1,381,854 research outputs found
Re-thinking technology and its growing role in enabling patient empowerment
© The Author(s) 2018. The presence and increase of challenges to eHealth in today’s society have begun to generate doubts about the capability of technology in patient empowerment, especially within the frameworks supporting empowerment. Through the review of existing frameworks and articulation of patient demands, weaknesses in the current application of technology to support empowerment are explored, and key constituents of a technology-driven framework for patient empowerment are determined. This article argues that existing usage of technology in the design, development and implementation of patient empowerment in the healthcare system, although well intentioned, is insufficiently constituted, primarily as a result of fragmentation. Systems theory concepts such as holism and iteration are considered vital in improving the role of technology in enabling patient empowerment
Teacher professional learning for technology integration in mathematics classrooms through online learning communities : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Information Technology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
The new school curricula in Indonesia emphasise the integration of technology
into instructional practices. The infusion of technology in mathematics education
requires teachers to align their teaching practices with ongoing technological
innovations. Integrating technology into mathematics classrooms requires teachers
to have a good knowledge of mathematics content, technology and pedagogy.
Teachers also need to consider their school environments. Existing teacher
professional development programmes are seen to be failing to meet teacher needs
regarding content delivery that sometimes does not match the existing school
conditions.
The premise underlying this research is that the use of an online learning
community (OLC) may present a possible solution to the current challenges.
Thus, the intention of this study was to investigate the potential of OLCs to help
develop teachers’ learning to fulfil their professional needs in integrating
technology with the teaching of mathematics.
An ethnographic approach was used to investigate the phenomenon of teacher
learning within an OLC and the implementation of the new knowledge acquired in
their mathematics teaching practices. Empirical data from five case studies were
used to examine how participation in the OLC affected teaching practices for five
teachers. The results revealed that teacher participation in an OLC offered
opportunities and challenges. Teachers de-privatized their practices as they
actively engaged in social learning interactions to share knowledge and help each
other with the appropriate use of technology in teaching mathematics. Teachers
also faced some challenges, which impeded them. These challenges included
differences in school policies, such as restrictions on using social media and
limited technical infrastructure, which hindered teachers from fully leveraging the
OLC. Teachers with less experience in teaching with technology and with low
levels of technology skills tended to be passive in the OLC. Cultural contexts
revealed that lack of experience and caution about expressing opinions made
teachers feel ewuh pakewuh, a shyness in openly expressing their thoughts.
Despite these barriers, the study provided evidence that teachers improvised and
dealt with situations as they rose.
The findings of this study provided evidence that participation in the OLC had
significant impacts on teachers’ professional learning. Teachers altered their mode
of using technology either as a partner or as an extension of self as they gained
more confidence in their own learning. The teachers gradually transformed their
participation from peripheral to full participation in promoting the use of
technology for teaching mathematics. The research provides new insights into
ways teachers can be helped to develop their professional learning in the use of
technology for teaching mathematics through participation in OLCs. Particularly
for Indonesia, the findings of this research provide an OLC-based model that
could be implemented in other contexts that share similar technology landscapes
and sociocultural heritages
Carbon Trading with Blockchain
Blockchain has the potential to accelerate the deployment of emissions
trading systems (ETS) worldwide and improve upon the efficiency of existing
systems. In this paper, we present a model for a permissioned blockchain
implementation based on the successful European Union (EU) ETS and discuss its
potential advantages over existing technology. We propose an ETS model that is
both backwards compatible and future-proof, characterised by
interconnectedness, transparency, tamper-resistance and high liquidity.
Further, we identify key challenges to implementation of a blockchain ETS, as
well as areas of future work required to enable a fully-decentralised
blockchain ETS
Wind turbine condition monitoring : technical and commercial challenges.
Deployment of larger scale wind turbine systems, particularly offshore, requires more organized operation and maintenance strategies to ensure systems are safe, profitable and cost-effective. Among existing maintenance strategies, reliability centred maintenance is regarded as best for offshore wind turbines, delivering corrective and proactive (i.e. preventive and predictive) maintenance techniques enabling wind turbines to achieve high availability and low cost of energy. Reliability centred maintenance analysis may demonstrate that an accurate and reliable condition monitoring system is one method to increase availability and decrease the cost of energy from wind. In recent years, efforts have been made to develop efficient and cost-effective condition monitoring techniques for wind turbines. A number of commercial wind turbine monitoring systems are available in the market, most based on existing techniques from other rotating machine industries. Other wind turbine condition monitoring reviews have been published but have not addressed the technical and commercial challenges, in particular, reliability and value for money. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap and present the wind industry with a detailed analysis of the current practical challenges with existing wind turbine condition monitoring technology
An introduction to crowdsourcing for language and multimedia technology research
Language and multimedia technology research often relies on
large manually constructed datasets for training or evaluation of algorithms and systems. Constructing these datasets is often expensive with significant challenges in terms of recruitment of personnel to carry out the work. Crowdsourcing methods using scalable pools of workers available on-demand offers a flexible means of rapid low-cost construction of many of these datasets to support existing research requirements and potentially promote new research initiatives that would otherwise not be possible
Automated Transit Networks (ATN): A Review of the State of the Industry and Prospects for the Future, MTI Report 12-31
The concept of Automated Transit Networks (ATN) - in which fully automated vehicles on exclusive, grade-separated guideways provide on-demand, primarily non-stop, origin-to-destination service over an area network – has been around since the 1950s. However, only a few systems are in current operation around the world. ATN does not appear “on the radar” of urban planners, transit professionals, or policy makers when it comes to designing solutions for current transit problems in urban areas. This study explains ATN technology, setting it in the larger context of Automated Guideway Transit (AGT); looks at the current status of ATN suppliers, the status of the ATN industry, and the prospects of a U.S.-based ATN industry; summarizes and organizes proceedings from the seven Podcar City conferences that have been held since 2006; documents the U.S./Sweden Memorandum of Understanding on Sustainable Transport; discusses how ATN could expand the coverage of existing transit systems; explains the opportunities and challenges in planning and funding ATN systems and approaches for procuring ATN systems; and concludes with a summary of the existing challenges and opportunities for ATN technology. The study is intended to be an informative tool for planners, urban designers, and those involved in public policy, especially for urban transit, to provide a reference for history and background on ATN, and to use for policy development and research
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