Will Closing a Credit Card Affect Your Credit Score

Will Closing a Credit Card Affect Your Credit Score Will Closing a Credit Card Affect Your Credit Score? Will Closing a Credit Card Affect Your Credit Score?It might seem odd, but closing a credit card can actually hurt your score, especially if its one of your oldest cards and/or carries a high credit limit.There are a lot of myths out there surrounding credit scores and credit-related topics. But sometimes a thing that sounds like an urban legend turns out to be true! If you’re skeptical that closing a credit card could hurt your credit score, well, you’re in for a bit of a shock.Yes, it will affect themâ€"probably for the worse.Credit scores are complicated, with a number of factors coming together to make up that single three-digit number. There are many different things you can do to hurt your score and many things you can do to help it. Plus, context matters.If you have multiple credit cards and cancel a card with a modest credit limit that youve only had for a couple of years, there may be very little impact on your credit score,” said Timothy G. Wiedman, professor emeritus of Management and Human Resources at  Doane University (@DoaneUniversity).“On the other hand,” he added, “if you only have two or three credit cards and cancel your oldest card that youve had for a dozen years that had a $15,000 credit limit (and that was the card with your highest limit), it may matter quite a bit.”So what gives?“Credit scores take into account how long youve had your credit card accounts and the percentage of your total credit limits that you utilize,” explained Wiedman. “So if you cancel your oldest account (especially if it has a healthy credit limit), it can matter a lotâ€"especially if you only have one or two other (much newer) cards.”How credit scores work.In this piece, we cover two different parts of your credit score at length. We don’t want you getting lost, so here’s a brief refresher on how credit scores work.Your FICO credit scoreâ€"created by the FICO companyâ€"is a three-digit number between 300 and 850. The higher your score, t he better your credit.FICO credit scores are based on information taken from your credit reports, which track your history as a borrower and user of credit over the past seven years. (Some information, however, will stay on your report for longer.)You score is made up of five different categories of information:Payment history: This makes up 35 percent of your score. Basically, do you pay your bills on time?Amounts borrowed/credit utilization: This makes up 30 percent of your score, and it tracks how much money you’ve borrowed.Length of credit history: This makes up 15 percent of your score. The longer you’ve been borrowing money, and the longer you’ve had revolving accounts (like credit cards) open, the better.Credit mix: 10 percent of your score. What different types of credit (credit cards vs personal loans vs home/auto loans vs student loans) do you have? A more diverse mix is better.New credit inquiries: 10 percent of your score. Have you recently made a bunch of inquirie s for new loans or lines of credit? If you have, maybe that’s a sign that you’re desperate to borrow more money …If you have bad credit and you want to know why, you should order a free copy of your credit report, which you can do by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com. To find out where you need to do better, look at your payment history and your credit utilization. Together, they make up 65 percent of your total score.Closing a card hurts your credit utilization ratio.Whether you get stung when you close a credit card account depends on a measurement known as the balance-to-limit ratio or credit utilization ratio. This compares how much credit is available to you to how much credit you actually borrow,” explained Stephen Hart, CEO of  Cardswitcher.A high balance-to-limit ratio, where you borrow a large amount of money, is usually considered a sign of increased financial risk by lenders and a low balance-to-limit ratio is considered good.”Still not sure how your credit utiliz ation ratio works? Here’s an example from CPA Logan Allec  (@moneydoneright), owner of personal finance website  Money Done Right:“Lets say you have a total credit balance of $4,000 across all your credit cards.  Now lets say you have a total credit limit across all of your credit cards of $20,000. In this case, your total utilization rate is 20 percentâ€"or $4,000 divided by $20,000.“Now, what if one of your credit cards has a $10,000 credit limit, and you cancel it? In this case, your total credit limit across all of your credit cards would go down to $10,000. What would happen to your total utilization rate?  It would skyrocket to 40 percentâ€"or $4,000 divided by $10,000, which could adversely affect your credit score.”For the sake of your credit score, it’s best to keep your credit utilization ratio below 30 percent. Even if you’re paying off your cards every month, you should try to avoid accruing more than 30 percent of your total limit at any one moment in time .And if you’re thinking about closing that one card that has a super high credit limit, maybe don’t.Closing old cards dings your credit history.Remember, the length of your credit history doesn’t just measure how long you’ve been using credit, it also tracks how long you’ve been using specific accounts. The longer you’ve had a credit card, the more it helps your score.“While its not as weighty a factor as payment history or credit utilization,” says Allec, “its still worth paying attention to.” And he’s right! Closing your oldest card will lower the average age of your accounts, likely dropping your score.“This is why I keep my oldest credit cardâ€"the one I opened in collegeâ€"open,” added Allec. “Even though I dont use it because its rewards structure is a boring one percent back on everything.”And if you’re not certain which of your credit cards is the oldest, Allec offered this tip: “Make a list of all of them and see if you can see online which one is the oldest based on their statement dates.”Looking to erase past mistakes? Not so fast. One of the reasons that someone might look to close an old card is because they think it will remove any bad information related to that card from their report.Unfortunately, it will not.Bear in mind that the credit card isnt erased from your credit record straight away,” said Hart. “Negative entries usually stay on your credit record for around seven yearsâ€"so it isnt necessarily a quick fix for making your credit history appear rosier than it actually is.”“The good news,” he added, “is that positive entries stay on your credit record for much longerâ€"usually a decade.Keep them openâ€"just don’t use them.As you can see, the reasons for keeping an old card open are generally more compelling than the reasons to close it. Still, in case you’re not convinced, here are a couple more common reasons that people close their old credit cardsâ€"and ways that you can get around them:“If your newer cards provide better reward deals, just use them as your main cards while using the older, longstanding card once in a while to keep that account active (and keeping its high credit limit as part of your credit file),” said Wiedman.“If you have high balances on other credit cards, you might find that youre faced with charges when you try to close your credit card account. A way to avoid this to make sure that you pay off the balances of all your accounts in full before you try to close any,” offered Hart.“If your reason for wanting to cancel a credit card is its high annual fee, call the credit card company to see if they will waive it for the year,” advised Allec.Just make sure you don’t do one thing, and that’s to start using the card to spend beyond your means and rack up excess debt! To learn more about managing your debts responsibly, check out these other posts and articles from OppLoans:Financial Priorities: Which Debts Should You Pay Off F irst?The Debt Avalanche Will Help You Pay off Debt for LessSo You’ve Maxed out Your Credit Cards … Now What?Student Loans: To Pay or Just to SaveDo you have a   personal finance question youd like us to answer? Let us know! You can find us  on  Facebook  and  Twitter.  |  InstagramContributorsLogan Allec (@moneydoneright) is a CPA and owner of the personal finance website  Money Done Right.    After spending his twenties grinding it out in the corporate world and paying off over $35,000 in student loans, he dropped everything and launched  Money Done Right  in 2017.    His mission is to help everybodyâ€"from college students to retireesâ€"make, save, and invest more money.    Logan resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife Caroline.After working in the financial industry for several years, Stephen Hart left his role as Chief Financial Officer at WorldPay to launch the UK’s first payment processing comparison site, Cardswitcher. Nowadays, he helps SMEs save money on their p ayment processing costs.After 13 years as a successful operations manager working at two different ‘Fortune 1000’ companies, Dr. Timothy G. Wiedman spent the next 28 years in academia teaching college courses in business, management, human resources, and retirement planning.  Dr. Wiedman recently took an early retirement from  Doane University (@DoaneUniversity), is a member of the Human Resources Group of West Michigan and continues to do annual volunteer work for the SHRM Foundation. He holds two graduate degrees in business and has completed multiple professional certifications.

A reflection of Human Resource Management - 1366 Words

A Reflection of Human Resource Management HR department is responsible for many of the attributions of an organization. HRM is a strategic part in the organizational achievement of the company. HR department major daily tasks are planning and alignment, staffing, preparing compensation offers and to shape, outline and define the culture of the organization. HRM process which purpose is to attract, retain, and motive is made up of eight main practices which include HR planning, job analysis and design, recruitment, selection, performance appraisal, training and development, compensation, and benefits. HR also has to make sure they follow all laws and regulations that prohibits against†¦show more content†¦A company must administer Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) to those who apply, which means in no way should an employer base a candidates skill on their ethnic background, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age. During the recruitment process, affirmative action policies make it a requirement that employers show initiative in hiring a diverse pool of applicants to fill positions available. We have a diverse pool of applicants that come and apply with my company. Most of the applicants will get hired regardless of their race, nationality or age, the best factor that prohibits one from getting hired on is language barrier. Selecting the right employee to fill a position is one of the most challenging decision making processes a company has to make. The ultimate goal of employee selection is to hire the candidate who is most compatible not only with the organization but for the position that they are trying to fill. In order for the candidate to be successful in a particular position, their talents and personal goals must be taken into consideration and objectives need to be utilized in order to retain qualified individuals. The most common forms of selection methods are resumes and applications but testing, interviews, reference checks, honesty tests, medical exam and drugShow MoreRelatedReflection Of Human Resource Management1435 Words   |  6 PagesThere have been so many things that I have learned in this class about how Human Resource Management (HRM) works. Since the start of class, I have come to realize just how much human resource management functions are carried out throughout each organi zation and even how important that this group of people are to an employer and even more important to the employees. When thinking about how the HRM affects a company we have to think about what they are all involved in, such as the hiring and firingRead MoreHuman Resource Management Self Reflection2080 Words   |  9 PagesHuman Resource Management Self Reflection Tony Latta BUS 303 Human Resources Management Fred Jackson 9 January 2011 To be a successful business I have learned that the company must have a great Human Resources Management (HRM). As a future leader, I learned how to support Human Resources (HR) with business plans. 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Previous to teaching online full time, I was the Director of Human Resources and BranchRead MoreComprehensive Communications Strategy Managing Towards The Internal And External Audiences Essay1675 Words   |  7 Pagesinternal and external audiences as well as developing and delivering data to the management. Aside from that other duties of a stakeholder is which lead and strategist on how to build good relationships. It is also their responsibility in reviewing the qualification of each applicant before passing to the human resources management. Improving the company is not only main reason but also it focuses on how the management progress and improving their standards towards their employee at the same timeRead MoreHuman Resource Industry Audit - Reflection Paper1325 Words   |  6 PagesHuman Resource Industry Audit - Reflection Paper Tommy Kramer Nov 4, 2006 Human Resource Industry Audit - Reflection Paper Change is the one constant in the highly competitive business world. Industries are consistently exploring different ideas, techniques, and processes to make or keep their organizations moving forward in the competitive environment. The commercial airline industry is an extremely competitive, safety-sensitive, high technology service industry (Appelbaum and Fewster, 2002)Read MoreEmployee Competencies And Reward System For The Dental, Veterinary, And Rehabilitation Supply Markets Essay891 Words   |  4 Pagesoff course, wastes time, energy, and the resources that were invested (Rick, 2014). Employee Competencies Career competencies include the knowledge, skills and attitudes by which an employee demonstrates, at society defined level, the ability to behave adequately and to take responsibility for one’s behavior within the organization (Beheshtifar, Mohammed-Rafiei Nekoie-Moghadam, 2012). Career competencies can be viewed as an individual’s self-management of their working and learning experiencesRead MorePersonal Statement : A Student Affairs Practitioner1749 Words   |  7 Pagesthemselves for the benefit of not only them, but of society at large. I work to help create not only educated students, but also engaged members of a global society. I do this through challenging, supporting, and providing guidance to them through sincere human interaction. I challenge their assumptions and push them to be authentic. I support their growth along their own unique path. I provide guidance to them by offering insight and lessons I have acquired on my own journey. 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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd ) - 1584 Words

Introduction The military serves as a major component in our nation s security. Everyone around the country continues to rely on them each day to defend our freedom. Undeniably, the responsibilities of military members comes along with large amounts of anxiety, self-less service, and occasionally terrifying events that can have a negative influence on the individuals life. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a serious illness among the men in our military. Gates et al. (2012) defines PTSD as, a psychiatric condition that is experienced by a subset of individuals after exposure to an event that involved life threat and elicited feelings of fear, helplessness, and/or horror in the individual (p.361). In some environments, this is a†¦show more content†¦14). This is a large number of people impacted by the disease and these statistics must change. There is an obligation as Americans to provide the best care for those that put their lives on the line for us each day. We must all work together to limit the severity of the disorder and assess individuals at a deeper level to improve the lives of those who suffer from it. Due to the significant harm that PTSD inflicts on the men serving our country, the military must persist in reforming the tests and evaluations used to diagnose the tragic illness. Challenges Deployments play a major role and are a real part of serving in the military. Some men deploy for a few months, most leave for over a year, and others deploy at higher rates, but for shorter amounts of time. During and after these times away from home, Foran et al. (2013) notes that it is crucial in making close relationships with fellow military member and to reach out to family to ensure an increase in personal conflict is less likely (p 154). According to Riggs and Sermanian (2012), the strength of the leadership within the unit and how they handle the various traumatic circumstances the service members encounter, may significantly contribute to the degree of the individuals PTSD severity over time (p 18). But when it comes to service members seeking help while deployed, it is very unlikely. While I was deployed to Afghanistan, nothing was ever mentioned to us

Students, faculty struggle with plagiarism in Internet era Free Essays

In the postmodern society we have today, Internet-access Is a natural part of the everyday life. Not only have the Internet almost taken over people’s lives, but apparently also their schoolwork and education. Due to the easy access to everything on the Internet, faculty at schools have trouble find-inning a dividing line, between what is cheating and what is not. We will write a custom essay sample on Students, faculty struggle with plagiarism in Internet era or any similar topic only for you Order Now An example of this was seen in a chemistry-class at the University of Wisconsin, where 42 students were accused of plagiarism. While all the students protested, none of the students seemed to know the seriousness of the situ-tool. This leads to the question: when Is something plagiarism? And what can one do to fix the cheating? Journalist, Todd Effeminately wrote the text â€Å"U students, faculty struggle with plagiarism in In-tern era† in 2010, and it was published in â€Å"the Capital Times†- newspaper. The sender of the art-clue, want to Inform the reader of the present Issue: plagiarism. The sender simply wants to notify the reader that plagiarism Is Illegal and wrong. This leads to the unknowing students, who tempt to take the short cut and use other people’s work. The scary thing is that most students don’t see the series- scenes of this problem – they simply don’t consider it cheating. As Donald McCabe, professor at Rutgers University and co-founder of the International Center for Academic Integrity, explains it: â€Å"You’re almost to the 50-50 mark right now, where almost half the students we survey don’t see this as ‘moderate’ or ‘serious’ cheating. And the number that’s growing Is the half who don’t con-slider It cheating. † This quotation-use by the writer, appeals to the readers pathos: how come so many students don’t see this wrongdoing? What have society done wrong to make this happen? Not only does Effeminately appeal to pathos, but he also appeals to ethos, which strengthens his reliability. HIS ethos Increases, with both the use of statistics and experts to comment on the Issue, for an example: â€Å"Donald McCabe, has been researching academic misconduct for 20 years, and he says Logos is also a penetrating form of appeal. It is used throughout the entire text, when Effeminately tries to convince the reader that plagiarism is an increasing crime. Because, of course plagiarism is wrong, and he proves it by referring to the majorities opinion: â€Å"most me to agree with the notion that plagiarism – taking the work of others and presenting It as your own – Is wrong†. Another appeal to logos Is his use of connectives in the text. Connectives make him look sure of his case, for an example when he uses â€Å"of course† in the end his contention: â€Å"Students who cheat are nothing new on college campuses, of course†. All of the examples above are all signs of hidden argumentation. Hidden problem, and agree with him at the same time. With the use of hidden argumentation, the reader is influenced in the wanted direction, most likely without ensign any form of manipulation. The signs of hidden argumentation is seen in the text, when the writer refers to experts, the majority of people’s opinions and if the writer is general-sizing, which is all seen in this text. The way of the composition makes the text very floating – there is a good balance between claim and evidence in the argumentation. At the same time there is a perfect comprehensive use of experts to support the argumentation. Because of the formal and high-flown language used in the article, it is to conclude that the target roof for the text must be most suitable for the academic educated people. At the same time it is not unthinkable that the text also is meant for college-students around the world. Because of the theme and the conclusion in the text, you must assume that the text’s purr-pose is to enlighten the students about the serious matter of the problem: plagiarism. One of the scary things to think about is the fact that young students cheat because they have doubt in themselves. Either, they don’t realism how smart they are, or maybe they are Just scared of hard work and failure? In reality, the main reason why students cheat is because they: â€Å"didn’t think they could accomplish what they wanted to any other way’. But is the goal really accomplished, when it is accomplished with fraud? Plagiarism is so common that some people even write papers in ex-change for money. As it is told in the article: â€Å"Professor Donald Downs (†¦ ) met a man who â€Å"told me he felt like he had taken my courses. † A puzzled Downs asked the man what he meant. â€Å"He told me, ‘Vive written about 20 papers for your In conclusion, what can one do to fix the cheating? According to the article the main season to fix cheating is by talking about it, even though the topic is sensitive: ;legalism is a very difficult conversation to have because nobody quite wants to talk about it,† (†¦ You can’t work on this issue unless you talk about it. † The important thing is to enlighten students about this issue, because if the students really speak the truth: then how can it be considered cheating, if they truly don’t know what plagiarism is? Enlighten is also the main purpose of this article: enlighten the world about plagiarism. Set a stop to plagiarism and accomplish your goals by yourself. How to cite Students, faculty struggle with plagiarism in Internet era, Papers

Michel Foucaults Subject of Power

Power is present in all spheres of life. Michel Foucault has enormously shaped the idea of power present in institutions. According to Foucault, power is often used as a means of coercion. The main philosophy that he delineates is that power is everywhere and it gains eminence through regimes of discourse (Foucault 778). This paper is an exercise to understand the presence of power within a university campus.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Michel Foucault’s Subject of Power specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The first part of the paper will discuss the philosophy of power as presented by Foucault. Power is defined by Foucault as a relation between groups and forces within a social institution: The term â€Å"power† designates relationships between partners (and by that I am not thinking of a zero-sum game but simply, and for the moment staying in the most general terms, of an ensemble of actions whic h induce others and follow from one another) (Foucault 786). The power as Foucault defines is not imposed from within the structure of the institution. Instead, it arises from relations in the society. Foucault states that there are different modes of power – disciplinary modes of power and social power (Foucault 53). Power is not related to any institution nor does it arise out of force. Power does not exist individually. It is present with other powers institutionalized by other bodies. According to Foucault, power is passes through the institutions and does not belong to individuals. Furthermore, Foucault also demonstrates that the concept of modern discipline has developed through this new understanding of power within institutions. The panopticon system is the way power is institutionalized within a modern setting (Foucault, Power/Knowedlge 155). Foucault states that there is no â€Å"exercise of power without a certain economy of discourses of truth† (Foucault 93 ). The concept of power as delineated by Foucault has certain facets: Power is found in relation to the social body and these two things co-exist, Power relations are interlinked with other forms of relations, These relations do not dictate the nature of â€Å"prohibitions and punishments†, These discourses are unified into a unitary form of domination. (Foucault 142) Power can be used for establishment of power, knowledge, and competency (Foucault 781). Further, these struggles can be used against the group of â€Å"domination and exploration† (Foucault 782). The question that arises is that how the power is exercised. Foucault presents the answer to this question:Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Power relations, relationships of communication, and objective capacities should not therefore be confused. This is not to say that there is a question of three separate dom ains. Nor that there is, on the one hand, the field of things, of perfected technique, work, and the transformation of the real; on the other that of signs, communication, reciprocity, and the production of meaning; and finally, that of the domination of the means of constraint, of inequality, and the action of men upon other men (Foucault 786-787). The presence of power within institutions requires obedience through recognition of power relations. The discipline of apprenticeship is necessary for appropriate communication of power, according to Foucault. The next section of the paper will discuss how power is structured within universities. This section will delineate the issues of power that is evident within a university campus. Universities are structured in three broad groups. The first group of people is the educators or the professors. They are the ones who are in possession of knowledge and therefore, due to their abundance of knowledge, they hold a specific power over other s in the institution. This group also has an institutionalized superiority in the mind of the other groups in the university. For instance, students realize the power that the professors have through popular discourse of teacher’s superiority. The second group is that of the students. This the largest group within the educational institution. They are the ones who are present in the university to gain knowledge and therefore, they hold a position of submissiveness. Further, the third group includes other people associated with the university. These may include the accounting staff, people at the library, and so on. These three are the broad groups; however, there are many other subgroups within these broader groups. Who has power in the universities? In any educational institution, considering that they are the institutions of knowledge, power is present among the people who have more knowledge. According to Foucault, individual professors do not have the power.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Michel Foucault’s Subject of Power specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The power they have does not come from their individual knowledge or positions. It is the institution of the professors. In other words, the group of people who control the dissemination of knowledge in an educational institution is the group that probably holds the maximum power within a university. Foucault states â€Å"power exists only when it put to action† (789). In case of the group of students, the power originates from the groups that are formed. For instance, a student’s body, which has been elected to represent to the administrators, holds the power. The members of this body instantly hold the greater power than the other members of the students’ body. Further, these people hold greater power because it is discoursed by the institutional machinery that they are the ones who represent the others to the administration, and therefore possess the greater power. Therefore, even the others within the students’ body feel that these students are important. The power of the students in the university is almost similar to that of papal power, which they hold over other students. The others consider the students’ body almost as a group of priests who have remarkable power to transfer the wishes of the students to the administrators. Therefore, the belief that they are the only people who can transport the ideas to the others is a possible way in which the students’ body derives power. The other possible source of power within the educational institution is observable in the student-teacher interaction. Students are the subjects and the objects of submission, while the teachers are the source of power. The teachers’ body, due to greater knowledge available to them, holds a higher position and is the one who watches over the students through instrumen ts such as projects, presentations, and examinations. The power that the teachers hold is again the one that is discoursed to them, rather than the ones which arise out of position. Hence, Foucault rejects the concept of positional power, and fosters the belief that power is one that is created through the confrontation of the two bodies, in this case , the students and the teachers’ body. Foucault has explained the existence of power in relation to civil authorities and the criminals as:Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Basically, power is less a confrontation between two adversaries or the linking of one to the other than a question of government. †¦ â€Å"Government† did not refer only to political structures or to the management of states; †¦ to govern, in this sense, is to structure the possible field of action of others. (Foucault 786) Hence, the power one attains within the government is also the one that the others should abide. Had there been no discourse of the existence and the perceived superiority of the government, power would not have become such an important tool (Fanon 176). The power that the governing bodies assumed, or any other bodies within the universities, was not derived from the structure of the institution, but from the mode of actions of the people. The main issue is that the groups in the university provide that power emerges as a game of freedom. The process in which one group or the other within the university seeks freedom is a method in which power i s created within the organization. As one tries to attain freedom, the other tries to bind it using the rules and regulations of the institution. In this way, the governing bodies of the universities again hold power over the students as well as the teachers’ body. This is a spiral chain of power and the effect of it extends to all the bodies within the institution. The presence of the power within the organization, be it an educational intuition or any other, power arises from the beliefs and perception of people and through the hierarchical machinery. Power is a system that is enforced through ages of discourse. Thus, the case study of a university shows that power, as Foucault asserted, arises not from the structure of the organization but through various methods of interaction and actions. Works Cited Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. Paris: Grove Press, 1963. Print. Foucault, Michel. Discipline Punish: The Birth of the Prison. London: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2009. Print. Foucault, Michel. Power/Knowedlge. Ed. Colin Gordon. New York: Pantheon Books, 1972. Print. Foucault, Michel. â€Å"The Subject and Power.† Critical Inquiry 8.4 (1982): 777-795. Print. This essay on Michel Foucault’s Subject of Power was written and submitted by user L1v1a to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The eNotes Blog Digital Learning Day Brings Technology into theClassroom

Digital Learning Day Brings Technology into theClassroom Yesterday marked the second annual celebration of Digital Learning Day, the culmination of a year-long focus to utilize the power of technology in more classrooms nationwide. But were not just talking about throwing iPads into classrooms in the hopes of engaging students short attention spans. No, the ideas employed in classrooms and libraries around the world yesterday were far more innovative than that. Heres how a handful of educators around the country took Digital Learning Day and ran with it, as reported by School Library Journal: Over at New Canaan High School, CT, library department chair Michelle Luhtala is asking students and faculty to download an eBook to their mobile devices, and setting up a support desk to help to anyone who needs it. At Murray Hill Middle School in Laurel, MD, Gwyneth Jones is tying Digital Learning Day into the school’s celebration of National History Day with custom QR codes on history displays throughout the library with the phrase: â€Å"I DARE you to Scan this Code!† Digitally-savvy history buffs will be sent to an  infographic  on how to get the most out of the Library of Congress. Digital Learning Day also happens to coincide with a project students are working on at Charlotte Country Day Middle School, NC- creating five-minute films about a topic in Ancient Roman culture. The kids are editing the pieces on Windows Movie Maker, and faculty will be awarding film prizes like the Oscars, but aptly called â€Å"the Caesars.† Looking at the ideas of some institutions since the advent of portable learning tools like the iPad, it seems like some view technology in the classroom as having the innate capability to help kids learn, without the introduction of any out-of-the-box ideas. Some seem to think that just the presence of technology in the classroom heightens learning, the way fire radiates warmth. While I dont believe in that style of teaching, I do think that technology in the classroom is a positive thing when educators harness their students ease with digital devices and use it in new ways that introduce fun to the learning environment. Students often gravitate easily to these objects from laptops to tablets, e-readers to smartphones, plus they tend to be savvy users of online databases and web-based learning apps. But marrying these tools effectively into student learning- linking the fun to the educational element- is where many librarians and educators are focused today. What say you? Do you use technology in the classroom, and if so, how? What are some creative ways to celebrate digital learning day, year-round? Is  technology  in the classroom stimulating, or  distracting? Wed love to hear your thoughts in a comment!

A Quick Tour of Art Through the Ages

A Quick Tour of Art Through the Ages Put on your sensible shoes as we embark on an extremely abbreviated tour of art through the ages. The purpose of this piece is to hit the highlights and provide you with the barest of basics on the different eras in Art History. Prehistoric Eras 30,000-10,000 BC - Paleolithic peoples were strictly hunter-gatherers, and life was tough. Humans made a gigantic leap in abstract thinking and began creating art. Subject matter concentrated on two things: food, as seen in Cave Art, and the necessity to create more humans. 10,000-8000 BC - The ice began retreating and life got a little easier. The Mesolithic period (which lasted longer in northern Europe than it did in the Middle East) saw painting move out of the caves and onto the rocks. Painting also became more symbolic and abstract. 8000-3000 BC - Fast forward to the Neolithic age, complete with agriculture and domesticated animals. Now that food was more plentiful, people had time to invent useful tools like writing and measuring. The measuring part must have come in handy for the megalith builders. Ethnographic Art - It should be noted that stone age art continued to flourish around the world for a number of cultures, right up to the present. Ethnographic is a handy term that here means: Not going the way of Western art. Ancient Civilizations 3500-331 BC - Mesopotamia - The land between the rivers saw an amazing number of cultures rise to - and fall from - power. The Sumerians gave us ziggurats, temples, and lots of sculptures of gods. More importantly, they unified natural and formal elements in art. The Akkadians introduced the victory stele, whose carvings forever remind us of their prowess in battle. The Babylonians improved upon the stele, using it to record the first uniform code of law. The Assyrians ran wild with architecture and sculpture, both in relief and in-the-round. Eventually, it was the Persians who put the whole area - and its art - on the map, as they conquered adjacent lands. 3200-1340 BC - Egypt - Art in ancient Egypt was art for the dead. The Egyptians built tombs, pyramids (elaborate tombs), the Sphinx (a tomb) and decorated tombs with colorful pictures of the gods they believed ruled in the afterlife. 3000-1100 BC - The Aegean - The Minoan culture, on Crete, and the Mycenaeans in Greece brought us frescos, open and airy architecture, and marble idols. Classical Civilizations 800-323 BC - Greece - The Greeks introduced humanistic education, which is reflected in their art. Ceramics, painting, architecture, and sculpture evolved into elaborate, highly crafted and decorated objects which glorified the greatest creation of all: humans. 6th-5th centuries BC - The Etruscans - On the Italian peninsula, the Etruscans embraced the Bronze Age in a big way, producing sculptures notable for being stylized, ornamental and full of implied motion. They were also enthusiastic producers of tombs and sarcophagi, not unlike the Egyptians. 509 BC-337 AD - The Romans - As they rose to prominence, the Romans first attempted to wipe out Etruscan art, followed by numerous attacks on Greek art. Borrowing freely from these two conquered cultures, the Romans created their own style, one which increasingly stood for power. Architecture became monumental, sculptures depicted re-named gods, goddesses, and prominent Citizens and, in painting, the landscape was introduced and frescos became enormous. 1st Century-c. 526 - Early Christian Art Early Christian art falls into two categories: that of the Period of Persecution (up to the year 323) and that which came after Constantine the Great recognized Christianity: the Period of Recognition. The first is known primarily for construction of catacombs, and portable art which could be hidden. The second period is marked by the active construction of churches, mosaics, and the rise of book-making. Sculpture was demoted to works in relief only (anything else would have been deemed graven images). c. 526-1390 - Byzantine Art Not an abrupt transition, as the dates imply, the Byzantine style gradually diverged from Early Christian art, just as the Eastern Church grew farther apart from the Western. Byzantine art is characterized by being more abstract and symbolic, and less concerned with any pretense of depth - or the force of gravity - being apparent in paintings or mosaics. Architecture became quite complicated and domes predominated. 622-1492 - Islamic Art To this day, Islamic art is known for being highly decorative. Its motifs translate beautifully from a chalice to a rug, to the Alhambra. Islam has prohibitions against idolatry, and weve little pictorial history as a result. 375-750 - Migration Art These years were quite chaotic in Europe, as barbarian tribes sought (and sought, and sought) places in which to settle. Frequent wars erupted and constant ethnic relocation was the norm. Art during this period was necessarily small and portable, usually in the form of decorative pins or bracelets. The shining exception to this dark age in art occurred in Ireland, which had the great fortune of escaping invasion. For a time. 750-900 - The Carolingian Period Charlemagne built an empire that didnt outlast his bickering and inept grandsons, but the cultural revival the empire spawned proved more durable. Monasteries became as small cities where manuscripts were mass-produced. Goldsmithing and the use of precious and semi-precious stones were in vogue. 900-1002 - The Ottonian Period The Saxon king, Otto I, decided he could succeed where Charlemagne failed. This didnt work out either, but Ottonian art, with its heavy Byzantine influences, breathed new life into sculpture, architecture, and metalwork. 1000-1150 - Romanesque Art For the first time in history, art is described by a term other than the name of a culture or civilization. Europe was becoming more of a cohesive entity, being held together by Christianity and feudalism. The invention of the barrel vault allowed churches to become cathedrals, sculpture became an integral part of the architecture, and painting continued mainly in illuminated manuscripts. 1140-1600 - Gothic Art Gothic was first coined to (derogatorily) describe this eras style of architecture, which chugged on long after sculpture and painting had left its company. The gothic arch allowed great, soaring cathedrals to be built, which were then decorated with the new technology of stained glass. During this period, too, we begin to learn more individual names of painters and sculptors - most of whom seem anxious to put all things Gothic behind them. In fact, beginning around 1200, all sorts of wild artistic innovations started taking place in Italy. 1400-1500 - Fifteenth-Century Italian Art This was the Golden Age of Florence. Its most powerful family, the Medici (bankers and benevolent dictators), lavishly spent endless funds for the glory and beautification of their Republic. Artists flocked in for a share of the largess, built, sculpted, painted and began actively questioning rules of art. Art, in turn, became noticeably more individualized. 1495-1527 - The High Renaissance All of the recognized masterpieces from the lump term Renaissance were created during these years. Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and company made such surpassing masterpieces, in fact, that nearly every artist, forever after, didnt even try to paint in this style. The good news was that, because of these Renaissance Greats, being an artist was now considered acceptable. 1520-1600 - Mannerism Here we have another first: an abstract term for an artistic era. Renaissance artists, after the death of Raphael, continued to refine painting and sculpture but they did not seek a new style of their own. Instead, they created in the technical manner of their predecessors. 1325-1600 - The Renaissance in Northern Europe It did occur, but not in clearly defined steps as was the case in Italy. Countries and kingdoms were busy jockeying for prominence (fighting), and there was that notable break with the Catholic Church. Art took a back seat to these other happenings, and styles moved from Gothic to Renaissance to Baroque in sort of a non-cohesive, artist-by-artist basis. 1600-1750 - Baroque Art Humanism, the Renaissance and the Reformation (among other factors) worked together to leave the Middle Ages forever behind, and art became accepted by the masses. Artists of the Baroque period introduced human emotions, passion, and new scientific understanding to their works - many of which retained religious themes, regardless of which Church the artists held dear. 1700-1750 - The Rococo In what some would deem an ill-advised move, Rococo took Baroque art from feast for the eyes to outright visual gluttony. If art or architecture could be gilded, embellished or otherwise taken over the top, Rococo ferociously added these elements. As a period, it was (mercifully) brief. 1750-1880 - Neo-Classicism vs. Romanticism Things had loosened up enough, by this era, that two different styles could compete for the same market. Neo-classicism was characterized by faithful study (and copy) of the classics, combined with the use of elements brought to light by the new science of archaeology. Romanticism, on the other hand, defied easy characterization. It was more of an attitude, one made acceptable by the Enlightenment and dawning of social consciousness. Of the two, Romanticism had far more impact on the course of art from this time forward. 1830s-1870 - Realism Oblivious to the above two movements, the Realists emerged (first quietly, then quite loudly) with the conviction that history had no meaning and artists shouldnt render anything that they hadnt, personally, experienced. In an effort to experience things they became involved in social causes and, not surprisingly, often found themselves on the wrong side of Authority. Realistic art increasingly detached itself from form and embraced light and color. 1860s-1880 - Impressionism Where Realism moved away from form, Impressionism threw form out the window. The Impressionists lived up to their name (which they themselves certainly hadnt coined): Art was an impression, and as such could be rendered wholly through light and color. The world was first outraged by their effrontery, then accepting. With acceptance came the end of Impressionism as a movement. Mission accomplished, art was free to spread out now in any way it chose. The Impressionists changed everything when their art was accepted. From this point on, artists had free rein to experiment. Even if the public loathed the results, it was still Art, and thus accorded a certain respect. Movements, schools, and styles - in dizzying number - came, went, diverged from one another and sometimes melded. Theres no way, really, to accord all of these entities even a brief mention here, so we will now cover only a few of the better-known names. 1885-1920 - Post-Impressionism This is a handy title for what wasnt a movement, but a group of artists (CÃ ©zanne, Van Gogh, Seurat, and Gauguin, primarily) who moved past Impressionism and on to other, separate endeavors. They kept the light and color Impressionism bought but tried to put some of the other elements of art - form, and line, for example - back in art. 1890-1939 - The Fauves and Expressionism The Fauves (wild beasts) were French painters led by Matisse and Rouault. The movement they created, with its wild colors and depictions of primitive objects and people, became known as Expressionism and spread, notably, to Germany. 1905-1939 - Cubism and Futurism Picasso and Braque, in France, invented Cubism, where organic forms were broken down into a series of geometric shapes. Their invention would prove elemental to the Bauhaus in coming years, as well as inspiring the first modern abstract sculpture. Meanwhile, in Italy, Futurism was formed. What began as a literary movement moved into a style of art that embraced machines and the industrial age. 1922-1939 - Surrealism Surrealism was all about uncovering the hidden meaning of dreams and expressing the subconscious. It was no coincidence that Freud had already published his ground-breaking psychoanalytical studies prior to this movements emergence. 1945-Present - Abstract Expressionism World War II (1939-1945) interrupted any new movements in art, but art came back with a vengeance in 1945. Emerging from a world torn apart, Abstract Expressionism discarded everything - including recognizable forms - except self-expression and raw emotion. Late 1950s-Present - Pop and Op Art In a reaction against Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art glorified the most mundane aspects of American culture and called them art. It was fun art, though. And in the happening mid-60s, Op (an abbreviated term for optical illusion) Art came on the scene, just in time to mesh nicely with the psychedelic music. 1970s-Present In the last thirty-odd years, art has changed at lightning speed. Weve seen the advent of performance art, conceptual art, digital art, and shock art, to name but a few new offerings. As we move toward a more global culture, our art reminds us of our collective and respective pasts. The technology with which youre reading this article will surely be improved upon and, as it is, we can all keep (nearly instantly) abreast of whatever comes next in arts history.