M-Hafazan: aplikasi mudah alih untuk pengajian tahfiz

Pendidikan tahfiz secara formal telah berkembang pesat serta mendapat perhatian istimewa dari masyarakat Islam di Malaysia. Perkembangan ini disebabkan oleh kesedaran dan permintaan ibu bapa dalam menerapkan al-Quran kepada anak-anak melalui hafazan. Pada masa kini, terdapat banyak aplikasi yang dapat menyokong pembelajaran tahfiz. Namun begitu, tiada aktiviti pengukuhan disediakan bagi membolehkan penghafaz al-Quran menguji tahap ingatan mereka terhadap ayat-ayat yang telah dihafaz. Aplikasi m-Hafazan ini dibangunkan dengan tujuan menyokong pengajian tahfiz dengan lebih baik. Aplikasi ini dibangunkan dengan menggunakan metodologi Multimedia Mobile Content Development. Metodologi ini dipilih kerana ia dapat mempercepatkan proses pembangunan aplikasi serta mengurangkan penggunaan pemprosesan data peranti mudah alih. Pengujian aplikasi telah dijalankan terhadap pelajar-pelajar dan guru dari Sekolah Rendah Islam Tahfiz, Parit Raja. Hasil pengujian menunjukkan 78.3% pelajar sangat bersetuju aplikasi m-Hafazan sesuai digunakan sebagai medium alternatif dalam pengajian hafazan al-Quran. Selain itu, 85% pelajar sangat bersetuju bahawa aplikasi ini dapat membantu pengukuhan hafazan mereka. Kesimpulannya, walaupun kaedah talaqqi (bersemuka) merupakan pendekatan yang terbaik dalam pengajian hafazan, namun implementasi aplikasi m-Hafazan berpotensi untuk dijadikan kaedah alternatif dalam pembelajaran hafazan bagi pelajar tahfiz mahupun bukan

Contributing to a “culture of safety” by increasing usage of the drug library on smart infusion pumps: A Quality Improvement Project

Background: Computerized infusion devices called smart infusion pumps or smart pumps are clinical tools capable of decreasing IV medication infusion calculation errors through the use of embedded drug libraries. These devices are now important tools contributing to a “culture of safety” defined by the Joint Commission. Reports from April 2015 indicated a 22% occurrence rate in which the devices were not correctly programmed before infusion. AIM Statement: The global aim of this quality improvement project was to improve usage of the IV pump drug library by ensuring medication is correctly labeled before infusion. The specific aim was to increase the IV pump drug library usage from 78% to 90% by July 24, 2015. Method: Kurt Lewin’s Change Theory was used as the theoretical framework to guide the project and usage of the IV pump drug library on a 30 bed surgical unit. A pre- intervention Likert style survey was conducted to identify barriers to library usage, determine level of confidence with the library, and understand nurses’ ability to find a medication in the library. Meetings with the Unit Practice Council (UPC) and educational huddles were conducted to discuss correct usage of the drug library. Based on pharmacy reports, the menu of drugs displayed in the pump was changed to reflect the top ten most frequently used medications. Post-intervention pharmacy reports were compared to baseline. Results: Data from the pre-intervention survey and staff meetings indicated a knowledge deficit in correct usage of the IV pump drug library and perceptions of time constraints and inability to find medication as barriers to its usage. Data post “pump push” indicated the usage of the drug library was 84.2%. Conclusions: Implementation of educational huddles and a “pump push” was anticipated to increase the percentage of IV pump drug library usage. Implications for the role of the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) are explored and discussed

Libraries in transition: evolving the information ecology of the Learning Commons: a sabbatical report

This sabbatical report studied various models in order to determine best practices for design, implementation and service of Leaning Commons, a library service model which functionally and spatially integrates library services, information technology services, and media services to provide a continuum of services to the user

Artificial Intelligence and Systems Theory: Applied to Cooperative Robots

This paper describes an approach to the design of a population of cooperative robots based on concepts borrowed from Systems Theory and Artificial Intelligence. The research has been developed under the SocRob project, carried out by the Intelligent Systems Laboratory at the Institute for Systems and Robotics - Instituto Superior Tecnico (ISR/IST) in Lisbon. The acronym of the project stands both for "Society of Robots" and "Soccer Robots", the case study where we are testing our population of robots. Designing soccer robots is a very challenging problem, where the robots must act not only to shoot a ball towards the goal, but also to detect and avoid static (walls, stopped robots) and dynamic (moving robots) obstacles. Furthermore, they must cooperate to defeat an opposing team. Our past and current research in soccer robotics includes cooperative sensor fusion for world modeling, object recognition and tracking, robot navigation, multi-robot distributed task planning and coordination, including cooperative reinforcement learning in cooperative and adversarial environments, and behavior-based architectures for real time task execution of cooperating robot teams

Barriers to ISO 9001 Implementation in Moroccan Organizations: Empirical Study

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore obstacles to ISO 9001 quality management system implementation in Moroccan firms. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey has been conducted among a heterogeneous sample of 200 organizations, operating in different sectors in Morocco, yielding a response rate of 57.5%. The authors have studied barriers to quality initiatives in general and obstacles to QMS implementation in particular through an extensive literature review. Questions related to profiles of respondents, reasons of seeking certification, external consultancy and barriers to ISO 9001 implementation experienced by surveyed organizations. For the purpose of this study, authors considered three categories of quality inhibiting factors: organizational, technical and costs related barriers. Findings: Results indicate that surveyed companies sought ISO 9001 certification mainly for marketing reasons and experienced many difficulties during the implementation process. Barriers reported by respondents were mostly organizational. Resistance to change headed the list according to participants’ opinion. Also, findings highlighted the prominence of bureaucracy and poor interdependence between departments in organizations. Lack of communication, poor top management commitment and insufficient trainings were also ascertained to be obstacles to QMS implementation in Morocco. Originality/value: Earlier studies were led by different researchers in different countries about barriers to quality initiatives in general and to ISO 9001 implementation in particular. Few of those studies were conducted in Arab speaking countries but no research has been carried in Morocco. This study on obstacles to QMS implementation in Morocco will help in completing the jigsaw of difficulties faced by organizations worldwide when preparing to ISO 9001 certification. Research limitations/implications: This research is limited by the geographic context of the study Morocco, although results can be extrapolated to Arab speaking countries in general. Practical implications: The findings of this paper provide Moroccan managers with a practical understanding of the factors that are likely to obstruct ISO 9001 QMS implementation. Managers should overcome these barriers to achieve a successful implementation and higher QMS performance.Peer Reviewe

Understanding the role of technology in the commercial sexual exploitation of children: the perspective of law enforcement.

This exploratory study was conducted to better assess how technology can be used in criminal investigations; it is important to get a better understanding of how technology is currently employed in child sex trafficking as well as the approaches and needs of law enforcement. 144 investigators from Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces and affiliate agencies responded to an online semi‐structured survey, including 45 investigators with experience conducting investigations of the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) that involved technology. Participants included investigators working in local, county, and state law enforcement agencies in the United States. The discussion suggested a great deal of variation in perspectives and experiences surrounding the problem of CSEC and technology. Investigators were able to highlight both benefits and obstacles. Benefits included the availability of digital evidence instead of relying on personal accounts, the monitoring capabilities of police, and the ability to conduct extensive undercover operations. Obstacles tended to focus on financial concerns, the continual need for training and technical assistance, and the rapidly changing technological environment. Findings highlight the vast complexity and variability in these crimes. There is still quite a bit of the unknown when it comes to investigating CSEC – technology changes rapidly and avenues for marketing and communicating are vast. Continual education, training and technical assistance are central to investigators’ needs in this area