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This aspect of Guanyin, enthroned on his legendary mountain abode, Potala, was especially favored in China during the 12th and 13th centuries. The figure is seated in a position of Royal Relaxation. Its rustic base, visible at the left, symbolizes a rocky ledge of the mountain paradise, from which Guanyin beholds with ... |
Public temple images such as this, gilt and richly polychromed, were often installed in an elaborate naturalistic setting. They combined the two concepts of the immutability of the Divine and the transitory nature of the world. |
Railways dished out a scintillating performance to stun defending champions Punjab 3-2 and win the senior men’s hockey National Championship (Division A) title here on Sunday. |
Railways have now won four titles in five attempts. Last year’s bronze had come after a hat-trick of titles since 2015. |
Eager to regain the title, Railways came into the tournament after a long preparatory camp. They overcame teams that were much stronger on paper — Punjab and semifinal opponents Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) had a host of current India players. |
Harsahib Singh (35th and 43th minutes) scored a brace while India striker Dilpreet Singh (57th) struck late for the winners. Punjab’s goals came from India players Rupinder Pal Singh (23rd) and Ramandeep Singh (60th). |
Both the teams started cautiously as they kept their defence tight and didn’t allow space in their striking circles. |
After an uneventful first quarter, the defending champions made the breakthrough in the 23rd minute. Minutes after striker Ramandeep missed a chance, Rupinder converted a penalty corner with a perfect drag-flick. |
The third quarter belonged to Harsahib, who turned the tables on Punjab with two crucial field goals. With three minutes to go, Railways got one hand on the trophy as Dilpreet increased the lead to 3-1. |
Ramandeep, who had missed several chances throughout the match, finally converted. But it proved too little too late as the final hooter went seconds later. |
Meanwhile, PSPB beat Punjab & Sind Bank 4-1 to clinch the bronze medal. |
Talwinder Singh (8th), Devinder Walmiki (13th), Harmanpreet Singh (49th) and Mandeep Singh (57th) scored for the winners, while Gaganpreet Singh (51st) scored Punjab & Sind Bank’s lone goal. |
Hisar: Punjab registered their second win in a row in the senior women’s hockey National Championship (Division A) here on Sunday. Rajwinder Kaur (32th), Navpreet Kaur (39th) and Ekta Kaushik (54th) scored in Punjab’s 3-0 win over Kerala in Pool D. |
Online instructors have more options in their arsenal than ever to help deliver and explain academic content to students—blogs and wiki pages, social networks, and videoconferencing software, to name a few. But even the most experienced online instructors can struggle with which tool to use, when, and how. |
The days of online classes delivered exclusively through discussion forums and e-mail are long gone, experts point out, and the formats of online-learning environments themselves are more diverse. In "virtual classrooms," teachers have to facilitate collaborative learning online, while in "virtual courses," much of the... |
So just which technology tools are best for which situations? |
In the pioneering days of online learning, e-mail was the main means for delivering online courses. Now that e-mail has worked its way into almost all teaching, online students are dismissing its use as a relic of the past. |
"Our students today think e-mail is pretty archaic," said Pam Birtolo, the chief learning officer of the Orlando-based Florida Virtual School, or FLVS. |
Teachers should still correspond by e-mail in many cases, but Ms. Birtolo recommends that e-mail correspondence with students now be used largely as one-way communication, similar to a regular school's morning announcements or hallway bulletin boards. |
Teresa Scavulli, the senior director of Herndon, Va.-based K12 Inc.'s teacher-effectiveness division, said the for-profit online education company instructs teachers that "dependency on e-mail as an intervention or a way to engage a student who is disengaged is not the appropriate use of it." |
E-mail may be passé, but instant messaging remains a current and effective way of helping individual online students through a difficult portion of a course. |
"I think IM is the lifeline," Ms. Birtolo said. "If I were fortunate enough to be taking an algebra course online back when I was in high school, IM would've been a big help." |
In a virtual setting, teachers can hold IM "office hours" to be available to students at set times so they are not being bombarded with constant IM requests, said Ms. Scavulli. Teachers' availability by IM can also have comforting psychological benefits, said Susan Lowes, director of research and evaluation at the Inst... |
"Even waiting 24 hours seems like a lifetime to a kid who is trying to get an assignment done," Ms. Lowes said. "The feeling that you can get quicker access to the teachers seems to make a big difference for the kids." |
The growth of Skype and other videoconferencing software has led to a recent explosion of classroom use. But online and hybrid teachers suggest that Skype collaboration also should have a project-based goal. |
Teachers can also hold office hours via videoconferencing if students are equipped for it, said Dyane Smokorowski, an 8th grade English teacher and instructional technology specialist for the 5,000-student Andover public school system near Wichita, Kan. |
Ms. Smokorowski sets no specific office hours with her students, but lets them know that she is less likely to be available for videoconferencing on the weekends. |
Ms. Scavulli added that videoconferencing is one way an online instructor can foster a more personal connection with students. |
Commercial webconferencing programs such as Elluminate can enable two-way videoconferencing while tying in instant messenging and discussion forums. But Ms. Scavulli suggests that the other features of webconferencing programs are so dynamic that video chatting can actually detract from the real focus of a webconferenc... |
Some teachers may consider creating video or audio podcasts to demonstrate certain lessons that are harder to conceive in written text. While they may not be as interactive as live videoconferencing, their reusability makes them a great tool to utilize for lesson points that are consistently tricky. |
Facebook, Ning, Twitter, and other social-networking websites provide platforms for some of the same kinds of collaborations that blogs or wikis do. But for online instructors, their biggest value may be in communicating beyond the course material. |
While recent measures in some districts have restricted teachers' social-networking interaction with students on public sites such as Facebook and Twitter, Ms. Scavulli insists good virtual instructors should pursue such relationships. Such an instructor, she said, is someone "who can create a video and show the studen... |
"It's about making sure you are connecting" to the students, she said. |
Teachers can also reach out to parents on social networks to provide a portal to class activities and discussions. Ms. Smokorowski's class, for example, often tweets short messages about class visitors or other activities. |
"Parents are busy, too," Ms. Smokorowski said. "They want it short and sweet. 'Tell me what's up, and let's move on.'" |
The ability to call or text a student via cellphone may be the single most important communication tool in online instruction, experts in the field say. Because the demands of online learning are often very different from those in a traditional classroom, students can struggle to gain a connection to an instructor and ... |
"Nine times out of ten," Ms. Scavulli said, "a situation can be quickly remedied if the teacher just picks up the phone." |
Teachers can also send group text messages to inform students that a question has been posted online, or to individuals who are more comfortable with receiving advice that allows them to respond at their own pace. |
Calling and texting can startle brick-and-mortar teachers, who often think of phone calls as a last resort and virtual learning as something that only happens online. But to be successful in an online environment, it's something teachers should get used to, experts say. |
"The phone is all about delivering the message that I care about you [the student], and let's learn together, and let me facilitate learning your way," said Ms. Birtolo of the FLVS. "The phone is getting to know you." |
Collaborative websites like blogs and open-source wiki documents can enhance collaborative learning in the "virtual classroom" model. But, while often grouped together, the two aren't the same, and both are often more about student communication than teacher communication. |
Wikis are sometimes more research-oriented than blogs, according to research stemming from observations of 30 teachers across the nation, published in June by the Education Development Center's Center for Children and Technology, based in New York City. Blog entries are published chronologically and thus may be more al... |
"In a wiki environment, if [students] don't join in, it's as plain as the nose on your face," said Victoria Davis, a middle school teacher at the 400-student private, pre-K-12 Westwood Schools in Camilla, Ga., and a co-founder of the Flat Classroom Project. |
Flat Classroom Project students, who take part in the collaborative initiative from around the world, are asked to outsource different jobs in a project to different people using wikis only for communication. To create a video, one student might do the storyboarding, one the scriptwriting, and one the directing, all wi... |
On the other hand, the Center for Children and Technology's research found blogs were used mostly to foster discussion and elicit prior knowledge, with a teacher posting questions or prompting discussions for students to leave comments about. They were also occasionally used for writing submissions. |
Daniel Light, a senior research scientist for the center, cautions that any use of blogs or wikis must begin early during a virtual or blended class, and it must be consistent. He points to one English teacher in the study who created a writing blog in the middle of the term. Previously, students had submitted assignme... |
"It silenced [students'] voice," Mr. Light said. The teacher "worked so hard to create an environment where students trusted her with their work. She realized the blog was not going to work. ... You have to develop the norms to support it." |
“Analysis Notes Virtual Ed. Priorities in RTT Winners,” September 15, 2010. |
“State-Funded Online School to Open in Montana,” September 1, 2010. |
“E-Learning Delivery Debated,” April 28, 2010. |
Royal Enfield Bullet range has been updated with a rear disc brake for added safety. The Bullet family will be getting another update soon that will bring an ABS, thanks to the Government of India's mandate. Complete details right here. |
Royal Enfield has updated its Bullet range of old-school cruisers with a rear disc brake. With the addition of a better braking set up, the price of the Royal Enfield Bullet series now starts at Rs 1.28 lakh. On the other hand, the new Bullet 350 ES rear disc can now be yours for a price of Rs 1.32 lakh while the Bulle... |
Apart from the addition of a rear disc brake, there is no mechanical change on the motorcycles. Royal Enfield Bullet 350 and Bullet 350 ES get power from a 346cc, air-cooled, single cylinder engine mated to a five-speed gearbox. The engine is good for producing a maximum power output of 19.8 bhp while the peak torque i... |
Royal Enfield Bullet will also be updated with an ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System) in the coming weeks. All thanks to the Government of India mandate, all new two-wheelers having an engine displacement of 125cc and above need to have an ABS starting April 1st, 2019. |
The company has already introduced the said safety feature on the Himalayan, Classic 500, Thunderbird 350X and Thunderbird 500X. With the said deadline, Royal Enfield will update its entire line up by April 2019 in the interest of public safety. |
Pfizer Inc. agreed to pay $784.6 million to resolve a 14-year-old lawsuit claiming its Wyeth unit overcharged the government by hiding the discounts it was giving hospitals for drugs used to treat acid-related damage to the esophagus. |
The hidden discounts meant that Medicaid paid "hundred of millions of dollars" more for the drugs than it should have from 2001 to 2006, according to a statement Wednesday from U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz in Boston. Pfizer, which acquired Wyeth in 2009, announced the broad terms of the agreement in February. The accord ... |
"This settlement demonstrates our unwavering commitment to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for pursuing pricing schemes that attempt to manipulate and overcharge federal health care programs," Benjamin C. Mizer, deputy assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice, said in a separate statement. |
Several other drugmakers have resolved cases accusing them of failing to give Medicaid required drug discounts related to the best prices offered to private purchasers. Under the Pfizer accord, $413.2 million will go the U.S. and $371.4 million to state governments. |
Michigan, one of 35 states in the lawsuits, will receive more than $17 million under the settlement. |
"Gaming the system of drug pricing doesn't work for Michigan taxpayers who paid more than needed to support the Medicaid program," Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said in a news release. "Everyone must obey the law and there are consequences for companies who attempt to circumvent them." |
Pfizer, which had a research and development complex in Ann Arbor until about a decade ago, didn't admit liability in the settlement. |
"We are pleased to have finalized the agreement to resolve these cases, which involve historic conduct that occurred at least 10 years ago, before we acquired Wyeth," Pfizer General Counsel Doug Lankler said in a statement. "The resolution of these claims reflects our desire to put these historic cases behind us and to... |
The settlement resolves two lawsuits filed under the False Claims Act, which lets citizens sue on behalf of the government and share in any recovery. Two whistle-blowers, Lauren Kieff and William St. John LaCorte, will share $98.1 million, according to the Justice Department. |
LaCorte, a physician in New Orleans, will get $64 million plus interest, according to the settlement agreement. He sued in 2002, while Kieff, a former hospital sales representative in Massachusetts for AstraZeneca Plc, sued a year later. LaCorte claimed that Wyeth sold Protonix Oral tablets to hospitals for as low as 1... |
"This was my 14-year, get-rich-quick scheme," said LaCorte in a phone interview. "I must not have been thinking straight or I wouldn't have done it." |
LaCorte said he lives modestly despite sharing an earlier award with other whistle-blowers when Merck & Co. agreed in 2008 to pay more than $649 million to resolve federal and state claims on drug pricing. He estimated he collected $34 million in the Merck case, and said he has won other cases involving drugmakers. |
Kieff was marketing competing drugs for AstraZeneca and believed that Wyeth had an unfair advantage, said her attorney, Jeanne Markey. |
"Hospitals were buying the drug and getting incredible discounts, and the government was not getting the benefit of those prices," Markey said. |
Proving the case was a "very difficult, complicated" process, partly because the regulations for best drug prices were rewritten in 2007, she said. Markey praised the work of the Justice Department, which intervened and filed its own complaint in 2009. |
"The government used brick by brick its analytical skills, its data-mining skills and its ability to elicit testimony and build a case showing there was knowledge of the fraud at Wyeth, or alternatively, willful blindness," Markey said. |
The Hits' Megan Banks and Adam Green. |
Many weird things have happened this year. |
I've started putting coconut oil into my coffee, I've stumbled through 10km in a marathon, I've laid on a mat of tiny plastic pointy things in a bid to sleep better, I've given up the thing I love most in the world, wine for 31 days, and of yesterday I've become a gym member. |
I haven't been a member of such an exclusive club for probably 15 years, in fact make that 20. All those years of living a blissful, inactive life, hoping my spare tyres would somehow become flat. |
But all good things come to an end and about three months ago we had the awesome team from Sport Hawke's Bay come into the studio and give Adam and me a health "Warrant of Fitness". |
Adam, who has been going to the gym regularly this year and running 2km every day, flew through (if we don't mention his cholesterol that is), whereas, on the other hand, I had a few, ahem, issues. |
The main issue I took offence to was my metabolic age. |
Their magic set of scales deduced that, given my BMR (body mass index), my metabolic age was that of a 60-year-old. |
In other words, my metabolism was 15 years older than me! |
Nothing against 60-year-olds, some of my favourite people are in their 60s, and to be honest, they are in much better shape than I am. But given my parents both died young of heart attacks, I had due course to be more than slightly concerned. |
Which got me through the doors of my local gym and putting down the equivalent of a house deposit (or so it seemed) on a year's membership. |
I've paid upfront and I don't know if that's a good thing, but I do know that I have to actually start and use it. |
So far I haven't stepped foot on an actual treadmill, and the only weights I have lifted have been the 18kg and 20kg respectively of my two boys. |
But baby steps, people. And just so you know, I've decided to rename my bathroom Jim, so at least I can say I do go to the Jim every morning. And five times at night. |
COLOMBO, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The Sri Lankan rupee ended 0.4 percent firmer on Wednesday on exporter dollar sales, enjoying a rare respite after a three-month slide. |
The rupee spot, which had been inactive for several weeks, was actively traded and ended at 132.25/35 per dollar, dealers said, from Tuesday’s close of 132.80. |
“There was selling pressure on the dollar, but we are closely monitoring the global situation,” a currency dealer said. |
Dealers said the pressure on the rupee has eased and spot trading started again after some time. |
A modest rebound in the Indian rupee , also aided sentiment. |
The Indian rupee extended gains to a fifth session on Wednesday as easing geopolitical tensions in Syria led to cooling of global crude oil prices, which will help keep the country’s import bill in check. |
The Sri Lankan rupee hit a record low of 135.20 to the dollar on Aug. 28, before recovering. |
The Lankan rupee has been falling since early July, with foreign investors pulling out of local bonds as U.S. Treasury yields rose on expectations the Federal Reserve would soon begin to taper its big bond buying programme. |
For this month's Muse of Nerds, I quickly grabbed onto the STEM to STEAM movement (adding 'arts' to the technical.) Creativity is the foundation for advancement in all fields. The arts – writing, music, art, theater and dance – paired with science, technology, engineering and math, foster a relationship between both si... |
In 1858, Friedrich Kekule published a paper that showed, visually, how atoms bond chemically. He continued to play with the design until in 1865, he put carbon as a six-sided ring (hexagon) with chains and links, which gave rise to organic chemistry. Kekule started out as an architect before switching to the new scienc... |
Daniel Tammet holds the European world record for reciting pi from memory. Daniel can "sense" if a number is prime. I think it's important to mention that Daniel has high-functioning autism because many educators tend to steer children on the Autism spectrum towards STEM fields. However, Daniel uses the arts to "see" n... |
Science News had a special issue on August 14, 2010 devoted to our minds on music. It was a fascinating look at how music influences our growth emotionally and mentally. In it there was a quote from Istvan Molnar-Szakacs, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, "In terms of brain imaging, studies... |
How could that kind of thinking be considered extracurricula? That's the saddest part. STEM in education is not just getting the funding for special programming, but amazing mental tasks like music aren't even in the BASIC CURRICULUM! |
This very morning I was teaching a creative writing class to some junior high students. The stories will be used to later design and program robots (based on challenges the writing students come up with). The writing students have to be creative to make their challenges cohesive with their story lines. The robotic stud... |
Have you ever been to a science museum? Did you attend any of the fantastictheater shows? Watching a story unfold is basic human communication. Lecturing is not. |
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