Visual Decision Support System Model for Managing Unemployment by Hybrid Education

Hybrid education is an approach that helps in conducting face-to-face and online distance learning especially for formal education. However, during COVID-19 pandemic, formal education institutions including schools and universities as well as informal education through the media for communities and industries are practiced by the lawmakers to manage workplace distancing. Food supply chain are experiencing unexpected disruptions due to interrelated activities that will determine supply chain performance and efficiency. This article explores the challenges faced by food industry and related sectors due to emergence impact of COVID-19 in Malaysia. Food supply chain management (FSCM) is a complex task involving interconnected activities and numerous stakeholders for a specific food product from raw materials to final product before it reaches the end customers. An overview of COVID-19 scenarios, followed by the impact of pandemic towards the activities in food supply chain, and the management issues that need to be addressed are presented. Several challenges identified are including the worldwide implication of the pandemic scenarios to food supply chain management and food supply chain activities, and indirect impact of supply chain disruption to labour force; unemployment and retrenchment. Finally, a visual decision support system (VDSS) model is developed to illustrate the main impacts of the pandemic scenario on food supply chain as well as addressing the labour management and opportunities. It has potential to provide general guidelines to educators, policy-makers, and decision-makers  to deal with uncertainties after the pandemi

Climate services for society: Institutional arrangements to support national agricultural climate services in Uruguay

This thesis advances our understanding of what it means to create climate services for society, with a particular focus on the institutional arrangements needed to support a national-level agricultural climate service in Uruguay. Grounded in a broad analysis of the emerging field of climate services, the thesis starts with a bird’s-eye-view approach, analyzing a global survey of more than 100 services to draw general conclusions about the current state of practice and the persistence of a number of common challenges. This activity is also used to define what might be considered a pattern of attributes that might define a “typical” climate service. While the analysis of this dataset is useful in providing a historical overview of the field in 2012, it was not able to provide a sense of good practice in this emerging field. To advance this discussion, the analysis finds that case studies must move past a simple accounting of what took place to explore and explain strengths and weaknesses of climate services from a more theoretical perspective. To achieve this, the thesis argues that case studies should explore currently under-researched issues, explaining causal links between specific climate-service interventions and ultimate outcomes. Case studies should also play a role in climate service evaluation, complementing experimental and quasi-experimental methods, and supplementing those methods in cases in which they may be inappropriate or premature. Building on these recommendations, the thesis develops a case study that follows an “archetypical” climate service, looking at the governance and institutional arrangements that support a national-level agricultural climate service based on seasonal-scale information and provided to the Uruguayan agricultural sector over the Internet. This work reveals six factors that created an enabling environment for investment in Uruguay’s National Agricultural Information System (SNIA). These are: institutional support for sustainable agriculture; groundwork on climate change adaptation; the modernisation of the meteorological service; an open data policy; a focus on the near-term; and the role of key individuals. In particular, the results reveal the role that “innovation systems,” “groundwork,” and the modernisation of the meteorological service play in fostering investment in climate services. This suggests a number of avenues by which national governments can advance investment in climate services, even when political factors make the possibility of this kind of investment seem remote. Policy measures – such as Uruguay’s requirement that all public data be made available, and the SNIA’s policy of focusing on near-term climate variability rather than long-term climate change – were critically important. Key individuals, and the relationships of trust between them, were also found to be central to the decision to invest in the SNIA. Following this analysis, a second component of the case study explored the governance arrangements that supported the development and use of SNIA. While this analysis found that the team responsible for the SNIA was relatively successful at developing ad hoc solutions to governance challenges associated with delivering the SNIA, it found as well that the team was less successful at addressing the governance challenges associated with defining the SNIA, including by selecting the information products that composed it, and ensuring the sustainable impact of the tool. As one of the first studies focused specifically on climate service governance, this analysis relied on themes from project governance. In extending these concepts, the thesis suggests that those concerned with the governance of national climate services should be particularly concerned with issues related to (1) prioritization among climate service opportunities, and between climate services and other types of) opportunities designed to further similar goals; (2) balancing needs and opportunities at local and national scales; (3) supporting evaluation; and (4) fostering sustainable impact. Taken together, the components of the thesis contribute to a larger discussion on the governance and institutional factors that contribute to the success of climate services, and to a better understanding of what determines “good practice” in climate services more broadly. The thesis also consolidates a range of social science literature that has expanded in the climate service field over the past decade and improves a general understanding of what climate services are, how they are funded, and how they are governed

Life-media for a wireless world : participatory democracy and the radio spectrum in Canada and Uruguay

Le spectre radioélectrique est rapidement en train de devenir le médium central, à travers lequel la société communique. Grâce à de multiples facteurs, plusieurs formes de communication, anciennement disparates (la radio, la télévision, la téléphonie mobile, le Wi-Fi) convergent vers la forme éthérée du spectre. L'orientation future de cette convergence dépend largement des acteurs qui sont impliqués dans le design de la réglementation de la communication, ainsi que dans celui des technologies et de leurs usages. Cette thèse doctorale élabore une histoire compréhensive de la communication sans-fil et de sa réglementation, et propose une nouvelle économie politique du spectre, fondée sur la justice sociale. Elle présente, par la suite, une approche épistémologique qui tente de recalibrer les relations entre la société et le spectre radioélectrique. Elle propose que le spectre devra être traité comme une sorte de « média de vie », étant donné qu'il est une composante naturelle de notre environnement et qu'il occupe un rôle central dans notre habilité à exister comme des êtres sociaux communicants. Sa réglementation, alors, devra être sujette au plus haut niveau de participation, de transparence, et d'imputabilité. Cette recherche repose sur une étude de cas internationale et comparative. Elle aborde la capacité des processus de « policymaking » au Canada et en Uruguay à intégrer la participation publique. Elle se fonde sur une documentation extensive et des entretiens avec des législateurs, des régulateurs nationaux et internationaux, des organisations de la société civile, des experts indépendants, des ministères du gouvernement, et des représentants du secteur privé. Des diagnostiques sont établis pour chaque pays et des recommandations politiques concrètes sont faites, qui ne parlent pas seulement des spécificités des politiques du spectre, mais du tissu même de la société démocratique.\ud ______________________________________________________________________________ \ud MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : spectre radioélectrique, politiques de communication, télécommunication, Canada, Urugua

Challenges of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education from the perspective of experts in Uruguay

This study addresses the topic of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education, in Uruguay, from the perspective of three experts from teacher education and training centers, University of the Republic and Plan Ceibal. This investigation is part of a research agenda of the Smart Ecosystems for Learning and Inclusion (SELI) project (ERANet17/ICT-0076 SELI. http://project-seli.herokuapp.com/). Respondents were selected based on the following sampling criteria: they hold positions in the Uruguayan educational system, in educational management, program implementation, teacher education and/or research. They are recognized in the Uruguayan context for their knowledge or achievements in these areas, and they are currently part of the institutional displayof public formal education. A qualitative approach with structured questionnaires was applied. Interviews focused on challenges of digital literacy, integration of ICT to the educational system and digital inclusion. Three dimensions are addressed in content analysis: ICT availability, implementation strategies and policies developed. Respondents seem to agree on some opinions: great achievements in terms of overcoming digital exclusion are acknowledged, although all respondents agree that there is still room for further improvement. They believe that effectiveness in technology integration is tied to teacher involvement, collaborative work, sharing and building community. Another core shared idea is that innovation resides in what people do as they appropriate technology and not in the technology itself

Resources, Environment, and Rural Development in Uruguay, 1779-1913

This dissertation examines the history of agricultural change in Uruguay over the long nineteenth century, as a case study in the agrarian roots of Latin American long-term development. Cowhides were first exported on a large scale in 1779, under Spanish rule, starting a series of commodity booms that culminated with frozen beef in 1913. By then, Uruguay had the highest number of cows per person and one of the highest per capita incomes in the world; the country only retains the first of those accolades today. How were resources (natural and human) put to work to lay that development path? Which were its environmental basis and limits? To answer these questions, I draw on a wide range of previously under-utilised primary sources, as well as on present-day scientific literature on grassland ecology. My approach is methodologically eclectic, and techniques vary as suits the diversity of the materials and the questions asked in each chapter. These include different quantitative methods (from descriptive statistics to regression analysis), georeferencing and an array of data visualizations, as well as instances of micro-historical narrative. A major concern throughout is to place the Uruguayan case in comparative perspective, mainly within Latin America but also beyond, in order to consider the findings of this dissertation in relation to the wider history of ‘agrarian capitalism,’ and to interrogate the usefulness of that term itself. It is found that in the late-nineteenth century, as lands were enclosed with steel wire, traditional grazing on unfenced ranges gave way to agricultural innovations for which latifundia were neither an obstacle nor a necessity. Fertile land, still physically abundant, was now institutionally scarce, which encouraged immigrants to concentrate in cities and find urban occupations. However, agriculture remained the largest employer in the economy, with rural wage labour becoming increasingly permanent rather than seasonal. While these changes underpinned the rising productivity of agriculture, they greatly limited the resources for smallholder farming, completing a process of concentration and specialization which began during the ill-named ‘lost decades’ in the aftermath of independence. This profound transformation in working people’s relation to the land shaped the agricultural landscapes, economic specialization, and demographic patterns that define modern Uruguay. But rural development and its legacy were also about what did not change. Throughout the nineteenth century and beyond, the agricultural export economy continued to draw its comparative advantage from the ecological services of its grassland environment. As these became more expensive relative to the declining terms of trade of beef, leather, and wool, Uruguayan agriculture entered a long cycle of stagnation: the background to the country’s divergent twentieth-century siesta.Cambridge International Scholarship (Cambridge International Trust

Incorporación de conocimiento climático en la toma de decisiones en el sector agropecuario de Uruguay

Este trabajo intenta develar algunos aspectos relacionados con las necesidades y usos de la información climática, para apoyar las decisiones de las personas involucradas con la producción agropecuaria en Uruguay. De acuerdo al impacto que genera, el evento elegido para el estudio es la sequía agronómica, asociada a las escalas de variabilidad climática interanual e interdecadal, en sistemas ganaderos pastoriles de cría vacuna y ovina. Se relevó información de actores vinculados a la política pública, la academia y productores agropecuarios ubicados en el SE de Uruguay (34,12° S a 34,91° S y 54,34° E a 55,21° E). Se interpretó la información recabada en el marco de las entrevistas, de la metodología Q, y del análisis de redes sociales. Los resultados muestran un proceso sostenido de adaptación a las sequías agronómicas en las últimas décadas, y un contexto actual, tanto académico como político, que favorecen la creación y aplicación de servicios climáticos para el sector agropecuario. Los servicios climáticos integrados a realidades productivas concretas y enfocados en la prevención deberían priorizarse, ya que la adopción de medidas preventivas fue un aspecto de consenso. Los pronósticos climáticos en particular, resultan de utilidad para las escalas asociadas a las decisiones de política pública y de la investigación del clima. El desarrollo de informaciones más específicas, que contemplen las particularidades de distintas regiones y las diferentes necesidades de los usuarios finales, se traduciría en mayor adopción de la información climática a nivel de los productores ganaderos de este estudio. El Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria, el Instituto Plan Agropecuario y la Facultad de Agronomía, resultan instituciones clave para la traducción y adecuación de servicios climáticos para el sector. En el largo plazo, incorporar en la formación universitaria el abordaje de la complejidad que representa la elaboración, traducción, comunicación y aplicación de la información climática, allanaría el camino para su incorporación en los distintos niveles de decisión

Learning Within Socio-Political Landscapes: (Re)imagining Children’s Geographies

Over a century ago, Lucy Sprague Mitchell, one of Bank Street College’s founders, put into practice a vision of teaching and learning enmeshed in the physical, social, and political city spaces of young peoples’ daily lives. Central to her work was reimagining geography, grounding the discipline in the here and now of children’s neighborhoods, connecting with community members and city spaces as a means to explore complex relationships within the wider world. Mitchell considered working across different modes of engagement as an integral practice for children to learn about their worlds and their roles within it: physical movement, like walking and subway riding, and the construction of maps with varying scales, materials, and symbols (Mitchell, 1991). Mitchell also envisioned movement and mapping as essential for teachers’ learning, leading multi-day Long Trips along the eastern seaboard to make visible educators’ connections to contemporary social, political, and environmental realities, and connecting city and rural locales. Temporally, these practices and tools acted as playful intermediaries between visible and invisible interrelationships constituting children’s and adult’s lives and livelihoods

Designing a ubiquitous sensor-based platform to facilitate learning for young children in Thailand

Education plays an important role in helping developing nations reduce poverty and improving quality of life. Ubiquitous and mobile technologies could greatly enhance education in such regions by providing augmented access to learning. This paper presents a three-year iterative study where a ubiquitous sensor based learning platform was designed, developed and tested to support science learning among primary school students in underprivileged Northern Thailand. The platform is built upon the school’s existing mobile devices and was expanded to include sensor-based technology. Throughout the iterative design process, observations, interviews and group discussions were carried out with stakeholders. This lead to key reflections and design concepts such as the value of injecting anthropomorphic qualities into the learning device and providing personally and culturally relevant learning experiences through technology. Overall, the results outlined in this paper help contribute to knowledge regarding the design, development and implementation of ubiquitous sensor-based technology to support learning

Designing a ubiquitous sensor-based platform to facilitate learning for young children in Thailand

Education plays an important role in helping developing nations reduce poverty and improving quality of life. Ubiquitous and mobile technologies could greatly enhance education in such regions by providing augmented access to learning. This paper presents a three-year iterative study where a ubiquitous sensor based learning platform was designed, developed and tested to support science learning among primary school students in underprivileged Northern Thailand. The platform is built upon the school’s existing mobile devices and was expanded to include sensor-based technology. Throughout the iterative design process, observations, interviews and group discussions were carried out with stakeholders. This lead to key reflections and design concepts such as the value of injecting anthropomorphic qualities into the learning device and providing personally and culturally relevant learning experiences through technology. Overall, the results outlined in this paper help contribute to knowledge regarding the design, development and implementation of ubiquitous sensor-based technology to support learning