scholarly journals An Exploration of Learning Results and Curricula Gaps Within an Online Grandfamilies Certificate Program

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 70-71
Author(s):  
Jennifer Crittenden
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Continuing Education ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Program Content ◽  
Initial Program ◽  
Individual Program ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
Training Opportunities

Abstract Professionals who work with grandparents raising grandchildren have cross-cutting training needs that span content in gerontology, social services, child welfare and program development. To address these needs, a unique, asynchronous, online continuing education program was launched by the UMaine Center on Aging. To-date the program has 177 individual program completers with learners from across the U.S. and Hong Kong that are affiliated with a diverse set of organizations and perform a wide range of professional and lay functions. Participant data indicate that the program has appealed to a wide variety of learners including participants who serve caregivers generally (60.8%) and grandparents raising grandchildren specifically (81%). A small majority (55.6%) of the agency-based learners reported serving, on average, more than 40 grandfamilies annually. Self-reported learning levels were notable ranging from a mean low of 3.46 out of 4 points (N = 157, SD = 0.59) for the volunteer recruitment and mentorship programming module to a mean high of 3.79 (N = 167 ,SD = 0.45) for the caregiver self-care module. Evaluation results from the first seven learner cohorts underscore the efficacy of program content as well as the utility of performing an initial program needs assessment to guide curriculum development. Practice implications for future continuing education efforts targeting grandfamilies professionals and lay leaders include: the need for easily accessible online education in combination with supplemental training opportunities addressing topics such as the long-term impact of substance use disorder and trauma combined with locally relevant content on grandfamilies and legal resources.

scholarly journals Early Dropout Prediction in MOOCs through Supervised Learning and Hyperparameter Optimization

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (14) ◽  
pp. 1701
Author(s):  
Theodor Panagiotakopoulos ◽  
Sotiris Kotsiantis ◽  
Georgios Kostopoulos ◽  
Omiros Iatrellis ◽  
Achilles Kameas
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Machine Learning Algorithms ◽  
Supervised Machine Learning ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Student Dropout ◽  
Wide Range

Over recent years, massive open online courses (MOOCs) have gained increasing popularity in the field of online education. Students with different needs and learning specificities are able to attend a wide range of specialized online courses offered by universities and educational institutions. As a result, large amounts of data regarding students’ demographic characteristics, activity patterns, and learning performances are generated and stored in institutional repositories on a daily basis. Unfortunately, a key issue in MOOCs is low completion rates, which directly affect student success. Therefore, it is of utmost importance for educational institutions and faculty members to find more effective practices and reduce non-completer ratios. In this context, the main purpose of the present study is to employ a plethora of state-of-the-art supervised machine learning algorithms for predicting student dropout in a MOOC for smart city professionals at an early stage. The experimental results show that accuracy exceeds 96% based on data collected during the first week of the course, thus enabling effective intervention strategies and support actions.

scholarly journals Putting them on a strong spiritual path: Indigenous doulas responding to the needs of Indigenous mothers and communities

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Cidro ◽  
Caroline Doenmez ◽  
Stephanie Sinclair ◽  
Alexandra Nychuk ◽  
Larissa Wodtke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Trauma Informed Care ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Post Partum Period ◽  
The Right

Abstract Objective In the past few years, increasing numbers of Indigenous doula collectives have been forming across Canada. Indigenous doulas provide continuous, culturally appropriate support to Indigenous women during pregnancy, birth, and the post-partum period. This support is critical to counter systemic medical racism and socioeconomic barriers that Indigenous families disproportionately face. This paper analyzes interviews with members of five Indigenous doula collectives to demonstrate their shared challenges, strategies, and missions. Methods Qualitative interviews were conducted with members of five Indigenous doula collectives across Canada in 2020. Interviews were transcribed and returned to participants for their approval. Approved transcripts were then coded by all members of the research team to ascertain the dominant themes emerging across the interviews. Results Two prominent themes emerged in the interviews. The first theme is “Indigenous doulas responding to community needs.” Participants indicated that responding to community needs involves harm reduction and trauma-informed care, supporting cultural aspects of birthing and family, and helping clients navigate socioeconomic barriers. The second theme is “Indigenous doulas building connections with mothers.” Participants’ comments on providing care to mothers emphasize the importance of advocacy in healthcare systems, boosting their clients’ confidence and skills, and being the “right” doula for their clients. These two inter-related themes stem from Indigenous doulas’ efforts to counter dynamics in healthcare and social services that can be harmful to Indigenous families, while also integrating cultural teachings and practices. Conclusion This paper illustrates that Indigenous doula care responds to a wide range of issues that affect Indigenous women’s experiences of pregnancy, birth, and the post-partum period. Through building strong, trusting, and non-judgemental connections with mothers and responding to community needs, Indigenous doulas play a critical role in countering medical racism in hospital settings and advancing the resurgence of Indigenous birthing sovereignty.

scholarly journals Facilitation strategies for enhancing the learning and engagement of online students

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 101-118
Author(s):  
Tracey Muir ◽  
◽  
Tracy Douglas ◽  
Allison Trimble ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Online Students ◽  
Tertiary Sector ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Instructor Presence ◽  
The Impact

The opening up of online education in the Australian tertiary sector has made higher education accessible for a wide range of students, including those living in rural and regional areas. While student numbers continue to grow as a result of this opportunity, there are increasing concerns regarding low student retention and progression rates for online students in comparison with on-campus students. Reasons for this vary, however, online students report a sense of isolation and disconnection with their studies highlighting the need for educators to utilise effective facilitation to enhance student connections to an online community. In this paper, we investigated facilitation strategies using two case studies. This illustrated how two online instructors used design-based research to evaluate the impact of facilitation strategies on instructor presence, instructor connection, engagement and learning in maths education and human biology subjects. Findings indicate that focusing on social, managerial and technical facilitation strategies resulted in an increased instructor presence and active involvement, which in turn were influential in motivating students to engage with learning online. The findings have implications for higher education providers and instructors who are tasked with engaging online students. This identifies the importance of targeted online facilitation to enhance learner-instructor and learner-content engagement.

scholarly journals Creating Additional Census Income Topics from Linked Administrative Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
James Mowle
Keyword(s):  
Income Distribution ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Administrative Data ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Community Services ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Australian Community ◽  
Linked Administrative Data ◽  
Australian Bureau Of Statistics ◽  
Integration Project

IntroductionThe Census is the largest statistical collection undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), with its data critical to informing the planning and delivery of Government and community services. While the Census measure of income supports a wide range of analysis, demand exists for additional income topics to complement and extend the range of socio economic analysis that can be undertaken. The ABS has recently developed three experimental income topics for the 2016 Census using linked administrative data: main source of income; main source of government payments; and previous financial year income. Objectives and ApproachThis research utilised administrative data integrated by the ABS for the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP). Taxation data from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and social security data from the Department of Social Services (DSS) were used in conjunction with the 2016 Census data to derive the additional topics. ResultsOverall, the three measures compare relatively closely to similar measures from the ABS Survey of Income and Housing (SIH). The ‘Main source of income’ and ‘Main source of government payments’ measures exhibit similar distributions to those from the SIH. The ‘Previous financial year income’ measures compare more closely with Census and SIH at the higher end of the income distribution, with some differences apparent at the lower end of the income distribution. Conclusion / ImplicationsThis work demonstrates the potential to supplement and enhance existing Census topics with linked administrative data. Further research, development and consultation with data users and the Australian community is needed.

USLUGE HUMANITARNIH ORGANIZACIJA

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dragan Bataveljić ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Basic Program ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
State Sector ◽  
Humanitarian Organizations ◽  
Government Sector ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Countries In Transition

The author of this work point to the fact that humanitarian organizations are the part of non-profit sector which are established and work in order to achieve general welfare of the individuals, particular social groups or society in whole. What is important to emphasize is that they belong to so called, voluntary sector whose work is transparent and is based on the laws of the country in which they operate. Each humanitarian organization has its own strategic plan, which as a written document, is aimed at achieving basic program goals. The monitoring of the implementation of adopted projects and the control of the management process are the mandatory (final) phases of their work. Humanitarian organizations as the part of non-state sector today play increasing role in offering services in various fields of social life to a wide range of beneficiaries. 0 It is interesting to note that these organizations are more present in developing countries and the countries in transition, particularly in the field of social services. The grounds for this situation can be found in the decentralization process and new, modified apprehension of the role of the state in the work of the growing number humanitarian organizations and movements. Namely, decentralization allows the delegation of powers and tasks from the central to local government levels and this is the main reason for rapid expansion of non-government sector on the global level and increasing participation of non-government sector in service providing.

Iterative Usability Evaluation for an Online Educational Web Portal

2012 ◽  
pp. 271-289
Author(s):  
Xin C. Wang ◽  
Borchuluun Yadamsuren ◽  
Anindita Paul ◽  
DeeAnna Adkins ◽  
George Laur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Continuing Education ◽  
Usability Evaluation ◽  
Multiple User ◽  
Education Environment ◽  
Simultaneous Testing ◽  
Web Developers ◽  
Usability Evaluation Methods

Online education is a popular paradigm for promoting continuing education for adult learners. However, only a handful of studies have addressed usability issues in the online education environment. Particularly, few studies have integrated the multifaceted usability evaluation into the lifecycle of developing such an environment. This paper will show the integration of usability evaluation into the development process of an online education center. Multifaceted usability evaluation methods were applied at four different stages of the MU Extension web portal’s development. These methods were heuristic evaluation, focus group interview and survey, think-aloud interviewing, and multiple-user simultaneous testing. The results of usability studies at each stage enhanced the development team’s understanding of users’ difficulties, needs, and wants, which served to guide web developers’ subsequent decisions.

Web-Based Information Science Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 164-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Schisa ◽  
Anne McKinney ◽  
Debbie Faires ◽  
Bruce Kingma ◽  
Rae Anne Montague ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Science Education ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Continuing Education ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Administrative Division ◽  
Education Model

Web-based Information Science Education (WISE) is a collaborative distance education model that increases the quality, access and diversity of online education opportunities. The WISE Consortium is a group of graduate Library and Information Science (LIS) programs founded on three pillars: quality, pedagogy, and collaborations (Montague & Pluzhenskaia, 2007). This chapter outlines the approach to achieving these three pillars and the assessment mechanisms used to measure the consortium’s success. Highlights include WISE Pedagogy, the administrative division of WISE dedicated to providing faculty development resources for online education, and WISE+, an initiative that supports partnerships enabling WISE schools and LIS associations to develop courses together suitable for graduate credit and continuing education. While the WISE consortium is specific to LIS education, the model could be applied more broadly to other disciplines.

7. Devolution and the Territorial Constitution

Public Law ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Elliott ◽  
Robert Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Governmental Power ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Single Set ◽  
Governance Arrangements

This chapter focuses on the UK’s territorial constitution, that is, the governance arrangements that result in power being dispersed rather than concentrated in a single set of national institutions. Devolution involved creating new governments in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales, and investing them with powers that were previously exercised at a UK level. Devolution in the UK is therefore intended to be part of the answer to questions that must be confronted in all political systems: where should governmental power lie? And at what level should laws be enacted and the business of government transacted? Local government plays a key role in decision-making, policy formulation, and the delivery of public services across a wide range of areas, including education, housing, personal social services, transport, and planning control.

scholarly journals Dental Care Provision during Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic: The Importance of Continuous Support for Vulnerable Patients

Medicina ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arkadiusz Dziedzic ◽  
Marta Tanasiewicz ◽  
Monika Tysiąc-Miśta
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Care Provision ◽  
Dental Services ◽  
Vast Number ◽  
Adequate Care ◽  
Specialist Services ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Global Health Care ◽  
Long Term Impact

As a result of the ongoing 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the medical and dental services across the world have to tackle unprecedented situations, providing essential care and professional support. The global health care crisis caused directly by the vast number of severe COVID-19 cases, and indirectly by reduced access to health care, as well as by limited secondary care provision, had a major impact on specialist services, and subsequently the deterioration of medical and dental conditions, particularly in vulnerable persons. In particular, at present, special care dentistry seems to play a unique role, dealing with a wide range of patients with underlying medical conditions and co-morbidities, phobic individuals, and persons with learning/physical disabilities. The effective adaptation of health services to the current new reality, based on an empathetic approach and recent guidelines, would allow us to maintain an adequate care provision, minimizing the long-term impact of the pandemic.

Aging, Place, and Technology

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1373-1389 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Satariano ◽  
Andrew E. Scharlach ◽  
David Lindeman
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Field Testing ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Economic Barriers ◽  
Older Populations ◽  
Monitoring Devices

Objective: To review the range of promising technologies (e.g., smart phones, remote monitoring devices) designed to enhance aging in place; identify challenges for implementation of those technologies; and recommend ways to improve access to technologies in older populations. Method: A narrative review of research, practice, and policies from multiple fields, including information science, gerontology, engineering, housing and social services, health care and public health. Results: Despite a wide range of emerging and current technologies, there are significant challenges for implementation, including an uneven evidence base, economic barriers, and educational and ergonomic issues that adversely affect many older adults. Discussion: Recommendations for future development and adoption include improving the evidence base through field-testing of “packages” of devices in diverse populations of older adults; development of innovative funding mechanisms involving multidisciplinary teams, older adults, and caregivers; and promotion of safety and security in the use of these technologies in older populations.

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