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Get the complete book Thinking Strategically about MOOCs: The Role of Massive Open Online Courses in the College and University at Amazon in print or kindle version.
At the moment, colleges have a monopoly on the sale of college credits, the only units of learning that can be assembled into credentials with wide acceptance in the labor market. Monopolies are valuable things to control, and monopolists tend not to relinquish them voluntarily. But the MOOC explosion will accelerate the breakup of the college credit monopoly.[1]
~ Kevin Carey
How can we create academic assessment and credential programs appropriate to the realities of contemporary learners? And how can we do this without sacrificing the quality and integrity of current models? Answering these questions is vital to dealing with the challenging opportunity confronting agencies concerned with higher education for the twenty-first century. Barriers to accessing traditional higher education—and obstacles to degree completion for students who have successfully matriculated—are adding to the growing pressure to identify viable alternatives to traditional college education. State and federal government officials are drafting legislation requiring public institutions to provide new paths for students struggling to amass required credits to graduate. Badges, fee-based certification, and competency-based education programs are increasingly being scrutinized and—in some cases—adopted. This movement has led to various agencies now creating systems that provide credit for participation in MOOCs and other online learning programs.
The trend toward education persisting over the life and career of a learner, is growing. The contemporary college student is no longer necessarily between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two, and few students now complete their college career in four years. Military veterans are seeking college transfer credit for formal and informal training acquired during their service. In the spirit and application of lifelong learning, today's students engage with educational opportunities in a variety of venues inside and outside the formal educational infrastructure. As Cathy Davidson, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University, notes, "People seem to think they know what school is and they know what work is. We live in a world where anyone can learn anything, anytime, anywhere, but we haven't remotely reorganized our workplace or school for this age."[2] Government agencies, influential foundations, and corporate leaders are now actively working on that reorganization.
Digital Badges for Learning: the U.S. Secretary of Education Speaks Out. On September 15, 2011, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke at the fourth annual launch of the MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Lifelong Learning Competition. In his speech, Duncan referenced the Obama administration plan, "Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology," noting that it "aims to reframe learning as a process that is not only lifelong, but life-wide." Duncan described the persistent reformation of the higher education system as an economic and social imperative, noting that the "cradle-to-career" vision of the Transforming American Education plan is critical to the social and economic development of the nation. Duncan offered remarks about the future of higher education, the importance of innovation, and the value of digital "badges" with respect to documenting and credentialing individual educational accomplishments.[3]
Duncan also acknowledged several agencies working to improve access to education, including the MacArthur Foundation, Mozilla, the University of California Humanities Research Institute, and HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory). These groups are all working to provide funding and identify paths to college credit for academic accomplishments outside of the traditional model. Digital badges are a centerpiece of that effort. Badges, Duncan noted, engage, inspire, and serve as acknowledgement of accomplishment in an era of education anywhere and anytime, and as complements to the traditional venues of college and university.
According to Duncan, the participation of schools, corporations, and supporting organizations in the Digital Media and Lifelong Learning Competition "will serve as a catalyst to advance the potential of digital badges. Badges can help engage students in learning, and broaden the avenues for learners of all ages to acquire and demonstrate—as well as document and display—their skills."[4]
Duncan targeted traditional metrics of academic achievement and argued for the development of systems that acknowledge the value of both formal and informal learning. Badges are a critical component of the transition from "credentials that measure seat time to ones that more accurately measure competency" and, he further argued, that shift should be accelerated. Badges, he added, will help measure, document, and communicate knowledge that is acquired by learners in an increasingly interconnected educational matrix in which "learning not only can—but should—happen anywhere, anytime." Digital badges are a mechanism to help universities and colleges acknowledge learning that happens in both "physical and online" environments "and whether learning takes place in schools, colleges or adult education centers, or in afterschool, workplace, military or community settings." The traditional system of schools, colleges, and universities are "very important" points within interconnected "networks of learning." What is required are systems that do a better job of measuring and credentialing learning that occurs in the spaces between these points.
We are witnessing renewed analyses of competency-based education and prior learning assessment. This open and expansive educational model—that of the student actively engaged in the development of learning programs with outcomes measured in their professional development—synchs well with MOOCs and could be a potent combination in the decision-making of learners with respect to their formal education plans and commitments. MOOCs paired with complementary digital badges fit with the trend for twenty-first-century learners to "seek out the right tools among many resources available, and in their fields of interest—and build a record of what they have mastered."
Duncan's remarks highlighted the federal government's commitment to support the cooperative work of traditional education, business, industry, and influential foundations in promoting an increasingly open education infrastructure. "With efforts like this competition, we can encourage breakthroughs in the types of free, high-quality, online Open Educational Resources that lift educational attainment rates and foster renewed economic growth." Harnessing the talent, aspirations, and abilities of new generations of learners and citizens will be key to economic and entrepreneurial renewal, a significant portion of which is sponsorship of new approaches to providing college credit for knowledge acquired by non-traditional means. To that end, powerful interests are aligning to support the development and acceptance of digital badges.
What then are these badges? How does one acquire them, and from whom?
Digital Badges and the Disintermediation of Credentialing. Digital badges measure competent interaction with material, activities, and peers in a learning environment. Badges as they are implemented today are derived from research into gamification.
In gaming culture and practice, "achievements" (badges, awards, stamps, or challenges) encourage players to do more than simply finish a game: they encourage one to go farther, to explore all aspects of a multi-space environment, and learn what is knowable in the context of that expansive environment.
Achievements/badges are consciously designed into the environment by the developer as specific challenges to be encountered and worked through by the player. Badges are awarded as players successfully navigate the game; they are often interdependent, and build on progress and demonstration of problem solving. Earned badges are visible to the community of participants as part of the player's digital profile. Internet spaces exist for players to post profiles and demonstrate accomplishments. Microsoft's 2005 Xbox Gamerscore system is generally considered to be the first implementation of such an "achievement system." In these multi-game environments, players are motivated to work through challenges and demonstrate accomplishments by public recognition accrued through demonstration of competency with the entire range of events and challenges across a multi-game environment rather than a single task or activity as part of a single game.
In 2007, two years after Microsoft introduced Xbox Gamerscore, Eva Baker, president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), stated the need to develop and implement a system of badge-like certifications of student accomplishment. Badges, Baker said, would document learning in formal and informal environments. Building on the achievement systems of gaming environments, learning badges would be public recognition of documented accomplishments and would be visible to universities, employers, and peers.
Despite the call to action by Baker and the AERA, badges failed to get widespread attention. Then, in 2011, Peer 2 Peer University and The Mozilla Foundation, with support from the MacArthur Foundation, co-authored An Open Badge System Framework, a white paper conceptualizing badges as an alternative path to certification and credentials for education.
Mozilla, provider of the popular Firefox web browser, develops resources that are open and accessible to everyone. As stated on its website, "Mozilla promotes openness, innovation and opportunity on the Internet by engaging in unique partnerships with some of the world's leading brands and non-profits, as well as with technology, content and service providers." In keeping with that mission, Mozilla's alignment with the MacArthur Foundation and Peer 2 Peer University reflects its intention to put Mozilla's considerable resources behind a plan to develop an open tool to help institutions and organizations authenticate and certify learning.
The white paper outlined a systematic approach to credentialing knowledge and competencies intended to augment the existing model of formal curricula and degrees. The paper sketches a model in which a student's skills and competencies would be "captured more granularly across many different contexts…collected and associated with online identity and could be displayed to key stakeholders to demonstrate capacities." The paper defined a framework that "outlines the key elements of an open badge system for connected learning contexts, including the badges, associated assessments and an open infrastructure to support issuance, collection and sharing of badges." Badges, the paper reported, would be awarded for competencies regardless of where the competency is developed. A collection of such badges would serve as a "virtual resume of competencies and qualities for key stakeholders such as peers, schools or potential employers." Badges connect the "learning ecology," bridging contexts and making alternative educational channels more "viable, portable, and impactful."[5]
The paper had an impact of its own. In December 2011, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology launched MITx to enable students to take advantage of open online course materials and take online exams to assess their mastery of the material and earn certificates. Foreshadowing—or perhaps reflecting—emerging MOOC participation models, MIT entered into an agreement with OpenStudy, a company that administers online study groups, to issue digital badges to students who consistently provided mentorship and support to colleagues in the online discussion forums supporting the OpenCourseWare project.
Following rapidly on the publication of its 2011 white paper, the Mozilla Foundation staked out its presence as a significant player in the credentialing movement when it announced Mozilla Open Badges, a program for creating a common system to issue, earn, and display digital badges across educational environments. That announcement and subsequent software development marked a programmatic commitment to change badges from playful game-based tokens with limited credibility to symbols of certified learning backed by data authenticating students' activities and successes.
On March 14, 2013—two years after Secretary Duncan's speech about digital badges, open educational resources, and credible alternatives to the credentialing of competency and knowledge—Mozilla launched Open Badges 1.0.
Mozilla Open Badges is an online standard, an actual tool that institutions and organizations can use to authenticate and verify learning, "making it easy for anyone to issue, earn and display badges across the web—through a shared infrastructure that's free and open to all," as the Mozilla Open Badges website states. Open Badges 1.0 creates a tool that enables organizations to verify competencies for other institutions to review, and for learners to display achievements, interests and skills in an open manner congruent with the online culture and practices of this century. The system is open, enabling students to combine badges from different organizations in a user-managed portfolio that provides a more complete story of individual achievement. Earned badges are controlled by the user and may be displayed for review by others for professional purposes, potential employment or educational programs—as a record of what Secretary Duncan calls "life-wide learning."
Contrary to the image that the label "badge" evokes, digital badges are more than a static emblem. The value of the badge derives from the metadata about the learner's activities and progress relating to the competency for which the badge is issued. Badge metadata includes information about the issuer of the badge along with how, when and why the badge was earned, and links to documents, reviews, and projects associated with the work of the learner. It is a portfolio of progress. As the Open Badges website states, "This supporting data reduces the risk of 'gaming' the system and builds in an implicit validation system. The metadata may vary based on the particular skill, assessment, and issuer." As an integrated system, Open Badges gives users control over display (critical to privacy concerns) and provides tools to manage different displays for different audiences. "Mozilla Backpack," a component of Open Badges, enables users to customize collections of badges for display and review by schools, employers, and universities with details that are relevant to the specific interaction. The backpack gives users an easy way to sort badges by category and display them across such social networking sites as LinkedIn and employers' websites. Open Badges, with supporting resources like the Mozilla Backpack, reflects the sensibilities and intention of a contemporary generation of users.
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More than 600 organizations and educational institutions, including Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Empire State College of the State University of New York, NASA, and the Smithsonian Institution, are now using Open Badges to authenticate education and lifelong learning in support of students' education and professional development.
- Mozilla Open Badges is not proprietary — it's free software and an open technical standard. That means any organization can create, issue and verify digital badges, and any user can earn, manage and display these badges all across the web.
- Open Badges knits your skills together. Whether they're issued by one organization or many, badges can build upon each other, joining together to tell the full story of your skills and achievement.
- With Open Badges, every badge is full of information. Each one has important data built in that links back to the issuer, the criteria it was issued under and evidence verifying the credential — a feature unique to Open Badges.
- Open Badges lets you take your badges everywhere. Users now have an easy and comprehensive way to collect their badges in a single backpack, and display their skills and achievements on social networking profiles, job sites, their websites and more.
- Individuals can earn badges from multiple sources, both online and offline. Then manage and share them using the Open Badges backpack. Right now we're launching with the Mozilla backpack — other organizations will be able to use Open Badges to make their own backpacks later this year.
~ Source: Mozilla's Open Badges Project. MozillaWiki, 2013
Grant funds attached to the Digital Media and Lifelong Learning Competition have attracted institutions eager to experiment with digital badges. The University of Southern California's service-learning division, for example, is among the winners of a MacArthur grant to try the badge platform. According to Susan Harris, the associate director of the Joint Educational Project developed at USC, the project "works with professors to run community-service projects that grant students extra credit for volunteer work. The service-learning community has struggled with how to identify and recognize the outcomes that students learn, like civic knowledge and diversity."[6]
Critics of open badges are concerned that corporations, the federal government, and the "larger educational marketplace" are building an ineffectual system that forces teachers to teach to tests. Some argue that systems like digital badges reduce learning, mastery, and credentials to a cheap facsimile of formal education. Badges, in this view, simply amplify the worst failings of our current educational model in which students are driven from the pursuit of knowledge to chasing after a reward for the sake of the reward rather than the knowledge and mastery it represents.
It is true that significant impetus to explore and implement digital badges comes from corporate and educational entrepreneurs and reformers rather than traditional institutions. The concept and practice of issuing emblems of achievement is well established in commercial information technology sectors. Microsoft and other software development companies, for example, offer online certification programs to help professionals demonstrate competency. The Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) program is a widely recognized model for attaining and demonstrating competency in a complex learning environment. Employers making decisions about staffing and eager to access credentials that provide details about potential employees' academic career, achievements, and competencies have long made use of such digital "badges."
The trend for students to combine formal education with work and professional development will certainly continue. Digital badge systems provide the ability to earn and display emblems of achievement in a structured, portable, and customizable system, and to demonstrate competency without waiting years for a single comprehensive credential. Since few students currently complete a college degree in four years and are increasingly compelled to intersperse education and employment over a longer period of time, such a system may well be attractive and pragmatic for this generation of students. How tools such as digital badges will be accepted and implemented by traditional institutions is yet to be determined. However, it will be difficult to ignore the utility of metadata detailing a student's successes and interests as we all increasingly find ourselves moored in online spaces fueled by social media and open publishing.
Educational leadership has the opportunity and the obligation to actively engage in the dialogue over these issues, and to ensure that traditional institutions help direct the course of these emerging trends.
From Badges to Credits. The advent of MOOCs is yet another impetus toward considering the value of issuing, earning, and displaying badges of academic achievement. Similarly, increasing acceptance and implementation of badges will add credence to the argument that MOOCs should be considered for college credit.
Despite concerns that digital badges, alternative assessment models, and open and online learning environments like MOOCs reduce the status of learning to a facsimile of authentic education, many believe that we have arrived at a historic moment in the history of education, and that inevitable changes are on the horizon for higher education policy and programs.
Kevin Carey, director of the education-policy program at the New America Foundation, believes that MOOCs will ultimately (inevitably) be considered for credit. In a September 3, 2012, Chronicle of Higher Education article, he highlights the obvious paradox of MOOCs that do not merit credit despite being taught by prominent scholars from elite schools. Contrasting the current model that enables a "slacker freshman who ekes out a C to collect full credit for a course they barely attend" with the emerging MOOC model in which an enthusiastic, engaged student scores in the top one percent of a "course taught by a world-famous scholar and endorsed by a world-famous university," yet earns no credit, Carey argues that "such cognitive dissonance can't last forever." He goes on to describe scenarios in which accredited colleges will increasingly accept MOOC certificates as transfer credit. He reminds us that there are several thousand accredited schools and that many are struggling to find strategies to enhance their visibility, enrollment, and financial futures. Public officials (as demonstrated in Secretary Duncan's 2011 speech), meanwhile, will continue to press for better access to higher education for families effectively shut out by the current traditional system.[7]
MOOCs in this scenario offer campuses the opportunity to market themselves anew, build (or rebuild) their brand, and boost enrollment numbers in the context of an increasingly inter-networked educational model in which students engage in learning across many venues and over extended time periods. Adhering to a model bound by limited time spent in college (four years), false demographics (18-to-22-year-old students), and one or, at most, two accredited institutions attended, is a failing proposition for campus leadership dealing with older students who have mixed educational backgrounds and various family and employment responsibilities.
When Sebastian Thrun wanted to give his first massive online course away for free, Stanford University had no problem. When he wanted to offer a Stanford-sanctioned certificate to those who completed the course, the university balked. The message is clear. Content and content delivery is negotiable. Sanction of certification and credentialing has been the business and purview of the university.
It is in this context that MOOC providers and other agencies are actively working to certify MOOC participation for credit. An infrastructure to provide for the assessment and credentialing of alternative educational opportunities like MOOCs is gradually taking form. Agencies that have worked for years (and, in some cases, for decades) to verify and recommend alternative courses for credit, and to supervise and proctor exams for credit, are now involved in the validation of emerging online education. Applying well-established and rigorous review programs and protocols to MOOCs likely will confer credibility on these non-traditional learning environments.
The American Council on Education (ACE) and Accredited MOOCs. The American Council on Education (ACE) is leveraging its position as the umbrella agency for higher education in the U.S. to provide leadership in determining the credit-worthiness of MOOCs. ACE College Credit recommendations have long been used to connect workplace learning and formal higher education. Since 1974, the ACE College Credit Recommendations Service has used teams of faculty to review training and educational experiences offered by the military, corporations, and professional associations in order to determine whether they should be issued credit signifying that their learning outcomes are equal to that of traditional, college-level work. ACE institutional membership includes nearly two thousand colleges and universities that use these credit recommendations in their acceptance of credit for courses outside the traditional model. ACE has a client list of over six hundred organizations and institutions for which they evaluate courses and programs. Clients include such companies as Starbucks and McDonald's, such education providers as Skillsoft, and such government agencies as the Federal Aviation Administration. Through the ACE Credit Registry and Transcript System, learners who complete courses with the appropriate credit recommendations can request and obtain transcripts that they can submit to colleges and universities. Approximately 1,200 institutions accept these recommendations for consideration in the credit transfer process. Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.
In November 2012, ACE announced that it would apply its rigorous credit review process in an evaluation of several MOOCs. Given its long history and successes, ACE is well positioned to influence the acceptance of accreditation for MOOCs. (It is reliably estimated that 82 percent of ACE-endorsed students receive some credit from institutions of higher education because of that recommendation.) By working methodically with various agencies and MOOC providers to develop a comprehensive program for reviewing and credibly accrediting MOOCs, ACE likely will drive traditional colleges and universities to recognize MOOC credits.
Since that 2012 announcement, ACE has evaluated and approved several courses offered by Coursera and Udacity. As ACE president Molly Corbett Broad says on ACE's website, "MOOCs are an intriguing, innovative new approach that holds much promise for engaging students across the country and around the world, as well as for helping colleges and universities broaden their reach. But as with any new approach, there are many questions about long-term potential, and ACE is eager to help answer them—questions such as whether MOOCs can help raise degree completion, deepen college curricula and increase learning productivity."
ACE has considerable foundation support in this effort, including a nearly $900,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. With that funding, ACE is going beyond evaluation of specific courses and is establishing research to "identify and answer questions about the disruptive potential of this new and innovative approach to higher education." The agenda for this initiative includes:
- Creation of a Presidential Innovation Lab that will bring together presidents and chancellors from diverse institutions to engage in conversations about potential new academic and financial models, inspired by the disruptive potential of MOOCs, that can help address attainment gaps.
- Evaluation of select Coursera courses for college credit by the ACE College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT).
- Examination of effective approaches, pedagogies and practices that lead to student success, as well as the applicability to college degree completion programs of college credit recommendations for MOOCs.
In order to make strategic sense of MOOCs and other emerging online learning initiatives, it is critical to provide spaces for campus leaders to wrestle with their issues and potential. Higher education is grappling with how, when, and to what extent online education will impact existing curricular, pedagogical, administrative and financial models. Ideas like the ACE Presidential Innovation Lab will certainly inspire others to organize similar spaces in the context of their own regional and national consortia. Academic leadership will need such structured programs to effectively grapple with the issues, challenges, opportunities, and institutional obligations related to MOOCs, and to publish outcomes so as to contribute to a disciplined, productive dialog with the broader community of higher education.
Multi-agency collaborations. Many institutions and organizations are working together on developing acceptable paths to credit for participation in MOOCs. In addition to recommending several MOOCs for credit, ACE is collaborating closely with Udacity and San Jose State University in researching the academic rigor and pedagogical implications of MOOCs for low-income students and adult learners. San Jose State, part of the beleaguered California State University system, has committed to persistent review, development, and implementation of alternative online education models. ACE's role in that project is to develop research on the demographics of students who participate in Udacity coursework and to identify effective pedagogical practices, given the demographic and disciplinary context of the courses. This research, undertaken in alliance with the University of Illinois Springfield's Center for Online Learning, Research, and Service, is expected to define attributes that contribute to successful MOOC course completion and will compare demographics within disciplines of students enrolled in both MOOCs and traditional courses.
This may be the kernel of an effective response to criticism of the course-by-course review that ACE typically conducts. If ACE develops an observable methodology that is extensible and easily applied to the MOOC model rather than individual MOOC courses, it could ease the process and accelerate acceptance. The development of such methodologies may influence how MOOCs are developed in the first place, effectively creating a model that responds to documented shortcomings, establishes acceptable online pedagogies, and deepens the penetration of MOOCs and other online programs into higher education. Such work may help articulate better questions for campus leaders as they redefine the nature and shape of higher education in their own institutions. Other organizational efforts to authenticate acceptance of MOOCs, prior learning, and competency-based education include:
The College Board's College Level Examination Program (CLEP), which provides exam-based access to college credit. According to its website, CLEP has been "the most widely trusted credit-by-examination program for over 40 years, accepted by 2,900 colleges and universities and administered in over 1,700 test centers."
Excelsior College, which offers examinations to certify students' understanding of concepts taught in traditional general-education course classrooms, has now extended its portfolio to include MOOCs. "By matching content in MOOCs offered through MIT, Johns Hopkins, Saylor and others to 31 of its existing Excelsior College Examinations (ECE), Excelsior has provided a means for students to demonstrate knowledge gained through the use of free open educational resources such as MOOCs." Ironically, Excelsior College—a pioneer in prior learning—has so far declined to honor ACE credit recommendations for MOOCs. This policy is based on concerns that ACE has moved too quickly to credit MOOCs and that that haste might undermine the work of other organizations working to extend acceptance of prior learning. John Ebersole, the President of Excelsior, is confident that his institution and ACE (which he concedes is the national leader in this space), will ultimately re-converge, as both organizations share the same goals.
The Saylor Foundation is a non-profit organization committed to providing free undergraduate college education "with the goal of producing high course and program completion rates." The foundation does not confer degrees, but offers "the knowledge equivalent of majors in fifteen popular disciplines, and . . . [is] making strides toward providing student credit pathways." Students can use Saylor offerings to prepare for challenge exams that can lead to credit. Saylor and Excelsior College offer a program through which students who complete Saylor online courses can pay a fee to take challenge exams to earn credit via Excelsior, which is a regionally accredited nonprofit online institution.
StraighterLine is another online provider offering low-cost ($99 per month) learning modules that can lead to ACE credit recommendations. StraighterLine has partnered with Excelsior to offer fifteen courses taught by professors. On its website, StraighterLine boldly guarantees that its courses transfer to partner colleges. Agreements with these colleges—almost all online schools—"detail how a StraighterLine course is comparable to and accepted in lieu of a specific course/course requirement at each partner college."
Education Portal, a Silicon Valley-based for-profit, offers over thirty courses that link to challenge exams leading to college credit. Sixteen courses are linked to CLEP, two to Excelsior, and another eight to both exam paths.
In September 2012, Pearson VUE, a subsidiary of the Pearson publishing and education assessment giant, partnered with the edX to offer proctored exams to students participating in edX MOOCs. Previously, edX awarded "certificates of mastery" to the 7,157 graduates of its inaugural MOOC in electrical engineering. Now, as a result of the agreement with Pearson, graduates will receive certificates indicating they passed a proctored exam. Pearson signed a similar agreement with Udacity earlier in 2012. Pearson is almost unique in its capacity to offer a massive, site-based testing infrastructure that can accommodate the scope and scale of emerging massive, open educational models. Such site-based testing could confer additional credibility to credentials earned via MOOCs and certified via proctored exams.
In October 2012, Coursera and Antioch University agreed to license the company's MOOC courses to the university as credit-bearing courses in a bachelor's degree program. Significantly, this is a step for Coursera in the development of a comprehensive course product, for sale to colleges, that integrates content and assessment tools.
In January 2013, Academic Partnerships launched MOOC2Degree, a hybridized collaboration with several of its forty partner institutions. Students entering an online degree program can take the first course in the program as a MOOC, with full course credit offered to those who complete the course. Students moving on in the program will be enrolled in "standard" online courses for full tuition. The MOOC2Degree effort encourages students to get started in full-blown degree programs by lowering the initial threshold. For example, the University of Cincinnati now offers Innovation and Design Thinking as a MOOC. Successful, accredited completion of the course provides the option to embark on Master's degree paths in the university's engineering or business schools. Cleveland State, Florida International, Lamar, and Utah State Universities as well as the Universities of Arkansas, Cincinnati, Texas at Arlington, and West Florida were the first of Academic Partnerships' partner institutions to participate in MOOC2Degree.
Also in January 2013, Georgia State University announced a new policy encouraging its colleges and departments to explore and develop means to grant credit for MOOC courses at other institutions. "The landscape in higher education is changing and Georgia State University is at the forefront," said President Mark Becker in a university press release. "This represents a decision by Georgia State to consider MOOC courses in the way we consider every other course—whether they provide a good education for our students," said George Rainbolt, professor of philosophy and chair of the University Senate Committee on Admissions and Standards. The policy extends current practices in which the university grants course credits to students who take university-vetted examinations, such as the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams.
Common to all of these developments is the commitment on the part of many agencies and institutions to accept credit for participation in alternative education and improve access to formal degree programs for non-traditional students. This concerted effort speaks directly to the aims of the Obama administration, resonates with persistent political pressure to evaluate educational models based on performance and results, and reflects administrative support for prior learning and competency-based education. The scale and financial strength of these cooperative efforts will almost certainly result in policies and programs favorable to alternative college credit models. Competency-based education and awards for prior learning will find attentive audiences across the higher education landscape and will continue to challenge the tradition of "seat time" as the primary metric of college credentialing. As these programs develop and mature, campus leadership will need to decide whether—or, more likely, to what extent—emerging credentialing models fit with the vision and mission of their institution for students, faculty, and staff.
Planning Questions
- How can we create academic assessment and credential programs appropriate to the realities of contemporary learners without sacrificing the quality and integrity of current models?
- How will you evaluate alternative forms of credit?
- If the "traditional system of schools, colleges, and universities" are in fact critical points "within interconnected 'networks of learning,'" what are the strategic relationships between your institutions and other, emerging or alternative educational opportunities in the matrix available to students?
- Is your institution prepared to evaluate and, if appropriate, integrate alternative forms of credit?
- What is your strategy to be actively engaged in the dialogue over these issues, and to ensure that traditional institutions help direct the course of these emerging trends?
Recommended Readings
"ACE to Assess Potential of MOOCs, Evaluate Courses for Credit-Worthiness." American Council on Education, November 13, 2012. http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/ACE-to-Assess-Potential-of-MOOCs,-Evaluate-Courses-for-Credit-Worthiness.aspx.
"ACE to Forge New Ground in MOOC Evaluation and Research Effort." American Council on Education, January 15, 2013. http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/ACE-to-Forge-New-Ground-in-MOOC-Evaluation-and-Research-Effort.aspx.
"AP Credit and Placement." AP Student, 2013. https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/creditplacement.
Booker, Ellis. "Can Big Data Analytics Boost Graduation Rates?" Information Week, February 5, 2013. http://www.informationweek.com/big-data/news/big-data-analytics/can-big-data-analytics-boost-graduation-rates/240147807.
Carey, Kevin. "California Shifts the Ground Under Higher Education." The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Conversation, March 13, 2013. http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2013/03/13/california-shifts-the-ground-under-higher-education/?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en.
———. "Into the Future With MOOC's." The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 3, 2012, sec. Commentary. http://chronicle.com/article/Into-the-Future-With-MOOCs/134080/?cid=wc.
Catropa, Dayna, and Margaret Andrews. "Did MOOCs Just Make Landfall? 10 Questions to Consider." Inside Higher Ed, November 5, 2012. http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/stratedgy/did-moocs-just-make-landfall-10-questions-consider.
"Coursera Terms of Service." Coursera, January 14, 2013. https://www.coursera.org/about/terms.
Duncan, Arne. "Digital Badges for Learning." presented at the 4th Annual Launch of the MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Lifelong Learning Competition SEPTEMBER 15, 2011, September 15, 2011. http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/digital-badges-learning.
Empson, Rip. "Coursera Takes A Big Step Toward Monetization, Now Lets Students Earn 'Verified Certificates' For A Fee." TechCrunch, January 8, 2013. http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/08/coursera-takes-a-big-step-toward-monetization-now-lets-students-earn-verified-certificates-for-a-fee/.
Fain, Paul. "ACE Doubles down on Prior Learning Assessment." Inside Higher Ed, March 4, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/04/ace-doubles-down-prior-learning-assessment.
———. "ACE to Assess Udacity Courses for Credit." Inside Higher Ed, January 16, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/16/ace-assess-udacity-courses-credit.
———. "Community Colleges Warm to Free, Self-paced Course Content." Inside Higher Ed, April 22, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/22/community-colleges-warm-free-self-paced-course-content.
———. "Competency-based Education Continues Spread." Inside Higher Ed, March 5, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/05/competency-based-education-continues-spread.
———. "Competency-based Education's Newest Form Creates Promise and Questions." Inside Higher Ed, April 22, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/22/competency-based-educations-newest-form-creates-promise-and-questions.
———. "Free Online Course Providers Pair up with Credit-bearing Exams." Inside Higher Ed, February 4, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/04/free-online-course-providers-pair-credit-bearing-exams.
"Five Courses Receive College Credit Recommendations." Coursera Blog, February 7, 2013. http://blog.coursera.org/post/42486198362/five-courses-receive-college-credit-recommendations.
Gardner, Lee, and Jeffrey R. Young. "California's Move Toward MOOCs Sends Shock Waves, but Key Questions Remain Unanswered." The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 14, 2013, sec. Government. http://chronicle.com/article/A-Bold-Move-Toward-MOOCs-Sends/137903/?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en.
Head, Karen. "Sweating the Details of a MOOC in Progress." The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Wired Campus, April 3, 2013. http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/sweating-the-details-of-a-mooc-in-progress/43315?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en.
Jaschik, Scott. "Admissions Leaders and Legal Experts Debate How to Define Merit." Inside Higher Ed, January 18, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/18/admissions-leaders-and-legal-experts-debate-how-define-merit.
———. "Public Universities Move to Offer MOOCs for Credit." Inside Higher Ed, January 23, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/23/public-universities-move-offer-moocs-credit.
Kolowich, Steve. "American Council on Education Recommends 5 MOOCs for Credit." The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 7, 2013, sec. Technology. http://chronicle.com/article/American-Council-on-Education/137155/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en.
———. "At Educause, a Discussion About OER," November 8, 2012. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/11/08/educause-discussion-about-oer.
———. "Coursera Strikes MOOC Licensing Deal with Antioch University." Inside Higher Ed, October 29, 2012. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/10/29/coursera-strikes-mooc-licensing-deal-antioch-university.
———. "Experts Speculate on Possible Business Models for MOOC Providers." Inside Higher Ed, June 11, 2012. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/06/11/experts-speculate-possible-business-models-mooc-providers.
———. "Site-based Testing Deals Strengthen Case for Granting Credit to MOOC Students." Inside Higher Ed, September 7, 2012. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/09/07/site-based-testing-deals-strengthen-case-granting-credit-mooc-students.
———. "SUNY Signals Major Push Toward MOOCs and Other New Educational Models." The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Wired Campus, March 20, 2013. http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/suny-signals-major-push-toward-moocs-and-other-new-educational-models/43079?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en.
———. "Top-tier Universities Band Together to Offer Credit-bearing, Fully Online Courses." Inside Higher Ed, November 16, 2012. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/11/16/top-tier-universities-band-together-offer-credit-bearing-fully-online-courses.
Lederman, Doug. "ACE Deems 5 Massive Open Courses Worthy of Credit." Insisde Higher Ed, February 7, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/07/ace-deems-5-massive-open-courses-worthy-credit.
Lewin, Tamar. "Public Universities to Offer Free Online Classes for Credit." The New York Times, January 23, 2013, sec. Education. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/education/public-universities-to-offer-free-online-classes-for-credit.html.
Milliron, Mark David. "Reflections on the First Year of a New-Model University." The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 1, 2012, sec. Online Learning. http://chronicle.com/article/Reflections-on-the-First-Year/134670/?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en.
Mozilla. "Introducing Open Badges 1.0." The Mozilla Blog, March 14, 2013. http://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2013/03/14/open_badges/.
———. "Introducing Open Badges:" Mozilla Open Badges. Accessed May 7, 2013. http://openbadges.org/about/.
"Mozilla Launches Digital Badge Standards." Inside Higher Ed, March 15, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/03/15/mozilla-launches-digital-badge-standards.
"Mozilla's Open Badges Project." MozillaWiki, 2013. https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges.
Nelson, Libby A. "Did State of the Union Create Opening for Competency-based Programs and Other Innovations?" Inside Higher Ed, February 14, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/14/did-state-union-create-opening-competency-based-programs-and-other-innovations.
———. "Obama Calls for More Attention to Price, Value, Accreditation in State of the Union." Inside Higher Ed, February 13, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/13/obama-calls-more-attention-price-value-accreditation-state-union.
New, Jake. "Mozilla Releases Long-Discussed Software to Offer 'Badges' for Learning." The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Wired Campus, March 14, 2013. http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/mozilla-releases-long-discussed-software-to-offer-badges-for-learning/42975?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en.
Pannapacker, William. "Cultivating Partnerships in the Digital Humanities." Chronicle of Higher Education, May 13, 2013.
Peer 2 Peer University, and The Mozilla Foundation. "An Open Badge System Framework: A Foundational Piece on Assessment and Badges for Open, Informal and Social Learning Environments." University of California Humanities Research Institute, March 1, 2011.
Rees, Jonathan. "Essays on the Flaws of Peer Grading in MOOCs." Inside Higher Ed, March 5, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/03/05/essays-flaws-peer-grading-moocs.
Rivard, Ry. "Amendments to California Outsourcing Bill Give Professors More Say, but Faculty Remain Wary." Inside Higher Ed, April 22, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/22/amendments-california-outsourcing-bill-give-professors-more-say-faculty-remain-wary.
———. "California Academic Leaders Oppose Outsourcing Plan." Inside Higher Ed, March 28, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/28/california-academic-leaders-oppose-outsourcing-plan.
———. "Duke Faculty Reject Plan for It to Join Online Consortium." Inside Higher Ed, April 30, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/30/duke-faculty-reject-plan-it-join-online-consortium.
———. "Florida and New York Look to Centralize and Expand Online Education." Inside Higher Ed, March 27, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/27/florida-and-new-york-look-centralize-and-expand-online-education.
———. "Researchers Explore Who Is Taking MOOCs and Why so Many Drop Out." Inside Higher Ed, March 8, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/08/researchers-explore-who-taking-moocs-and-why-so-many-drop-out.
"Semester Online." Accessed March 20, 2013. http://semesteronline.org/#faqs.
Tate, Pamela. "Course-by-course Approval of MOOCs May Not Be Wise." Inside Higher Ed, February 14, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/02/14/course-course-approval-moocs-may-not-be-wise-essay.
Tilsley, Alexandra. "Dartmouth to End Use of Advanced Placement Scores for Credit." Inside Higher Ed, January 18, 2013. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/18/dartmouth-end-use-advanced-placement-scores-credit.
Willis, James E., John P. Campbell, and Matthew D. Pistilli. "Ethics, Big Data, and Analytics: A Model for Application." EDUCAUSE Review, May 6, 2013. http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/ethics-big-data-and-analytics-model-application?utm_source=Informz&utm_medium=Email+marketing&utm_campaign=ERO&utm_content=flip.
Young, Jeffrey R. "American Council on Education May Recommend Some Coursera Offerings for College Credit." The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 13, 2012, sec. Technology. http://chronicle.com/article/American-Council-on-Education/135750/?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en.
———. "'Badges' Earned Online Pose Challenge to Traditional College Diplomas." The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 8, 2012, sec. College 2.0. http://chronicle.com/article/Badges-Earned-Online-Pose/130241/.
———. "California State U. Will Experiment With Offering Credit for MOOCs." The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 15, 2013, sec. Technology. http://chronicle.com/article/California-State-U-Will/136677/?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en.
———. "Coursera Announces Details for Selling Certificates and Verifying Identities." Wired Campus, January 9, 2013. http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/?p=41519?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en.
———. "New Platform Lets Professors Set Prices for Their Online Courses." The Chronicle of Higher Education, December 12, 2012, sec. Technology. http://chronicle.com/article/New-Platform-Lets-Professors/136251/?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en.
[1] Kevin Carey, "Into the Future With MOOC's," The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 3, 2012, sec. Commentary, http://chronicle.com/article/Into-the-Future-With-MOOCs/134080/?cid=wc.
[2] Jeffrey R. Young, "'Badges' Earned Online Pose Challenge to Traditional College Diplomas," The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 8, 2012, sec. College 2.0, http://chronicle.com/article/Badges-Earned-Online-Pose/130241/.
[3] Arne Duncan, "Digital Badges for Learning," September 15, 2011, http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/digital-badges-learning.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Peer 2 Peer University and The Mozilla Foundation, "An Open Badge System Framework: A Foundational Piece on Assessment and Badges for Open, Informal and Social Learning Environments" (University of California Humanities Research Institute, March 1, 2011).
[6] Young, "'Badges' Earned Online Pose Challenge to Traditional College Diplomas."
[7] Carey, "Into the Future With MOOC's."


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Louisville Visual Art Exhibit Opening at AC Hotel in NuLu.
First Friday Featuring Cletus Wilcox, Joshua Bleecker Suyun Son at Tim Faulkner Gallery.
Holiday Pop-Up Art Market! happens tonight at the Pizza Market Louisville.
Patricia Brock Photography Exhibit opens at KORE Gallery.
SewIn Qulit and Fiber Biennial opens across the river in New Albany.
PYRO's 15th Anniversary Exhibit opens with a reception 1:00-5:00pm.
University of Louisville Faculty Artist Recital featuring Emily Albrink & Chad Sloan at 3:00pm
The Private World of a Fold: New Sculptures by Rebecca Norton is at Houseguest.
Kentucky Cup: A tradition of excellence in Art is a group exhibit opening at The Brown Hotel Gallery.
Tiffany Calvert: Semper Augustus is at Moreman Gallery.
Elsa Hansen Oldham "Muses" is at KMAC through January 27, 2019.

subset: commoncrawl


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Event details
- Saturday 16 February
- 3.10pm
- The Dukes, Moor Lane, Lancaster, LA1 1QE
- 01524 598 500
This screening will be with subtitles for the hard of hearing.
Mary, Queen of Scots explores the turbulent life of the charismatic Mary Stuart. Queen of France at 16 and widowed at 18, Mary defies pressure to remarry. Instead, she returns to her native Scotland to reclaim her rightful throne. But Scotland and England fall under the rule of the compelling Elizabeth I.
Each young Queen beholds her "sister" in fear and fascination. Rivals in power and in love, and female regents in a masculine world, the two must decide how to play the game of marriage versus independence. Determined to rule as much more than a figurehead, Mary asserts her claim to the English throne, threatening Elizabeth's sovereignty. Betrayal, rebellion, and conspiracies within each court imperil both thrones – and change the course of history.
Dir: Josie Rourke
2019 UK 124mins
With: Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie
£6.50 Full Price (£5.50 Concessions £4.50 Under 18's)


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In a rare outbreak of collaboration, my kids have put together a music video. Alex did it as an A-Level Media Studies project along with a fellow student - Dean Welsh. The song Cliché was written and performed by Tuesday Hangover. My daughter Emma is their lead singer and lyricist. The guitarists were Will Marshall and Alex Lewis (normally the drummer) and Matt Williams on bass. I did the recording and mix. Due to a fixed deadline, Alex couldn't wait for the whole band to be available but the song is very much a group effort.
My role in the music video consisted of loaning a tripod and a lot of fretting. I was relieved when Alex said it was all done and handed-in and I was very pleasantly surprised with the final result. In fact Alex has set the bar awkwardly high for his Dad's debut effort. But that is going to have to wait till we get a good recording of another of the band's growing catalogue of songs.


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Don't be a
gutless turd.
Retrojunk Classic: Back to School In The 90's
Well everyone it's that time again. Everyone is finishing up their vacations, having those last parties as the leaves start to change I think you know what that means. It's back to school time. As kids we ether dreaded school or we liked it. Honestly as an adult now. I actually miss going out and getting supplies to go to school. Why? Well there was a time when school wasn't all about tests and grades. There was a time where school was actually fun and in it's own way educational.
As I've mentioned before that in the Nineties things were a lot more relaxed and care free. That also included schools. From Pajama day to hat day and any themed day in between. Along with ways to get classes to compete in special events which resulted in the winning class getting a pizza party. There was a lot more creativity in teaching to get kids more involved in learning then doing stuff by the books.
But lets do some shopping for school.
How about we get a book bag?
Maybe some crayons.
Can't forget a folder.
How about a lunch box?
Or did you have a Brown lunch bag?
So now we got our supplies and class is in session. It was usually a mix of teaching and free time. From my own experiences for every two to three hours of teaching which included art class and Music class. We got about a half hour of ether reading time or free time. Reading time is a fairly simple explanation. Read a book for a half hour. But the big question was "What to read?" Well here are a few classics as a kid to read.
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs
Dr.Seuss books
If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
The Hungry Caterpillar
Just to name a few.
Computer class was one of those classes that usually was a favorite to us as kids that never was really able to play on the computer at home and was a way to enjoy the feeling of playing on one. So what was there to do in that class? Well we had typing for most of the class. That was until there was a day where we got to play games for a day. So what did we play during those game days?
Jump Start
Oregon Trail
Put Put
Again just to name a few.
Let's go from the computer room to the gym. Which again was fun and creative. What can go wrong with obstacle courses, Crab soccer, Dodge ball and the giant rainbow parachute?
Yea I'm talking about this thing.
When you put the dodge balls in the center and bounce them around or when you ran under it or sit inside it. This thing was fun whenever you saw it in the gym.
After gym class I think we could use some lunch. School lunches had their ups and downs along with the third option of bringing food from home. How about we look into the brown bag (Or Lunch box) I got here.
We got a Fruit barrel
an apple
Fruit by the foot
and...... Lunchables
Talk about a good lunch that's not to say that schools didn't have their share of good lunches my personal favorites were pizza and taco day. Though the down side was usually anything with pasta or turkey.After eating lunch how about we go to the playground?
Between the Monkey bars, Swings and slides there usually was something to do. Playing cops and robbers on the playground or climbing the jungle gyms you had so many options in so little time.
It usually was about a half hour to an hour outside before we went back inside to the classroom. After that it was your normal school work...... Until you see this.
Yes the TV on wheels. If you saw this you knew what was coming and you were probably excited as I was as a kid. What was usually played on the TV?
Bill Nye the Science Guy
The Magic School Bus
Really Wild Animals
Reading Rainbow
By the time that was over though it was time to head home. I hope you enjoyed this little trip back to the grade school classroom. Now get on the bus or walk back home and remember....
Live Life and Live Nostalgic
Superman Posted on Sep 22, 2018 at 03:41 PM
Nice article. You hit on just about everything that I remember being a part of the school experience back in the '90s.
FlixtheCatJr Posted on Aug 16, 2018 at 02:53 AM
We called "Fruit Barrels" "Quarter Juices."
Hoju Koolander Posted on Aug 14, 2018 at 08:44 PM
Cheetos PAWS were such a revelation when they hit shelves, it was like, "Of Course"!
ThatDudeintheHoodie Posted on Aug 14, 2018 at 07:18 PM
I used to carry my Pokemon cards with me when I was a kid. The beginning of the rabbit hole for me lol.
Benjanime Posted on Aug 14, 2018 at 03:17 PM
pizza parties, pok'emon card trading, doodling and making friends were really the only things i miss from school. my high school years were the hardest to deal with.
Crash Did It - Who's Next? Retro Gaming Revivals We Want to See Nostalgia is always a great marketing tool to rely on, and it's something w...
As of 2016, I successfully moved into a quiet (and small) culdesac area out in the countryside of Gloucester, Virgina. Why I mention this is because s...
Spooky Scary Skeletons are coming once again. That's right, Halloween is here. Time to break out the candy, costumes, a...
The video game mascot craze of the 1990s brought many icons into the world of gaming with some mascots who are still around today, with others who las...
In 1988 movie audiences were introduced to The Future of Law Enforcement, RoboCop. Despite being a hyper-violent satire of action movies by ...


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Beat the eggs. To them add the yoghurt, mixed beforehand with the baking soda.
Crumble the feta cheese and add it to the mixture. Finally add the flour and stir until the mixture absorbs it.
Using a wet spoon, place balls of the mixture in an oiled tray or onto baking paper.
Place a piece of cheese in the middle of each ball.
Bake in a preheated oven about 20 min.find similar recipes here


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InaturalistSubmitted by RubenMartinez on Tue, 14/01/2014 - 15:06
Site and community for reporting personal observations of any plant or animal species in the world.
The contents of this website are licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) License. The source code is licensed under a GPLv3 License and can be checkout from Github.
Copyright © 2019, Commons-Based Peer Production directory
Designed byZymphonies


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It's no surprise to us that Kanye West is really, really, into fashion seeing as he has proclaimed it with his design debut last year. However, for those a tad skeptical, the music mogul is trying his hand at the trade once more.
West is adding another fashion credit to his hip-hop extracurricular activities; he is partnering in what is expected to be nothing less than a chic designer collaboration with A.P.C.
Last month, W Magazine profiled the rapper where they teased "his new men's capsule collection of jeans, T-shirts, and hoodies for a hip French brand, to be unveiled in July."
After bunches of rumors swirled around about the collaboration, A.P.C. has finally confirmed them to be true on Instagram and their website.
They revealed a picture today of a pair of blue jeans labeled "A.P.C. Kanye", with a succinct caption reading "A.P.C. KANYE CAPSULE COLLECTION, JULY 14. #apc #kanyewest".
A.P.C. is a Jean Touitou-helmed brand favored by hip Parisians and those who like to assimilate their style and wish to dress like them.
In a way, Kanye West has too confirmed the collaboration himself, KanyeWest.com is now a landing page for the above "A.P.C. KANYE" photo.


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day 57: a (very) short story/
the tricky thing with free-lensing, at least for me as a nikon user (because remember, i need to hack my lens every time i want to free-lens), is that i can't do it at the spur of the moment. that means it doesn't play well with documentary photography. usually i'll have my camera on me or at least close by, and when i see something i want to photograph, i just grab and go. with free-lensing, i need to get myself set up and ready, and i don't want to leave my lens detached from my camera while i hang around waiting for a photograph-able moment, so many times this week, i've had to nudge a moment along in my favor. which is why i may have taken my kid's snack bowl from him today while he was in the middle of eating. soooo, i'm not winning any mom of the year awards, but at least i got some cute pictures out of it! and truthfully, the pictures do capture something he does all the time, he just didn't necessarily choose to do it himself this one particular time ;)
happy friday all :)


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AmanSehdev asks:
Ellie, in an interview you stated that one of the ideas behind Yuk Foo was to show that women, as the physical front of the band, were not vulnerable and shy. Are there any fellow frontwomen you feel are also doing well in stopping the perpetuation of this stereotype?
bloodydoorsoff asks:
Who would win a fight between a badger and a baboon?
veronica1999 asks:
I came across your music a few years ago when I was doing my A-level English literature coursework on Angela Carter's Wolf Alice, and your band kept popping up in my research. I listened to My Love Is Cool out of curiosity and was mesmerised. The grunge sound of some of the songs on that album matched perfectly the image the book painted in my head. Anyway, I had it on repeat for about a month and have been a huge fan ever since.
I've always wanted to know which books you take inspo from. And do you know where the inspiration for the next album will come from?
mashroobus asks:
Is Joff from Callington?
Trick or treat … Liam Gallagher
D2331177 asks:
What's your favourite fancy dress costume?
catchytitled asks:
Lazio or Roma? This will complete/end the life of a mate of mine who adores your band as well as one of the two football teams (the other team; not so much).
kittymae asks:
What advice would you give to someone who wants to start songwriting (because I have no clue where to start)?
Mathew Gabriel asks:
You've had some big support slots. I saw you supporting the Manics very early doors in your career; you were great! Who are your favourite acts you have opened for?
jizzmonkey asks:
If you were a Wolf Alice fan, what would you want to see Wolf Alice do next?


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Judge Reinstates California's Ban on Taxpayer-Funded Campaigns
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) – A California judge on Monday upheld a longstanding ban on public financing of local campaigns, invalidating reforms signed last September by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley ruled that the Legislature's changes to a proposition approved by voters in 1988 did not "further the purpose" of the measure and tossed the lawmakers' amendments.
Ruling in favor of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, Frawley agreed that only voters can remove the 29-year-old ban on public financing of local and state elections. He said the amendments "directly contradict the fundamental purpose of the Political Reform Act," the state's revered law limiting campaign spending and political lobbying.
"The ban on public financing was an important component of Proposition 73 and was included in the title of measure," Frawley said in a 14-page ruling.
Frawley, who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in 2002, also ruled for the taxpayers association and against then attorney general Brown in 2010. He found the state had used misleading language on a proposition that would have frozen provisions of California's landmark climate change bill until the state's unemployment rate dropped.
The judge forced the state to change the ballot title and summary, and Proposition 23 was eventually defeated by a wide margin.
At issue this time is Senate Bill 1107, signed by Brown in the run-up to the presidential and statewide election that was loaded with voter initiatives.
Supporters of the Democratic-sponsored bill said lifting the ban would allow local governments to level the playing field and support new candidates with public money. They claimed opening up tax coffers to underdog candidates would encourage competition against deep-pocketed incumbents.
"Californians are demanding greater accountability from their elected officials, and rightfully so. Anything we can do to empower communities to reduce the influence of money in campaigns is a good thing," state Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, after the measure he introduced was signed by Brown.
But opponents, led by the conservative taxpayer association and former state Sen. Quentin Kopp, said Allen's Political Reform Act tweaks required voter approval.
"This action challenges the Legislature's decision to undo 'what the people have done,' without the electorate's consent," the petitioners argued in court.
The state defended the bill, saying that it was passed with two-thirds approval in both statehouses and that Proposition 73 allowed legislative amendments when it was enacted. The attorney general's office also argued the Legislature's amendments furthered the purpose of the measure.
The attorney general's office referred comment to Brown's office, which declined to comment.
State lawmakers were warned of the likelihood of challenges to SB 1107 before they voted in favor of the bill in August 2016.
"There is a good probability that this bill could result in litigation challenging whether the bill meets the statutory requirement to further the purpose of the Political Reform Act, which does not provide for public financing," a Senate Rules Committee report stated. "The state could therefore incur significant legal costs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars."


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Oslo Tengai
Oslo Tengai
39" x 39" x 3"
mixed media on wood panel
(acrylic, pastel, collage, copper and steel nails, coffee burlap, found wood)
I traveled to Oslo, Norway in 2014 and this painting was inspired by a train ride through the landscape near the capital. The culture and language in Norway are both very familiar to me, but the landscape is somewhat starker, dramatic, with more sweeping lines and vistas - than Sweden.
Packaging + Shipping:
Each painting comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Filiz, a description of the artwork, and care instructions. Paintings wrap along the edge of the wooden frame, making additional framing unnecessary.
If you live in NY state, please contact me to discuss delivery options. For all other US and international orders, please email me directly to calculate shipping costs and arrange delivery.
Please note that for paintings over 36" wide, and over 10 lbs, custom crating may be necessary.
Once payment is received in full, please allow 2 weeks for your artwork to be carefully packaged and shipped. The safest and most economical method will be used. You will be sent notification of shipment along with a tracking number as soon as it is on its way to you.
If you would like to discuss payment options, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.


text:
Azerbaijan, Baku, 23 January / Trend corr. К.Zarbaliyeva / Arif Aslanov, the condemned for impingement on Zakir Farajov, the head of the Azerbaijani Absheron Executive Power, died in the hospital from kidney failure.
Aslanov was sentenced to 11years and 3 months imprisonment, after the decision of the Court on Hard Crimes.
The Central Penal Service Department reported to Trend that Aslanov suffered from kidney failure. He was transported to the medical centre, due to his unhealthy state. Aslanov had been taken to the Central Neftanik Hospital three times a week, due to the lack of necessary conditions in the hospital.
Isakhan Ashurov, Aslanov's attorney, stated to trend, that court was to blame for Aslanov's death.
The attorney said that earlier he had appealed to the European Court concerning the issue; but, he has not launched a communication with the Azerbaijani Government. The appeal envisages the violation of Aslanov's rights on life, protected by the Convention.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at firstname.lastname@example.com
Follow us on Twitter @TRENDNewsAgency
Follow Trend on Telegram. Only most interesting and important news


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Do you avoid graveyards? Are you reluctant to attend funerals? Maybe you try not to think about death? Some people feel a sense of dread when the subject comes up. They see it as a grim horror yet it crops up in their dreams. This suggests a fear of death. Most of us harbour a … Continue reading Fear of death – how to beat it?
Tag: higher consciousness
Calm mind – How to find it in daily life?
I was on holiday in the French Vendėe looking for peace and calm. The family had caught the ferry and located the camp site. And now on a lovely day without a cloud in the sky, I shouldn't have had a care in the world. My daughter passed by and said "Oh Dad, you look … Continue reading Calm mind – How to find it in daily life?
Consciousness: can brain matter have it?
The brain, is a soft, mass of gray and white matter. It has been estimated that there are more connections between the nerve cells within each one than all the particles in the universe! But how on earth can a piece of mere biological tissue – albeit an incredibly complex one – have consciousness? How … Continue reading Consciousness: can brain matter have it?
Old age – How can one be happy?
Many people are afraid of old age. They fear the loneliness of isolation, the unattractiveness of wrinkles and sagging skin, or the impairment of infirmity. But according to psychologist Marie de Hennezel, old age is an attitude of mind. She suggests it can be a period of contentment, and happiness that comes with letting go of … Continue reading Old age – How can one be happy?


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Green Curry Soup
Have you seen our newly revamped Canada's food guide yet? It's a hot topic these days and it generated a whole lot of fun discussion on my Instagram post. The new evidence based guide ditches dairy as a food group and heavily emphasizes plant-based foods. It also includes healthy habits such as choosing water as a primary beverage, eating with others, spending more time cooking at home and being aware of food marketing.
Unlike former iterations of the guide, our new one highlights plant-based proteins. Speaking of which, I recently made a green curry style soup that conveniently features three kinds of plant proteins: tofu, green peas, and soy bean sprouts. This trifecta of proteins paired with homemade green curry sauce and coconut milk resulted in one of the most delicious soup I've ever created.
When you scroll down, don't be alarmed by the list of ingredients. This recipe is soup-er easy to make (45 minutes start to finish), you'll learn how simple it is to DIY a flavourful green curry-style sauce, and you'll have leftovers for the next couple of days. Scroll down for the full recipe!
Makes 6 - 8 servings
Green curry sauce:
1 bunch of cilantro, stems and leaves washed and roughly chopped
1 bunch of parsley, stems and leaves washed and roughly chopped
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, sliced
1 - 2 hot peppers (I used habanero, but jalapeño or another spicy pepper would work), chopped
3 cloves of garlic
Juice of 2 limes
1 teaspoon sea salt
Soup base:
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 onion, diced
1 large carrot, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
8 oz mushrooms of your choice, sliced
1 can (400 ml / 14oz) of full fat coconut milk
1 block of firm tofu, large dice
1 can (199 ml) bamboo shoots (optional)
1 cup green peas
1 bunch greens of your choice (I used dandelion), washed and finely chopped
3 - 4 cups soy bean or mung bean sprouts (optional)
Sea salt & pepper
Black rice ramen (I used Lotus Foods brand) or rice noodles, cooked according to package directions
In a blender process all of the green curry ingredients to a smooth, sauce-like consistency. You may need to add a bit of water to get things going.
Warm the coconut oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrots, and a big pinch of salt, and cook until the onions become translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the mushrooms and cook them for a few minutes until they have softened and start releasing water.
Add the green curry sauce to the pot, along with the coconut milk, tofu, bamboo shoots, and peas. You will also want to add 3 - 4 cups of water depending on how thick you want your soup to be. Bring the soup to a gentle simmer, then stir in the greens and sprouts. Cook until the greens have wilted and the sprouts have softened. Taste the soup and season with sea salt and pepper if needed.
Transfer a portion of your noodles to a soup bowl and pour the green curry soup over top. Enjoy!
If you enjoyed the recipe I shared above be sure to check out my Plant-Based Breakthrough program, which is a 4 week online crash course in health, nutrition, and meal planning. For details on when the next program starts click here. You can also join the Plant-Based Breakthrough Community on Facebook where I share recipes, inspiration, and information on plant-based nutrition.


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Gotham. A poem. Book I. By C. Churchill
Gotham. A poem. Book I. By C. Churchill
Distributed by the University of Oxford under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
Download: XML; HTML; ePub; mobi (Kindle); plain text
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|Editorial Practice
This electronic text file was keyed from page images and partially proofread for accuracy. Character capture and encoding have been done following the guidelines of the ECCO Text Creation Partnership, which correspond roughly to the recommendations found in Level 4 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines. Digital page images are linked to the text file.
|Source Description
Gotham. A poem. Book I. By C. Churchill Churchill, Charles, 1731-1764. [4],24p. ; 4⁰. London :: printed for the author, and sold by W. Flexney; G. Kearsley; C. Henderson; J. Coote; J. Gardiner; and J. Almon, 1764.
Note: The first of 3 books, each with separate half-title, titlepage, pagination and register.
Note: P. 5 has signature: C.
Note: Also issued, without a titlepage, as part of: 'Poems by C. Churchill', vol. 2, London, 1765.
Note: Reproduction of original from the British Library.
Note: Grant, 13
Note: English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT1706.
Note: Electronic data. Farmington Hills, Mich. : Thomson Gale, 2003. Page image (PNG). Digitized image of the microfilm version produced in Woodbridge, CT by Research Publications, 1982-2002 (later known as Primary Source Microfilm, an imprint of the Gale Group).
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Here at JAB HQ, we are huge fans of wordless picture books and the possibilities they offer. When I found this whilst on holiday this year, I just loved the illustrations and the story.
Every morning, Mr Crocodile wakes from his dreams of floating lazily on the water to the sound of his alarm clock. Getting up, he sets about the business of getting ready and joining all the other busy commuters on their way to work. We follow him through the streets, to the shops until he reaches his final destination.
There are so many details to spot in each spread and so many stories to create along the way. Where might he be going as he sets off from his flat? What has caught his eye in the shop window? Why is the driver of the car which splashes through the puddle so thoughtless and angry? Mr Crocodile is not the only unusual passenger on the tube train, yet everyone is so wrapped up in their own lives that they don't notice.
Mr Crocodile is kind- he leaves flowers for a lady as he makes his way through the park. There is a whole story that could be told here, using different viewpoints. His work, when he arrives, is the perfect job for a crocodile and makes you think about the other animals and their secret lives! The monkeys in their enclosure certainly seem to have found a range of ways of entertaining themselves.
The illustrations are an absolute joy, full of details and humour. This is a real treasure! Published in England as 'Professional Crocodile', this wonderful book offers plenty to discuss and enjoy.
Professional Crocodile Giovanna Zoboli, illustrated by Mariachiara di Giogio
Chronicle Books ISBN: 978-1452165066


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Although the importance of addressing ecosystem service benefits in regional land use planning and decision-making is evident, substantial practical challenges remain. In particular, methods to identify priority areas for the provision of key ecosystem services and other environmental services (benefits from the environment not directly linked to the function of ecosystems) need to be developed. Priority areas are locations which provide disproportionally high benefits from one or more service.
Forfeiting our commons
The Lancet's Series on Maternal and Child Undernutrition
President Obama's grand climate plan does not add up
Climate change can no longer be ignored
NGO demands withdrawal of Niyamgiri gram sabha notificatio


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- This content is owned by UWW – Ultimate Women of Wrestling
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Batwoman vs. Superwoman: Battle Of The Superheroines
In a battle ripped right out of the pages of a comic book, Batwoman and Superwoman collide in a titanic encounter to answer the age old question of who is better, as Superwoman Laura James meets Batwoman Jezabel Romo!
Laura enters this match pretty bored, feeling like there's no competition left in UWW for her. She's pretty damn awesome after all, so who would realistically want to try her! Well Jezabel has a response to that! If no one else is gonna step up to the plate and be the Superwoman's Kryptonite, than this Batwoman is more than happy to do so! Does the veteran have what it takes to defeat the cocky Brit and back up her words?
There's a little bit of a feeling out process in the early stages of this one, with go behinds and side headlocks exchanged, as well as a test of strength seen. But things pick up before very long, with Jezabel controlling much of the action once it does.
The Batwoman punishes her Superwoman opponent, using a bronco buster, a front facelock that is mixed with a brief variation on a sleeper, a side headscissor and a Boston Crab on her, along with rougher tactics that are made up of a corner boot choke, a diving headbutt to the crotch and some double axe handles to the back.
If Jezabel is to defeat Laura in this superheroine struggle however, she will have to endure a variation on a crossface with a brief abdominal stretch done just before it, a shoulder lock and one of Laura's own Boston Crabs in order to do so. She won't be able to just come in and take this win from the Superwoman, she'll have to earn it!
Can Batwoman Jezabel score the win?
Or does Superwoman Laura stay atop the UWW ranks, and prove without any doubt that there's no one on the roster even remotely in her league?
They've never met in the comic book world, but they have in the UWW ring now! If you've always wondered who would come out on top between these two, this is a must buy!
(Shot in 4K)
MONEY BACK GUARANTEE if you are not satisfied.
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We will refund all of your money.
Because of this guarantee, there is absolutely ZERO RISK to you ordering right now and finding out if you enjoy this video.
WOMEN'S PRO WRESTLING! (Scripted outcome)
UWW VIDEO LENGTH: 7 minutes and 27 seconds long


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Being from South Korea, my usual breakfast consisted of rice, hot soup, and some side dishes that my mom prepared. When I came to United States to study Visual Effects, I was introduced to the wonderful world of breakfast food! I ended up reading a food photography book called Plate to Pixel by Helen Dujardin that included pictures of food from this wonderful time of day, which then inspired me to create a CG piece that consisted of delicious pancakes and fruits.
Before starting the piece in Maya, I gathered a lot of photo references to get ideas for composition, lighting, and what to include in the piece. The possibilities were endless, but after looking at many photos, I decided to have pancakes with maple syrup and fresh strawberries and blueberries. As you can see in the above images, there are many similarities between my renders and photo references I found in terms of composition.
The modeling was pretty simple since there weren't any objects that were too complicated in shape. Most of them including plates, pancakes, and blueberries are made by tweaking basic shapes such as spheres and cylinders. Only full strawberries were downloaded which is why they are high-poly, but I tried to keep all the other models simple and clean.
Spending a lot of time painting detailed textures in parts that the audience will never see is a waste of time.
As for the UVs, I tried to make it take most of the space in UV layout, especially the parts that are most visible in the camera (same principle applies to the texturing process). I don't pay close attention to parts that will not be seen in the camera view. Spending a lot of time painting detailed textures in parts that the audience will never see wastes time that you could be using to perfect the textures, that are the star of the piece.
Initially, I experimented a lot before being able to get the look that I wanted. I tried to scan the pancakes that I took from a cafeteria using a scanner, but it didn't give a clear image that I expected. As a result, I ended up finding a high-resolution close-up photos of the pancakes so that I can project it in Mari.
For both strawberries and blueberries, I had to mix parts of the high-resolution photos that I found on the internet. It ended up like a mosaic of different photos patched together in Photoshop. Then, I painted with Photoshop brushes in some areas such as the top part of the strawberry that was white, and made different versions for epidermal using color balance in Photoshop. By doing so, it gave color variations of the strawberries and blueberries because fruits are full of rich color if you look at them closely!
For the blueberries, I decided to give a slight break-up in the specularity. Out of all the Photoshop brushes that I downloaded, I picked the one that gave multiple spots and painted over the blueberries. I find that different types of Photoshop brushes are very handy when it comes to giving break-up textures.
I used Vray FastSSS2 and used Vray BlendMtl for all of my food shaders. I plugged in all of my texture maps and after several test renders, I was able to get the look that I wanted. This took some time because sometimes, I had to go back to texturing to tweak them and continue to adjust the values in the shaders.
I find different types of Photoshop brushes very handy when it comes to giving break-up in the textures
For the lighting, I used environment light with HDRI and two area lights. The fill light had a slight tint of blue, but generally the main light was kept in a warm yellowish tone. Then, I rendered different passes including occlusion, diffuse, specular, reflection, refraction, SSS, and ID passes. Having many passes enable full control when compositing in Nuke by enabling me to get the look that I wanted.
After all the passes have been rendered, I imported them into Nuke for final compositing. The ID passes come very handy because I can use the shuffle node to select certain objects assigned with specific RGB colors for color correction or grading. This enables me to have full control over the different passes e.g increasing subsurface for strawberries that are assigned with the green color.


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Fun creative movement classes for 3-4 year olds! This class will teach 1/2 ballet and 1/2 tumbling for your preschooler (60 minute class)
Fun ballet classes for 2 year olds! Tiny twos classes will also focus on ballet terms and steps. (30 minute class)
Lots of Fun for your 3 year old! This class will focus on creative movement, ballet terminology, ballet steps, and ballet dances through out the year. (45 minute class)
High energy classes that combine Ballet and Tap! Classes will be broken up by ages and each class will be taught by an energetic teacher who will have your little dancer smiling all year long and ready to move to the next level! (45 minute class)
Your dancer will have fun in this higher level combo class that includes Tap and Ballet technique. (1 hour class)
We believe in teaching CORRECT ballet technique that is learned at the Ballet Barre! We produce a very strong dancer because of this belief! Not only is ballet technique important but we also make learning ballet FUN for every age! Ballet Barre, across the floor and ballet dances will be taught in these classes! Class times range from 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours depending on age and experience.
We love tap and we know your dancer will too!! Here at Studio A Dance Co., we follow Al Gilbert Tap curriculum but also add in new styles that every dancer will love! (45 min classes)
One of the most popular styles of dance!! Fun for every dancer! Studio A's jazz teachers are impeccably trained and amazing dancers and performers! From the recreational dancer to the competitive dancer we have a class for you!!
FUN FUN FUN! Very high energy! Hip hop classes will consist of warm up, across the floor and hip hop choreography!!
Contemporary is a very expressive dance style. Previous and current ballet training is required for contemporary classes here at Studio A!
Previous and current ballet training is required for pointe class. Students will start with pre-pointe once your pointe teacher feels your feet are strong enough then they will be allowed to get their pointe shoes. Students at Studio A are not eligible for pointe shoes until age 11. This is to ensure that your dancers feet will not be injured.
Previous experience is required. These classes for the dancer that wants to improve their leaps and turns.
Studio A Dance Co. is the proud home of the award winning dance competition team V.I.B.E
V.I.B.E. has been a strong competitive team for the past 5 years. Some of our winnings include: 1st place platinum, Judges Pick Awards, invitations to national competitions, cash awards and scholarships to other competitions and conventions. V.I.B.E. Dance Company prides itself on instilling confidence and impeccable dance technique in our team members.


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Women 'needed in work'
The Women's Business Council believes a shortage of women in work is holding back the UK economy.
In a government-backed report published on 4 June, the Women's Business Council (WBC) has claimed that economic growth could be up ten per cent by 2030 if there were as many women working as men.
The WBC, which the government set up in 2012 to maximise women's contribution to economic growth, also claims that over 2.4 million women want to join the labour force and 1.3 million would like to increase their hours.
Ruby McGregor-Smith, chair of the WBC, urged the government to 'unblock this mismatch and optimise the potential for the UK's economic growth'.
In the report, she writes that the financial crisis and recession in 2008-2009 has made action essential and urgent.
'The UK faces unprecedented challenges in the current financial climate, with businesses operating in one of the toughest economic situations the UK has ever seen.
'It has never been more important to fully capitalise on the skills and talents of all people, regardless of their gender,' McGregor-Smith continues.
The WBC has recommended to the government that four key areas need to be improved.
The first area concerns supporting girls at school.
Since girls tend to outperform boys in exams but end up in lower paid and less skilled work, the WBC believes that schools need to broaden girls' aspirations and their understanding of career choices.
This could be done through work experience, better career guidance services and encouraging girls to study science, technology, engineering and maths.
The WBC says that greater support is also needed for women who are in the middle of their working lives.
Seventy-six per cent of businesses said that flexible working has a positive effect on staff retention, proving that flexible working can help mothers stay in work and in the process aid the economy.
Help with the cost of childcare would also boost the number of working mothers.
The third area for improvement concerns women in the last phase of their working lives.
The WBC said that boosting older women's skills and supporting those with caring responsibilities would enable them to find better paid work and work for longer.
Creating opportunity for everyenel, raising aspirations and enabling people to maximise their talents, would mean stronger economic growth, McGregor-Smith explained.
The WBC also encouraged the government to help women set up their own businesses, since with women half as likely as men to be entrepreneurs, meaning that the economy misses out on their input.
At the launch of the report at the London Stock Exchange, Culture Secretary Maria Miller pledged her support for the WBC and its recommendations.
"There is clearly much more that we need to be doing and today's report highlights that," she said. "The priority now is to build that momentum of women's role in the workplace across the economy as a whole.
"It's about unlocking that untapped potential of women in the workforce more widely, and supporting women moving up through the ranks, bringing sustained benefit to the British economy in the longer term," she said.
Miller added that she was actively taking forward these recommendations by establishing a Ministerial Taskforce, to make sure that the very clear recommendations articulated in the report did not sit on the shelf, but "are translated into actions in government too."
The Ministerial Taskforce will publish an action plan in August and the WBC will produce a second report next year to assess the progress that has been made since its recommendations were released.


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As a way of using up the leftover suet from making the Christmas pudding, keeping Aidan occupied for half an hour and feeding our birdie visitors in the cold weather, we had a go at making some bird feeders for the garden. They are really easy to make and as the mixture doesn't have to get too hot, fairly safe to make with a 3 year old. It's the first sort of cooking too where Aidan hasn't needed to be policed to prevent him eating the mixture (thankfully).
Some sort of receptacle is needed to hold the food. Plastic tubs with a hole cut in the bottom and a string loop threaded through and knotted to hold it in place work best but we only had 2. Mike ingeniously came up with the idea of halving some oranges, hollowing out the flesh and using the peel 'bowl', instead.
We're hoping that birds don't have a similar reaction to citrus smells that cats do - in fact they could even be anti-cat bird-feeders if the birds take to them.
Simply heat 1 part suet to 2 parts wild bird seed in a pan, stir and when the suet has melted spoon the mixture into the pots. I have to say I didn't think that it looked like enough fat to hold the seeds together and in place but it has worked fine.
Of course we've yet to see a bird go anywhere near them.


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Two products, three days of no-wash style
Whether you're a morning or an evening shower person, the shampoo struggle is real. Mornings can be too hectic for the time-intensive process of brushing, shampooing, conditioning, applying product and styling hair. And in the evenings, who can resist the lure of Netflix? The daily washing routine can be a drag… and let's face it,…READ MORE


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Dufy, Raoul
Dufy, Raoul
BORN 3 Jun 1877, Le Havre - DIED 23 Mar 1953, Forcalquier, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
GRAVE LOCATION Nice, Alpes-Maritimes: Cimetičre de Cimiez, Place du Monastčre de Cimiez
Together with his schoolfriend Othon Friesz he studied Boudin's works in Le Havre. From 1900 onwards he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts. He worked in Bonnat's studio and in 1902 he was introduced to Berthe Weill and afterwards allowed to exhibit his work in het gallery. In 1905 he saw work by Matisse that turned his attention to fauvism. In 1909 Cézanne's work was a futher influence to him.
After the First World War he developed his own colourful and decorative style. In the 1920s his work became more succesful. Apart from paintign he also worked as an illustrator and as a decorator.
Related persons
knew Dubuffet, Jean
was influenced by Matisse, Henri
Adler, Josef, Handbuch der Grabstätten, 2. Band, Die Grabstätte der Europäer, Deutsches Kunstverlag, München, 1986
Beyern, Bertrand, Guide des Cimetičres en France, Le Cherche Midi Éditeur, Paris, 1994
The Times
Raoul Dufy - Wikipedia


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Clear frosty winter mornings are what we look forward to as truffle hunters. They are much better than the alternative of storms! The dogs prefer them too- a windswept sleeting dawn has all but the bravest truffle dog heading back to a cosy bed by the fire!
Priority one is to let the dogs stretch their legs in the dawn light; while they do the obligatory perimeter check I can stoke the fire and boil the kettle.
Travel mug in hand, the ute has been packed the night before, and the dogs eagerly fly into their box. Keen noses blow steamy vapour through the mesh as the ute trundles out the driveway.
As the sun lights the eastern horizon you can see the clouds resting on the surrounding hills, and clear crisp air turns to foggy mist as the Cruiser climbs. Kangaroo appear and disappear as ghosts in the fog, and there is an occasional soundtrack provided by triple J as radio reception fades in and out.
The further inland we travel the more evident last night's frost becomes, and as we disembark by the oak and hazelnut forest the dogs and I are greeted by smiling farmers; The dogs have the farmers well trained to give pats and affection on arrival- they seem to be quite strict about this.
As the dogs run around, warming up and busily investigating any new smells since last week, the farmers and I can discuss plans for the day, industry developments, and of course, the weather.
Once truffle orchards in Western Australia reach around ten years of age, they become very significant in the amount of the rich smelling fungus they produce each week. Most of the privately owned plantations are between 1000 and 2000 Oak and Hazelnut trees. As such it can take anywhere from 6-24 hours of experienced dog hunting time to ensure all ripe truffles are identified by the clever hounds. This hunt needs to be repeated every one to two weeks through the winter! Such sustained concentration can be very draining on the dogs from a psychological point of view. As such it is important a dog handler observes their body language and behaviour, thus allowing the dogs to be rested before they are truly fatigued. To achieve this in most paddocks we aim to rotate dogs after every 100 truffles, or one hour of hunt time.
We try to approach a paddock in a logical manner, and ensure we leave no tree unsearched for this rare delicacy- With a retail value of around $2000/kg, even leaving 1kg undiscovered is very undesirable for the producer, and as such we always want our dogs to bring their A game.
"A game" is an apt description, because this process needs to be 'a game' for our canine friends, if they thought it was a job I'm sure my favourite Kelpie bitch would contact a workers union and start a legal battle. As it stands I'm sure she sees truffle hunting as a great adventure. Between the food rewards, the pats and cuddles rained down on her, and relaxing evenings on her deerskin by the fire, it certainly seems to be an idyllic life. Quite a change in fortune for a pretty little dog who was left in a cardboard box on a Perth highway as a 6 week old puppy!
My other fully trained truffle dog is a shaggy haired Collie Staghound cross, he is a lovely intelligent dog; an athlete and a brilliant truffle hunter, but outside of the truffle paddock life is very scary for him. While he suffers from separation anxiety, and a variety of phobias, we have a good understanding these days. This allows him to live a relaxed enjoyable life both in and out of the truffle paddock.
After a morning of marking truffles up and down the rows we are often treated to a bowl of soup by a fireplace. The dogs usually appreciate a break from all the concentrating, and will enjoy a few sprinting laps around a nearby clearing, I cannot claim the dog handlers take part in anything as energetic!
Most lunch breaks in truffle hunting seem to result in a wardrobe change, adding or removing layers as squalls of rain arrive or depart. This is often true for the dogs as well, who are generally happy to work in quite heavy rain if they have their favourite jacket on.
Mid winter in the south west of Western Australia means our daylight hours are limited. Many paddocks are in shadows by 4.30pm, and the lack of light at 5pm makes it almost impossible to identify the black fungus in the dark soil.
Occasionally a post hunt beverage is enjoyed, but many days finish with a 100km+ drive for dog handlers, and an evening of washing truffle under icy taps for farmers.
Truffle hunting is a strange thing, while it all sounds cold wet and miserable, it is addictive, challenging and thrilling. There is a real sense of achievement after a big day with your dogs, and the camaraderie in the paddock is great to be a part of.