UK death in a home setting on the rise

Although around two thirds of us would prefer to die at home, in the developed world the trend in recent years has been for the majority to spend their final days in an institutional setting. But according to new research available in the journal Palliative Medicine, published by SAGE and from King's College London, the tide has now turned and an increasing number of people in the UK are dying at home.
In England and Wales, the number of deaths at home nearly halved from 1974 to 2003. If this trend continued, researchers projected that fewer than one in ten would die at home by 2030. Barbara Gomes, Natalia Calanzani and Irene Higginson from the Cicely Saunders Institute based at King's College London, intended to find out if this trend had persisted. This project is part of a programme of research examining place of end of life care and death. In this study, the researchers analyzed death registration data from the UK Office for National Statistics for all those who had died between 2004 and 2010 – over 3.5 million records.
The team found that, following trends in the USA and Canada, dying at home is now also becoming more prevalent in Britain. This was the case both for the absolute number of individuals, and as a proportion of the total: In 2004 there were 93,907 deaths at home (representing 18.3% of total deaths). This increased to 102,416 in 2010 (20.8% of total deaths). The increase in absolute numbers of home deaths is ever more important as the annual number of total deaths went down 3.8% from 2004 to 2010.
The rise in home deaths was more pronounced among those with cancer. Home deaths also increased for the first time since 1974 amongst people aged 85 years and over (from 17,122 in 2004 to 23,705 in 2010). Even so, those aged 85 and over died less often at home over the seven-year period than any other adult age groups.
"What seemed to be an enormous task has happened - the reversal of the British longstanding trend towards an institutionalized dying," said lead author Gomes from King's. "From 2004 onwards, it became more common for people in England and Wales to die at home."
The programme of research carried out by the Cicely Saunders Institute at King's, supported by the charity Cicely Saunders International, has been followed for a number of years by policy makers, both nationally and internationally. The British policy push towards enabling more people to die at home used previous research from the King's team to underpin the government end-of-life care programme (established in 2004) and the national end-of-life care strategy (published in 2008). Now it seems these policies may be contributing to this trend reversal. "We are seeing here how research can improve patient care at the end of life" explained Professor Higginson, Director of the Cicely Saunders Institute. "Our earlier work, also published in Palliative Medicine, drew attention to the gaps between preferences and actuality, which changed Government policy, leading to greater emphasis on meeting patient preferences. The good news is that the policies seem to be working, although the UK has a lot of variation still."
Despite this shift, the proportion of home deaths still remains low compared with the USA, Canada and some other European countries (e.g. the Netherlands). The most recent figure (20.8%) still has a long way to go before the preferences of the majority of people who wish to die at home are met.
Britain is also unusual in that the overall number of deaths has recently been decreasing, but is forecast to rise substantially in the near future according to Office for National Statistics population projections. This will be accompanied by an increased demand for end-of-life care. It remains to be seen whether the trend towards more individuals dying at home will continue as this shift takes place. Even though more of the very elderly are dying at home based on these ONS statistics, the most elderly in Britain continue to have fewer chances to die at home than other age group.
Even for those who do die at home, little evidence has been gathered to establish whether they, and their relatives, experience better care than those who die in institutions such as hospitals, hospices or nursing homes. "There is an urgent need across nations for comparative evidence on the outcomes and the costs of dying at home, work which the charity Cicely Saunders International is supporting." Gomes concludes.
More information: Reversal of the British trends in place of death: time series analysis 2004-2010 by Barbara Gomes, Natalia Calanzani, and Irene J. Higginson is published today, 18th January 2012 in Palliative Medicine. http://pmj.sagepub.com/
Provided by SAGE Publications
"UK death in a home setting on the rise." January 19th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-uk-death-home.html

Comment:
I just upgraded a computer for an 87 year old lady.  While her computer was away getting refurbished she had settle for the frustratingly slow laptop.  2000 seems like such long time ago...in 1987 I bought an Amstrad PCW computer and friends came around to see what it was and asked politely what a computer could be used for.  In those days, not much (PCW stood for 'Personal Word Processor' and it could make nice neat letters which were then posted in the usual way...)

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Superconsciousness

“Consciousness of the material body means spiritual consciousness expressed through the medium of a material body. This consciousness is inferior, destructible and perverted. But superconsciousness of the supramind in the spiritual plane is as good as the spirit soul and is never annihilated.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.6.4 Purport)
The individual being has an existence that is revealed through consciousness. From the thoughts, words and deeds emanating from the living being we can understand that there is a consciousness within steering activity. As Shri Hanuman so nicely points out in the Ramayana, it is the mind which instigates the senses to take to actions which bring forth all the auspicious and inauspicious conditions we see in life. The mind is a subtle material element that reports on the disposition of the consciousness. That consciousness is safe for only as long as the form it is encased within remains intact. As soon as that form is destroyed, the thoughts of the mind vanish. But there is a higher consciousness, which when developed carries over from life to life, moving like the aromas through the air.

“The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.8)

Why is it important for consciousness to carry over? Shouldn’t the destruction of our worst thoughts be a welcomed event? If I’m suffering mentally from many traumatic past events, why would I want those mental images to linger forever? The development of the higher consciousness has nothing to do with temporary ups and downs, highs and lows, encountered in a relative existence. The individual living being’s original consciousness is unchanged; it is permanent. When the spirit soul assumes a dress composed of gross and subtle earthly elements, that pure consciousness gets pervertedly reflected, sort of like taking a beam of light and deflecting it in various ways. The sun provides immeasurable heat and light, but should a series of clouds cover the sky, the original energy is absorbed differently by the target individual.
When the living entity is unaware of their constitutional position, the pure consciousness gets misdirected towards areas of illusion. This refracted consciousness is destroyed at the time of death, even though the soul continues to exist. How can we be sure that these assertions are valid? How do we know that the perverted consciousness doesn’t remain intact and that the spirit soul continues to exist? For starters, we witness these changes through our own experiences. Memory is a product of consciousness, and we know that we don’t have perfect memory. If we did, we could call to mind what we had for lunch on any particular day from any time in the past. We sat through these lunches after all; our consciousness was present. If the thoughts of the past didn’t get destroyed, why can’t we remember them?
Along the same lines, we know that our entire dwelling has changed in appearance during the course of our lifetime, yet our identity remained intact. If you look at old pictures of yourself, you’re essentially viewing a different person, someone who will never return. Yet you were present during that time, and since then your identity hasn’t changed. This means that spirit is transcendental to the shifts of matter. The soul continues in existence regardless of what happens to the body. The Vedas say that the changes continue into the next life, for the soul never takes birth or dies.

“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 2.20)

If we have information of value, we’d like to keep it safe and secure. Backup strategies are not put into place to store irrelevant data and viruses. Rather, important documents useful towards meeting the interests of the proprietor of the machinery are stored securely. A business establishment backs up their data regularly so that even if their hardware should fail, they have full availability to their critical business information.
To meet this requirement, the concept of cloud computing has really taken off. Instead of hosting your data in just one place, it is dispersed in a cloud, which can represent one or more systems located many miles apart. The benefit of the cloud is that if you should happen to travel somewhere, access to your data will not be limited. Moreover, if just one piece of the cloud should fail, the data is still intact, as the distribution of energy is well maintained. If a large server suddenly fails, as is known to happen, information will not get lost. It will stay safe in the cloud.
The living being’s material desires vanish at the time of death, for the newborn has to become educated and progress through maturity all over again. If at the time of death we are expert poets, in the next life we will not even know how to write in the beginning stages. Therefore physical and mental dexterity are wiped out at the time of death, like information lost in a server that crashes.
There is a higher consciousness, that when developed travels from life to life. It stays safely in a cloud-like environment, where it can be accessed when needed. This is the consciousness that accompanies a spirit soul’s existence. That consciousness is always there, but unless the individual knows how to use it while residing in a material body, it can be forgotten for long periods of time. Think of having millions of dollars in the bank and not knowing it. Obviously you will struggle hard for an existence and worry about financial matters when you don’t have to. The spirit soul is a lover of God fully protected by the Supreme Lord, who is the master of all energies. Forgetful of these facts, the miseries borne of birth, old age, disease and death arrive. The fear of death is itself an indication of ignorance, for why should someone be afraid when they know that they are constitutionally eternal?
When the material consciousness is developed, it remains in existence for as long as the body is safe. As soon as that house crumbles, so does everything within it. The superconsciousness, however, carries over to the next life. If I connect with God in some way during my lifetime, that progress continues in my next birth. This fact has been validated so many times in the past, with Shrila Narada Muni’s travels being one of the most famous examples. In one particular lifetime he had the benefit of eating the remnants of food taken by advanced transcendentalists. Just having their association stimulated an intense interest in spiritual life, to the point that in the next life Narada took birth as a devotee of the Lord capable of travelling to any planet at will. By the Supreme Lord’s grace Narada was able to remember his past experiences, but that wasn’t necessary, as he had the purified consciousness safely secured through his past desires.
This means that if we have valuable information we want to keep, it must involve connection with Lord Krishna, or God. The Supreme Godhead is the heavenly father whose name is certainly hallowed. The Vedas reveal that the father in heaven has forms and names. Krishna is the original form, and His name addresses His all-attractiveness. Connect with Krishna through yoga and you won’t have to worry about losing your maturation in consciousness in the next life.

“The Blessed Lord said: Son of Pritha, a transcendentalist engaged in auspicious activities does not meet with destruction either in this world or in the spiritual world; one who does good, My friend, is never overcome by evil.” (Bg. 6.40)

Shri Krishna personally takes charge of those who try to connect with Him. For the materially developed consciousness, the mind, intelligence and ego somewhat carry over to the next life, but only through the influence they have on the type of body assumed. Whether I’m born as a merchant or an administrator is really of no concern, as the superconsciousness is still not fully developed. With taking to bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, the consciousness that knows the Supreme Lord carries over to any body type that I assume, and I can continue my devotional efforts from the place I left off in the previous life.
How do I practice bhakti? How do I know that I won’t forget the principles within my own lifetime? How do I know that Krishna’s promise is true? Bhakti is love, so in order to practice love there has to be connection, some type of association. The holy name is all-encompassing in this regard, so reciting it regularly through formulas like, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, keeps one connected with God, granting His divine association immediately through the medium of the ears and the tongue. The tongue produces this sacred sound vibration and the ears then relish the sound. From sound comes the necessary intelligence to keep that association going in the future.
It is not that the devotee turns into a robot that just follows a mechanical approach. Rather, the full intelligence belonging to the soul gradually gets uncovered, allowing the individual to be crafty enough to figure out ways to practice yoga in even the most difficult circumstances. As eating can become a distraction, the devotee purifies the behavior by first offering food in the mode of goodness to the Supreme Lord and then eating the remnants known as prasadam, or the Lord’s mercy. Something as basic as commuting to work gets purified by hearing and chanting the holy name during the travel. While falling asleep one can recite the holy names within the mind over and over again. To hear nice stories, to spend time contemplating the glorious qualities of others, the devotee reads sacred texts and their commentaries, which describe the intricacies of Krishna-bhakti in detail.

Chanting of the holy name never goes in vain, as one step taken towards Krishna brings the Lord many steps closer to you. After one exits the current body, the devotional attitude is kept safely within the spiritual cloud, where it is again accessed in the next life. Lifetime after lifetime, the individual basking fully in the transcendental light of the pure consciousness remains attached to their eternal occupation, devotional service to Shri Krishna.

In Closing:
Material elements superconsciousness does shroud,
Like the sunlight blocked off by passing cloud.
What you have only for short time is safe,
Upon destruction of dwelling nothing you can take.
By connection with the Lord of all different,
That consciousness continues, it is persistent.
Therefore with no other means take a chance,
Just delight in Krishna and His charming glance.
In the next life divine consciousness continues,
For sustenance holy name’s chant always use.

Basking in Sweetness

“Seeing that sweet and beautiful form, the muni wants to keep worshiping it. Again and again, the muni praises the great spiritual merits of King Dasharatha.” (Janaki Mangala, 20)
madhura manohara mūrati cāhahiṃ |
bāra bāra dasarathake sukṛta sarāhahiṃ ||
In bhakti-yoga the purpose of every recommended activity is to foster Krishna consciousness, pure thoughts within the mind. The behavior we adopt, those things we pay attention to, imprint our consciousness with items for further contemplation. If our time is spent mired in filth, debauchery, and images that shouldn’t be seen, the consciousness will continue to contemplate upon them long after the original contact. The same principle can be turned in our favor should we change the nature of the associated objects. This is the purpose of divine love, the highest discipline man can follow. Regardless of whether we’re after spiritual merits or material rewards, gazing at the sweet and lovely form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead clears all misgivings, doubts, needless desires and erroneous thoughts.
What is an erroneous thought? Think of a conclusion that you reached that was based on ignorance. For the child this is quite commonplace, as they just don’t know any better. In adulthood we are also quite commonly mistaken, thinking that someone is evil when they are really not or guessing that one way to do something is correct when it later turns out to be wrong. To ere is human after all, and the living being’s propensity is to commit mistakes. The mistakes are rooted in illusion, taking something to be that which it is not. Therefore the material energy is known as maya, which is filled with objects considered to be one thing that are really something else.
The mistakes start from the time of birth, where the living being identifies with the body type accepted. Never mind the fact that you had no say in choosing the womb you would emerge from or the type of features you would assume, somehow that dwelling is equated with identity. The accepted form will constantly change through the passage of time. The infant child has a completely different body from the adult, yet the bewildered individual occupying that changing dwelling always takes identity from the body.
This misidentification indicates both illusion and mistake. From the root mistake other erroneous conclusions are reached. The family bonds are taken as absolute and the land where one was born becomes worshipable. Again, the birthplace could have been anywhere; you had no control over that. You may hate one area of land today because you consider it foreign, but you easily could have grown up there and learned to speak the language, immersing yourself in the “foreign” culture.
The doubts are dispelled through following a bona fide discipline of spirituality. In material education, there is some knowledge acquired, but the guiding conclusion is still erroneous. The fact that material nature, which doesn’t represent our identity, should be exploited through effort and work shows a misidentification with the body that perpetually leads to trouble. The animals don’t require education, for they instinctively know to look for food, erect shelter, mate with other members of their species, and sleep when rest is required. The human can similarly live a simple life involving these behaviors without needing any education whatsoever.
Real education teaches the individual that they are spirit and not matter. That spirit’s existence is evidenced through the autonomous actions of the residence it occupies. Death thus represents the exit of the spirit from its dwelling; not the end of life itself. Rather, life in a localized area can only exist when spirit is present. The fetus within the womb only develops when there is spirit inside. Abortion is only an option when there is a life; otherwise the fetus would never develop and cause the unwanted “burden” to the mother deciding to kill her child.
Education in spirituality is meant to alter behavior, to affix upon the consciousness images and sounds that are sweet, or madhura. There is nothing sweeter than the transcendental form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One way to distinguish between God and the living entities is to know that the Lord is never subject to illusion. He does not commit mistakes because His knowledge is never incorrect or incomplete. By the same token, objects of illusion are relative, so even the material nature we have so much trouble dealing with is spiritualized when in contact with the Lord.
In bhakti-yoga, which teaches all of these relevant truths and imparts the proper principles within the worshiper through dedicated activity, one of the central practices is deity worship. The material elements that are mistaken for our enjoyment or identity get manipulated in such a way so as to represent the transcendental features of the Personality of Godhead, which are described in the shastras, or scriptures. The deity is not a mentally concocted idol that a foolish person all of a sudden decides to worship. The fact that someone would want to worship a fake idol reveals at least that the soul’s natural propensity is to serve. Dharma as a system is built around the principle characteristic of the living entity. Despite one’s current status, high or low, in a position of power or servitude, service will be the catalyst to behavior. Tyrannical regimes have flourished throughout the course of human history precisely because they exploit this penchant within their citizens.
The deity is the proper beneficiary of the worshiping propensity in man. The deity is not created on a whim; rather it is crafted from the detailed descriptions found in the scriptures. The features of the Personality of Godhead are real, with their genuineness revealed through the results that come from authorized worship. And what are the results we’re looking for? The above referenced verse from the Janaki Mangala provides a few hints. The same deity that is worshiped in so many temples appeared in His own form on this earth many thousands of years ago to delight the hearts of the devotees and instill terror in the miscreants who were dedicated to thwarting the peaceful acts of the pious.
The muni Vishvamitra was visiting the city of Ayodhya, ruled at the time by King Dasharatha. Vishvamitra needed some protection while residing in the forest, as the night-rangers were assuming shapes at will and harassing the sages. Dasharatha offered the sage the utmost respect and then brought his queens and sons to give the same hospitable welcome. Dasharatha’s oldest son, Lord Rama, was the one who caught the muni’s eye. Rama is the very same Personality of Godhead contemplated upon by yogis and philosophers since the beginning of time. In this specific form, God took on the role of an expert bow-warrior, committed to protecting the innocent.
When Vishvamitra first saw Rama, he was mesmerized. Though only a young child, Shri Rama’s form was so beautiful, sweet in every way. That sweetness is what the living entity is looking for. In devotional service there are different transcendental mellows, or tastes through association. Even outside bhakti these tastes are seen to varying degrees. For instance, the relationship with a friend carries a different enjoyment than the relationship with a dependent child. The conjugal affair is of a different nature than the relationship of reverence established with respected personalities. Despite the differences, love can be present within all of these exchanges.
Madhurya is the highest transcendental mellow. Though it is usually taken to mean conjugal interaction, the root meaning of the word is sweetness or loveliness. In madhurya-rasa, or shringara-rasa, the Lord is appreciated for His transcendental sweetness. If we taste something very sweet that is intoxicating at the same time, the tendency is to continue to relish that taste and repeatedly indulge in it.
When intaking transcendental sweetness, the reservoir of enjoyment cannot be filled up. This was shown through Vishvamitra’s reaction. Rama’s form is compared to a murti, which is like a deity, and Vishvamitra’s attitude was to continually worship that form. He did not want anything else. Just from worshiping the deity and appreciating the sweetness of the transcendental features, the requisite consciousness can be acquired. It is for this reason that the temple exists. Outwardly there is the regular worship that occurs, but the underlying purpose is the desire to keep God’s features within the mind, to maintain that sweetness in association even when separated from the deity.
Vishvamitra was so pleased in the heart that he again and again thought of how fortunate the king was. Dasharatha must have accumulated so many spiritual merits, or sukriti, to have such a son. Ironically enough, Vishvamitra came to borrow that son, to temporarily separate Him from His father. Dasharatha would not like this proposal, but since the king’s vow was to defer to the priestly class, he could not deny Vishvamitra. Thanks to that genuineness of purpose, that selfless act of sacrificing the association of the person he loved the most, the king would allow for Rama to eventually make it to the kingdom of Tirahuta, where a notable contest was taking place to determine the husband of an unmarried, beautiful princess.
Just as the murti is worshipable and brings the sweetness the individual spirit soul is looking for, the scene of Vishvamitra lovingly gazing upon the beautiful form of Rama brings so many spiritual merits to the devotee. The purpose of the poet’s Janaki Mangala is to create as many such images within the mind of the listener. The poet himself got to relive the scene over and over again by singing his verses. When high concepts are put into poetry and song, they are easier to remember. Just from singing a few words and thinking about them, so much constructive thought can be triggered within the mind. The vision of young Shri Rama triggered boundless sweetness within the mind of the muni, whose thoughts were already pure. On that wonderful day in Dasharatha’s kingdom, the sage showed us the purpose of the murti, and why worship of it is a central aspect of bhakti-yoga.
In Closing:
Images seen into your consciousness they sink,
Repeatedly then of them you can think.
Keep association of objects bearing sweetness,
So that mind will remember and find happiness.
The muni Vishvamitra saw Rama and was amazed,
Upon such a beautiful form he repeatedly gazed.

Countless spiritual merits, what did the king do,

To deserve such a son, kind, sweet and charming too.
No matter, the muni would get to take Rama with him,
Eventually to Sita, Rama her hand to win.

shiridi sai baba

மன்னிக்கப்பட முடியாத மா பாவிகள்........

 

நெருப்புக்  

கட்டிகளை 

விழுங்கிய

நெஞ்சமாக

கொதித்துக்கிடக்கிறது

 என்

கோபம்.

 

எத்தனைமுறை

 தூக்கிஎறிந்தாலும்

மீண்டும்

மீண்டும்

வந்துவிழுகின்றது

உங்கள் 

நினைவுகள்.

 

உயிரின்

விலைதெரியா

ஊனப்பிறவிகளா

நீங்கள். 

 

தொண்டைக்குளிக்குள்

இருக்கும்

உங்கள்

நினைவுகளை 

காறி

துப்பவும்

முடியாமல்

விழுங்கவும்

முடியாமல்

உபத்திரவம் கொள்கின்றது

உள்ளம் .

 

ஆயிரம்

வாசல்கள்

திறந்திருக்க

ஏனிந்த

அவல

முடிவுகள். 

 

உயிர்தரவும்

உயிர்விடவும்

ஏது

உரிமை 

உங்களுக்கு ?

 

இயற்கையின்

சிருஷ்ட்டிப்பில்

நீங்கள்

வெறும்

சடம்

மட்டுமே,

 

உங்களுக்கென்ன 

அரைநொடியில்

ஆவி

துறப்பீர்கள்

நீங்கள்.

ஆயுள் வரை  

அனுபவிக்கப்போவது

நாங்கள்

அன்றோ! 

**********

இந்த

பிரபஞ்சம்

மிகமிக

விசாலமானது .

 

அதன்

விசுவருபத்தில்

நீங்கள்

ஒரு 

சிறு

துரும்பு. 

 

எல்லாவற்றையும்

எமக்களித்த

அந்த

அண்டசராசரம்

உங்கள் 

மன அழுத்தங்களுக்கும்

மாற்றுவழிகளை

மறைத்துவைத்திருக்கும்.

 

அவல

முடிவுகளை

எடுக்கும் 

முன்னால்

அறிந்துகொள்ளுங்கள்

அவற்றை. 

 

விடைகள் 

இல்லாத 

விடுகதைகளே

இல்லை

இங்கு.

 

யாரையோ

பழிவாங்குவதாக

நினைத்துகொண்டு

உங்களையே 

பழிவாங்குகின்றீர்கள் 

நீங்கள்.  

 

அவர்கள்

அழப்போவதெல்லாம்  

ஆகக்குறைந்தது   

ஆறேழு

நாட்களுத்தான் .

 

அதற்குப்பிறகு

அவ்வப்போது

நினைதுக்கொள்வதுடன்

சரி.

 

உங்கள்

பழிவாங்கல்

பலவீனமடைந்துவிடும்

பையப்பைய .

 

உங்கள்

தற்பலி

எதையும்

தரப்போவதில்லை

எவர்க்கும் .

*****************

தற்பலிகள்தான்

ஒரேஒரு 

தீர்வென்றால்

பாதிப்பேருக்குமேல்

 பரலோகம் தான்

போகவேண்டும் .

 

யாருக்குத்தான் 

இங்கு

பிரச்சனைகள்

இல்லை. 

பிரச்சனைகளின்

கோர்வையே

வாழ்வின்

நிதர்சனம் .

 

அவற்றின்

மீதான

தேடலே

வாழ்வின்

இயக்கம். 

 

நிச்சயமாக

உங்களால்

முடியும்.

 

தேடுங்கள்

நிச்சயமாக

உங்களுக்காக

திறக்கப்படும்.

 

தேடத்தேட

தீர்வுகள்

உங்களை

தேடிவரும்.

 

பிரச்சனைளின்

தேடல்தான்

விஞ்ஞானமும்

மெய்ஞானமும்

.

தேடுங்கள்

நிச்சயமாக

உங்களுக்காக

திறக்கப்படும்.

******************

இந்த

உலகம் 

பரந்தது 

 

அதில்

உங்களின்

இருப்பு

இலக்கணப்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது,

 

அந்த

இலக்கணங்களை

மீறுதல்

பாவாமாகிறது.

 

பாவிகள்

ஆவீரோ

நீர்.

 

வானம்

வாழ்த்துப்பாட,

காற்று

கைகூப்ப,

மண்

மலர்தூவ

காலம்

உங்களுக்காக

காத்துக்கிடக்கின்றது. 

 

உங்கள்

மீதான 

மனஅழுத்தங்களை

அடித்து

நொருக்குங்கள்.

 

வீறுகொண்ட

நெஞ்சுடன்

வீரியம்

கொள்ளுங்கள்.

 

கோடிக்கணக்கான

விந்தணுக்களை 

வெற்றிகொண்டு

பிறந்த

வீரர்கள்

நீங்கள்.

 

உங்கள்மீது

அன்பு செலுத்த,

அரவணைக்க, 

ஆறுதல் சொல்ல

கண்டிப்பாக

ஒரு

கூட்டம்

காத்திருக்கிறது

இங்கு.

*********************

தற்ற்கொலை

செய்யும்

அந்த

கணத்திற்கு

சற்று

முன்னர்

ஐந்து

நிமிடங்கள்

உங்கள்

கண்களை   

மூடிக்கொள்ளுங்கள் .

 

மூச்சை

உள்ளிழுத்து

நிதானமாய்

சிந்தியுங்கள்.

 

உங்கள்  

மனவெளியில்

இயற்கை

உங்களுக்கான

தீர்வைச்

சொல்லும் .

****************

மறந்துவிடுங்கள் 

சுய 

 மரணத்தை.

***************

மன்னிக்கப்பட

முடியாத 

மாபாவியாகாதீர்கள்

நீங்கள்.  

  

     

 

  

Thanks+Best Regards

 

S.NAVATHARAN  Bsc(Eng), Bgas(gr-2)

Senior Engineer(Inspection)

Approved Coating Inspector

Eram Engineering

Saudi Arabia

00966552916239(KSA)

00966564368007(KSA)

0094775130092 (SRILANKA-ROAMING)

ssnavatharan@yahoo.co.in  (personal), esan.insp@yahoo.com (official)

Haiti Challenges Future Disasters

                            In- depth damage evaluations and detailed hazard maps are helping Haiti rebuild a safer, disaster-proof future.

How can school compete with Social Media?

SUBMITTED BY ROBIN HORN 

I just returned from the Education World Forum with its tied-in British Education Technology Trade (BETT) show. This is an annual, London-based conference focusing on the use of technology for education, bringing together 63 ministers of education from across the world, along with educators, politicians, researchers, and lots of executives from firms producing some of the most innovative products and solutions on the use of technology in schools and school systems.  

This event is supported by the British government, opened by the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, along with the Minister of State for Universities and Science, David Willets, as well as by the crown, represented by Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. The guest list this year included the CEOs of Promethean and Pearson, top executives from Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, and leading representatives from UNESCO, Global Partnership for Education (GPE), Center for Universal Education, the Commonwealth, USAID, and the World Bank. Many education ministers and their teams came to London for this dual event with their own funding, attesting to the importance many hold for this event. 

During the event I spoke with several ministers from various parts of the world. Several told me that one of the fastest growing challenges they see is the need to support the development of creativity, character, and collaborative behaviors in the youth. An area of concern and attention for many Ministers is the exponential rise in the use of social media. Education leaders, even in the poorer countries, are watching with intense interest as their children and youth are communicating creatively and connecting outside the school through mobile social collaboration apps, peer-to-peer media sharing, texting, gaming, and other technologically-enabled tools, but are  disengaged in a schooling experience which is disarticulated with this virtual world of networked communities. They recognize that as the cost of mobile devices continues to fall and as wireless coverage grows to blanket nearly 100 percent of their countries, more and more of their young people are connecting with one another, as well as with content and meaning, in ways that teachers cannot understand or follow. It is obvious that unless educators figure out how to integrate collaboration and social networking into schooling and learning, students will follow a 21st century version of Timothy Leary's famous injunction to, "turn on, tune in, and drop out." 

One more point became very clear to me from the conversations I had during the Education World Forum: Ministers and education leaders from developing and emerging countries desperately want to leapfrog out of their educational dilemmas with modern technology. Rather than working on improving the quality of education by slogging through incremental reforms built upon 20th century or even 19th century practice and norms, education leaders in developing and emerging economies want to take the proverbial giant  leap forward by using new and innovative (though usually unevaluated) technologies. 

One example of this type of leapfrogging is the simple idea of delivering textbooks, libraries, and other didactic media through tablets or mobile phones (overcoming two of the longest lasting education dilemmas - the persistently insurmountable costs and logistics of publishing, procuring and delivering books and libraries in a timely and cost-effective fashion). Another example is the use of computers or mobile devices to deliver real-time diagnostic learning assessments and feeding back analysis of the data from these tests to enable teachers to better tailor their instruction and support to individual student learning needs. 

Finally, one of the most exciting developments I experienced at the EWF was the launch ofAssessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills assessment program. ATC21S is a fascinating initiative that has been sponsored by Cisco, Intel, and Microsoft, with technical work led by Patrick Griffin, with Esther Care and Barry McGaw, among others, at the University of Melbourne, along with experts from Stanford, UC Berkeley, and other renowned institutions.  These efforts are being supported by pilot countries Australia, Finland, Singapore, and the US, which have been recently joined by Costa Rica, the Netherlands, and Russia. 

As I see it, this remarkable initiative appears to have succeeded in operationalizing what had been heretofore consigned to rhetoric, and has done so in a truly remarkable way. It has cracked the code on how to set standards for, and assess the acquisition of, 21st century skills. Measuring the so-called 21st century skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration and teamwork, ICT competencies, and information literacy, in a rigorous and pragmatic way has been totally out of reach until now. The ATC21S initiative harnesses ICT tools to both present complex, multi-step, cognitively challenging problems to pairs of students in real time, and also to then assess how each and both of these students collaborate and solve these problems, even when separated from one another in different desks, rooms, or even countries. 

The data generated from these assessments may one day even be in the "big data" category due to their depth, breadth, imagery, and completeness, since they appear to be tracking every step and decision taken, every instant and online communication exchanged, and every character typed. This is time-stamped and recorded digitally, for each participant in every pair, and in comparison with multiple pairs of students taking the same test at the same time. 

Although this assessment program has only just completed the proof-of-concept stage, it is a harbinger of a wholly new approach to standards and assessment for the 21st century and may lead to schools that succeed in engaging the 21st century "turn on, tune in, and drop out" digitally native generation in exciting new ways to make learning for all a more achievable reality.

Learning for All

                        Why is Learning for All the right goal for education worldwide? Join the World Bank as we help developing countries invest early, invest smartly, and invest in learning for all.

New app helps choose healthy food

THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

Australians can now scan barcodes, see what's in a food, and switch to a healthier choice in an instant. Image: SleyeR8/iStockphoto FoodSwitch, an Australian-first iPhone app, has been launched recently to help shoppers make healthier food choices in the supermarket and reduce high levels of fat, salt and sugar from their diets. By simply scanning the barcode of Australian packaged foods using an iPhone camera, shoppers will receive immediate, easy to understand nutritional advice via the FoodSwitch app. "FoodSwitch's three-step approach marries the latest technology with cutting edge research. Australians can now scan barcodes, see what's in a food, and switch to a healthier choice in an instant," said Professor Bruce Neal, senior director at The George Institute for Global Health, University of Sydney. The app makes recommendations based on the nutritional value of more than 20,000 packaged food products found in Australian supermarkets and is underpinned by more than three years of research by pre-eminent food and health policy experts from The George Institute. The initiative is part of a new partnership with Bupa, one of Australia's leading healthcare organisations. Together, The George Institute and Bupa are committed to help Australians make healthier food choices. Heart disease, stroke and other diseases caused mostly by a poor diet are the biggest killers in Australia, and by simply switching to a healthier alternative, shoppers could be reducing their risk of these illnesses. The app will demystify nutritional labels and front of pack health claims, and give shoppers a true report of a product's fat, sugar and salt levels. "Choosing a healthier diet has to be made easier, because good eating habits are one of the best and most cost-effective ways to prevent disease. For too long, Australians have grappled with confusing food labels. And with FoodSwitch there is no reason why this should continue," Professor Neal said. Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.