372 research outputs found

    "Without libraries what have we?" Public libraries as nodes for technological empowerment in the era of smart cities, AI and big data

    Get PDF
    Since 2014, a growing body of critical research has pointed out flaws in smart city development. It has been described as too technology-led and business-oriented, diminishing citizens' agency and causing digital divides. As the agenda keeps spreading, there is an urgent need to develop more participatory, inclusive and bottom-up approaches to balance interests of those currently in strong power positions, such as large corporations. Participatory design (PD) and participatory approaches in general have been suggested as a remedy, but they often tend to be local, small-scale and short-term. Therefore, their impacts are often modest as well. We suggest that we need to start thinking about ways to create scalable approaches that would grow the temporal and spatial impact of actions and practices that intend to increase citizens' understanding and control over new technologies, i.e. their technological agency. Without making sure that more people have adequate knowledge and sufficient control and mastery of technologies, societal discussion and ultimately, political decisions, are left to few experts. We explore the potential of public libraries to act as an ally and cooperation partner in participatory design and technology education in general, with a significant potential to broaden micro-level actions' impact. The paper consists of a broad literature review mapping the central challenges of current smart city development; this is followed with an introduction to the Finnish library system as a democratic project; finally, we present three examples of how libraries are carrying out technological education connected to emerging technologies, particularly to 3D printing, robotics and virtual reality. Our central argument is that there is a need to bridge micro-level actions, such as those connected to participatory design projects, with the macro-level technopolitical development by collaborating with meso-level actors and networks.Peer reviewe

    Journal of Communication Pedagogy, Complete Volume 4, 2021

    Get PDF
    This is the complete volume 4 of the Journal of Communication Pedagogy

    The impact of experiential learning in a service-learning context from the adult learners\u27 perspective: a phenomenological inquiry

    Get PDF
    In higher education, numerous experiential learning programs are offered to enhance students\u27 learning, including international travel programs, immersion programs, internship programs, and service-learning program. Although students participating in these programs are each higher education institution\u27s number one stakeholders, rarely are they asked about the impact of these programs on their learning, both personally and professionally. For future graduate students, higher education institutions, program designers, and community partners, understanding the perspectives of graduate alumni that have participated in experiential learning programs can be valuable for the future development, assessment, and improvement of such programs. For this reason, the purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to describe the impact of experiential learning from the perspectives of graduate alumni of Pepperdine Graziadio School (PGBS) who completed Master of Science in Management and Leadership (MSML) Education to Community (E2C) service-learning capstone project. The study was guided by research questions that addressed graduate alumni strategies and practices when leading a change initiative in a service-learning context, the challenges they faced, their sense of the personal and professional significance of the opportunity, the lessons learned, and their recommendations for future programs. The goal of the study was to deliver to program designers current research that might contribute to the continued development and success of the MSML program. Altogether, through data collection and data analysis, the findings fully supported the effectiveness of the program as expressed from the perspectives of graduate alumni related to student satisfaction and learning outcomes. The impact as described by graduate alumni indicated positive outcomes and strong agreement of the immediate and continued benefits of their involvement in the E2C service-learning capstone project. The graduate alumni recounted that the opportunity to learn and apply theory by participating in the capstone project, with the support of faculty-to-student coaching and peer-to-peer mentoring led to long-lasting impacts, both personally and professionally. Of note, the findings suggested that in general graduate alumni gained a greater awareness of the non-profit sector, established relationships, developed leadership responsibilities, determined strategies and practices for leading change, and experienced personal development, and professional advancement. Because of these findings, a couple of specific implications are suggested for future MSML graduate students and current MSML program designers. Future graduate students interested in getting the most out of their E2C capstone service-learning project can incorporate the learning strategies, based on the successful experiences of graduate alumni, which include: (1) the utilization of MSML program resources, (b) academic collaboration, and (c) community partner collaboration. Additionally, a particular implication for program designers includes the application of a revised version of the collaborative approach to teaching students how to lead change model. The four components of this simple model create a platform for students to thrive in leading a change initiative through an E2C service-learning capstone project. The model consists of four primary components: (a) theory, (b) application, (c) coaching, and (d) evaluation

    Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences Annual Report 2013-2014

    Get PDF
    2013-2014 Annual Report of the Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Scienceshttps://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cnhs-archive/1000/thumbnail.jp

    Innovations in Rural Health System Development: Federally Qualified Health Center Initiatives

    Get PDF
    Part of a series of briefs profiling innovative rural health system transformation models and strategies from Maine and other parts of the US, this brief focuses on promising strategies of federally qualified health centers. These strategies include workforce recruitment and retention initiatives, approaches to serving high-need patient populations, services to address the opioid crisis and dental care, and innovations in providing enabling services that address the social determinants of health. This series on Innovations in Rural Health System was funded by the Maine Health Access Foundation. Other briefs in this series include: Moving Rural Health Systems to Value-Based Payment Recruiting and Retaining Maine\u27s Health Care Workforce Governance Maine\u27s Behavioral Health Services Service Delivery Advances in Care Coordination, Emergency Care, and Telehealth Learn more at www.mehaf.or

    2050 Circular Metal Visions

    Get PDF
    This progress report was produced within the UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Metals (Principal Investigator Prof Zhongyun Fan), as part of the activities of WP3 ‘Circular Business’ (led by Prof Janet Godsell) and work stream WP3.1 ‘Circular business model innovation’ (led by Dr Fabrizio Ceschin).This progress report presents some initial findings of the WP3 ’Circular Business’ of the UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for the Circular Metals. The aim of the centre is to transform the metals industry and make the UK the first country in the world to have a fully circular metals system. The purpose of this progress report is to present a set of visions of how circular economy can transform the metal value chain in the long term. The progress report presents 12 visions for 2050 and discusses the most significant challenges and opportunities that might respectively hinder and support the shift to those visions. The progress report is the result of research activities that brought together leading experts from academia, industry, and government to explore how the UK could transition to a circular metal economy

    Collaborative Learning of Robotics with Elementary School and University Students : Design of co-learning workshop and learning experiences

    Get PDF
    In the future, the number of robots and their areas of application are expected to increase. Robotics literacy, knowledge and understanding of what robots are and what are their features, is a skill needed to form an appropriate relationship with the robots. Robot literacy is already taught to children in schools, but extra-curricular activities have been introduced in robotics education research as meaningful ways of learning different aspects of robots and robotics. The learners of robotics have benefited from co-learning experiences, where they collaborate with other groups of learners to solve problems and challenges together. Children collaborating in learning robotics with parents has proved to increase their knowledge, skills, and confidence regarding robots, and it has helped the parents to motivate their children to learn. The present research acknowledges the benefits of robotics co-learning for learners familiar with each other. In this thesis, we designed and evaluated a co-learning robot workshop designed for the novel pairing of co-learners, 8th-graders, and university students. The workshop consisted of three robot-related co-learning tasks, using robots Spot, QTrobot and Clicbot. The university students facilitated the workshop tasks. In the pre-study phase, we conducted a co-design week with one 15-year-old pupil participant, and we made an initial design for the workshop. Nine 8th-graders and six university students participated in the workshop and the evaluation of it. The pupils’ teacher participated in the pre-study and evaluation of the workshop. The workshop was held at Tampere University Hervanta campus in Robostudio, a multidisciplinary co-learning space with multiple robots. The results of the co-learning robot workshop were positive, and the participants enjoyed the co-learning experience. The pupils learned about robots and programming, and the students learned about interacting with the pupils. Co-learning robot workshops are beneficial for the participants to learn about robots and about communicating with diverse people. However, there were some things to be improved in the workshop, such as communicating instructions or ice-breaking. We formed eight design implications from the gathered data for a more comfortable, safe, and fulfilling co-learning experience. The design implications include suggestions to put on effort into ice-breaking and visual instructions related to the tasks and safety. Additionally, to motivate the participants to learn, they should be given the freedom to make choices regarding their work

    Am J Ind Med

    Get PDF
    The future of work embodies changes to the workplace, work, and workforce, which require additional occupational safety and health (OSH) stakeholder attention. Examples include workplace developments in organizational design, technological job displacement, and work arrangements; work advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, and technologies; and workforce changes in demographics, economic security, and skills. This paper presents the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's Future of Work Initiative; suggests an integrated approach to address worker safety, health, and well-being; introduces priority topics and subtopics that confer a framework for upcoming future of work research directions and resultant practical applications; and discusses preliminary next steps. All future of work issues impact\ua0one another. Future of work transformations are contingent upon each of the standalone factors discussed in this paper and their combined effects. Occupational safety and health stakeholders are becoming more aware of the significance and necessity of these factors for the workplace, work, and workforce to flourish, merely survive, or disappear altogether as the future evolves. The future of work offers numerous opportunities, while also presenting critical but not clearly understood difficulties, exposures, and hazards. It is the responsibility of OSH researchers and other partners to understand the implications of future of work scenarios to translate effective interventions into practice for employers safeguarding the safety, health, and well-being of their workers.CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHS/United States2020-12-15T00:00:00Z32926431PMC77372988792vault:3628

    Investing In America's Health 2015

    Get PDF
    In 2015, BCBS companies continued investing in America's health throughhundreds of community-based grants, sponsorships, educational programsand health initiatives. BCBS employees themselves reinforced this collectivecommitment with nearly 400,000 volunteer hours and $10 million in personaldonations. Our local investments last year targeted a wide rangeof health-related needs important to individual communities, including severaltopics that are top-of-mind in all communities. Among them were combatingchildhood obesity and diabetes, meeting growing demand for behavioraland mental health services, tackling the devastating opioid abuse epidemic,strengthening school-based health education and filling gaps in care throughsafety-net clinics.The following pages provide just a sampling of the many ways BCBS companiesare addressing these and other critical issues through hands-on efforts toincrease access to care, improve healthcare quality and affordability and enablehealthier living. That's what the Power of Blue is all about -- advancing theoverall health and well-being of every community in America

    INVESTIGATING INFORMATION LITERACY IN BUSINESS MAJORS

    Get PDF
    This is a study on information literacy (IL) in Business Majors. A Web-based questionnaire with used to investigate undergraduate Business students on their understanding of IL and assessment of their respective abilities and skills. The study used IL standards adopted by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). The study adopted the UTAUT model’s as a theoretical framework. The findings conveyed that external UTAUT factors (Social Factors and Facilitating Conditions) have positive effect on IL. Moreover, the findings emphasized the importance of the four factors and suggested the IL could be assessed in all contexts. Implications for discipline and practice are shared
    • …
    corecore