Tuesday 29 May 2012

Methods of Power Generation

Since the time electricity has been invented, different methods of power generation has been implemented to make the lives of people easier. Power generation is to transform different kinds of energy sources to convert it to electricity.
Some of the methods that are being implemented to this date are as follows:
1. Solar power - Solar power utilizes the sun's immense energy that can be converted to another type of energy and this is electricity. There are solar collectors and solar panels that can collect the sun's energy to make electricity that can be distributed to any household. Solar energy is renewable and it helps diminish pollution.
The only downside to this is the cost and the efficiency to produce energy.
2. Wind power - This is another method of power generation that produces energy. Wind turbines can be constructed in places where the wind is quite strong to generate electricity. Wind power is also eco-friendly and it is renewable. The only disadvantage to this is that it is limited to windy places.
3. Geothermal power - Geothermal power uses underground steam that comes from vents in volcanoes. Geothermal plants are constructed to produce electrical power. Geothermal energy is abundant in places where there are many volcanoes and springs.
4. Hydro power - Hydro power is one of the largest energy source in the world. Almost 70 percent of the world utilizes hydropower to produce enough energy. Power generation dams are constructed to produce electricity that can be distributed to different households.
Although hydropower plants produce a large amount of energy, it disrupts the natural ecosystem within its surrounding area. Other places can also be dried up because water is being contained inside the dam.
5. Fossil fuels - Fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas can also generate energy. Countries in the Middle East are rich in fossil fuels. The advantage of this kind of energy source is it can produce a lot of energy hat can be used in power plants cars and other machineries.
The only set back to this is pollution. Fossil fuel is the number one producer of waste gases that destroys our environment. It is also non-renewable that is why it is already depleting as of now.
6. Tidal energy. The powerful tide in the sea can also be harnessed to produce energy and electricity. Although it is viable, it is quite rare for countries to set a tidal power plant. First, it is expensive and secondly you need a huge tide to produce enough energy.
7. Biomass - Biomass can be the answer to non-renewable resources to generate power. Experts and scientist have been developing the potential of biomass energy to produce enough energy for people to use.
8. Nuclear energy - Nuclear energy has its advantages and disadvantages. Since the discovery of nuclear fission, nuclear power has been in demand to produce enough energy and electricity. The downside to this is the hazards it can give when accident occurs just like the Chernobyl nuclear plant.
These are the methods of power generation that can be used to have energy and electricity to make the lives of people easier and better.
Best power and electricity online course visit :
http://eversity.co/elearning/power_technology_training.aspx

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5220849

Wednesday 23 May 2012

The Advantages of eLearning

Technology has revolutionized business; now it must revolutionize learning.
In the 21st century, people have to learn more than ever before. Especially for global organizations, live classroom-based training is becoming too costly and cumbersome. Even if employees had the time to attend all the courses and seminars and to read all the books and reports they should to remain up-to-date in their area of work, the cost of such learning would be prohibitive. The need to transform how organizations learn points to a more modern, efficient, and flexible alternative: eLearning. The mission of corporate eLearning is to supply the workforce with an up-to-date and cost-effective program that yields motivated, skilled, and loyal knowledge workers.
Anywhere, anytime, anyone.
The Internet can offer the logical solution for a company's education and training objectives. Approximately 80% of the professional workforce already uses computers on the job. Technical obstacles, such as access, standards, infrastructure, and bandwidth, will not be an issue in a few years. The growth of the World Wide Web, high-capacity corporate networks, and high-speed desktop computers will make learning available to people 24 hours a day, seven days a week around the globe. This will enable businesses to distribute training and critical information to multiple locations easily and conveniently. Employees can then access training when it is convenient for them, at home or in the office.
Substantial cost savings due to elimination of travel expenses.
When delivered through technology based solutions, training is less expensive per end user due to scalable distribution and the elimination of high salaries for trainers and consultants. The biggest benefit of eLearning, however, is that it eliminates the expense and inconvenience of getting the instructor and students in the same place. According to Training Magazine, corporations save between 50-70% when replacing instructor-led training with electronic content delivery. Opting for eLearning also means that courses can be pared into shorter sessions and spread out over several days or weeks so that the business would not lose an employee for entire days at a time. Workers can also improve productivity and use their own time more efficiently, as they no longer need to travel or fight rush-hour traffic to get to a class.
Just-in-time access to timely information.
Web-based products allow instructors to update lessons and materials across the entire network instantly. This keeps content fresh and consistent and gives students immediate access to the most current data. Information can be retrieved just before it is required, rather than being learned once in a classroom and subsequently forgotten. Training Magazine reported that technology-based training has proven to have a 50-60% better consistency of learning than traditional classroom learning (c-learning).
Higher retention of content through personalized learning.
Technology-based solutions allow more room for individual differences in learning styles. They also provide a high level of simulation that can be tailored to the learner's level of proficiency. With 24 x 7 access, people can learn at their own pace and review course material as often as needed. Since they can customize the learning material to their own needs, students have more control over their learning process and can better understand the material, leading to a 60% faster learning curve, compared to instructor-led training. The delivery of content in smaller units, called "chunks," contributes further to a more lasting learning effect. Whereas the average content retention rate for an instructor-led class is only 58%, the more intensive eLearning experience enhances the retention rate by 25 - 60%.1 Higher retention of the material puts a higher value on every dollar spent on training.
Improved collaboration and interactivity among students.
In times when small instructor-led classes tend to be the exception, electronic learning solutions can offer more collaboration and interaction with experts and peers as well as a higher success rate than the live alternative. Teaching and communication techniques which create an interactive online environment include case studies, story-telling, demonstrations, role-playing, simulations, streamed videos, online references, personalized coaching and mentoring, discussion groups, project teams, chat rooms, e-mail, bulletin boards, tips, tutorials, FAQs, and wizards.
Distance education can be more stimulating and encourage more critical reasoning than a traditional large instructor-led class because it allows the kind of interaction that takes place most fully in small group settings. Studies have shown that students who take online courses are typically drawn into the subject matter of the class more deeply than in a traditional course because of the discussions they get involved in.2 This engagement is further facilitated by the fact that instructors do not monopolize attention in an online environment. Another study found that online students had more peer contact with others in the class, enjoyed it more, spent more time on class work, understood the material better, and performed, on average, 20% better than students who were taught in the traditional classroom.
Online training is less intimidating than instructor-led courses.
Students taking an online course enter a risk-free environment in which they can try new things and make mistakes without exposing themselves. This characteristic is particularly valuable when trying to learn soft skills, such as leadership and decision making. A good learning program shows the consequences of students' actions and here/why they went wrong. After a failure, students can go back and try again. This type of learning experience eliminates the embarrassment of failure in front of a group.
With all of these advantages of taking classes online, it is hard to imagine why anyone would opt to sit in a lecture to learn new information. There are online classes available free on a multitude of topics, just start surfing, find one to your liking, and start learning!
For Best Industrial online training portal on http://eversity.co/


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/603386

Tuesday 22 May 2012

Welding Safety Equipment

Welding safety equipment comes in various designs and fitted for different purposes. Regardless of the purpose or design, they each have one goal in common; to provide the utmost protection for welding professionals.
When choosing welding safety equipment, there are many things to consider but a prime consideration would be the type of welding that would be going on. This would determine what possible dangers the welding professional would be exposed to and how best to go about combating these dangers.
The use of welding safety equipments is essential to protect the areas of the body most vulnerable to hazards, which result directly from welding activities. As a result, welding safety equipments focus on protecting the head, the eyes, the body, the legs and feet of a welding professional. Welding safety equipments would include welding apparel, welding safety goggles and safety harnesses amongst others.
Welding apparel come in many forms, some of which are headgears for protection from flames. They are designed for use in welding activities where high levels of heat or sparks are expected. They drape over the worker's face and are flame retardant. A great material for these headgears would be leather.
Welding safety gloves are another form of welding safety apparel which is designed to be worn by workers for protection during welding activities. They are made from a number of materials including cowhide and deerskin. There are also welding safety gloves made from heat resistance fiber glass.
The safety harnesses are used by workers for welding activities in the air and are imperative in protection from falls. There are a lot of injuries from falls resulting from malfunctions of safety harnesses. The major reason for these injuries is that most safety harnesses have nylon webbings which could easily burn when sparks from welding activities touch them. Welding apparel protecting vulnerable parts are advised.
Some of these harness protection apparel include the bib aprons which are fire retardant. They repel the sparks which result from welding activities and protect the webbing of the safety harness. There are also waist aprons which are flame retardant and provide protection against burns from sparks. The arms, waist and legs of the safety harnesses have been found to be most vulnerable to burns therefore flame retardant sleeves are highly recommended.
Welding goggles are another important aspect of safety protection equipment. The eyes are particularly vulnerable to injury and damage during welding operations. There are so many hazards which exposure to would be extremely dangerous for the eyes. Some of these hazards include exposure to harmful ultraviolet rays, flying particles and molten metal amongst others. Welding goggles are highly recommended and are in fact, mandatory for welding operations.
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) recognizes three broad categories under which welding goggles fall. These are the Eyecup Clear Safety Lens welding goggles; the Eyecup Coversepc Clear Safety Lens welding goggles and the Eyecup Coversepc Tinted welding goggles.
get  welding safety equipment complete learning online course on : 


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5822048

Friday 18 May 2012

Learning Logs to Use in Workshops

If you are conducting a workshop or series of workshops for mathematics and science teachers, particularly if it's related to content area literacy, consider using one or more of the following learning logs as a way of learning more about your participants and what they are thinking and learning in your workshops.

Learning Log Entry #1
People come into this workshop with varying expectations. It helps me to know what your expectations are. Please use the space below to talk about what you hope to learn and/or plan to learn in this class. Be as specific as you possibly can--relating it to the teaching of mathematics and/or science, your personal teaching self, etc.

Learning Log Entry #2
What questioning techniques do you recall from your middle school (junior high school) and/or high school years in mathematics and science classrooms? How did you respond to the various techniques that you remember? What kind of questioner do you see yourself being as a mathematics and/or science teacher? 

Learning Log Entry #3
Does the middle school and/or high school mathematics and science teacher have a responsibility to use (essentially) whatever means are necessary to help students learn from text? Or, is it students' responsibility to help themselves learn from text? Or, is there another way of saying this that you are more comfortable with, as a mathematics and/or science teacher? Is your responsibility any different from other content area teachers' responsibilities? Why (or why not) and how? What did your mathematics and science teachers do-or what have you done for yourself-that has helped mathematics and science textbooks be more readable (more user-friendly)? Can these ideas be translated for use in your own classroom? How?
Learning Log Entry #4
In general, do you consider yourself a good "studier?" Why or why not? If you think you're pretty good--how did you get that way? If you don't think you're too good in the studying department, why aren't you? And, what would have helped you to be better? Are you a better "studier" in the areas of mathematics and/or science? If so, why do you think you are? What implications can you draw for your students? 

Learning Log Entry #5
Describe a metacognitive experience that you have had. Describe the situation and what caused you to be thinking about your thinking. Did this help in this situation? Why or why not? Do you consider yourself to be fairly metacognitively aware? How do you know? Does being metacognitively aware help in mathematics and science? Why or why not?
Learning Log Entry #6
What has surprised you most about this class? What have you learned that you didn't expect to learn? What long-held notions about reading, writing, and/or teaching have been changed since this class started? Be as specific as possible, please.

Learning Log Entry #7
Describe the learning that has occurred for you during this workshop. If you like, go back and look at the objectives for the course and see whether they have been met as far as you're concerned. How have you grown and/or changed as a result of this class? As always, please be as specific as possible.

Alternative Learning Log Entry #8
Overall evaluation/response regarding today's class:
Just choose from one of these learning log options - or model your own after these.  The main idea is to learn about your learners and to encourage them to reflect upon their own learning. 
And if you would like to access elearning course, just go to
** http://eversity.co/elearning/Workshop_Mathematics.aspx   and see what's there for you !


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2181493

Thursday 10 May 2012

Effective Time Management Ideas


If you really want to reach your goals and become a high achiever in your chosen endeavour, you need effective time management skills. Whether it be in sport or business this skill is essential, so I have devised up a list of proven tactics that you utilise in order to get the most out of your work day.
The first is to have a daily plan of action. This is basically a simple list of tasks that you need to carry out to reach a certain objective. For example, at night I will write up a list of 5 tasks that I want to achieve the next day. Now naturally there is a certain amount of discipline involved. Just having a list doesn't mean you will automatically do everything that needs to be done, but statistics show you're more likely to have a productive day if you plan it out in advance.
Procrastination is another massive time waster, and the problem is that almost everyone does it to some degree. Procrastination is basically when you put off things that you really should be focusing on right now, usually in favour of doing something that is more enjoyable or that you're more comfortable doing.
One of the best ways to overcome this is to get someone to check up on your progress. Yep, Peer pressure works! It has proven to be a highly effective tactic with professional self-help groups all around the world.
Other strategies would be to break up your project into smaller more manageable tasks. Start with smaller tasks first and when you feel your achieving something, move onto a more important task. This will stop you getting overwhelmed, which will in return avoid procrastination.
Another effective way to manage your time is to create an Activity log. Activity logs are to help you to analyse how you actually spend your time. If you go to mindtools.com you can download an Activity log template. Basically every time you change activities, whether it be checking emails, going to lunch or just gossiping with work colleagues, you would log it down. You would be surprised at the end of the day, how much time you have wasted. The goal is to learn from it, use it as a wake up call and slowly try to change your habits.
Well thats a few time management tips in a nut shell. As much as you may not want too, if you put some of these methods in practice you will see some respectable results.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1210439

Tuesday 1 May 2012

Tidal Energy - Using the Energy of Tides to Generate Electricity


Tidal Energy is another type of renewable energy resource that utilises large amounts of energy within the oceans tides to generate electricity. As we all know from our science lessons, tides are caused by the gravitational forces upon the earth of the sun and the moon, which varies due to their elliptical orbits around the earth. These gravitational forces cause our seas and oceans to rise and fall in a continuous and predictable cycle as vast quantities of water circulate around the earth. The result is that coastal areas have two high tides and two low tides within slightly more than a 24 hours cycle.
The earliest known exploitation of tidal energy was used by tidal mills, which were created by building a barrage across the mouth of a river estuary. Sea water was trapped in a tidal basin on the rising tide and released at low tide through a low-head waterwheel, providing power for everything from turning a stone mill to grind corn, sawing lumber to operating the bellows and hammers in ironworks etc.
Today, the rising incoming and falling outgoing tides are used to generate electricity, in much the same manner as hydroelectric power plants with the technology required to convert tides potential energy into electricity is very similar to the technology used for traditional hydroelectric power. Tidal barrages for electricity generation use large low-head turbines which can operate for a greater fraction of the day. But building dams and fences across tidal estuaries is an expensive process, therefore the best tidal sites are those that exist where a tidal bay has a narrower opening, thus reducing the length of the dam required.
Electricity is generated by the force of the sea water flowing both into and out of a tidal bay through a water turbine, turning an electric generator to produce electricity. Because there are two high and two low tides each day, electrical generation from tidal power plants can be predicted years in advance, unlike wind energy, and is characterized by periods of maximum generation every twelve hours, with no electricity generation at the six-hour mark in between the high tides.
Another tidal energy design that uses the currents created by the ebb and flow of the tides is Tidal Stream Generation. Tidal stream generation is very similar in principle to wind power generation except this time water currents flow across a turbines rotor blades which rotates the turbine, much like how wind currents turn the blades for wind power turbines. In fact, tidal stream generation areas on the sea bed can look just like underwater wind farms and in areas where the coastal currents are strong, a suitable tidal stream turbine can generate as much free tidal energy as a wind turbine at the same speed and almost four times the size.
Tidal energy has many advantages compared to other forms of renewable energy with its main advantage being that it is predictable, which means power generation is predictable too, unlike wind or solar energy and being located underwater, tidal turbines produce no emissions or noise. However, like many other forms of renewable energy, tidal energy also has its disadvantages such as its inflexible generation times dependent upon the tides and the fact that it operates in the hostile conditions of the open oceans and seas which can be a stormy and violent environment, resulting in the tidal turbines being destroyed by the very energy they were designed to capture.
Tidal energy is a renewable source of electricity that does not result in the emission of gases responsible for global warming or acid rain, which are associated with fossil fuel-generated electricity. Use of tidal energy could also decrease the need for nuclear power. Changing tidal flows by damming a bay or an estuary or locating large turbine generators onto the seabed could, however, result in negative impacts on aquatic and shoreline ecosystems, as well as on navigation and recreation.
Tidal energy requires a large capital investment in dams, turbines and support ships, but once a "tidal energy" plant is built the energy it generates is essentially free with the system being relatively inexpensive to run.
To learn more about "Tidal Energy", or to explore the advantages and disadvantages of using Tidal Energy as an alternative energy resource, visit http://eversity.co/elearning/tidal_energy.aspx


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6937420