Things you don't know about Colors

Do you know that : Women and men have different seen for the red color :

Researchers from Arizona State University found that there is a specific gene responsible for the view and interpretation of the red color , this gene is located on the X chromosome , that's why women see the red color different from men.Do you know that Pink is a palliative color :That's why they splash the walls of the prisons and mental health care with pink.Do you know that yellow color makes you hungry:
It is not recommended to use yellow or orange colors in kitchen since they are considered as a appetite simulators.Do you know that blue color is the most common favorite color all over the world:forty percent of people around the world choose the blue color as their favorite color. While the 60 percent others choose the rest of the colors.
Do you know that green is called the color of the brain !!!

The Black Hole

Black holes are regions that have a very strong gravitational pull. Black holes cannot be detected through a telescope; they can be detected through their gravitational effects on other bodies.

Black holes are of three types: intermediate black holes, stellar black holes, and super massive black holes.
Intermediate black holes are black holes of mid sizes. Super massive black holes have small sizes; they are billions of times as massive as the sun. Stellar black holes have large sizes.
Black holes pull energy as well as matter. There exist a huge super massive black hole in the middle of the Milky Way galaxy. It is ok to observe the effects of black holes from a far distance , they are dangerous only if you get close to them .They are spherical and there is no tunnel at their centers , also not all of them are black , where some of them emit radiation .
As time passes, black holes lose their mass by radiating photon particles a so they vanish and evaporate.

Facts About Our Brain

The most important part of our bodies is the brain . So let's see some facts about our brains.

• If the oxygen was stopped in the brain from five to ten minutes , a  permanent brain damage will occur. 

• Human brain develops until the age of 40.

• 20% of the total blood and oxygen of all the body is used by the brain.

• 60% of the brain is fat .

• The brain waves is increased by the smell of chocolate .

• Alcohol doesn't lead to forget facts , but it makes the brain unable to create memories temporarily.And it takes only 6 minutes for its cells to react with alcohol.

• There is no left brain / right brain divide. It is a myth .They work together.

• Scientists found that our brains treats rejection like a physical pain.

• If half of the brain was removed by a surgery , no apparent effects on memory or personality appear.

• Babies need so much sleep , since they can use up to 50% of the total glucose supplied.

Water jet

A water jet , is an instrument used for cutting metals through water . Water is released from the water jet in a very high pressure , it is directed toward the metal through an extremely narrow nozzle keeping the spray coherent. A water jet can cut a metal , a stone , plastic, wood, ceramic, glass , stainless steel , granite and marbles.A water jet machine is composed of a catcher tank , high pressure pump , abrasive water jet nozzle , abrasive  hopper , articulated cutting head , X-Y traverse system , and a PC based controller.

The abrasive water jet nozzle is used for dissipating energy resulting from the abrasive jet . The X-Y traverse system is used for moving the nozzle to cut the material .

A water jet can cut a thick piece of soft materials. It is used for cutting materials that are sensitive  to high temperature resulting from cutting mechanism in other machines .It can be used in every industry . Water jet is the fastest and the most  accurate cutting machine in the world.

Chocolate Addiction

Does chocolate addiction exist?

 

We crave chocolate sometimes due to emotional states rather than hunger. People who eat a lot of chocolate describe them selves as Chocoholics . Serotonin is released when the person eats chocolate making him happier . That's a cause for eating chocolate .Dr. John Hoebel did an experiment on rats , he found that rats that were fed with sugar are becoming anxious when they removed sugar . Rats had the same symptoms as people addicted on nicotine or morphine . He also found that eating chocolates releases pleasure chemicals in the brain explaining why people feel happier after eating chocolate.Researchers at the University of Tampere in Finland also showed that chocolate addicted people have higher anxiety and negative moods in the absence of their daily chocolate dose.Researchers also found that people who restrain themselves from eating chocolate are actually increasing their desire for eating it.Therefore, chocolate addiction really exist . So pay attention before being a Chocoholic !!

Avicenna

Avicenna (known as shaikh-al-Raees) was born in the village of Afshana in the vicinity of Bukhara (in what is now Uzbekistan) in 370 AH (980 AD). Avicenna had many researches concerning his educational points of view. His famous works are on philosophy and medicine.

Avicenna sees that the aim of education is to achieve the physical, mental and moral growth of an individual. As a result, his education included physical development (exercise, food, drink, sleep and cleanliness). Besides, Avicenna’s point of view in education was to make the upright citizen (in body and mind) and prepare him for his craft in the society.

In addition, he stressed on group education. He believed that children should learn and train along with their peers since it has more benefits that learning alone. Such benefits include ethical education, mental growth and social education. He said: “it is appropriate for the child to be with the other children of elites with good manner and pleasant habits in a school because a child learns from a child”.

Avicenna believed that forming habits and manners begins since infancy period. In addition, health, hygiene, education and teaching should be taught at the very early stages of the child. He stressed that the teacher should be a role model since the students will be affected by him as well as by the people who are in direct relation with him (nannies, classmates, playmates, etc...).  In two words, the student will not receive information alone but also values, manner and morals from his instructor.

Regarding the teacher’s manner, Avicenna said: “Teacher should keep the child away from bad deeds and make him choose good friends, sometimes encourage and sometimes threaten him and if the threatening did not work then punish him. Be a moderate teacher, means not being so strict that the child does not dare to pose a question or ask for an explanation and not being so mild that the child becomes so bold and ignorant to the teacher’s statements and orders or to degrade them. The teacher must know the child and evaluate his nature and talents and examine his intelligence so he can choose an art and a career which is appropriate for the child’s talent and intelligence, consider the child’s enthusiasm in choosing an art and make him get accustomed to earn a livelihood through an art or a career that he has learnt”

Avicenna divided knowledge into two major categories. The first category is the theoretical knowledge and the second one is called practical knowledge. He believed that theoretical knowledge is implemented by practice. With respect to theoretical knowledge. He said it was composed of three kinds of sciences which include: natural sciences, mathematical sciences and metaphysical sciences. While practical knowledge included ethics, household management, public management, and prophetic science.

Al-Farabi

Al-Farabi was born in Vasige village in Turkmenistan in 870 AD. His views and theories were influenced by two main sources: Religion of Islam and Greek philosophy. He established logic within Islamic culture, that’s why he is known as the “Second Teacher”. “He believed that the first aim of knowledge was knowledge of God and his attributes, a knowledge which has a profound effect on the human being’s moral conduct and helps him to find the way to the ultimate aim of his existence.”

Al-Farabi’s main aim of education was to prepare the individual from an early stage to become a member of the society and to achieve the goal for which he was created. He believed that the main purpose of humanity existence is to achieve happiness, which is the highest perfection. Unlike Avicenna who considered that physical development is crucial for knowledge. Al-Farabi considers that education is founded upon the basis of inherited knowledge (the knowledge that the human possess the moment of birth).

Al-Farabi demonstrated certain methods in learning. One method was the repetitive method which was appropriate in teaching ethics and arts. While the other method was “learning by heart” which includes learning words and expressions that the student memorize, such as learning the Quraan, language or songs. Al-Farabi was asked which method in learning was better, understanding or memorization so he  replied: “ Understanding is better than memorization, because the action of memorization deals mainly with words and expressions, in other words with details, which could go on forever and are hardly useful, neither for individuals nor for classes. But the action of understanding concerns meanings, universals and laws- defined matters, finite, and which are valid for all…”

With respect to the teacher-just like Avicenna- Al-Farabi believed that the teacher must not be too severe, nor excessively gentle. If he is too severe, his students will hate him. At the contrary, if he is too lenient, his students will not take him seriously nor will pay attention to his lessons. Thus, the teacher should be in moderate position, which allows him to manage his students. He should be of a good character, “free from cravings and seek only the truth”.

Concerning the student, he should possess three qualities: he should be able to comprehend concepts and understand their meaning; accept the existence of what he understood; be able to describe what he has comprehended. He calls these three points “the modes of teaching” and he considers that the person who brings together these points is indeed a teacher.

Al-Farabi believes that the student should be always excited to learn and study. In addition, he should not let anything distract him from learning. In case the student wants to learn a book by himself, he should begin by learning the book’s purpose and structure, then its relationship to sciences and its relative position on that branch of science.

With respect to the curriculum, Al-Farabi is considered the first Muslim to classify the sciences and learning. He thinks that the sequence of learning must begin with learning language. This allows the student to express himself properly thus understand others and develop properly. He believes that learning language is the foundation for all other kinds of knowledge. Then comes “logic” which includes verbal expressions and mental processes.

After logic comes mathematics. He believes that mathematics is the basic tool for natural sciences, optics and astronomy. Al-Farabi divided mathematics into seven parts: “numbers (arithmetic), geometry, the science of perspectives, scientific astronomy, music, dynamics and the science of machines”.  Mathematics also includes algebra. After mathematics comes natural science, theology, political science, jurisprudence and academic theology.

Behaviorism

Behaviorism introduced in the early 1900s in the work of the Russian experimental psychologist Ivan Pavlov (1848-1936) and the American psychologist, John Watson (1878-1958). According to a pure behaviorist, human beings are shaped entirely by their external environment. Alter individuals’ environment and you will alter their thoughts, feelings, and behavior. They believed in the consequences of a behavior whether its punishment or reward is very important and mentioned that it is learning by itself. Moreover, since they believed in humanity more they mentioned that punishment works, but it is not good; even though the results are maintained but the harmful effects are much more present than the opposite result, logical consequences are the best. They provided positive reinforcement whenever students perform a desired behavior, and soon they will learn to perform the behavior on their own and that good behavior should be repeated while bad one should be stopped.
Behaviorist said that brains and minds are black box. This means that they do not know what people think unless they saw their behavior. As they did not believe in people differences, they believed that everybody could become anything.

Behaviorist aims to promote and modify observable behavior. It considers learning to be a behavior that shows acquisition of knowledge or skills. The primary aim of education for behaviorists is to change the behavior and point it into more desirable directions, and how changing the direction all over the forces is controlling the person’s environment such as parents, media, schools, peers, society, religion institutions. They depend highly in the principle of verification where checking is important and even they trust your words they need to make sure of them.

Behaviorists goes to accepting good habits under the concept of innate freedom, but that to be aware in which direction control will lead us. Another important aim is to reinforcing behavior and that of education by training, because people are controlled by technology and other forces by which they are not even conscious to it.

According to the behaviorists, teachers have many rewards or reinforcement at their disposal, arranges environmental conditions so that students can make the responses to stimuli including praise, a smile, a touch, or candies. Studies shows that rewards needs to be given every time. According to some recent approach “Cognitive theory” stresses the human qualities in people which is characterized by an emphasis on the inner person, where behavioral conditions can be changed by person’s own thinking, creativity and willpower, thus, people can change their own lives by starting from their inner person.

One of the most important things a teacher can do is learn the techniques of the conditioning process and use them effectively. Teachers condition students through grades, attitude, and many other ways. Behaviorists believes that if teachers act cooperatively and intelligently they would make a big difference in students’ behavior and influence them positively.
Some behavior modifications procedure outcomes in classroom as specifying the desired outcomes, what need to be changed, removing unfavorable stimuli, choose proper reinforcement, shaping new desired behaviors, and evaluate results.

Realism

Realism is one of the oldest philosophies in Western culture. It is derived from the Greek world “RES” which means real which further is related to object. Aristotle was the leading proponent of realism who develop a systematic theory of logic. Aristotle worked on the principle or theory of “independence”, where ideas and matters are independent. Aristotle believed that the purpose of human being is to think, same as Plato, and that we need to avoid extremities and have balance in our life. The logical method developed by Aristotle was “syllogism” which is known nowadays as “deduction” that consists of three parts starting with major premise, then minor premise, and finally conclusion, all parts must be correct for syllogism to work.
Secular and Religious realists agreed that the aim of education is to gain knowledge and reach the truth, but it differs in the way that religious only use matter to reach the truth as a transition, while secular realists study the matter to understand the truth as objective by itself, they said that they control the matter. Another aim of education is to teach morals and encourage activities for the students to understand the information and apply them, also teaching people to survive in the world and to fit it the culture they are living in which is known as self-preservation, and helping people to understand that matter doesn’t control us, we control it. An important aim should be mentioned is that realist emphasize the practical side of education, where each topic must have an application, and always we need to link it with real life, every topic and idea should be linked to real life with examples. Realists believe that reality of knowledge of external materials world is gained by senses.

Some realists believe in the “Scientific method” which is based on experimentation and observations, other believed in “Syllogism” which is known as deduction depending on logical thinking, and others focus on “Induction method” by Francis Bacon, which is the opposite of deduction where it goes from specific to general to gain the knowledge. Realists focus on teaching people that the method of getting the fact or the process of thinking is more important than the fact itself, and that especially for small kids learning them through classification and organization, teach by play and involving students (John Locke). Curriculum for realists should be practical and useful.
For realists, teacher’s role to make sure that the students know the basics, either through teaching it in new way or curriculum or by touting. Teach students to understand information, explain why learning it, how to use it, and apply it in real life.

According to realists, the child will have to be enabled to proceed from ignorance to knowledge, especially the knowledge or the real. Realists have considered the child as a focal point of education.

Selecting Goals for Students with Autism

Nina Finkler the president of “Nina Finkler Autism Services” presented an edWebinar about “Selecting Goals for Students with Autism” at Wednesday, October 23, 2019 @ 3:00-4:00 pm EDT. She sheds the light on the needs of students with autism, and on what areas should be looking at when planning and teaching them.

First, autism definition is a brain processing disorder that significantly impairs the assimilation of information, causing problems in social behavior, communication and learning, but such students may have a variety of skill areas to be addressed, including communication, academics, self-care, and social and leisure skills.

How do you determine the primary goals for a student with autism?

In this edWebinar, Nina Finkler shares ways to identify and assess skills to plan goals for students with autism (measurable, achievable, include generalization). She discussed different methods of choosing goals, including standardized measures and observation, and reviewed some skill areas that should not be left out when planning an educational program.

Second, how is this person processing information and to what level, is a vital issue that each teacher must keep in mind.

According to the learning challenges, they face:

1- Difficulty with imitation, where social awareness is needed

2- Concrete thinking ( difficulty with making questions)

3- Language comprehension difficulties (verbal and non-verbal)

4- Attention and focus

5- Generalization (no specific rule, but it is very important not to do it since they view every skill very specifically even with specific people or specific material)

6- Motivation (reinforcement to learn new skills)

7- Narrow thinking (in terms of ideas and interests)

According to assessment, it is not for curing autism students, it is a planning investment for their future were it gives a good learning about them. It should be functional for their ages and must address areas associated with known ASD deficit. Some assessment tools: VB-Mapp, ABLSS, AFLS, Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale and they can be purchased for each student.

Always keep in mind: 

1- Productivity; that can be translated into how much is their level of focus? How much is the time?

2- Choice making skills

3- Independence level

4- Communication skills; where it should be known that there is a great difference between understanding the language(comprehension) and expressing it (verbal or non-verbal)

5- Prerequisite skills

Example: If a student is great in one area, the teacher should not assume that he is good at another; so if he can read that does not mean he can comprehend.

Functional skills: the teacher must think of these questions to decide whether the skill is usable / good or not and the questions are:

1- Will someone have to do it for him/her?

2- Is there any ability to grow with this skill?

3- Why are we teaching this skill?

Moreover, here are the domains that should be focused on when assessment:

1- Learning Readiness (learn how to follow simple directions, eye contact for focusing rather than staring, waiting in line…)

2- Pre-Academic / Academic

3- Communication/ Language

4- Play/ Leisure ( occupy time carefully)

5- Self-Care (example: toilet training)

6- Vocational

7- Behavior

8- Social Skills

EDUC560

Educational media and technology
This course is given T-Th 2:00-3:15 pm.. We learnt a lot of new applications and programs that we can use in our daily life as in our careers as teachers or any other position, we upgraded our information regarding many topics that are familiar with and thought that we were professionals at.. we have learnt about our life lasting storage "drive" .. we learnt how to use technology in classrooms and in our preparation, planning, presentation of the lesson.. we had some connection related issues at the beginning of the course but this problem has been solved and by that we are more enjoying our class and our learning process..