76. Al-Insan/The Human Being
I/We begin by the Blessed Name of Allah
The Immensely Merciful to all, The Infinitely Compassionate to everyone.
76:01
a. Was there not a time in the past when the human being was nothing even to be mentioned?!
76:02
a. Indeed, it is WE WHO created human being of a drop of the mingling of seminal and
ovarian fluid of male and female, so that WE may test him during his lifetime.
b. Then WE enabled him with hearing and seeing and intellect.
76:03
a. And WE guided him on to the Right Path
b. to see whether he be grateful by following the Right Path, or be ungrateful by straying off the Right Path.
76:04
a. WE have definitely prepared for the ungrateful - by being sinful - chains and shackles and
a blazing fire.
76:05
a. As for the grateful - by being righteous - they will drink from cups containing a mixture of camphor/musk -
76:06
a. from a spring at which the servants of Allah will drink,
b. - making it gush out abundantly.
76:07
a. The righteous are the ones who used to fulfill their vows, and
b. stand in awe of the Time the evil of which will be encompassing everyone.
76:08
a. And they - the righteous – used to give food
- to the needy, for the love of HIM,
- and also to the orphan,
- and to the captive/prisoner of war,
700 Surah 76 * Al-Insan
76:09
a. saying within themselves:
b. ‘We feed you only for the Face...
The abundance of technology nowadays is contributing to the development of learning practices. This gives learners greater opportunity to find, access, and use resources to benefit learning. Open educational resources (OER) are one of the few educational developments that emerged with technology. While it is true that there are a lot of OERs available on the internet, it is unsure how many learners are aware of their existence. This research aimed to identify how many students are aware of OERs, where they use OERs, and whether the educational institution encourages OERs. The researchers surveyed several students within the University of the Philippines Open University. The survey included learner demographics, statistics on learners' awareness and usage of OERs, learners' OER access locations, and the challenges they encounter when using OERs. The survey showed that the learners, regardless of age, are aware of OERs. They mostly access videos, research, and journals on web pages and Wikis. They find the OERs accessible and relevant, but reliability and visibility are challenging.
Development is implicit at every stage of appraisal irrespective of the approach; be it developmental (formative) or accountable (summative) (Bollington, Hopkins & West, 1993). If properly constructed and presented; the performance appraisal system can improve professional development of teachers, the management of the school, and students' learning outcomes. The focus of this study was to unpack the influences of performance appraisal on teachers' professional development. This study was conducted in one of the private schools in Karachi, Pakistan; and it involved ten participants, six appraisees, three appraisers and one reviewer. Data were collected using exploratory nature case study within the qualitative paradigm of research. Interviews and the document analysis were the major source of data collection. As a result of qualitative data analysis, the study has generated some findings related to the influence of performance appraisal on teachers' professional development. The study revealed that appraisees unanimously identified the purpose of appraisal as a summative assessment of teachers' performance for making administrative decisions such as; deciding annual increment and making teachers more accountable to school rule and regulations. The suggestions made by appraisees confirmed that the teachers did not perceive that there was a link between appraisal and the professional development of teachers. In contrast, the appraisers collectively considered performance appraisal as a tool to appreciate teachers' potentials and to identify areas for further enhancement. In addition, the findings of the study further suggest that the process of performance appraisal influences relations within teachers, and between teachers and supervisors negatively if handled in a less professional way. The findings of this study also suggest that a system of shared, informed and mutually agreed policy on performance appraisal should be developed by involving all key contributors and disseminated to all teachers to make the process clearer to all. This is also important to strengthen trust between teachers and the management of the school. The findings of this study may provide a useful insight to schools i.e. those who are in the process to introduce performance appraisal, or are reviewing their appraisal system and policies.