Financial Analysis of Marvel Toys Pvt. Ltd Research Paper

Financial Analysis of Marvel Toys Pvt. Ltd - Research Paper Example It intends to expand business to other EU countries. For this purpose, it is planning to build a larger and modern warehouse and distribution facility which would cost around $10 million and would be completed by June, 2013. This cost includes machinery worth $2 million. It also plans to renovate its existing warehouse for $200000. The projects, to be completed by January, 2013 could increase 25% revenue. For this new project, capital is planned to be acquired through a local UAE bank. The current document dwells into the complete financial analysis of the organization. The financial analysis includes: 1) Cash Flow analysis 2) Ratio analysis and 3) Analysis by a long term creditor 4) Examining the collateral security to be offered by the firm in case loan is granted for the firm. 5) Conclusion The cash flow analysis details about the cash generated through various activities of the firm like operating, investing and financing. Operating cash flows elucidate the increase and decrease in cash pertaining to income statement. Investing cash flows depict increase and decrease in assets while financing activities revolve around dividend and other payments to stock holders. If the cash flows are positive and growing year on year, they are considered to be favorable for any creditor. The ratio analysis is extensively studied through a variety of ratios. The meanings of those ratios are explained for comprehensive understanding of their purpose. They are then compared to previous year and industry average to ascertain their degree of favorability and non-favorability of ratios. Recommendations are made to improvise the ratios in the long run. The only area of concern identified was that of interest expense servicing which could be easily done by increasing sales through upgraded warehouse. Once the analysis is completed, as a banker, we can analyze the outcomes. For analysis, we need to arrive at the requirements of criteria for firm’s suitability to be bestowed with a long term loan. The requirements are the positive cash flows, favorability of crucial ratios, a discussion of property which would be available as security, credit history of the loan taking firm and perfect documentation giving all relevant details. Positive cash flows are examined by the cash flow analysis. The crucial ratios namely debt-equity ratio, return on capital employed and proprietor ratio are calculated to know whether a long-term creditor would be interested to extend finance for Marvel toys. It is understood that these ratios are favorable and the firm is qualified for further finance. Land and buildings which were valued conservatively at $50 million could be offered as collateral security for further finance and overdraft. The credit history is always positive as the firm has never exceeded its overdraft limits. The only requirement which the firm would need to perform is to file documentation giving details of expected revenue from such investment so that the bank authorities would be convinced to extend the required loan and overdraft for the firm. Introduction Marvel Toys Pvt. Ltd which imports and exports toys from China to UAE are now planning to build new warehouse of larger capacity and also renovate its existing warehouse. It plans to expand its business to cater to total EU customers. It wishes to

Sports commercials Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sports commercials - Essay Example The next advertisement that is very successful in its marketing strategy is the Adam Oates NHL commercial. This ad is clever because it involves sexuality in the form of a woman to provoke thought. The ad uses phrases like â€Å"patrols the offensive zone,† and â€Å"loose rebounds† to compare hockey with picking up a date. This is clever on the part of the advertisers because they make hockey seem fashionable to the viewing public by contrasting scoring on the hockey field with scoring on the dating front.The next advertisement that is very successful in its marketing strategy is the Adam Oates NHL commercial. This advertisement is clever because it involves sexuality in the form of a woman to provoke thought. The ad uses phrases like â€Å"patrols the offensive zone,† and â€Å"loose rebounds† to compare hockey with picking up a date. This is clever on the part of the advertisers because they make hockey seem fashionable to the viewing public by contrast ing scoring on the hockey field with scoring on the dating front. The final advertisement that I found to really hit the mark was the â€Å"NBA Cares† campaign, which contained three different ads. In the first two ads, a vast number of professional basketball players plead with the audience to help contribute to those in need. This strategy generally works because the audience likes to think that they are on the same level as their role models. The third ad combined the use of star power with everyday fans to get its message across.

Assessment of how managing the human Essay Example for Free

Assessment of how managing the human Essay This part of assignment assesses how managing the human, physical and technological resources that have been researched so far can improve the performance of Marks Spencer. Human Resources Human Resources are the people (employees) in the business. Monitoring the performance of employees in Marks Spencer has showed the way to a number of advantages. These essential advantages are assessed below. The employees in Marks Spencer are being monitored by CCTV and therefore watched by managers or directors which led to an increase in customer focus. Monitoring employees makes sure that they are carrying out the job tasks correctly. This could be for the reason that employees do not want to upset and get embarrassed when their managers or directors are observing them through CCTV; as a result they try to work and perform to the best of their ability. Employees in the stores of Marks Spencer know that they are being observed and monitored throughout the work day so this encourages employees to serve customers more adequately as well as to provide assistance at all times. In addition, employees in the stores are likely to think that they could get bonuses and rewards if they perform to the best of their ability. For instance, Marks Spencer could give incentives during the work which would likely make employees encouraged and complete the tasks given because incentives usually motivate employees to work to the best of their ability on whatever tasks are they completing. Marks Spencer offers gift vouchers that are the perfect choice to help reward congratulate and motivate people in a way they will appreciate. Marks Spencer vouchers are perfect incentive to increase sales, recruit new customers and generate new business. This is the best way to promote performance from the staff and encourage more positive outlook in the workplace. These incentives include the sick pay leave if needed as well as the holidays. (See appendix 4) Employees that work in Marks Spencer normally have 20% off discounts of the products and items that they buy. In addition, in order to increase their performance they offer deals and voucher tickets to their employees who are working to the best of their ability. These bonuses, fair wages and discounts that employees get makes them work even harder which means the motivation increases. Human resources includes the need of Marks Spencer having suitable employees in the organisation that work in the store in order to increase the performance of the business. Therefore, Marks Spencer should employ correct employees with the right skills, abilities and experience to complete tasks to the best of their ability. Having appropriate recruitment process – making adverts the most attractive as possible and having clear job descriptions with clear tasks would possibly bring the right people to Marks Spencer. When they choose an employee or employees to work for a business they need to make sure that interview procedure is correct and that short-listing table is used in order to compare all the candidates and choose the best one when looking at the criteria. Marks Spencer needs to make sure that they get the person to work for them that is intelligent, respectful and diligent. Candidates that apply for a job in marks Spencer need to complete the application form on the Marks Spencer’s website (www.marksandspencer.com) where an applicant would fill its personal details, grades and achievements and the experience. Retailers like Marks and Spencer have complex recruitment needs and have to deal with high volumes of applications to fill a large number of similar positions. Marks and Spencer manages all applications for store jobs via WCN’s Applicant Tracking System. The system is based on complex two way integration with the Marks and Spencer HR system. The system allows candidates who are successful after applying and completing online tests, to book their own interview within an hour of completing their application. Stores input vacancies and give available assessment times on the Marks and Spencer HR system, this data is then transferred to the WCN system and displayed to candidates online. Therefore, candidates that are successful they are either going to be contacted with the assessment times where they are going to be given different tasks including team work activities. In addition, their interview is going to take place at some time in the day too. After assessment day, usually the candidates will be told either by phone, e-mail or letter whether they got the job or not. In order to increase performance of the business the employees that are already working in Marks Spencer would need to be trained from time to time as they will be kept up to date with their tasks and will know how to complete them correctly. Knowing how to complete tasks correctly will eventually give motivation to them because they will have more understanding when completing their tasks and duties. However, if employees would not be sure of how to carry certain duties then the managers would not be happy with their work. Therefore, an appropriate training would be suitable in order to solve this problem. Training will give knowledge to employees about their job and introduce new tasks or duties that are needed to be completed. When employees go off for training they are normally working as a team by working together and completing certain tasks together; as a result, they are likely to develop more team work. Each store in Marks Spencer has different groups or teams and each group or team has their own responsibilities and tasks. Because each team has their own responsibilities this makes them know what they are doing and how they are approaching issues during their work day. Marks Spencer also have team members whose responsibilities are divided because they are specialists in their job; therefore, this means that Marks Spencer is likely to achieve its aims and objectives consistently and obviously, on time. On top of that, the employees that are part of Marks Spencer’s crew also help to achieve the targets of Marks Spencer. This could be for the reason that managers or directors have a span of control on supervisors and sales assistants in Marks Spencer stores. As a result, having the span of control will mean that managers are in charge for setting duties and tasks, controlling and observing employees, for instance, sales assistants and supervisors. For the reason that this happens they have their own responsibilities and tasks that has to be met and there is no need to worry themselves about other employees’ responsibilities and tasks in the store. As a result target achievement is met by a better task focus that takes place. In Marks Spencer the CCTV monitors the employees that are working and therefore, the managers in Marks Spencer’s store observes employees. This fact has increased Marks Spencer’s profit in the way as employees work to the best of their ability and perform well while they are working because they know that they are being observed. Employees need to perform well in order to get bonuses for their good work and to avoid the disappointment of their managers; therefore, they treat customers very well and serve them at all times when they are available. As a result, customers that are treated well tend to buy the items, such as food and clothing from Marks Spencer. This could be for the reason that when customers need help with their shopping, normally employees help them with where to find certain products, or where to find the right shoe sizes and clothing for them. In addition to this, Marks Spencer stores that provide clothing have fitting rooms which means employees that usually stand in front of the fitting rooms are there to help customers with the sizes of their clothing and even the styles. Marks Spencer usually observes the employees’ that are being late and therefore monitors them; normally, an employee that works for Marks Spencer will have an ID card. The lateness of employees’ can also be observed by asking them to sign time-sheets each day when they start and finish work; this helps Marks Spencer to organize all the employees that are expected to be on time and in their work place. Observing and monitoring employees’ makes them to start working on time for the reason that they might not want to have arguments or conflicts with their managers in the store. Because Marks Spencer stores have enough employees on the store floors this helps Marks Spencer to serve the majority of the customers properly. This is for the reason that fewer employees would be placed to serve customers in fitting rooms and most of the employees would be placed on the store floor placing products on shelves and helping customers to find certain products if they need help. For the reason that employees are divided into different areas in the whole store of Marks Spencer they can serve customers and help with their shopping at all times. However, if there aren’t enough employees on the store floor the customers will be disappointed due to the fact that they will not be served very well and not given much help concerning their shopping. For instance, if all of Marks Spencer’s employees’ in the store serves customers only in fitting rooms then there would not be enough employees on the store floor which will lead to a real untidiness and muddle in the store. In conclusion, observing employees’ punctuality makes them to keep up with their attendance and be punctual. This makes Marks Spencer have better image because their employees serves customers well and manages to keep up with the tidiness on the store floors. Physical and Technological resources Physical and technological resources that Marks Spencer uses have quite a lot of advantages as Human Resources. Physical resources are the things that business uses to complete its activities every day in the store, for instance, buildings and equipment. Technological resources are things such as computers with its software such as Microsoft Office. Physical and technological resources are assessed below. Marks Spencer has got a transactional website (technological resource) (www.marksandspencer.com) which means that the business is expanded in many ways which increased its performance. This could be for the reason that clients or consumers that are able to access the website can purchase its products. Marks Spencer online shopping offers UK online shoppers many choices. Their large clothing and home ware line has earned respect and loyalty from shoppers from the United Kingdom as well as worldwide. Consumers can shop online for thousands of Marks Spencer online products from the convenience of their home because people can look through the website to see new clothes and items and the new deals and offers are also promoted on the website so that customers know what is offered in the stores. In the website, it is also possible to contact Marks Spencer if consumers have a question regarding a product or an item. Therefore, this expand the business as anyone can access the website from any country of the world if they have internet connection and it also increases performance because consumers can stay at home not visiting the stores which means Marks Spencer would receive money from costumers anyway, which would increase in sales and this means Marks Spencer would make more profit. Marks Spencer stores has got many tills in their stores and employees that works on them, therefore, having many tills prevents in having long customer queues because as employees are able to work on the tills they can serve the customers very quickly. Therefore, the more tills Marks Spencer has, the better customer service because it serves customers quickly leaving them happy and it is likely to make them to come into the store the next time as they received good customer service. Eventually, if they continue visiting the store this means they will buy more products which will increase in sales and make higher profits. In addition to this, normally there are lifts in Marks Spencer stores that helps customers quite a lot too because their shopping can be more convenient. Lifts are useful because it helps customers with pushchairs and disabled customers to shop, especially in the stores where Marks Spencer has got four floors. For instance, one of the shopping malls in Plymouth has got Marks Spencer store of four floors; the first being men clothing, the second is women clothing, the third is lingerie and fourth floor is children clothing and toys, home ware and the cafà ©. On the fourth floor they also have a tunnel leading directly to the car park so it means customers can avoid the busy lifts that they will find in the shopping mall itself. Therefore, by having lifts Marks Spencer makes it convenient for customers to shop and they are likely to visit the store more often due to comfortable surroundings and resources available to them. In addition to this, Marks Spencer always has employees with samples of different items in the store for customers to try. This would also increase in providing better customer service as the products are promoted and customers will want to try out the new products. They will be happy that Marks Spencer offers samples to try out because customers would feel important in the store by employees showing attention and offering products to customers. As a result, customers that try the samples are likely to like the product and purchase it making Marks Spencer’s sales eventually grow and profits increase. On the top of that, customers want a good value for the products they buy which would be high quality and reliable. They also want to get good quality service provided to them at the stores and that staff always would be available for assistance if needed. Customers also want a good environment around them in which they would be comfortable to shop and buy high standard products provided; therefore, better customer service would be increased by employees being motivated and providing assistance and by having resources such as lifts which increase the shopping convenience and this would keep customers happy. The availability of communication through Internet and telephone allows Marks Spencer to correspond quicker and easier. Managers in Marks Spencer are able to send and receive information from other Marks Spencer branches as well as departments. For instance, e-mails allow managers to attach financial statement and transfer them to finance department which might be situated in another city. In addition to this, Internet and telephone connection gives an advantage to customers as well. This is for the reason that customers are able to contact Marks Spencer either by e-mails or by giving a call to Marks Spencer store. A number of customers feel the need to contact Marks Spencer because they want to ask about particular product, for example, if Marks Spencer has black jacket in size ten. If it happens that Marks Spencer has this type of an item in store the customer might ask to put it on hold which Marks Spencer will be happy to do. However, if it happens that Marks Spencer does not have it in store then the customer can order it and Marks Spencer will be happy to provide instructions how to do it. When the delivery arrives, Marks Spencer will contact the customer by informing him about the arrived jacket. Therefore, the customer would be happy because they are given quality service and because Marks Spencer is trying the best to serve customers well; this would make customers feel important. Marks Spencer has insurance against thefts, fire damages and vandalisms; therefore this makes employees feel safe in their working environment. Because of this employees are able to work and perform up to the highest possible standard. For instance, an employee who knows that he or she is protected from thieves that could appear in the store and be dangerous to lives of people that appear in the store will be able to serve customers without fair and stress. In addition, customers who know that Marks Spencer has insurance they would feel safe and protected when shopping in the store. This would increase Marks Spencer’s performance, as employees want to be safe, they want staff would be always available for assistance and they want good environment around them that is comfortable to shop in. Therefore, having insurance from thefts, fire damages and vandalisms would make sure that customer’s desires are fulfilled and employees would work to the best as they can knowing that they are protected. Therefore, as customers would visit the store more because they feel safe at the store, they would buy more products due to safety and getting quality assistance from employees and as a result sales will eventually increase which would lead to higher profit and increased performance. Equipment of Marks Spencer and the machinery would increase in productivity as well as the performance and reputation of the business. Marks Spencer would need to have the latest equipment and machinery in order to carry day to day activities correctly. Marks Spencer would use equipment and machinery such as self check-out machines, electronic tills and trolleys to carry products. The machinery in warehouses would be used in order to make items to the highest possible quality. These machines would need to be updated regularly so that they would not break down and cause day to day activities to slow down. Ultimately, if machinery and equipment are looked after and updated regularly then this means Marks Spencer would be able to operate effectively; customers are likely to buy their items and products which would eventually increase in sales and profit. If customers are going to be happy due to the service provided because of good machinery and equipment then they are likely to stay with Marks Spencer by visiting their stores regularly which would mean Marks Spencer’s reputation will grow over time and once again the sales and profits will increase. In addition to this, Marks Spencer stores have got employed security guards which make a store a safer place to work because there is an instant access to help. Having security is important for marks Spencer because products and items have security tags attached to them on the electronic bars; therefore, if people decide to steal a product or an item the alarm is going to go off at the entrance of the store which would mean that a customer has stolen something. Therefore, security guards will take care of this and make sure that the thief does not run away. In addition, CCTV cameras take great care of being secure at work as well. CCTV cameras operate all day through in Marks Spencer recording everything that is going on. Eventually, having security guards and CCTV cameras increases in performance of Marks Spencer as the employees will feel safe and happy at work and as a result carry out tasks to the best of their ability. Marks Spencer normally has quite big buildings that consist of two, three or even four floors, especially in shopping malls. In addition to this, if there are separate floors such as four floors building it allows Marks Spencer to set a particular floor for particular products and items. For instance, one of the shopping malls in Plymouth has got Marks Spencer store of four floors; the first being men clothing, the second is women clothing, the third is lingerie and fourth floor is children clothing and toys, home ware and the cafà ©. Besides, as the floors are quite big in terms of space, this allows Marks Spencer to have room in order to display a range of styles of the products. If Marks Spencer is able to display a large number of products this means that the performance is going to be increased because as the products are promoted the customers that walk around the store would see the product or an item and might get interested. Customer is likely to be attracted by the product because of the suitable displaying of products in Marks Spencer and as a result they would purchase it. In addition, customers that walk pass the store, might see the display of products in the shop windows of Mark Spencer and this would attract them to come in to the store to look at the product in more detail. Therefore, as customers are likely to buy more products due to displaying this is likely to increase sales and make a higher profit. If the business makes higher profit then this would increase the performance of Marks Spencer. Eventually, human, physical and technological resources have a big impact on Marks Spencer as a business. However, the inability that could to use these resources effectively could appear and this will cause many problems and difficulties rather than advantages.

Analysis of Computer Use in Developing Country Education

Analysis of Computer Use in Developing Country Education Abstract This study identified the extent to which Iranian secondary school principals used computers and explored the relationship between a numbers of variables related to ICT use. These factors included high level of computer access, strong perceptions of the attributes of ICT, high level of computer competence, as well as the high level of transformational leadership behaviours, all contributed significantly to the level of computer use by principals. All four constructs are equally important but have varying impact on computer use. Therefore, all four constructs should be viewed in an integrated manner in accordance to the conceptual model proposed in this study. Keywords: ICT, Secondary school principals, Computer use Introduction One developing country that is currently pursuing the technological track in education is Iran. Irans National philosophy of Education calls for developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner, so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally balanced and harmonious. The catalyst for this massive transformation will be technology which will improve how the educational system achieves the National Philosophy of Education, while fostering the development of a work force prepared to meet the challenges of the next century. With respect to this vision, Ministry of Education provided ICT related workshops and courses for principals and teachers. The plan emphasized that they should acquire seven fundamental digital computing skills (Kousha Abdoli, 2004). Although several institutions have completed the training programmes of their staff, research studies have not been done on the efficiency of this plan, knowledge, skills, and attitude that principals and teachers acquire during these courses. In fact, national programmes in developing countries are not based on research. Hence, successes of these programmes are limited (Albirini, 2006a). In addition, the Ministry of Education in Iran has invested much more fund to facilitate integration of ICT in schools. In spite of this large expenditure of funds, the potential for ICT to alter how principals use computers for instructional and administrative purposes, how teachers teach and how children learn in Iranian schools has not been fully realized since many Iranian schools do not use ICT in their teaching and learning and administrative purposes (Jahangard, 2003). It displays that computer was provided with no supplementary measures to enable principals and teachers to develop positive attitudes toward ICT in education and to use them. Also, in exploring the literature about the implementation of ICT in schools, an area which is noticeably absent in research on ICT implementation and integration is the role of the school principals as technology leaders. Although, some research studies have demonstrated that ICT has a huge impact on the ways in which principals work (Yuen , Law Wong, 2003; Schiller, 2003), the ICT research literature has tended to overlook the role of the principal as technology leaders (Schiller, 2003; Michael, 1998; Riffel Levin, 1997). This gap in the research literature is rather strange because there is considerable literature relating to school effectiveness, school improvement and change which identifies the school principal as a key factor in bringing about successful change in schools (e.g. Hall Hord, 2001; Fullan, 2002). According to Schiller (2003), school leaders are key factors in implementation ICT in schools. They have a main responsibility for creating school change through use of ICT and facilitate complex decisions about integration of ICT into learning and teaching. Although the role of the principal in supporting technology integration is very important there are little Iranian researches on the role of the principal in the implementation of ICT. Also, little is known about the use of ICT by principals and factors that are related to their level of computer use. This article will report on these issues from an analysis of data gathered from secondary school principals in Tehran, Iran. Review of the literature Effective leadership is an important element in the success of schools seeking to implement change (Calabrese, 2002). Anderson and Dexter (2005) reported on the analysis of data from the 1998 Teaching, Learning, and Computing survey of more than 800 schools in the USA and concluded that although technology infrastructure is important, for educational technology to become an integral part of a school, technology leadership is even more necessary (p. 74). Without the support of school leaders the educational potential of information and communications technology may not be realized. They play various roles such as change agent, lifelong learner, main supporter, and resource provider in relation to ICT implementation in schools (Han, 2002). If principals want to lead effectively their school in technology integration, they should embrace technology and realize the role that technology can play in the teaching-learning process. In fact, it is difficult to imagine a leader who does not us e technology trying to convince teachers that it is important (Cafolla Knee, 1995, P.3). Therefore, principals need to understand the capacities of the new technologies, to have a personal proficiency in their use, and be able to promote a school culture which encourages exploration of new techniques in teaching, learning and management (Schiller, 2003). According to Albirini (2006a), access to computer resources has often been one of the most important barriers for the integration of technology in both developed and developing countries. Norris, Sullivan, Poirot and Soloway (2003) reported on the analysis of data from the snapshot survey of more than 4,000 K-12 schools in the USA and concluded that there was a significant and substantive correlation between level of access to computer and level of computer use. Also, Rogers (2003) stated that the perceived attributes of an innovation are one of the important factors in explaining the rate of adoption of an innovation. A large amount of the variance in the rate of adoption of innovations, from 49 to 87 percent, is explained by five attributes: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability (Rogers, 2003). The five attributes refer respectively to: (1) the degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the idea it supersedes; (2) the extent t o which an innovation is perceived as consistent with the existing values, past experience, and needs of potential adopters; (3) the degree to which an innovation is perceived as relatively difficult to understand and use; (4) the extent to which the results of an innovation are visible to others; and (5) the degree to which an innovation is experimented with on a limited basis. Regarding the relationship between perceived innovation characteristics and computer technology adoption, Al-Gahtani (2003) conducted a quantitative research in Saudi Arabia and found that relative advantage, compatability and observability were positively related to the adoption of technology, whereas complexity was negatively correlated. Hence, innovations that are perceived by individuals as having greater relative advantage, compatability, observability, and less complexity will be adopted more rapidly than other innovations (Rogers, 2003). Principals attitudes toward ICT have been recognized as an important factor for the success of technology integration in education (Han, 2002; Mooij Smeets, 2001; Rogers, 2003). Attitude is defined as a positive or a negative feeling associated with performing a specific behaviour (Ajzen Fishbein, 2005). In fact, an individual will have a favorable attitude if he or she believes that the performance of the behaviour will lead to mostly positive results and vice-versa (Ajzen Fishbein, 2005). Ajzen and Fishbein (2005) indicated that attitudes consist of three elements: affect, cognition, and behaviour. The affective element refers to the individuals emotional feelings or liking of a person or an object. The cognitive element refers to the persons knowledge about a person or an object. The behavioural element refers to the persons overt behaviour towards a person or an object. A complete description of attitude requires that all three components be assess by obtaining measures of all the three response classes (Ajzen Fishbein, 2005). Han (2002) conducted a case study on pre-school leaders practices in the use of ICT and found that principals who have positive attitudes toward technology are very helpful and supportive in introducing these new technologies into the school. For example, they encourage their colleagues to have ICT training, equip the school with sufficient computers and ensure staff has access to relevant technology. Apart from that, Liaw (2002) stated that no matter how capable the technology is, the effective implementation of technology depends upon users positive attitudes towards the technology. According to Noraini Idris et al. (2007), individuals with positive attitudes will have positive feelings about people and situations; have a sense of purpose, excitement, and passion; approach problems in a creative manner; make the best out of every situation; realize that attitude is a choice; feel that they have control of their thoughts; and feel that they are making a contribution through their wo rk. Therefore, principals who have positive attitudes toward ICT feel more contented using it and regularly incorporate it into their tasks (Kersaint, Horton, Stohl Garofalo, 2003). According to Rogers (2003), innovation-decision process consists of five steps which are knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. These five steps usually follow each other in a time-ordered manner. Knowledge is the first stage of the successful adoption of computer technologies and it is essential for other steps in the innovation-decision process. If principals do not have enough competent in computer use, they cannot be expected to adopt computer technologies into their instructional and administrative tasks. Without the knowledge and skill of computer technology, principals might have a high level of uncertainty that influence their opinions and beliefs about the innovation (Rogers, 2003). In line with this idea, Felton (2006) stated that competence is a key to the use of computers by principals on a daily basis. In fact, competence in operating a computer and in utilizing software may improve the quality and efficiency of administrative performance in s chools. Improved quality could lead to improved decision-making. In order to achieve high levels of principals competence in ICT, there is a need to provide training, and perhaps unsurprisingly, there is a great deal of literature evidence to suggest that effective training is crucial if principals are to use ICT effectively in their work (Kirkwood, 2000). If training is inadequate or inappropriate, then principals will not be sufficiently prepared, and perhaps not sufficiently confident, to make full use of technology. Hence, lack of principals competence and lack of quality training for principals can be barriers to principals use of ICT. Many technology experts have indicated that the integration of ICT in education should occur in the light of the cultural conditions of the country and the prevailing school culture (Albirini, 2006b; Govender Govender, 2009). In fact, cultural barriers, either societal or organizational, are very important among the barriers to the adoption of technology. Societies and organizations can overcome most of the technical barriers through different means of support, but cultural barriers are harder to deal with. It is widely accepted that culture, within a society or an organization, shapes individuals perceptions of innovations. In the field of education, it has been noticed that principals reactions to technology innovations are mediated by their cultural perceptions (Felton, 2006). According to Rogers (2003), a cultural perception is a very general idea of social system norms. Also, it refers to the cultural suitability of computers (Thomas, 1987). Furthermore, Albirini (2006a) carrie d out a study examining the factors relating to the teachers attitudes toward ICT. He collected evidence from high school English teachers about their perceptions of computer attributes, cultural perceptions, computer competence, and computer access. The sample consisted of 63 male and 251 female teachers. The results showed that computer attributes, cultural perceptions, and computer competence are factors that explain the greatest amount of variance in computer attitudes. Also, he stated that cultural perceptions toward different computer-related technologies are key factors related to both the initial acceptance of these technologies as well as future behaviour regarding their usage. Similarly, Lee, Choi, Kim and Hong, (2007) conducted a study on the relationship between users cultural profiles and technology adoption in the context of the mobile Internet. Their findings of large-scale on-line surveys in Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan indicate that cultural factors have a significa nt influence on users adoption perceptions of mobile Internet services. So, they concluded that cultural differences are a contributing factor in the adoption of technology, particularly in third world countries. According to Flanagan and Jacobsen (2003), leadership plays a key role in the success of technology utilization in education. Thomas (2001) stated that there is a strong link between educational technology and school leadership. Leadership style is exhibited by the leader could help or hinder technology infusion (Flanagan Jacobsen, 2003; Thomas, 2001). One of the best styles of leadership that can change and transform individuals is transformational leadership (Northouse, 2001). Transformational leadership occurs when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality (Bass Riggio, 2006). In other words, transformational leadership is a process that both the manager and followers should change themselves (Northouse, 2001). Although the transformational leader plays an essential role in precipitating change, followers and leaders are inextricably bound together in the transformation process (N orthouse, 2001). This type of leadership is becoming more and more important to organizations, as workforces become more diverse, technology improves and international competition heightens. Transformational leadership is comprised of four distinct dimensions: charismatic leadership or idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration (Bass Riggio, 2006). Idealized influence (attributed) demonstrates attributes of principals that motivate respect and pride and display a sense of power and confidence; idealized influence (behaviour) refers to the principals behaviour to communicate values, purpose, and importance of mission; inspirational motivation refers to leaders that motivate and inspire others by challenging them to exert effort; Intellectual stimulation stimulates followers efforts to be innovative and creative by questioning assumptions, reframing problems, and approaching old situations in new ways; and individualized consideration focuses on development and mentoring of followers and attends to individual needs(Bass Riggio, 2006). Beatty and Lee (1992, as cited in Thite, 2000) conducted several case studies of the implementation of CAD/CAM systems in numerous British and Canadian companies in an effort to investigate the linkage between leadership and technological change in organizations. Through semistructured interviews and using a critical incident approach to assessing leadership abilities, the researchers tracked managerial involvement throughout the implementation process. The outcome of their qualitative research suggests that a transformational approach to leadership is likely to be more effective in overcoming barriers to change than a transactional leadership approach that concentrates on technical problem solving to the neglect of people and organizational issues. According to Burns (2003), transactional leadership involves exchanging one thing for another. In fact, the effective transactional leaders are expert in giving and taking. This style is useful for stable situations but is less useful for organizations that are faced to environmental turbulence or rapid change (Kirkbride, 2006). Transactional leadership was measured by contingent reward and management-by-exception ­ (active and passive). Contingent reward leaders explain the expectations of followers and the compensation they will receive if they meet their performance expectations. Management-by-exception-active leaders attend to followers mistakes and failures to meet standards and management-by-exception-passive leaders react to correct action after problems become serious enough (Bass Riggio, 2006). Regarding the importance of transformational leadership as an influence on principals use of technology, Christopher (2003) conducted a study at the University of Virginia. A self-designed instrument was used in this study. Leadership items were taken from Bass and Avolios Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Leader Form. Surveys were sent to a random sample of 397 principals throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, and 185 principals participated in the survey. Her analysis indicated that the overall extent that principals used decision support technologies was significantly correlated with their perceptions of all four transformational leadership behaviors (individual influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration). Also, she suggested that educational leadership programs should be provided to train principals to use technology as a management tool. If principals do not use technology on a consistent basis; the principal should not expec t the faculty to use technology regularly. Modeling the use of technology provides an affective method for exposing teachers to new strategies and demonstrating to the staff that it is acceptable to take risks and make mistakes, without the fear of retribution (Dawon Rakes, 2003) The study The purpose of this study was to identify the extent to which secondary school principals use computers in Tehran (a large province in Iran) and to explore factors related to level of computer use by principals. Selected factors used in this study were based on Rogers (2003) diffusion theory, Technology Acceptance Model, and previous researchs which include perceived computer attributes; computer competence; computer access; principals attitude toward computers; leadership style of principals; and cultural perceptions. Principals profiles (gender, age, and administrative experience, type of school, and academic degree, as well as information regarding background in computer training) were also included in order to ensure maximum possible control of extraneous variables by building them into the design of the study (Gay Airasian, 2000). More specifically, this study addresses the following questions: What is the level of computer use by secondary school principals? What are the principals attitudes toward computers? What are the principals perceptions of: Computer attributes? Their level of computer competence? Cultural relevance of computers to Iranian society and schools? Their level of access to computers? What is the leadership style (transformational and transactional leadership) of principals? What is the relationship between the level of computer use by secondary school principals and their perceptions of each of the above variables? What is the proportion of the variance in the level of computer use by secondary school principals that can be explained by the selected independent variables and the relative significance of each independent variable in explaining the dependent variable? Methodology This was a descriptive study of an exploratory nature. Creswell (2003) stated that exploratory studies are most advantageous when not much has been written about the topic or the population being studied (p. 30).The target population in this study was Iranian secondary school principals in the province of Tehran during the 2007-2008 school years. The list of principals was based on the secondary principals Directory. The Directory is maintained and updated on a quarterly basis by Tehran Department of Education. The total number of secondary school principals was 1312 in the Directory of the Department of Education in Tehran. Furthermore, a set of questionnaire was used to obtain the required data for this study. The questionnaire was divided into two parts. Part A measured the perceived level of computer use by principals. Factors that were related to it were measured in part B. Questionnaires were distributed to 320 sample principals selected randomly from the population. In this study, stratified sampling was used because Tehran is one of the biggest cities in Iran and consists of 19 educational areas. Also, the population to be sampled was not homogeneous but, in essence, consisted of several subpopulations (Wiersma, 1995). When sub-populations vary significantly, it is advantageous to sample each subpopulation (stratum) independently. Researcher used this stratified sampling method to have less variability in selection. Two indispensable characteristics of measurement that must be considered in establishing the appropriateness and usefulness of measurement instrument are reliability and validity. Although theses instruments were valid, face and content validity of these instruments were established again by a panel of expert. To ensure that Iranian secondary school principals had a complete comprehension of the instrument used in the study, the survey was translated from English into Persian using the double back translation method to ensure the accuracy of the Persian version. Furthermore, Cronbachs alpha was used to measure internal consistency and calculated via the SPSS 15 statistical package. Cronbach alpha is the most common form of internal consistency reliability coefficient. The Cronbachs alpha coefficients for these scales were: Computer Access Scale=0.867, Computer Attributes Scale =0.909, Attitude toward ICT Scale =0.92, Computer Competence Scale=0.97, Cultural Perceptions Scale=0.611, Transformational leadership style Scale=0.812, Transactional leadership style Scale=0.596 and Level of computer use Scale=0.917. To carry out this study, first, approval was obtained from the Ministry of Education and also contact was made with the research department of Tehrans Ministry of Education A meeting was arranged to discuss the proposed study. Furthermore, a letter of introduction and a questionnaire packet were delivered to the superintendent in the research department for review. Finally, approval was received from the superintendent and permitted the researcher to attend the principals meeting in each educational area of the Ministry of Education. A total of 350 pockets were distributed among all members of the sample in these sessions. In the packet, there were materials. These materials include a cover letter, the questionnaire, and a stamped, addressed return envelope was enclosed for some respondents convenience in returning the completed questionnaires. The completed questionnaires were collected at the end of these sessions. Principals who could not fill their questionnaires completely were given approximately three weeks from that date to return the questionnaires by mail. In all, 350 surveys were distributed, 320 were returned, resulting in a return rate of 91.4%. All of the returned surveys, a total of 320, were used in the analysis. In this study descriptive statistics were used to describe and summarize the properties of the mass of data collected from the respondents (Gay Airasian, 2000). Correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between each of the independent variables and the level of computer use by secondary school principals in Tehran. Furthermore, multiple regression was used to measure the degree to which the independent variables would explain the proportion of variance in the dependent variables and to identify the relative significance of each independent variable in explaining the dependent variable. By convention, an a level of 0.05 was established a priori for determining statistical significance. Findings and Discussion The findings indicated that about 51.6% of the respondents were males and more than half of the respondents (50.3%) were within the 45-54 age range. About 44.7% of the respondents had 21 or more years of experience. More than half of the respondents (53.1%) worked in private schools, and approximately 60.3% of the respondents held bachelors degrees. Moreover, the majority of the participants (95.5%) reported that they had computer training, and 83.8% of them had more than 60 hours training. In terms of the type of training, more than half of the principals participating in the study (52.8%) reported that they received their training through in-service training. Computer Use by Principals The dependent variable, level of computer use, was quantified by the score of 39 items using a five-point Likert scale. Each item was rated by respondents from 1 (Never use) to 5 (use daily). This scale was developed by Felton (2006). According to this questionnaire, four domains of computer use such as Internet use, hardware and software use, instructional use, and administrative use were measured. Table 1 Distribution of Mean Scores on the Computer Use Scale According to Table 1, the principals perceptions of the level of computer use were moderate; with an overall mean score of 3.32 (SD= 0.76). Also, findings indicated that principals spent a few times a week working on their computers. It would seem that Iranian principals need effective and extensive trainings to raise their proficiency in computer use and integrate technology into their schools. Moreover, analysis of collected data on the computer use scale showed that among the subscales of the level of computer use, Internet use had the highest mean (M = 3.49). Also, findings showed that nearly all the respondents used the Internet at home and at school , and the most frequent use of Internet was for sending and receiving e-mail (46.9% 2 or 3 times a week). It would seem that e-mail was the most accepted application among principals who were surveyed. In fact, there may be several reasons for this—e-mail is efficient, widely available, and effective. Thus, it is not surprising that email was accepted and used far more by the sample population of this study. Principals can increase their professional knowledge in the form of knowing current research, new technologies, and best teaching practices through the use of the Internet. Findings of this study showed that most of the respondents used a web browser a few times a week to explore professional and educational resources. Three reasons may underline the obtained results. The first possible reason is that low telecommunication density and very low bandwidth during peak hours sometimes makes it impossible to download files or software. Furthermore, most of the principals have little Internet experience; it was not comfortable for them to spend time on uses other than e-mail or some sort of urgent browsing. Lastly lack of knowledge and skill for searching and downloading the valuable professional and educational resources also limit the use of the Interne. In fact, the Internet can be an avenue for researching information and data. It helps principals to find information regarding their pr ofession and educational subjects in order to develop processes for effective decision-making and problem solving which result in better accountability (Felton, 2006). Therefore, trainings should be provided for principals to learn all possible Internet resources with underlying techniques of strategic browsing to enhance their Internet literacy (Atkinson Kydd, 1997). As for the hardware and software use subscale, the main use for computers was in word processing, whereas construction of spreadsheets, databases and presentations (such as Powerpoint) was used never or a few times a month. Only 2.5 percent of principals stated that they read spreadsheets daily at work with 20.0 percent indicating use 2 or 3 times a week, while 56.9 percent indicated that they had read never or a few times a month a spreadsheet. These results are consistent with Schillers (2003) study. He found that the word processing was the most frequently utilized software among the principals and they used it to create documents and slides. Regarding the instructional use domain, the majority of participants indicated that they two or three times a week used computers for recording observation; monitoring student achievement for specific objectives and grades; creating master schedules; recording discipline referrals; writing up classroom observations; monitoring achievement test data; locating curriculum resources; developing or write curriculum; and creating graphs and charts. Plomp and Pelgrum (1992) stated that one way in which computers might work their way into the school is through administrative use and that this might lead to the use of computers in instruction. An examination of data showed that mean score of the administrative use subscale was lower than another subscales, and computer use for instructional purposes was generally ahead of administrative uses. Moreover, findings indicated that within the area of administrative uses, communicating with staff, and members of the wider school, initiating and sust aining collaborative activities with colleagues within and outside their school were the areas of greatest use, while financial matters, maintaining of administrative records about students, using a programme to analyze information for solving problems, using technology to support levels of professional collaboration, and using technology to participate new kinds of professional development were the areas of least use. Therefore, the early assumption that the introduction of computers into schools for administrative purposes would spread to their use for instructional purposes was not supported by the data. Principals Attitudes toward ICT in Education Attitude scale contained 23 items that asked respondents to describe their attitudes towards ICT. This scale was developed by Albirini in 2006a and comprised of three subscales: affective domain; cognitive domain, and behavioral domain. Respondents attitudes were measured on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Higher scores indicated positive attitudes towards ICT while lower scores indicated less positive attitudes. Table 2 Distribution of Mean Scores on the Attitude toward ICT Scale As Table 2 illustrates, principals attitudes towards ICT were positive, with an overall mean of 4.05 and a standard deviation of 0.44. Principals positive attitudes towards ICT exhibit their initiation into the innovation-decision process (Rogers, 2003). It seems that Iranian principals have already gone through the Knowledge and Persuasion stages (Rogers, 2003) and are probably proceeding to the Decision phase. As many theorists have indicated, attitudes can often foretell future behaviours (Ajzen Fishbein, 2005). Thus, it can be concluded that principals who have positive attitudes towards ICT in education, use computer in their administrative and instructional tasks once computers become more available to them. At this stage, principals exp

Othello as Victim of Hamartia Essay -- Othello essays

Othello as Victim of Hamartia   Ã‚  Ã‚   By definition, a tragedy is a story that details the downfall of a protagonist. Most often, the protagonist (tragic hero) is a member of high society who is faced with an oppositional force, be it internal or external. In his Poetics, Aristotle states that "tragedy is the imitation of an action; and an action implies personal agents, who necessarily possess certain distinctive qualities both of character and thought; for it is by these that we qualify actions themselves, and these- thought and character- are the two natural causes from which actions spring, and on actions, again all success or failure depends...." This quote illustrates an aspect of tragedy upon which many works are based, including Shakespeare’s Othello. Aristotle has thus outlined the characteristics of a tragic hero. The tragic hero must be cursed with an overpowering â€Å"hamartia,† or tragic flaw, which leads to his eventual downfall. Although he is a virtuous man, Othello is a tragic hero whose naivetà © becomes his tragic flaw. Over the course of the play, the audience sees Othello crumble apart because of his over-powering jealousy. Despite his sins, the audience still manages to feel pity for Othello and his horrible misfortune. In this case, the tragic h... .... Introduction. William Shakespeare: Othello. New York: Penguin Books, 1968. Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos. Wilson, H. S. On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy. Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1957. Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. â€Å"The Engaging Qualities of Othello.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Introduction to The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. N. p.: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1957

Our Grandmothers By Maya Angel Essay -- essays research papers

Imagery In The Poem “Our Grandmothers'; by Maya Angelou Image (Imagery) – Descriptive poetry flourished. One basic meaning for ‘image’ is provided by that context, but other, looser and more treacherous, meanings have accreted: any sensuous effect provoked by literary language; any striking language; metaphor; symbol; any figure. Maya Angelou’s poem, “Our Grandmother’s,'; vividly exemplifies a sense of imagery that is brought to life. The most effective way that, Maya Angelou presents imagery to the readers is through the setting. Firstly, at the beginning of the poem the narrator describes the current state of the main character and gives a brief description of the setting through imagery. “She lay, skin down on the moist dirt, / … the whispers of leaves…/ the longing of hounds…'; (“Our Grandmothers';, 1-4). These lines are very effective to the readers because the imagery behind these lines allows the readers to feel the cool breeze blowing, hear the leaves rustling and even sense the smell of fear; everything that one could think of to enhance the setting of a plantation. Reading this poem is an escape from modern day life. As readers, we observe everything that the narrator and the main character experience. To fulfill the imagination of the readers, Maya An gelou concentrates primarily as to how the readers are going to interpret certain events. S...

Child and Young Person Development Essay

Learning outcome 1.1 Describe the expected pattern of children and young people’s development from birth to 19 years, to include:  ·Physical development  ·Communication and intellectual development  ·Social, emotional and behavioural development Birth to 3 years The expected pattern starts at 0-3 years where a child is expected to develop the most. They have little control over their bodies at 0-1 years and are dependent on their natural instincts eg: sucking, grasping. Newborn New Born babies use their senses from the moment they are born, they can already recognise their mothers voice and smell and they have natural reflexes for example the Walking and standing reflex which occurs when babies are held upright with their feet on a firm surface, they usually make stepping movements. Physical Development Swallowing and sucking reflexes – These ensure that the baby can feed and swallow milk Rooting reflex – The baby will move its head to look for a nipple or teat. Grasp reflex – The baby will automatically put her fingers around an object that has touched the palm of her hand. Startle reflex – When babies hear a sudden sound or bright light, they will react by moving their arms outwards and clenching their fists Walking and standing reflex – When babies are held upright with their feet on a firm surface, they usually make stepping movements Falling reflex – This is known as the Moro reflex. Babies will stretch out their arms suddenly and then clasp inwards in any situations in which they feel that they are falling. Communication and Intellectual development Babies at birth cry in order to communicate their needs, they may cry when they are hungry, in pain, need feeding, changing or just cuddling. They also start to look around and react to sounds. Social, Emotional and Behavioural Development Babies and their primary carers, usually their mothers, begin to develop a strong, close bond from very early on. You might see that the baby at times stares at the mother and the mother is very aware of her baby. One month In a short month, babies have changed already. They might appear less curled up and more relaxed. Babies at one month have usually started to settle into a sleeping pattern. They sleep quite a lot of the time, but will gradually start to spend longer times awake. They cry to communicate their needs and their parents may be starting to understand the different types of cries. Babies too are learning about their parents or carers. They may stop crying when they hear soothing voices. They also try hard to focus on the face of whoever is holding them. Physical development Reflexes are not as strong although the baby will be growing stronger and may be able to lift their heads for a short while, whilst held upright. Babies can see more clearly than at birth. He enjoys looking at bold patterns and human faces, and can track an object with his eyes He begins to uncurl his hands, and may wave his arms and kick when excited. Communication and intellectual development At one month babies may stop crying because they hear a familiar voice, they are also becoming more expressive and may start to coo and gurgle when they see you. Babies may mimic the mouth movements and facial expressions of adults. Social, emotional and behavioural development Babies may stop crying as they are picked up, but start crying when they are put down. Babies will start to relax during bath time or when their nappies are changed. Three to six months Babies in three months have grown in height and weight. They are wearing new sets of clothes and have changed in many ways. Some babies have learned the difference between day and night and are able to sleep through the night, which is a great help to parents. Babies are also crying less and most parents are getting more familiar with what their cries mean. They may start to sleep a little less and are far more alert Babies at six months have learnt many skills. They are very alert and turn their heads to see what is happening. They enjoy playing and show it by smiling and squealing with delight. They are able to focus on an object and explore it if it seems interesting. Babies also start to show us that they understand a little of what we are saying and try to communicate with us. Physical Development Babies will start to lift and turn their heads, using their arms to support their upper body when lying on their stomach. Babies will start to take an Interest in playing with fingers and opening and closing hands. Exploring toys and objects in the mouth as well as with fingers Babies will be able to Sit up with support and later, without support They will start Rolling over from back to front They will stretch their legs out and kick when lying on stomach or back Pushes down on legs when feet are placed on a firm surface# Babies will bring their hands together intentionally and soon after will try to bat at objects or grasp things Communication and intellectual development Babies may get excitement when it is time to be fed Babies will start to notice mobiles and objects around them They show Enjoyment when simple games such as pat-a-cake are repeated Curiosity as babies look to see what is happening around them Babies will begin Babbling, laughing and squealing and imitate some sounds They will respond to their name Follows moving objects with eyes Watches faces closely and recognizes familiar objects and people at a distance Starts using hands and eyes in coordination Babies will start to respond to music, turn head toward sound and smiles at the sound of your voice Social, emotional and behavioural development Babies will start to enjoy Bath time They will smile back when they see a smiling face. Babies are learning to recognize familiar faces and will display smiles of delight when they are playing with their primary carers. They will lift their arms up to show a parent that they want to be picked up. They enjoy playing with others and may cry when playing stops Become more expressive and communicates more with face and body Babies will be drawn to their image in mirrors Learn how to comfort themselves Nine Months Babies’ physical development is now very noticeable. Many babies will be crawling or finding ways of being mobile. They are also able to sit up without any support. These movements mean that babies can explore more and also spend a little time sitting and playing. When they are mobile they can move quite fast, so this is a period in which adults really need to think about safety. As well as large movements, babies are also picking up objects and handling them, and becoming more skilled at touching things. Things still get popped into the mouth, so, again, adults need to be aware of what is around. Babies’ language is also coming along. Babbling has become more tuneful and longer strings of sound are put together. Babies are also learning what some key words mean. They may start to get excited when they hear words such as drink or dinner. Babies are also starting to show us who they enjoy being with and may start to cry when they are being left with a stranger. Physical development Babies will now sit up without any support They will practice using fingers to feed Crawls forward on belly and rolls over Pulls himself up to stand May walk two or three steps without support and Walk holding on to furniture Takes objects out of containers Pokes with index finger Communication and intellectual development Tuneful strings of babbling Exploring objects using hands and also mouth Responds to â€Å"no† although may not have full understanding of meaning Imitate sounds and may say â€Å"mama† and â€Å"dada† Begins to use objects correctly: drinks from cups, listens in a phone Explores object in different ways: banging, shaking, throwing, etc. Social, emotional and behavioural development Baby appears shy or anxious with strangers and will try to stay nearby parents or carer Babies may cry when caregiver leaves the room Enjoys imitation and repeats sounds or gestures Tests parental responses to her behaviour Twelve to eighteen months The first birthday of a child is for many families a special event and a cause of celebration. This in part dates back to times when not all babies survived their first year. By twelve months the baby has come a long way in  development, they are now more mobile and are able to crawl very quickly and may be on the verge of walking. As well as gaining mobility, babies are also becoming quite skilled at using their hands. Objects are touched, moved and organised and they enjoy putting things in and out of containers, or dropping things and looking to see what happens to them. A strong feature of their play is the way in which they enjoy doing something over and over again. At one year, babies are now able to sit up and feed themselves using their fingers. Most one year olds know what they do and don’t like. Food that they enjoy gets eaten, while food that they are not hungry for may be thrown onto the floor. Babies will now be aware of who their parents and main carers are. They are keen to stay near their parents and carers and will stop playing to see what they are doing. Babies are also able to understand more of what is happening around them. They not only notice what other people are doing, but understand more and more of what is being said. Long strings of babbling are still the way in which babies try to communicate, but hidden in the babbling are the beginning of babies’ first words. Parents and carers usually notice these from around 13 months. Physical Development Standing up and holding onto furniture alone Enjoys picking up and handling small objects Crawls confidently and quickly Likes to push, pull, and drop things Will pull off hat, socks, and mittens Is able to turn pages in a book and stack 2 building blocks Enjoys carrying small objects while walking, often one in each hand Holds crayon and scribbles, but with little control Waves bye-bye and claps hands Enjoys holding spoon when eating, but experiences difficulty in getting spoon into mouth Rolls a ball to adult on request Walking up and down stairs with adult help Sitting and pushing off with legs on sit-and-ride toys. Able to feed self with spoon Communication and intellectual development Waving bye-bye Will point fingers at objects to draw an adult’s attention to them Tuneful babbling that sounds like talking progressing to speak 8 -20 words you can understand Looks at person talking to him or her Says â€Å"Hi† or â€Å"Bye† if reminded Uses expressions like â€Å"Oh-oh† Plays peek-a-boo Understands and follows simple one-step directions Likes to take things apart Social, emotional and behavioural development Repetitive play as the baby enjoys doing something over and over again. Becomes upset when separated from or cannot see their parent or carer Likes to hand objects to others Play independently on floor with toys Recognizes self in mirror or pictures Imitates others especially by coughing, sneezing, or making animal sounds Signs of temper and frustration Eagerness for independence – trying to feed themselves with a spoon Will show interest in other children and what they are doing Children at two years old By two years old, children are very much showing their individuality. They know what they want to do, touch and hold. They can now move confidently and are enjoying walking, being able to pick up things and playing with them. They enjoy doing things for themselves and are keen to do more – and get frustrated when they are not able to. Sometimes this is because adults realise that what they want is dangerous, while at other times it is because their level of skill is not yet matching what they want to do. Their frustration can lead to temper tantrums and emotional outbursts. This is often a toddler’s way of communication how they are feeling and is why this  period is sometimes known as the ‘terrible twos’. While toddlers do get frustrated and angry, they are also emotional in other ways. They smile, laugh and squeal with enjoyment. They notice other children and enjoy being near them, even though they may not actively play together. Favourite toys and games are played over and over again. Children are also starting to enjoy pretend play. Two-year-olds are often starting to chat aloud. They are likely to have around two hundred words, pointing out objects and naming them.