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Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) help the learners to take control of their learning. PLEs enable the learners to set their own leaning targets and manage their learning by communicating with others in the process of learning. As latest technological advancements have brought revolution in every field of life, so as in the PLEs. Modern PLEs are the integration of a number of latest technologies i.e. blogs, Wikis, RSS feeds, where content is shaped as per the individual needs and interests of the students. Focusing on these latest aspects of the PLEs, University of South Australia initiated a three year new learning platform project in 2010, called LearnOnline, which will replace the University's current online teaching environment UniSAnet. LearnOnline was launched with a vision to foster richer learning through promoting students' active involvement in their courses and involving the students in a deeper learning experience. LearnOnline is built on modular approach and consists of different components i.e. ePortfolio, Course Outline, Lecture Recording, Copyright Monitoring, Student Email, Assessment and Feedback, Virtual Classroom, Course and Teacher Evaluation. Each component is developed separately and is fully independent. This methodology is helping the incremental implementation of the LearnOnline. As soon as a component is completed, after testing, it becomes the part of LearnOnline. In this paper, the author explains the features and workings of LearnOnline in detail and also evaluates its design methodologies.

published_or_final_version ; Social Work and Social Administration ; Doctoral ; Doctor of Philosophy

Muslim attitudes toward violence have been reshaped in light of the colonial context since the 18th and 19th centuries, and in response to regional and world-changing events of the contemporary period. This volume shows the diversity of approaches to violence in Islamic thought, avoiding the limiting characterisations of Islam being inherently 'violent' or 'peaceful'. It shows how ideas of 'justified violence' – grounded in Islamic theological and juristic traditions – reoccur throughout history, up to the contemporary period. Chapters on earlier events provide context for contemporary debates on violence, showing how traditional legal and theological ideas (such as the sovereignty of God's law and peace treaties) are used to both legitimise and de-legitimise violence.

Mental illness for many years has been perceived in a negative light, greatly impacting the degree of treatment-seeking behaviour, the public attitude towards mental illness, laws and policies and the negative attitudes and associations that are formed towards mental illness. Therefore the research study investigates the attitude of psychology students; given their psychological knowledge about mental illness and evaluates the attributions they make towards mental illness. Participants from different institutions in Lahore participated in this research study and attempted Implicit Association Test to assess whether psychology students are implicitly biased towards the mentally ill or not.Quantitative data were collected and statistically analyzed with the help of SPSS; Independent samples t-test, paired samples test, One-way ANOVA and Pearson Correlation were applied to analyze the data. The study concluded that regardless of knowledge and exposure, students of psychology have an implicit bias towards mental illness.

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has exposed the fragility of labour markets around the world. It might be the world's biggest emergency in terms of job losses. Increasingly, there is a huge trade-off between ensuring adequate health care for containing the coronavirus (i.e. flattening the curve) and keeping the economy afloat. This policy review highlights the implications for Pakistan's labour market as a result of the measures to contain Coronavirus. It aims to identify which segments of Pakistan's labour force are most vulnerable to be laid-off or get unemployed and how the government can ensure an effective social protection assistance for those who are the most affected. It further analyzes the government's targeting mechanism to reach out to the most vulnerable communities in the light of the Prime Minister's Stimulus Package for relief.

Introduction: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provided states and Washington D.C. the option to expand Medicaid coverage to beneficiaries with incomes up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Line. Expanded coverage went into effect in Washington D.C. on January 1, 2014. Insurance coverage, however, does not necessarily equate to access. This holds especially true for low-income, public insurance such as Medicaid as fewer providers accept this insurance. Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is important for detecting precancerous colonic lesions and preventing progression to future disease. This study compares the rate of CRC screening in appropriately aged individuals on public insurance and in their privately insured counterparts. Methods: Individuals attending an August 2015 health exposition sponsored by the Rodham Institute completed an anonymous health survey. The exposition was hosted at a community center in an urban location with a historically African American predominant population. The survey included questions on demographic information, insurance information, access to primary care, and CRC screening. Data from the survey was analyzed in a Microsoft Excel database. Insurance types were classified as public insurance (Medicaid and other District government sponsored programs) or private insurance (Blue Cross, Aetna, etc.). Surveys were excluded if specific questions of interest were left unanswered. Statistical analysis was performed using Fisher's exact test, with significance set at P<0.05. The study was approved by the university's institutional review board. Results: There were 102 participants with an average age of 42.4. Ninety-three (91.2%) identified as African American. Fifty-six (54.9%) respondents had public insurance and 28 (27.4%) had private insurance. Twenty-nine (51.8%) of those with public insurance enrolled within the past 18 months, 25 (44.6%) enrolled earlier, and 2 participants did not respond. Given the predominantly African American population and the recent CRC screening ...

In the post-9/11 period a common belief emerged that fragile states are launching pads for unprecedented and unconventional transnational threats. The rise of state fragility or state failure as a paradigm surfaced after the end of the Cold War, but their high risk factor was noticed only later. This is because increased interconnectedness allows information to spread faster and intensifies threat perceptions. This study recognizes that the idea of weak states, small states, and political decay existed before, and that the notion of state fragility has been widely used in recent years. The conventional wisdom about political decay refers to the ineffectiveness of institutions and corrupt governance structures which enfeeble the state, and which is similar to the current literature focused on domestic factors. To understand the fragility of statehood, the study answers the following research question: "Under what conditions do weak and fragile states continue to fail?" The analysis explores two core factors: endogenous and exogenous. The academic literature primarily focuses on endogenous factors, mainly political, security, economic, and social performance of states, to determine state capacity and capabilities. However, this study adds geography, or geopolitics, as an exogenous factor causing state fragility in many cases. Therefore, the study suggests a new category, "weak pivot states" in which fragility is not only the outcome of domestic factors but is also due to its geography and position as a "pivot." The evidence suggests that the impact factor of "weak pivot states" is higher than other weak and fragile states, as they are more susceptible to great power struggles. As "weak pivot states" sit at the crossroads of major and regional powers' interests, one of the findings of this dissertation demonstrates that major powers have often supported undemocratic forces, with centralized authoritarian regimes benefiting the interests of a hegemon. The reduction of the threat level requires the provision of stability and the implementation of an effective political order. The findings suggest that fragile states need to reorient their constitutions and laws so as to create opportunity of equality and inclusiveness to its populations. In addition, the dissertation recommends the creation of "spheres of socialization" at intra-state and inter-state level that will allow education for democracy towards state building and establishing accountable political systems instead of interventions in weak and fragile states; and also facilitate an integration process at sub-regional, regional and then global level to tackle the burden of geography respectively.