Communication Challenges and Solutions in Distance Learning free essay sample

An overview of the scope of distance learning classes in the U.S., and some practical considerations of the problems and solutions involved in teaching and taking such a class. This paper takes brief look at the challenges of communicating with an instructor and a class in a distance learning situation. The author explores the types of distance learning, what the instructor should do and pros and cons of certain methods. Most of the findings of the researchers mirrored my own experiences with distance learning. (As I type this, I know that I have lagged in responding to another teacher in South Carolina regarding our students exchange). While online learning is convenient for many, students need to recognize that online communication can sometimes take more time than face-to-face communication. As institutions offer more courses online, students and instructors alike will explore the most effective way to respond to one another, cyberally speaking. We will write a custom essay sample on Communication Challenges and Solutions in Distance Learning or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page

The Decriminalization of Marijuana in California an Example by

The Decriminalization of Marijuana in California With the gigantean revenue deficits that California has been experiencing these past years, almost every remedy that can be utilized is now being considered as an option. Solutions that as recent as ten years ago would seem absurd have started to find its way to mainstream audiences, media, and politics, and quite naturally, have started to cause a stir among the citizens of California. One of these solutions, with hopes of curbing the ever-growing revenue deficit that the State is facing, is through the legalization of Marijuana. Need essay sample on "The Decriminalization of Marijuana in California" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in referring to the legalization issue, had stated that, he would look at marijuana legislation as a potential means for tax revenue (Cochran, 2009, p. 1). Its legalization is estimated to be a huge source for additional revenues, as stated in a study by Jon Gettman, a senior fellow at George Mason Universitys School of Public Policy: the annual American marijuana trade is estimated to be $113 billion, and as a result of the federal expenses on drug enforcement and would-be taxes, the government losses an estimated $42 billion annually just by keeping marijuana illegal (Dyer, 2009, p. 1). Tom Ammiano, a Democrat Assemblyman from San Francisco, hopes to make California the first State in America to legalize marijuana, through tax and regulation, in the same approach as with alcohol. In an interview with L.A. Times in February of this year, he had expressed that, California always takes the leadon gay marriage, the sanctuary movement, medical marijuana (Bailey, 2009, p. 1). Known as the AB 390, this bill, if approved, would basically copy the existing regulatory organization applied in alcoholic beverages, setting the age cap to 21 years old. Present estimates have put Californias marijuana industry at $14 billion yearly, surpassing that of vegetables, with $5.7 billion, and grapes, with $2.6 billion. The passing of this bill would result in an additional yearly revenue of $1.3 billion for California (Bailey, 2009, p. 1). This movement seemed to have public support. In the May 19 editorial of the National Review Online, it was stated that 56 percent of California residents agreed on the imposition of a marijuana tax to minimize its budget deficit (The editors, 2009, p. 1). Simply stated, Californians seem to agree that the perennial problem brought about by the restrictions on marijuana would in fact be beneficial if it were to be legalized, with some legal limitations still observed. Still, simply legalizing marijuana use does not necessarily mean an easy raking of state revenues. An efficient system-design would be important in monitoring the by-laws and the tax collection itself, along with the danger of a rise in substance abuse, although researches have been conflicting on whether pot abuse opens the door to the eventual usage of other stronger substances (Segal, 2009, p. 1). Treating this bill without any downside would be outright naivet. Even if this bill were to generate the projected $1.3 billion additional revenue, Californias $42 billion deficit would still leave a huge gaping hole with no immediate plug-in solution; as was reported in the editorial of National Review Online, the belief that a marijuana tax is going to provide an easy fix to Californias budget problems is a vapor (The editors, 2009, p. 1). It is perhaps accurate to surmise that Californias present budgetary predicament may be blamed to its excessive spending and not due to insufficient taxation, and it would be fatalistic to assume that imposing a tax on marijuana, even a high one, would mend the damage brought about by the local federal government (The editors, 2009, p. 1). The people behind the liberalization of marijuana should not exploit the crisis in California, and instead should lay bare the important and relevant principles surrounding this issue. After all, in a general v iew, this concerns not only the political and financial aspects, but most importantly, socially-related issues, then present it on the proper forumthe authorities in Washington, D.C. References Bailey, E. (2009, February 24). Taxing pot could become a political toking point. L.A. Times.com. Cochran, S. (2009, May 7). C.A. Governor Schwarzenegger looks to illegal drugs for revenue. Associated Content News. Dyer, J. (2009). A budget cure: Marijuana taxes? MSN Money. Segal, J. (2009, February 11). The audacity of dope: Could legal marijuana save Californias economy? The Big Money.com. The Editors (2009, May 19). High taxes. National Review Online.

buy custom Workplace Hazards essay

buy custom Workplace Hazards essay Sometimes it becomes hard for the organization to control some risks as they occur in the normal running of the business. Some hazards can only be avoided by stopping workers from doing their duties, and this means closing down the business (Cherrie Howie, 2010). Instead of closing down the business, the organization should come up with some measures of balancing the both issues as some hazards are inevitable. Most of the risks that occur in organizations, results from electricity, driving, confined working places, fire, gas, skin and respiratory sensitizers etc. To keep the organization running some measures should be put in place to avoid the most common types of hazards. To begin with, for the organizations to keep their employees at work, and at the same time control the hazards, most of the organizations have made use hazard control programs. This is an outlined procedure of the necessary steps that helps to protect workers from exposure to risky substances or system (Hughes, 2009). This program also assists the management to determine the level of exposure of the employees to the risk sources. Through the hazard control program, all the employees are provided with the basic knowledge on how to control their exposure to risk areas. The program allows the organization to determine the effectiveness of the control system to ensure workers are safe as they execute their duties. When deciding the best control measure to put in place, the organization should determine whether to use a temporary or a permanent depending on the type of the hazard. Before the company adopts a permanent measure, it may apply some temporary ones to keep the organization moving (Hughes, 2009). For instance, in case of noise hazards, the workers may be introduced to some hearing protection temporarily as the organization take permanent measures of dealing with the source of noise. Other ways of controlling hazards are through substitution, use of administrative controls or by use of personal protective equipments. Buy custom Workplace Hazards essay

Principles of Plain English

Principles of Plain English Principles of Plain English Principles of Plain English By Mark Nichol Perspicuous written communication is fundamental in every aspect of human interaction or should I say, â€Å"Clear writing is important whenever people interact†? If I support the triumph of plain English over byzantine jargon and sesquipedalianism, I should. But rather than explain what plain English is, I’ll state what it isn’t: It isn’t all about short sentences. It isn’t all about single-syllable words. It isn’t elimination of elaboration at the expense of erudition. (I mean, it isn’t dumbing down.) Here are five areas in which plain English is, fortunately, making inroads: Business Remember when you saw a delivery truck or a repair van and could tell which products or services it carried or facilitated? That’s still often the case, especially with known brands, but how many times have you read text printed on such a vehicle and scratched your head, wondering, â€Å"What business is that business in?† Freight companies used to do â€Å"trucking,† then they provided â€Å"delivery solutions†; now, they’re all about â€Å"logistics.† But they’re still in the business of moving things from point A to point B. Many vehicles, however, especially those in the fleets of high-tech companies, either don’t offer any information other than the company name and a phone number (and perhaps a URL), or the van is labeled with meaningless phrases about â€Å"solutions† and â€Å"logistics.† Don’t these companies want potential customers and clients to know what they offer? Stationary corporate communications, including Web site copy, press releases, and mission statements, frequently fail to enlighten the target audience as well. Some companies, though, make an effort to deliver their messages with simple, straightforward language. Government Federal, state, and local government agencies have long been notorious for obfuscating official documents: In their efforts to project an air of authority (in more than one sense of the word), many government employees have produced reams of often impenetrable prose. Fortunately, the federal Plain Writing Act and two subsequent executive orders require government-issued publications to be written in simple, easy-to-understand English. Law It’s a cynical sentiment that the notorious density of legal documents is calculated to perpetuate the need for lawyers, but it’s hard to avoid feeling that way when confronted with an oxymoronically named brief or a contract that’s anything but contracted. Some attorneys will argue that legal writing requires precision and specificity of language, but that is a poor defense of gratuitously complex language employed when the supposed intent is to make the subject matter as transparent as possible. Many lawyers, however, now opt to write in simple sentences and avoid legal jargon. Law Enforcement You’ve seen it time and time again: The chief of police, or a spokesperson, drones on about how an investigation was carried out or how a crisis is being handled. Attempting to appear official and in control of the situation, the speaker overwhelms listeners with jarring jargon and multisyllabic meanderings. Police reports, similarly, often stiffly, obscurely relate simple sequences of events in a style that complicates rather than communicates. Now, fortunately, law enforcement agencies are turning to resources like the handbook Plain English for Cops to help personnel write simple, clear accounts. Academia and Scholarship Many academics, including those who write for popular audiences, write clearly and well, but just as many more seem to try to outdo their colleagues in trying to write journal articles and other scholarly documents in a style as bafflingly complicated and convoluted as possible and in doing so, are poor role models for younger professors, graduate assistants, and other students who read their research. As with other authority figures, researchers in the natural sciences and the social sciences alike often seem to below that dense prose enhances their expertise. Rationales for Rational Writing Bryan Garner, the dean of clear writing (and author of the authoritative yet coherent guidebook Garner’s Modern American Usage), offers these four motivations for writers to favor simple writing: 1. Writers of complex prose risk confusing themselves as well as others. 2. Reading complex prose is more time-consuming than reading plain English. 3. Writing plain English is hard work, and thus, if writers feel that they must labor to succeed in their efforts, clear writing is a well-earned achievement. 4. Clarity is the primary goal of writing. Again, these arguments should not discourage eloquence, and I admit that I sometimes indulge in overwrought writing (usually, for I hope is humorous effect). But join me in trying these tips: 1. Ask yourself whether curt, clear Anglo-Saxon vocabulary might be more suitable than Latinate language in any given passage. 2. Don’t avoid subordinate clauses or parenthetical phrases, but keep them to a minimum, and keep each one succinct. 3. Monitor your musings for redundancy and other enemies of conciseness. 4. Consider your audience when determining the degree of formality you will adopt in a given piece of writing. 5. Be cautious about incorporating jargon. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Writing Prompts 101Story Writing 101Phrasal Verbs and Phrasal Nouns

HR & Communication in Projects - Weekly Discussion Topics Coursework

HR & Communication in Projects - Weekly Discussion Topics - Coursework Example Another important attribute that is vital in the building up of a team is that the project manager should have exceptional organizational skills. A work example of the importance of this attribute is that before and during a project, good organizational skills will help the project manager to plan strategies and objectives that will allow the team members to perform in an optimal manner (Scott, 2014). It is also important for a project manager to display the attribute of confidence in both his and the abilities of his team. In the course of a project, confident project managers are secure in the decisions that they make concerning the team. There are also a number of attributes which although they are important to a project manager, they are not quite vital in the building up of a team. One of these attributes is effective negotiation skills. Whereas this skill is important in the resolution of workplace conflicts, it is found to not be as important to project managers in building up of a team. Another attribute that can be considered to not be vital in the building up of a team is empathy. A project example of the relative unimportance of this attribute is that although empathy is important in the everyday management operations, it can be found to not be as important when building up a team. A team performance analysis can broadly be described as the process of evaluating the overall performance of a given team. The analysis seeks to try and establish the failures and successes of the team based on its efforts. To conduct an effective team performance analysis, there are a set of four key categories that are analyzed (Thompson. 2008). Each of these categories covers a number of key questions that must be answered before a project manager can be able to know how to plan for the future effectiveness of the team performance these categories are: Productivity: In conducting a team performance analysis,

Performance Measurrement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Performance Measurrement - Essay Example (1997), this trend has led to the creation of new philosophies in performance assessment, such as concurrent engineering/construction, lean production/construction and many others such as JIT, TQM, TPM etc.; and the construction industry has continually saw the adoption of these new principles and techniques to better improve the quality of construction projects The major driving factor behind these new principles is the optimisation of an organisation's performance, internally and externally, to enable it compete favourably well within its market (Kagioglou et al, 2001). This is because performance measurement enables an organisation, construction organisation in this sense, to understand how decision making processes or practices led to success and failures in the past, and how that understanding can drive the organisation towards future improvements (Hatry, 1999). The purpose of this essay, therefore, is to elaborate the set of performance measures that are vital to assess the finances, customer satisfaction and product management in the construction industry, and to identify the right time and application for these performance measurements. ... defines the concept of 'performance measurement', quoting Evangelidisz (1992); he differentiated performance measurement from a similar term, 'performance management. He defined performance management as a closed loop control system which deploys policy and strategy, and obtains feedback from various levels in order to manage the performance of the system; and Performance measurement as the information system which is at the heart of the performance management process and it is of critical importance to the effective and efficient functioning of the performance management system. Thus, one can conclude that performance measurement is the processes of determining how successful organisations or individuals have been in attaining their objectives and strategies (Evangelidisz, 1992 cited in Kagioglou et al., 2001). However, to achieve this BICE (2005) contend that for a set of performance measures to be effective, it must possess the following vital components. These are: Clearly defined, actionable, and measurable goals that cascade from organisational mission to management and program levels; Cascading performance measures that can be used to measure how well mission, management, and program goals are being met; Established baselines from which progress toward the attainment of goals can be measured; Accurate, repeatable, and verifiable data; and Feedback systems to support continuous improvement of an organisation's processes, practices, and results. The importance of using the right performance measures to measure/assess the right 'things' is indisputably evident throughout the construction market today. The results of such appropriate measurement of performance would include attraction of future investment, increase in customer satisfaction, increase in share value

The Next Dance Company Concert Essay Example for Free

The Next Dance Company Concert Essay Yesterday I went to a dance concert Next Dance Company Concert whose presented work by The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance. The dance was performed by the graduating students of this school. The performance was combined with eight pieces of dance, each of them has its own theme, mood, and phenomenon. With simple music and costume, performers and audiences were delighted and having spirit communication. One thing that most impressed me was the way they designed music. Many sounds from daily life can be heard in the music. I heard people wheezing, screaming, crying. I heard clock’s ticking. I heard sound’s in office, like keyboarding or pouring coffee. They are not composed by instrument, but they are pretty familiar to us. These sound, after editing, provided us a strong sense of rhythm. Combining the dance, it allows us to think of the deep meaning of each theme. Amount of eight pieces of dance, the one I like the most is Bad Faith. The two performers displayed a strong depressed feeling through their repetitive actions with some change in each repeat. They had a dialogue, but they didn’t act like talking. They rely on each other closely but sometimes they have problems and get separate. They used their bodies to express feeling each time they talked. Such movement is oppressing to me. I love it although it is not as large-scale as others performance I saw before. And because of this reason, I sat really close to the stage and the dancers. I could hear musicians tuning their instruments, I could see light refected on performers’ faces and, the most important thing, I could see dancers’ facial expression. Sometimes they even had no background music. Instead, they used the sound of dancer’s feet rubbing the floor or footsteps as the beat. Attending a live performance is really more enjoyable than watching the same event on television. Dancer is not just a job that repeats movement that other instructs he or she to do, but an artist that use their body as a tool to express emotion, story, or ideas in a nonverbal way. From viewing this concert, I discovered the motion of dance , I feel the change of my mood with the fluctuation of motion performed in different parts of the concert. From these eight pieces of dance, I feel like I have eight times of experience. From this dance, I discover that the dance has its own motion. It might show happiness or sadness and audience will experience the change of mood of their own. All I want to say is, this was a wonderful evening and it was really worthy to go!