A definition and discussion on special education Essay

A definition and discussion on special education - Essay Example Basically, special education is in line with acceleration programs for the gifted and talented students and the enrichment programs for fast learners (Slavin, 2008, p.379). The development of special education can be considered as a positive advancement in the social structure and norms. This can be attributed to the fact that before the 1800s, the people with disabilities such as the retarded, the mentally ill, deaf, blind and physically challenged are maltreated and considered to lack the chance to be educated. The maltreatment even became extreme due to superstitions. People with disabilities are even being killed at some point specifically during the era of witch hunts (Sacks, 2001, p.2). During these period although the advocates of education for all groups of people are few, the roots of special education can be considered to have started with certain educators who saw the importance of providing education for the survival of people with disabilities. Included in the educators are Ponce de Leon who educated deaf students to communicate, Pablo Bonet of Spain who established finger spelling for the blind, Jacob Rodriguez Pereire who made sign language simpler and made a machine for calculation and arithmetic and most importantly John Locke who is an important personality in the field of education and was able to differentiate idiocy or metal retardation from insanity or mental illness.

Open Source Software Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Open Source Software - Article Example For example, Linux is a good example of open source software that is competing with Microsoft, Apple and other. But depending upon the person some people still think that it is a temporary fashion in software industry another, on the contrary, believes that changes caused by open source will be deep enough and will shape the software industry of the first decade of 21st century. Open source software plays an important role in today’s world. Many people, organization, government sector are benefited by the open source software and are working towards development and support of it. In this paper philosophy of open source, definitions, advantages and disadvantages of open source software, some background history and motivation for open source software, Licences, Copyright Law and Patents, Economics of Open Source Software and at last impact of open source technology will be discussed. What is Open Source Software? : One can not define the Open Source Software in few words, because of many categories and variants that exist for Open Source Software. But it is not complicated and the term ‘Open Source Software’ itself gives an idea about it. Now before giving a definition from various people about the Open Source Software, first look at what general people think about the Open Source Software. General Idea of Open Source Software: The term ‘Open Source’ in Open Source Software refers to user’s freedom of use, redistribution, etc. One can not assume that Open Source Software and Free Software are same things. It can be said clearly that open source software does not have to be gratis.