Julius Caesar Essays (3325 words) - Ancient Rome, 1st Millennium BC

Julius Caesar Julius Caesar A baby was born on July 12 or 13 of 100 BC in Rome. Little did the proud parents of this baby know that he would rule most of the known world. This baby was born to the name of Gaius, his personal name, Julius was the name of his family's clan and the name of his family was Caesar meaning hairy. Caesar was such an amazing man that many people couldn't believe that he was born the same way as them. Over time stories have arisen about Caesar's birth. One story says that Caesar was pulled from an incision in his mother's stomach. This is where the medical term of Cesarean section came from, from Caesar's birth. Not everyone paid that much attention to the birth of Caesar, it was overshadowed by exploits of his Uncle Gaius Marius. Marius was a politician, he was a "new man" or a plebeian politician. He married into the aristocratic Caesar family so he would have a name to back up his words. Marius did not receive a first-class education or a lot of other advantages some politicians had. Marius was elected consul in 108 BC, once in office he proved himself as a brilliant general. He persuaded the senate to send him to Africa and replace the general in the war there. He took over for General Metellus. Soon he ended the war that had been dragging on for many years. When he returned to Rome Marius found another chance for fame. Nomadic German tribes had invaded the north of Italy and winning a couple battles over Roman armies. Marius took the spotlight away from this little bundle of joy named Caesar. No matter what he wanted he was propelled into politics. Many of his relatives were senators or held other important political offices. He listened to many political discussions between his family which had substantial influences on him. He was trained to be a politician by his tutor Antonius Gnipho. He studied Greek and Latin literature, philosophy, and most important, rhetoric or the art of persuasive argument. At the age of twelve he was brought to the senate house to watch speeches and debates. As a kid he wrote numerous poems and plays. Augustus believed that these writings might tarnish his reputation, when he became emperor he burned all of Caesar works. Caesar was a very handsome boy and for that matter man too. He dressed in a style all his own. He was not very strong as boy. All male children were expected to be good athletes. Caesar acquired skills in running, fencing, and horseback riding. He became capable of physical feats that would astonish his childhood friends. His health was a bit frail as a kid. At an early age he became somewhat deaf and after he was thirty he suffered occasionally from fits of epilepsy. He was rather tall for a man from his time, he grew to be about five feet eight inches tall. In Roman tradition the fathers arranged their children's' marriages at an early age. Caesar's father arranged his marriage with a young woman named Cossutia. Caesar hated this idea. He wanted to control his own life. He had a strong will of his own. But he had lots of respect for his father so he agreed to marry Cossutia. The marriage did not last long, only a few months. Soon after the wedding Caesar divorced his bride. A little later Caesar's father died. When Caesar was nineteen he fell deeply in love with a woman named Cornelia. Cornelia was Cinna's daughter and Cinna was Marius' most powerful colleague and co-consul. This entangled Caesar even more with politics. Having Marius as an uncle and Cinna as a father-in-law. Soon after the marriage Caesar and Cornelia had a daughter, whom they named Julia after his aunt and Marius' wife. Marius and Cinna were elected consuls while Sulla was at war with Mithridates in 86 BC. Soon after both Cinna and Marius died. It left their party leaderless and could not stop Sulla from taking control of the republic. When Sulla took control he forced Caesar to divorce Cornelia as a test of loyalty. He refused to divorce the love of his life. He knew that men had been killed for far less serious things. He knew his life was in danger, he avoided execution by leaving Rome for the hilly country side near Rome. Caesar eluded hunters and police with a small group of his slaves for a few weeks. Then he became weak and sick

35 Wedding Anniversary Wishes to Bless Married Couples

35 Wedding Anniversary Wishes to Bless Married Couples The decision to get married may be the most significant step you take in your life. It may take a while for you to get adjusted to married life. Marriage is a lifetime commitment. Once you decide to take the plunge, there is no looking back. Weddings are sacrosanct. You promise to cherish your spouse as long as you live. You take a vow to support each other in good and bad times. And you promise to love and be faithful forever. Wedding anniversaries are important milestones, as you count the years that rolled by in marital bliss. But marriage is not a bed of roses. Every couple faces challenges that threaten to tear them apart. When the foundation of marriage is weak, the relationship can crumble to dust. However, some couples rise above these challenges and emerge stronger than ever. Wedding anniversaries celebrate the triumphant years and remind the couple of their blessings. If your friend or relative is celebrating his wedding anniversary, congratulate the husband and wife for their togetherness. Bless them with heartfelt wedding anniversary wishes. Recall the beautiful memories of their wedding day to remind them of their deep love that keeps them going strong year after year. Elizabeth Barrett BrowningTwo human loves make one divine.Dean StanleyA happy marriage is a new beginning of life, a new starting point for happiness and usefulness.Elijah FentonWedded love is founded on esteem.Johann Wolfgang von GoetheThe sum which two married people owe to one another defies calculation. It is an infinite debt, which can only be discharged through all eternity.Eliza CookHark! The merry chimes are pealing,Soft and glad the music swells,Gaily in the night wind stealing,Sweetly sound the wedding bells.George ChapmanMarriage is ever made by destiny.Kahlil GibranYou were born together, and together you shall be forevermore... but let there be spaces in your togetherness. And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.Joseph CampbellWhen you make a sacrifice in marriage, youre sacrificing not to each other but to unity in a relationship.PlautusLet us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words.Thomas MooreThere is nothing half so sweet in lifeAs loves young dre am. Sir A. HuntHe is blessed in love alone,Who loves for years and loves but one.William ShakespeareGrace and remembrance be to you both.Honore de BalzacOne should believe in marriage as in the immortality of the soul.Franz Joseph von Munch-BellinghausenTwo souls with but a single thought,Two heart that beat as one.William ShakespeareHonor, riches, marriage-blessingLong continuance, and increasing,Hourly joys be still upon you!Ogden NashTo keep your marriage brimming,With love in the wedding cup,Whenever youre wrong, admit it;Whenever youre right, shut up.Emily BronteWhatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same.HoraceHappy and thrice happy are those who enjoy an uninterrupted union, and whose love, unbroken by any sour complaints, shall not dissolve until the last day of their existence.William ShakespeareHeaven give you many, many merry days.Rainer Maria RilkeA good marriage is that in which each appoints the other guardian of his solitude.Sam KeenWe come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. MiltonHail, wedded love, mysterious law; true source of human happiness.William ShakespeareNow join hands, and with your hands your hearts.John DonneCome live with me and be my love,And we will some new pleasures proveOf golden sands and crystal brooks,With silken lines and silver hooks.Karl FuchsIt takes two special people,To make a loving pair.Thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a joy just being around you,A feeling I love to share.Barbra StreisandWhy does a woman work ten years to change a mans habits and then complain that hes not the man she married?Jean RostandA married couple are well suited when both partners usually feel the need for a quarrel at the same time.Wellins CalcottIn the choice of a wife, we ought to make use of our ears, and not our eyes.Phyllis DillerWhatever you may look like, marry a man your own age as your beauty fades, so will his eyesight.William Makepeace ThackerayBad husbands will make bad wives.Kyran PittmanIf you can hang in there through minor and major differe nces of opinion, through each others big and little screw-ups, year after year, you come to understand that the person you married is really, terribly flawed. There isnt a human being you can hang out with, day in and day out, for over a decade and not come to the same inescapable realization. Wellins CalcottA single life is doubtless preferable to a married one, where prudence and affection do not accompany the choice; but where they do, there is no terrestrial happiness equal to the married state.Phyllis DillerA bachelor is a guy who never made the same mistake once.Chloe DanielsA marriage is like a salad: the man has to know how to keep his tomatoes on the top.J. R. EwingMarriage is like these bonbons. You never know what youre getting until youre right in the middle of it.

Quotes About the Joys of Winter

Quotes About the Joys of Winter Come winter and the world is covered with a white sheet of snow. Kids welcome winter by catching the first few snowflakes in their mouth. For adults, winter brings a slew of festivities like skiing, snowboarding, sled dog racing, and many others. And then there is Christmas. Christmas on a wintry December night brings families closer as they cozy up around a warm hearth. Revel in the joys of winter while you sip your ale and read these winter quotes. Pietro AretinoLet us love winter, for it is the spring of genius. George HerbertEvery mile is two in winter. Mignon McLaughlinSpring, summer, and fall fill us with hope; winter alone reminds us of the human condition. William BlakeIn seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy. Edith SitwellWinter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home. Victor HugoWinter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. William BradfordAnd for the season it was winter, and they that know the winters of that country know them to be sharp and violent, and subject to cruel and fierce storms. Boris PasternakIt snowed and snowed, the whole world over, Snow swept the world from end to end. A candle burned on the table; A candle burned. Virginia WoolfNever are voices so beautiful as on a winters evening, when dusk almost hides the body, and they seem to issue from nothingness with a note of intimacy seldom heard by day. Charles DickensLooking up, she showed him quite a young face, but one whose bloom and promise were all swept away as if the haggard winter should unnaturally kill the spring. Elizabeth BowenAutumn arrives in early morning, but spring at the close of a winter day. HeraclitusGod is day and night, winter and summer, war and peace, surfeit and hunger. Albert CamusIn the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. Robert FrostYou cant get too much winter in the winter. Sinclair LewisWinter is not a season, it’s an occupation.

Read the article first, then answer the question Essay

Read the article first, then answer the question - Essay Example The exercise facilitates people to overcome their problems and look at the brighter side of the things, resulting in higher productivity at workplace. Human behavior is intrinsically linked to socio-psychological wellbeing of individuals which is reflected in their interaction with other within the defined social fabric or environment. Thus, understanding of human traits and their behavioral pattern greatly equips organizational leadership to ensure improved performance outcome at the workplace. Levinson (2002) believes that psycho-analytical tools help to understand the hidden dynamics of human relationships, especially within work environment that is mainly described by organizational culture, social defenses, motivation, leadership imperatives etc. Effective communication would help to promote understanding of conflicting issues and situations so that they can be resolved easily. Hence, organizational leadership must constantly promote greater communication amongst the workers and create environment for building constructive relationship based on mutual respect and understanding of cross cultural values. Sharma, S and Chatterjee, D. ‘Cos Are Keenly Listening to ‘Happiness Coach’’. Economic Times, 16 July, 2010. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-07-16/news/27574395_1_happiness-management-guru-spiritual-teacher 27 Jan.

Motivation Theories in Organizational Behavior Assignment

Motivation Theories in Organizational Behavior - Assignment Example A person will be motivated to satisfy needs at the lowest level before focus shifts to needs at the next level. The levels are physiological security, affiliation, esteem, and self-actualization needs. An employee, according to the theory, is for example motivated by need for food and shelter but these cease to be motivators once their needs are met. Job security and social ties then becomes motivators as the employee progresses in work (Koontz, 2009). McClelland’s learnt needs theory explains that three needs, that people learn from their environments are motivators. These are need to attain desired objectives, need for interpersonal relations, and need for power. The notion that promotion can grant a person authority and connection with people from a higher circle in a profession may for example motivate an employee into hard work (Lunenburg and Ornstein, 2011). According to the theory, a person is motivated by four factors, singularly or in combination. The factors are drive to acquire, bond, learn, and defend. The drive to bond may for example motivate teamwork for interpersonal relations among team members (White, 2006). Vroom’s expectancy theory establishes a link between goals and means of achieving the goals towards motivation. According to the theory, people realize motivation into objectives if the cost of achieving the objective is justified and if available means to the objective promises success. An employee may for example be motivated into further training towards promotion if necessary resources are worth the promotion and if the training actually promises probability of the targeted promotion (Condrey, 2010). Adam’s equity theory explains motivation from input-output perspective. According to the theory, an individual is motivated if the perceived input in a venture is equivalent to perceived output. This means that a manager is motivated when he is convinced of efficiency in his efforts (Lussier and Achua,

Strategic Justifications In The US Wine Industry

Strategic Justifications In The US Wine Industry Mergers refer to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling and combining of different companies that can aid in, finance, or assist a growing company in a given industry. As outlined by Lawrence Gitman, it is the combination of two or more firms, in which the resulting firm maintains the identity of one of the firms usually the larger. The primary reason for a merger is to improve a companys financial and strategic position. (Gitman, 2009) Determining whether the merger or the acquisition in the U.S. Wine Industry is offensive or defensive is dependent on each companys perspective. International Beverages quest for seeking an acquisition was considered a defensive action put forward by the company and it needed to lengthen its life within the organization. This company was known as a leading producer and marketer in the wine industry. This company being slow at achieving internal growth as their revenues grew at a mere 10% per year as a result of aggressive acquisition strategy. They needed to make an acquisition to prevent it from becoming a market failure as lack of any acquisition resulted in a no growth rate for the Company. This needed to be done to achieve growth internally and to refrain from going under. The wine industry has showed desirable preferences for change to higher end brand which placed International Beverage in a very dangerous position as customer would show a great deal of preference for the highe r end brand wines. International Beverage then had to take the initiative and move strategically in order to remain in the market as a key player, thus alleviating any adverse effects that would occur as a result of the new emerging preference in the future. One of the other companies to be acquired was Starshine. One of the main compositions of companies that International Beverage acquires was the fact that they were all producers of low end quality wine. Starshine was one of them. They too were also facing the fact that they could eventually lose in the market shares as the market began leaning towards a higher end brand of wine and Starshine were offering mid range labels in the market. Since Starshine produced only mid range brand wines, it would have been in their best interest to merge with the other company Bel Vino in order to secure a share in the market. This would have been their defensive action. The merger was crucial because had they not merged with Bel Vino, International Beverage could have acquired their company as the urgently needed some pull out, keeping in mind also that International Beverage also needed some fix for themselves to retain their market share. Starshine would then now be able to deal with their cost issues and competition from foreign producers. The merger between Starshine and International Beverage would be a defensive action with respect to the emerging market changes and also to avoid not having a say in the future business of the company. Bel Vino was producers of high-end wine with a very strong brand. Despite this, they also had sluggish performance, there prevalent management conflicts, these were the internal problems the company was faced with; also their inability to form good distribution lines, have a bad management team and as a result, has unflattering performance levels (Luehrman Kester, 2009). The market change favoured Bel Vino prospects as it allowed them to have more clients to form a better distribution line which will then have positive effects on its revenues. Bel Vino did not need a merger neither an acquisition because it could have solved the aforementioned issues by itself. Despite this fact, there was the option of solving these issues by taking advantage of the already established distribution lines and high earnings of both Starshine and International Beverage (Luehrman Kester, 2009). Given these reasons, Bel Vino is the only one that would be taking offensive action in both instances with respect to merger and acquisition. Question 2 What primary advantages did your company bring to the table? An acquisition of or merger with Bel Vino would benefit both company as Bel Vino, is the company that offered classic vintages and strong brands (Luehrman Kester, 2009). This would give them the comparative advantage over the other companies since these other companies, Starshine and International Beverage, deal mainly with lower end and mid range labels (Luehrman Kester, 2009). From the fact that industry has overcome the wine glut the demand for wine has shifted to the higher end products which neither of Bel Vinos competitors possess (Luehrman Kester, 2009). This was an advantage for Bel Vino since they were able to use this for their negotiations. This would be beneficial also for International Beverage and Starshine providing the opportunity to gain a market share and for their survival in the new market transformation. Bel Vino also benefited from the low cost advantages with respect to the merger with Starshine given the fact of the apparent cost control issues. (Luehrman Kester, 2009). Management in Bel Vino were able to utilize their finances as opposed to overspending on advertisement as Starshine did. All in all, Bel Vino brought several advantages to the table during this negotiation, all of which benefitted each of the companies of way or the other. Question 3 Compare the market positions, financial performance, and future prospects of Bel Vino and Starshine. What are the most significant sources of synergies for the potential transactions? Market position can be defined as the ranking of a brand, product, or firm, in terms of its sales volume relative to the sales volume of its competitors in the same market or industry (Business Dictonary, 2009). In analyzing the three companies, it was found that from the years 2006-2010 Starshine continually had higher net sales to that of Bel Vino. In 2006 Starshine had 475 million compared to Bel Vinos 359 million and International beverages 2980 million. In 2007 Starshine had 495 million compared to Bel Vinos 360 million and 2999.9 million. In 2008 Starshine had 525.1 million compared to Bel Vinos 366 million and 3019.9 million. In 2009 Starshine had 557.2 million compared to Bel Vinos 382.1 million and 6100.4 million. In 2010 Starshine had 591.5 million compared to Bel Vinos 390.1 million and 6141.2 million. (Harvard Business School 2009) This shows that Starshine had a greater market presence than that of Bel Vino and that Bel Vino was finding it difficult to generate sales esp ecially in the international markets to compete with its rivals. This was possibly due to its poor distribution lines. International Beverage could help Starshine and Bel Vino increase their market share both domestically and internationally and also help improve Bel Vinos distribution line. Financial performance refers to the measuring of a firms policies and operations in monetary terms. These results are reflected in the firms return on investment and return on assets (Business Dictionary, 2009). As the formula for return on assets is Net Income/Total Assets, the Return on assets for Starshine through the years 2006 to 2010 are; in 2006: 11.1/498.3 = 2.23%; in 2007: 8.6/503.9=1.71% ; in 2008: 17.4/507.5=3.43 ; in 2009: 28.3/531.5=5.32 ;in 2010: 36.9/556.9= 6.63%. In comparison, the returns on Assets for Bel Vino throughout the years are in 2006: 4.2/425.9=0.99%, in 2007:18.8/406.8=4.62%, in 2008: 27.7/389.4=7.11, in 2009: 33.2/403.6=8.23%,in 2010: 36.1/409.1=.8.82%. This shows that Bel Vino had a higher return on assets than Starshine. Our return on assets are as follows; in 2006: 162.2/1227.2=13.22%; in 2007: 109.9/1461.5=7.52; in 2008: 97.5/1544.5=6.31; in 2009: 423.7/22.32.7=18.98; in 2010: 446.6/2770.2=16.12. This again shows that our company, International Beverage company is a larger better run company. In relation to the future prospects of these companies, Bel Vino had to focus on the protection of their brands, increase in distribution lines and increase in sales volumes. Pertaining to Starshine, they need to cut costs and break into the high end market. Question 4 What was the rationale behind the choice of target for the opening bid and our overall bidding strategy? As we were in a better position than both companies, we were faced with the decision of it to stay as we were and run the risk of both companies merging or if to acquire on of the companies. We decided that were not under any pressure and we were going to keep our bidding low as we felt it was in the other companies best interest to merge with us. We started by making a bid for Starshine as we felt that with their greater presence in the markets would help us to gain an even stronger market share. We thus made an opening bid of $45 per share to Starshine. This bid was rejected. As a result our share price dropped by $0.50 to $64.70 while starshines rose by $2.26 to $56.64. We decided to start the bidding at such a low price so during negotiations; the ceiling price would not get too high. We realised that Starshine offered Bel Vino 1.05 new Starshine shares for each existing Bel Vino Share. So we decided to give Bel Vino something to think about by offering $39 per share. This was lo wer than their share price at the current time which was $45.96. We were not prepared to buy out any of these companies while incurring huge debts. This was another reason why our bids were kept so low. Bel Vino didnt see our bid as attractive despite the fact that we could improve their distribution line internationally considerably. So they rejected our bid. We thus decided it was not worth it to acquire any of the two companies as they lacked the vision to see that they could only benefit by merging with us. In the end Starshine accepted Bel Vinos offer and the companies merged. Question 5. If you were not successful at completing a transaction, why do you believe this was the case? Do you think it represents the best outcome for your shareholders? Would you do anything differently if given another chance to negotiate? According to the confidential information our team was provided with, both Bel Vino and Starshine were potential prospects for a merger. Our main prospect was Bel Vino since they sold high end products and our company would have received more value from this merger. We also noted that a merger with Bel Vino would have added worth to our company. Therefore in the long term, shareholder value will also be increased. In order to increase shareholders value, it is imperative that a company implements strategic planning. This can be done by increasing cost base while maintaining revenue and by increasing revenue share and by reducing cost (Ezine Article, 2010). A merger between Bel Vino and Starshine would have reduced cost of goods sold by roughly $3 million to $ 5 million. In addition, their Research and Development cost would decrease by a significant amount, roughly, one million on an annual basis. Bel Vino showed strategic planning and they recognized the goal of the company and beca use of their financial operations which were done effectively and efficiently, they were able to develop their working capital. There was a possibility of mergers between Bel Vino and Starshine, which actually came to fruition. Before any negotiation is made by any organization and for it to be successful it is critical for them to look over key issues that will affect their organization in the long run. In other words preparedness is one of the main key to successes in any business organization. In addition, a good strategy is also important for a healthy and long term existence of that company. Our team definitely lacked in the area of preparation was resulted in International Beverage not being able to merge with any of the two prospective companies. Our team members were definitely not ready to negotiate because we did not conduct enough background work in terms of focusing on our operating assumptions which included domestic and international revenues. In addition, due to the lack of understanding the game and time, we were not capable of making enough offers to the other two wine companies These factors needed to be decided upon before we ventured into the negotiation process. We also need to focus more on our balance sheet and make comparisons between Bel Vinos and Starshines balance sheets. Despite our unpreparedness, we were able to make bids by offers to both Bel Vino and Starshine at prices, $48.81 and $58.57 respectively. Both companies rejected our offers. We assumed that they believed that their companies were worth more than what we were offering them. At the end of the simulation, Starshine and Bel Vino merged. In conclusion, the wine simulation was a learning experience for our team and we realized the importance of conducting our homework before venturing into negotiations. It is important to learn about your counterparts in detail, as opposed to looking on the surface. Details such as financials are crucial in getting into mergers. If given the opportunity to negotiate again, we will definitely make serious preparations for the negotiations.

The Openness In Education Education Essay

Harmonizing to Alene Fink, a literature reappraisal is a systematic, expressed and consistent method for placing, measuring and synthesising the bing organic structure of completed and recorded work produced by research workers, bookmans and practicians[ I ]and hence in this chapter I am traveling to look into the literature which has helped me to make this survey. It has been divided into 10 subdivisions. In subdivision 2.1, openness in instruction, the beginning of OER and research on OERs has been reviewed. Autonomous acquisition has been discussed in subdivision 2.2. Section 2.3 reviews the literature on pupil liberty. Literature connected to motive theory has been reviewed in subdivision 2.4. Section 2.5 nowadayss literature on learner-centered attacks. Section 2.6 reappraisals literature on self-efficacy and the undermentioned subdivision is on instructional design methodological analysis. Section 2.8 is about the relationship between all these constructs while subdivision 2.9 puts some visible radiation on the deductions and findings related to the literature and eventually the last subdivision contains some recommendations.2.1 Openness in instructionOpenness in instruction is largely about sharing, cut downing barriers and increasing entree to instruction. Harmonizing to Brown and Adler ( 2008 ) , unfastened instruction has been ‘enabled and inspired ‘ by the Internet and it is the Open Educational Resources motion ( OER ) which has had the biggest impact in this country. The instruction system over the last decennary has been capable to policy force per unit areas for enlargement of formal paths for instruction ( e.g. Dearing, 1997 ) . The impact of the Internet and on-line entree alterations the manner that people interact with each other and information ( e.g. Anderson, 2008 ) . When it comes to our state, singular attempts have been put by the authorities in order to give quality instruction and transform Mauritius into a cognition hub. Access to third instruction has been extended to a larger figure of scholars so as to run into the turning demands of the occupation market. Unesco Institute for Statistics has late published that 88.5 % of grownups and 96.7 % of young person are literate in Mauritius.[ two ]Literacy rates199020102010 ( Regional norm )Adult ( 15+ ) %Medium frequency 79.9 88.5 62.6 Meter 85.1 90.9 71.0 F 74.7 86.2 54.2Youth ( 15-24 ) %Medium frequency 91.2 96.7 71.8 Meter 90.7 95.7 76.4 F 91.7 97.7 66.8 Table Beginning: hypertext transfer protocol: //stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx? ReportId=289 & A ; IF_Language=eng & A ; BR_Country=4800 & A ; BR_Region=40540 The tabular array clearly indicates that the rate of literacy has increased since 1990 and therefore we can infer that instruction has become more accessible to all Mauritians. Harmonizing to a study published by Pauline Ngimwa, although the construct of unfastened educational resources is instead new, it is already doing a singular part to instruction in the Sub-Saharan Africa.2.1.1 The beginning of Open Educational ResourcesHarmonizing to Conole et Al, educational resources are authoritative societal objects which help to intercede interactions between instructors and scholars particularly when they are non physically present in the same room. The term OER was foremost adopted at UNESCO ‘s 2002 forum which was on the Impact of Open Courseware for Higher Education in developing states funded by the Hewlett Foundation and this term refers to freely accessible, openly formatted and openly licensed papers and media that are utile for learning, acquisition, instruction, appraisal and research intents harmonizing to Wikipedia.[ three ]2.1.2 Research on unfastened educational resourcesResearch done on OERs largely concern third instruction and to some exte nt their findings can be transferred to the secondary instruction. The footings unfastened content, unfastened educational resources, unfastened courseware and unfastened text editions are more frequently coined to HE discourse which refers to all the instruction and learning resources provided for free under the right of first publication licences. Researches which have been done boulder clay now have shown many advantages of utilizing OERs in schoolrooms. OERs are free and accessible to anyone on the cyberspace and they improve the quality of larning content. Furthermore they can be adapted, re-purposed, re-used or localized for different environments and they free the users from right of first publication and licensing issues. They allow a higher return on investing of taxpayer ‘s money because of better cost-effectiveness as the resources are re-usable. They promote digital competency and enrich the pool of resources. Harmonizing to the OLCOS roadmap published in 2012, unfastened entree to educational resources promotes instruction every bit good as womb-to-tomb acquisition and this is one of the major purposes of the Prevocational course of study. OLCOS has besides explored how OERs can do a difference in instruction and acquisition and has come to a decision that these can authorise instructors and scholars given that necessary policy and organisational models favor so. It has been mentioned that OER promote invention and asks for alteration in educational patterns. In 2008, Wolfenden stated that OER have the possible to lend considerable support where there is scarceness of high quality and didactically sound learning stuffs.2.2 Autonomous acquisitionIn the past decennaries, autonomous acquisition has been encouraged in developed states. The Plowden study ( 1966 ) in United Kingdom had outlined a doctrine based on Piagetian phase theory which emphasized kids as persons and supported a move to child-centered methods and â€Å" course of study † suited to the demands of the kid who was encouraged to be autonomous. In 2005, Christina Gitsaki stated that autonomous acquisition was more present than of all time in Japan and in her survey she found out that students were more enthusiastic when they were allowed to take part actively in their acquisition procedure by making research work, composing studies and interacting with equals. Through her survey she besides found out that although students enjoyed utilizing computing machines and do research on the web, they could non appreciate such activities since the linguistic communication used for the web sites were in English and they could non understand all the information.2.3 Student libertyHarmonizing to Henri Holec, liberty is the ability to take charge of one ‘s ain acquisition while David Little states that it is basically a affair of the scholar ‘s psychological relation to the procedure and content of acquisition. For Leslie Dickinson, liberty is a state of affairs in which the scholar is wholly responsible for all the determina tions concerned with his [ or her ] acquisition and the execution of those determinations and our educational system does non ever promote students to make so. Harmonizing to Dunlap ( 1997 ) , increasing pupils ‘ control and duty over the learning procedure is and of import accomplishment for womb-to-tomb acquisition. For case this can be done by leting students to measure what they need to larn, take and research in order to construct their cognition. I wanted to utilize OERs as extra acquisition resources for certain lessons and let my prevocational students to work on their ain to research the resources and carry out the activities autonomously but since OERs are frequently designed for specific context, I had hence to redact the resources in order to accommodate them to my existent schoolroom context. The linguistic communication used is largely English and non all Prevocational students can understand this linguistic communication good. Thus I had to utilize simpler linguistic communication and translate to the female parent lingua[ four ]really frequently during the activities.2.4 Motivation theoryIn 1981, Harter stated that research across the preschool to high school categories have shown that kids ‘s intrinsic motive lessenings and they feel more anomic to larning and I to the full agree with this statement when it comes to my pre-vocational students. It is really difficult to acquire them interested in their surveie s and unless the learning resources presented to them are non meaningful ; they lose involvement really quickly in their lessons. Equally long as scholars are actively engaged in reliable undertakings where they are involved in treatments, taking determinations, fixing presentations and join forcesing they get to use their bing cognition and research new cognition, the former are excited and motivated. Educators frequently prefer intrinsic motive to extrinsic motive and harmonizing to research by Ryan, Conell and Plant ( 1990 ) , larning results of intrinsic motive are better than those obtained under extrinsic motive. The usage of hands-on activities helps to heighten intrinsic motive and the NCFS provinces that a assortment of schemes must be used in prevocational every bit good as mainstream so as to actuate scholars. I have tried to look for some originative ways to include engineering in my teaching resources as nowadays pupils are exposed to it daily for communicating and for interaction but since most of my pre-vocational students do n't hold a computing machine at place and therefore they can non hold entree to the cyberspace. Therefore all the educational resources which I have used have either been distributed ( in the signifier of difficult transcripts ) or viewed in the schoolroom. I have tried to convey assortment in the instruction AIDSs since my students could non hold entree to all the OERs selected.2.5 Learner-centered attacksFor this survey, I have used OERs as learning resources to back up the instruction procedure. When incorporating these resources in the bing educational patterns, I have tried new attacks and patterns in forming instruction and acquisition ; and one attack is the learner-centered 1. The function of a instructor within a learner-centered attack to direction is that of a facilitator or manager ( Wang, 2006 ) . Learner-centered attacks to learning hold emerged from the acquisition theory â€Å" constructivism † . Constructivist acquisition is based on an apprehension that learners concept cognition for themselves ( Hein, 1991: Krause et Al, 2003 ) . In 2002 Weimer was largely concerned learner-centered instruction as an exercising in altering instruction pattern. Weimer identified learner-centered instruction as embracing 5 alterations to pattern: switching the balance of schoolroom power from instructor to pupil ; planing content as a agency to constructing cognition instead than a ‘knowledge terminal ‘ in itself ; positioning the instructor as facilitator and subscriber, instead than manager and beginning of cognition ; switching duty for larning from instructor to scholar ; and advancing larning through effectual appraisal. Learner-centered instruction is non so easy with the pre-vocational students because there are many students who are slow scholars and although they are allocated some extra clip for certain undertakings, the instructor still needs to be present. Therefore it is non really obvious to give greater liberty and control over the pick of capable affair, the gait of acquisition, and the acquisition methods used as suggested by Gibbs in 1992.2.6 Self efficaciousnessBandura in 1982 defined perceived self-efficacy as judgements of how good one can put to death classs of action required to cover with prospective state of affairss while in 2002 Eccles and Wigfield define it as an person ‘s assurance in his or her ability to form and put to death a given class of action to work out a job or carry through a undertaking. Self-efficacy is of import as it helps to find attempt and continuity every bit good as to put ends. Self-regulated scholars use a assortment of schemes and have high self-efficacy ; puting ends for themselves, supervising their ain activities, measuring their ain public presentation and moreover responding to their rating results. In 2007, Schunk and Zimmerman formulated the self-regulation theory which states that persons can strengthen their ain motive by prosecuting themselves in puting appropriate and accomplishable ends, using larning schemes, and monitoring and measuring advancement towards ends. In our state as I have already mentioned earlier, much accent is laid on exams-oriented surveies which nurtures a civilization of competition and really frequently pedagogues end up spoon-feeding their scholars. Therefore such actions discourage scholars from being independent and self-regulated.2.7 Instructional design methodological analysisInstructional design specifies a method which will ease the transportation of cognition, accomplishments and attitudes to the receiver.[ V ]Ins tructional design, for an educational scene, is a system of processs for developing educational plans to guarantee the most effectual and efficient larning environment. Assorted theoretical accounts have been developed and implemented to construct systematic instructions and these can be traced back to the 60 ‘s. Harmonizing to Ryder M. of University of Colorado, theoretical accounts help to organize a image of the job so as to divide it into manageable units. Each unit/ component interacts with each other so as to ‘give construction and significance to an I.D job. ‘ Although there are a assortment of theoretical accounts, most of them include the nucleus elements of ADDIE model- the acronym for Analysis Design Development Implementation and Evaluation. The ADDIE theoretical account is iterative in nature and hence during the undertaking, the developer can convey alteration among the assorted activities of the theoretical account. Revision Revision Revision Revision Figure: The Core elements of ADDIE theoretical account ( Gustafson, k & A ; Branch, R )[ six ] Harmonizing to me, instructional design is of import in an educational scene as it: encourages whole-class attack, takes into consideration students with particular larning demands, allows instructors to invent activities which will accommodate students with different larning manners ( auditory, ocular or kinaesthetic ) , allows instructors to reexamine the bringing of the lessons so as to better in the hereafter, encourages stepwise planning and this helps the instructor to consolidate parts of the lesson which students could non understand. We take the different degrees of our students into consideration while inventing activities, fixing learning AIDSs or taking learning stuffs. We try to supply students better larning experiences and heighten their battle in the acquisition activities. Since the thought behind OERs is leting users to accommodate, edit, usage and re-use the construct of instructional design tantrums in absolutely. As pedagogues we can utilize the resources and accommodate them harmonizing to the demands of our scholars so as to run into their several acquisition demands.2.8 Relationship between these constructsOpen educational resources are repurposed in order to run into the demands of students. The user supports portion of the resources which are relevant and discards the staying and if demands be some other pieces of information or media are added so as to be in line with the specific aims. Autonomous larning leads to autonomy. We can promote student liberty and autonomous acquisition by following learner-centered instruction in our schoolroom. The literature reviewed above is straight related to openness in instruction and the use of unfastened educational resources in schoolrooms.2.9 Deductions and findings from the literatureTo sum up, I have looked into the assorted theoretical facets of the use of OERs in schoolrooms. I can reason that harmonizing to the literature I reviewed, OERs: encourage womb-to-tomb acquisition, encourage usage different schemes and learning AIDSs to pull and retain attending of students, can open new avenues for scholars,2.10 Recommendations