This volume provides a state of the art overview of Online Intercultural Exchange (OIE) in university education and demonstrates how educators can use OIE to address current challenges in university contexts such as internationalisation, virtual mobility and intercultural foreign language education. Since the 1990s, educators have been using virtual interaction to bring their classes into contact with geographically distant partner classes to create opportunities for authentic communication, meaningful collaboration and first-hand experience of working and learning with partners from other cultural backgrounds. Online exchange projects of this nature can contribute to the development of learner autonomy, linguistic accuracy, intercultural awareness, intercultural skills and electronic literacies. Online Intercultural Exchange has now reached a stage where it is moving beyond individual classroom initiatives and is assuming a role as a major tool for internationalization, intercultural development and virtual mobility in universities around the globe. This volume reports qualitative and quantitative findings on the impact of OIE on universities in Europe and elsewhere and offers comprehensive guidance on using OIE at both pedagogical and technological levels. It provides theoretically-informed accounts of Online Intercultural Exchanges which will relevant to researchers in Computer Assisted Language Learning, Computer-Mediated Communication, or Virtual Education. Finally, contributors offer a collection of practitioner-authored and practically-oriented case studies for the benefit of teachers of foreign languages or in other subject areas who wish to engage in developing the digital literacy and intercultural competences of their learners.

This volume provides a state of the art overview of Online Intercultural Exchange (OIE) in university education and demonstrates how educators can use OIE to address current challenges in university contexts such as internationalisation, virtual mobility and intercultural foreign language education. Since the 1990s, educators have been using virtual interaction to bring their classes into contact with geographically distant partner classes to create opportunities for authentic communication, meaningful collaboration and first-hand experience of working and learning with partners from other cultural backgrounds. Online exchange projects of this nature can contribute to the development of learner autonomy, linguistic accuracy, intercultural awareness, intercultural skills and electronic literacies. Online Intercultural Exchange has now reached a stage where it is moving beyond individual classroom initiatives and is assuming a role as a major tool for internationalization, intercultural development and virtual mobility in universities around the globe. This volume reports qualitative and quantitative findings on the impact of OIE on universities in Europe and elsewhere and offers comprehensive guidance on using OIE at both pedagogical and technological levels. It provides theoretically-informed accounts of Online Intercultural Exchanges which will relevant to researchers in Computer Assisted Language Learning, Computer-Mediated Communication, or Virtual Education. Finally, contributors offer a collection of practitioner-authored and practically-oriented case studies for the benefit of teachers of foreign languages or in other subject areas who wish to engage in developing the digital literacy and intercultural competences of their learners.

"Journey to the Center of My Being" is a remarkable account of a deep and personal voyage across the American West in a 27-foot motorhome. Spiritual, mythological, transformatory. Escaping from a life of anguish, anger and guilt, the author drove over 10,000 miles from Santa Cruz in California across Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon in search of a deeper spiritual meaning to existence. He entered caves, performed fire dances, circle ceremonies, dream work, walking meditations, mountain top rituals, and endured months of intense inner questioning that led, ultimately, to a more profound self-knowledge. He discovered a simple, direct and profoundly spiritual connection with the natural world and a deep sense of unity with all around him that was free of gods or hells, of karma or sin, of prophets, gurus or holy books, of anguish or self-righteousness, but rested solely in his direct communion with the energy of the earth and its countless wonderful forms.

Terrorist bombs blast the new casinos at La Guardia. USAF jets roar low over a devastated Queens. Riots and tear gas fill the ravaged streets of Park Slope. Warships blockade the East River. National guardsmen and marines assemble in Manhattan and Rhode Island, preparing to invade, as the President and the Governor of New York warn of another Cuba - all because, thirty years earlier, in a dramatic decision, the Supreme Court found in favor of the Native Americans of Long Island. To right the wrongs of centuries, it turned the whole island into a reservation called "Mehtanawack." Into this battle to the death between two violently opposing social systems step eco-journalist John Kellis and photographer Jessica Begay. We know they have been sent to the island to conduct an undercover operation, but for which side? And are they even on the same side? This is the story of two people falling in love within the clash of two very different ideologies and social systems. It is a life-and-death struggle between two diametrically opposed political and economic creeds. It is a battle to the death that will shape the future of America, so the stakes are enormous.

We are spiritual people intimately connected with the animals, plants, and earth, as well with each other, and many of us want to protect our environment and create a better society. But why? What basic principles will enable us to build caring, sharing, and responsible communities in which the earth can flourish and we can all feel we belong? How can we develop a new world view and a new way of life for us all? A world view based on a genuine spiritual connection with all things, but unfettered by religions, ideologies, or gods. A way of life based upon intimate harmony with all around us. If we are part of all things, how should we act? What type of society should we create? "You Are All" presents ideas and suggestions for a new set of spiritual values, moral values, and social values based upon a deep sense of our fundamental connectedness with nature that does not involve heavens or hells, karma or rebirth, but only our own direct communion with the universal energy of all.

A passionate love affair across three continents and three decades, swirling in the mists of the British miners' strike, the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and the fight against Islamic fundamentalism. Two lovers are caught in the machinations of the secret services of four countries, their lives torn apart in the interests of global strategy and the war against terror. This is the story of how their love proves timeless and without limit as they finally refind themselves and are freed from the terrible injustice inflicted upon them. Their love is triumphant, even as the struggle for peace and justice in the world limps on.

A murder on an exotic South Pacific island. A colony of political and religious exiles, cut off from the rest of the world in some peculiar social experiment. Overseen by manipulative French gendarmes, they play out the conflicts and struggles of the mid-20th century as weird games and fantasies. Amandla Salaam is a 50-year-old woman caught up in a poisonous paradise. Pursued by her maniac husband, haunted by memories of her mother and children, she searches for inner peace and meaning to her life. The schooner is late; the islanders are angry; and the starving exiles are on the point of revolt. We enter a scene of superficial calm and tolerance, but are swiftly dragged into a nightmare world of manhunts, plots and fanatical insanity. Amandla Salaam is an allegory of the 20th century and of mankind's self-imposed exile from its spirit and humanity.

Lewis 'Lew' B. Castner, my maternal grandfather was a night watchman/boilerman when he passed away at the age of 75 on March 11, 1963. Lew was an ordinary, hard-working man, neither financially wealthy nor famous. However, Lew was wealthy with friends and family, the rooms at the funeral home in Belvidere were packed with people. Lew's funeral service provided inspiration for this book. The pastor gave a short sermon; he then asked if anyone cared to tell a tale about my grandfather. A number of people, one after another, stood up and told a story about Lew. I was eight, and wished that I had a pad and a pen to record the stories, regretting that they would be lost to memory. The compilation of these stories, as poems, is to preserve them from being lost to memory. Bloodroot was the name of a plant displayed in my botany class at West Virginia Wesleyan College. The stem when cut resembles bleeding. In regards to genealogical bloodlines I concluded that the term Bloodroot would be a good title for this collection of mostly family stories. My daughter Beth Ann suggested the title 101 Dadmations, and the two were combined: Bloodroot: 101 Dadmations.

The advent of networked digital technologies, in enabling language learners to collaborate and create content online, has given rise to new ways in which learners are able to express their autonomy. Learner Autonomy and Web 2.0 explores tensions between the "classical" definitions of learner autonomy and the learning dynamics observed in specific online contexts. Some of the contributions argue for the emergence of actual new forms of autonomy, others consider that this is merely a case of "old wine in new bottles." In this volume, autonomy is seen as emerging and developing in a complex relationship with L2 proficiency and other competencies. The volume takes an expansive view of what is meant by Web 2.0 and, as a result, a wide diversity of environments is featured, ranging from adaptive learning systems, through mobile apps, to social networking sites and - almost inevitably - MOOCs. Paradoxically, autonomy is seen to flourish in some quite restricted contexts, while in less constrained environments learners experience difficulty in dealing with a requirement to self-regulate. Individual chapters run the gamut of age groups, learning activities and online environments.The stage for all of them is set by an exchange in which David Little and Steve Thorne discuss the evolution of the concept of language learner autonomy, from its origins in the era of self-access resource centres to its more recent instantiations in online (and offline) learning communities. Subsequent contributors include an exploration how autonomy can be exercised even within the constraints of adaptive learning systems, a discussion of the metacognitive operations engaged in by autonomous adult learners in a French/Australian teletandem exchange, a look at an ecological paradigm of autonomy to conceptualise its emergence in relation to the use of mobile apps by primary- and secondary-level language learners in Canada, a study of how learner autonomy with a markedly social and empathic dimension drives collaboration in a Facebook-based collaborative writing project, a study of the autonomy stances adopted by different groups of learners using the Busuu online language exchange platform, an analysis of the difficulties encountered by a group of trainee language teachers in engaging with a range of language MOOCs and finally a study of how autonomy is experienced by advanced learners of English with a preference for online informal learning based on gaming and streamed video.

Focusing on the use of the UEFI Shell and its recently released formal specification, this book unlocks a wide range of usage models which can help people best utilize the shell solutions. This text also expands on the obvious intended utilization of the shell and explains how it can be used in various areas such as security, networking, configuration, and other anticipated uses such as manufacturing, diagnostics, etc. Among other topics, Harnessing the UEFI Shell demonstrates how to write Shell scripts, how to write a Shell application, how to use provisioning options and more. Since the Shell is also a UEFI component, the book will make clear how the two things interoperate and how both Shell developers as well as UEFI developers can dip into the other's field to further expand the power of their solutions. Harnessing the UEFI Shell is authored by the three chairs of the UEFI working sub-teams, Michael Rothman (Intel, chair of the UEFI Configuration and UEFI Shell sub-teams), Vincent Zimmer (Intel, chair of the UEFI networking sub-team and security sub-team), and Tim Lewis (Insyde Software, chair of the UEFI security sub-team). This book is perfect for any OEMs that ship UEFI-based solutions (which is all of the MNCs such as IBM, Dell, HP, Apple, etc.), software developers who are focused on delivering solutions targeted to manufacturing, diagnostics, hobbyists, or stand-alone kiosk environments.

Language learning strategies have been a topic of research for roughly three decades. Broadly speaking, that research has focused on classroom tuition, predominantly at secondary level. Increasingly, however, language learning occurs in independent settings, whether at distance, on Institution-Wide Language Programmes (IWLPs), or in virtual environments. Success in independent language learning is achieved by autonomous individuals with a capacity for self-regulation. Yet we still know relatively little about the specific means they use to learn effectively, whether in terms of the affective strategies they employ to sustain motivation, the metacognitive strategies required for planning, monitoring and evaluating their learning, or the specific cognitive strategies applied to difficult learning tasks. These are all discussed and evaluated in Language Learning Strategies in Independent Settings.

Implementing Positive Behavior Support Systems in Early Childhood and Elementary Settings provides the information preschool and elementary teachers and administrators need to understand schoolwide positive behavior support (SW-PBS) systems and what it takes to implement this type of system in their schools. Schoolwide positive behavior support is a prevention-based approach for teaching and supporting appropriate behavior in all children. The book assists educators in applying this system by presenting the foundational principles of SW-PBS and effective core practices, as well as extensive research underlying this approach. Beginning with a discussion of the foundational principals in Part One of the book, the author describes each core practice and includes figures, tables, and case examples illustrating how schools can implement each specific practice. Providing clarification on the required administrator and staff training, the book also outlines the commitment, funding, and leadership necessary for effective implementation and illustrates throughout the positive results of schoolwide positive behavior support for individuals and schools.

** Winner of the British Sports Book Awards 2014 New Writer of the Year ** Where there is hope there can be redemption. Meet Adrien Niyonshuti, a member of the Rwandan cycling team. Adrien was seven years old when he lost his family in the 1994 genocide that tore Rwanda apart. Almost twenty years later he has a shot at representing his country at the Olympics. Meet Jock Boyer, the coach of Team Rwanda. One of the top American cyclists of all time, Jock recognises the innate talent for endurance that the Rwandans possess. A man with a dark past, Jock is in need of a second chance. Meet Tom Ritchey, the visionary inventor of the mountain bike and the U.S. money man looking to recover from a profound personal crisis. In The Land of Second Chances, Tim Lewis charts the incredible true story of the Rwandan cycling team as they overcome impossible odds to inspire a nation.

Language learning strategies have been a topic of research for roughly three decades. Broadly speaking, that research has focused on classroom tuition, predominantly at secondary level. Increasingly, however, language learning occurs in independent settings, whether at distance, on Institution-Wide Language Programmes (IWLPs), or in virtual environments. Success in independent language learning is achieved by autonomous individuals with a capacity for self-regulation. Yet we still know relatively little about the specific means they use to learn effectively, whether in terms of the affective strategies they employ to sustain motivation, the metacognitive strategies required for planning, monitoring and evaluating their learning, or the specific cognitive strategies applied to difficult learning tasks. These are all discussed and evaluated in Language Learning Strategies in Independent Settings.