Tag: Technology

Recent Information Technology Failure In a Healthcare Organization

By UniqueWritersBay March 30, 2022 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Healthcare Information Governance Assignment Instructions

Research health care organizations / providers that have recently had a significant information technology failure, and complete this assignment. Write a seven to eight (7-8) page paper in which you:

Determine the key factors contributing to the failure in question. Next, analyze how the failure impacted both the organization’s operations and patient information protection and privacy.
Analyze the leadership team’s reaction to the failure, and indicate whether the leadership took sufficient measures to deal with various stakeholder groups impacted by the failure. Provide support for the rationale.
Take a position on whether the health care provider that you identified should either develop a custom application or select a proprietary system. Provide support for the rationale.
Recommend at least three (3) best practices that any organization could adopt in order to avoid such a failure in the future.
Provide support for the recommendation. Suggest how health care leaders can use project metrics and portfolio management to ensure operational efficiency and effectiveness. Provide specific examples to support the response. Analyze a government intervention into health care businesses, meant to ensure that health care and patient information is secure and thus to minimize information breaches and technology failures.

Health Care Organizations That Had a Significant Information Technology Failure – Sample Paper

Information Governance

Good information technology must enhance cognitive function, provide user experience, can be customized easily and effectively to the needs of the subspecialists and specialists, must effortlessly put the essential information to the hands of the physicians, should keep eHealth information securely, help facilitate better practice of medicine and outcomes and protect patient privacy. All these attributes point to the importance of maintaining an effective information technology in the healthcare setting. The information technology with no doubt has brought improvements in the healthcare setting and has improved the level of outcomes.

However, a poorly designed information technology can bring huge loss of patient data and sometimes can cause patient data breaches as witnessed in the Health Net, which lost a hard drive that had information of close to 1.5 million members. Numerous healthcare providers have experienced information technology breakdowns in the United States.

Health Care Organizations That Had a Significant Information Technology Failure

Network Glitch at Florida Health System

In 2014, IT network failure at Florida Health system paralyzed health operations in its MHS facilities (Stuart, 2014). According to the hospital officials, the failure in the hospital hardware system paralyzed operations for about two days. A hardware failure in the three-hospital Martin Hospital in Stuart caused an unexpected downtime in the hospital’s Epic EMR and other applications. In fact, the breakdown affected thirteen of the hospital MHS facilities.

Although the breakdown occurred in the evening of Wednesday, the hospital officials reported that the IT department resolved the problem and restored the services by Friday (Stuart, 2014). The hospital officials asserted that although the problem affected the Epic EMR, the cause was attributed to the hardware breakdown. The hospital spokesperson, Scott Samples asserted that the hospital had to resort to manual patient documentation and charting system, as the patient care was their priority. In the same hospital during the launch of its Epic MRC in 2011, Samples had asserted the development of proper processes to ensure patient safety and proper documentation in such processes of downtime. He pointed that the health system would follow due processes in order to ascertain the causes of the glitch and prevent such events in future.

Sutter-Health in Northern California

As more hospitals ditch paper work for electronic record systems, more downtime glitches are reported in the United States. The other recent occurrence of a downtime on patient care is the Sutter Health in Northern California that occurred in August 2014, (Stuart, 2014). In an event similar to that of the Florida Health system, the hospital’s $1 billion Epic EMR experienced downtime that paralyzed hospital operations for a whole day. According to a press response from Sutter nurses, the glitch caused a compromise on the patient care.

The problem extended to the hospital patient data backup system and when the hospital nurses resorted to printing the patient data using the hospital’s Pyxis system, the data print out was outdated by two to three days. According to a RN at Alta Sates Summit Medical Center and California Nurses Union representative for the hospital, the patients were concerned for failure to receive their medications for a whole day. Although the downtimes were from Citrix glitch, the hospital officials denied naming the vendor (Stuart, 2014). However, they issued a statement to regret the inconvenience that was caused to the patients.

How the Failures Impacted Both the Organization’s Operations and Patient Information Protection and Privacy

The failure of the hardware in the Florida Health system paralyzed operations in its MHS. Although the hospital was able to resort to manual chart and documentation of patient data, there was likelihood that it caused many patient inconveniences due to time taken to offer medication. In addition, given that the glitch took two days to rectify, explains the extent of inconvenience and the risks it exposed the electronic medical data.

According to (Johnson & Willey, 2011), healthcare data loses can result in social stigma and privacy violations. The failures of the Epic EMR in Florida Health system opened an avenue for consequential changes in the patient medical information. For example, changes in information such as blood type or allergies can affect patient health. Therefore, the downtime in Florida Health system exposed patient data to possible privacy breaches and improper diagnosis.

The Sutter Health in Northern California case caused a lot of patient inconvenience, although it just occurred for a day. The fact that the retrieval of patient data from hospital backup system produced data that was outdated by two to three days, meant the system failure exposed the patients to wrong diagnosis. In addition, the system opened up loopholes for data loss in the hospital electronic data storage. The reliance of the Sutter Health in Northern California in its Epic EMR meant that many of the patients were not able to receive their medications for most of the day and almost paralyzed the operations in the hospital.

The Leadership Team’s Reaction to the Failures

The reactions of the leadership in the failures that affected Florida Health system and Sutter Health in Northern California were almost similar. Both leaderships failed to own responsibility for the failures. In addition, the hospitals response failed to give comprehensive information regarding the steps the hospitals took in order to secure patient information during the time of the failures. The spokesperson for Sutter Health in Northern California just issued a statement expressing the regret for the inconvenience caused by the downtime in the hospital EMR. In addition, the hospital leadership declined to name the vendor of the Epic EMR, only for the medical representative to name it.

However, the leadership of the Florida Health system reacted by ensuring the patient care experienced minimum inconvenience, when it resorted to the manual patient data documentation and charting. The numbers of the patients in both hospitals, whose data was exposed was huge and it could easily have led to a breach of the HIPAA regulations. According to (Gamble, 2012), a number of regulations govern the Electronic Medical Records. The first legal aspect covers the risks of medical malpractice. The Florida Health system in the case above was concerned with patient care and the hospital leadership worked to ensure that minimum inconvenience was caused and that patient care was not compromised due to the failure of its Epic EMR. Its use of the manual system worked and patient care experienced minimal inconveniences.

However, the Sutter Health in Northern California use of the Pyxis system produced outdated data, which would have exposed the hospital to the breach of the HIPAA regulations governing EMR. The reactions of the Sutter Health in Northern California to resort to Pyxis system exposed the physicians against risks of medical malpractice claims, likelihood of medical errors and vulnerability to fraud claims. In addition, the failure of the hospital leadership to provide detailed information of the cause of the downtime and the steps it took to secure patient data as well as ensure patient care was not compromised, was insufficient.

Position on Whether the Health Care Providers Should either Develop a Custom Application or Select a Proprietary System

As the healthcare system in the United States adopts more electronic healthcare records (EHRs), the numbers of vendors have narrowed. In 2013, about ten EHRs vendors accounted about 90% of the HER market in the hospital sector in the country. These vendors include Epic, Cerner, Healthland, MEDITECH, Siemens, CPSI, McKesson, NextGen Healthcare, Allscripts and Healthcare Management Systems (Gregg, 2014). However, only three of the ten vendors expanded their market in 2013. These vendors include Epic, MEDITECH and Cerner. Although there are national efforts to improve safety, effectiveness and quality, there is need for the healthcare organizations to be prepared for the failures that occasionally come up with the adoption of the EHRs applications.

In regard to the failures that occurred in the Epic EMRs in Sutter Health in Northern California and Florida Health system, there is need to adopt custom applications. When an organization adopts proprietary system, there is likelihood of the laxity from the supplier company and this poses great risk in the event of any system failure. Most of the proprietary applications are one company owned and once the companies sell the copies of its software to cover its development costs, every other unit sold generates pure profit and this reduces company emphasis on innovation or efficiency (Muir, 2011). As seen in the case of Sutter Health in Northern California, the presence of the Pyxis system would provide an alternative when the Epic system failed. Therefore, there is need for Sutter Health in Northern California and Florida Health system to integrate multiple disparate systems in order to have comprehensive custom applications for their EMRs (Vest & Gamm, 2010).

Recommendation of Best Practices That Any Organization Could Adopt In Order To Avoid Such a Failure In The Future

The failures of hospital EHRs causes inconveniences to the patients and can hinder patient care (Terry, 2013). In order to avoid such occurrences as witnessed in the Sutter Health in Northern California and Florida Health system, there is need for healthcare organizations to adopt a number of strategies. The following are the recommendations, which when adopted, can help in avoiding such failures in future.

First, avoid proprietary and adopt custom applications in order to ensure the healthcare information system is interfaced with the available information technology infrastructure. As witnessed in the case of the Florida Health system, there was no backup for the healthcare records, due to dependence on the proprietary Epic application in its EMRs. The presence of backup system in Sutter Health in North California allowed an access of patient data. However, lack of interfacing with the existent hospital information technology, led to retrieval of out dated data. Therefore, there is need to interface the HIT with the existing hospital information technology in order to ensure continuity of patient care in case of a glitch.

Second, identify and mitigate risks before they occur. The hospital information and technology department should conduct system updates and regular checks in order to troubleshoot and prevent major downtimes that can derail the operations in the hospitals. The regular checks should also take into consideration the security checks in order to ensure that appropriate measures are in place in order to prevent any data loss in case of any system failure. As noted in the case of the Sutter Health in North California, the hospital patient information is very vital and it goes a long way in enhancing the work of the physicians. Making such information available all the time is very important in ensuring the continuity of patient care.

Third, exercise good governance, learn from others and past events in order to benchmark on the best practices. There is need for the senior management should ensure the organizational mission and vision are focused on efficiency, increasing quality and delivery of services in organized and cost effective way. It is with no doubt that EMRs play a critical role in enhancing vision and mission. However, there is need for the top management to support the EMR in order to realize successful implementation (Cellucci, Wiggins, & Trimmer, 2011). Most EMR failures result from its poor implementations.

How Health Care Leaders Can Use Project Metrics and Portfolio Management to Ensure Operational Efficiency and Effectiveness

The project portfolio involves the maximization of use of the available resources and organizational capabilities in order to ensure the meeting of the desired outcomes, within the constraints of technology, finance, vision and mission (van Angeren, Blijleven, & Batenburg, 2014). The project metrics are data that give a measurement of the projects. The healthcare organizations can use a combination of shrewd resource allocation and project metrics in ensuring that its operations are effective.

An organization in analysis the costs of project, selecting the project that is cost effective and providing good control measures, it can ensure a project that is efficient and affordable. In addition, the evaluation and controls in portfolio management help in prevention of inconveniences caused by failures in projects. Besides, the use of metrics ensures that the right projects are selection and implemented.

Government Intervention into Health Care Businesses, Meant To Ensure That Health Care and Patient Information Is Secure and Thus To Minimize Information Breaches and Technology Failures

The federal government through the HIPAA act has enacted a number of regulations that govern the safety of patient data (DesRoches & Miralles, 2010). The federal government through its federal stimulus package of 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 has a number of provisions as drafted in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act provide an encouragement for the hospitals to adopt electronic medical records. It is evident that as much as the government provides framework for adoption of the EMR, it exercises also it other core responsibility of regulation.

The most important aspect of the healthcare security is the security of the patient information, which includes the medical information. Any lose of the patient information is not like lose of a financial card, which can be re-issued and another one issued. When patient data is lost, it can be used for impersonation or to solicit for money. Therefore, the government through the HIPAA has provided a number of regulations that protects the patient against risks associated with loss of their medical information in case of security breaches or system failures.

Remote Patient Monitoring – Technologies Supporting Applied Practice and Optimal Patient Outcomes

By UniqueWritersBay January 17, 2022 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Healthcare Information Technology Trends

The healthcare sector has, over the past two decade, witnessed a gradual surge in the integration and implementation of technological innovations in practice. Today, developments of this kind are commonplace within standard nurse practice environments. They are embraced with the main aim of improving conditions for healthcare providers; often anticipated to promote the provision of high-quality care and the attainment of patients’ goals (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). Among the most common trends apparent today is a drive towards informatics and emphasizing on the conceivable benefits of evaluating patient data to improve overall care outcomes.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have observed an increase in the adoption of telehealth-type trends and their subsequent use within my healthcare organization. For instance, Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) is common aspect of care provision and is now generally regarded as a valuable tool in collecting healthcare data. RPM is currently recommended for chronic disease management and feted for its ability to promote self-management healthcare skills (Bhatia et al., 2021). Yet, one must also consider potential challenges, risks, and benefits posed by RPM integration and other future prospects relating to the overall improvement of patient care outcomes, efficiencies, and data management.

Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)

Potential Challenges

At the present moment, a major challenge preventing the widespread adoption of Remote Patient Monitoring technology revolves around cost implications of software and hardware infrastructure. Operationalization of RPM technology typically requires the creation of a robust digital framework to host a database, middleware, and interface (Singh & Mittal, 2016). The sensitive nature of patient data often requires high-end security algorithms to monitor large volumes of data in real-time and, eventually, relaying this data to respective healthcare providers. Furthermore, a team of skilled professionals is also required to set up RPM systems and, more often than not, exceeds the budget and financial capability of most healthcare facilities.

Potential Risks

Confidentilaity remains a major concern in the implementation of Remote Patient Monitoring platforms since they are primarily based on the electronic exchange of private health data between clients and healthcare providers. For instance cameras and sensors, strategically positioned in a patient’s home, may inadvertently transmit sensitive information related to personal activities posing a real privacy concern. Additionally, a possible risk of healthcare providers sharing patient data with third-partly advertisers also exists and may hinder efforts to keep such information private. The possible benefits of RPM could, therefore, be undermined in case privacy and confidentiality issues are not addressed promptly.

Potential Benefits

Remote Patient Monitoring is a highly beneficial technological trend in healthcare today. Its presence within a healthcare facility reduces the possibility of adverse health events and increases the likelihood of a positive outcome in the long haul. Patients with chronic diseases, such type 2 diabetes, benefit greatly from the daily transmission of data from insulin pumps to their care providers (Salehi et al., 2020). This type of information is routinely assessed to determine whether patients are meeting set records and adhering to physician’s recommendations. Inferences made from evaluations of this kind then guide healthcare provider’s decision on whether further intervention is warranted.

Future Prospects

RPM is a revolutionary trend capable of piloting improvements in patient care outcomes and efficacies. Monitoring of patients while conducting routine follow-ups will improve patient care outcomes by improving care-seeking behave and attitudes towards healthcare providers (Rao-Gupta et al., 2018). Similarly, Remote Patient Monitoring also provides a unique platform for relaying health promotion and disease prevention information to improve compliance in the long haul. Care provider’s efficiency will also profit from RPM since it promotes productivity through remote scheduling, resulting in an overall reduction in the overall risk of burnout (Firanek 2017). Apart from reducing the cost of care, RPM also improves the direct role of healthcare provider’s in client’s lives by providing a level of assurance and comfort.

Technology and Robbins’s Organizational Model

By UniqueWritersBay August 24, 2021 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Robbin’s organizational model portrays the organization as a product of three components namely complexity, formalization, and centralization (Pertusa-Ortega, Zaragoza-Sáez, & Claver-Cortés, 2010). Complexity is the degree to which the organization differentiates its operations. Most organizations differentiate operations horizontally, vertically, or spatially. Formalization refers to the level of job specialization. The magnitude of formalization varies with the type and size of organization. Centralization is the degree to which the power of decision-making is concentrated at one point. Complexity, formalization, and centralization are impacted by technology in various ways.

With regard to complexity, technology shapes the way an organization sets up different units and hierarchical level, as well as where it locates its premises (Grint & Woolgar, 2013). A company that uses technology in production is likely to be horizontally differentiated according to nature of tasks and capabilities of machinery. Technology may also lead to the elimination of specific units, particularly ones that contribute to waste or those for which tasks are completely automated. A company may also choose location based on availability and affordability of certain technologies required in the firm’s operations. For instance, technology companies tend to locate their factories in china because of availability of technology among other factors.

Formalization is also impacted significantly by technology. Notably, technology affects not only how tasks are undertaken but also the level of expertise needed to operate machinery (Grint & Woolgar, 2013). Some jobs may be entirely replaced by automated machines while others may require individuals to shift their roles. Finally, technology can make it easier for a company to manage its operations from a centralized position because of its ability to facilitate communication, task automation, and efficiency (Grint & Woolgar, 2013).

In conclusion, technology impacts complexity, formalization, and centralization in various ways. Key areas of impact include differentiation, specialization, and management styles. A notable example of how technology has transformed organizations can be revealed by Amazon’s use of robots and ecommerce in the management of inventory and delivery of orders to customers.

New Technology Effects on Equilibrium in Product Markets and Economy

By UniqueWritersBay August 12, 2021 Uncategorized 0 Comments

In the course of the past two decades, the world of commodities has been largely influenced by a cycle of rising and falling prices of energy, raw materials, and products due to the onset of an era of new technologies. Indeed, technological innovations, including the adoption of the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, robotics, and data analytics, coupled with microeconomic and macroeconomic trends are now at the core of transformation of the consumption and production of products. These tendencies imply that new technologies have significantly influenced equilibrium in product markets. This essay explores this influence while focusing on the automotive and computing sectors. The justification underlying the choice of these sectors is their maturity as well as their massive economies of scale, oligopoly competition, and capital intensiveness. Specifically, the author addresses two types of technologies: The first type influences the supply curve by improving the flexibility and efficiency of production lines in mainstream products while the second type impacts the demand curve by incorporating ground-breaking features in products.

Effects of new Technology on the Equilibrium in Product Markets and the Economy

Technology Influencing Supply Curve

Microeconomics. The entre marketplace is made up of consumers and companies that produce a specific group of products. In economics terms, this includes low-end, mainstream, and high-end or luxury products. The market equilibrium is represented by point A in figure 1, where the demand is equal to the supply of goods. At price P1, the equilibrium output is Q1. The demand and supply curves are not necessarily represented by straight lines as shown in figure 1 in a real world scenario but rather by parabolic curves. The oligopoly tendencies depicted by the automotive and computing markets can be illustrated using a kinked demand curve with elastic demand from a low quantity to the equilibrium point and inelastic demand from that point onwards. Both markets are moving toward perfect competition due to the projected increase in the demand of vehicles and computing hardware.

The introduction of new technologies augments efficiency of production and enhances productivity. As a result, the supply curve shifts to the right in response to the increase in production and decrease in price. Past studies have supported this supposition with Khan Academy (2010) and Boundless (2017) reinforcing the case for lowered production costs and increased outputs. There is also a strong link between these trends and the adoption of new technologies in the production process. The incorporation of technologies is not only beneficial to the firms but also to the consumers because the market is able to supply more vehicles at cheaper prices. Even so, massive automation in factories could cause the rise of unemployment, especially when perceived from a macroeconomic viewpoint.

Benefits to some firms may be trivial since the new equilibrium point symbolizes increase inequalities and decrease in prices. The elasticity of the demand curve poses a profound effect for all firms operating in the market. In particular, there’s a huge gap between elastic and inelastic demand curves since the gain minus the loss is relatively higher in inelastic demand. Mainstream products are particularly crowded and have many substitute goods with similar traits, which means that the demand curve will portray elastic behavior and increase the revenue for firms. Thus, it can be argued that firms aim at the production of more products because they are likely to record higher financial rewards, but this profitability cannot be equaled and is quite different from the sales revenue.

In perfect competition markets, such as the automotive industry, each company experiences a perfectly elastic demand in which the marginal revenue and the average revenue are equal unceremoniously. Thus, it is anticipated that any company that augments its productions with new technology will record higher output capacities and lower production costs. Nevertheless, it is important to note that not all operations in the firm are profit maximizers, a good case being corporate social responsibility involvement.

Macroeconomics. The introduction of new technology inflates the Production Possibility Frontier (PPF) in the economy. A simple economy that produces two products – computing hardware and C-segment vehicles – is represented in Figure 2. The adoption of new technologies pushes the PPF toward the positive direction from A1B1 to A2B2, owing to the fact that the same capacity of resources generate a higher quantity of goods. Thus, technology brings about an expansion of the economy regardless of the robots vs. human resources debate. When introduced in the long-run, new technology causes to a small increase in aggregate supply, leading to a deflationary boom in which inflation decreases and output increases (EconomicsHelp.org, 2016). Be that as it may, small production outputs cannot elicit noticeable changes in aggregate supply.

Increase in production outputs is advantageous to the economy as a whole because it creates abundance and cuts down unemployment, though extensive adoption of automation may lead to joblessness. The case of unemployment arising from technology has existed since the inception of the steam engine in the eighteenth century and some countries are planning on solving the problem by introducing universal salaries to protect labor forces that are constantly replaced by new technologies.

Apart from unemployment, the other issue concerning macroeconomics is inflation. Many economists suggest that a level that falls below the target point of two percent is ideal. The monetarists believe that inflation is subject to money supply and central bank policies. Their argument is that expansionist monetary policies lead to lower interest rates when inflation falls below the target point, resulting in cheaper loans, lower savings, higher expenditure and consumption, as well as enhanced investments. Thus, inflation rises after some period, causing opposite effects in the economy. On the other hand, Keynesians embrace monetary policies and consider the role of the government in the control of the economy via fiscal guidelines.

Technology Influencing Demand Curve

Microeconomics. When firms include new technologies in products, there are two expected effects in the demand curve. Initially, the products will elicit higher demand because of the new differentiated features (Singh, 2006; Case at al., 2014). Nevertheless, for the case of the automotive industry, another effect could be an upsurge of product sharing such as the situation of Uber. Figure 3 illustrates the increase in demand from QD1 to QD2 and the resultant shift of the equilibrium from point A to point B. This further reflects an upturn of prices from P1 to P2 and the rise of production from Q1 to Q2. Hence, the firm records higher profitability from the produced goods.

On account of technology, the demand curve is likely to have elastic behavior primarily because the new products contain new features which make the market more tolerant to price alterations. Small changes in production could cause a pronounced increase in price in the case of increased production. Oppositely, more elastic curves can be characterized by smaller changes in price in response to bigger changes of production (Gillespie 2015). The combination of both effects can be illustrated by a shift of the demand curve to the right and less elasticity. This translates to an advantage for firms operating in the markets since it can lead to high production until marginal costs equate to marginal revenues, with additional benefits of increased revenues.

It is important to note that when differentiated products, such as autonomous cars, include new features, some firms would lose their innovation and result in higher elasticity in the market. This will be most likely the case with C-segment vehicles which can present an analogous demand curve branded by a small increase in demand, because of the added value of new technological functionalities. Under the new equilibrium, the mainstream segment of products would enjoy the advantage of an augmented demand, which would further translate to higher prices, outputs, and revenue.

Macroeconomics. With assumption that a set of mainstream products contain a new technological feature, the resultant trend would be the solution of a common problem in the society. For instance, if autonomous driving goes mainstream in all vehicles in the C-segment, the general society would experience the effects of fewer accidents, more time because of less driving tendencies, fewer taxi drivers, among other implications. People could use the saved time for other activities like schooling, working, or even entertaining themselves. Notably, this additional time can have numerous benefits for the economy especially for the case working individuals (Caselli & Coleman II, 2006). Figure 4 shows the effects of expanded PPF.

The inclusion of new technology in products can also lead to demand pull inflation, a case where the economy experiences an increase in inflation and national output. Considering the case of autonomous driving, the increase of demand and consumption of vehicles with revamped features along with an increase in investment by companies, and thus increasing stocks and assets, could compel the government to boost expenditure through the implementation of updated transport systems and the export of goods in the case of countries that manufacture those products. The increase of national output is particularly beneficial to the economy although an increase in inflation can elicit mixed effects based on the closeness to the inflation target. In this case, Keynesians and monetarists would apply the method discussed earlier.

All Industries

In general, new technologies affect the supply curve while other minor aspects of technology modify the demand curve. With regard to the equilibrium price point, the supply curve slopes left to right while the demand curve slopes downwards. The intersection of the two is called the equilibrium price point. Adoption of technology in a bid to augment production most commonly shifts the supply curve. This is because technical advancements in production imply that firms can produce more products at lower costs, thus pushing the supply curve from left to right. Further, this lowers the equilibrium price point with the exception of special cases where demand rises to meet the augmented production at the current prices. Contingent on the type of good under scrutiny, technology can eliminate demand completely. For instance, a good can become obsolete after technological advancements facilitate the production of a more effective substitute good that sells at the same price point. Technological advancements can also ease the process of market entry in some industries or even make a sector more attractive to suppliers. The entry of more suppliers in such a case would push the supply curve outward owing to the increase of goods in the market at the same price point.

Conclusion

In sum, this essay has explored the effects of new technologies on the equilibrium in product markets and the economy in general. Firstly, the author has concluded that technology can lead to improvements in production lines and consequently affect the supply curve. In a microeconomic point of view, technology brings lower prices to consumers and higher revenues to firms due to lower cost of production of each product. Even so, profitability may not equate to revenues because of factors that dominate the case of each firm. Taking a macroeconomic approach, it can be said that technology can enhance PPF and augment a country’s production output. Even so, it may have adverse effects on employment since the inclusion of technology in production lines eliminates the need of human labor. Secondly, the author infers that the incorporation of technology in products can cause an increase in demand. In a microeconomic viewpoint, the adoption of technology in products introduced product differentiation which further causes a reduction in elasticity of the demand curve. Finally, the macroeconomic discussion finds that products that are differentiated on the basis of technology save time and effort which can be used for other productive activities that are beneficial to the economy. Decisively, it can be surmised that new technologies lead to increased production in all industries, additional supply of products to the market, reduced prices for the consumers, higher revenues for firms, higher unemployment rates, conservation of time and effort, and higher productivity in the economy.

The Worrying Future Of Technology

By UniqueWritersBay July 14, 2021 Uncategorized 0 Comments

The future of technology is indeed worrying as its misuse has led to a deviation from the roles it was intended to have within the society, to the adoption of more controlling role that domineers over every aspect of human existence, frequently shakes the cultural foundation upon which individuals thrive, redefines social structures on a daily basis, informs change in perspectives, gives the media an incredible amount of status within the society and even has the capacity to affect individuals’ moods and emotions (Sasvari, 2012). It is incredibly unusual that technology, especially the internet, has had such modifying effects on every aspect of human existence; from manufacturing to commerce to education, medicine, research and even social interactions. These achievements would have been impossible for prior technologies that focused on improving production, and manufacturing processes and increasing the life expectancy of human beings.

It is incredibly worrying that the world went from industrial oriented, practically harmless technology that was limited to the manufacturing processes and increasing the level of productivity due to an increased demand for processed goods that had been brought about by the dramatic increase in the world’s population as a result of an increase in the life expectancy of human beings, due to new innovations in science, to the full-blown world wide web in just a couple of decades (Illing, 2018). We should be worried that we were not given enough warning or time to adjust to the kind of change that would be brought about by the new technology. Families have not had enough time to educate their children on the negative impacts of technology as they are still ignorant of these effects or are still trying to adjust to its presence in their everyday lives in the first place.

We are creating a world where people believe that ‘friends’ on the internet can substitute real social interaction and social support, where individuals spend more time on their smartphones talking to strangers than they spend creating new relationships or building on existing relationships with family and friends (Bryant, 2006). It is ironic that social media platforms were to reduce distances, foster communication and enrich the social lives of individuals yet people who are addicted to social media often suffer from incredible isolation, have dysfunctional or non-existent relationships with their family and friends and often experience incredible anxiety when they are not connected (Al Yousef, 2006). We are creating a world where people do not want to experience reality, where individuals express an incessant preference for a virtual reality where everything is controlled to their own liking as opposed to the real world where things happen at random (Illing, 2018).

Despite the seemingly attractive nature of this virtual reality, it will lead to a situation where we lose touch with our reality, with the peculiarities that make us human and become mindless and uninteresting. Meanwhile, advances in technology will be looking at engineering the human species by changing genetic codes and their expression to create a human being that is more suited to a particular purpose, and at the same time transform artificial intelligence forms to a form that is more adaptable, thinks, acts and learns much like a human being does (Illing, 2018). We will create a world where we become predictable and AIs become less so, the potential implications of this kind of society are disastrous to the human race.

Even as we enjoy the benefits of technology such as; paperless environment, education, e-commerce, employment opportunities, effective time management and diversity in the ways to use our free time through the convenient access to reading materials, music, videos and games, we must also consider that once technology is misused, it cancels out its benefits in the same way that it provided them (Adebiyi, 2012). A paperless environment is good for the environment but a power hungry computer is detrimental to energy conservation initiatives. E-commerce has provided for a convenient trading environment, but it has also increased the level of Cybercrime and risks associated with making online transactions. Employment opportunities have been created in the form of; social media influencers, graphic design and virtual assistants, just to name but a few. However, jobs have also been taken away as a result of automation, and the use of artificial intelligence (Adebiyi, 2012). Moreover, the provision of effective ways to manage our time through the variety of applications, that offer this service as well as the provision of a variety of ways to utilize our free time has led to inactivity, increased violence due to the violent content of the entertainment material present on the internet and have contributed immensely to obesity becoming a public health threat in developed countries.

Despite cancelling out the benefits that it aims to provide, the acquisition of new technology is an expensive affair Smartphones companies upgrade device features and value almost on a daily basis. This creates overwhelming social pressure on individuals as the acquisition of expensive technology has become a mediator of social status. People who cannot afford expensive technology often experience a sense of isolation due to the reduced face to face interactions and their inability to connect with other members of the society through this new technology (Adebiyi, 2012).

The influence of technology in the future is terrifying and the future is bleak for individuals who will continue to immerse themselves into the benefits of technology without giving any consideration to its negative effects. We must learn to exercise restraint and advise future generations, through constructive dialogue, about these negative effects and protect them from them up to a certain age when they are responsible enough to handle themselves around technology without becoming completely addicted (Younes & Al-Zoubi, 2015).

Modern Trends in Information Technology

By UniqueWritersBay July 7, 2021 Uncategorized 0 Comments

The 21^st century exhibits increased establishment and advancement of information technology, which has become an integral part of modern society daily life. According to Pylkin et al. (2019), information technology refers to the study, design, application, development, and management of computer-based information systems. Information technology has served as an agent of change in various aspects of society and business. It is a game-changer in resolving social and economic issues. This paper seeks to discuss modern trends in information technology, including various software and hardware, and how they have transformed the lives of people. As part of information technologies, social media have become very popular in recent years and have changed the lives of different individuals, both positively and negatively.

However, as technology develops and expands, the rates of cybercrimes have grown consistently and exponentially with the growth of information technology. Fortunately, the government has formulated cyber laws that assist in cabbing these criminal activities. Information technology, such as various software, hardware, and social media, has transformed modern society significantly. However, information technology has also brought vices, such as cybercrimes, which have negatively impacted the community, leading to the formulation of cyber laws as an attempt to combat the evil.

Information Technology System/ Software

Information technology includes various layers of management systems, virtualization, and operating systems, among other system software. System software includes computer programs that use the primary computing systems. Some of the modern software trends include the following:

Blockchain

Blockchain software is synonymous to Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency revolution. The software has triggered a significant impact in modern development. The advantage of the software is its decentralization character. Blockchain can store any data in a public-facing database, which is almost impossible for hackers to corrupt or alter (Siddiqui et al., 2016). Blockchain is among the newest developments in information technology, and software developers are looking for exciting and new ways to implement it. Blockchain has impacted the financial industry significantly as it has eliminated the need for intermediation and reconciliation between traders by enabling direct transactions between business partners.

Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things is among the trending software systems all over the world. From a smart microwave to Bluetooth trackers, devices connected to the Internet do not relegate to cellphones and computers. The rollout of 5G technology has enabled more users to take the opportunity of power efficiency and wireless bandwidth (Pylkin et al., 2019). The ability of IoT to write code for small Internet-connected and energy-efficient devices has remained a powerful achievement in recent years. The Internet of Things has transformed modern society’s life significantly. For instance, it has enabled doctors to access their patients’ information faster. Wearable Internet-connected devices track a patient’s blood pressure, pulse, and heart rate accurately, in a compact manner, and affordably.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence software is a program that mimics the behaviors of humans by learning various patterns, data, and insights. The future of the software includes voice and speech recognition, machine learning, and virtual assistance, among others. Through machine learning, deep learning, or wider artificially intelligent software, organizations rely on artificial intelligence to fundamentally transform their companies (Mauerhoefer et al., 2017). For example, artificial intelligence has significantly improved the quality of healthcare services. Artificial Intelligence software like IBM Watson provides more immediate and error-free answers with accurate and fast data mining. Additionally, the software has increased human safety due to the implementation of artificial intelligence sensors.

Cloud ERP Software

Cloud EPR software is a program that enables users to access Enterprise Resource Planning software through the Internet. The software has significantly reduced upfront cost since computing resources are ordered monthly instead of purchasing and maintaining the software within business premises. In recent years, companies have realized the increasing need for data recovery and high accessibility. This need has forced both public and private entities to adopt cloud technology for both business and human life significantly. Cloud technology eliminates numerous costs for firms (Pylkin et al., 2019). Store data with the help of the cloud allows eliminating most paper file costs. Moreover, the need for servers is unnecessary when a company transfers to cloud computing. Additionally, the system enables employees to access all of their data from any location.

Progressive Web Apps

In recent few years, android software developers have realized the benefits of mobile apps and websites. This software has led to the emergence of the progressive web app that appeared to have gotten a perfect middle ground. These apps are straightforward to maintain and to develop and therefore attract numerous mobile developers’ organizations. What is more, it is possible to upload these apps rapidly even with slow Internet connection. While a website provides accessibility convenience from any browser, apps entirely embrace the software and hardware capabilities (Siddiqui et al., 2016). Progressive Web Apps have combined the best features of both realms.

Information Technology System/Hardware

Hardware is the physical components of a computer. Hardware includes constituents inside a gadget, such as RAM, processing unit, sound card, graphic cards, power supply unit, and others. Some of the recently developed hardware include the following:

Mobile Payment Devices

Mobile payment devices are credit card readers from organizations such as Intuit, Payanywhere, Shopify, and other providers that have revolutionized the payment sector in recent years. The ability for entrepreneurs or organizations to receive payment from clients on mobile phones has made it easier to attract more entrepreneurship and has increased gross profit. The high demand for contactless payment from consumers is due to its security, rapidness, and its simplicity to use it. The account information then passes from a card or a mobile to a reader device (Mauerhoefer et al., 2017). However, a customer’s card credentials are not revealed to a seller, making it more secure than other typical card payments, hence its popularity.

Smartwatches

Smartwatches are closely related to mobile devices, and they are no strangers to the past decades. However, the modernized device facilitates better integration, app usage, and functionality. The latest trending smartwatch is Apple Watch SE. The watch contains numerous business applications, such as enabling communication via emails, phone calls, texting, managing to-do lists, receiving trip or calendar itinerary notifications, and translating texts (Siddiqui et al., 2016). Moreover, it is possible to explain the smartwatch popularity through its features of monitoring individual health and location tracking while exercising.

Amazon Echo

Amazon Echo, commonly known as Alexa, provides various potential business applications, mainly a consumer device. The Amazon Echo (4th Gen) was released in 2020 and operated not to be limited to native capability. Many additional functions are applicable in its talents’ repertoire, such as dictionary/spell check and time tracking translation. A business function provided by modernized Alexa is compelling and diverse. Some of the features that help improve workers’ efficiency include using vice-assistant calculation and research, coordinating meetings, translating, tracking travel details, and finding service providers, tasks, or expenses (Pylkin et al., 2019). A consumer ordering goods through Amazon can use New Alexa.

Virtual Reality/Augmented Devices

Virtual reality devices appeared as a game-related novelty concept. However, virtual/augmented devices may offer benefits to businesses as well. Virtual/augmented devices, such as Oculus Quest 2, allow the retail industry’s customers to interact with their commodities (Siddiqui et al., 2016). For example, Oculus Quest 2 assists in planning and designing to simulate the required business outcomes. Additionally, the real estate industry can utilize Oculus Quest 2 to show virtual tours. What is more, Oculus Quest 2 can help in training, education, and even in surgeries. Finally, it is possible to work with various data using Oculus Quest 2.

Drones

Though drone devices have been there for decades, the technology advanced when Amazon started delivering packages using drones in 2017. Other companies have implemented the use of drones in their operations. For instance, UPS was awarded a certificate by the FAA to use drones on healthy campuses throughout the country (Mauerhoefer et al., 2017). Other business uses of drone devices include security surveillance, photography, and aerial exploration. Drones, such as DJI Mavic Air 2, are important devices in the photography industry. This device fits with OcuSync 2.0 transmission that offers a crystal-clear HD feed, making it perfect for long-distance flights as it enables a user to view everything on a remote control screen in real-time.

Social Media

Social media is an Internet-based technology that enhances the sharing of thoughts, ideas, and information through virtual network building and communities. Social media may involve a computer-based design that provides faster electronic communication content. Such content includes documents, personal information, videos, documents, and photos.

Facebook

Facebook is the largest social media site globally, with about two billion users engaging with it every month. About sixty-five million businesses and more than seven million advertisers promote their products on this social media (Mauerhoefer et al., 2017). Its popularity is associated with its compatibility with almost every content format, including stories, live videos, video clips, images, and texts. However, the social media algorithm prioritizes content that enhances meaningful interactions and conversations between individuals, especially friends and family.

WhatsApp is a messaging app with more than 1.5 billion users in more than 180 nations globally. Initially, individuals only used this social media to communicate with friends and family. Eventually, social media expanded to allow business communities to share information via WhatsApp. WhatsApp has been developing their business platform to enable corporations to have a better business profile, offer customer support, and update customers on their activities (Siddiqui et al., 2016). For small enterprises, the social media has developed the WhatsApp Business app. Additionally, the social media has developed the WhatsApp Business API suitable for large and medium businesses.

YouTube

YouTube is a platform with 1.9 billion users and the second most used search engine after Google. YouTube is a video-sharing platform where individuals watch billions of videos daily. The reason for YouTube’s popularity among businesses in recent years has been that it harbors potentially massive audiences for corporations and the ability to tag keywords on videos to have a good opportunity for accessibility during searching. Moreover, YouTube has been assisting in studying languages, traveling, and other procedures. Real estate and travel companies have been using YouTube to show virtual tours of their properties and services.

Ethical Issues Related to Facebook, Whatsapp, and YouTube Uses

Most individuals live by their ethics and morals, and everybody has their own belief about what is wrong and right in life. However, it appears that when it comes to online presence and social media usage, some companies and individuals believe ethical behavior is arguable. Some of the ethical issues that relate to the use of social media include transparency. Transparency in the social media context implies accountability, communication, and openness. Many individuals and companies in social media tell white lies. Some businesses use social media to avoid losses and secure gains (Hosseini et al., 2018).

Another ethical issue associated with the use of social media is anonymity. Each individual has the right to privacy; however, social media changes the concept of anonymity in some cases. Allowing individuals the freedom to log in as anonymous has caused issues to both individual and company reputation. Confidentiality is one more ethical issue associated with the use of Facebook, Whatsapp, and YouTube. For example, an institution’s, such as a hospital or a bank, code of ethics requires them to maintain high confidentiality about their clients. However, when these companies advertise their services on social media, they expose their clients to the public, which is a breach of confidentiality. Lastly, social sensitivity is the ability to understand, perceive, and respect the viewpoint and feelings of others. An example is when an individual posts disturbing content, such as photos taken in an accident scene or videos demonstrating other individuals’ private affairs without considering their feelings.

Cybercrime in the UAE

Cybercrimes are criminal activities targeting or using computer networks to undertake fraudulent activities. These activities are economically, financially, politically, and ideologically motivated. In the United Arab Emirates, cybercrime activities involving money laundering, identity frauds, cyber-extortion, and corporate data theft are rampant (Pylkin et al., 2019).For instance, Ramon Abbas displayed a lavish lifestyle to his followers on social media. Furthermore, he uploaded a video focusing on how he was tossing money, claiming he was a real estate developer. However, the federal government got suspicious of his extravagant life. On tracking the digital trails of evidence, the lifestyle he led was financed from money laundering, whereby he hacked millions of dollars from mega-companies in Europe and America (Al-Ali et al., 2017). Following this crime, Ramon Abbas was arrested and jailed for fifteen years as per the Anti-Money Laundering Law of the UAE.

Conclusion

In conclusion, information technology advancement has become an integral part of society, promoting social and business changes. Computer software, such as blockchain, the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud ERP, and Progressive Web Apps, are modern software developments that increase the efficiency and effectiveness of different activities in society. Computer hardware, such as mobile payment devices, smartwatches, Amazon Echo, Virtual Reality, and drones have enabled proper monitoring and learning through quick collection and dissemination of information. Nevertheless, these advancements have influenced ethical issues concerning transparency, anonymity, and confidentiality of data across agents. Furthermore, instances of cyber-crimes have become rampant, making governments to establish laws to deal with various crimes exclusively.

Drones And Recent Drone Technology

By UniqueWritersBay May 9, 2021 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Drones

A drone, or technically referred to as an unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) is an unmonitored air gadget that operates without a pilot as in the case of jets and other aerial vehicles. For a drone to operate, it has to be controlled from the ground, a process that could be run by a human being or automatically by a computer control system using the remote technology. The collective system that allows and enables the operations of drones is called an unmanned aircraft system, or rather, the UAS consists of the drone, the ground remote controller; manual or automatic and lastly, it also comprises of the communications that are transmitted between the two to complete the cycle. With their original purpose being to aid in military operations that the man workforce saw as too delicate, dangerous and full of peril, drones have since then a transformation in the field and their purposes have gone to be even more. Their stealth nature to a high degree and ease of use makes them popular among the different categories of humans that use them for the different purposes they have them for. The attribute of versatility in the drone functionality is greatly boosted by the fact that cameras are fixed onto their surfaces to aid in location and observation. The size of the camera depends on the size of the drone as proportionality is key to the effectiveness of the drone.

Recent Drone Technology

In July 1849, the first form of drone was used by the Austrian army while trying to suppress the city of Venice, Italy where they delivered balloons safely and caused the intended mayhem the balloons were intended to accomplish. However, the fact that some of the balloons were blown back to Austrian territories and even destroying some of their military artillery and bases meant that there was a lot that needed to be done to improve the drone industry.in the second World War, the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company came up with an aerial bomb destroyer that would explode at a programmed time and would not require a human figure in the cockpit to man it.

It is credible to say that over the years challenges that come with some military operations that involve manpower and human presence while executing missions rendered scientists to assess the risks they carry with them and thus develop more sophisticated technological mileages that would cover for that risk. That meant introducing new drones that would present features of matched efficiency and stealth. The American Air Force, in the year 1959 realized that it was losing a lot of pilots whenever they plied enemy territory and this thus prompted them to adopt the idea of using unmanned aircraft. This meant that they could carry out aerial military attacks on enemies without the risk of losing soldiers. In fact, the process was worsened after the Soviet Union took down an American U-2 in the year 1960. The renowned program dubbed “Red-Wagon” was launched within a week’s time and the design and invention of the first American UAV found feet. The first UAV to be fitted with a camera for the purpose of the surveillance was introduced during the War of Attrition and I was done by the Israeli team of intelligence. After delivering back photos of the Sue Canal to the Israeli intelligence, the world knew that a new age had dawned and was about to grace all its corners. (Dunstan, 2013. P.16). the advantages of using drone strikes in place of real time plane and jet bombings was explained by General George S. Brown who said that “The main and paramount reason we need the UAVs is because they do not have the necessity of directly putting the safety and life of the personnel in the cockpit.” In the same year, General John C. Meyer who was the commander of the strategic air operations made a statement that praised the drones and gave a little but comprehensive response to the importance of drones. In his statement, he said, “we let the drone do the high-risk flying. It is true that the risk levels are high and so are the losses. However, the military is willing to risk and lose more of them. The drones save lives.”

Factors Considered in Drone Making

Ethology

This is a term that stands for the imitation of animal features and characteristics. This involves methods such as the imitation of the structures of the birds and the insects. This give them stealth and make them suitable for surveillance missions. From the bird’s features, the industry has been graced with the Nano Hummingbird, the sub-1g microUAV takes after a fly and has the ability to make landings on dipping surfaces. Another insect the technology of drones has taken from is the unscrewed beetle among other insects.

Endurance

Owing to their small sizes, less output of vibrations and low weight, UAVs have a tendency to consume less fuel since they do not require any fuel mixtures for traction and engine cooling. Additionally, this is made possible by the use of the Wankel rotary engines since they are not subject to shock-cooling during their process of descending in sky heights. Thus, the drones can last over longer distance coverage and even make larger deliveries of weight load. On top of this kind of engine, smaller drones can use flapping wings like those of a locust and enter through even narrower spaces like house windows and chimneys. They are stealthy and their efficiency is top-notch. Solar powered UAVs are also on the rise and work efficiently where solar power in abundance. That also happens to be the major limitation as they cannot operate well in areas with low solar energy intensity. They are however best suitable for activities such as weather observations and analysis, disaster monitoring and recoveries distant communications and lastly, capturing images of the earth’s surface. To boost endurance too, manufacturers have adopted the idea of using microwave power transmission and it has worked wonders alongside laser power beaming that can also power an UAV and achieve excellent results.

Reliability

As for the attribute of reliability, it entails all collective features and qualities to achieve excellence with any UAV. The levels of engineering attached to drone manufacturing and assembling is therefore of high caliber and all aspects are geared towards achieving brilliance with the gadgets. The fact that they can be relied upon in regards to stealth, power and swiftness shows their brilliance and companies always make sure they are putting everything into making them better each time better than the previous one.

Development of Science, Medicine, and Technology Between 3000 BC and AD 476

By UniqueWritersBay April 24, 2021 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Over the course of humanity’s progress, science, medicine and technology emerged as a hallmark of a profound comprehension of the natural world. The inherent thirst for improvement has seen the development of pioneering ideas and technologies which have been manipulated and transformed over the course of time to fulfill a wide range of needs. Science, medicine, and technology have proven instrumental to humanity and with a myriad of far-reaching implications. The formation of communities and societies using scientific, medical, and technological principles is evidence of their ability to shape the course of history while enabling humanity to exercise control over surroundings. Some of the most fundamental transformations in history occurred between 3000 BC and AD 476, through different epochs that relied heavily on science, medicine and technology. Thus, it is fundamental to conduct an in-depth evaluation to trace the development of science, medicine, and technology through time.

Pioneering developments in science, medicine, and technology were a direct result of human inquisitiveness in an attempt to challenge prevailing notions held during ancient times. For instance, the belief that demons were the primary cause of human ailments was prevalent within the Mesopotamian culture where many resorted to magical enchantments. Supplication and rituals were also common within the Mesopotamian belief system since they were yet to adopt science, medical procedures during treatment, and technology. Ancient Egyptians soon became trailblazers in the medical field. The Egyptian civilization relied heavily on advances in medicine and even had doctors to address medical concerns raised by its population.

Hesy-Ra is one first physicians recorded in history and served as the chief doctor for King Djoser. The use of drugs and bandages among Alexandrian doctors became common during this period and served as an indication of advanced medical skills. Knowledge of the human anatomy also increased drastically, with many of physicians now being able to conduct complex surgical procedures.

Scientific, medical, and technological innovations between 3000 BC and AD 476 were an indication of a political environment which fostered change. For instance Greek innovation was supported by leaders within the city-states who viewed them as an indication of monumental developments during the Hellenistic Age. Alexander the Great was particularly keen on supporting innovation and created an enabling environment for his staff to probe botany, astronomy, and zoology. The aforementioned advances were regarded as being essential to the empire since it was only through such leaps that they would stand out among other ancient nations while using this knowledge as part of their agenda to spread civilization. In the eastern Mediterranean, the Mesopotamian civilization began delving deep into sophisticated technology which allowed them to make accurate astrophysical observations when exploring the exact position of planetary bodies. It was also during this period that a concise determination of the concept of time as developed as a tool to guide many of their religious practices and rites. Consequently, the Ancient Egyptians later adopted much of this knowledge and proceeded to apply it within their framework of science, medicine, and technology.

The best example of the application of scientific and technological knowledge in the form of astronomy, algebra, and trigonometry was in the construction of the Great Pyramids of Giza.

Advancements introduced by science, medicine, and technology were also crucial to settling longstanding debate regarding the nature of reality and its constituents. It was only through such developments that empirical evidence could be deduced in a bid to influence and transform attitudes within society. During this period, leading scholars such as the Greek mathematician Aristarchus of Samos (c. 310 – c. 230 BCE) developed a novel astronomical hypothesis regarding the nature of the universe. He was among the first individuals to front the sensational claim that the earth revolved around the sun, with the latter occupying a fixed position in the universes. Similarly, Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287-c. 212 BC) went on to develop groundbreaking ideas through his principle of hydrostatics⁶. His ideas later made it possible for him to gain a comprehensive understanding of the world around him, therefore, allowing him to participate in intricate mechanical inventions. The Bible also alludes to the application of science, medicine, and technology during ancient times. Proverbs 17:22 espouses the importance of “good medicine” to improve one’s health and wellbeing. During this period, medicine was regarded as an essential part of treatment routines and with the capability of drastically improving outcomes among patients. Timothy 5:23 refers to a “little wine” as a remedy frequent stomach ailments. It was through a system of trial and error that this advance had been developed as an initial form of treatment. In Mathew 9: 12, Jesus mentions the sick requiring aid from physicians during his regular discourses with the Pharisees.

This is an indication of the prevalence of medical practitioners during this period and an indication of scientific, medical, and technological advances. Between 3,000 B.C and 476 AD, humanity made a great leap in science, medicine, and technology. The reverberations of the transformations made during this epoch are still felt today and an indication of their usefulness to humanity. It is through this knowledge that the world, as we know it today, was shaped; with such principles remaining at the crux of modern civilization in the future.

Impacts of Technology on Development of Children, Teens and Tweens with Reference to the Film Growing up with Gadgets

By UniqueWritersBay February 10, 2021 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Technology controls the way people run their homes, how they work and interact. With the rise of use of technology for children and teenagers, there has been a lot of changes in the personal growth and development of these children. The following essay looks at the impacts of technology on development of children, teens and tweens at home with reference to the film ‘Growing up with Gadgets’ (Kanode, 2011). In the end the essay shows that social media technology has both positive and negative impacts, however if controlled, social media technology can be a positive tool for children and teenagers.

Impact of technology on the social development of children and tweens

According to the film ‘Growing up with Gadgets’ the influx of exposure of children to technology has both the positive and negative impacts. In terms of the positive impacts, technology has been seen to assist well during the teaching and learning process. This is because children are able to use the internet and other media platforms to conduct academic research which engages and motivates these children in a more powerful way. Through the use of technology, children are also able to experience a more deeper and creative critical thinking on how the world around them operates (Hyun-Soo, 2017). This is very important as they may not experience this emotions in real world. However when they go down the virtual field trip, they are able to have a firsthand experience of things like paintings, data sets, the world, different governments, culture, races, religion and other social practices.

In this way, they understand the world better and are able to know why each of them is different and unique and special in their own way. The same goes when they are growing up, the use of technology enables them to conduct academic research, analyze various data sets which provides them with a rich experience in different contexts. Or learning situations. When it comes to the twins, experience of technology tends to be a bit different from the ordinary children. This is especially true when it comes to decision-making process and their social connections. During the time the tweens are growing up, the social media impact will intensify different feelings. For example, they tend to get embarrassed when they lack friends or lack romantic attention. They feel ashamed with is triggered by the thoughts of their body consciousness or constant bullying (Hyun-Soo, 2017). The social media, unfortunately, is reported to magnify these feelings since they have nowhere to hide.

There is also the negative impact of the social media experience for both children, teens, and tweens. According to the film, there is little interaction between children and their outer world. It is very rare nowadays to find families having a face to face conversation, or sitting together at a dining table for a meal or watching a family program. Some of the people discussed in the film also share that children nowadays are so engrossed to their social media platforms, or play online games, make virtual friends that it becomes hard to even find a child playing with their peers in the neighborhoods. Children have become extreme introverts with little strength to express themselves in the real world (Davis & Schmidt, 2016). Parents also do not have a chance to bond with their children. In addition, the psychological development of the child is affected by what they read, share and watch in various media platforms. Some of them have ended up joining extremist groups, committing suicide and meeting dangerous strangers online (Blackhert, 2018).

Social Media Impact and theories

According to the narrator in the film, it has become difficult to differentiate a growing child and adults, this is because the psychosocial development of the child is affected by what they watch, share and learn from various internet channels. This is even supported by the General Learning Theory which proposes that experience children or individuals go through on social media platforms will eventually contribute or form their knowledge structure. This includes the characteristics of the individual when they are alone and when they are in a group. What they see or share in social media will reveal their expectations on how people should react towards them. Looking at the narration and responses in the film, the theory can be applied where it proposes that the knowledge and structures may also lead to another status which is evoked by past experiences. For example, when looking at the impact of social media on tweens, their constant feeling of rejection and not fitting in may lead to fear or anger or social isolation (Kanode, 2011).

This is because most young people tend to define their emotions in relation to the situation they are in at the moment and not for what those emotions actually mean. When these emotions are activated by people’s reaction to, for example, a social media post, and the resulting components include effective knowledge, behavioral changes, and person schemata. These will then interact with other personal factors, long-term goals and values, thus influencing their own appraisals and abilities (Hyun-Soo, 2017).

Read also Effects of Social Media

This theory can apply to the impact of social media technology to young people especially in their response to effective, aggressive or violent content. In most cases, when children are not controlled in what they view or interact within the social media platforms, it is possible that they will experience new thoughts and feelings about the world and social views. They are activated and aroused to discover other personal emotions which are often controlled by what other people in the social media platform think.

Positive and negative development

The positive development of social media technology on children comes when it is used for educational, academic research or positive social development purposes. There are various applications which have been discovered according to Nick Lux, which allow students to run every application and tutor themselves academic progress. In this manner the social media can be said to be positive, Also when children use the social media technology to interact with other peers form personal development, communicate with their parents and teachers, it becomes easy to cover a lot while at a stationery place (Blackhert, 2018).

There are however the negative results, nowadays children seem to connect more with the virtual beings, online chats, and social or video games more than they do with their real world. In most cases, these children will interpret pain, bullying, shame, suffering or punished in the most hostile ways (Davis & Schmidt, 2016). They will get their virtual friends commenting about it and make decisions according to what these virtual friend’s opinions. In most case, the social media seem to make them lose their identities more than allowing them to discover what they are worth.

Artwork Critique – Sintax by Robert Arneson and The Child’s Bath by Mary Cassatt

By UniqueWritersBay February 3, 2021 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Artwork criticism is described as responding to, making critical judgements and interpreting meaning about specific works of art. The critique of a piece of art whether a painting or a drawing enables the audience to judge, interpret and perceive artworks. Studies have shown that critique of artwork focus on both traditional (contemporary) and modern artwork drawn from diverse cultures across the world (Hamblen). However, critique by art historians tend to focus on artwork made in diverse cultures from the past time and space. For many years, people have associated the word criticism to a negative connotation especially when it was first introduced in the field of art. But this has not been the true intention of the art criticism since it understand artwork from artists’ perspective. This paper critiqued two arts: Sintax by Robert Arneson and The Child’s Bath by Mary Cassatt using critical theory.

Robert Arneson’s drawing ‘Sintax’

Robert Arneson was born in 1930 in Benicia, California and his parents encouraged him to pursue the career in Art since he was passionate about drawings. In his early stages of life Robert exhibited extraordinary talent and as such he was hired by the local Benicia Herald to draw cartoons (Cohen & Scott). Due to his drawings and exceptional talent Robert won a scholarship to study art at California College of Arts and Craft. After the completion of his studies, Robert took a job as a teacher for ceramics at Menlo-Atherton High school. Robert Arneson transformed himself into self-portraiture the direction American culture was moving after Vietnam War. Robert met Allan Stone in 1974 and took him as a New York art dealer. This is the time Robert, Arneson drew Sintax.

Artist: Robert Arneson
Date: 1974
On View: Not on view
Dimensions: 30 x 22.3/8 in. (76.3 x 56.8 cm)
Copyright Credit Line: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Mediums: Watercolor, mixed media, chalk ink

Looking at this drawing, there are various aspects that the artist intended to convey to the audience. Based on the visual elements and principles of designed indicated that the Robert Arneson utilized some of the aspect such as lines, shapes, light and color as well as balance, harmony, rhythm and movement (Hamblen). Arneson used lines to create the shape of the image. He combines lines and dots to depict the style of dressing the portrait had. In addition, Arneson used cross-hatch lines to bring out different shapes in the portrait. In terms of colors, Arneson used black color as dominance to depict the background of the portrait. This was balanced by white colors, orange, yellow, blue and grey colors. However, the dominance of black color makes the portrait dull. Nonetheless, dark background makes the image of the trait appear concisely. White color was used to delineate objects in the drawing. For example, an object that look the human hand at the left side above the head of the portrait was painted white and crisscrossing lines. These lines and tone of the color enhances visual movements on the portrait.

The second part of the critique followed one method of critical theory which is the description of the subject matter. The drawing depicted five figures in one portrait: the face of adult with thick beards, a man riding a horse, a dear, a forested hill with sculptures and burning bushes. The subject matter is a naturalistic and realistic as it depicted a man relaxing as he dreams about his daily activities (Hamblen). For instance, the man is sleeping on the meshed hanging bed while dreaming about riding a horse in the wild crisscrossing the hills. The dark spaces which are dominant in the drawing are balanced by the bright colors of the man, thus revealing inner emotions of the man. Therefore, it is obvious that Robert Arneson was attempting to portray the ordinary thoughts of man relaxing in his dreams

The Child’s Bath

The second critique was Mary Cassatt’s painting ‘The Child’s Bath’. The first part of the critique involved the analysis visual elements and principle design of the painting. Looking at this painting, there are a women and a child probably in the bedroom (Cohen & Scott). This was depicted by the use of colors and shapes to depict the carpet on the floor and sheets on the walls. For example, the pitcher, washbasin and chest-of-drawers was depicted by gold-trimmed and shiny edges. Generally, Mary used colors to depict the emotion and the feelings of the small child and the women.

The other part of critique followed analysis as one method of critical theory. Based on the analysis method, it was evident Mary focused on the face of the women and the child. For instance, the artist used the lighter color to contrast the dark aspect of the room. The second object that Mary focused on is the basin which has simple, round and large shape. Both a small child and women have their faces looking at the basin (Hamblen). This showed that the artist wanted to direct the attention of the audience towards the basin. Lastly, Mary created the variety and balance of the painting by using different shapes with variety of flowers and flower patterns. Including the striped garment and geometric block patterns of the carpet on the floor.