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Contents contributed and discussions participated by Simora Martin

Simora Martin

What Skills Are Employers Looking For? - 0 views

  • Employability skills are generally divided into three skill sets: (a) basic academic skills, (b) critical thinking skills and (c) personal qualities. The three skill sets are typically broken down into more detailed skill sets.
  • The ability to read with understanding, also known as reading comprehension, is critical to successful employment. If you cannot fully understand the instructions on how to apply for a job, you are at a disadvantage.
  • Employers look for people who communicate well both orally and in writing. You need communication skills to sell yourself during the interview.
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  • Listening skills involve not only hearing but understanding. The sign that you were listening is that you can act on the information that you heard. Listening means gaining information and understanding information.
  • Decision making and reasoning involve gathering information, evaluating a variety of solutions, and selecting the best option.
  • Planning and organizing are also critical thinking skills.
Randall Oxendine

Google Drive Document - 29 views

Google Drive Document Editing Assignment
started by Randall Oxendine on 09 Apr 14 no follow-up yet
  • Simora Martin
     
    Dangelo, you stated that as technology advances the less people will retain. Do you have a reference or any data we can add to that to support it?
Randall Oxendine

Turning in the assignment - 13 views

review contributors
started by Randall Oxendine on 10 Apr 14 no follow-up yet
  • Simora Martin
     
    I think that's a great idea. I'm at work now and don't have access to google drive docs while I'm here. But I do want to add more to it. So that will give me the opportunity to do so once I am off work.
Simora Martin

Literacy rates expected to worsen - 0 views

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    Edmonton Journal (Alberta) September 8, 2010 Wednesday Final Edition Literacy rates expected to worsen BYLINE: Postmedia News SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A6 LENGTH: 399 words DATELINE: OTTAWA Current low literacy rates in Canada's biggest cities are expected to be about the same in 20 years unless some serious efforts to improve them are made now, a new report released today warns. Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa are all on track to see the number of adults with low literacy levels in their populations soar because of demographic shifts, according to a report from the Canadian Council on Learning, and it should be a major concern for the cities, the group's president says. "It's surprising for people who think that the problem of low levels of literacy among Canadian adults will improve over time, because they won't," Paul Cappon said in an interview. "And that includes in the bigger cities where people might have thought you'd get the most improvement." The latest numbers from the CCL indicate that about 48 per cent of adults have low literacy rates and projections show little is expected to change over the next 20 years. By 2031, about 47 per cent of Canadian adults are projected to have low prose literacy skills, as defined by the OECD's International Adults Literacy and Skills Survey -- which means they'll have difficulty reading, comprehending and functioning effectively with written material. While the percentage is expected to stay the same, the total number of Canadians with low literacy is predicted to jump 25 per cent to 15 million between 2001 and 2031. The major factor behind that trend is the projected growth in the number of senior citizens and immigrants, the report said. In Toronto, a slight decrease of five per cent in the share of the population with low literacy is expected by 2031, but the absolute number of residents who need help is expected to go from 1.9 million to 3.2 million. The change in Toronto is being driven mostly by immigrati
Simora Martin

A lament for the future of meaningful reading; Why bother with serious books when Angry... - 0 views

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    Edmonton Journal (Alberta) January 22, 2012 Sunday Final Edition A lament for the future of meaningful reading; Why bother with serious books when Angry Birds is a tap away? BYLINE: Brett Josef Grubisic, Vancouver Sun SECTION: SUNDAY READER; Pg. B9 LENGTH: 1036 words Reading the 21st Century Stan Persky McGill Queens University Press 278 pp; $29.95 In an article about the good deeds of E.D. Hirsch, the recently deceased American cultural literacy superstar Christopher Hitchens dropped alarming findings from a nationwide survey: "The chances of a 17-yearold American being able to say anything meaningful about Thomas Jefferson are disconcertingly slight. The chances of the same student knowing anything significant about Poe, or slavery, or of being able to translate the most elementary Latin . or even being able to define the word 'ironic' are slighter still." Published shortly after Allan Bloom's Closing of the American Mind and Hirsch's Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, Hitchens' New York Times piece drew references from a 1988 survey. Since the ensuing two decades have witnessed the explosive growth of the Internet and gadgets for every occasion, it is tempting to wonder about the cultural literacy of that former disappointing test-subject's teenage son. A professional philosopher at Vancouver's Capilano University for nearly three decades and the author of more than 20 books that range from sexual politics (Buddies: Meditations on Desire, On Kiddie Porn) to Canadian politics (Fantasy Government, Delgamuukw), Chicago-born Stan Persky has been studying the data. He cannot be labelled an optimist. Persky's latest work - which he calls a "jeremiad, as defined by the writer Brian Fawcett: as accurate a description as possible of the present situation" - expands his impressive range while remaining close to an ever-keen interest in the cultural landscape of the here and now. Page-wise, Reading the 21st Century is dedicated primarily to signifi
Simora Martin

Research - 0 views

started by Simora Martin on 09 Apr 14 no follow-up yet
  • Simora Martin
     
    Hi all, I see that michelle has begun researching. I have bookmarked some items as well. When I am at a computer I will highlight the pertinent information in the articles I have found. Keep in mind we can all view each other's bookmarks and even highlight or add additional information to what one another already has. We have to stay diligent as the assignment is due to be submitted Thursday night. Keep up the good work!
Simora Martin

Is technology producing a decline in critical thinking and analysis? / UCLA N... - 0 views

  • As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved, according to research by Patricia Greenfield, UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children's Digital Media Center, Los Angeles.
  • Reading for pleasure, which has declined among young people in recent decades, enhances thinking and engages the imagination in a way that visual media such as video games and television do not, Greenfield said.
  • "By using more visual media, students will process information better," she said. "However, most visual media are real-time media that do not allow time for reflection, analysis or imagination — those do not get developed by real-time media such as television or video games. Technology is not a panacea in education, because of the skills that are being lost.
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  • mong the studies Greenfield analyzed was a classroom study showing that students who were given access to the Internet during class and were encouraged to use it during lectures did not process what the speaker said as well as students who did not have Internet access. When students were tested after class lectures, those who did not have Internet access performed better than those who did.
  • Another study Greenfield analyzed found that college students who watched "CNN Headline News" with just the news anchor on screen and without the "news crawl" across the bottom of the screen remembered significantly more facts from the televised broadcast than those who watched it with the distraction of the crawling text and with additional stock market and weather information on the screen.
Simora Martin

Guest column: Texting, social media sites causing bad habits in our students | MLive.com - 0 views

  • However, my job has become significantly more challenging than it was when I began my career 28 years ago. Texting and social networking sites have hurt students’ literacy skills.
  • However, when students text or use social networking sites, they aren’t practicing the language and writing conventions expected of literate adults and tested on the MEAP. Instead, they are developing habits that will not contribute to academic or career success.
  • They also don’t require writing in complete sentences. Twitter, for example, only allows 140 characters. Consequently, many students write in fragments and run-ons.
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  • There also is a negative effect on punctuation, especially when texting. It ignores language and writing conventions. Many students have no idea when to use capital letters. They don’t capitalize ‘I.’ They don’t capitalize proper names. You’re/your, there/their/they’re, and its/it’s become interchangeable. Punctuation is haphazard.
  • Texting and social networking might have advanced “small talk” communication, but they don’t encourage deeper, more meaningful communication — the type of literacy necessary for academic success or a professional career.
Simora Martin

Facebook and Twitter 'harm pupils literacy' claim headmasters | Mail Online - 0 views

  • Children's literacy is being damaged by social media, headmasters claim.They say pupils are too distracted by sites such as Facebook and Twitter to bother to read a book.As a result, thousands are poor spellers and have little understanding of grammar.
  • A survey of 214 secondary school heads found that 70 per cent believe Facebook and Twitter are ‘bad for literacy’.
  • Excessive use of such sites means youngsters’ spelling and grammar have deteriorated.
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  • The research, conducted by Booked, a magazine for schools, found that half of Britain’s headmasters are concerned about their pupils’ approach to reading.
  • ‘From a social perspective, it appears to confirm the massive rise in social media use among the young is having a major impact on writing skills with little or no attempt by parents to stop it.’
  • Bosses regularly complain about the poor literacy standards among school leavers, whose written English in applications forms and CVs can be shocking.
  • England is the only developed country producing children who are worse at reading and maths than their grandparents, according to a recent report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
  • ‘While the Government is doing good work to improve the rigour of the curriculum, it must also learn lessons from those countries that perform well, on how to improve and retain these vital skills, to ensure the UK doesn’t find itself with an unskilled workforce.’
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