PERCEPTIONS ON WHICH SOCIAL NETWORKING TOOLS ARE USEFUL FOR TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

<p>Teachers are expected to be able to keep up with the technological development in the classroom. Integrating ICT into teaching is a complex process and they may encounter a number of difficulties. They seek opportunities for professional development, so that they can meet the needs of students leading to recognition as a “reform-minded” educator. Social networking/WEB2.0 which is the technology connecting people is providing new opportunities for professional development by assisting to remain current on skills important for teachers’ role. Aim of our research is to study, for the specific professional category of school teachers, which are the professional skills which can be strengthened through social networking and which tools are the most appropriate for this goal. Based on a collection of information from various sources we present a series of conclusions which can be the basis for the design of training programs on how to effectively use social networking.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0852/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Influenza Vaccination Strategies in Healthcare Workers: A Cohort Study (2018–2021) in an Italian University Hospital

Vaccinating healthcare workers (HCWs) is the most effective intervention for preventing nosocomial influenza infection. However, influenza vaccination coverage (VC%) among HCWs remains low. The aim of the study was to analyse the trend of VC% among healthcare workers in an Italian hospital through a three-year vaccination project covering three influenza seasons (2018–2019, 2019–2020, and 2020–2021). A gap analysis was performed at the case base (2018–2019), on-site vaccination was trialled in the 2019–2020 season, and an integrated vaccination offer (on-site vaccination and the classic offer at a vaccination clinic) was implemented for the 2020–2021 season. For each unit of vaccinated HCWs, the following variables were recorded: main demographic details, area of affiliation (medical/surgical/services), and professional category. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between outcome (undergoing vaccination in 2020–2021) and other variables related to the healthcare workers’ characteristics. In the three seasons, VC% values of 13.2%. 27.7%, and 58.9% were recorded, respectively (p < 0.005). The highest VC% was recorded among physicians (94.93%), in the medical area (63.27%), and males (62.59%) and in general among the youngest HCWs. Comparison of the coverage values recorded in the three seasons showed that in the last season considered (2020–2021) about 80% of health workers preferred to be vaccinated in the workplace instead of using the standard vaccination delivery method (invitation to attend the vaccination clinic). Our study suggests that the integrated vaccination offer may lead to an increase in VC% among HCWs compared to the classical offer modalities.

The Collective Organization of Delivery Workers in Brazil during the covid-19 Pandemic: A View Based on Social Media

This essay presents the results of a study on the work organization of food-delivery workers that use digital platforms in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The covid-19 pandemic exacerbated and increased the visibility of the precarious work conditions experienced by these workers, who have organized collectively throughout Brazil to demand better conditions. Based on the field of workers’ health and sociological analyses of work’s uberization, the study used a qualitative methodology with a data survey in online social networks and news coverage during the pandemic, complementing research-intervention strategies involving dialogues with delivery workers before the pandemic. The results feature the delivery app workers’ collective mobilization and the trend in their identification as a professional category in the midst of contradictions and complexities of this process, which became emblematic with the two national strikes held in July 2020.

Seroprevalence of COVID-19 IgG antibodies among healthcare workers of Pakistan: a cross-sectional study assessing exposure to COVID-19 and identification of high-risk subgroups

ObjectiveIn this study, we aimed to find the seroprevalence of healthcare workers (HCWs) of Pakistan involved in the treatment and care of patients with COVID-19.SettingThis was a cross-sectional study and total of 15 000 HCWs involved in providing services and care to the patients with COVID-19 were randomly selected from all over Pakistan.ParticipantsInformed consent was taken from all participants and were included according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. All testing was done on serum samples for the qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies using Abbott Chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. An index of 1.4 was used as a cut-off to mark reactive and non-reactive cases. SPSS V.23.0 was used for data analysis.OutcomeImmune status of the study population depicting seroprevalence among HCWs.ResultsOut of all the candidates, majority of the HCWs were men (61.9%) and were doctors (62.4%). The mean age of participants was 32.8 years (SD 8.7) and majority were asymptomatic (51.8%). In this study, 33% of the HCWs were reactive for SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody. Around 44% of the reactive cases were asymptomatic. The symptoms more significantly associated with seropositivity were: fever (OR 1.31; 95% CI 1.16 to 1.48), headache (OR 2.43; 95% CI 2.16 to 2.73), cough and shortness of breath (OR 2.10; 95% CI 1.91 to 2.31), loss of sense of smell or taste (OR 3.70; 95% CI 3.29 to 4.17) (p<0.001). Factors which showed significant association with the presence of antibodies were professional category (absolute risk (AR) 0.09; OR 1.46; 95% CI 1.36 to 1.56), availability of protective masks (AR 0.02; OR 0.90; 95% CI 0.84 to 0.96), safety goggles (AR 0.02; OR 0.90; 95% CI 0.84 to 0.97) and living arrangements (AR 0.03; OR 1.12; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.20) (p<0.05).ConclusionOur study showed a high seropositivity of HCWs dealing with patients with COVID-19 in Pakistan revealing significant association with professional category, nature of work place and precautions taken while performing duties.

Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Mental Health in Nurses from Huelva: A Cross-Cutting Study during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

Currently, healthcare professionals are particularly vulnerable to the impact of the SARS-CoV-2pandemic since they directly deal with patients suffering from this disease and are in the first line of fire, which increases their risk of contagion. This research examines the prevalence of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and possible non-psychotic psychiatric disorders in 48 male and 270 female nursing professionals of Huelva during the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, we analyzed the relationship between these dependent variables and considered various sociodemographic variables. The nursing staff of public hospitals in Huelva who have had contact with cases of SARS-CoV-2 in their work environment showed a poorer state of mental health than that of others of this same professional category who have not had contact with this type of situation.

The regulation of the profession of Physical Education for a professional category: The case of Minas Gerais

The aim of the present study was to characterize the evolution of the process of regulation of Physical Education profession and its representation from the perspective of the Counselors of the CONFEF / CREF6 / MG System, in the state of Minas Gerais. It used a qualitative analysis with the application of interviews, as well as the interpretation of legal documents. The main results were divided into 4 categories: i) From the Physical Education Teachers Associations (APEFs) to the regulation of the Physical Education profession; ii) Teaching Physical Education and Sport in School; iii) Physical Activity and Health; iv) Sports Training; v) Sport Management. We can understand within the proposed categories that the Councilors perceive an improvement in the quality of Physical Education and Sports from the regulation of this profession.

The Influence of Principal Leadership and Work Commitment on Professionalism of Primary School Teachers

This study aims to determine the influence of principal leadership and work commitment to the professionalism of primary school teachers. The formulation of the problem in this study, namely (1) how is the influence of the principal leadership on teacher professionalism?, (2) how is the influence of work commitment on teacher professionalism?, (3) how is the influence between principal leadership and teacher work commitment to teacher professionalism. This study uses a quantitative approach with an ex post facto design. This research is looking for systematic empirical data and in this study the researcher can’t directly control the independent variables because the events have occurred and according to their nature can’t be manipulated. This study places the influence of principal leadership and teacher work commitment to the professionalism of primary school teachers in Cokroaminoto cluster, Semidang Aji District, OKU Regency. The results of the descriptive analysis show that the performance of the Cokroaminoto cluster primary school teachers in good category of 65.5%, that’s, the mean or average score is 61.4155 which in 52–63 interval. The results of the descriptive analysis show that the professionalism of teachers in the professional category of teachers in carrying out their duties is 77.5%. However, there are still teachers whose professionalism is in the quite professional category at 12.0% and even there are still teachers who are less professional in carrying out their duties by 2.8%, this is reflected in the indicator that teachers do not master the methods and evaluation of learning outcomes. Based on the results of multiple regression analysis, the regression equation line Y = 18.668 + 0.260X1 + 0.472X2 is obtained. These results indicate that this positive sign is in accordance with the theory and can be interpreted that the principal leadership and teacher professionalism are good, so the teacher's performance will be good too.

Occupational Hazards among Health Workers in Hospitals of Mukalla City, Yemen

Background: Occupational health is a neglected public health issue among healthcare workers in developing countries like Yemen and they may expose them to various forms of hazards, which have had negative consequences on their wellbeing and performance at work. Objective: The study aims at exploring the forms of occupational health hazards prevalence and methods to mitigate these hazards among Health Care Workers (HCW) in governmental hospitals in Mukalla city. Methods: It is a cross-sectional study conducted among health workers in the main hospitals in Mukalla city in Hadhramout province in eastern Yemen. The sample size is calculated statistically as 366 workers from different categories including doctors, nurses and lab technicians. A sample of 391 workers were selected randomly who were distributed to be representative and proportional to the size of each professional category. Results: The prevalence of biological hazards among the healthcare workers accounted for 298 (76%) whereas the non-biological hazards accounted for 306 (78%). The most prevalent biological hazards are needle prick injury (80%) followed by exposure to contact with contaminated material (75%), while the most frequent non-biological hazards are back pain (79%) followed by extra-time work (72%). In logistic regression age, gender and duration of work and professional category have significant association with exposure of health workers to biological hazards while only gender is the only variable associated with non-biological hazards. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of occupational hazards (biological and non-biological) among health workers in hospitals of Mukalla city. A prevention and infection control and patient safety programs are highly recommended in Mukalla hospitals to save health workers and patients.

La importancia de la actitud del docente universitario: validación de una escala para su consideración.

El estudio de la calidad y la mejora de la docencia universitaria se basa en la mayoría de las ocasiones en la formación del docente, dejando a un lado otros factores transcendentales como puede ser la actitud. Considerada como el comportamiento del docente en base a sus conocimientos y experiencias, este trabajo presenta la validación de una escala de actitud hacia la docencia en base a 3 dimensiones: personal, docente y profesional. Tras una validación de contenido por jueces, se aplica la escala a una muestra, representativa por rama de conocimiento y categoría profesional, de 161 profesores universitarios de la Universidad de Salamanca. El análisis psicométrico de la escala, formada por 13 ítems tipo Likert con cinco opciones de respuesta, muestra correlaciones ítem total medias-bajas, un índice de fiabilidad aceptable (α de Cronbach=.75) y una estructura factorial clara y consistente donde se confirma la existencia de los tres factores. Así mismo, se destaca la mayor distinción de las dimensiones docente (.854) y profesional (.885), frente a la investigadora (.553). Se concluye incidiendo en la importancia de considerar las actitudes del profesorado como indicador relevante de estudio en la enseñanza superior, empleando escalas válidas y fiables como la que se ofrece en este artículo. Como líneas de investigación futuras, queda abierta la puerta a una nueva validación del instrumento en nuevos contextos de enseñanza universitaria. The study of the quality and improvement of university teaching is mostly based on teacher training, leaving aside other transcendental factors such as attitude. Considered as the behavior of the teacher based on their knowledge and experiences, this work shows the validation of a scale of attitude towards teaching based on 3 dimensions: personal, teaching and research. After content validation by judges, the scale is applied to a representative sample, by branch of knowledge and professional category, of 161 university teachers at the University of Salamanca. The psychometric analysis of the scale, made up of 13 Likert type items with five answer possibilities, shows correlations between average and low total items, an acceptable reliability index (α de Cronbach=.75) and a clear and consistent factor structure where the existence of the three factors is confirmed. In addition, there is a greater distinction between the teaching (.854) and professional (.885) dimensions, as opposed to the researcher (.553). It concludes by stressing the importance of considering the attitudes of teachers as a relevant indicator of study in higher education, using valid and reliable scales such as that offered in this article. As future lines of research, the door remains open to a new validation of the instrument in new contexts of higher education.

Mediational Occupational Risk Factors Pertaining to Work Ability According to Age, Gender and Professional Job Type

The predictive value of work ability for several health and occupational outcomes is well known. Maintaining the ability to work of all employees has become an important topic in research although some evidence suggests that some groups of workers need greater attention than others. Healthcare workers (x¯ = 54.46 ± 5.64 years) attending routine occupational health checkups completed their work ability, occupational risk and sociodemographic measures. An analysis examined whether work ability differed according to gender, age and professional category. Mediation of these relationships by occupational risk variables, such as work–family conflict, was examined. Females and older adults had worse work ability than their counterparts. Professional group was not independently associated. Gender-related differences were mediated by current and historic ergonomic risk, psychosocial risk and work–family conflict. Age-related differences were mediated by violence/discrimination at work. All job risk variables, apart from current ergonomic risk, mediated associations between professional category and work ability. The present study identified the importance of risk variables for the work ability of health workers according to gender, age and professional job type. Perceptions of work–family conflict and violence–discrimination seem particularly important and should be considered when targeting improvements in work ability.