Studying The History Of Workflow Management Systems Information Technology Essay

Studying The History Of Workflow Management Systems Information Technology Essay 1. Introduction In this seminar, I would like to introduce the history and definition of workflow management system. In that, we can classified the workflow into several. Then, standard and types of workflows. Beside that, I also introduce the advantages of using workflow management system. Other than that, I also introduced one of the collaborative system which to assist in workflow management system, that is document management system. I will briefly discuss the history, definition and advantages of systems and usage of the system to help in workflows systems and related to document management. In groupware. I will introduced the history and definition of it. Furthermore, I will discuss about the area and levels of groupware with its advantages. I will linked and identified how do they work together to deliver a well manage workflow from different level of lecturer and staff in developed the new course and its details. 2. Workflow management system 2.1 Introduction In 1980 ago, most of the companies and customers were seen an crisis and obstacle. It was because of the structure of organization were very inflexible and slow to response the new requirement from the markets and customers. As the market become international, the competition between organizational increased rapidly. To overcome and increased the power of competition, organization need to changes their organization structure to faced the new requirement from market. Because of these challenges, computer sciences industry have to created and develop a new information communication technology to suited the new requirement of markets. So the workflow technologies was developed in early 1990 was an leading to the new trend of computer industry. Workflow management systems is comes from the word workflow, which means that is sequence of jobs/ operation to distribute to a person or a groups of people on a simple or complex works. It may also delegate a small portion of big task to distribute , work split to others people for controlling purposes. The most common described the flow refer to the document that is being transferred from one to another. For more detailed, workflow is an activity that can described the information flow, process of work and organizational structure such as functions and hierarchies into a work process. (Wikipedia, 2010) 2.2 History In 1990s, workflow management system was created based on workflow process and business rules. The main purpose of the creation is to resolved the paper-based task with electronic process. At the end of 1990s, the workflow management system was created with additional function like modelling tools, business rules process and others. But in year 2005, Microsoft was created windows workflow foundation to replaced the original workflow with others functionality like BPM (Business Process Management). (Wikipedia,2010) 2.3 Definition In workflow management system, they are different module to run the business process. For example, document images processing, office system and transaction processing was build during these trend. From the beginning, the system is more concerned about storing, retrieving and tracking the data and information. Later, the system will more emphasized on office system which e-mails will become the core module to communicated for workflow system to exchange files and documents among them. In workflow management, there can divided into four generation (see figure 1). In first generation of workflow management system, the system is more focusing on e-mails exchange and document management. Then in next generation, the workflow process are tailorable through coding. Third generation, the systems have the standard architecture then can fully supported with third party tools. In fourth generation, the systems can fully supported with e-mail exchange, workflow process management etc. WORKFLOW1.JPG (61753 Byte) Workflow management systems is a computer system that manage multiple tasks in an organisation to produce output to others. It allow us to define workflows for work of processes or types of jobs. Example, in a manufacturing company, the product of design document may from designer then pass to technical people to production engineer. In every stage of workflow, every individual is responsible for their specific task and jobs. When the task is completed, the workflow management system will make sure that people that in charge of the task are notified and the information they need to process in their own stages. Its also help to eliminate redundant jobs and others uncompleted task are followed up. This called dependencies, means the system required the dependencies of every completion tasks. Others function of workflow management systems is using to replacing paper document transfer (paperless). (Kà ¤mpf and Großmann. 2006). 2.3.1 Classification of workflow management system There are 3 classification types of workflow management system, that is production workflow, ad hoc workflow and administrative systems. Production workflow Production workflow are the predefined job, tasks to be process or need additional steps. For as example, in the claims of car accidents, they will involve several basic steps (identifying the parties involved, log the police report and confirm with the agent of policy coverage) and additional steps (handling bodily injury, compensate of property, repairing of the car). Production workflow dedicate the process and maintain the productivity. Ad workflows Ad hoc workflows are through discussions and created new thing for each workflow. Ad workflows always use e-mail to carry out the work. In example of groupware, everyone need to collaborate to create or work on new design on a new product. Administrative workflow Administrative workflow are combination of ad hoc and production workflows. Means that the flow is pre-defined (e.g. approval of expense report) and they will use e-mail to communicate with others. This work is normally used by administration for example of travel claims. (Kà ¤mpf and Großmann. 2006). 2.3.2 Standardization The following diagram will specified the standard for Workflow Management Coalition(WIMC) which included characteristics, functions and interfaces. WORKFLOW2.JPG (48021 Byte) by Shegalov, Gillmann, and Weikum (2001) Refer to figure 2, the standardization of workflow are exists in three level. The first levels is how the workflow fit all the process together. Second level is abstract specification means that what the data of function needed. Third level is the details of how the function implemented using the tools. Refer to figure 2, there are five Application programming interface (API) surround with workflow engine. The API is functional as interact and communicate between clients and workflow engine. Process definition: This is the process which will involved the workflow and allocated the resources example: system and people to execute the jobs. Client interface: This interface which the workflows will involved by software. Involved applications: This interface involved the workflow software like example: document management system, email system and document imaging system. External workflow services: This interface is deal with external workflow of the company or others companies. Administration and monitoring : This interface is functional as admin and monitor of all the workflow being executed. These five interface become the minimum standards for workflow system. It is very important to having system architecture to cope with existing environment and implemented it with others business related companies. (Kà ¤mpf and Großmann. 2006). 2.3.3 Types of workflows There are two types of workflows. Sequential workflow Sequential workflow style is execute set of process and activities sequentially or one followed by another. There are no return to previous flow if required. For example figure 3. http://i.msdn.microsoft.com/Ee231606.SP_Sequential(en-us,VS.100).png Figure 3 State machine workflow State machine workflow is combine of state, actions and others. These workflow usually complex and may return to previous flow if required. For example figure 4. State Machine Workflow Figure 4 (Msdn, 2010). 2.4 Advantages of Workflow Management System 2.4.1 Improve productivity There are many advantages of using the workflow management system. One of the advantages is it can help the organization to improve their productivity. Before it, the workers will spend a lot of times on doing the manual tasks for example to approve the clients changes on their details on paper works. This will waste lot of man power, times, resources and money on this dummy works. Furthermore, it will slow down the organization performance and risk the development of it. With the system, every things can doing on split of eyes. When there are changes of the details, staffs can send e-mails to their supervisor to approve the changes rather than paper work. 2.4.2 Visibility It also important to let manager having visibility on the business workflow. For manager, it is responsible for them to understand the whole workflow of department. If there are any happen with business critical processes, he will identified it and take appropriate steps to overcome it. For example, in the shipment department, there are lot of wrong shipment to destination. Manager may easily identified which flow are causes the mistakes. 2.4.3 Faster change to business reaction Besides that, it allows the organization to having faster business reaction to change. In the organization, top management may change organization business flows or business process reengineering to react to market changes. For manager, they may quickly change it through process modification on workflow system. Example, if customers pay the bills for abnormal transaction by using credit card, operator of credit card company may call the card owner to verified the transaction to avoid fraud. 2.4.4 Accountability For manger, it can improve accountability skills. Manager have overview and understanding of process, it can help him to allocate resources and man power to which processes are more necessary. This may reduce wasteful of resources on focus to other major process. Example, manager may identify administration department need lesser staffs compare to accounting department. So, he can switch some staffs to accounting department to improved productivity rather waste resources or terminate the staffs. 3. Electronic document management system 3.1 History From year 1980s, there are lot of IT people began to develop a system to manage the paper-based document and images of a company to reduce the yearly huge expenses on paper. Later, they created the first system called electronic document management (EDM) system to managed those document that created by computers. It also known as document imaging systems, because the main function were capture, storage, and retrieve the file. It also help the organization to capture faxes and save document as images. (Wikipedia. 2010). 3.2 Definition Electronic document management system is a kind of computer software to organized and manage electronic document. For example, word processing documents, image, spreadsheets and others. The document which users can change and store the document in electronic form or images for the purpose of retrieving, sharing, distributing, version control, workflow management. Document management system will require scanner to convert the document to digital form for storing. (Wikipedia. 2010). 3.3 Function of electronic document management system In electronic document management system, there are few major function to manage the document: Data recording and storage both in document and out document are required to tagged with date and time of last accessed. Capturing documents when scanner scan the images of hard copy document into electronic formats, it will stored it in database for easy storage and flexible retrieving the document. Document retrieval the system make the document retrieve more easily by clicking some button rather than search it in cabinet. Create indexes system can help to organize document by create indexes to uniquely identified each group of document and save time for searching. Version control system able to keep track multiple version of same document to manage and store multiple version of data to system. (Marc, B. 2010). (Bestpricecomputers. 2010). 3.3 Advantages of Electronic Document Management System 3.3.1 Reduced storage spaces The storage document in an organization always is an big issues for them. If the organization which exist more than 10 years, it will be a huge amount of documentary in organization. By scanning those documents and store in DMS system can reduce a large amount of paper storage. Beside of that, it also help the organization to reduce cost of storage to store documents. 3.3.2 Prevent lost files In an organization, it is very common that a document can lost it easily without having a well organized storage. Lost of documents is an loss for an organization and need time to replace it. Furthermore, hardcopy of records which retrieved from storage, may lead to loss because others may getting the same file. With DMS, the image of the document will store in the server and can view by others without losing and damaged. 3.3.3 Improved security DMS can provide a better security, flexible to access on document level based on the level of groups and people. Documents that store in DMS are required authentication and access code to view and modify the documents, it also eliminate the unauthorized people to access confidential documents. Example, in an organization, staffs are need password and username to access groups of document instead of easily get the document stores in cabinet without any authorization checking. Furthermore, DMS can provide audit function of who, when and which documents being access by staffs. 3.3.4 Controlled and improved distribution Documents imaging are easily distribute to colleagues and staffs by e-mail and web instead of photocopy to share. This provide cost saving by reducing organizations paper document for example printing and postage which with hard copy documents. 3.3.5 Flexible retrieval Keeping the softcopy version of documents in DMS system is better against hardcopy document. It is because that, it more fast to retrieve the records compare to searching in cabinet to get the records. Staffs can spend lesser time to get the records in their own table without leaving. 3.3.6 Version control Documents are stored in network can be changed by users without changing history. Document management system require documents to be checked out first for change and check in to save changes into database. It can view the entire history of documents of who and when to modified the documents. 3.3.7 Reduced costs When implemented the system, we can reduced a lot of unnecessary paper works cost on it especially for TAR college with huge amount of students intake and lot of lecturers. (Content Manager. 2008). 3.3 Critical evaluation In TAR college, it is emergent need for the document management system (DMS). The reason is to reduced the documents spaces. For TAR college which are big education institute with approximated 6000 people intake every year, there must be a huge amount of studentss details and documents of it. The space need to stored, managed and categories these students will be a headache problems for staffs. Beside that, lecturer may have document sharing as discussion on new course development. Loss of documents will be an norms for bad practices on document management. In TAR college, with large amount of document and lecturer works. It will easily loss their document if impropriate managed and storing due to . Those information are valuable to them and time consuming to replace it. Example, record of students or evaluation on course developed. Beside that, with DMS, the documents and information are securely been stored in it. Someone is needed password to access certain documents. This to prevent unauthorized staff and lecturer to access some highly confidential and students details or financial documents to protect privacy and prevent disclosure those information to third party. Example, normal staffs may not easily get the financial report from finance department. The results from discussion of course developed is essential to keep its version control. This is to make sure the workflow of it is well managed under DMS. Without it, it is easily mess up with older version results and produced inaccurate discussion and results based on old version discussion. Other than that, with DMS, staff and lecturer may easily to retrieve the information by clicking some button rather than physically go to other department to retrieve it from cabinet. Example, lecturer reference some course details from course development department. In Extending Document Management Systems with User-Specific ActiveProperties journal. The author stated out 4 problems of traditional document management system. That is file documents, manage document, locate documents and share documents. -For file documents: it reflects that particular documents are relevant to multiple activities and department. Example, travel plans are relate to budget decision and scheduling with the department of accounting and HR. -For manage file: the administrative function of documents according to demands of user needs. -For locate documents: documents may filed to one criterion but retrieved according to another, because cannot define the cross-cutting set of categorization to group of documents. -For share documents: organization may not know that particular document is relevant to people or need of their groups of people. Groupware History Groupware was introduced by a people Richman and Slovak in 1980. They say that Like an electronic sinew that binds teams together, the new  groupware  aims to place the computer squarely in the middle of communications among managers, technicians, and anyone else who interacts in groups, revolutionizing the way they work.(8) In 1990s, the company who used the groupware are Boeing and IBM. They use it as meeting tools to control the projects. Then lotus notes act as major software of groupware. It allow group of people to work together in internet in early stage. Slowly, groupware was fully integrate in web site and come out Web 2.0 for the purpose of host a corporate network. The functionalities include document sharing, instant messaging, web conferencing with others. (Wikipedia. 2009) Definition Groupware also called as collaborative software. The purpose of groupware is to change the documents and other materials to be shared effectively in team collaboration. Before that, we have to understand the human interaction is a must to create software to meet their needs. There are three ways of human interact: conversations, transactions and collaborations. Conversational interactions: It is the information sharing between two or more people, the purpose is to build the relationship among them. Communication technology are instant messaging, E-mail and others. Transactional interaction: It is to exchange transaction entities, means to alter relationship between participants. One participant exchange money for services and products to become a customer. It effectively in transaction systems for manage records for persistent change. Collaborative interaction: participants relationship is to alter a collaborative entity. Example, to achieve a common goal. So, true collaboration technology is to bring many people to achieve a common output. To get the many effort into a managed environment is collaboration technology. We can divided groupware into 4 area: Knowledge management tools Knowledge creation tools Information sharing tools Collaborative project management tools (Wikipedia. 2009) Collaborative project management Collaborative project management tools (CPMT) is described all detailed of collaboration and management of project and its related knowledge areas. Beside that, it also known as business related goals which used for project management. Example of collaborative project management tools: Collaborative project management tools Instant messaging Telephony Videoconferencing Web conferencing E-mail Web publishing Revision control Document versioning Document sharing Levels of groupware Groupware can be divided in 3 categories based on level of collaboration: communication tools, conferencing tools and collaborative tools. Communication: It is unstructured way to exchange information. For example, instant message discussion and phone chatting. Conferencing: Interactive work toward a goal. For example brainstorming from group of people and also voting. Collaborative: complex interdependent work toward a goal. Everyone was contribute their effort and work differently on achieving a goal. Example, everyone in an organization from different department are work hard in their own position to contribute their effort in organization to generate more profits. (Wikipedia. 2009) Communication tools Communication tools is use to communicate with people and sharing information by messages or documents. Example: E-mail Revision control Web publishing (Wikipedia. 2009) Conferencing tools Conferencing tools is use to sharing information in more interesting and responsive way. Example: Forums an internet discussion spaces to manage messages from other people. Online chat a real-time message convertion and discussion. Example MSN. Videoconferencing networked PCs conference with video and audio. Instant messaging. (Wikipedia. 2009) Collaborative tools Collaborative tools is use to manage group activities. Example Workflow systems management of tasks and documents in business process. Project management system it is a system to schedule and tasks allocated to people the steps in projects to be completed. Knowledge management system it is a system for an organization to create, store and distribute good practices and experience. (Wikipedia. 2009) Advantages of groupware Increase efficiency Groupware is to provide a centralized access point to access information. Group members have to access their related information for their tasks in their group. It can remove redundant work, required less time to search data, and spend more time in tasks. (Web conferencing zone. 2005). Define and enforce process With groupware, we can know how the information is flows. All the documentation are kept on the person who make changes. This will help group members to ensure them to perform their jobs and satisfied with their contribution to the projects. (Web conferencing zone. 2005). Provide structure Thought groupware, it can show the group members of how the tasks been allocated, what the goals of projects, expectation from them. Group members are know that their task and roles of projects. Other than that is to provide project management with scheduling and tracking facilities. (Web conferencing zone. 2005). Critical evaluation Conclusion In conclusion, workflow management system can help us to manage the task flow to be more easily and transparent. It can identified the business process, the task allocated to particular members and goal of the projects. Beside of that, it need electronic document management system to control the task and documentation of members to work more effectively and efficiency. Lastly, groupware will help group members to communicate more easily and effectively on discussion and reporting the methods to carry their tasks. In conclusion, I will combined these technology to create a system to let lecturer can have a better environment on discuss and developed a new course structure.

Mary Shelleys Frankenstein Essays -- Frankenstein Essays

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein The creature of the novel Frankenstein is intelligent, naà ¯ve, powerful and frightening. He seeks vengeance, kills three people, and haunts his creator to the end of his (Frankenstein’s) days. Why? What inspired and what enraged the creature so much so that he felt this was the only path to pursue? When we first meet the creature (truly meet him, that is), he shows his intelligence through speech. One must certainly expect him to be a drooling, dumb and violent creature, but he is, in fact, quite the opposite. He is violent, yes, but he does not show his violent physical side unless provoked to anger. More often than not the creature is full of self pity, cursing his existence and his creator for bringing him into it. When the creature and Frankenstein speak to each other (though the creature is doing most of the speaking), the creature does so fairly calmly, and relays his side of the story -- where he had been, what he had done and, most importantly, what he had read. When taking a close look at the creature’s behavior and story, it is impossible to ignore the fact that the two works that seemed to have the greatest affect on him were Paradise Lost and the notes that he had found in his pocket concerning his own creation. Though each work that the creature read is important in one way or another, these two were the works that helped to shape his personality and change how he felt about himself and his plight. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the creature’s reaction to Paradise Lost is that he identified not with Adam, but with Lucifer. This explains quite a bit about the creature and a bit about why he acts the way he does throughout the novel. The creature himself even... ...o an eternity of tempting souls away from the Creator, and to live in Hell. The creature lives in his own Hell each day, and does not necessarily tempt, though he does indeed taunt Frankenstein. Is this justice? A person could argue either way in that respect. To a degree, yes, it is justice. The creature committed terrible acts, to be sure, but he did not ask to be brought into the world, nor to be abandoned. To a degree, the creature’s hatred and need for revenge rather help him in his life. He is never naà ¯ve enough to trust people again, for one thing, and it pushes him to superhuman speed and constitution, things he probably would not have if he had been accepted. Though, is the emotional trade-off worth it? Perhaps not. In the end, the creature loses any redeeming qualities he may have and becomes far more wretched than he had been in the beginning of his life.

Promoting national unity in Malaysian public schools Essay

Introduction â€Å"Malaysia, Truly Asia† aptly describes the country as a melting pot of three major Asian cultures. Yet, less than 140 years ago, a homogenous society existed in the Malay Peninsular with a population of 90% Malays (Gullick, 1969). However due to colonial policies and increasing economic prosperity, the society evolved ethnically into present day multi-ethnic Malaysians The 2010 consensus from Department of Statistics Malaysia revealed Malaysians of the 21st century as coming from three major groups; 67.4% Bumiputera (Malays, Sarawak and Sabahan bumiputera), 24.6% Chinese, 7.3% Indians and 0.7% others. In short, this land has changed from a homogenous society to a pluralistic society with Malaysians coming from different cultures, languages and religions. It can be deduced that integration among Malaysians are crucial factors that contribute to the nation’s success. This unity has been a main concern of the Malaysian government from pre-independence day to the present. In the face of multi-culturalism, Ho (1952) stated that â€Å"It is accepted that education is not the only means available in the tasks of achieving national unity and solidarity in the plural community of Malaya, but it remains the most important single factor for integration in the racial, religious and cultural complex of Malaya.† Thus he proposed that education be used to unify the multi-ethnic Malaysian society starting from school level where early stages of inter-racial socialisation process begins. Through education, the younger generation of Malaysians are nurtured with stronger national consciousness and imbued with stronger national identity. Ideologies and policies like Rukun Negara,and Bangsa Malaysia were formulated to cater to each succeeding generation of Malaysians. With integration still remaining as a top national agenda, the first part of this paper attempts to examine the role of education reports on national unity in Malaysia from pre-independence to the present day, and analyse their impact and success. The impact is analysed by relying upon a combination of historical investigation from various education reports in the light of national unity. With 1Malaysia being the latest effort of integration, the second part of this paper tries to gauge the awareness of NKRA 4, a visible  mechanism of 1Malaysia among 1the educationists through analysis of empirical evidence gathered from the interviews with them. Finally, the paper will analyse if 1Malaysia concept conceived to promote unity will be the right panacea for removing ethnicity barriers among Malaysians. Inculcating national unity in education: A pre-Independence to present day review of the educational reports The current Malaysian education policy for national unity has its roots in pre-independence era and it has become part of the society’s prevailing colonial inheritance (Azhar Wahid, 2011). During the colonial era, the existence of vernacular schools catering for each race had physically divided the Malayan society. The second divisive factor was the different ethnic languages used as medium of instruction to educate the respective races (Marimuthu, 2008). The third was the geographical separation of the vernacular schools according to the unequal population distribution of different races (Omar, 1991). The only opportunity for integration was among students in English medium schools established in towns (Marimuthu, 2008). Separate curriculum for vernacular schools was the fourth factor splitting the communities. With focus on ethnics’ respective countries of origin and the nonexistent Malayan context in the curriculum, the vernacular education failed to build a sense of national identity and consciousness (Marimuthu, 2008). To integrate multi-ethnic communities in Malaya through educational system, the 1950 Barnes Report 1950 suggested replacing the vernacular schools with national schools using English or Malay as medium of instruction in primary schools and English for secondary schools and bringing students and teachers of different races together under one education system to build a nation with national characteristics (Noriati Rashid et al., 2012). As the report was viewed unfavourably by the Chinese, another report, the 1951 Fenn-Wu report, was commissioned; it recommended Chinese education curriculum to include local Malayan elements to help form a sense of national identity among its students. Both Barnes and Fenn-Wu reports were taken into consideration when the 1952 Education Ordinance was passed (Ee, 1995). It supported the National School concept with a common curriculum using Malay and English language as media of instruction. However, lack of funding and insurgency hampered its implementation. Historically, 1957 was the year an independent Federation of Malaya was formed. To cater to a post-independent Malaya, the Razak Report, the most influential education committee reports, was commissioned. It cited two major considerations: using Malay language as the main medium of instruction and incorporating Malayan context and values into school curriculum (Omar, 1991). The proposal desired to instil national consciousness and mutual understanding among multi-racial communities through mono-language and socio-cultural values. The Razak Report led to the 1957 Education Ordinance. As a follow-up, 1960 Rahman Talib Report recommended retaining a single schooling system for all pupils with the same school curriculum using Malay language as medium of instruction. This report resulted in the Education Act of 1961with its most significant outcomes of phasing out English medium schools and converting Chinese and Tamil National secondary schools to Malay medium secondary schools, standard ising school system, and nationalisation of curriculum and examinations (Omar, 1991). The 1969 racial riot had warranted the need for a more intense scrutiny of the nation’s fragile unity. Poverty, ethnic disparity in economic participation and wealth distribution had emerged as the primary causes of racial tensions and social political instability (Syed Husin Ali, 2008). Hence, in 1971, New Economic Policy (NEP) was introduced as a remedy. The policy emphasised on education as a major role in eradicating poverty and in restructuring economic and wealth disparity in Malaysian society leading to social integration and national unity (Hussein Ahmad, 2008). Not surprisingly, the 1979 Mahathir Education Report again emphasized on national unity. Process of reforming Malaysian education system continues on in strengthening socio-cultural mechanism to build a stronger national identity and consciousness (Hussein Ahmad, 2008). In 1990s, national unity and social cohesion were still the major agenda of Malaysia’s nation building which led to Vision 2020 with the first goal of establishing a united Malaysian nation made up of one Bangsa Malaysia (EPU, 2011) together  with Vision  Schools where children of all races study in their respective mother-tongue primary schools under one roof and sharing same facilities. Impact of Educational Reports on National Unity in Schools Past and present educational reports have highlighted the needs for curriculum standardization, use of common medium of instruction, employing teachers of all races, using multi-cultural Malaysian context in curriculum and bringing all students together to share common classroom so as to increase openness, interaction and understanding among them. All these criteria which were absent in pre-independent Malaya have now been implemented in national schools. In particular, the National Philosophy of Education entails using Bahasa Malaysia as medium of instruction, using the same curriculum, standardising examination and syllabus as well as introducing school co-curriculum. The 1979 Mahathir Report brought about the New Primary School Curriculum (KBSR) which was formulated to help develop socio-cultural values based on the Rukun Negara, and national culture (Azhar Wahid, 2011). Integrated Secondary School Curriculum (KBSM) was introduced with emphasis given on mastering Bahasa Malaysia and nurturing national consciousness through inculcating common values, aspirations and loyalties (Nagendralingan, 2008). Multi-cultural education is promoted in the curriculum to ensure that all students are aware of cultural, gender, racial and ethnic diversity of the nation and to foster mutual respect and positive social interaction with each other (Azhar Wahid, 2011). In the classrooms of national secondary schools, teaching and learning process promote cooperative learning methods such as doing projects, case research, group discussion, pair work and group assignments to help students of different races to not only improve communication skills with each other but also to interact, share ideas and learn teamwork spirit (Neo et al., 2009). When students are aware of the values of multi-cultural education, they learn to respect different cultures, thereby reducing misconceptions and prejudices towards those of  other ethnic groups. Syllabus and curriculum  are replete with elements of Malaysian cultural heritage where students learn and understand another culture’s dominant practices, way of life and religious holidays (Azhar Wahid, 2011). As part of co-curriculum activities, sports and games, uniformed bodies, clubs and societies help students to interact with each other; speech day, field trips, sports carnivals, fund raising events are designed to draw out involvement from all students to socialise together (Nagendralingan, 2008). Parent Teacher Associations and alumni associations help to integrate the school communities with the outside communities. Though the National Education Policy may not have achieved the highest degree of ethnic integration, some of its strategic policies such as using Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction in secondary schools have been successful (Azhar Wahid, 2011). This has created generations of Malaysians communicating and learning using the same language. The concept of equal access to education at every schooling level is another major characteristic of education development in the mid-1970s. Affordable access to education for all can help to narrow the education gap between races and increase upward social mobility. With equitable ethnic participation in the economy and wealth distribution, the causes of racial tensions can be remedied and this promotes social political stability. National Key Results Area 4 (NKRA) Pemandu (2011) reported that National Key Results Area (NKRA) is part of 1Malaysia’s concrete efforts to give priority to people’s needs first. Improving student outcome is one of the seven NKRAs â€Å"which have been deemed crucial and urgent for achieving 1Malaysia.† NKRA goal for education is improving student outcome by developing students’ minds, talents, and capabilities to safeguard the nation’s future generation. THE INTERVIEW RESULTS: Views on NKRA 4 from Education Practitioners The  interview questions focused specifically on eliciting their understanding of the NKRA goals which are â€Å"access to affordable education† and â€Å"quality of education† as well as how their contributions can make the policy a success. Respondent 01 is a school principal who has been an educationist for 24 years; respondent 02, an assistant principal, has been an educationist for 33 years; respondent 03 has been a teacher for 32 years and respondent 04 36 years. Regarding the term â€Å"access to affordable education† , respondent 01 replied that it means giving free education from a young age up to secondary education. Respondent 02 said that affordable education includes scholarships and financial help for underprivileged students to keep schooling. Both respondents 03 and 04 mentioned that it means children can easily attain education without been financially burdened. â€Å"Access to Quality of education† was understood by respondent 01 and 03 as getting a holistic education with balanced intellect, spiritual, emotional and physical development. Respondent 02 interpreted it as what makes students employable after finishing their secondary or tertiary education. Producing quality students who have the ability to think critically, apply their knowledge and contribute to society is regarded as quality education by respondent. All the respondents agreed that Malaysians have access to affordable education in reality. But as to the quality of education, all the respondents conceded that it has declined. Respondent 01 explained that he has experienced the unsatisfactory situation of rural schools where the parents and students do not prioritise education and school principals fail to play their part. According to respondent 02, the decline is partially due to the low standard of admission for applicants applying for teaching training at universities and training colleges and this lowers the quality of education. Respondent 03 believed that the intellectual formation has been over emphasised to the detriment of other JERIS aspects (physical, emotional, spiritual and social). As for respondent 04, she claimed that lack of vocational schools and their limited enrolment make it difficult for under  performing students to continue their studies in a meaningful way. Towards attaining NKRA education goals, respondent 01 pointed out that the principal’s most important contribution is strong leadership with clear and achievable vision and mission for his school. He further enunciated that a principal who sets achievable standards for both the under achievers and bright students can enhance the school’s performance. Respondent 02 and 03 mentioned that active supervision of students and teachers by the principal can significantly improve their performance. Showing interest in students’ performance and connecting with them at ground level are some of the ways according to respondent 04 that the principal contributes to improving student outcomes. Regarding the role of teachers, respondent 01 stressed that â€Å"the input of teachers is proportional to increasing student outcomes in developing students’ minds, talents and capabilities†. Both respondents (respondent 02 & 03) pointed out that students’ access to quality education is enhanced by receiving quality teaching and mentoring from teachers. Therefore, according to them, teachers must be good role models and have the right attitude towards their students. Instead of just settling for mediocrity among students, respondent 04 suggested that teachers should discover students’ weaknesses and motivate them to overcome it. Evaluating the findings Generally, it is agreed that Malaysian students have access to affordable education as currently school fees are waived, textbooks are provided on loan, deserving students receive financial aid and rural schools provide free lodging and food. The overall consensus is that quality of education is the holistic development of the whole person. However it may not necessarily correlate with better quality of education as there are other factors involved such as parental involvement and awareness, teachers’ input and principals’ leadership. Two key factors in better education quality are the principal’s leadership and the teachers’ cooperation in increasing students’ performance and outcome. NKRA education recognises this by creating High Performing Schools whereby schools are categorised into bands according to performance in order to motivate and increase principals’ performance (The Star, 2012). To produce committed, responsible and caring teachers, intervention programmes to train and motivate teachers towards higher achievement are also in place under NKRA 4. To improve the quality and standard of professionalism, the Education Ministry plans to pick only top-scoring university graduates to be 20% of trainee teachers by 2015 and review the passing criteria for trainee teachers at training colleges (Fernandez & Lingan, 2012) to ensure quality teachers. The goals of NKRA in improving student outcome help teachers and principals to tackle the challenges faced in providing quality education. Achieving the goals can indirectly increase unity goal under 1Malaysia as better education opportunities for all can bridge the gap between ethnic groups by balancing their l evel playing field and providing economic advancement. Evaluating 1MALAYSIA as the underlying key towards unity in cultural diversity Although efforts were made to integrate the Malaysian society using national education and ideologies, strong feelings of ethnicity in Malaysian social life are rife (Centre for Public Policy Studies, n.d.). In response, the current Prime Minister, Najib Razak introduced 1Malaysia concept in 2009 which aspires to unite the pluralistic Malaysian society by inculcating the spirit and values of solidarity and sense of togetherness, irrespective of race, religion and creed. (Najib Abdul Razak, 2009). The objective is to have the Malays, Chinese, and Indians perceive themselves collectively as a single identity –Malaysians. 1Malaysia founded upon the principle â€Å"People First, Performance Now† means that the government’s prime concern is people’s welfare and producing high quality performance that benefits them. In identifying his government with Malaysians regardless of race, soc ial background or religion and understanding their aspirations, he seeks to lead his government to identify their needs and to incorporate their feedback. Consequently, 1Malaysia can strengthen solidarity and cooperation among races for unity in cultural diversity. Is 1Malaysia the underlying key towards achieving unity in cultural diversity? According to Mujibu Muis et al. (2012), history shows that when national unity and integration focused on assimilating minority cultures into the dominant culture, it invariably caused minority ethnic groups to hold stronger to their languages and cultures. As Hazri Jamil and Santhiram Rahman (2012) suggested, the past assumption that the main method for national integration is the educational policy has been over simplistic. They claimed that racial harmony cannot be fostered through education initiatives alone. Hence, the concept of integration is not only about a mono-language, but is about mutual respect and understanding of other cultures and beliefs. In this respect, 1Malaysia concept which celebrates multi-culturalism, accepts cultural diversity and sees it as an advantage which can contribute to a prospering, stable and sustainable future (Hasnul Salleh, n.d.). As examples, Malaysian multi-culturalism has been packaged as the main attractions for the tourism industry (Tourism Malaysia, n.d.) and it brings about economical advantages in trade relations with China and India because of the language and cultural link. Has 1Malaysia concept being embraced by all Malaysians when through its acceptance, Malaysia has the potential to be more developed and stable economically, politically and socially? Without Malaysians’ acceptance, the implementation of the concept may not reach its full capacity. Yet, time will tell if 1Malaysia is to be seen as an underlying key to achieving unity in pluralistic Malaysia. Such a unity attained through the acceptance of the ideology of 1Malaysia renders one’s loyalty more towards the country and breaks down barriers of ethnicity. Conclusion Among the government educational policies built on the educational reports, the national language, common curriculum, standardised syllabus and examinations and national schools have always been tools of unity. Such policies have been effective and workable throughout the first 50 years of the nation’s independence. However, the idea of integration has somehow  progressed further according to the changing times with 1Malaysia concept which proposes that  the nation celebrates its unity amidst cultural diversity and views multi-culturalism as an edge that makes the country unique as in â€Å"Malaysia, truly Asia.† This means that the cultural diversity can become its strength rather than its Achilles heel when rather than assimilating minority cultures into dominant cultures as the only way of integration, 1Malaysia concept accepts the reality of multi-culturalism and promotes unity in its diversity. Therefore, the realisation of the concept may be the way forward fo r Malaysia to reinvent itself as a progressive nation at the dawn of the 21st century. REFERENCES Azhar Wahid. (2011). HBEF1103 Sociology and philosophy of education in Malaysia. Seri Kembangan, Selangor: Meteor Doc. Centre for Public Policy Studies. (n.d.). National unity fact sheet. [Online]. 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When to Use a Bug Bomb to Control Pests

Bug bombs—also known as total release foggers or insect foggers—use an aerosol propellant to fill an indoor space with chemical pesticides. These products are often marketed as all-purpose extermination tools that are easy for a homeowner to use. But is a bug bomb always the right choice when confronted with a home pest problem? Learn when to use a bug bomb—and when you shouldnt. Bug Bombs Work Best on Flying Insects Bug bombs are most effective on flying insects, such as flies or mosquitoes. They dont provide much control at all for cockroaches, ants, bed bugs, or other pests that most concern homeowners. So unless you live in the Amityville Horror house, you wont find a bug bomb to be of much help with your insect problem. Consumers are often fooled into using bug bombs for roaches and bed bugs because they believe the airborne pesticides will penetrate every crack and crevice where these insects hide. Quite the opposite is true, though. Once these hidden pests detect the chemical fog in the room, theyll retreat further into walls or other hideaways, where youll never be able to treat them effectively. Got Bed Bugs? Dont Bother With a Bug Bomb Are you battling bed bugs? Entomologists at The Ohio State University say not to bother using a bug bomb. Their 2012 study showed bug bomb products to be ineffective for treating bed bug infestations. The researchers studied three brands of insect foggers that list pyrethroids as their active ingredient. They used five different bedbug populations collected from Ohio homes as their variables and a laboratory-raised bed bug strain known as Harlan as their control. The Harlan bed bug population is known to be susceptible to pyrethroids. They conducted the experiment in a vacant office building on campus. The OSU entomologists found that the insect foggers had little adverse effect on the five bed bug populations collected from the field. In other words, the bug bombs were virtually useless on the bed bugs that are actually living in peoples homes. Just one strain of the field-collected bed bugs succumbed to the pyrethroid foggers, but that was only when those bed bugs were out in the open and directly exposed to the insecticide mist. The foggers did not kill bed bugs that were hiding, even when they were only protected by a thin layer of cloth. In fact, even the Harlan strain—bed bugs that are known to be susceptible to pyrethroids—survived when they could take shelter under a piece of cloth. The bottom line is this: If you have bed bugs, save your money for a professional exterminator, and dont waste your time using bug bombs. Using ineffective pesticides inappropriately only contributes to pesticide resistance, and it wont solve your problem. Bug Bombs Can Be Hazardous Regardless of the targeted pest, a bug bomb should really be a pesticide of last resort, anyway. First of all, the aerosol propellants used in bug bombs are highly flammable and pose a serious risk of fire or explosion if the product is used improperly. Second, do you really want to coat every surface in your home with toxic pesticides? When you use a bug bomb, a chemical cocktail rains down on your counters, furniture, floors, and walls, leaving behind an oily and toxic residue. If you still feel a bug bomb is your best option for pest control, be sure to read and follow all directions on the label. Remember that when it comes to pesticide use, the label is the law!  If the bug bomb treatment doesn’t work the first time, dont try it again—its not going to work. Consult your county extension office or a pest-control professional for help. Sources Jones, Susan C., and Joshua L. Bryant. â€Å"Ineffectiveness of Over-the-Counter Total-Release Foggers Against the Bed Bug (Heteroptera: Cimicidae).†Ã‚  Journal of Economic Entomology, vol. 105, no. 3, 1 June 2012, pp. 957–963.