A digitally enhanced home-based physical activity intervention for high-risk middle school youth during COVID-19

COVID-19 significantly impacted physical activity among high-risk youth. Camp from Home, a digitally enhanced home-based intervention, was developed to address physical activity disparities among middle school youth during COVID-19. Camp from Home enrolled 62 youth in 54 families from five schools in Philadelphia during the summer of 2020. The 6-week intervention comprised of (1) three home deliveries of “activity kits” including exercise equipment and activity booklets, (2) asynchronous sport and exercise videos posted to a private YouTube channel, and (3) supportive text-messages from health coaches. YouTube analytics and self-report surveys completed by parents and youth at baseline and at the end of programming were used to assess engagement, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy. Youth participants were 12.4 (1.2) years, 38.7% female and 90.3% Black/African American. At follow-up, 41 parents (75.9%) and 34 youth (54.8%) completed measures. Youth self-reported increases in self-efficacy (ΔM(sd) = 0.4(1.0), p = .03) and physical activity (ΔM(sd) = 4.2(7.9), p = .004), despite suboptimal engagement in digital program components. Overall, participants highly rated the program. Activity kits and text-messages from health coaches were rated as most helpful. Most parents (95.1%) and youth (83.8%) expressed interested in participating again in the future. A 6-week digitally enhanced, home-based physical activity intervention was acceptable and feasible among parents and youth during the summer of 2020, with youth reporting improvements in self-efficacy and physical activity. Summer programs are critical for reducing disparities in physical activity and hold potential for addressing key barriers for high-risk youth even outside the context of COVID-19.

How Can Large Manufacturers Digitalize Their Business Models? A Framework for Orchestrating Industrial Ecosystems

For manufacturers, remaining competitive depends on their ability to digitalize their business models (i.e., offer digital and digitally enhanced products and services). To achieve this, they must engage with new digital partners and help their existing suppliers, partners, and other stakeholders to digitalize. Orchestrating this growing ecosystem is challenging. Manufacturers struggle with this endeavor because of specific barriers associated with their existing legacy business model and related to their lack of digital vision, product-centric value chains, and a bias toward firm-centered profit formulas. To overcome these barriers, leading manufacturers have developed new approaches to ecosystem orchestration.

Evaluation of a digitally enhanced cardiac auscultation learning method: a controlled study

Background Cardiac auscultation remains an efficient and accessible diagnostic tool, especially in resource-limited countries where modern diagnostic devices like cardiac ultrasound are expensive and difficult to access. However, cardiac auscultation skills of medical students and physicians are declining, mainly because of an ineffective teaching method for this technique. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of a digitally enhanced cardiac auscultation learning method on participants’ theoretical knowledge and auscultation skills. Methods This will be a controlled study with two parallel arms (1:1). Participants (fourth-year medical students) will be divided into two groups: an intervention group (receiving additional lectures, clinical internship and audio listening sessions) and a control group (receiving additional lectures and clinical internship). At the beginning of the study, all participants will undergo a pre-test that consist of two parts: a knowledge assessment based on multiple-choice questions and a skills assessment based on recognition of cardiac sounds from audio files. Thereafter, three specific additional lectures on cardiac auscultation will be delivered and all participants will take part in their official clinical internship. During these clinical internships (eight weeks), participants of the intervention group will be invited to two listening sessions based on five digital recordings of heart sounds. At the end of the clinical internship, all participants will be invited to a post-test to evaluate their knowledge, skills and satisfaction according to their learning method. The main outcome will be the participants’ knowledge progression. The other outcomes will be the participants’ skills progression, participants’ total progression and satisfaction. Data will be collected and analyzed in per protocol. Discussion This study could contribute to the development of a learning method that takes into account the advantages of the conventional method and the contribution of digital technology. Positive results could lead to improved cardiac auscultation skills among health professionals, especially in developing countries. Trial registration The trial is registered on the Pan-African Clinical Trials Registry (http://www.pactr.org) under unique identification number: PACTR202001504666847, registered the 29 November 2019.

EXPERIMENTS IN DIGITALLY ENHANCED AUTOMATIC COLLABORATIVE WRITING AND PERFORMING

In the following paper, the case of Experiments in Automatic Writing, a festival-project that took place in October 2011 at Fournos Centre for Digital Culture in Athens, Greece, and involved collabora-tive writing and performance with the use of digital media, is presented and discussed. The project lasted for 4 days and involved 42 writers, playwrights, journalists, artists, poets, chat users, performers, actors, musicians, a visual artist and a chat bot. The article reflects on the so-cial, theoretical, writing and performative circumstances that gave rise to the project as well as its intentions and outcomes. By analyzing in depth the project, a reflective contribution to the field of digitally enhanced performance and theatre gamification practices is intended, from the point of view of the designer of the event as well as that of the practitioner. Some suggestions are made with regards to possible future uses of the methodology developed within the project framework in the arts and education sectors.