scholarly journals COVID-19 in Utah Valley

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-167
Author(s):  
Michael A. Owens

The second week of March 2020 presented an array of unique challenges for me both professionally and personally as I adjusted my work and home life to cope with the COVID-19 virus. I had already been ailing with what (I hoped) were seasonal allergies that left me coughing, bleary-eyed, and wondering if I might be sick with COVID-19 prior to the announcements from our university and school district that we should start self-isolating and preparing for at-home instruction. As both of my children at home are competitive gymnasts, we faced another decision about whether to keep them home from training. As my work and personal email boxes began filling with announcements from my university, my department, my children’s school, my children’s gym, and even my church and extended out-of-state family, I had to fight back a growing sense of anxiety about the outside world as I looked after my physical recovery. Staying home from work, just as a symbolic gesture, made a lot of sense to me. I’d already afflicted my colleagues with my occasional coughing from my isolated office way down the corridor, but I didn’t want to leave anything to chance. Although I presumed my odds of having COVID-19 were small after three trips to the doctor in the last month for secondary infections resulting from my allergies, who really knew? So, from my home office, I put into practice the skills I learned from doing remote instruction over the last several years. Up until the present challenge, I had tried to access my email only in the morning and afternoon. As news and instructions came in from my university and department, email communication became a near-constant distraction/source of information. Following our university’s lead, our college moved to all-remote instruction and social isolating. This meant moving to the Zoom video conferencing app. Fortunately, I was quite familiar with the app, so I didn’t have too hard a transition. However, at least a few of my colleagues had to make substantial changes to what and how they taught. Moreover, our students varied widely in how familiar and comfortable they were with the online interface. They valued our programs for their face-to-face emphasis, and now they were being asked to adjust everything about their experience within days. Moreover, most of my students are educational professionals themselves, so they were scrambling to provide direction and services to their own students. In the days following the university’s move to all-remote instruction, I participated in several instructional and organizational meetings with administrators and colleagues to ensure we were all in accord about the adjustments we would make to classes, and I spent hours on email coordinating with students and responding to their personal and professional concerns. I greatly reduced planned whole-group instruction in favor of individual consultation. I felt frustration at my students as they requested that I take my class instruction down to the basics. As I was teaching a course on qualitative research methods, I already felt I was barely touching on the tip of the iceberg as it was. How more stripped down could I get? At the same time, I was still recovering physically from (what I hoped were) my allergies, so I recognized that some of my frustration was my body demanding time to recover. To add to the challenges/opportunities of the first week into this at-home learning experiment, I had my two elementary-aged children at home with their own learning needs to consider. Even as I type, my third grader (who has an IEP) is in my office with me on i-Ready doing her daily math lesson on my university-issued iPad while my wife works with our sixth grader on her laptop. I find myself dividing my time between my third grader and my professional work, and I feel like neither is getting the attention they deserve. And yet, in the midst of the chaos, things are happening. Our children are getting more one-on-one time than they have in quite a while. They’re happy and adjusting. I wonder about their peers. My children attend a Title I school, and many of their parents and caregivers don’t have access to the same remote learning resources as they do. Many don’t have parents at home to supervise the well-organized instruction their teachers have provided (almost miraculously) via Google Classroom. It’s a strange new world in these early quarantine days, and I’m sure there are many opportunities and challenges ahead.  

Author(s):  
Cecilia Serrano-Martínez ◽  

COVID-19 has brought a number of situations such as home office, unemployment, illness, cessation of face-to-face educational activities, etc., which generate psychosocial problems and increase the social gap between people in vulnerability situation. Housing is one of the pillars that can generate greater inequalities and increase it in a confined context. The goal of this study is to know the condition of housing and the experiences of families with children under four years old during the confinement in Spain. This research analyses 83 responses received from a questionnaire carried out during the third week after the end of the alarm state. The design of this survey is based on the 682 responses collected during the first weeks of the quarantine produced by COVID-19. The families give greater value to housing, due the centrality it occupies in their daily life. This study demonstrates the need to prevent and face future crises by incorporating psychosocial measures adapted to these new realities.


Rheumatology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Donadoni ◽  
Letizia Gionfrida ◽  
Benjamin Clarke ◽  
James Galloway

Abstract Background/Aims  In an era of increasingly stretched health care resources, accompanied by pressures to deliver more care for people with long term conditions remotely, we need innovative solutions to measure disease activity. In the case of monitoring rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a robust method of capturing reliable Disease Activity Score (DAS-28) information remotely could reduce patient visits to hospitals and free up clinic space. Information would ideally be captured from a home setting by a patient. However, self-reporting of DAS-28 has limited reliability especially at moderate or high levels of disease activity. A mechanism for remotely ascertaining DAS-28 which is both accurate and precise would improve remote management for people living with RA. Methods  We undertook a study to assess patient attitudes regarding a novel remote RA monitoring platform, which uses images and video captured movements to estimate DAS-28. The study involved a semi-structured 30-minutes video interview. Participants were adults with RA living in the UK. The interviews focused on these key areas: i) an overview of their history with the condition, ii) familiarity with DAS-28, iii) relationship with the clinical team, iv) relationship with technology and telemedicine, v) feedback on the RA monitoring platform. Results  Eleven subjects participated in the study. They reported a median disease duration of 11 years (range: 4 to 35), and all had experienced flares, with 10/11 familiar with the DAS-28 prior to the study interview. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, most patients only had contact with clinicians or healthcare facilities over the phone, with only one patient having visited a hospital for a reason not directly related to RA, and one patient having no contact at all. Overall, patients expressed enthusiasm towards the RA monitoring platform and were confident that they would be able to use it at home. Access over the Internet was not perceived as a barrier, and the advantages of tracking disease progression regularly, sharing data with the consultant and saving time travelling to appointments far outweighed the disadvantages. Participants generally reported that they would most benefit from a blended interaction with the clinical team, combining face-to-face appointments with use of the platform at home rather than seeing the platform as a complete alternative to face-to-face assessment. Conclusion  This study provides the first insight into the perception and acceptance of the RA monitoring platform in a small sample of RA patients. Results are positive, and support further evaluation of the platform. Evidence to understand how technology can improve the quality of telemedicine for people with RA is urgently needed as the pandemic continues. Disclosure  F. Donadoni: None. L. Gionfrida: None. B. Clarke: None. J. Galloway: None.


2012 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary-Anne Jasinski

The Coalition for Equal Access to Education (CEAE) is a Calgary-based nonprofit organization committed to working with community, education, and government stakeholders to promote access to quality, equitable education and services for K-12 English-as-a-second-language (ESL) learners. CEAE is active in developing innovative projects, research publications, and informing policy and decision-makers on issues that affect education and services for children and youth. In addition, the organization engages in community development initiatives through literacy development support for ethnocultural children and youth, leadership training on active parental involvement, and promotion of systemic change and cultural competence. In its work to address the complex needs of ESL children, families, and the professionals who support them, the CEAE has developed Helping Children Learn at Home, a parents’ program that supports ethnocultural parents in creating healthy learning environments in the home, in understanding better and addressing their young children’s learning needs, learning about the Canadian education system, and contributing to decision-making processes in schools and in the community that affects their children’s educational success. This article describes the program and the pilot session completed in February 2011. The evaluation phase included feedback from the participants, the CEAE staff, and the curriculum developers in order to produce and publish a completed version of the document, which will be available for use by other agencies.


2004 ◽  
Vol 184 (5) ◽  
pp. 448-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Kenwright ◽  
Isaac M. Marks ◽  
Lina Gega ◽  
David Mataix-Cols

SummaryIn an open study, ten people with phobia or panic disorder who could not travel repeatedly to a therapist accessed a computer-aided exposure self-help system (Fear Fighter) at home on the internet with brief therapist support by telephone. They improved significantly, and their outcome and satisfaction resembled those in patients with similar disorders who used Fear Fighter in clinics with brief face-to-face therapist support.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-166
Author(s):  
Nurul Fatehah ◽  
Teddy Dyatmika

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on all areas of life, including education. The education system, which was originally face-to-face, had to be replaced with online learning. Various problems arise related to the implementation of the Distance Learning or PJJ system. This system makes parents have to participate more in supervising as well as being a substitute for teachers at home in the learning process of their children. In addition, homeschooling also raises problems where students find it difficult to understand the material given by the teacher. The decrease in enthusiasm for learning becomes a problem when the PJJ system seems monotonous and boring. To support the government's program in breaking the chain of the spread of COVID-19 without reducing the effectiveness of online learning implemented by the Ministry of Education and Culture, this activity was carried out. This activity is expected to help reduce the anxiety of parents who are afraid that their children are not serious and have difficulty in learning. In addition, it is hoped that this activity will help participants to easily understand the material that has not been mastered. The methods of socialization, demonstration, and mentoring are carried out directly. The success of this activity can be seen from the assistance of the participants in solving the problems faced and the enthusiasm of the participants during the activity.


Author(s):  
Heny Solekhah

Happiness is a subjective assessment of individual wellbeing. Adolescents, especially secondary school students living in Islamic Boarding School, experience dramatic changes from learning at their dormitory with face-to-face teaching method to distance learning at home with minimum activities outside their houses. The survey was conducted on 111 respondents of students who had to return home due to the outbreaks of covid-19 pandemic for two months. The research found that the dramatic changes made them had difficulty to adapt new activities at home for a long time while studying independently through distance learning. Only a third of the sample felt happy during the online learning while the majority felt negative emotions such as boredom, unhappiness, and loneliness. The adolescents’ life satisfaction and community engagement significantly correlated with happiness although the size effects were medium. Female students also had lower happiness variables than males. To maintain their happiness, during the pandemic, most of them prefer activities that mostly trigger a sedentary lifestyle.


Author(s):  
Salma Sarai González-Meléndez

<p>My name is Salma Meléndez and I am currently a graduate in Agrogenomic Sciences. In March 2020, when COVID-19 was detected in Mexico, I was in my eighth semester of my undergraduate degree. At that time, he had an experiment of overexpression of a gene in bean roots, in order to explore its function during symbiosis with rhizobial bacteria. Unfortunately, the laboratory and the entire campus canceled their face-to-face activities in order to reduce the risk of contagion. An alternative was to take the experimental plants to my house to give the proper care, however, the situation became difficult as I did not have the space or the required conditions at home. On the other hand, other research centers with which we had collaboration agreements also canceled access, such is the case of the Optical Research Center, where we used the confocal microscope to detect subcellular location of proteins. The closure of institutions allowed me to write theoretical parts of my thesis, however, the experimental phase was definitely affected for at least six months. The experiment with the plants was almost completely lost. In the subsequent months I had the opportunity to re-enter my institution; however, under strict conditions and on staggered days, which made certain measurements that require daily continuity difficult. Currently, the laboratory is not as it used to look, full of colleagues sharing results and difficulties, exchanging advice and even certain materials. I think the pandemic has pushed us to do our work more individually and slowly. Consequently, my degree was delayed and transferred from 2020 to 2021. There are still many challenges to overcome, although activities have not been fully restored, science does not stop and we have found a way to face it, slowly but surely.</p>


Author(s):  
Indriati Retno Palupi ◽  
Wiji Raharjo

There Change the design of the studying process in University during the covid-19 pandemic from face to face to online learning needs some tools to support it. Some tools coming with their own advantages and disadvantages. One of them is Zoom. It becoming tools liked by many lecturers and college students because easy installation process and complete features although it is not free and easy to hack. Nevertheless, internet access is still becoming a big problem in online learning. A mix between two tools of online learning is one of the solutions, for example, zoom and google classroom application. Zoom is used for virtual communication in online learning but it does not provide features for sending the assignment. Otherwise, google classroom provides features to send and receipt some assignments, and it can save the quote on the internet. Both of them will complete each other to support all needs in online learning.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ester Lina Situmorang

Technology has significantly brought changes in all aspects of human life, thechanges that occur require everyone to change from old habits to new habits thatare not used to be done. Changes in general in face-to-face classes began to shift tovirtual classes. Even the elements of education have undergone many changes bothparents, students and teachers. They experience new teaching patterns and ways ofteaching. Learning places are transformed and can be done at home, public places,and so on. Time and place are no longer a barrier to teaching and learning activitiesbecause they can be done online. Online learning is carried out by utilizing existingtechnology through media that uses the internet to carry out teaching and learningprocesses such as cellphones and laptops. This media will support the teaching andlearning process through available applications such as whatsApp, googleclassroom and so on. Learning brings many challenges and obstacles faced byparents in particular. Of course this is a challenge in itself for parents in monitoringchildren's learning activities, especially in the application of technology as alearning medium for children.


eLearn ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
William P Lord

COVID-19 has forced vast numbers of educational institutions to shift their operations from being delivered face-to-face to being delivered online. As a result, academic institutions have had to scramble to find complex solutions that meet systems-wide online teaching and learning needs. The quality of interaction that occurs between the educator and the student is crucial to the success of delivering education via online technologies, and it is incumbent on the host institution to provide a usable, effective, and satisfying form of communication all participants may communicate with while maintaining a sense of social presence. It requires little effort to compile a list of potential benefits of using webcams in educational settings. It is more challenging to come up with a list of conditions as to when you may not require all learners to communicate using webcams. This article explores the benefits and challenges of incorporating webcams in teaching and learning in the online learning environment.


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