scholarly journals Learning During a Pandemic: The Impact of Digital Badges on Staff Training

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Wright ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Continuing Education ◽  
Staff Training ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Online Resources ◽  
Completion Rates ◽  
Digital Badges ◽  
New Learning ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Spartanburg County ◽  
Digital Badging

During the pandemic, the Spartanburg County Public Libraries implemented a new learning management system with a digital badging component. The digital badges were enthusiastically received by staff and increased training completion rates significantly. Even without an LMS, other libraries can create badging for continuing education using a variety of online resources. Digital badging is an important motivational tool to use for continuing education, especially as training goes virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Harnessing Digital Technology to Strengthen the Culture of Reading at Public Libraries in South Africa

Mousaion ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Ramothupi Matolong
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Pilot Phase ◽  
Impact Measurement ◽  
Private Company ◽  
Line Survey ◽  
Gates Foundation ◽  
Formed Part ◽  
The Impact

Statistics and numerous authors have highlighted the reading crisis in South Africa. At the same instance, more people in South Africa are embracing the potential of digital technology to provide lifelong learning opportunities and also to strengthen the culture of reading. This study is framed against the backdrop and implementation of the Mzansi Libraries On-Line Project in South Africa – a project implemented in line with the Global Libraries Programme of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The study explored the potential of access to information of digital technology and the contribution of the project to inculcating a culture of reading at public libraries. A benchmark survey was conducted by an independent research company during the pilot phase of the project in 2015. This survey covered library users of the 27 libraries that formed part of the pilot phase, and a further 25 libraries from a representative sample across South Africa. An end-line survey was conducted through a private company towards the conclusion of the countrywide implementation in 2017, based on the Common Impact Measurement System which was customised for South Africa. The benchmark survey found that although ICT in libraries had been used by relatively few people in 2015, the impact of this technology tended to be positive and would be beneficial to the wider society by helping to redress societal imbalances, including education and the culture of reading. The end-line survey found increased benefits of library usage and library technical infrastructure to improve the lives of the communities involved.

Public libraries digital services and sustainability issues

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 34-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarina Michnik
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Digital Services ◽  
Local Politicians ◽  
Physical Spaces ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study how Swedish local politicians perceive the impact of public library digital services on public libraries and to discuss how this can affect the sustainable development of public libraries. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical data were collected through semi-structured interviews with local politicians from 19 different Swedish municipalities. Data were treated to qualitative content analysis and discussed based on the concept of sustainable organization. Findings – According to local politicians, public library digital services may affect public libraries through changes to libraries’ physical spaces, librarians’ tasks and competencies and libraries’ economic situations. Based on these findings, public library digital services can both strengthen and weaken public library sustainability through, for example, increased access and expenditures, the latter of which may threaten public library sustainability. Research limitations/implications – Interviews did not focus specifically on the politicians’ views on public library digital services but dealt generally with their views on public libraries. To identify reasons for variations in views on this topic, follow-up interviews should be done. Data on views from public library managers would also be of use to determine the degree to which they are shared with local politicians. Originality/value – When sustainability and public libraries are discussed, the focus is generally on the library’s contribution to a sustainable society. Here, the focus is instead on the sustainability of the public library itself.

The Impact of a Community Supervision Officer Training Program on Client Outcomes: A Propensity Score Modeling Analysis by Officer Training Dosage

2020 ◽  
pp. 009385482098078
Author(s):  
Ryan M. Labrecque ◽  
Jill Viglione
Keyword(s):  
Staff Training ◽  
Community Supervision ◽  
Client Outcomes ◽  
Officer Training ◽  
Evidence Based Practices ◽  
Technical Violations ◽  
Modeling Analysis ◽  
Standard Training ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Training Dosage

A growing body of research indicates officer training in correctional supervision programs is associated with improved use of evidence-based practices and lower rates of client recidivism. This scholarship also suggests larger reductions in recidivism can be achieved when officers implement program skills with higher quality. Despite their potential, research has shown standard training regiments alone are not sufficient in making all participants proficient users of skills. There is a need to determine what intensity of training produces the best results. In response, this study assessed the impact of federal probation officer training dosage in the Staff Training Aimed at Reducing Re-arrest (STARR) program on the outcomes of their clients. The results indicated clients of STARR-trained officers had fewer probation revocations and new arrests but more technical violations and positive drug tests. We also found clients supervised by officers with more versus less exposure to the STARR model had better outcomes.

The role of public libraries in the development of social capital in local communities – a theoretical study

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 184-196
Author(s):  
Maja Dorota Wojciechowska
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

PurposeSocial capital, understood as intangible community values available through a network of connections, is a factor in the development of societies and improving quality of life. It helps to remove economic inequalities and prevent poverty and social exclusion, stimulate social and regional development, civic attitudes and social engagement and build a civic society as well as local and regional identity. Many of these tasks may be implemented by libraries, which, apart from providing access to information, may also offer a number of services associated with social needs. The purpose of this paper is to present the roles and functions that libraries may serve in local communities in terms of assistance, integration and development based on classical social capital theories.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews the classical concepts of social capital in the context of libraries. It analyses the findings of Pierre-Félix Bourdieu, James Coleman, Francis Fukuyama, Robert Putnam, Nan Lin, Ronald Stuart Burt, Wayne Baker and Alejandro Portes. Based on their respective concepts, the paper analyses the role of the contemporary library in the social life of local communities. In particular, it focuses on the possible new functions that public libraries may serve.FindingsA critical review of the concept of social capital revealed certain dependencies between libraries and their neighbourhoods. With new services that respond to the actual social needs, libraries may serve as a keystone, namely they may integrate, animate and engage local communities. This, however, requires a certain approach to be adopted by the personnel and governing authorities as well as infrastructure and tangible resources.Originality/valueThe social engagement of libraries is usually described from the practical perspective (reports on the services provided) or in the context of research on the impact of respective projects on specific groups of users (research reports). A broader approach, based on original social theories, is rarely encountered. The paper draws on classical concepts of social capital and is a contribution to the discussion on possible uses of those concepts based on an analysis of the role of libraries in social life and in strengthening the social capital of local communities.

Museum as an Active Participant in Continuing Education

2021 ◽  
pp. 225-231
Author(s):  
Irina A. Sizova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Continuing Education ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Informal Education ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Activity ◽  
Online Resources ◽  
High Quality

The article presents a qualitative analysis of museum educational products. These products have been studied in terms of the possibility of their use in formal, non-formal and informal education. Thus, the role of the museum as an actor of continuing education has been determined. The role of continuing education in the educational process is becoming more obvious for most participants, and informal education plays a huge role in this process. It is urgent now to develop high-quality educational environment. Due to museums and their offline and online educational products, it is possible to get success. The author analyzed educational activities of leading Russian and foreign museums. As a result, the possibilities of museums as an educational institution for formal, non-formal and informal education were determined. Formal education is characterized by the network interaction of educational organizations and museums when the museum educational resources are included in the educational process. The largest number of museum educational products in traditional and innovative forms is made for non-formal or supplementary education. The traditional forms of museum educational resources include excursions, game formats for acquaintance with the exposition/exhibition (quests), museum master classes, interactive classes, as well as offline continuing education programs for a professional audience. The innovative forms include intra-museum programs, for example, performances, thematic classes within the museum’s profile, and Internet resources such as pages of official museum sites, online academies of museums, museum groups on social media, official museum channels on YouTube, webinars, virtual museums. Thus, non-formal educations could be in onsite or online training forms. Informal education can apply the museum’s resources both in traditional forms and in an innovative one. The museum online resources such as online museum games, massive open online courses (MOOC), and podcasts have the highest priority in this area. Museums and universities cooperate to get high-quality competitive educational online resources. In conclusion, it is possible to speak about a new stage in the development of museum educational activity. This stage is characterized by increasing attention to professional education by adding formal and non-formal (supplementary) educational programs, and, simultaneously, increasing the role of informal education due to online technology. It should be emphasized that museum staff could develop museum educational products for formal and non-formal education independently, but it is advisable for museums to intensify cooperation with universities to enter the online education market.

scholarly journals Municipal Responses to COVID-19: the case of library closures in New South Wales local government

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-94
Author(s):  
Andrea Wallace ◽  
Brian Dollery
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Community Wellbeing ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Library Use ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New South Wales (NSW) government ordered the closure of all municipal libraries in order to limit the impact of the contagion. As a result, 372 public libraries in NSW ceased operation on the 23rd March 2020. While the closure of public libraries will undoubtedly contribute to restricting the spread of the coronavirus, given the pivotal role played by municipal libraries in local communities, as well as the special characteristics of library patrons, it will have other negative consequences. In this paper we consider the impact of the closure of municipal libraries in NSW from two perspectives: (a) its effect on the fiscal circumstances of local authorities and (b) its impact on the spread of the corona contagion as well as its broader effects on local community wellbeing. We conclude that rather than complete closure, partial constraints on library use should have been considered.

scholarly journals Higher Education Completion Rates for Domestic Undergraduate Students Who Access Mental Health Services Using A Multi-Agency Matched Population Cohort

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lewis Cowie ◽  
Luke Hendrickson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Mental Health Service Use ◽  
Randomised Control Trial ◽  
Completion Rates ◽  
Mental Health Condition ◽  
Mental Health Conditions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

By linking Education, Health, and Welfare data in the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP), our analysis looked at the impact of poor mental health on the likelihood of completing an undergraduate degree in Australia. IntroductionCompletion of a bachelor degree is important to both the student and the government, as it provides lifelong benefits and prevents investment loss. Previous research has reported conflicting findings regarding whether students with mental ill health are less likely to complete a degree, with an estimated 25 per cent of young adult university students experiencing mental ill-health each year. Objectives and ApproachOur research analysed national mental health service use and related pharmaceutical prescriptions linked with education data to determine the extent and effect of known mental health conditions on undergraduate student six-year completion rates. We followed a de-identified cohort of 120,000 students who commenced an undergraduate degree for the first time in 2011 for six years. Summary statistics and a binomial logit was used on a matched sample to confirm significance. ResultsWe found that students with a known mental health condition had a significantly lower six-year completion rate (58 per cent) than those students with no known mental health condition (71 per cent). By simulating a randomised control trial controlling for a wide range of demographics, we showed that these results held and that completion rates worsened with increasing severity of mental health conditions, as measured by usage of psychiatric services. ConclusionIntegrated data assets such as MADIP help us better understand the interaction between student success and mental health conditions which in turn will help us improve policy and better evaluate programs.

scholarly journals CAREER GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT: ROLE OF CONTINUING EDUCATION AMONG TEACHERS

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyanka Bhaskar ◽  
Padmalosani Dayalan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Continuing Education ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Career Growth ◽  
The Impact

This paper aims to highlight the role of continuing education among the teachers of India. The study identifies factors which influence teachers in Higher education institutions (HEI) for continuing education. The paper also explores the impact of continuing education on career growth and development. A systematic survey was conducted among the teachers in Higher education institutions of Uttarakhand, India. Factor analysis is used to identify the important factors that influence teachers to enrol for continuing education. SPSS and AMOS are used to analyse the data. The findings of the study indicate that factors like time, financial support, job opportunities, knowledge, skills, and abilities play a detrimental role among teachers for continuing education. This study also reveals that continuing education has a positive impact on career growth and development of teachers. Continuing education helps the teachers to explore better career opportunities, provides job security, salary increment, and promotion which contributes to their professional growth and personality development. Continuing education in teachers demonstrates a significant role in the development of interpersonal skills, technical skills and inculcates self-confidence that contributes to their personal growth. The importance of paper increases amidst the COVID19 pandemic and the launch of the National Education Policy in India, as the paper will provide support to the Higher education institutes and Government to frame policies and strategies to imbibe continuing education as an integral part of the education system. The paper by enumerating its benefits, motivates the teachers to enhance their qualifications and enhance their future prospects.

scholarly journals Insights into the expectations of mobility students: the impact of Erasmus in their future professional careers

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margarida M. Pinheiro ◽  
Dora Simões ◽  
Cláudia Amaral Santos ◽  
Sandra Filipe ◽  
Belem Barbosa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Group Approach ◽  
Professional Career ◽  
Exchange Program ◽  
Professional Careers ◽  
New Learning ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
The Impact

At the celebration of its 30th anniversary, Erasmus is recognised as the most successful exchange program ever implemented. The prospects of attaining a common European consciousness challenged the program's ability to blend together knowledge, attitudes and skills in a winning combination. It is no longer sufficient to communicate and integrate: mobility should actively foster skills to support students's professional career at national and international levels. Although literature on mobility is vast and interesting, studies on the impact of the mobility experience in the students' future employability profile rarely provide first-hand data on their expectations in this regard. This exploratory research comprises a qualitative focus group approach with Erasmus students during their exchange period in a Portuguese university and collected some insightful data on how students consider their mobility in terms of new learning outcomes, the professional value of the experience and the development of new skills. Results indicate that students seem to be quite aware of the positive implications of mobility in their professional careers and of the set of skills developed during that period. Overall, this article contributes to demonstrating the importance of assessing skills development during Erasmus mobility experiences. Managerial implications and suggestions for future research are provided.

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