John Locke Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

John Locke - Essay Example After graduating from this school, in 1652, he started attending Oxford University. It was here that he got his formal knowledge of Latin, logic and metaphysics. Though he completed his BA from the Oxford University in 1656, he did not leave the school. He started teaching at the hallowed institution for a span of 3-4 years, first as a lecturer of Greek and from 1658, the year Oliver Cromwell died and the unrest began that was to lead to the Restoration of the King in 1660, onwards as a lecturer of rhetoric. In 1663, Locke decided to pursue medicine and gave up his profession as a teacher. What is interesting to note is the fact that although he completed a philosophical education at Oxford, Locke declined the offer of a permanent academic position in order to avoid committing himself to a religious order. It was during this time of Locke's life, when the ideas of Robert Boyle and Descartes started to have an impact on him and he began to apply their theories to his philosophical und erstandings and treatises. It was during the same time, that Locke met one of his most important friends, Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper (who would later adopt the title of Earl of Shaftsbury physician become one of the Lord Proprietors of the Carolina Colonies.). Lord Ashley employed Locke as his personal physician but very soon, Locke would go on to serve him as a secretary, political researcher, and political advisor. It was by his a It was by his association with Lord Ashley that Locke was connected to Charles II, the King of England. When Charles II formed a colony in America, he gave Locke the duty of writing up a constitution. Later on, this constitution, more famously known as the Carolina Constitution and would be used by America's Founding Fathers as a model for their Constitution. In the year of 1674, Lord Ashley got involved in a conspiracy against Charles II's brother. Though Locke was in France then due to health reasons, even he was accused of being one of the co-conspirators. Even after Locke returned to England after five years, he was forced to flee to Holland in 1683, one year after the death of Lord Ashley. Though many term this to be a self-imposed exile, it cannot be refuted that Locke's life was seriously in danger. During his stay in Holland, Locke formed friendship with many other exiled English revolutionaries who were biding their time to topple the English government. Finally, in the Glor ious Revolution of 1688, the English revolutionaries led by the William of Orange toppled the government and Princess Mary donned the crown. Locke was made the Comissionary of Appeal in 1689 and published a "Letter Concerning Toleration". In 1690, he authored the controversial papers "Two Treatise of Government" and "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding". He wrote large works about the economy and in 1692, he assisted in restoring the board of trade where he served as an influential member until 1700. His book "Some Thoughts Concerning Education" was published in 1693. In 1704, he passed away in his residence in Oates of Essey where he had lived since 1691. The fundamental ideas of Locke's philosophy are presented in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690). According to Locke all our ideas be it simple or complex, are derived from experience. The consequence of this empiricist approach means that the scope of knowledge gets acutely limited in its dimension. However, Locke tried to overcome this lack by suggesting that a proper application of our cognitive

Education by computer - a better way Research Paper

Education by computer - a better way - Research Paper Example Utilizing computer-mediated communication provides solutions to evaluate the above mentioned issues by creating an interactive forum. The use of computers by students and teachers can achieve higher levels of insight when sharing resources at a personalized level such as computers. This is in cases where teachers offer students learning problems, and using computer mediated communication, students can brainstorm via peer apprenticeship learning (Soong 596). Computers in the education environment, as mentioned above, can also be used to back up lessons and brainstorming sessions for purposes of later use where they can be printed out, and teachers can view the thought process of their students. It is through this means that a teacher can understand the struggles of students in the subject areas they are involved. As a result, computers in education provide rich information in co-construction of knowledge and negotiations between them, as well, this way, hidden meta-cognitive activitie s, are exposed for mediation purposes by the teacher and curriculum developers. In addition, computers eliminate the barrier of overt observation and student feedback to correct mistakes. This is through advanced interception of learning and other issues they may be facing difficulties before students as earlier stated, air them. With this in mind, sharing information and collaboration between multiple students is eased rather than before the use of computers. This is because with computer-mediated communication, top students can help those with difficulties easily and without consuming much time. Computers in education can improve learning through the concept of virtualization, where it helps in budgeting school resources. This is concerning the use of multiple computers at the same time, meaning that schools have plenty of hardware to the extent that some of it gets obsolete. In this case, schools are faced with the dilemma of discarding the older computers for new ones or buying new hardware altogether. The concept of virtualization comes in handy by providing an opportunity where the school’s budget can be saved for more important aspects of education (IBM 8). This is done through reusing the old computers for the same purpose only that this time they will only be used to access virtual servers for the same information they would have on their own computers. Purchasing computers is en expensive affair, but vitalizing old hardware allows schools to spend less on computers and get the same level of productivity as having new hardware. The concept of virtualization works hand in hand with long distance education. This is through facilitation of effective information presentation through applications such as PowerPoints and animation programs. Through these, lecturers have an easier task delivering content to students to students, as well as giving lectures. This is because; they facilitate audio-visual representation of information, which make the lear ning process interactive, interesting and fun for both students and teachers. This is especially the case when it comes to saving time and effort utilized in preparation and delivery of a single lesson. Moreover, time spent is reduced, as students do not need to make as many notes as presented by the teacher because; the same content is easily available to the students for