text:
Gabi Witthaus
http://www.artofelearning.org
Lancaster University, University of Birmingham & Art of E-learning
Learning Design Consultant, College of Arts & Law, University of Birmingham. PhD student, Lancaster HEREE programme. Consultant, Art of E-learning
Home > Vol 10, No 4 (2018) >	Witthaus
Findings from a Case Study on Refugees Using MOOCs to (Re)enter Higher Education
Lancaster University, University of Birmingham & Art of E-learning (United Kingdom)
g.witthaus@lancaster.ac.uk
This paper presents a case study evaluating the online learning experience of ten refugees on MOOCs. Qualitative data were collected from the learners, generating a set of 43 statements depicting the learners' experience of learning, which were analysed using an augmented Community of Inquiry (CoI) theoretical framework. The key findings show that learners particularly desired teaching presence in terms of facilitation and feedback on their progress; they viewed online social presence as being important but generally not well managed in MOOCs; and they expressed cognitive presence mainly in terms of the selection and use of information sources. Learning presence (the additional element of the "augmented" CoI framework) was described primarily in terms of the importance of goal-setting and planning. The implications for organisations supporting refugees and other learners in disadvantaged circumstances on MOOCs are discussed.
Key Words: MOOCs, refugees, Community of Inquiry, developmental evaluation, Kiron
Reception date: 28 July 2018 • Acceptance date: 14 October 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.10.4.910
This paper examines the learning experience of refugees and asylum seekers (who are included in the term "refugees" in this paper for brevity) within the context of a German non-governmental organisation, Kiron Open Higher Education gGmbH, which supports refugees to learn from massive, open, online courses (MOOCs). Kiron has designed learning pathways for refugees, with MOOC curriculum outcomes mapped onto typical learning outcomes of German higher education institution programmes. The aim is for those refugees who obtain credits from MOOCs to have those credits recognised by higher education institutions as being equivalent to their first semester of study, allowing Kiron learners to go straight into the second year of their degree programmes-assuming they also meet other entry requirements specified by the respective institutions (Suter & Rampelt, 2017). In addition to an online learning platform through which learners are directed to MOOCs in their subject of choice, Kiron offers support through the provision of volunteer study buddies and mentors, online tutorials, online study groups, and occasional face-to-face "study weekends". The aim of this study was to help Kiron, and other organisations that support refugees and other MOOC learners in disadvantaged circumstances, to develop systems and strategies for effective learner support.
Context of the Study
Kiron is a social change organisation that acts as an intermediary between refugees and higher education institutions in Germany. The ecosystem within which Kiron operates is complex in at least three ways. Firstly, their recommended MOOCs are drawn from institutions around the globe, and these institutions are themselves bound by contracts with platforms such as Coursera and edX. Secondly, the availability of local volunteer tutors, buddies and mentors that Kiron can draw on to support learners varies considerably according to region and discipline. Thirdly, the German universities that will ultimately accept Kiron learners operate within different regional and institutional policies. For these reasons, a developmental evaluation (Scriven, 1996; Saunders, Charlier & Bonamy, 2005) was chosen, as opposed to a formative or summative evaluation focusing on measuring outcomes or impact. One of the key characteristics of developmental evaluation is "double-loop learning (learning how to learn about the nature of the problem and situation)" (Patton 2015, p. 302). In this study, the "object" of the evaluation comprised the learners' experience of those elements provided by Kiron, such as carefully curated and sequenced MOOCs, volunteers, and recommended free digital resources (e.g. language learning apps), as well as other MOOCs, resources (such as YouTube videos) and supporters external to Kiron.
Refugees and MOOCs
While some commentators have noted that MOOCs are generally most suited to relatively privileged learners living in well-resourced environments (Carlsen, Holmberg, Neghina, & Owusu-Boampong, 2016; Nti, 2015; Rambe & Moeti, 2017; van de Oudeweetering & Agirdag, 2018), the potential for MOOCs as a learning tool for refugees has been noted (Aydin, 2017; Bossu & Stagg, 2018). There is an emerging body of literature on migrants and open, online higher education. For example, the MOOCS4inclusion project report indicates that there is "a plethora of new FDL (free digital learning) initiatives for migrants and refugees that vary in nature, design and purpose" (Colucci et al., 2017, p. 99), and notes that the cases where MOOCs were found to be most effective tended to be "targeted, blended and facilitated" (Colucci, Muñoz & Devaux, 2017, p. 101). Moser-Mercer (2014), in her description of how she supported two refugees using a MOOC in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, noted, not surprisingly, that there were significant technological obstacles for the learners. She also found that her role as a remote mentor to the learners was crucial: she had registered on the course as a learner herself, and attempted to anticipate challenges of a cultural, linguistic or technological nature that might arise for the learners so that she could intervene and support them in good time. She communicated regularly with the learners via email throughout the MOOC, and the learners noted her regular "presence" as an essential element in their motivation to complete the course (Moser-Mercer, 2014). Crea's (2015) report on a four-year higher education pilot in refugee camps in Africa, which included the use of MOOCs, emphasises the need for cultural and linguistic translation of resources for learners in (and from) developing countries. The same point is confirmed elsewhere in the literature (e.g. Nkuyubwatsi, 2014; Moser-Mercer, Hayba & Goldsmith, 2016; Bozkurt, Yazici & Aydin, 2018).
Community of Inquiry Framework
The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework for online learning was developed by Garrison, Anderson and Archer (1999). It comprises three interdependent dimensions in a process model for learning and teaching in a community: teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence. These dimensions reflect the distributed teaching and learning responsibilities of all participants, with no strict role boundary between learners and teachers. A quantitative CoI survey instrument was published in 2008, using the three overarching presences and subcategories derived from the authors' earlier publications: teaching presence was divided into design and organisation, facilitation, and direct instruction; social presence was comprised of interpersonal relationships, open communication and group cohesion; and cognitive presence was divided into four phases – triggering event, exploration, integration and resolution (Arbaugh et al., 2008; Garrison, 2017). These categories were further described in terms of 34 indicators. This instrument intensified the use of the CoI framework in the literature.
In a study which examined publications from 2009-2013 in seven leading online and distance learning journals, the CoI framework was found to be the most frequently used theoretical perspective (Bozkurt et al., 2015). In other studies, the framework has been shown to predict students' perceived learning and their satisfaction in online learning (Akyol & Garrison, 2008), and to predict learning outcomes (Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, 2010). It has also been used to compare students at different types of higher education institution (Moreira, Ferreira & Almeida, 2013), and as a heuristic for learning design (e.g., Dolan, Kain, Reilly & Bansal, 2017; Amemado & Manca, 2017). While the framework was originally designed for use in the context of asynchronous online learning, it has also been found useful for analysis of synchronous video communication in education (Themelis, 2014). The CoI categories have been found to align closely with recommendations for online teaching in professional education (Dunlap & Lowenthal, 2018), and the framework has been proposed as a model for conceptualising professional training for people in developing countries (Murugesan, Nobes & Wild, 2017). Two recent, large-scale studies have focused on the use of the CoI framework in MOOCs: Cohen and Holstein (2018) showed that MOOC learners attributed the success of certain MOOCs to a combination of all three presences; Kovanović et al. (2018) confirmed the validity and reliability of the CoI survey instrument for measuring perceived levels of teaching, social and cognitive presence within MOOCs, but suggested adjustments to the subcategories within the three presences to better account for specific learner perceptions arising out the differences between MOOCs and formal distance programmes – particularly in relation to the large size of learner cohorts and the relatively short duration of courses.
Critiques of the CoI framework have primarily pointed to the lack of its explanatory power for learners' self-regulation (Broadbent & Poon, 2015; Kuo, Walker, Schroder & Belland, 2014; Shea et al., 2010; Shen, Cho, Tsai & Marra, 2013). Cho, Kim & Choi (2017) found that highly self-regulated learners were more likely to perceive higher teaching, cognitive and social presences than learners with low levels of self-regulation. Shea et al. (2010) and Shea et al. (2012) proposed a fourth presence, "learning presence", to account for self-regulation, drawing on work by Bandura (1986) and Zimmermann (1999). Shea et al. (2012) identified the following subdivisions for Learning Presence: forethought and planning, monitoring, and strategy use. In keeping with Arbaugh et al.'s (2008) CoI measurement instrument, each subdivision had three to six descriptive indicators. In this paper I refer to the combination of the original three presences and learning presence, with their respective indicators, as the "augmented CoI framework" (See Figure 1). There is emerging research validating this concept (e.g. Pool, Reitsma & van den Berg, 2017). In response, Garrison (2017, p. 31) has warned that a fourth category would complicate the framework, compromising its explanatory power unnecessarily. Instead, he suggests using a "shared metacognition construct" as a way of addressing the identified "gaps" in the CoI framework (Garrison & Akyol, 2015); however, this construct is not yet well developed. A different critique is offered by Jaffer, Govender and Brown (2017), who found in their study of "wrapped MOOCs" in South Africa that questions of structure and agency (Giddens, 1986) could not be accounted for within the CoI theoretical framework. This issue is likely to be of particular relevance in the case of a marginalised group such as refugees.
Figure 1: Augmented Community of Inquiry Framework
As this paper was written as part of a PhD programme, I gained the requisite permission to conduct this research from Lancaster University. I obtained voluntary, informed consent from the participants, using a consent form approved by Kiron staff. For data protection purposes, the research participants were pseudonymised. Following Clark-Kazak (2017, p. 13), I avoided asking research participants for details about their forced migration experience that may have been re-traumatising. Participants were invited to check the transcripts, emphasising their role as research partners rather than "subjects". The design of the study as a developmental evaluation was aimed at bringing about reciprocal benefits for the communities of participating refugees (Mackenzie, McDowell & Pittaway, 2007). As a further ethical consideration, I am sharing the research process and findings openly, in order to increase opportunities for peer feedback and to improve the visibility of findings (Pitt, de los Arcos, Farrow & Weller, 2016, p.36). To this end, I have published much of the raw data at a website created for this purpose (https://sites.google.com/artofelearning.org/qoolref).
The study was guided by four research questions (RQs):
RQ1: What are the learners' depictions of how they learn online?
RQ2: How do these depictions map onto the indicators for teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence in the CoI framework (Garrison, 2017, p.173-175) and Shea et al.'s (2014) proposed indicators for learning presence?
RQ3: What can we learn about the application of the enhanced CoI framework to the evaluation of the learning experience of refugees, and potentially also other learners in disadvantaged circumstances?
RQ4: What are the implications of the findings for organisations supporting refugees, and potentially other learners in disadvantaged circumstances, to learn from MOOCs?
The research design was planned using the RUFDATA framework (Saunders, 2000), which I shared in a blog post (Witthaus, 2017). This was a qualitative study, in keeping with the "emerging" and complex nature of a developmental evaluation. I was not commissioned by Kiron to do this study, but carried it out as a volunteer, framing my role as a critical friend rather than as a "neutral", "external" evaluator. I had initial discussions with four members of Kiron staff to help me establish the research aims, and to determine the likely uses of the evaluation findings. The intention, from Kiron's point of view, was to find out what aspects of their provision were working well, and whether there were aspects of the support they provided that would benefit from a different approach. It was agreed that I would ask the research participants the following questions:
What helped you to succeed in learning online?
How do you know whether you succeeded or not?
What kinds of challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?
What else would have helped you succeed?
The data gathering process began at an on-site "study weekend" in Berlin, in August 2017, where I ran two focus groups with 13 learners. I asked them to write short statements in response to questions 1, 3 and 4 above, which we then discussed. Later, having obtained the learners' consent, I emailed them all to request an online interview. I also invited my two Kiron "study buddies" to participate. In the email, I repeated the same three questions from the focus groups, and added question 2. Altogether, 11 learners responded. We carried out the interviews in September and October 2017. Unfortunately, one interview was cut short due to connectivity problems, leaving ten complete interviews. Two of the interviews took place mainly in German, and the rest in English with varying amounts of code-switching between the two languages. I therefore used "denaturalised" transcription (Oliver, Serovich & Mason, 2005), focusing on meaning rather than an exact replication of what was said. Personal data were recorded separately and aggregated anonymously to provide a demographic profile of the participants.
After asking the learners to review and edit the transcripts, I imported the transcripts into NVivo, where I carried out a first round of inductive categorical analysis, using open coding (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008). This phase generated codes mainly related to activities and resources that the research participants perceived to be either helpful or not for their learning, and their feelings about online learning. This was followed by a second round of coding involving a deductive categorical analysis, using the CoI survey instrument (Garrison, 2017, p.173-175) to code for teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence, and the learning presence indicators from Shea et al. (2014, pp. 15-16). In the third round of coding, I reviewed every coded segment and developed a total of 43 statements or "depictions", following Saunders, Charlier & Bonamy (2005, p. 42), of what learners said had helped or hindered their learning, and what additional support they would like.
Learner Profiles
Five of the ten participants came from Syria, two from Afghanistan, two from Pakistan and one from Uganda. Their ages ranged from 22 to 42, with five in their 20s and four in their 30s. Eight were studying business subjects, and two computer science. At the time of interviewing, three had been accepted into German universities; five were working towards applying in 2018; one was not planning to attend university, preferring to seek professional training opportunities; and one was undecided. Eight were male and two were female, which was an accurate, albeit unfortunate, reflection of the gender balance of Kiron's learners at the time.
Results: Depictions of Learning
This section addresses the first two research questions:
RQ1: What are the learners' depictions of how they learn online?
RQ2: How do these depictions map onto the indicators for the presences in the augmented CoI framework?
Research Questions 3 and 4 will be addressed in the discussion section.
Forty-three statements were generated about what had had helped the learners learn, the nature of challenges experienced, and what further support they would like in relation to their online learning. The statements are presented in the tables below, organised around the revised CoI framework headings and subheadings taken from Garrison (2017, pp. 173-175) and Shea et al. (2014). The phrasing of each depiction is an agglomeration of the words used by the research participants, and includes my own paraphrasing, in line with the concept of denaturalised transcription. In those cases where a concept articulated by the participants matched one of the 34 indicators in Garrison's (2017) survey, Garrison's wording is used. (There were only four such instances.) Under each table, some of the key quotations from research participants relevant to that presence are presented, numbered according to the depictions they refer to in the table.
Teaching Presence (TP)
As can be seen from Table 1, teaching presence was alluded to in just under half (19) of the depictions. Several learners made comments about the ease or difficulty of making sense of both the Kiron and the MOOC providers' platforms.:
Table 1: Teaching Presence (TP)
It helped when… I was challenged by… I would like…
TP1 Design & organisation (1) the course system was well organised and easy to make sense of.
(2) the course materials were designed to be engaging.
(3) the course materials were designed to be supportive. (4) the educational offer from Kiron, which I could not make sense of on my own.
(5) the platform which was difficult to navigate.
(6) courses that were not suitable for my level.
(7) course content which was not related to real life.
TP2 Facilitation (8) I was guided towards understanding course topics.
(9) I was kept "engaged and participating in productive dialogue" (Garrison, 2017, p. 173).
(10) I was challenged to work things out for myself.
(11) I was given support to stay focused on my learning.
(12) the "development of a sense of community among participants" (Garrison, 2017, p. 173) was reinforced.
(13) I was supported to reflect on my learning process in a structured way. (14) the fast pace of delivery. (15) someone to help me stay on task.
(16) to be noticed, valued, and encouraged.
TP3 Direct instruction (17) I was given feedback on my strengths, weaknesses, and understanding of the subject matter. (18) course content that contained open-ended questions with no feedback.
(19) course content that assumed prior knowledge that I did not have.
(1) With Kiron … you have an exact, direct study track, you have organised courses, you can organise your materials, what you want to study, you can take it step by step… you can really plan your target, you know exactly what courses you have to do, what the next step will be when you finish with this course… (Salim)
(4) When I got into Kiron, first of all I didn't understand anything. The level of complexity was too high for a newcomer, to know how to use the software and how to get into it. It's about six, seven, eight hours long the process. (Imran)
The novelty of online education was a significant barrier for some learners – although it should be noted that Imran's comment was typical of learners who had joined Kiron before October 2016, when the platform navigation was improved. Engaging materials were described as those containing animations, cartoons, music and humour. Supportive materials typically included videos with subtitles and supplementary notes.
Many comments were made about the ways in which learners felt guided towards an understanding of subject matter. The role of "facilitator" was distributed between tutors, peers, mentors and friends, and facilitation took place in various ways:
(8) [Interviewer: So this guy in Thailand, is he mentoring you online?] Online. Just asking questions about what I'm doing, and wants to make sure that I'm doing well. He's very old-fashioned… He never gives me the answers, he just gives me some signs. He wants me to find out the hard way, even if it takes a month or a year. (Omar)
(9) In EBWL we had live tutorials… It was a Hangout. There was a lecturer from Uni Aachen… The tutor displayed and explained a presentation… We also participated, said our ideas. There was interaction. (Ibrahim)
Some learners expressed a wish for greater direction, and a desire to be noticed and encouraged:
(16) If someone was available and said: "OK we have these courses. Per week, this is how many hours each lesson should take." I don't want restrictions, but I want to say a little bit of restriction is useful here… For example, I did not do anything for a year, and ((laughs)) nobody asked me if you were there, or what are you doing? I'm grateful to Kiron, but I still wasted time. (Nj)
Several examples were given of how learners had sought, received and benefited from feedback – from other learners, from quiz or test results, from employers, from friends and from mentors.
Learners often expressed frustration about the gaps in their knowledge:
(19) Sometimes we face new knowledge, which we didn't get at the university or in life. … I wonder what that means, and so I have to look online or on YouTube or Google … just to find the definition of this knowledge. It takes some time to get the answer. Sometimes the answer is not within my knowledge of how I can understand this communication, and that's a problem. (Mo)
Social Presence (SP)
Table 2 shows that seven of the depictions related to social presence, with learners focusing mainly on the value of face-to-face interaction and the difficulties of sustaining meaningful interaction with others online. The face-to-face study weekend was mentioned frequently, always in positive terms:
Table 2: Social Presence (SP)
SP1 Interpersonal relationships (20) I got to know other learners and felt a sense of belonging. (21) not knowing who I was communicating with online. (22) to connect with other learners in my local area.
SP2 Open communication (23) I networked widely with people in my subject area. (24) my lack of self-confidence to communicate with others online.
SP3 Group cohesion (25) we learned collaboratively online. (26) the lack of cohesion in online discussions.
(20) It was nice and I don't feel that I'm alone at least. You get to know people and you see this is this person, this is that person who commented about something online… (Jasmine)
Online communication was usually depicted as problematic:
(21) There is a tutorial on Hangout I attended… It was good, but I can say it would be better if it was… something constant, not just to say oh hello, how are you. We don't know each other's names because our emails are just letters and numbers. (Mo)
However, some positive experiences with online communication were reported:
(25) The other students also ask questions in different ways (in the online tutorials), and I think it makes our mind a little bit bright to understand the topic. (Qadir)
There were several requests for Kiron to facilitate local networking opportunities:
(22) How could I study with other students? I'm so active and motivated when I'm studying with other students. It's a good solution if they connect us. (Fatimah)
Cognitive Presence (CP)
From Table 3 it can be seen that the learners emphasised the use they had made of different information sources to help them understand course content. The following quote was typical:
Table 3: Cognitive Presence (CP)
CP1 Triggering event (27) the presentation of course content grabbed my attention.
CP2 Exploration (28) I used "a variety of information sources to explore problems" (Garrison, 2017, p. 174) (29) the lack of focused and timely learning activity in the discussion forums and online study groups.
CP3 Integration (30) I talked to other people about what I was learning.
(31) I spent time revising the basics in the subject I was studying.
CP4 Resolution (32) I was able to "apply new knowledge to my work or other non-class activities" (Garrison, 2017, p. 175)
(28) I remember the (MOOC) professor giving an example of a company and then I stopped the video right away and looked up the company because I was just interested. Or he uses a term… and I would stop the video and look it up… And when he says a whole point and I could go back and replay it, that was very helpful. (Ayoubi)
Learning Presence (LP)
As indicated by Table 4, in terms of learning presence, examples of goal setting and planning abounded in the interviews, e.g.:
Table 4: Learning Presence (LP)
LP1 Forethought and planning (33) I set goals for myself.
(34) I planned how I was going to use my time for learning.
LP2 Monitoring (35) I observed my progress.
(36) I was aware of the different learning strategies that I was using.
LP3 Strategy use (37) I had strategies for managing my time.
(38) I put effort into learning.
(39) I taught others.
(40) I researched how other people became successful in my discipline and modelled my behaviour after them. (41) the realities of daily life that distracted me from my learning.
(42) the fact that I learn slowly on my own.
LP4 Reflection (43) I looked for learning opportunities in all situations.
(34) I always take lectures and do the reading (on my smartphone) on my way to the office, and the test I always do at night (on my laptop) - it takes one or two hours… In short it is also not easy to complete these courses online without planning… I have also cut my time from watching TV and now spend it on my studies… The routine is necessary to achieve these goals. (Qadir)
Time management was also a significant preoccupation:
(37) The main problem is with time actually… there is no obligation. You had to do it by yourself… I always remind myself of my target, I have to do this and this, so motivation makes self-discipline. (Salim)
Finally, in relation to reflection, some learners were extremely resourceful in finding role models, mentors and opportunities to learn outside of their courses. Examples included learning from job interviews gone wrong or failed startup attempts, striking up conversations with strangers in a library, sending emails to experts identified through an online search, and volunteering at local community events in order to meet potential study mentors.
I now return to RQ3: What can we learn about the application of the enhanced CoI framework to the evaluation of the learning experience of refugees (and potentially also other learners in disadvantaged circumstances)?
In the data analysis, the key dimensions of the augmented CoI framework (teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence) proved useful, as did the subcategories (the labelled sections of the pie in Figure 1), which provided a structure for organising the 43 depictions. However, as noted, of Garrison's (2017) 34 detailed survey indicators, only four mapped onto the depictions. It is worth noting that Shea et al.'s (2012) learning presence accounted for a full quarter of the statements generated. As an overarching framework, therefore, the main headings and subheadings of the augmented CoI framework enabled a coherent description of the learners' experience. However, as predicted, some issues were not adequately addressed by the CoI framework. Most importantly, several learners referred to problems that social theorists refer to as "structural" (Giddens, 1986), such as how the distractions of life as a refugee, being separated from one's family, and feeling uncertain about the future, made it difficult to focus on their studies. These issues manifest as personal problems, and yet this masks power relations within society. As one research participant put it:
As long as you're getting the support, your family is taking care of you, you can put all your efforts in one direction and you can achieve it… For example, the last… ten days what I've been through has been horrific. I didn't have the support when I was ill. There are lots of things that go through your mind, how am I going to manage that… Sometimes you feel a little bit disappointed because nobody is going to listen to this excuse… - they will see it on the paper that this guy has done this, but this guy couldn't. (Imran)
The lack of explanatory power within the CoI framework to address such issues reduces its usefulness - echoing Jaffer, Govender and Brown (2017) in this regard. Other aspects that are insufficiently addressed in the CoI framework include factors related to culture and online learning (Bozkurt, Yazici & Aydin, 2018), and how learners' perceptions of agency (Archer, 2007) affect their decision-making around learning. These would all be viable avenues for future research.
Finally, I consider RQ4: What are the implications of the findings for organisations supporting refugees, and potentially other learners in disadvantaged circumstances, to learn from MOOCs?
In terms of teaching presence, the design of both the overall educational offer and individual courses played a role in learners' motivation to participate. Materials that were designed to be supportive (e.g. videos with subtitles and accompanying notes) were central to the learners' sense of progress. The ways in which learners were guided towards understanding of key concepts, and received feedback on their strengths, weaknesses and understanding, was a major theme in the interviews. Responsibility for these functions was distributed widely between the MOOC lecturers (who appeared only in videos); Kiron's volunteer tutors, mentors and buddies, competition judges, scholarship awarders, employment recruiters, and the learners' friends, peers and mentors of their own choosing. Automated feedback on quizzes was also appreciated. The prevalence of these varied sources of guidance and feedback in the learners' narratives points to the centrality of the facilitation role.
In terms of social presence, opportunities for face-to-face interaction were coveted. Participation in public MOOC "meet-ups" in learners' local areas, using a facility such as Meetup.com, might address this perceived lack for some learners. Regarding online social presence, learners were reluctant to invest time and effort into discussion forums and learner-led online study groups, finding them generally lacking in focused and timely activity. Communication via these tools was also seen as impersonal. Clearly, social presence is not being sufficiently fostered in the MOOCs that these learners participated in.
In terms of cognitive presence, the research participants seemed particularly adept at finding and utilising resources to supplement the courses and fill gaps in their knowledge. However, the full cycle of "trigger, exploration, integration and resolution" was not articulated by any of the participants. This may be because the interview questions did not specifically elicit it, but it may also point to a lack of focus by MOOC designers on the most critical element of the learning experience.
As for learning presence, the learners had a rich array of individual strategies to draw on in enabling them to regulate their learning through goal setting and planning, and they discussed these at some length in the interviews. This suggests that a knowledge exchange between learners on learning strategies (perhaps even in the form of a MOOC) would be helpful for many learners.
The main limitation of this study relates to the sample size of ten research participants. A sample size of 12 has been demonstrated to lead to data "saturation" (Guest, Bunce & Johnson, 2006) in categorical analysis, although in the context of this case study, a much larger sample size may be called for, considering the diversity within the refugee community, and the myriad of factors that could affect learning from MOOCs. A second limitation was that I carried out the investigation alone, which was a necessary condition of this as an output of my PhD, and whilst I tried to be meticulous in my categorising, there was no interrater scoring process to confirm reliability of findings. Despite these limitations, the study demonstrates that the Community of Inquiry framework, augmented with the construct of Learning Presence, is useful as a partial model for analysing the learning experience of learners in disadvantaged circumstances on MOOCs, although it does not account for the impact that structure and agency have on the learning process. In conclusion, the Kiron learners' depictions of online learning presented here should dispel the myth that MOOCs are only suitable for privileged learners with substantial experience of higher education, while also offering insights for organisations that want to widen participation in higher education through MOOCs.
I would like to thank the Kiron learners, staff and volunteers who participated in this study, and David Hawkridge for his feedback on an early draft. I also acknowledge the support of academic staff and peers on the Doctoral Programme in Higher Education Research, Evaluation and Enhancement at Lancaster University from which this publication has arisen: http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/educational-research/phd/phd-in-higher-education-research,-evaluation-and-enhancement/
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Cho, M.-H., Kim, Y., & Choi, D. (2017). The effect of self-regulated learning on college students' perceptions of community of inquiry and affective outcomes in online learning. Internet and Higher Education, 34(February), 10–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2017.04.001
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text:
Begonia sonderiana est une espèce de plantes de la famille des Begoniaceae.
Elle a été décrite en 1961 par Edgar Irmscher (1887-1968).

Description

Liste des variétés
Selon  :
 variété Begonia sonderiana var. transgrediens Irmsch.

Notes et références

Liens externes

sonderiana

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Tom Terrific and the Turning Point 1983 Mets
WHEN TOM SEAVER came back to New York Mets 35 years ago, he might as well have stepped into a time machine, the Guardian of Forever or that strange void connecting a World War II Navy yard with the '84 Nevada desert in The Philadelphia Experiment.
The '83 Mets were an infinite loop, a continuum through which one could see the team's amazing past, its sparkling future and the shabby but significant season to come. Even though they'd come nowhere near the post-season, a dozen members of that year's squad had played -- or would play -- for one of the Mets three pennant winners, 1969, 1973 or 1986.
Top: John Stearns, left fielder George Foster
and fireman Neil Allen. Bottom: Tom Seaver,
Mookie Wilson and slugger Dave Kingman
They were a team in transition. Their roster, a mashup of once and future heroes as new owners worked to repair the Mets' relationship with their fans while buying time to build a winner.
Seaver had left the Amazin's at the start of their epic fall in a lopsided one-for-four trade with the Cincinnati Reds. That deal, and the concurrent exchange of their biggest home run hitter for lesser players, came to be known as the Midnight Massacre, June 15, 1977.
From 1969 to 1976 the Mets had been a slightly better than average team occasionally kissed by the miraculous. Riding the arms of Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Nolan Ryan and others, they won the '69 World Series by coaxing just enough offense from Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee and a cast of platoon players managed by Gil Hodges with pre-sabermetric brilliance.
Hodges had a fatal heart attack just before the 1972 season. Three days later, the team acquired clutch-hitting Rusty Staub from the Montreal Expos. Seaver, Koosman, Staub and the Mets eeeked out a second National League pennant in 1973, aided by reliever Tug McGraw, hurler Jon Matlack who'd been '72 NL Rookie of the Year, shortstop Bud Harrelson and, in his last big league campaign, Willie Mays.
But the '73 flag was a fluke, a happy accident that allowed management to overlook some of the shortcomings laid bare the next year when the Mets went 71-91, their first losing season since '68. The retooling began that winter. McGraw was sent to the Philadelphia Phillies for catcher John Stearns. Slugger Dave "King Kong" Kingman was acquired from the San Francisco Giants.
A '75 Mets sensation, Kingman hammered a club-record 36 homers. Staub drove in a club-record 105 runs. Tom Terrific went 22-9, struck out 243 batters, and won his third Cy Young Award. Shea Stadium attendance surpassed 1.73 million, but the Amazin's went just 82-80, costing Manager Yogi Berra and replacement Roy McMillan their jobs.
With free agency dawning, the Mets sent Staub to the Detroit Tigers, making room for rookie Mike Vail, who flopped. The '76 season would be about the lefties in Seaver's shadow. Koosman won 21 games, Matlack 17. Kingman extended his single-season home run record to 37 and the Amazin's won 86 games, their second-most in franchise history.
Darkness descends
Seaver -- so synonymous with the team he was nicknamed The Franchise -- had a hard luck year, going a modest 14-11. It would be his last winning season with the Mets.
Seaver, the 1983 version: older, better paid
and out to prove he could still bring it.
Though Tom Terrific had inked a three-year deal at $225,000 per annum, less accomplished players were getting more on the open market, prompting him to seek an adjustment. Kingman too sought a raise. He was making just $95,000.
Seaver and the Mets struck a mid-season deal, but withering criticism from sports columnist Dick Young prompted him to spurn it and demand a trade. He got one. So did Kingman. The foundering post-Massacre Mets finished last.
Matlack was dealt to the Texas Rangers in a four-way swap that left them with less than they gave up. The Cellar Dwelling of '78 was followed by the trade of an unhappy 3-15 Koosman to the Minnesota Twins for minor leaguer Jesse Orosco.
Finally, after a third straight last place finish in '79, the Mets were sold to new owners promising fans, "The Magic is Back."
But how to make it so?
Attendance had sagged to 788,905, nearly a million less than in 1975, the halcyon year of Rusty, Kong and Tom Terrific. Seeking to rekindle lost good will, that's where they ultimately went.
Neil Allen emerged from the wreckage of '79 as the Mets fireman and saved 22 games in 1980. That year, the Mets briefly flirted with .500 before settling to fifth place. Meanwhile, Kingman -- now a Chicago Cub -- was routinely torching his old team, burning them for 20 homers after his trade, three of them off Allen including a devastating grand slam. The '80 Mets hit just 61 as a team.
Kingman and Staub in '81.
The boys were back in town.
To boost their own power and halt the rampaging Kong, the Mets reacquired the slugger. They also signed Staub, a free agent. Rookies Mookie Wilson and Hubie Brooks stayed with the team all year but the Mets still finished an aggregate fifth in the strike-split 1981 season.
Eighty-two saw another power bat acquisition, former NL Most Valuable Player George Foster, fail spectacularly as he hit just .247, with 13 homers, 70 runs batted in. Kingman led the league with 37 homers, but hit just .204.
Again, they finished last.
But Orosco, the kid acquired for Koosman, finally stuck in the majors and scrappy young infielder Wally Backman saw significant playing time. Plus, the Mets had something going down on the farm.
In 1980, they'd drafted outfielder Darryl Strawberry. In '82, they took pitcher Dwight Gooden and traded fallen star Lee Mazzilli to the Texas Rangers for pitchers Ron Darling and Walt Terrell. Now, those kids were on their way.
Things would take a dramatic turn in 1983, starting with Seaver's return from the Reds.
He'd had a bad year in 1982, the worst of his career, going 5-13 for last-place Cincinnati. His re-acquisition was more about righting a grievous wrong than it was about getting results. The biggest, most consequential roster moves were still to come.
On April 5, 1983, Seaver started the season opener. His catcher was Ron Hodges, who'd come up with the Mets as a rookie during the pennant-winning '73 season. Through all of the changes and almost never a starter, he'd remained as did another '73 rookie, pitcher Craig Swan.
In May, the Mets recalled Strawberry from the minors, anointed him the future of the franchise and installed him in right field, displacing placeholder Danny Heep.
They weren't done.
From the '83 yearbook, a rhapsody in blue and orange.
The Mets ended the year a better team than the one pictured here.
Early in the year, Allen came undone, struggling on and off the field. On June 15, 1983 -- six years after the massacre -- he and pitching prospect Rick Ownbey were traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for first baseman Keith Hernandez, a perennial gold glove winner and co-MVP in 1979.
Turning the corner
His acquisition fortified the Mets lineup and forced Kingman to the bench. Bolstered by Hernandez and Strawberry -- who won Rookie of the Year honors -- Foster bounced back with a 28 homer, 90-RBI campaign. Staub set a record with eight consecutive pinch hits and 25 pinch runs batted in. Orosco replaced Allen as closer, saved 17 games, won 13 others and finished third in Cy Young balloting. Reliever Doug Sisk joined the bullpen. Pitching prospect Ron Darling came up in September.
Seaver started 34 games, pitched 231 innings and went 9-14, proving he wasn't finished. But, at season's end, they were still a last place club. That would change with Gooden's arrival the next year, by which time Seaver would be gone again.
That winter, in a calculated risk, the Mets had left their icon unprotected from the free agent compensation pool and he was claimed by the Chicago White Sox. In their uniform he won his 300th game on the mound at Yankee Stadium two years later.
Gooden would pick up the mantle as the team's best pitcher, winning 17 games, striking out 276 hitters and winning Rookie of the Year. The new-look Mets -- Hernandez, Strawberry, Foster, Wilson, Brooks, Backman, Darling, Terrell, Orosco, Sisk and Heep -- went 90-72, finishing second in the NL East behind the Chicago Cubs.
Boosted by the acquisition of catcher Gary Carter from the Expos, two years later, they'd reach the World Series. So would Seaver, as a member of the Boston Red Sox, though a knee injury would keep him from pitching. The Mets prevailed in seven games.
This entry is dedicated to the great Rusty Staub, who died on March 29, 2018 while it was still being written. Staub came through in the clutch on and off the field. His charitable causes, feeding the hungry and caring for the widows and orphans of first responders, hopefully will live on forever.
For more information, visit www.rustystaubfoundation.com and www.answerthecall.org
Posted by Andy Harris at 12:01 PM
Labels: Baseball, Darryl Strawberry, Dave Kingman, George Foster, New York Mets, programs, Rusty Staub, Shea Stadium, Tom Seaver, Yearbooks
Blue Coup de Grace Ends the A's Championship Era

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Renewal Mill, a food byproduct recycler, is partnering with tofu producer Hodo Foods, to create okara flour, a product made from soybean pulp left over from soy milk processing.
Soy pulp has been traditionally used as an animal feed, but Renewal Mill CEO Claire Schlemme, stated that she saw greater value in using it in human food.
A large quantity of soybean pulp is produced in the manufacturing of soy milk or tofu. For each pound of tofu, an equal amount of okara is created as a byproduct, which was then typically used to feed cattle. Hodo produced a method in which the wet material could be dried and which would then produce okara flour.


text:
Q: How to fix runtime error in VBA For Loop I am executing the following code but getting error - runtime error - 6 overlfow.
Seams like rowcount is getting the perfect value, i can see when i go to Debug mode. But nothing happening after that.
can some please solve this for me?
Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
        Dim i As Integer
        Dim RowCount As Long

        RowCount = Cells(Rows.Count, "A").End(xlUp).Row

        For i = RowCount To 2 Step -1
            If Cells(i, 4) = "7" Then
                Rows(i).Delete Shift:=xlUp
            End If
        Next i
    End Sub

A: While the comment and answer suggesting your problem is a data type issue are both technically correct, there is a much better way of handling this, especially if you are looping through a range with that many rows.
Instead of looping, simply filter the entire range and delete any rows that match your criteria.
The following code autofilters Sheet1, finding any cells in column D that equal 7. It deletes those rows, and then turns off the autofilter, leaving the rows you want. Note that by using the offset method, you won't delete row 1 whether it has a 7 in it or not.
Add this code to a module, and call the module from your button-click:
Sub DeleteRowsThatMatch()
    Dim ws As Worksheet
    Dim rng As Range
    Dim lastRow As Long
    Dim match As String

    Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1")

    lastRow = ws.Range("D" & ws.Rows.Count).End(xlUp).Row
    match = "7"

    Set rng = ws.Range("D1:D" & lastRow)

    ' filter and delete all but header row
    With rng
        .AutoFilter field:=1, Criteria1:="=" & match
        .Offset(1, 0).SpecialCells(xlCellTypeVisible).EntireRow.Delete
    End With

    ' turn off the filters
    ws.AutoFilterMode = False
End Sub

A: First thing I would try:
Dim I as Long

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Why does the lock-picking app lock my phone when I try to unlock it
The lock-picker app locks my phone after I try it to unlock and I don't know why.
This is an example of the kind of problem Google is now investigating.
This problem appears to be happening because the lockpicking app doesn't understand the concept of lockpicking.
It also doesn't seem to know how to unlock the phone properly.
What is lockpicking?
Lockpicking is the art of unlocking objects by holding the right hand to the object, and then releasing the left hand.
It is an ancient art, and was used to unlock chests, lock the door of a castle, and lock people in a room.
This type of unlocking was done in the past in medieval times, but in the modern world lockpicking was the most common method of unlocking.
It works by holding a right-handed hand on an object, releasing the other hand, and unlocking the object with your left hand using your right hand.
Lockpicking is often used to open locks and locks are commonly used to lock people's doors.
The lock-picker app uses this to unlock my phone.
It uses the lock key, the lock ring, and the lock button.
Why does it lock my smartphone?
The lockpicking application locks my smartphone after I attempt to unlock.
There is no way to tell the lockpicker what it is doing.
How to fix the lock picking problemThe lock picker app is not working.
I tried the lock pick and it didn't work.
I tried to press the lock and it locked the phone.
Another way to fix this is to disable the lock setting.
This may be necessary.
Try using the Lock button instead of the lock.
To unlock the iPhone or iPad you need to unlock your device by pressing the unlock button on your phone.
If you have an unlocked iPhone or an unlocked iPad, you should see the lock icon in the top right corner of the Lock app.
If the lock is broken, you may need to try re-installing the lock settings from Google Play.
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New York City Police Chief: Suspect shot by officer after arrest
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I have many years of hypnotherapy practice – working with complex issues tailored to each individual.
I moved from London and had a practice as Edge of the World Hypnotherapy and NLP at Manningtree on the Suffolk Essex border and at Frinton on Sea and also Colchester Essex for 8 years.
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I am a Certified Hypno Gastric Band Hypnotherapy Practitioner (since 2010) and previously had Harley Street experience as a Weight Loss Hypnosis Specialist.
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I believe in working hard with my client to find the best possible solutions and strategies, using Hypnosis and NLP, and I feel that I offer a top quality service at a reasonable cost.
If you are interested there is more about Hypnotherapy and NLP below, or you can give me a call or text, or email for a FREE no obligation chat on the phone.
I believe in working with my clients, using all of my experience and knowledge of hypnosis techniques in a gentle and relaxing way – you are aware at all times.
Hypnosis might seem like something you don't know anything about, but you'll already have done it naturally when you focus on a book, great sports event, or film or TV event.
Hypnotic trance is a natural state of mentally focussing, which makes it easy to communicate ideas to the part of the mind that helps make changes in your thoughts, feelings and habits. Jessica Ennis Hill gets "into the zone" – which is an example of mentally focussing.
It is also the part of the mind that influences various physiological systems, like your nervous and digestive systems.
All hypnosis is self-hypnosis – you cannot be hypnotised against your will, and most people can be hypnotised because it is a skill that they already have.
My job is to make appropriate suggestions and give you tools to make things better using mindfulness and many other strategies.
Being in an mindful hypnotic state just feels relaxing and very comfortable - like lying on a beach with nothing to do and no one to bother you, or luxuriating in a warm soak in the bath.
You are alert and aware of your surroundings and you are not giving me control – you are learning control. You are always in charge – you are just learning how to make the changes that you want.
Hypnotherapy in Ipswich Suffolk and Colchester Essex.
Business to Business Hypnotherapy is another service I offer from group sessions to stop smoking, losing weight, work related stress and help with confidence issues using NLP and Hypnosis techniques. In the US employees have started suing firms that don't have a policy for dealing with work related stress.
There are many needless hours lost through stress related issues and it is now one of the top killers. I am not trying to be alarmist – just that my clients have doubled in the last year for work related stress! This is a low cost option by comparison. Let me give you a FREE demonstration.
As an Actor Drama Teacher Director and Writer, and ex Harley Street and Dance East resident Hypnotherapist, specialising in Performers issues, I offer onsite visits to TV studios, Film Sets and Theatres for discreet service. I have worked in Harley Street with actors, models, supermodels, journalists and presenters.
Skype as above with FREE session recording mp3 emailed.


I found this book when I was 12 on the shelves of the Science Fiction section at my school library. The original dust jacket featured no "blurbs" or description of what the book was about, but something about it intrigued me and I checked it out.
I've lost count of how many times I've read Dune – over a dozen by now, I am sure. When I first read this groundbreaking multi-faceted novel about consciousness, ecology, politics, religion, society – even love – I was enthralled and immediately went on to read the other two books in what was known at that time as the Dune trilogy: Dune Messiah (1969) and Children of Dune (1976).
The first three books in the Dune series contain a continuity of characters and events, whereas the three books that follow – God Emperor of Dune (1981), Heretics of Dune (1984), and Chapterhouse: Dune (1985) are set in a future far removed from that of the original (already far-future) trilogy, and though they dwell on many of the same themes, largely embody a different society and set of characters. God Emperor of Dune is the link between the original trilogy and the last three books Herbert wrote in the series, the main character being one of the main characters from the original trilogy having become a god-like being no longer human in anything but memory.
I have read Dune many times, and also I have read the original trilogy all-three-in-one-go probably half a dozen times. I don't feel that the other three books are as strong, although I do have affection for God Emperor of Dune and have read it at least two or three times.
I will state here – perhaps controversially – that I don't really consider Herbert to be that great of a writer, as far as the actual writing of sentences, dialogue, and descriptions go. He is just sort of workaday – he gets the job done. Dune is just so brimming with brilliance in every other way that it doesn't matter. I have read a number of his other books, all of which I enjoyed, but found none of them gripping enough to make me want to return to them.
After Herbert's death, his estate has gone on to release an extensive series of sequels, prequels, and other Dune books co-authored by Frank Herbert's son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. (I have not read any of these books.) You can learn about them on the official Dune website here.
Dune is the best-selling Science Fiction novel of all time. It is also one of the most important ones, and probably a good place to start if you've never read SF before.


With earth day barely a week behind us, it's time to turn our attention to a new way to Go Green. This time, however, we're not talking about forgoing paper napkins or ditching the polystyrene cup. In fact, we're actually talking about adding something in: Dark, leafy green vegetables, and lots of 'em.
Now granted, we've discussed many of these nutritional powerhouses in previous posts – here, here and here, for instance – but you see, and not to get all girly on you here, but leafy green vegetables are like the little black dress of the vegetable world. They go with just about everything, they're appropriate for every occasion, and, with very few exceptions, they are universally liked. And for that reason, they deserve a second look!
On the nutrition front, dark green leafy vegetables, calorie for calorie, are considered one of the most nutrient-dense foods available. Specifically, they are an excellent source of several minerals, including iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium as well as vitamins K (providing nine times the recommended daily allowance (RDA) per 1 cup serving) C, E, and many of the B vitamins. In addition, leafy greens provide a number of phytonutrients including beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin and also contain small amounts of fatty acids. Cementing their place on the nutritional honor roll, leafy greens contain very few carbohydrates, much of which is offset by its high fiber content (so much so that the leafy greens are generally considered a "freebie" vegetable in most low-carbohydrate diets).
In addition to their shared nutritional benefits, leafy green vegetables also have several medicinal benefits in common. According to recent research, for example, leafy green vegetables can help prevent age-related cognitive declines, can help prevent cataracts and boost eye health (you can thank the potent combination of lutein, and zeaxanthin for that one!), and may also reduce your risk of skin cancer.
One good tip to remember, however you are eating your greens, is to always try and add a little fat (either in the form of oil, butter or salad dressing), as it helps promote absorption of fat-soluble vitamin K.
So, however you like 'em – hot, cold or somewhere in between – consider adding leafy green vegetables to your next meal!
Kale in stirfry is one of the best things going. Tempeh, kale, onions, garlic and ginger. That's all you need.
I just discovered Kale and really like how resilient it is in practically any cooking application. You can do anything with Kale including throw it in soup like Zuppa Toscana (the kind they serve at Olive Garden). I haven't tried blending it in a green smoothie yet, but I'm looking forward to using it a lot more! Great suggestion!
Great stuff. I love my greens. I have a salad with spinach or some type of dark green/green-red lettuce daily. And then I also have cooked greens of some other sort at least once or twice a week, usually kale, though sometimes collards, and typically some spinach anytime I make eggs for a meal. Nutritionally, there's just nothing better than adding some greens…lots of vitamins, very little in the way of carbs.
I have several types of sea vegetables in my pantry. I just forget to use them very often. I need to be more diligent about that.
MMMMmmm, greens! They are awesome. As a cash-poor graduate student, I love buying these. They are usually cheap compared to other vegetables, and you can get a whole lot of them at one time. I usually pick up at least one bunch a week, and I just go by which type looks best at the time. Mustard, turnip, and kale are the ones I tend to eat the most…but now that it's springtime, I'm also out gathering young dandelions from my backyard!
I like 'em simple – chopped and sauteed/steamed with garlic and red pepper flakes, and then served with salt and cider vinegar. Delish.
Hey all. Don't forget the best green of all, it is free all summer. Dandelions. Cut with scissors soak over night fresh in salads is great to me.
I never really ate a lot of greens until I started coming to this site daily. Now I eat a huge salad with dark greens (Kale, Chard), throw in some Romaine and every veggie I can find. Not only is it amazing for you but I calculated how much money I save per day by eating this and since I started this I have saved over $300.00.
I love this website… almost as much as I love dark leafy greens. Good to know that I should be adding some fat to the salads, since I generally bare-paw the leaves straight (no dressing).
Unfortunately, my boyfriend doesn't love them so much. While I can sneak them into sandwiches or soups, it doesn't seem like he eats enough of them. What kind of alternatives are there that pack a comparable amount of nutritional punch (if such magical vegetables exist)?
I have a kale "smoothie" every morning for breakfast, and I LOVE it!
I blend them in the blender so I don't lose any of the fiber. It tastes mainly like apple, but it's very filling and satisfying. The kale has lots of nutrients including calcium and protein. I guess you could add a raw egg if you wanted extra protein, but this smoothies fills me for hours.
Having a good dressing, spices and herbs brings a salad to life.
I love adding fresh chopped chilli to mine. Depending on the salad, I'll add fresh coriander, parsley, basil, thyme…etc.
As for a dressing, just do 3 parts oil and 1 part vinegar. Olive oil and lemon juice is a great and simple one to do.
Dark green leafy vegetables are bursting with essential vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that provide important cancer-fighting benefits. It also has antioxidants that are also known to play a role in preventing other signs of aging. Just like having a windshield repair kit in the body.
Hey Mark, what is your take on green smoothies with fresh greens?
My wife has MS and we follow a primal/paleo diet to help manage that but as well as what we take away we also look to optimise everything we put in us. Green smoothies allow us to get flaxseed, ginger, fresh organic greens & a whole bunch of fruit down us in one go.
I know you have covered green powders but would love to get your take on fresh, blended green smoothies.
Spinach or broccoli lightly steamed and drenched in butter is about as good as a vegetable gets, IMO.


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We're coming for you, Air chief warns bandits
By TheNigerian On Mar 18, 2021
The Chief of Air Staff, Isiaka Amao, has said the days of bandits and kidnappers terrorising the country are numbered as the Nigerian military is battle-ready to rid the nation of their nefarious activities.
Amao noted that the military had perfected plans, through synergy, that would deal criminal elements in the country a death blow.
He spoke yesterday during an operational visit to the Nigerian air force base in Kaduna state.
The air chief said the military efforts are geared towards beating the deadline given by President Buhari that the service chiefs must ensure that people go freely to their farms during the rainy season without any security threat.
"Our officers and men are ready for the battle against bandits and kidnappers," he said.
"We are working towards that in synergy, the platforms are ready for the operations and we are liaising with the Army and other ground troops for the operations.
"My message to bandits is that we are coming after them together with the Army, Navy and other security agencies to make sure they are flushed out of the country."
Amao said the welfare of the air force personnel will be prioritised so as to motivate the officers to diligently carry out their duties.
"Welfare entails providing the personnel with equipments, conducive training environment and where they live and to make sure they are given their entitlements", he said.
The air chief also paid a courtesy visit to Governor Nasir El-Rufai, of Kaduna state after the operational visit.
Nothing to cheer about in FG's move to rehabilitate Port-Harcourt refinery, says Wike
Nigeria'll stand by Niger Republic, other neighbouring countries in anti-terrorism fight – Buhari
Border security: Defense minister calls for new plan
Herdsmen attacks: Ortom accuses FG of complicity
Offa bank robbery: Abba Kyari offered me N10m, visa to implicate Saraki – suspect
Slain NSCDC officers: FG grants automatic employment to families of deceased…


It feels like No Man's Sky has come leaps and bounds over the last two years, and it's showing no signs of stopping.
Revealed overnight, No Man's Sky Visions is version 1.75 and brings a whole heap of new content and visual changes that once again move No Man's Sky closer to the original vision that Sean Murray and his team had. It's releasing later today, which is pretty damn exciting.
The main updates are new planetary biomes, more colourful worlds, a bunch of new fauna and flora, archaeology, salvaging and a heaps more which you can watch in the trailer below.
New anomalous planet biomes create a weirder, more diverse universe to explore.
Bizarre creatures have evolved on anomalous planets, bringing new life and movement to these eerie landscapes.
The universe has become more alien, vibrant and exciting to explore. New shades of sky and grass enable more unique worlds and a more diverse set of science fiction aesthetics.
New types of water create stranger worlds to be discovered both above and below the surface.
Atmospherics and skies have been improved and stormy weather conditions can now produce rainbows in planetary atmospheres.
Exotic planets can be searched to discover mysterious artifacts which can be claimed as trophies. These otherworldly objects can be rehoused in habitable bases to create a showcase of your voyages across the universe.
With more varied planets come more reasons to explore. Unleash your inner archeologist and search the galaxy for planets containing the ancient bones of alien lifeforms. Complete, intact skeletons are particularly rare and especially valuable.
Unearth the long-forgotten remains of fallen satellites and scrap them for salvagable parts. Explorers must use their multitool to dismantle the reinforced casing and extract the valuable technology within… but risk drawing the attention of new, challenging, corrupted sentinel drones.
Those who endure the hazardous storms that blast extreme planets can seek out precious new crystal treasures. These spectacular natural formations become luminescent during the worst weather, and can be collected by intrepid explorers to be traded for a small fortune.
New varieties of hazardous flora can now be found sprouting across the galaxies, ready to snare the unwary and reward the cautious. Carnivorous trap plants and bloated gas flora can be eliminated from afar, or carefully approached for extra substance rewards.
Certain planets now feature strange alien rock creatures who will attempt to flee the heat of a mining laser. Mine these runaway minerals to extract concentrated resource rewards.
A new Community Research mission allows explorers to share progress and work towards a common goal.
…as well as well as new emotes, building parts and a range of fireworks to celebrate any occasion.
Crashed freighters are now procedurally generated, with dozens of possible configurations. Explore different crash site layouts and carve a path with your multitool to retrieve the valuable cargo buried nearby.


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City Region Deal
Forth Environmental Resilience Array
February 2020 news
June 2020 news
New report highlights barriers to accessing housing for ex-Service personnel
University of Stirling appointed as host of Scotland's Hydro Nation Chair
University of Stirling swimmer scoops top UK award
Stirling leads project to support international aquaculture research
Survivors help shape first Stirling-wide gender-based violence strategy
Bees versus flies – which flex their muscles most?
University of Stirling Principal recognised with a knighthood
New research published today [8th December] highlights the challenges Service leavers face accessing and sustaining housing after leaving the Armed Forces, despite improvements made in recent years.
Led by University of Stirling housing expert Dr Steve Rolfe and funded by Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT), the research found that steps taken over the last decade to improve housing outcomes for ex-Service personnel have had a positive impact, but some people still face challenges and action is needed to ensure that progress continues.
Although ex-Service personnel are no more likely to be homeless than the wider population, some still face significant housing difficulties and can struggle to access the right support through the systems in place. Aside from supply and demand problems affecting the UK housing sector more widely, barriers facing ex-Service personnel include the complexity of the housing and benefits systems, which Service leavers with little experience of civilian life can struggle with, and debt causing issues with financial assessments for rental housing for those who have not saved for post-service life.
Some groups were identified as being likely to face additional persistent barriers, such as early Service leavers. Particular challenges were also highlighted for non-UK service leavers, who must wait for immigration status to be settled before housing applications can be submitted.
The Armed Forces Covenant – introduced in 2011 to support the Armed Forces community to have the same access to government and commercial services as the public - was found to have had a positive impact, with organisations working more effectively at a local level due to the implementation of Armed Forces Champions, Covenant Groups and dedicated posts. This was commended as particularly impressive given local authority budget cuts during the same period.
Dr Steve Rolfe, who is based in the University of Stirling's Faculty of Social Sciences, said: "Our research illustrates that significant improvements have been made over the last decade – with organisations working better together, despite the impact of austerity, and delivering positive housing outcomes for ex-Service personnel.
"This is a reflection of the commitment and efforts of the public and third sector bodies to meet the needs of veterans."
Recommendations in the report focus on continuing improvements to support transition to civilian life which have been seen in recent years, tackling the persistent barriers identified for groups such as early Service leavers and non-UK Service leavers, and maintaining progress in collaboration between local, national and charitable organisations which support ex-Service personnel.
The researchers also noted that the benefits from increased collaborative working could be lost as public attention moves away from the Armed Forces Covenant, and continual attention is required at a local and national level to ensure the innovations of the past decade continue.
Dr Rolfe added: "We must ensure that this good work continues and delivering on the recommendations from our report will reduce the number of vulnerable Service leavers who struggle to navigate the civilian housing system."
The report, 'Working together to meet the housing needs of ex-Service personnel: Examining the challenges of transition and collaboration', was based on case studies and interviews with organisations and ex-Service personnel in England, Scotland and Wales.
Ray Lock CBE, Chief Executive of FiMT, said: "Housing is one of the most important factors for a Service leaver and their family, yet over half leave without their housing needs being 'sorted'.
"This report is encouraging, demonstrating that the Armed Forces Covenant is having an impact and improvements are being seen. However, persistent issues still exist, particularly for the more vulnerable groups identified by the researchers, and these must now be addressed. Collaboration between organisations supporting Service leavers must continue to improve, along with better education of Service leavers about civilian life. And now we know who those most likely to face challenges are, we can identify them early, and take preventative action."