Breaking the DNC blackout on Gaza, Codepink's Jodie Evans joined other activists working to keep Palestinians on the Democratic Party’s radar.

Appalachian Jews make the connection between climate disaster in Asheville, North Carolina, and U.S.-funded genocide in Gaza.

Surrounded by a 26-foot-high separation wall, barbed wire, and a watchtower, a group of young Palestinians prepares a 3.5-acre piece of land for the growing season in spring. The noise

Tricia Hersey’s new book insists we have the power to refuse capitalism’s grind culture and instead prioritize rest. 

this is 100% dead-on

Feeling a bit bored? Well don't worry we've got you covered, test your knowledge with our huge quizzes to try out during the holidays.

Author Nazneen Ahmed Pathak tells Press Packers, Khadija and Jackson, how real history inspires her stories.

Anna, aged eleven, won a competition to open Latitude Festival with her poem, The Mother Tree. She told Newsround about her experience.

Donald Trump has won the 2024 US election and will be president for a second time from early next year. Lots of you had questions and we asked a BBC expert to answer them.

Nina has our weekly dose of Strange news. We've got some cake, some giant masks and some apples in a bath!

Do you remember Pesto the king penguin chick who reached stardom in September? Zookeepers say he is now entering his "awkward teenage phase".

If you keep things close to the chest, you keep things secret or take no risks.

If you keep things close to the vest, you try to keep things secret or avoid taking risks.

Title: Idioms- Body 3
Topic: Idioms
Level: Advanced
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/569.html

Title: Australian Rhyming Slang 2
Topic: Cockney Rhyming Slang
Level: Advanced
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/570.html

Title: Which or Where?
Topic: Relative Clauses and Pronouns
Level: Intermediate
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/571.html

Title: Lend & Borrow
Topic: Vocabulary
Level: Beginner
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/572.html

Title: Idioms- Animals 2
Topic: Idioms
Level: Advanced
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/573.html

Title: Parts of Speech
Topic: Parts of Speech
Level: Beginner
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/574.html

Title: Parts of Speech 2
Topic: Parts of Speech
Level: Beginner
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/575.html

Title: Idioms- Furniture and Household Fittings
Topic: Idioms
Level: Advanced
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/576.html

Title: Test Your Spelling 3
Topic: General
Level: Intermediate
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/577.html

Title: Phrasal Verbs- In
Topic: Phrasal Verbs
Level: Intermediate
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/578.html

Title: Over
Topic: Phrasal Verbs
Level: Intermediate
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/579.html

Title: Phrasal Verbs- Finish
Topic: Phrasal Verbs
Level: Intermediate
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/580.html

Title: Phrasal Verbs - Take 2
Topic: Phrasal Verbs
Level: Intermediate
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/581.html

Title: Phrasal Verbs - Back
Topic: Phrasal Verbs
Level: Intermediate
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/582.html

Title: Idioms- Sport 2
Topic: Idioms
Level: Advanced
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/583.html

Title: Idioms- Work
Topic: Idioms
Level: Advanced
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/584.html

Title: Easily Confused Words
Topic: Vocabulary
Level: Advanced
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/585.html

Title: Phrasal Verbs - Roll
Topic: Phrasal Verbs
Level: Intermediate
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/586.html

Title: Children and Babies
Topic: Idioms
Level: Advanced
Information: Choose the correct answer.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/587.html

Title: Mr. Mrs. Miss Ms
Topic: Vocabulary
Level: Beginner
Information: Select whether the full name in each statement below should include Mr, Miss, Mrs or Ms.
Link: https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/612.html

The largest public power company in the U.S. is launching a program to develop and fund new small modular nuclear reactors as part of its strategy to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Have you been interested in taking a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), but don't know where to find one or how to get started?

Class Central is a free MOOC aggregator that provides links to a wide variety of courses from universities like Stanford, MIT, Harvard, etc. (offered via Coursera, Udacity, edX, NovoED, and others).

The site allows you to search for MOOCs according to the course name, instructor, subject, start date, length of course, and course provider. Class Central also offers a "MOOC Tracker" service that will send you email notifications when a MOOC that is of interest to you becomes available.

MOOCs are a great idea for your students if your school doesn't offer advanced courses for a particular subject and they are also great resources for instructors and others. Try one and I think you will find out how they can be a benefit to you. I did!

John Kleeman shared on Questionmark's Blog the ten benefits of quizzes and tests in educational practice as proposed by psychology experts Henry L. Roediger III, Adam L. Putnam and Megan A. Smith in a recent paper, “Ten Benefits of Testing and Their Applications to Educational Practice”.

Here is John's summary and understanding of the paper:

1. Retrieval aids later retention. There is clear evidence from psychological experiments that practicing retrieval of something after learning it, for instance by taking a quiz or test, makes you more likely to retain it for the long term.
2. Testing identifies gaps in knowledge.
3. Testing causes students to learn more from the next study episode. Essentially it reduces forgetting which makes the next related study area more productive.
4. Testing produces better organization of knowledge by helping the brain organize material in clusters to allow better retrieval.
5. Testing improves transfer of knowledge to new contexts. There are several experiments referenced in the paper where tests and quizzes help transfer and application of knowledge.
6. Testing can facilitate retrieval of material that was not tested. Surprisingly there are circumstances where quizzes or tests, particularly if delayed, can help people retrieve/retain information that was related to that asked but not actually asked in the questions.
7. Testing improves metacognitive monitoring – by giving students scores or self-assessments, they can better predict their knowledge and be more confident about what they know and what they need to know.
8. Testing prevents interference from prior material when learning new material. If you have a test after learning one set of material before learning another set of material, it can make it less likely that the second session will
9. Testing provides feedback to instructors and lets them know what is learned or what is not.
10. Frequent testing encourages students to study. Having frequent quizzes and tests motivates study and reduces procrastination.

 You can see their paper “Ten Benefits of Testing and Their Applications to Educational Practice” in Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Vol 55. It’s also available for download on Professor Roediger’s publications page, in the list of papers from 2011, at http://psych.wustl.edu/memory/publications/.

I just read a great post by John Kleeman on the Questionmark Blog that I wanted to share with you concerning test anxiety. We have previously discussed test anxiety (here and here), but it is interesting to read Kleeman's take on the difference in test anxiety between online and paper and pencil assessments. Here is the post in its entirety:

I’ve been reading about test anxiety (concern or worry by participants sufficiently severe that it impacts test performance). I’d like to share some tips on how online assessment sponsors can reduce its likelihood.

When creating and delivering tests, you seek to accurately measure knowledge, skills or abilities. Often you want to check competence or mastery for workplace or compliance reasons. If some of your participants have severe test anxiety, this doesn’t just disrupt them, it makes your test less accurate in measuring real performance. You might end up failing someone who is competent, just because anxiety affects their test performance.

Many studies (for example here) report that online tests cause less test anxiety than paper ones. Here are some suggestions on reducing test anxiety:

1. Some people have anxiety about a test because they haven’t mastered the subject being tested. Provide a clear description of what each test covers before the time of the test, and provide study resources or instruction to allow people to master the subject.

2. Test anxiety can also feed on unknowns, for instance on unfamiliarity with the test or believing untrue myths. Share information about the test’s purpose and what you do to make it fair. Also share information about the content: how many questions, how the scoring works, how much time is available and so on. Explain what happens if someone fails – for instance is it possible to retake?

3. It’s hugely valuable to provide practice tests that participants can try out before the real test. This will tell them where they are strong and weak and allow them to gain confidence in a less stressful environment prior to the real test. See my article 10 reasons why practice tests help make perfect exams for other reasons why practice tests are useful.

4. Give participants an opportunity to practice using the same type of computer, mouse, keyboard and user interface as will be used for the real test. This familiarizes them with the test environment and reduces potential anxiety, particularly for those who are less computer literate. If you are using Questionmark to deliver the test, make practice sessions available with the same template settings and the same types of questions. (Sometimes this is done with a fun quiz on a different topic, just to get people accustomed to the user interface.)

5. If you provide guidance to test-takers, point to self-help resources for people who have test anxiety. ETS provide a good resource here for instance. Another resource from the University of California is here.

6. Some self-help resources suggest breathing exercises or other exercises people can follow to reduce tension for people who are anxious about tests. Provide an environment where this is practical and train your test administrators and proctors about the prevalence of test anxiety.

7. If you have a way of encouraging test takers to sleep, take exercise and eat healthily, all these things aid a rational approach to taking a test and reducing anxiety.

8. If it works in your programme, consider whether it’s worth having a series of tests rather than a single test, so there is not a single “make or break” moment for participants. A series of tests can have other benefits too. It makes cheating harder, and by spreading out learning and revision, it can make participants retain the learning better.

9. People with disabilities are more likely to suffer test anxiety. Ensure that your program of accommodations takes this into account. See this helpful article on reducing test anxiety for people with disabilities.

10. Above all, create good quality, fair tests. If you follow good practice in authoring your questions and assessments, then there is less to be anxious about, as the test will be a good measure of performance. See Questionmark’s white paper “Five Steps to Better Tests” for some helpful advice in creating tests.

Many Questionmark users provide very effective practice quizzes and tests which help reduce test anxiety, and I hope these tips are helpful, too.

I’d love to hear additional input or suggestions.

Thanks again to John and Questionmark for allowing us to share their thoughts on assessment!

The CareerTech Testing Center (CTTC) works closely with instructors, industry representatives and credentialing entities to identify and develop assessments and assessment preparation materials that are aligned with recognized industry standards.

Study guides are designed to help students prepare for the assessments. Each study guide includes:

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

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

1. presentation
2. screencasting
3. video creation
4. file storage
5. whiteboard
6. PDF annotation
7. audio recording
8. note-taking
9. blogging
10. book creation
11. comic apps
12. digital storytelling apps
13. apps for grading
14. mindmapping apps
15. portfolio apps
16. apps for creating posters
17. apps for creating timelines
18. apps for creating word clouds
19. speech-to-text apps

 Educational Technology and Mobile Learning also provides a list of 10 indispensable Android apps for teachers. The list is curated from the top trending apps in the education section of Google Play store. The listed apps are as follows:

1. Book Creator
2. Handouts
3. Remind
4. Google Keep
5. ClassDojo
6. Nearpod
7. Socrative Teacher
8. Edmodo
9. Google Classroom
10. Explain Everything

New Lesson Plans Entry: 'Family gift suggestions: 'too' and 'enough' practice' has just been added to the Lesson Plans area of UsingEnglish.com.

New Lesson Plans Entry: 'Requests in conversation practice' has just been added to the Lesson Plans area of UsingEnglish.com.

This technical article discusses the essentials of transformer differential protection and restricted earth fault protection schemes, contrasting the two and elaborating on why the latter is necessary. Furthermore, it reveals the outcomes of stability tests performed on a 502 MVA... Read more

The post Mastering stability test of power transformer: Differential and Restricted Earth Fault (REF) protection appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.

Singer-songwriter Nick Zammuto spent most of the '00s as one half of the experimental folk duo The Books. In "Idiom Wind," working at the head of a new project, he tells the story of a man who needs to get his hands dirty.

Like it or not, hard times are in front of us, by all means. I won’t deal the hard times now, but instead, I’ll shortly say that it’s all about the energy resources and who owns them. It’s also not... Read more

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This article aims to provide a comprehensive guide to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the isolation, maintenance, and restoration of a 132kV GIS Transformer Bay and Line Bay. It will delve into detailed safety checks, specific steps to be... Read more

The post How to: Isolation, maintenance, and restoration of a 132kV GIS Transformer Bay and Line Bay appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.

Substation earthing, or grounding, is essential for electrical safety and reliability in substations, which are critical nodes in the power distribution network. Proper earthing ensures safe dissipation of fault currents into the ground, preventing dangerous voltage build-ups that could cause... Read more

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The objective of the site inspection and test plan for testing and commissioning is to establish a comprehensive framework for conducting site testing and commissioning activities. It’s as simple as that! The site testing and commissioning of a transmission or... Read more

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At the beginning of my career in 2005, I had the opportunity to work at a 500kV substation with the National Transmission and Dispatch Company in Pakistan. During this time, I was introduced to various tools and techniques that were... Read more

The post Mechanical Check, Visual Inspection and Electrical Test of the Substation Grounding System (2) appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.