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Lessons in Pandemic Spending

Author Scott Fulford explores the impact that pandemic-related government social spending had on American families.




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New York Considers a Social Housing Bill

Social housing as a concept is gaining popularity. Now, the state of New York is considering a bill to make it a reality.





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Swiss Schools’ Surprising Solution to Bullying

Switzerland’s “No Blame” approach eschews punishment, instead focusing on empathy, tolerance, and respect.






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Murmurations: The Wisdom Behind Prison Walls

A note from adrienne maree brown: Gilda Sheppard directed a film called Since I Been Down, in which Kimonti Carter was a protagonist as a transformed man leading his community




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Cómo Apoyar a Las Personas Que Enfrentan el Duelo a Larga Distancia

Para los inmigrantes que enfrentan pérdidas desde lejos, el apoyo puede provenir de la comunidad, nuevos rituales y mejores políticas.




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15 Wish List Gifts for the Seasoned Foodie | OUR NOURISHING ROOTS

there are a few good ideas in here




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Top Ten Reasons Why Large Companies Fail To Keep Their Best Talent - Forbes

this is 100% dead-on




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Nature's Whole Food Deport, Sonora, CA

a great little store that we just visited for the first time today




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Salary Negotiation: Make More Money, Be More Valued | Kalzumeus Software

a long but well written and informative posting on how to negotiate your salary when taking a new job




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Press Pack: The school solving the crime of stolen lunches

A crimewave has shaken one school to the core...and the culprit? Not exactly who, or WHAT you’d expect.




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Surf's up! First look at Scotland's new inland surf resort

The largest and most advanced wave pool is opening in Scotland giving surfers the chance to ride the waves no matter what the weather.




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Australia announces next steps to under-16 social media ban

Politicians in Australia's parliament will vote on the law next week and, if passed, it aims to stop children being allowed social media accounts. But for some kids there will be ways around it.




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What is Odd Socks Day?

Thousands of kids and adults will be wearing odd socks this week and there's a really good reason why!




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Anti-Bullying Week: Why does someone become a bully?

Ricky shares his experience of being bullied when he was younger and asks an expert, why does someone become a bully?




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South Asian smog cloud so big it can be seen from space

Children in some areas of Pakistan are facing school, park and zoo closures, amongst other restrictions, as smog continues to affect the area.




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So bad. I don't have any students to tutor now.



  • Editing & Writing Topics

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These types of song/ these types of songs



  • Ask a Teacher

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Teachermate -Handheld Console for Educational Games

 

An Illinois, non-profit organisation called Innovations for Learning has released a handheld cosole, like a Game Boy or Nintendo DS designed for education and targeted at kindergarten and elementary students. Despite its simplicity and lack of software, this device has a lot of potential for English language education.




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Minnesota regulators approve Xcel Energy’s new additions, retirements

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved Xcel Energy’s 2019 Integrated Resources Plan (IRP), which guides the utility’s direction over the next 15 years.




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New Year's Resolution: Secure Your Assessment System

It's unbelievable that 2016 is here and the school year is half over, but that also means we are closer to the busiest time of year for those of us in the assessment industry.

I hope everyone has created and follows a secure assessment policy, but if not, John Kleeman, founder of Questionmark, created Ten tips for Securing Your Assessment System, which provides a secure foundation for your assessment system.  It seems security breaches most often occur as we get busy and are more prone to creating shortcuts in our work, but a "system" should help minimize these errors.  Please read John's post in its entirety and address any weaknesses in your assessment security:

What can you do to make your assessment system more secure? How can you avoid a disruptive data breach where people’s personal information is disclosed? Using a vendor who takes security seriously reduces risk, as I wrote in my blog article Eight ways to check if security is more than skin deep. But security involves both vendor and user. This post gives ten good practice tips on how you as a user or administrator of an assessment system can reduce the risk of data breaches.

1. Don’t give yourself or other administrators unnecessary privileges. Follow the principle of least privilege. It may sound counter-intuitive, but most administrative users don’t need access to all capabilities and data within your system. Limiting access reduces the impact of a data breach if an account is compromised or someone makes a mistake. If you are using Questionmark, allocate appropriate roles to limit people to what they need.

2. When someone leaves the project or organization, remove their access. Don’t allow someone who has left your team to still have access to your assessment data.

3. Follow good password security. Do not share passwords between people. Do not use the same password for two accounts. Choose strong passwords and change them periodically. If someone asks you for your password, never, ever give it. And if a web page doesn’t look right, don’t type your password into it.

4. Install all the patches and secure the system. A common cause of security breaches is failing to install the latest versions of software, and attackers exploit known vulnerabilities. You need to be proactive and always install the latest version of system and application software, set up good technical security and follow the vendor’s recommendations.

If you haven’t got the time or resources to do this properly, move to a cloud solution. In a cloud SaaS solution like Questionmark OnDemand, the vendor is responsible for updating Windows, updating the application, monitoring security and ensuring that everything is up to date.

5. Install good quality antivirus / anti-malware software. Reportedly there are nearly a million new or variant malware and viruses produced each day. Protect your computer and those of your co-workers with up to date, professional software to address this threat.

6. Protect any downloaded data. Questions, assessments and reports on results are generally safer on a server or in an on-demand service than on a workstation. If you need to download data locally, set up security procedures to protect it and try to ensure that any download is temporary only.

7. Dispose of data properly. Deleting a file on a computer doesn’t erase the data, it simply erases the index to it. If you use a reputable service like Questionmark OnDemand, if a disk is repaired or reaches end of life, it will be securely destroyed for example by degaussing. But if you download data locally or use installable software to manage your assessments, you need to do this yourselves. A recent study suggested that about half of used hard drives sold online contain residual data. Make sure this is not your assessment data!

8. Be careful about clicking on a link or attachment in an email. Phishing attacks use email or malicious websites (clicking on a link) to collect sensitive information or infect your machine with malware and viruses. Such attacks could even be aimed at your organization or assessment activity directly (this is called spear phishing!). Think before clicking.

9. Be aware of social engineering. Social engineering is when someone tries to trick you or someone else into a security breach. For example someone might ring up and claim to be a student who wants their results, but really is an imposter. Or someone might spoof an email from your boss asking for the questions for the next test to review. Be wary of strange phone calls or emails that ask for something urgent. If something seems suspicious, clear it with a security professional before you give them info or ask a caller to hang up and call them back on an official number.

10. Conduct security awareness training. If you’re not already doing this, organize training sessions for all your authors, proctors, administrators and other users to help them be security aware. if you can, deliver tests after the training to check understanding. Sharing this blog article with your co-workers would be a great way to start.

To see more Questionmark posts click HERE.




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Blended Learning and Career and Technology Education - Part IV: Implementing Blended Learning With Resources from the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education



In this four-part series, I’ll define blended learning, discuss the models of blended learning, the implications for career and technical education, and how the Curriculum, Assessment, and Digital Delivery (CADD) areas of the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education can assist in the implementation of blended learning.

Photo courtesy of the Clayton Christensen Institute
Blended learning is a shift to an online instructional delivery for a portion of the day to make students, teachers, and schools more productive, both academically and financially.  We all know there’s no single right approach to building the “perfect” model for blended learning as communities have different resources, classrooms, computers, schedules, and many other unique needs.  A school doesn’t always have the resources or the expertise to select and purchase a learning management system (LMS), design lessons, or write assessments, but there are available resources.

Did you know that the Curriculum, Assessment, and Digital Delivery areas of the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education can assist in the implementation of blended learning?  The National Technology Plan acknowledges the challenges of raising college and career-ready standards without a significant investment of new funding so check out our online catalog and search the following links for additional information and see how we can assist you in blending digital and teacher led instruction to personalize learning for each student.







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Some of the Best Educational iPad and Android Apps for Teachers


Educational Technology and Mobile Learning provides a list of some of the best iPad apps curated for learning and instructional purposes.

The list is divided into 19 sections with each containing a list of apps for a specific need. The sections include apps that facilitates:

  1. presentation
  2. screencasting
  3. video creation
  4. file storage
  5. whiteboard
  6. PDF annotation
  7. audio recording
  8. note-taking
  9. blogging
  10. book creation
  11. comic apps
  12. digital storytelling apps
  13. apps for grading
  14. mindmapping apps
  15. portfolio apps
  16. apps for creating posters
  17. apps for creating timelines
  18. apps for creating word clouds
  19. speech-to-text apps
 Educational Technology and Mobile Learning also provides a list of 10 indispensable Android apps for teachers. The list is curated from the top trending apps in the education section of Google Play store. The listed apps are as follows:
  1. Book Creator
  2. Handouts
  3. Remind
  4. Google Keep
  5. ClassDojo
  6. Nearpod
  7. Socrative Teacher
  8. Edmodo
  9. Google Classroom
  10. Explain Everything




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The magic that isolation transformer uses to suppress transients and noise

Transformers are not perfect. Transients and noise (radio-frequency and low-level spikes) normally pass through transformers, not only by way of the magnetic lines of flux between the primary and the secondary windings but through resistive and capacitive paths between the... Read more

The post The magic that isolation transformer uses to suppress transients and noise appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.













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Eleven most important calculations you can perform with power system analysis software

This technical article we will go through a number of existing applications for conducting a wide range of electrical studies. However, the practice says that studies involving load flow and fault analyses are the most commonly utilized programs in power transmission... Read more

The post Eleven most important calculations you can perform with power system analysis software appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.




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An Overview of IEC 60076-10 – Determination Of Sound Levels Of Power Transformers

The audible sound radiated by transformers is generated by a combination of magnetostrictive deformation of the core and electromagnetic forces in the windings, tank walls and magnetic shields. Historically, the sound generated by the magnetic field inducing longitudinal vibrations in the... Read more

The post An Overview of IEC 60076-10 – Determination Of Sound Levels Of Power Transformers appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.




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Solar Panels and Feed-in Tariffs – The Intricacies of Solar Power

At its most basic, Solar Power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity; either directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). CSP systems use a combination of lenses/mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area... Read more

The post Solar Panels and Feed-in Tariffs – The Intricacies of Solar Power appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.




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How solar collectors works?

Solar energy (solar radiation) is collected by the solar collector’s absorber plates. Selective coatings are often applied to the absorber plates to improve the overall collection efficiency. A thermal fluid absorbs the energy collected. There are several types of solar... Read more

The post How solar collectors works? appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.




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Solar energy is free, but what does it really cost?

“Solar energy is free, but it’s not cheap” best sums up the major hurdle for the solar industry. There are no technical obstacles per se to developing solar energy systems, even at the utility megaWatt level (e.g., 14 MW utility... Read more

The post Solar energy is free, but what does it really cost? appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.




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Fossil fuels are almost gone… Solar Energy? Hell Yes!!

Solar energy is not a finite resource as fossil fuels are. While the sun is up there it constantly produces all the energy we can use. While not maintenance free, what technology really is? Once solar panels, wind or water... Read more

The post Fossil fuels are almost gone… Solar Energy? Hell Yes!! appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.




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Comparison of major power grid failures in US and around the world (1)

The creation and delivery of power is one basic infrastructure expected by all modern industrial societies. Power distribution basics started in the US in the early 1900s when the first AC grid was established. Since 12 independent power grids were... Read more

The post Comparison of major power grid failures in US and around the world (1) appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.




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Comparison of major power grid failures in US and around the world (2)

Continued from first part: Comparison of major grid failures in United States and around the world (part 1) On the International side, about 1/5 of the power outages (9 of 44) were not given a cause in the reports. A... Read more

The post Comparison of major power grid failures in US and around the world (2) appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.




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Soft starter for potable water well pump (wiring diagram, troubleshooting example)

This article will analyze a real example of an electrical switchboard for a potable water well pump, containing a soft starter as one of the major components. Besides the explanation of the wiring diagram and working logic, some technical problems... Read more

The post Soft starter for potable water well pump (wiring diagram, troubleshooting example) appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.




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The Honeydogs: A Retail Solution For Heartbreak

The hook in "Broke It, Buy It" is insidiously catchy enough to ricochet through your head for days. Levy concludes with the implication that our inability to accept our failings causes more unhappiness than the failures themselves as we chase retail solutions — "we broke it, so we buy it."




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Waxahatchee: A Love Song, Without The Love

In few words, "Be Good" profiles two people who love and trust each other deeply, who share their dreams and secret shames, but who would rather shotgun beers together than make out.




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Selecting Wrong Sensor As a Mistake #1 In Instrumentation

Despite ongoing advancements in measurement technology, instrumenting a process for feedback control remains a technical challenge. Today’s sensors are certainly more sophisticated than ever before, and fieldbus technology has simplified many installation issues considerably. Nonetheless, much can still go wrong... Read more

The post Selecting Wrong Sensor As a Mistake #1 In Instrumentation appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.