Assistive Technology in Special Education Essay - 592 Words

By law, public school systems are responsible for providing each and every student with a disability with a free and appropriate public education. When IDEA was passed, increased emphasis was placed on where and when students with disabilities were educated. Because of this, the focus became access to classrooms and assistive technology was emphasized. AT has a very important role in the educational world. It is used constantly in special education and throughout the IEP process to assist and benefit students with disabilities In order to thoroughly understand the significance of assistive technology in special education, it is important to understand what an IEP is. An IEP is a mandated document for public schools called an†¦show more content†¦It includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities. It also includes the process used in selecting, locating, and using them. AT promotes greater independence by enabling people to perform tasks that they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to, or changing methods of interacting with, the technology needed to accomplish such tasks. An example of assistive technology is IntelliKeys. It is a keyboard much larger than a standard computer keyboard that has interchangeable overlays depending upon the activity. This technology can help a student that is visually impaired or even delayed in reading or writing. Instead of having individual letters a child can type using pictures and themes. This allows a child to communicate their thoughts without the handicap of language or spelling. Another example of assistive technology is the HeadMouse Extreme. This device replaces the standard computer mouse for people who cannot use or have limited use of their hands when controlling a computer or alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) device. The HeadMouse translates natural movements of a users head into directly proportional movements of the computer mouse pointer, so as the user moves their head the mouse pointer on the screen also moves. The HeadMouse has a wireless optical sensor which tracks a tiny disposable target that is worn by the user in a convenientShow MoreRelated How Can Assistive Technology Benefit Preschool Special Education Students?1387 Words   |  6 PagesHow Can Assistive Technology Benefit Preschool Special Education Students? The inclusion of special needs children with typically developing peers has become a key service option in preschool special education classrooms (Odom, 2000). Benefits abound, yet inclusion does not present without challenges. Young children with disabilities find it complicated to interact with objects and peers due to obstacles that their disabilities present. A child unable to speak too often goes unheard. StudentsRead MoreAssistive Technology1683 Words   |  7 Pages| Assistive Technology Evaluation | EDU 620 Meeting Individual StudentNeeds With Technology Instructor: Deborah Naughton | | Rhonda Reed | 11/20/2013 | | Assistive Technology Evaluation Assistive technology evaluation must be in an initial or three year reevaluation. In addition, to the assistive technology is that it’s an ongoing process which is driven by a lot of changes in the student needs, but not limited to the participation, access, curriculum, or environmental changesRead MoreHealthcare Educational Resources Paper week 4812 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿1. Identify the assistive technologies available to special needs populations in Illinois? 2. What types of assistive technologies are available? 3. What healthcare educational resources are available to special needs populations? 4. Does Illinois provide a comprehensive database of services and technologies available? 5. How do special needs populations’ access services in Illinois? 6. What additional assistive technology is available that is not currently used in Illinois? What are the challengesRead MoreAssistive Technology Essay1440 Words   |  6 Pagespresent society places technology on a high pedestal. This pedestal contains all of the hi-tech, yet sophisticated gadgets, gizmos, and all of the other novel items that are inundating our households. Items such as computers and cell phones enable us to communicate via e-mail, text message, and video (Stodden, Roberts, Picklesimer, Jackson Chang, 2006). Innovative items may be taken for granted but if we understand their significance and how they help us live in a technology driven and dependentRead MoreTeacher Training Of Assistive Instructional Technology939 Words   |  4 PagesTeacher training in assistive instructional technology (AIT) has been a topic of discussion that has heightened with the drive for differentiated instruction. Although, research has been extensively conducted on pre-service trai ning, not much research has indicated the success of teacher training in assistive instructional technology for in-service experienced teachers (Edyburn, 2014). In an attempt to advance the science in the field of leadership and educational administration in relationship toRead MoreTechnology And High Tech Technology1197 Words   |  5 Pages Technology has played an integral role in our everyday life. It can increase efficiency at work, improve the quality of life, and serves as a helpful tool that allows us to accomplish many tasks that we might not be able to otherwise. It has found its way into nearly everyone’s home in various forms such as: a computer, medical equipment, and security system. Some people might even go as far as claiming that they cannot live without it. When parents hear of â€Å"technology† in the classroom, they immediatelyRead MoreCollaborative Learning Community : Supplemental Services Essay964 Words   |  4 PagesSupplemental Services Essa y When it comes to transitional services, the law requires a great deal of focus and effort be put into the services that are provided to special education students in the classroom. Below, we will summarize what the law requires when it comes to Occupational Therapy, Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Assistive Technology, and Transition Services. Occupational Therapists within the school system are there to aid the IEP team and student. The goal is to help the student to performRead MoreMeaningful Pedagogy: Evaluation of Learning Goals and Targets914 Words   |  4 PagesAbstract - For the last few decades, pedagoglical theory has undergone a number of paradigm shifts. As the classroom changes, so does the theorietical structure behind it diversity, technology, globalism all contribute to the need to find a robust way to communicate learning activities, to help students move beyond rote understanding, and most especially a way to evaluate progress that is meaningful to not only their personal success, but to the needs of the contemporary school system in its continualRead MoreThe Importance Of Assistive Technology1477 Words   |  6 PagesOver the last decade technology has become such an important aspect in life. The push towards having technology in your hands at all times has made its way into the classroom also. This cl early started with the use of a computer and being able to find what you want quickly instead of having to go through a very large library to find one important sentence to use for your essay. Laptops, tablets, smart devices, projectors, and many more devices biggest advancement helping students in the classroomRead MoreShould Assistive Technology Be Disabled Students With Disabilities Education Act ( Idea )812 Words   |  4 PagesIndividuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 1997 and IDEA 2004 provided disabled students with options for assistive technology in the classroom as well as assistive technology services. It is through these mandates that Individual Educational Plans (IEP) began to include assistive technology options. The IDEA 2004 â€Å"law mandates that assistive technology devices and services be provided to students with disabilities if the technology is essential for accessing education-related resources. (Dell

Marketing and Student Recruitment Policy System

Question: Discuss about the Marketing and Student Recruitment Policy System. Answer: Introduction The given report provides a detailed analysis over the marketing strategies adopted by Central Queensland University. Marketing strategy adopted by the company is considered as a road map which helps the company in achieving its objectives. The university is diversified in Australia, out of which the report has considered Sydney campus (CQ Australia, 2017). The university is a dual sector university of the Australia. By dual sector, the report means that the university provides higher education as well as vocational education. By higher education, the report means providing education based on academic purpose, while in case of vocational based education, it focuses on improving the skills level of the students. The Central Queensland University is considered as one of the contributor in generating economic growth in the Australia. The university has maximum number of students enrolled that are approximately 1 million. The management to market such students is involved on regular basis in implementing effectively the marketing tools and advertising strategies. For effective marketing management the university has approximate 100, 000 staff members. Besides this, the university is considered as one of the significant contributor in increase in the economic growth of the nation because; the university gives preference in recruiting the employees of Australia. This leads to increase in the confidence of general public as well as of other citizens of Australia for the purpose of employment (McMillan, Kinnear, Babovic, 2015). The university has its demand from various regions that is Australia and even from outside of Australia. The university has its campus in approximate 25 regions. Besides this, the demand has also increased by increase in the qualitative education provided (CQ university). Segmentation and target market Segmentation is dividing the whole market into small lot of market, this makes easy for the organsiation for targeting the segment. The organization can target one segment or more than one segment at a time depending upon the capability of the organization. In the given case of central Queensland University, the university has a wide range of population of students. The university focuses on local students for segmentation purpose. This makes the university as distinctive in comparison to the other universities such as: university of Sydney, University of Melbourne, Monash University and many more. The main objective of the university is to provide its student a quality education by providing them sustainable knowledge. Here by sustainable knowledge the report means that the university must provide education regarding establishing the relationship between the living systems and human being. While in case of targeting, the report means the marketing strategies that have been adopted by the company to target its segments. The strategies have to be designed by the university which turns the interested students into enrolled students. For this, the university has to analyze in detail the market of Australia and changing needs and demands of the students regarding studies and academic literature. The university is considered as homeland by the Australians; the reason being is adaptation of localized approach by the university. Beside this, due to effective advertising and marketing strategies, the university has enrolled approximately 5200 foreign students. By this it is said that the university is adopting international approach that is it is not only focusing on Australians but also on foreign students. In case of positioning the report means that how the university is imaged in the mind of Australians as well as foreigners. The university has excelled in creating an image in the mind of people by focusing on the localized approach and on quality education (The importance of universities to Australia's prosperity, 2015). Current market mix analysis To analyze about the current market efficiency the university has to conduct a marketing mix analysis. By marketing mix analysis, the report has means that the appropriate mix of product, price, place and promotion strategies. The university provides various courses such as: law, accounting, business management, engineering, humanities education, informational technology, health programs, science and technology and more related courses. In these courses, the university provides graduate, post graduate, and certificate degrees. The university provides approximately 300 education and training programs. It has been analyzed that central Queensland University is considered as one of the best universities in Australia due to wide range of courses offered. The price as charged by the students of the university is in the form of Australian Dollars. The university charges adequate level of prices in comparison to other universities that is it charges approximately 24000 to 30000 Australian dollar for full time courses offered by the university. Besides this, the university is involved in providing scholarships for extra ordinary students who have achieved more than the desired results or performances. This has resulted the university in highest number of enrolled students from lower social background. However this price does not involve books and facilities. The selected university is headquartered in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney. The university has approximately 25 campuses all over the Australia, which focuses on providing qualitative education. Besides this, the university has taken initiative in providing distance education by focusing on the students which wants to enroll in the university but is at far places from the place of university. For effective promotional strategy, the university has adopted promotional and advertising strategies by publishing its article in newspaper and on online sources. This helps to increase the student base which is highly active on online media (Singh, 2012). PEST analysis The rules and regulations as of Australian government are observed as friendly in terms of the university as well as of the students. The reason behind this is, the government of the Australia favors the current and future proposal of the university that is increasing the student base by providing the qualitative education and giving more job opportunities to the Australians. Hence by this, the university is contributing in increasing the per capital income of the Australia. Besides this, in the terms of foreign students, the university is preferred because of increase in security and safety issues. The living standard in the Central Queensland University is high; the reason behind this is it supports the interest of its enrolled and interested students. This increases the number of the students to get enrolled in the university. This is the main reason of increase in the percentage of number of students enrolled of lower social background. The living standard is high of central Queensland University because of strong economic cycle of Australia (Seary, Willans, Cook, 2016). The university gives more opportunities for the students to get enrolled from different backgrounds. Besides this the university also provides a facility of providing scholarships which are from lower economic background and cannot bear the burden of cost of education. The university also provides lower fees structure for the international students to encourage the foreign currency in Australia. Central Queensland University focuses on providing best technological facilities, by enabling the data available for the students at a central location. Besides this, the students enrolled in the university are also provided with the facility of high speed internet to avail the benefit of vast research on the study topic and to increase the knowledge base of the students. Competitor analysis of a close competitor or competitive brand The Central Queensland University has major three competitors which are as: University of Melbourne, university of Sydney and James cook university. The university has a close competition with James Cook University. To effectively compete with its close competitor, the university has a mission to become best education provider at efficient prices by 2020. For this the company has increased the customer base and places for providing the qualitative education. By adopting the current marketing strategy, the university posses 401th rank in providing education programs across the world. This has aided the university in providing the leadership in learning, research and education. In case of comparison between the close competitors of the university that is James Cook University, the central Queensland University has more campus over the Australia; even the central Queensland University provides the educational facilities at cheaper price (JCU, 2017). SWOT analysis Strength The positive aspect of the university is that it provides a large variety of courses; it is a pioneer in introducing the concept of distance based education. It has the highest percentage of students which are from lower economic background. Weakness The university faces an extreme level of competition from its major competitors. Besides this the educational system is not as good as compare to any other international universities. Opportunity The university has introduced more opportunities for employment for the citizens of Australia. It results in increasing the number of enrolled students. Threat The university faces competition threat from its competitors which works at international level. Value and brand positioning strategies The university is known as one of the best university in the Australia, which is focused in providing the qualitative knowledge for its students. This helps in creating the value in the mind of its students in building their career. While in case of positioning brand, the university has started to involve foreign students in its total student base. This leads to increase in the competitive advantage of the company. By observing the university, it has been analyzed that the university is at its growing stage, hence it is recommended for the university to introduce various marketing strategy to increase the student base and to effectively compete with the international universities (CQ University Australia, 2017). Conclusion By analyzing the report over Central Queensland University, the university is considered as one of the leading university. The increased in educational facilities has lead the university in increasing the student base even in case of foreign citizens. References About JCU, (2017). (ONLINE).Retrieved from: https://www.jcu.edu.au/about-jcu (Accessed on: 8 April 2017) CQ Australia,. (2017) Marketing and student recruitment policy and procedure. Retrieved on 21st March, from https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=3cad=rjauact=8ved=0ahUKEwiWjvXmp-fSAhXELo8KHbCDD4sQFgglMAIurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cqu.edu.au%2Fpolicy%2Fsharepoint-document-download%3Ffile_uri%3D%257BBE8380F3-F86D-4C55-AC0D-84A81EAFD6A2%257D%2FMarketing%2520and%2520Student%2520Recruitment%2520Policy%2520and%2520Procedure.pdfusg=AFQjCNFYZPtT7c6uJ5QwvAG1vGjWSRrnGA CQ University Australia,. (2017) International courses and fees 2017. Retrieved on 21st March, 2017 from https://my.cqu.edu.au/documents/10165/106248200/International+Courses+and+Fees+2017_V1.pdf/bec955c2-154d-4103-b21a-b23fc19d4085 CQ university,. (n.d.) Vision and values. Retrieved on 21st March, 2017 from https://www.cqu.edu.au/about-us/about-cquniversity/vision-and-values McMillan, G., Kinnear, S., Babovic, N. (2015). Comprehensive universities and the role of the national TAFE system: the CQUniversity context.About the research, 16. Seary, K., Willans, J., Cook, C. (2016). Design for success: Did we get it right? Measuring the success of STEPS as a remodelled CQUniversity enabling offering.International Studies in Widening Participation,3(1), 4-18. Singh, M,. (2012) Marketing mix of 4Ps for competitive advantage, Journal of business and management 3(6) The importance of universities to Australia's prosperity,(2015). (ONLINE).Retrieved from: https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/Media-and-Events/commissioned-studies/The-Importance-of-universities-to-Australia-s-prosperity/The-importance-of-universities-to-Australia-s-prosperity#.WOiNDmmGPIU (Accessed on: 8 April 2017)

Scarlet Essays (656 words) - English-language Films,

Scarlet Letter By Hawthorne And Sin For thousands of years, humans have confronted their sinfulness. Some trust in their religious faith to help with their struggles, some sin more to hide the truth. But in the end, man must stand alone ? as a sinful creature before God. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale has a difficult time finding a place to relieve his sin. The Scarlet Letter's scaffold is a place for the protagonist to find peace with himself. That scaffold holds more importance than just somewhere to condemn prisoners. It is the one place where Dimmesdale felt liberated to say anything he wishes. In Puritan culture, the scaffold is used to humiliate and chastise prisoners, be it witches at the stake, thieves in the stocks, or a murderer hanging from the gallows. In The Scarlet Letter, the scaffold was viewed more as a place of judgement. "Meagre ... was the sympathy that a transgressor might look for, from such bystanders, at the scaffold." (p. 63) Indeed, it was used for castigation, but it was also a place of trial: Hester's trial was held at the scaffold. Standing upon the platform opens oneself to God and to the world. "They stood in the noon of that strange and solemn splendor, as if it were the light that is to reveal all secrets, and the daybreak that shall unite all who belong to one another." (p. 186) Being on the scaffold puts oneself in a feeling of spiritual nakedness- where you feel exposed to God, but cleansed. It was the one place where Dimmesdale could find complete reconciliation. Witnessing such an event as reconciliation is quite a fascinating experience. But without knowing what is going on, it can also be quite horrifying. "Without any effort of his will, or power to restrain himself, he [Dimmesdale] shrieked aloud: an outcry that went pealing through the night, and was beaten back from one house to another, and reverberated from the hills in the background; as if a company of devils, detecting so much misery and terror in it, had made a plaything of the sound, and were bandying it to and fro." (pp. 178-9) Indeed, the townsfolk felt the latter. "Drowsy slumberers mistook the cry either for something frightful in a dream, or for the noise of witches."(p. 179) They did not understand that this was his reconciliation. Both Governor Bellingham and Mistress Hibbens had awoken to the frightful sound and looked from their house in investigation. When they perceived it was the Reverend in another of his midnight vigils rather than a cry for help, they stumbled right back to their sleeping chambers. Along with this inquisitive attention from onlookers, came the looks of disdain, from Chillingworth and others. "Smiling on her [Hester]; a smile which -- across the wide and bustling square, and through all the talk and laughter, and various thoughts, moods, and interests of the crowd -- conveyed secret and fearful meaning." (p. 284) Chillingworth might of had other plans, but after hearing what Dimmesdale had to say, Chillingworth thrust himself to his knees and admit defeat. Although he was a sick man, Dimmesdale's struggle was not for life, but for repentance. In fact, his mental anguish of sin is what had caused his illness. Dimmesdale would spend some nights scourging himself, just himself and a whip-like punishment device. He felt it critical to admit his sin to himself and to his community and brethren "... The Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale turned to the dignified and venerable rulers; to the holy ministers, ... as knowing that some deep life-matter -- which, if full of sin, ... was now to be laid open to them." (pp. 306) This act of declaring his sin is one step closer to salvation. The scaffold provides a perfect venue to stand before God with everything before oneself. Dimmesdale stood before God and his community and chose to "sink upon the scaffold. Hester partly raised him, and supported his head against her bosom. Old Roger Chillingworth knelt down beside him, with a blank, dull countenance, out of which the life seemed to have departed." (p. 308) On the scaffold, Dimmesdale openly brought his sin to light and felt restored.

cloneing sheeps essays

cloneing sheeps essays Three years ago a sheep named Dolly became the biggest news since the first successful open-heart surgery. Dolly, unlike every other mammal on earth is an identical copy of its mother. Dolly has no father. The "miracle" of cloning was preformed by Dr. Ian Willmut and his team at Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland. The new research has opened a large amount of possibilities for the future use of the technique as well as many ethical issues regarding human cloning. The Roslin Institute team created Dolly by transferring the nuclei of adult sheep cells in to the egg of another female sheep. The egg had its natural nucleus removed by microsurgery. Ones the new nucleus was implanted in to the egg cell it now had a complete set of genes identical to the sheep who donated the nucleus. The transplanted egg cells were then cultured for a short period of time and implanted into a female sheep to carry the pregnancy to term. The nuclei of many different adult cells were used in the experiment including mammary gland cells, which were the ones to produce the successful result. The sheep born as a result of the experiment was an exact genetic duplicate, clone, of the sheep donating the adult nucleus. Though other mammals have been cloned before, they were always created form embryonic cells, never a cell of a fully-grown animal. This research also proved that adult animal cells do contain a workable copy of all the genetic material needed to create a whole new animal. Willmut's technique is very difficult and requires a lot of work. Because of this, it is not practical way of creating animals. The company who funded the research plans on using cloning in order to create animals that will produce important drugs in their milk, but at this moment it is not the best way to do it. On the other hand, the difficult method will probably be improved and simplified in the future becoming an important tool in ...

Discuss this question. ( more likely to discuss the opinion and Essay

Discuss this question. ( more likely to discuss the opinion and knowledge no sources are needed) - Essay Example But mostly, relativistic has been widely used in understanding and interpreting different cultures or distant historical epochs. It begins with possible and even right premises such as we are historically and culturally different. This has again elicited the cultural wars witnessed in the world today. The suggestion that justification or truth is somehow relative would mostly have a dramatic impact on many fundamental issues about knowledge, intellectual progress, and objectivity. As such, relativism believes the relationship between a certain aspect as related to a certain culture, behaviors or moral principles in a given settings. Intuitively, they hardly believe in cross-cultures attitudes, behaviors or principles, and it is common for them to have lower tolerance. There are, however, ways that can be done to change this trend in the society. For instance, the integration of science which is universal across culture can dispel the attitude that certain justifications or truth are tied towards a particular culture. It would make everyone feel that what happens does so because of particular reason regardless of the culture associated with such behaviors. Through this, the premise of relativism stands to be

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 8

Case study - Essay Example MDCM is in urgent need to take suitable steps for improving its IT setup to save the company from getting into continuous loss. The company has been suffering loss in the market in spite of all its steps and strategy designed for the customers and company’s benefit. The company shares its benefits and losses with the customers in order to form close relations with the customers. With the passage of time, the company has identified the importance of its global status. This paper evaluates the IT projects suitable for the company and presents recommendations for the MDCM Corporate Board. There was a large audit to find out the IT problems with the company in the past five years. This audit was very fruitful as it informed all the seniors about the IT issues with the company. They had some knowhow beforehand but the detailed audit informed them about the situation of the company in depth. According to the audit report, â€Å"MDCM’s IT services had been badly mismanaged† (Jeffery & Norton 2). IT was not working effectively because of this mismanagement. IT was neglected by the management of the company and also wrong investment decisions were taken related to IT due to which, IT suffered a lot and became a reason for giving loss to the company (Jeffery & Norton 2). A global setup for IT was required by the administration of the company. The audit also resulted in some positive outputs such as the customer relationship management (CRM) system and computer assisted design (CAD) system in branches of MDCM working successfully. IT budget was less as compared to its required amount for the upgrade of the company’s IT. There were many project initiatives which were regarded essential for the company’s IT success. Unifying methodology and technological standards was regarded necessary by Atkins and his team. By improving this project initiative, the administration hoped to adjust a sharing knowledge based network and also the future

Dream Analysis Essay Example for Free

Dream Analysis Essay Dreams had always been a part of human existence. Since time immemorial, human beings had always been mystified on the phenomenon of dreaming. As early as 5000 B. C. , early civilizations had recorded and tried to interpret their dreams on clay tablets. The Egyptians, puzzled by the existence of dreams, had even believed in a God of Dreams whom they called Serapis. Up to the present age, theorists and psychologists are still unable to arrive at a definite explanation on why humans dream. Dreams are etched in the human mind in such a way that makes it hard for researchers to objectively study them. At present, there are three major theories that are widely accepted that explain such phenomenon: (1) Freud’s Theory (2) Cognitive Theory and the (3) Activation-Synthesis Theory. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) believed that a dream exists as a wish fulfillment. According to him, people have unsatisfied or unexpressed desires during the times when they are awake and these desires are being fulfilled unconsciously when people dream through sleeping. For example, a person having unfulfilled sexual desires one or two days prior to sleeping may have dreams that are sexually erotic in nature (may lead to ‘wet dreaming’). Similarly, people who had been forced to suppress their anger during waking hours may have dreams that contain violent elements/scenes (Santrock, 2005, p. 244). This theory of Freud is particularly applicable to a personal experience. Once I broke our printer by accident. I was trying to find a way to fix it but the only solution I could think of is having it repaired by a technician. The main dilemma was that I didn’t have the money to have it fixed. It was very fortunate that no one else used the printer that day. When I slept in the evening, I dreamt that a certain old man came to fix our printer free-of-charge. The dream ended there. It can be seen from this experience that a problem during the day was given a temporary solution through dreaming. Although the printer wasn’t really fixed at all, the dream was sufficient in providing a quick way out of my anxiety caused by the broken printer. Another example was the time when I was craving for some McDonald’s Fries for no particular reason. I haven’t been able to go to the said Fast-Food Shop because my mother borrowed my car. I just slept through my craving for McFries and I ended up dreaming about it, only that in my dream, the fries are much larger than the actual size. According to Freud, our dreams may contain scenes or events from our experiences of the past day or of the day before. One particular dream to illustrate this is my dream that I was able to fly. In the dream, I had my arms stretched over my head and I was flying over our village, very much like Superman. I could connect this dream to my behavior when I went swimming with my friends the day before. During my stay underwater, I had been imitating the flying position of Superman imagining that I was floating in mid-air instead of mid-water. An additional example for this theory of Freud is my dream on the Red Queen. I had watched on home video the movie Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton. I was so irritated with the Red Queen’s face while I was watching the movie that I dreamt of the character when I slept in the evening. In the dream, I was having a dispute with the Red Queen where in the end I won our fight and I was able to command certain Knights, â€Å"Off with her head! † Perhaps connected to this principle of Freud was my experience when I had a fever. I wasn’t feeling well when I slept and I was feeling a bit scared to sleep in solitude. In the middle of my sleep, I dreamt that I was transformed into a cat and that my friends could not recognize me. I was trying my best to scream my name to them but all that I could manage to say were small meows. The next stage of my dream was that I had a small hole in my skull. The small hole led to the deformation of my skull because it secreted foul-smelling cerebral fluid through it. I woke up in the middle of night sweating and breathing heavily. Even though events from days before may appear in a dream, it does not necessarily mean that the scenes in the dream happen in chronology. More often than not, a dream is a homogenous mixture of different time-frames where the sense of chronology is absent. Tied with this principle is that places where dream scenes may happen need not be logical or real. I had dreams before of having to wake up in my bedroom as the sun was just rising and stepping out of my room, I find myself at the school cafeteria way past dusk. I also had a dream wherein I was standing in front of my friend’s house. That friend of mine had offended me during one of our night-out with the rest of our peers. In my dream, I was back to the scene wherein we were having an intense argument. Then, one second of whirling brought me in front of that friend’s house, waiting for him to come out and ask for forgiveness. He didn’t come out of the house though and I was brought to a garden where I found him sitting on a bench. At the end of the dream, I was the one who asked for his forgiveness. The following morning, before I left for school, he gave me a phone call telling me that he was sorry. According to Freud, there are two components of a dream, a surface element which he called the manifest content and a hidden meaning of the surface element which he called the latent content. For example, Freud states that snakes and neckties present in the dream may mean something else. The snake or necktie is the manifest content while its latent content is a male genitalia. This means the snake or necktie symbolizes a male genitalia. This idea of Freud made me remember a dream I had just this weekend. In the dream, I had been boating with a tour guide on the Amazon River. I was so terrified to see a giant snake swimming just under our boat. The faceless tour guide just told me that the snake couldn’t see us because we were in the snake’s blind spot. I never knew what happened with me on that river, only that in the dream I was transported somewhere else I couldn’t remember. Could my dream mean that I am fantasizing about whatever the snake symbolizes? It’s hard to believe though! The second theory of dreaming is the Cognitive Theory. It states that dreaming involves the same cognitive steps used in the waking mind: processing, memory and problem solving (Santrock, 2005, p. 245). In this theory, hidden meanings of dreams through symbols are not regarded as possible. Dreaming is looked upon as an opportunity for the person to find a state of mind where problems can be solved through creative thinking. Robert Louis Stevenson, for example, said that it was in a dream that he acquired the idea for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Elias Howe claimed also that a dream provided him the idea of creating a sewing needle with the hole for the thread on the blunt tip of the needle and not on the middle. (Santrock, 2005, p. 245). Friedrich Kekule, the proponent of the structure of the benzene, said that the cyclic structure of benzene was seen in a dream wherein he saw a snake trying to bite its own tail as it moves in a circular manner. I could apply this theory in one of my experiences. I was trying to come up with a story on how humans need to face trials as means of being emotionally stronger. The story needed to be as creative as possible because I was going to present it to a youth group in our church. Out of fatigue due to too much thinking, I decided to take a nap on my desk. I dreamt then of a young butterfly inside a cocoon. When I woke up, I was reminded of a story I heard long ago from a Franciscan nun wherein a young man tried to help the young butterfly get out of the cocoon by opening the cocoon himself with the use of a pair of scissors. The butterfly went out of the cocoon weakly with scrawny wings and was unable to fly. The struggle of the butterfly to get out of the cocoon by itself helps it to develop stronger wings that would soon enable it to fly. If I hadn’t dreamt of the young butterfly in the cocoon, I wouldn’t have remembered this story! The third theory is the Activation-Synthesis Theory. It states that dreams are part of the brain’s internal effort to explain the neural activity that still exists even though the person is sleeping (Santrock, 2005, p. 245). Neural networks in areas of the forebrain are involved in both the waking and dreaming behaviors. Primary motor and sensory areas of the forebrain may possibly be activated during the sensorimotor aspects of dreaming. (Santrock, 2005, p. 246). For example, if the dream asks for spatial organization, the parietal lobe would be activated. Similarly, if the dream asks for emotional requirements, the amygdala, hippocampus and frontal lobe may be activated. The movement of dreams in a ‘fantasy-whirling’ manner may be due to the sudden, uncoordinated eye movements of REM sleep. The sudden shift or dissolvation of a particular dream scene is explained as due to the normal cycling of neural activation. During stages of sleep, levels of neurotransmitters may rise and fall wherein particular neural networks are activated and shut down. As a new cycle is activated, that is, new sets of neural networks are activated and shut down, a new dream scene comes to the focus. Dreaming, therefore, becomes a succession of fantasy-transitioned slide shows. In connection to this theory, I once had a dream that involved a real experience while I was sleeping. I managed to open my eyes as I was disturbed in the middle of a sleep. I then saw my mother in my room, fixing the mess I left on my study desk. Subconsciously, I knew that I saw my mother inside my room, but then, as if my brain wanted to explain or make a story out of what I saw, the exact scene came to my dream. In the dream, I stood up and helped my mom fix the mess on my desk, but then my mom turned into a classmate of mine and we were back in the classroom listening intently to our teacher. I woke up in the middle of the night, convinced that I really didn’t stand up to help my mom fix my mess. These three theories explain to us why people dream. Freud’s Theory, The Cognitive Theory and the Activation-Synthesis Theory may view the phenomenon of dreaming in three different perspectives. In the present stage of human knowledge when it comes to explaining the human psyche, it could be said that an absolute explanation for dreaming is nonexistent. However, the three theories may work hand-in-hand in explaining and interpreting human dreaming. Reference Santrock, J. W. Psychology 7. McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. , 1221 Avenue of the Americas. Mew York, NY 10020. 244-246