Perception of E-Learning among Physiotherapy Students

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a sudden drastic change in the teaching learning patterns globally. Educational institutes have shifted from the traditional classroom teaching to virtual classrooms. This transition is the need of the hour. It requires technical up gradation as well as better communication skills because the teacher and student are only interacting through a virtual platform. There are many difficulties that both teacher and students face during online teaching learning process. In this study we have tried to understand the perception of physiotherapy students towards E Learning. From the data received and analysed it was concluded that the physiotherapy students prefer traditional classroom teaching as it helps develop better hands on skills. Keywords: E-Learning, Physiotherapy Students, COVID-19 pandemic.

Innovative Ecosystem Model of Vaccine Lifecycle Management

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely tested humanity, revealing the need to develop and improve the medical, economic, managerial, and IT components of vaccine management systems. The vaccine lifecycle includes vaccine research and development, production, distribution, and vaccination of the population. To manage this cycle effectively the proper organizational and IT support model of the interaction of vaccine lifecycle management stakeholders is needed—which are an innovation ecosystem and an appropriate virtual platform. A literature review has revealed the lack of methodological basis for the vaccine innovation ecosystem and virtual platform. This article is devoted to the development of a complex approach for the development of an innovation ecosystem based on vaccine lifecycle management and a virtual platform which provides the data exchange environment and IT support for the ecosystem stakeholders. The methodological foundation of the solution, developed in the article, is an enterprise architecture approach, CALS technologies, supply chain management and an open innovation philosophy. The results, presented in the article, are supposed to be a reference set of models for the creation of a vaccine innovation ecosystem, both during pandemics and periods of stable viral load.

Adapting Interprofessional Acute Care Simulations to a Virtual Platform

This chapter addresses the innovative solutions implemented by faculty members at Regis University to pivot simulation experiences to a virtual platform during a global pandemic. Healthcare faculty ensured nursing and pharmacy students actively engaged in content and with one another without sacrificing the necessary interprofessional knowledge. The authors adapted a previously in-person acute care simulation to a virtual platform by utilizing technology and specific, intentional pre-simulation, during simulation, and post-stimulation knowledge checks. By following the standards for interprofessional, nursing, and pharmacy education, the authors were able to execute this simulation and implement meaningful feedback for continued advancement for future students. The continued goal of the simulation will be to provide students with high-stress, low-occurrence acute care patient experiences while working closely with other members of the healthcare team to enable students to experience required, necessary curriculum before graduation and working on the frontlines of healthcare.

Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Dredging Efficiency in Bangladesh

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the dredging systems and dredging machinery used in "capital" and "maintenance" dredging in Bangladesh can enhance the efficiency of the machines and dredging process, enabling the operators to perform regular and repetitive dredging tasks safely in the rivers, ports, and estuaries all over the country. AI, including Big Data, Machine Learning, Internet of Thing, Blockchain and Sensors and Simulators with their catalytic potentials, can systematically compile and evaluate specific data collected from different sources, develop applications or simulators, connect the stakeholders on a virtual platform, store lakes of information without compromising their intellectual rights, predicting models to harness the challenges, minimise the cost of dredging, identify possible threats and help protect the already dredged areas by giving timely signals for further maintenance. Furthermore, the application of AI modulated dredging devices and machinery can play a significant role when monitoring aspects becomes crucial, keeping environmental impacts mitigated without affecting the quality of the human environment. This study includes the evaluation of the application of AI – its prospect and challenges in the existing dredging systems in Bangladesh against the backdrop of the challenges faced in capital and maintenance dredging in the major rivers – and assess whether such inclusion of AI is likely to minimise the cost of dredging in the rivers of Bangladesh and facilitate the materialisation of the objectives of Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100.This paper studies the organisation's infrastructural requirement for the integration of AI into dredging systems, using benchmarking such as 1- "Understanding AI Ready Approach", 2-"Strategies for Implementing AI", 3-"Data Management", 4-"Creating AI Literate Workforce and Upskilling", and 5-"Identifying Threats" concerning the management and dredging operations of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), under Bangladesh Ministry of Shipping and Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB). The paper also uses several case studies such as channel dredging to show that the use of AI can bring a significant change in the dredging operations both in reducing the cost of dredging and in terms of harnessing the barriers in adaptive management and environmental impacts.

A virtual platform for real-time performance analysis of electromagnetic tracking systems for surgical navigation

<p class="Abstract">Electromagnetic Tracking Systems (EMTSs) are widely used in surgical navigation, allowing to improve the outcome of diagnosis and surgical interventions, by providing the surgeon with real-time position of surgical instruments during medical procedures. However, particular effort was dedicated to the development of efficient and robust algorithms, to obtain an accurate estimation of the instrument position for distances from the magnetic field generator beyond 0.5 m. Indeed, the main goal is to improve the limited range of current commercial systems, which strongly affects the freedom of movement of the medical team. Studies are currently being conducted to optimize the magnetic field generator configuration (both geometrical arrangements and electrical properties) since it affects tracking accuracy. In this paper, we propose a virtual platform for assessing the performance of EMTSs for surgical navigation, providing real-time results and statistics, and allowing to track instruments both in real and simulated environments. Simulations and experimental tests are performed to validate the proposed virtual platform, by employing it to assess the performance of a real EMTS. The platform offers a real-time tool to analyze EMTS components and field generator configurations, for a deeper understanding of EMTS technology, thus supporting engineers during system design and characterization.</p>

Finance: Teaching, and Learning, Online

I began teaching finance ‘online’—or ‘virtually’—long before the pandemic. It was in 2004 that I first taught on a virtual platform; and I continued teaching on various virtual platforms right up to 2019, the year before the pandemic. The programs offered on these platforms were mostly targeted at working executives. The classes were beamed during the evenings, or on weekends. Each student was participating in a maximum of three hours of classes per day.

Teacher’s Working Condition and Hybrid Teaching Environment – A Narrative Case Study

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire system of education around the world is living each day under rapid experimentation to grapple with unforeseen challenges. The event of the COVID-19 pandemic has not only impacted a student’s track of learning but also disrupted the everyday functioning of schools. In the case of the United States, since the beginning of March 2020, when schools were pushed into remote learning options, most teachers had minimal training and resources to teach online. Teachers faced technological challenges and suffered a severe lack of pedagogical knowledge to engage students in an online platform. The overnight switch of face-to-face to remote teaching has added to existing teacher workloads, including accommodating student learning and engagement on the virtual platform. The narrative study considers the experiences of Ally, a veteran teacher, who experienced doubts about her sense of confidence as a teacher with the overnight change of instructional formats. Qualitative analysis was conducted from two interviews, 12 written reflections, and observation notes. Following a review of relevant literature, we report the narrative account of this teacher’s lived experiences. Next, we present suggestions and implications for research and practice while addressing the following research question: What were the lived experiences of a veteran teacher while pursuing a hybrid teaching instruction format, in both the traditional and online delivery format?

African Ethics and Online Communities: An Argument for a Virtual Communitarianism

A virtual community is generally described as a group of people with shared interests, ideas, and goals in a particular digital group or virtual platform. Virtual communities have become ubiquitous in recent times, and almost everyone belongs to one or multiple virtual communities. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with its associated national lockdowns, has made virtual communities more essential and a necessary part of our daily lives, whether for work and business, educational purposes or keeping in touch with friends and family. Given these facts, how do we ensure that virtual communities become a true community qua community? We address this question by proposing and arguing for a ‘virtual communitarianism’—an online community that integrates essential features of traditional African communitarianism in its outlook and practice. The paper’s position is that virtual communitarianism can make for a strong ethical virtual community where members can demonstrate a strong sense of group solidarity, care and compassion towards each other. The inclusion of these virtues can bring members who often are farapart and help create a stronger community bond. This will ensure that the evolution of virtual communities does not happen without the integration of progressive African communitarian values.

The Saami webcommunities in the eyes of moderators (on the example of “VKontakte” social network)

The article discusses the problem of moderation of ethnic network communities on the example of the Sami virtual groups “VKontakte”. An expert survey was conducted with moderators of webcommunities, on the basis of which the goals of creating groups, their main functions and prospects for further development were determined. According to the interviewed moderators, the priority goal of creating these groups is to unite representatives of the Sami people on a single, albeit virtual platform, within which certain individual and collective interests can be realized (searching for like-minded people, gaining knowledge, a sense of common ethnicity, etc.). Among the main functions of the Sami webcommunities, the moderators single out those that are inherent in such virtual ethnic associations: communicative, integrative, information-cognitive, entertainment and a number of others. The moderators consider the most important topics for dissemination to such topics as the preservation of the Sami language and culture (including a significant part of the content related to material culture), environmental problems and traditional crafts. At the same time, it is noted that the greatest response from the audience of these groups is received by posts devoted to art, entertainment and everyday life topics. Moderators carefully monitor the thematic focus of the content and try to avoid various “sensitive” topics and discussions, especially those related to politics. The audience of the Sami online communities is assessed by the moderators as conflict-free, but at the same time not active enough. In general, the moderators highly appreciate the technological capabilities of social networks for disseminating relevant information, establishing contacts, self-presentation, socializing Sami youth, broadcasting their culture and expressing ethnic identity.