Reflection - Mentor

First year at university can be very daunting. It is a whole new experience compared to school and college.
A very good friend of mine who studied four years of medicine and now studying law has helped me to be my mentor for the three years of my university life. This has helped me to settle down well with less stress and has helped me gain more understanding about my work. This type of mentor scheme is very helpful for every student especially for first years. I am very pleased to have an experienced mentor and will take every opportunity to make the most of it.

Bulk of Essay

Abstract

Mobile phones are one of the greatest inventions of all. People around the globe and people of all ages are being owners of these devices. They are very popular due to its multi-functional properties and are being part of our daily activities. Even its being such an accepted technology there are still negative sides to it. This assignment is exploring more on its impact on the society. It will be covering sections on the history of communications, history and the functions in a mobile phone, mobile phones and age classifications, mobile phones and crime and looking at the advantages and disadvantages of using a mobile phone. With the information’s gathered mobile phones do have an impact on society giving both negative and positive results. The positive results are mainly with the convenient use of it such as accessing it anywhere and having useful functions. The negative results are the risks to health, it is said that it can cause serious brain damages. But there are still studies that states it hasn’t proven to have this much severe health hazard.

Introduction

As mobile phones are being one of the main centre pieces in today’s world, it has changed the humankind completely only within 20 years! It is surprising how this small piece of device could do to the world. It is the subject now rising if it has an impact on the society or not.

Conclusion

As the above research shows mobile phones do have an impact on society. They do have both advantages and disadvantages. Teenagers getting addicted to Facebook and accessing these social networking sites via mobile phone are becoming more popular. People can stay in touch with their family and friends wherever they are. Mobile phones are more appealing to people due to its multi functional use such as SMS, video calling, photos, videos etc. But as said there are disadvantages to this which is a health risk to the human body. Many people in this century are trying to perform a healthy lifestyle so this disadvantage may or may not limit the number of mobile phone users.

So overall mobile phones do have an impact on society

Literature Review

"Mobile phones and their effect on society"

Mobile phones here, there and everywhere. Mobile phones are one of THE greatest and useful inventions in the 20th century. It is one of the technologies that are introduced to the world which still exists and the growth of mobile users is increasing rapidly. This is due to the modernisation and the busy life of humans in this century. People are looking for quicker and easy ways to do their tasks and mobile phones are the easy option to communicate with friends and families without the hassle of waiting for a reply by using mails or being in a specific place for land phones. The guardian 2005 says that “mobile phones are not only changing our culture and language but our very bodies as well” [Ben H 2005].Mobile phones are not all that of an advantage as scientists has argued that it can cause health related issues such as cancer. According to a landmark international study [Martin B and Robert W 2009] “the long-term use of mobile phones may be linked to some forms of cancer”. It is said that there will be a “significantly increased risk” of some brain tumours “related to use of mobile phones for a period of ten years or more”. BBC 2004 says that “radio ways from mobile phones do harm body cells and damage DNA”. But even with all these information people don’t seem to be that worried or bothered about the issue and is continue using the technology. Dr. Zenon Sienkiewicz 2004 says that “the ongoing research is no reason for people to be worried”.People are hoping that there is an alternative to this issue.

* Martin B and Robert W (2009), long term use of mobile phones “may be linked to cancer”, London Telegraph [Online Article]http://blog.puppetgov.com/2009/10/24/landmark-international-study-long-term-use-of-mobile-phones-may-be-linked-to-cancer/[09-11-09]
*Zenon S 2004, BBC news health [Online Article]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4113989.stm[24-10-09]
*BBC news (2004), Help for lost and stolen phones, news article [online]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4033461.stm[09-11-09]
*Ben H (2005), Generation text: Mobile phones have changed our culture and society, The Guardian (London, England), p24 (1483 words) [Online article][24-10-09]

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis
A basic outline of my strength, weakness, opportunities and threats

Strengths – My main strength is my education and the knowledge and experiences I have gained through my school, college and university. The other main strength is my personal characteristics. I am a very good listener, hard worker, ability to organise my work well, self-discipline, punctual, managing deadlines, ability to work under pressure, supportive of others and I learn from my mistakes.

Weaknesses – My main weakness is lack of work experience. The other weaknesses are maths, essay writings, individual presentation, too emotional, sometimes shy and I can get easily distracted. I would like to improve more on these negative aspects.

Opportunities – My opportunities are the new and different technologies and software I am learning now and will get to learn. I like learning new things and getting more experience. The other main opportunity is the career path I have chosen which provides a variety of job opportunities.

Threats – My main threat is money! Studying in university is the biggest opportunity anyone could have but at the same time it’s expensive.

VARK Questionnaire

The VARK questionnaire explored more on my learning and helped me finding out what type of learner I am. The results where positive as it said I have a multimodal (VARK) learning preference.

My scores were:
Visual: 10
Aural: 11
Read/Write: 9
Kinesthetic: 7

I have a strong learning preference in Aural, Visual and Read/Write. I like visual study strategies such as understanding from flow charts, Pictures, Diagrams etc; I also like listening as I take in information more when I listen. Also I learn by reading and writing. My least learning strategy is kinaesthetic learning. This learning is more about practical work by getting physically involved with the task. I need to improve more on this learning so I can be an all rounder. In order to do this I need to use different technique to enhance my learning. I need to be more involved physically with the task and have more group work and doing more practical work. With these improvements made I can be a better learner.

Learning Line

My first stage of learning started at my primary school in Saudi Arabia. Started off with A, B, C and finished off with mixed knowledge of alphabets, numeric’s, singing and dancing. Then I started my secondary school which I gained more knowledge and more information about the world and the people around me. Got involved in many curricular activities; was the captain of my sports team, performed a dance, member of the choir and also did public speech. Started my first job at our family shop and gained good experience, then was in charge of the library and did a work experience at a dental surgery as a dental nurse. Then I went to Queen Mary’s college studying various courses which are Business studies, Health and social care, Biology, Chemistry, ICT and FSQ Math’s. During my college time I got a job at a local food restaurant which was a whole new experience for me. And now I am carrying on with my education at Anglia Ruskin University.