Stephen's Story - When life gives you cancer

Inspirational Video

I found this video very inspiring, as the story within it is very touching, it relates to Stephen when he was diagnosed with cancer and it shows his journey up until he sadly passes away.
This video makes your realise that you should not take life for granted and to live for the moment, these words are very true. The ammount of money that he raised for teenage cancer was amazing, he raised over 5 million for a very worthy cause. 
The video is not made in a sad/depressing way its very heart warming and it shows how motivated and enthusiastic he was as an individual and how he wanted to live his life to his full potential.
It shows how much of a giving person he was and how he didnt want to raise money for himself, for example the events that he wanted to take part in and do before he passed away he wanted to give the money to charity that he raised.
The video also shows how important it is to raise awareness and money for cancer, he portrayed this very well. His determination and spirt kept him fighting the disease until the end.

Technology Over the Years

How has technology improved over the years?

                       Technology  has improved increasingly over the past years, the internet is wordwide where as ten years ago people that needed the internet such as in an office they would have ISDN lines or more expensive leased lines. Broadband was not available to many people, although after a few years broadband replaced lines in offices and homes and dial-up connections. 
We are able to share our media, such as pictures, videos, music, etc. Ten years ago floppy disks and CDs were the fastest types of removable media. 
Over the years social networks have become very popular, such as facebook, twitter, myspace, etc. Social networks have become a part of every day life. Where as 10/15 years ago the only way people would be able to communicate would be through phones.
Mobile phones have evolved rapidly, from the first type of phones created, such as the chunky brick phone with an aerial now to an iphone with touch screen. Also having the ability to take photos/videos and to send/share them with people. You are now able to speak to people for free, such as through headsets on skype. Speaking to people through internet calls around the world have become a far cheaper way of communicating.
Lets not forget the changes of the TV. Firstly starting off with cable and demand, now moving forward to flat screen TV's with sky. 

                   

Eating Healthy for young children

The Importance of Healthy Eating for young children

                

Why is it important for young children to have a healthy diet?

Provides lots of energy 

It improves concentration

It minimises health risks such as obesity

It builds up their strength

Promotes their learning and behaviour

It Supports their physical growth and development

Resistance to infection

How do we encourage a child to eat healthy?

Start giving your child healthy foods at a young age

Encourage healthy snacks through out the day

Set a good example with the foods you eat

Promote healthy foods at dinner such as fruits and vegetables

Encourage drinking water and have fizzy drinks as treats

Do not get rid of junk food completely

HOWEVER...

The media plays a massive part in what we eat, examples of this would be adverts advertising fast foods such as Burger king, Mcdonalds, Kfc, etc. This leads to illness's like obesity. Young girls modelling, being a size 6 or below, this influences how we eat also, as young girls/women then believe it is the norm to be that skinny. This then leads to eating disorders, anorexia, buliema etc. This is why its extremly important that we influence children at a young age of the importance of eating healthy and having a balanced diet.

Blog Review

"Six reasons to stop panicking about what you'll do after university"

 http://www.theguardian.com/education

The title of this blog caught my eye, as i am a student in university myself I thought I would give it a read. Whilst reading it there were many things through out,  that i was able to relate to myself.  Its valuable enough to be on my blog list because most people whilst studying in university will think "what am I going to do after university?" if they have not already decided what career pathway they would like to take. Many students and previous students would be able to relate to this blog, its really interesting read. Its valuable enough to be on my blog list because it puts things into perspective for students, it includes six reasons to stop panicking about what you'll do after you have finished university. These six reasons incude; we are still young, comparing yourself to others is a waste of time, you cant discover what you want to be until you find out who you are, many successful career- people have 'fallen into' their line of work, your degree wont go to waste and you are not alone. It gives a positive feeling to a student that would read it, I thought it was very influential.

A Plea For Education

This Tedtalk, is of Michelle Obama speaking at a London Girls school. She stresses the importance of taking education seriously.
Its very interesting, she expresses how she wanted to do well in school and to achieve A's. And how you have everything you need to suceed, it shows her extrodonary values and aims.

Facebook Pros & Cons

Facebook Pros & Cons:

The Web 2 App I have chosen to evaluate is Facebook, as it is a popular and well known social media website. 

Pros:

    You are able to keep in touch with your friends and family 

    You are able to find out when your friends birthdays are

    You are able to share your photos for people to see

    You can message your friends privately

    You can organise events such as parties, fundraisers etc

    It is straight forward and easy to use

    Promote your business

    Work on homework assignments with your friends

    It enhances your social skills, your are able to talk to people         all over the world

    Finding Romance

    Keeping up with current events and news

                    
   Cons:

    There are a lot of issues with bullying caused from facebook

    Time consuming

    Online grooming

    People can save/share your pictures if you are friends with them

    Confrontational

    Fake Profiles

    Addictive

    Privacy Issues

    People can post things such as pictures/status’s/videos that may be offensive to others

    Feeling pressurised to share information about yourself

    People can post pictures that you are in without your permission

Behavioural disorders in children

The most common types of disruptive behavioural disorders in children

1. ADHD- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
2. CD- conduct disorder
3.  ODD- oppositional defiant disorder 

 

ADHD

The common symptoms of ADHD include; being very impulsive, restlessness, over-activity or fidgeting, being easily distracted and having a short attention span. The cause of this behavioural disorder is unknown but this condition has shown that it runs in families, other factors that may contribute to ADHD is smoking, drinking, taking drugs during pregnancy, the child having a low birth rate or being born prematurely.

Conduct Disorder

Often judged as the 'bad kids' the symptoms of this disorder includes constant lying, keen to start physical fights, running away from home, lack of empathy to others, criminal behaviour, and at a very young age the use of drugs, smoking and drinking alcohol There is not a known cause of this disorder, apparently social, genetics, psychological, environmental and biological factors contribute towards it. 

Oppositional defiant disorder 

The typical behaviours of this disorder includes, having a low-self-esteem, can become easily angry, annoyed or frustrated. Having the tendency to frequently argue with their parents. The exact cause of this disorder in unknown, however it is believed that biological, environmental and genetics may have a contribution to this disorder. 

Web 2 App

WWW.WORDNIK.COM

The app i have tested out is wordnik. This website could be used in an educational context as it is a reliable website, which is easy and fast to use.

You are able to search any word you want, and it will give you the definition. The picture above shows this.

I searched the word 'because'. The above picture shows that it gives you a range of definitions of the word you have chosen.

Also, it gives you examples of the word you have searched in sentences. 

It could be used in an educational context as it gives you the definition of the word, examples of it used in sentences and it also shows you related words. These include; synonyms, words in the same context, words that rhyme with the word you have searched and also reverse dictionary. 

It would be very useful in an educational context as it could be used to help individuals with their spelling, homework and assignments. It is straightforward to use, so if children in a comprehensive or primary school wanted to use it they would have no problem navigating through website. 

The Advantages & Disadvantages Of Technology in Education

Technology plays an important part in learning, it is a major advantage to teachers as they are able to enhance their teaching skills and strategies. Its helps people to improve their knowledge and understanding, through different aspects of learning. Technology is important for both the teacher and student, it has many advantages to learning, although there are disdvantages.

                 

Advantages:

1.  It allows students/children to learn independently
2.  Its an exciting way of learning
3.  Students do not need to carry around heavy books all the time they are able to make use of their technological gadgets
4.  Its an easier way of learning
5.  The students are able to learn IT skills together a classroom.
6.  The use of wikis & blogs

Disadvantages:

1.  Students/Children may become lazy relying on the internet too much.
2.  Become to Distracted with other websites
3. Forgetting the basic ways of learing through books etc.
4.  Wasting time
5.  Lack of innability with teachers and students
6.  Teachers may find it difficult to draw students attention

A Day At University

          

As part of a task we were asked to create a video in a group, this was to show what at day in the university was like from our point of view. We created this video on the Ipad, first of all we took pictures and videos around the university and outside, we then merged it all together via movie maker. It did not take long to make, what took up quite a bit of time was choosing what part of the university we wanted to be in our video and the order of how we wanted to present it. The video consists of arriving at university, the campus and socialising with friends. After creating the video, we presented it to the class who then also presented theirs. It was interesting to see other peoples views of their day at university.

Moovly Animation

As part of a task we were asked to create an animation, via moovly. The website is pretty straight forward and easily navigated whilst trying to make an animation. First of all we selected a title for our animation, we then went on to create it. It then asks you to choose a style for your animation, there were many styles to choose from such as doodly marker style to colourful cartoon style and so on. The site was very helpful in the way that before we created our animation it gave us the option to 'have a tour' to show us what kind of tools we could use. However, creating this animation was not easy, as it was very awkward using the cursor to select different objects to use and it moved slowly. The above video, shows the animation my group created.

Night At The Gym

Reflective Process

Importance of Websites

How do we know if a website is a reliable source?

When I am using a website for research it is important that I know if the website, is legit and who the author is of the website. After my lecture today, I have learnt alot on how to know if a website is a reliable source to use information from.

The first steps in finding out whether the website is a reliable source are :

The Author - It is important to be aware who the author is of the website. You need to look for an "about" section, or "more about the author" link. You need to look if the author has any expertise about the subject in hand, do they have any experience within this subject? would you trust what they are saying about it?
Another way to find out whether the author of the website is trust worthy is by searching  their name on google, and see if their name appears with any other websites such as education institutions.

The Domain of the website -  This will tell you who is hosting the website, For example the website that I have been using today is 'British Swimming.Org' this shows that is is a non profit organisation, and the extension is technically open to all.  Here are some more examples:

1. edu = educational 
2. .com = commercial 
3. „ .mil = military 
4. „ .gov = government 
5. „ .org = nonprofit 

Do not ignore the Suffix on the domain name this is important 

What is the quality of information like on the website -  it is important to check when the website was last updated, so you know that the information you are using is accurate and when it was published. 

What other websites is the website linked to? if there are adverts on the side of the web page that don't link with the topic in hand this is an important factor to be aware of. . Is it cluttered 

with advertising? Does the page appear to be professionally designed? Is the writing trying to 

persuade you to buy something?

The last thing you need to be aware of and ask your self is what is the main purpose of the website? Why did the author publish this? was it to provide general information about a topic, to persuade you of a certain point of view, to sell a product?

Education Studies

Why did i choose the BA Hons Education Studies?

It is my first year of the BA Hons Education Studies,  In University of Wales Trinity Saint David. In 2011, i started college in Gower College Swansea, where i first took 4 A-levels after my first year studying these a-levels i realised that this was not the right pathway for me. In my second year i decided to do a BTEC in Health and Social Care extended diploma Level 3. This give me an insight of what type of job i would like to pursue as a future career, i have always wanted to be either a social worker or a primary school teacher. Towards the end of my BTEC i realised that the social work field was not the right enviornment for me, and i was more suitable towards becoming a teacher. As i work with children and done placements in schools, i have gained alot of expiereince with working with children and observing different types of teaching strategies. I decided that the BA Hons education studies degree would be an exellent platform and a stepping stone towards my future career.