on Self-Reliance "Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles ." This quotation forms the closing two lines of Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self Reliance". I am greatly enlightened by his ideas in this article. "Trust thyself" was his advice and many Americans listened. They not only listened in Emerson's lifetime, but his individualistic concepts have reverberated up to the present time. After reading the ideas expressed in "Self-Reliance", I have come to believe that self-reliance is the most important factor in my life. Emerson believes that a man should not be what he is not. "There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide." If a man is envious of other people, he will ignore all merits of himself. If a man imitates other people, he will lose his identity - like suicide. It is common to find a woman like me envious of other people. I am jealous if a girl in the class is more beautiful than I. I am jealous if a classmate gets a higher score on tests. I am jealous if my neighbor has a better car. But as I always find out, when I praise the girl, people will say "you are beautiful, too"; when I praise the classmate, people will say "remember you got a higher score last time"; when I praise the car of the neighbor, people will say "he spent money that he did not have". There is always a "the better side" of myself, which I cannot see because it is hindered by my own jealousy. Imitation is the result of jealousy. When I was in high school, I tried to imitate a girl in my class because I thought she was pretty cool. I bought the same dress, the same shoes, had the same hair style, and tried to act the same way. After one month, I was considered the least cool person in the class. I did not get what I wanted, but instead, lost what I had already had. I was born in a Christian Chinese family in Beijing, China. Under the strict rules of my mother, I began learning piano and Kung-fu when I was six, and many other things other children did not learn. From then on, I was always told to be the best, and I always thought I was the best. Observations on Emerson's Self-Reliance :: Emerson's Self Reliance Essays Observations on Self-Reliance "Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles ." This quotation forms the closing two lines of Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self Reliance". I am greatly enlightened by his ideas in this article. "Trust thyself" was his advice and many Americans listened. They not only listened in Emerson's lifetime, but his individualistic concepts have reverberated up to the present time. After reading the ideas expressed in "Self-Reliance", I have come to believe that self-reliance is the most important factor in my life. Emerson believes that a man should not be what he is not. "There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide." If a man is envious of other people, he will ignore all merits of himself. If a man imitates other people, he will lose his identity - like suicide. It is common to find a woman like me envious of other people. I am jealous if a girl in the class is more beautiful than I. I am jealous if a classmate gets a higher score on tests. I am jealous if my neighbor has a better car. But as I always find out, when I praise the girl, people will say "you are beautiful, too"; when I praise the classmate, people will say "remember you got a higher score last time"; when I praise the car of the neighbor, people will say "he spent money that he did not have". There is always a "the better side" of myself, which I cannot see because it is hindered by my own jealousy. Imitation is the result of jealousy. When I was in high school, I tried to imitate a girl in my class because I thought she was pretty cool. I bought the same dress, the same shoes, had the same hair style, and tried to act the same way. After one month, I was considered the least cool person in the class. I did not get what I wanted, but instead, lost what I had already had. I was born in a Christian Chinese family in Beijing, China. Under the strict rules of my mother, I began learning piano and Kung-fu when I was six, and many other things other children did not learn. From then on, I was always told to be the best, and I always thought I was the best.

Establishing The Internet in Public Schools

Modems, e-mail, www's and .com's – are these phrases merely a part of a worldwide fad, or are they here to stay? And if they are, then what role should they play in the future of public education? Many times, new things come along, and we all jump on the big boat of opportunity so quickly that we forget to look at the long term merits of what we're boarding. The Internet is a good example of this, and we should all take a much closer look before we decide whether the Internet has a purpose and a place in the public schools of tomorrow. Education is merely preparing students for the future. But what is the future? No one can say with certainty. But by taking a quick look around us, we can guess that the Internet will play a prominent role in our future. If we look at the stock market, for example, we can see internet and technology stocks skyrocketing beginning their first day on the market. Or, turn on the television and one will surely hear a commercial telling everyone to check out their company's web site for more information on their product. Daily, we can see the Internet becoming more integrated in our lives and in the lives of our youth. Without the internet in our schools, how will teachers instruct students to take full advantage of what the internet has to offer? After establishing that the Internet is indeed a growing part of our society that will not likely disappear soon, schools and their administrators must decide if the Internet is a necessity or a luxury. The answer is simple; the Internet is a luxury. If it were a necessity for public schools' survival, then how have they made it this far without it? Though the Internet is a luxury, that does not mean it has no place in public schools. Imagine schools today without luxuries such as the light bulb, copy machine, or personal computer. Ten years ago, it would have been impossible to compose a letter, to send it, and have it received all in a matter of seconds. It is imperative that students are taught how to access these new opportunities so that when compared with other students anywhere in the world, they will not lag behind in Internet proficiency. Schools must begin to incorporate internet education into their regular curriculum in order for students to be successful in today's internet-savvy world. It is the responsibility of public schools to prepare our students for the future, and without the Internet in our schools, this would be impossible. By forbidding the internet to enter our schools, we would be condemning our students by sending them out into the age of the internet, being armed with nothing. Though the merit of the Internet itself will continue to be debated, it is obviously becoming an important part of our society and, therefore, must also become an important part of our schools, which are the future of our society. Had the youth of yesterday not been taught how to use computers, then they could not have created the internet of today. Therefore, if students of today are not taught how to use the Internet, then we are limiting the possibility of new discoveries tomorrow. It is important that we realize this: the education that is provided for our youth today will determine our future. In conclusion, schools and its communities must accept the inevitable and climb aboard the Internet ship of opportunity before it sets sail, leaving the future of our students, communities and nation behind. Where will this fateful journey end? Will it end in tragedy such as the Titanic, or will we be sailing on the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria to end at yet another beginning where something newer and more exciting awaits us? Only time can tell.

Effects of Social Networking Sites Essay

As the world moves into the second decade of the 21 st century, one of the major markers of this era is the rise and use of online communities. In particular, a paradigm called Web 2.0 describes recent technologies that focus on networking mass numbers of individuals into distinct communities over the Internet (O’Reilly, 2007). Social networking sites (SNS) are online communities designed to connect individuals to wider networks of relationships, and are one major example of Web 2.0 applications. Sites such as Facebook have exploded in membership. In a short period of 2007 – 2010, Facebook estimates that its membership has grown from 50 million to over 400 million users (Facebook, n.d.). Online social networks are now an integrated part of daily life and compel questions of how these media platforms affect human development, relationships, and interaction. Teenagers are among the most avid users of technology in general and social network sites in particular (Lenhart, Madden, Macgill, & Smith, 2007b). Recent reports find that youth spend nearly 10 hours per day using some form of technology, with socially networked media playing a large role in their daily lives (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). New technologies are deeply intertwined with adult perceptions about teenage life. Mimi Ito and colleagues observe that, â€Å"Although today’s questions about ‘kids these days’ have a familiar ring to them, the contemporary version is somewhat unusual in how strongly it equates generational identity with technology identity† The clear finding is that today’s youth are increasingly connected to the world through socially networked media. While teenagers are engaged with technology, they are ever more disengaged from another major component of their lives – school. Read more:  The Effects of Social Media on College Students National analyses find that nearly 30% of high school students do not obtain their diploma on time (Cataldi, Laird, KewalRamani, 2009). High school completion rates are difficult to measure, but various independent studies also suggest that nearly one-third of students ultimately drop out of school (Barton, 2005). When one compares these competing aspects of teenage life – technology versus education – a simple strategy clearly emerges. Perhaps if educators begin to integrate social technologies into learning, they will increase student engagement and achievement in school. Heeding the call of scholars (i.e. Jenkins, 2006; Ito et al. n.d.) recent policy and research efforts are now racing to develop new social media platforms and technologies for learning. For example, the  Federal Department of Education and organizations such as the MacArthur Foundation have invested millions of dollars to build social media platforms, video games, and other digital tools for learni ng (Whitehouse, n.d.). Despite the optimism that social media tools might improve student engagement and learning, the stark reality is that these new technologies often conflict with the practices of K-12 schools. Surveys find that the vast majority of school district leaders believe social technology can improve student learning. However, these same district administrators typically block student access to online resources like social network sites (Lemke & Coughlin, 2009). The decision to ban students from accessing social network sites underscores a major conundrum for educators. Online social networks widen a students’ access to resources and social support and may have beneficial effects on their development. Conversely, as student access to the world widens they are inevitably exposed to potentially negative material and interactions. The simplest strategy to limit liability and safeguard school districts is to ban access to these new digital tools. However, such policies neglect the potentially large benefits of using social media in the classroom. To alleviate this dilemma, educators and policymakers need a deeper understanding of social media and youth. Several questions are critical in the area of youth learning with social technologies, including: †¢ Which youth are using particular social technologies? †¢ How do they use these technologies to communicate, develop relationships, socialize, and learn? †¢ What are the effects of these technologies on youth development? †¢ What are the effects of these technologies when applied in educational contexts such as the classroom? In this dissertation, I explore these questions by examining a particular technology: the social network site. Communities such as Facebook and MySpace mediate teenage life, affecting how youth communicate and learn from one another. In addition, social networks are intertwined into just about every major online community today (Livingstone, 2008). These factors make SNS a particularly salient focus for evaluation. Throughout the following chapters I examine different questions surrounding the phenomena of social network sites and teenage youth. In Chapter 2, I review the extant research literature that examines SNS. I consider several controversies around SNS and youth: (a) What kinds of youth are using social networking sites? (b)  Does student participation in these online communities affect their privacy and social relationships? (c) Do student activities in SNS influence their personal development in terms of self-esteem and psychological well-being? (d) Does SNS use affect student grades and learning? The review highlights how research in this field is only just emerging. The few stud ies that examine social network sites are mainly exploratory. However, media researchers have a rich history of scholarship from which to draw new insights. I integrate previous thought on Digital Divides, Psychological Well-being, Social Capital Theory, and Cognitive and Social Learning theories to guide SNS researchers in future studies. In Chapter 3, I present an empirical analysis using a national dataset of teenagers from the Pew Internet & American Life Project (Lenhart et al., 2007b; Pew Internet & American Life Project, n.d.). In this study, I ask whether demographic variables such as education, socioeconomic status, and access to the Internet are significantly related to whether teenagers participate in social network sites. This line of analysis is typical of digital divide studies that examine whether particular populations have less access to new technologies. If new technologies do have positive benefits for individuals, but under- represented populations do not have access to such tools, there are tremendous issues of equity and access yet to be addressed (Jenkins, 2006). Most studies of digital divide and SNS examine adult and college-age populations. I present an analysis of teenage populations to examine their usage patterns. The results of this paper highlight how the association between demographic indicators and social media use are weaker in 2007 than seen in earlier studies. Teenage youth of all backgrounds increasingly find ways to connect with others using social network sites. In Chapter 4, I consider a question of particular importance to teachers and education leaders. Through a large-scale experiment, I examine whether using social network sites in urban classrooms has any causal effect on students’ social capital, engagement with school, or academic achievement. I build an experimental social network site that approximates the functionality seen in sites such as Facebook and MySpace. The key difference in this experimental condition is that the site is private to two urban, school districts and explicitly for use to exchange educational information. Working with 50 classrooms and nearly 1,400 students, I utilize a cluster-randomized trial,  where class periods are randomly assigned to use the experimental site. Employing this randomized trial design, I find that an academic social network site does not necessarily improve student engagement with their peers, their classes, or increase student achievement. However, I find exploratory evidence that existing social network sites such as Facebook and MySpace improve students’ feelings of connection with their school community. The study offers evidence for one compelling idea: Perhaps schools should attempt to leverage students existing social networks, rather than block access to them or impose their own. In Chapter 5, I outline what is needed in future research about social network sites, and new technologies in general, to better inform the policies and practices of schools, educators, parents, and those interested in youth development. In particular, previous scholarly thought has focused on either a technologically deterministic or social agency perspective. Technological determinism suggests that a media tool itself affects social outcomes such as learning, but a long history of research underscores the fallacy of this philosophy. Scholars who focus instead on social agency, explore how individuals use new technologies in cultural and social contexts. However, this stream of research neglects rigorous evaluation of how new media affect youth. Both perspectives in isolation offer incomplete analyses o f how new media, such as SNS, impact youth. I argue that future researchers must develop and test finer hypotheses that simultaneously consider the technological affordances of social network sites, the social and cultural institutions within which SNS are used, and the actual interactions between individuals that occur in these online communities. The chapters in this dissertation examine the phenomena of social network sites and youth through different but complementary lenses: theoretical, descriptive, and experimental. The summative contribution of these analyses is a deeper picture of how teenage youth use SNS and its effects on their academic and social development. The studies show that youth of all backgrounds are increasingly connected via online social networks. The empirical analyses also show that social network sites are no silver bullet for improving learning in high school classrooms. The technology itself does not improve learning, but social media might help students become more connected and engaged with their school communities. The implications for educators and  schools are numerous. Problems such as student disengagement with education are profoundly significant issues, and additional research is needed to better understand how online networks influence youth development and learning. The current tools of teenage communication go by a peculiar set of names. Wall Posts, Status Updates, Activity Feeds, Thumbs Ups, Facebook Quizzes, and Profiles are some of the ways that youth today communicate with one another. These tools are features of social network sites (SNS), such as Facebook and Myspace. SNS are part of a suite of recent web applications, also called social media, which utilize Web 2.0 principles. The term Web 2.0 defines websites that are designed to: (a) rely on the participation of mass groups of users rather than centrally controlled content providers, (b) aggregate and remix content from multiple sources, and (c) more intensely network users and content together (O’Reilly, 2007). People use these web applications to interact in hyper-aware ways and the scale of this mass communication phenomena is significant. As of May 2009, Facebook ranked as the 4 th most trafficked website in the world and Myspace ranked 11 th highest (Alexa, n.d.). That high school youth are connected to these global online communities is both a frightening prospect for parents and educators and an intriguing area for social science research. Educators and parents in the United States face difficult quandaries concerning students and SNS. No one denies that youth use these technologies to communicate with the world, and they do so with high frequency and intensity (Lenhart et al., 2007b). Many scholars suggest that students learn in new ways using social media and that educators should embrace these new platforms (Ito et al., n.d.; Jenkins, 2006). In a recent national survey, the vast majority of school district leaders report that they view social media as a positive development for education (Lemke & Coughlin, 2009). Nevertheless, 70% of districts also report that they banned all access to SNS in their schools. Despite the clear understanding that social media can be vital to student learning and digital literacy, educators currently struggle with how to comply with regulations like the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), as well as overcome general fears about student interactions in social network sites. To inform both the policy concerns of district leaders and  the local practices of teachers and parents, research is needed to understand how youth use SNS and what effects it has on their social and academic development. In this chapter, I consider several key controversies around youth usage of SNS, and review relevant research that begins to inform these debates. I first define the media effects framework and outline how this research tradition attempts to understand the effects of new technologies on social outcomes. Second, I define social network sites and describe studies that capture how youth use these technologies to develop relationships, hang out with friends, and learn new skills. Third, the chapter reviews relevant research that informs several controversies concerning SNS and adolescents. I also connect these contemporary debates with previous scholarly thought about students’ out-of-school time (OST) and traditional concerns about the effect of technology on learning. The specific controversies reviewed are: †¢ What kinds of youth are using social networking sites? †¢ Does student participation in these online communities affect their privacy and social relationships? †¢ Do student activities in SNS influence their personal development in terms of self-esteem and psychological well-being? †¢ Does SNS use affect student grades and learning? Finally, I outline the overall condition of research on SNS and youth. The current state of the literature is suggestive of the effects on adolescent social and academic development, and primarily consists of ethnographic and cross-sectional data. I outline the future questions that will be critical for the field and suggest relevant methodological directions to move this emergent research stream forward. What Can We Learn from a Media Effects Framework? Many of the controversial questions concerning social network sites ask what kinds of effects these technologies have on youth development. Given this focus, I work primarily from a media effects tradition of research. Media effects scholars examine the outcomes that arise when people use new technologies. Talking about effects engenders important theoretical discussions that must be laid clear when examining studies. Most significantly, the term implies a focus on causality. Studies in this framework imply that a media form, or the features of the technology, causally influences some outcome (Eveland, 2003). The structure of questions from this perspective is usually in the form of: Does media affect learning? Does television influence student achievement? Or do social  net work sites affect the psychological well-being of adolescents? Media effects scholars in a variety of fields have quickly come to realize that the answers to these questions are more complex. Very rarely, if ever, is there a direct causal relationship between a technology and a social outcome such as learning (Clark, 1983; Clark, 1991; Schmidt & Vandewater, 2008). Early media questions often used a technological framework or object-centered approach (Fulk & DeSanctis, 1999; Nass & Mason, 1990). Such a perspective assumes and tests whether a technology itself causally affects a social outcome. For example, in Education a major question of technology research is whether media affects learning. Education researchers now firmly conclude that media does not affect student learning (Clark, Yates, Early, & Moulton, In Press). Numerous studies show that the media tool neither improves nor negatively impacts learning when compared to the same teaching strategy in the classroom (Bernard, Abrami, Lou, Borokhovski, Wade, Wozney et al., 2004; Clark, 1983; Clark, 1991). What matters is not the computer, but the learning behaviors that occur within the software or educational program. T he findings of non-significant media effects on student learning do not mean that technology has no influence. For example, Richard Mayer (2001) shows through a series of experiments that the design of a multimedia presentation affects student learning of a topic. Putting words and pictures closer together on the screen, when they are relevant to each other, helps students retain more knowledge than when the elements are placed further apart on the screen. These results do not validate a technological orientation, where one expects that the computers themselves improve learning. Rather, the pedagogical strategy of placing relevant words and images together in a presentation affects cognition. Media researchers understand that the features of a technology afford certain possibilities for activity. A multimedia video on the computer allows one to design words and images on the screen, while a computer simulation might guide a learner using models of real-world cases. A media tool allows for different possible learning behaviors (Kozma, 1991). This subtle difference in theoretical orientation is what scholars call an emergent perspective (Fulk & DeSanctis, 1999) or a variable-based approach (Nass & Mason, 1990). Scholars using an emergent or variable-based approach view technology as a structuring factor. Features of  a technology, not the technology itself, enable and constrain how one uses that tool. Conversely, social forces such as cultural norms and behavioral practices influence how one ultimately uses a technology. William Eveland (2003) offers five characteristics of media effects research that help define how studies take into account both technological and social variables. Media effects studies have: (1) A focus on an audience, (2) Some expectation of influence, (3) A belief that the influence is due to the form or content of the media or technology, (4) An understanding of the variables that may explain the causality, and (5) The creation of empirically testable hypotheses. A focus on audience compels researchers to understand the characteristics of the youth who use SNS. Knowing who uses, or does not use, social network sites is an important sociological question for scholars of digital divide. In addition, Hornik (1981) notes the possible differential effects for disparate populations, â€Å"If communication researchers have learned anything during the previous three decades, it is that communication effects vary with members of the audience† (p. 197). Current media studies also focus on the form or content of a technology, and move away from making black-box comparisons between technologies. Questions that ask whether Facebook is related to lower grades, or if MySpace is unsafe for children, are broad and uninformative directions for future media effects studies. Instead, the pivotal questions explore how the features of SNS enable or constrain behavior. Future media studies about SNS and youth should not frame questions using a technologicall y deterministic perspective where one expects the technology to cause an outcome. Instead, media scholars identify how youth interaction, communication, and information sharing are the critical variables in understanding SNS effects on social and academic outcomes. This understanding of media effects research helps define finer-grained hypotheses of why a tool like SNS might affect student development, under what uses, for whom, and when. What are Social Network Sites and How Do Youth Use Them? When a teenager joins a site like Facebook they first create a personal profile. These profiles display information such as your name, relationship status, occupation, photos, videos, religion, ethnicity, and personal interests. What differentiates SNS from previous media like a personal homepage is the display of one’s friends (boyd & Ellison, 2007). In addition to exhibiting your network of  friends, other users can then click on their profiles and traverse ever widening social networks. These three features – profiles, friends, traversing friend lists – represent the core, defining characteristics of social networking sites. One will notice that SNS also include other media tools such as video and photo uploading and many websites now employ social networking features. For example, YouTube is primarily a video sharing service, but users can add others as their friends or subscribe to a member’s collection of videos. Using boyd & Ellison’s (2007) definition, YouTube can be included as a type of social network site. As resear chers examine the effects of SNS on social behaviors, they will undoubtedly come across these blurring of technologies. Sonia Livingstone (2008) notes that SNS invite â€Å"convergence among the hitherto separate activities of email, messaging, website creation, diaries, photo albums and music or video uploading and downloading† (p. 394). This convergence of technologies may complicate what one means by the term social network site. Amidst the sea of what websites can be termed SNS, the technical definition of social network sites still provides a shared conceptual foundation. Comparing across common features – i.e. profiles and friend networks – researchers can begin to understand how various communities co-opt these characteristics to create entirely new cultural and social uses of the technology. Patricia Lange’s (2007) ethnographic study of YouTube shows that users deal with issues concerning public and private sharing of video. Some YouTube users post videos intended for wide audiences, but share very little about their own identities. Their motivations might be to achieve Internet fame and gather viewers. Other members upload videos intended for a small network of friends and may restrict the privacy settings to only allow access to those individuals. The concepts of friend and social networ k for these users are entirely distinct. Dodgeball, an early and now defunct mobile-SNS, is another social network site that has been studied. In Dodgeball, a user broadcasts their location via cell-phone to their network of friends: