Creating a Study Area for Distance Learning

Creating a Study Area for Distance Learning

It is necessary to have a dedicated personal study area because this provides important benefits to the study process. It is a physical and psychological necessity for anyone taking a professional development course by distance learning, online, or correspondence studies. It creates a visible, physical, and personal location where your studies are carried out, providing support facilities for your study activities. It is a place where you go to in order to do only one thing, study. Think of it as being similar to going to your workplace, where on arrival you switch into work mode. When you go to your study area, you switch into study mode.

Where should your study are be situated. This will depend on the layout and size of your home, but there are some ideal places and some very unsuitable places. Without a dedicated study area you would need to study on kitchen tables, sofas, beds, armchairs, dining tables, in rooms that are used frequently for other domestic activities. These are highly unsuitable, as they have no professional or academic or personal development features, and are full of distractions and barriers to effective studying. An ideal location would be in a small room that is specifically for study, in the style of a home office. Some students might have lofts, garages, or basements, that could be converted. Less ideal, but still suitable, would be an area in a bedroom, equipped for study, and not used for any other purpose. This would remove you from most day and evening time domestic activity (and even if you are single, living alone, it will keep you away from the television and refrigerator). If you do have to use a kitchen or living room, then you will need to alter your studying schedule so that you are studying when others are not present in these areas. Don't try to study in the same room as others, or where there is domestic activity visible or audible. It won't work.

If at all possible, buy a traditional desk. It doesn't have to be large, or expensive (a low cost, second-hand, used, desk will be perfectly suitable). This will immediately give a professional, workplace, feel to your study area, and give you drawers and surface space to place your pc, laptop, papers, printer, pens, study books, on. Next, make sure you obtain a suitable chair. An office-style, swivel chair would be best, but a fixed chair will suffice. No matter what style, make sure that it is comfortable to use for long periods. Again, a used chair will be just as good as a new one, if selected carefully. For most courses of study a PC or Laptop will be essential. A mid to low range one will be suitable for most courses. Ideally an office suite such as MS Office should be used, but lower cost, simpler packages are fine too (and Microsoft itself offers a MS Office in Student-Teacher version, at one third of the cost of the commercial price). With your PC or Laptop, comfort is much more important than power. The essentials are a keyboard that is comfortable to type on for long periods, and a screen that is comfortable on the eyes for long periods of work. A printer is essential (a basic, low cost one will do) even if you email your documents to your tutor. It is good practice to print off your assignments (outlines, drafts, finished versions) and read them to proof-read them and see them as your tutor will (most tutors will print off your work and then read and assess it). Lighting is important. A well-lit room is vital, and a desk-top lamp can add focus to the working area.

Having supplies and peripherals nearby is helpful. A set of drawers in the desk, or a cupboard, or wall shelves, specifically for books, paper, pens, pencils, cartridges, etc, will help you to be organised, keep your study area tidy, and to have essential supplies available when you need them.

Choose a layout that suits you, but organise your equipment and furniture so that when you sit down to study you are not distracted by activity in a doorway, window, or other part of the room. For most people, keep it tidy would be good advice. However, some people can't work in a tidy fashion, but are very comfortable working in what others see as chaos. If that is your natural style, that's fine, but even then, try to be as organised, as neat and tidy, as you can be this will help to keep you on track with your timetable of studies. Your personal study area should be used whenever you have planned, scheduled, study activity that requires you to read and reflect on what you are reading, carry out research on the internet, correspond by email, telephone, or letter with your tutor, or write responses to exercises, tests, or assignments. Don't use it for anything else. It isn't the place to eat a snack, watch television, planning your next holiday, painting your nails, or chatting to other family members. If you want to do any of these, leave your study area and do them somewhere else.

If you have family or friends who live with you or work close to your study area, talk with them and agree that when you enter your personal study area they will not disturb you. Make this a permanent, non-negotiable, rule, broken only in cases of emergency. You can help by scheduling your study times when other people are less likely to disturb you, and by building in time to spend with family and friends when you are not studying. If you like to listen to music, or the radio, when studying, that's ok, but make sure that it is not in reality distracting you. Television is not a good idea, because of the distraction caused by the moving images. If your study area is, by necessity, near a busy area where people are active, try to schedule your study time when that local activity is at its quietest, less busy times. Keep your mobile phone switched off, unless you have to be available to colleagues from work. If you do have to be contactable at home by work colleagues, try to make contact first, to stop calls coming in when you are studying.

For some students it is not possible to have a dedicated personal study area in the home, or at least not a permanent one. External locations are available which, although not capable of being personalized, could be regular locations in which, with regular use, you can feel familiar and comfortable. For example, Internet Cafes, where there is most of the equipment and furniture that you need. You can supplement these by taking carefully selected study aids such as coursework books. Internet Cafes usually do charge an hourly fee, which is usually a reasonable price, but most will give discounted prices for regular users. Libraries, where there is usually plenty of desk space, a very quiet and studious atmosphere, and, of course, reference and subject textbooks which, if not permanently available, can be ordered and loaned for short period. Today, many libraries also have pc and internet facilities. Libraries are virtually free to use, apart from a low internet usage fee. Your Workplace, where you may be able to use lunch breaks, and-or time before or after work, to fit in some study time. It may also be possible to arrange to use a meeting room or unoccupied office, at least on a short-term basis. Some of our students who find it impossible to study at home, and who work in organizations that operate on a 5 day week, make arrangements to go into the workplace on weekends and study there.

Establishing a Personal Study Area is one of the most beneficial actions that you can take when starting to study for a professional development qualification. A properly equipped, well organized, study area becomes a recognized space that you enter into when you are scheduled to carry out some study time. It becomes a place where you are comfortable and familiar with the layout and facilities, and where you feel confident that you can work without interruption, without distractions, and most importantly, study effectively. Even if you are not able to establish such a space in your own home, you should make every effort to recreate as many of the features described above, in another location. Once established it is easy to maintain, and grows in usefulness as you grow more comfortable in it.

Asthma

Asthma - Diagnosis And Treatment

Asthma, characterized by difficulty in breathing, is a chronic lung condition. Asthma patients have hyper responsive airways that narrow down when irritated. This makes air movement difficult and cause wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath and chest tightness. The two factors that provoke asthma are.

Ø  Triggers – They irritate the airways and result in Bronchoconstriction. The common triggers of Bronchoconstriction are cold air, dust, strong fumes, inhaled irritants, emotional upsets and smoke.

Ø  Causes or Inducers – They result in symptoms which may last longer. Allergies in the form of pollen, animal secretion and molds, and Respiratory viral infections are the most common inducers.

Asthma diagnosis is important for proper treatment. The common symptoms for asthma are allergies, hay fever and eczema. The chance of a child developing asthma is much more when there is a family history of allergies and asthma. The common symptoms of asthma in children are breathing problem, repeated nasal stuffiness, itchy eyes, eczema, hives and persistent cough followed by cold. Diagnosis of asthma involves physical examination, chest x-ray, blood tests and sputum studies, allergy prick skin testing, challenge tests, differential diagnosis and a trial use of asthma medications.

Asthma affects twice as many boys as girls in childhood. It affects more teenager girls than boys. In adulthood, the ratio becomes equal. The risk of uncontrolled asthma is greater than the risk a mother or fetus faces due to medication used to control asthma. Uncontrolled asthma during pregnancy can produce serious maternal and fetal complications like premature birth, low birth weight and maternal blood pressure changes.

The most effective treatment for asthma is identifying triggers, such as pets or aspirin, and limiting or eliminating exposure to them. Anti-inflammatory medications with Bronchodilators are used for immediate relief of symptoms. Asthma medications come in various forms like a metered dose inhaler or a puffer, dry powder inhalers and nebulizers.

The prognosis for asthma is good for children with mild disease. For asthma diagnosed during childhood, 54% will no longer carry the diagnosis after a decade. Asthma seems to be more prevalent in athletes than the rest. A relatively high incidence of asthma is found in sports such as cycling, mountain biking, and long-distance running, and a relatively lower incidence is found in weightlifting and diving. The exercise-induced asthma shares many features with allergic asthma.

Exercise studies are helpful in diagnosing and assessing this condition. People with mild asthma (infrequent attacks) may use relief medication as needed. Those who have persistent asthma should take control medications on a regular basis to prevent symptoms from occuring. A severe asthma attack requires a medical evaluation and may need hospitalization, oxygen, and intravenous medications.

Flourine

Why Fluorine Is a Useful Element

Fluorine is a very reactive element, and as such is often not seen in its elemental form. It is the 13th most common element in the Earth's crust. Most fluorine is used is in the form of a fluorine compound, which is made of fluorine and other atoms. Chances are that most of the products and uses that come to mind when you think of fluorine are in a compound form as opposed to elemental fluorine. 

That isn't to say, of course, that elemental fluorine doesn't have its uses; often it is used as a catalyst for other reactions or to help certain processes work smoothly. It is also used in manufacturing for a variety of purposes, including the creation of specific isotopes or as an ingredient in compounds that will be used elsewhere.  To give you a better idea of exactly how useful fluorine is, consider the following uses for both elemental fluorine and fluorine compounds.

A.  Uses of Elemental Fluorine

One of the more common uses of elemental fluorine is in rocket fuels, where it works in a manner similar to oxygen and helps the other materials in the fuel to burn. There are still some uses for elemental fluorine in manufacturing, however, and even more in the laboratory and chemistry fields. Fluorinated compounds are used to create isotopically fractionated uranium, an important step in uranium purification for use in power plants.

B.  Uses of Fluorine Compounds

While the uses of elemental fluorine are limited, the uses of fluorinated compounds are practically limitless. Fluorinated compounds can be used to create a number of different polymers and plastics, including some that are specially designed to withstand high temperatures or large amounts of stress without melting or breaking. Without fluorine compounds that are central components of a specific polymers, a number of modern uses of plastic wouldn't be possible.

For years, it was also used with chlorine in the creation of refrigerants and cooling solutions but those compounds (called CFCs) were found to be dangerous to the Earth's ozone layer. Refrigerants today use only fluorine combined with carbon and hydrogen. Another use of fluorinated compounds is in glass etching, where hydrofluoric acid is used by a number of industries. In addition to decorative etching on glassware, this acid can also be used to mark light bulbs and other highly-sensitive glass pieces that would be much too thin for other etching methods to be used.

Of course, the most common use of fluorine compounds that people are familiar with is fluoride. Fluoride has been proven to help prevent tooth decay, and as such is commonly added to toothpaste and a number of mouth washes. Many places add a very small amount of fluoride to their water supply as well, enabling it to assist in purifying the water and also providing those who use that water with the benefit of fluoride even if they don't brush their teeth or use fluoride mouthwash regularly. The largest benefit of fluoride can be had for children whose teeth are still developing, as the fluoride can actually help the growing tooth material to become stronger and much more resistant to tooth decay and similar dental problems.

C.  Continued Usefulness of Fluorine

Even with the discontinuing of some products which contained CFC's, fluorine remains a widely used chemical for all of the reasons listed above. Variations of the materials that fluorine is used in the manufacture of continue to be conceived and created, and the reactivity of the element lends it to even further usefulness as new polymers and other materials are created. It also plays an important economic factor as well, as the United States currently does not have any active mining operations for the minerals that are used to produce elemental fluorine and its compounds. Because of this, they are required to import all of their fluorine from other countries which still actively mine for fluorine minerals such as cryolite, fluorspar, and fluorapatite.

PERILAKU KONSUMEN

PERILAKU KONSUMEN

Perilaku konsumen merupakan tindakan–tindakan yang terlibat secara langsung dalam memperoleh, mengkonsumsi, dan membuang suatu produk atau jasa, termasuk proses keputusan yang mendahului dan mengikuti tindakan – tindakan tersebut.

            Menurut Engel (dalam Mangkunegara, 2002) mengemukakan bahwa perilaku konsumen dapat didefinisikan sebagai tindakan-tindakan individu yang secara langsung terlibat dalam usaha memperoleh dan menggunakan barang-barang jasa ekonomis termasuk proses pengambilan keputusan yang mendahului dan menentukan tindakan-tindakan tersebut.

            Gerald Zaltman dan Melanie Wallendorf menjelaskan bahwa perilaku konsumen adalah tindakan-tindakan proses dan hubungan sosial yang dilakukan oleh individu, kelompok dan oraganisasi dalam mendapatkan, menggunakan sesuatu produk sebagai suatu akibat dari pengalamannya dengan produk, pelayanan dan sumber-sumber lainnya.

Berdasarkan beberapa definisi di atas dapat disimpulkan bahwa perilaku konsumen adalah tindakan-tindakan yang dilakukan oleh individu, kelompok atau organisasi yang berhubungan dengan proses pengambilan keputusan dalam mendapatkan, menggunakan barang-barang atau jasa ekonomi yang selalu berubah dan bergerak sepanjang waktu. Selain itu merupakan tindakan yang langsung terlibat dalam mendapatkan, mengkonsumsi Focus dari perilaku konsumen adalah bagaimana individu membuat keputusan untuk menggunakan sumber daya mereka yang telah tersedia untuk mengkonsumsi suatu barang.

Dua wujud konsumen

1.      Personal Consumer : konsumen ini membeli atau menggunakan barang atau jasa untuk penggunaannya sendiri.

2.      Organizational Consumer : konsumen ini membeli atau menggunakan barang atau jasa untuk memenuhi kebutuhan dan menjalankan organisasi tersebut.

Faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi Perilaku Konsumen:

A.    Production concept
Konsumen pada umumnya lebih tertarik dengan produk-produk yang harganya lebih murah. Mutlak diketahui bahwa objek marketing tersebut murah, produksi yang efisien dan distribusi yang intensif.

B.     Product concept
Konsumen akan menggunakan atau membeli produk yang ditawarkan tersebut memiliki kualitas yang tinggi, performa yang terbaik dan memiliki fitur-fitur yang lengkap.

C.     Selling concept
Marketer memiliki tujuan utama yaitu menjual produk yang diputuskan secara sepihak untuk diproduksi.

D.    Marketing concept
Perusahaan mengetahui keinginan konsumen melalui riset yang telah dilakukan sebelumnya, kemudian memproduksi produk yang diinginkan konsumen. Konsep ini disebut marketing concept.

E.     Market segmentation
Membagi kelompok pasar yang heterogen ke kelompok pasar yang homogen.

F.      Market targeting
Memlih satu atau lebih segmen yang mengidentifikasikan perusahaan untuk menentukan.

G.    Positioning
Mengembangkan pemikiran yang berbeda untuk barang dan jasa yang ada dalampikiran konsumen.

Menyediakan nilai pelanggan didefinisikan sebagai rasio antara keuntungan yang dirasakan sumber-sumber (ekonomi, fungsional dan psikologi) digunakan untuk menghasilkan keuntungan-keuntungan tersebut. Keuntungan yang telah dirasakan berupa relative dan subjektif. Kepuasan pelanggan adalah persepsi individu dari performa produk atau jasa dalam hubungannya dengan harapan-harapan.

Mempertahankan konsumen adalah bagaimana mempertahankan supaya konsumen tetap loyal dengan satu perusahaan dibandingkan dengan perusahaan lain, hamper dalam semua situasi bisnis, lebih mahal untuk mencari pelanggan baru dibandingkan mempertahankan yang sudah ada. Konsep pemasaran social mewajibkan semua pemasar wapada terhadap prinsip tanggung jawab social dalam memasarkan barang atau jasa mereka, oleh sebab itu pemasar harus mampu memuaskan kebutuhan dan keinginan dari targt pasar mereka. Praktek etika dan tangung jawab social dalah bisnis yang bagus, tidak hanya meningkatkan penjualan tetapi menghasilkan kesan yang baik dan menghabiskan produk dan jasa.