Using Simulation to Leverage Digital Transformation of SMEs: A European Perspective

Digital transformation is one of the main challenges that SMEs face nowadays. Nevertheless, to a great extent, they lack the necessary capacities and skills to introduce and apply technologies that can support digitalization. As a design science approach, researchers from different European countries have carried out the collaborative research project VOIL to collect and scientifically develop resources and tools to support SMEs in building digital skills. In the context of this project, a tool is developed to assess the digital maturity of SMEs. Moreover, a learning journey based on the use of simulators is proposed together with a minimal viable prototype integrating all developed tools to provide a comprehensive learning environment. Lessons learned from the application of said learning online environment in experimental settings are also shared. The project results contribute to the research that has been carried out within the scope of life long learning, proposing the aggregation of pedagogical strategies that allow self-guided learning in the workplace

Occupational Therapy Students’ Responses to Online Standardized Patient Simulations

Campus closures during the COVID-19 pandemic led to the innovation of online standardized patient (SP) simulations. Extensive preparation with the faculty, simulation specialists, SPs, and 42 occupational therapy students was required to smoothly adapt an occupational therapy learning module from in-person to online simulations. The concepts of functional task alignment and psychological fidelity from the simulation literature guided the process of designing the online simulations. Post-simulation, student perceptions about learner engagement, psychological fidelity, and accomplishment of the simulation’s learning outcomes were collected using anonymous surveys. All 36 survey respondents found the online SP encounters to be engaging. Most experienced realism in their emotional responses as well as the interpersonal and cognitive skills used during the simulation. Overall, students felt that the online simulations provided an effective way to meet the intended learning outcomes. Additionally, five individual student interviews were completed to further explore the students’ overall experience as a simulation participant, challenges encountered, and how the online simulation experience could be improved. Emerging themes from the interview data were: (a) a stepping stone for learning, (b) realism of the experience, (c) physical fidelity, (d) limitations of being online, and (e) curriculum design and implementation. Findings suggest that online SP simulations are a promising innovation with multiple potential applications in occupational therapy education during a pandemic and beyond

A Design Methodology for a Computer-Supported Collaborative Skills Lab in Technical Translation Teaching

Aim/Purpose The aim of this study is to adopt more systematically the collaborative learning dimension in the technical translation teaching at Master Degree level. In order to do so, a computer-supported skills lab approach is targeted. This approach is aimed at enhancing traditional courses on Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) so that student competences and soft skills are enhanced. Background In traditional CAT courses, laboratory sessions complement theoretical lessons, thus providing students mainly with tool-oriented operational knowledge, while nowadays more intertwined competences are required by the labor market. Moreover, this sector lacks skills labs which engage students in collaborative activities mimicking professional workflows, thus not exploiting team-based learning potential effectiveness. Methodology In this paper, therefore, a design methodology to deploy and operate an enhanced skills lab as a remote Computer-Supported Collaborative Simulated Translation Bureau (CS2TB) is proposed and validated. The proposed methodology is based on a set of intertwined methodological frameworks that address: 1) student competences and educational requirements, 2) collaborative aspects, 3) regulatory policies as well as functional and interactional guidelines for the simulated fieldwork. The overall effectiveness of the proposed methodology has been assessed by using pre-post questionnaires to ascertain student feedback. The improvement in technology skills has been evaluated by collecting and examining student help requests as well as system error logs. Contribution The CS2TB provides a technology-enhanced simulation-based learning environment whose aim is twofold: first, enriching traditional approaches with a Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) experience and, second, incorporating widely adopted approaches for the translation-teaching domain as the required grounding knowledge. Findings Results demonstrate the effectiveness of CS2TB in improving students' competences (specifically in the IT area but also in the technical translation area), students' willingness to operate in a fieldwork-like context and cooperative learning efficacy. Recommendations for Practitioners The educational implications of the proposed approach concern the development of a full range of competences and soft skills for students in the technical translation teaching at the higher education level, ranging from language and translation proficiency to the usage of IT platforms as well as personal and interpersonal interactional soft skills. Recommendations for Researchers This study offers a wide overview of all the aspects entailed by the design, implementation, management, and evaluation of a skills lab for technical translation teaching. Researchers may benefit from the rigorous modelling approach as well as from the adopted assessment techniques. Moreover, the study stresses the pivotal role of a tight collaboration between language/translation teaching and computer engineering. Impact on Society Higher education institutions that already have courses on computer-assisted translation may benefit from the proposed CS2TB approach, which allows them to design new thematic activities leveraging team-based learning, collaborative learning, and fieldwork-situated simulation. Moreover, the presented broad range of assessment approaches can be used to measure the impact of CS2TB on learning outcomes of the involved students. Future Research Future research activities will be dedicated to examining the impact of a different set of enabling IT platforms on the collaborative learning perspective, to evaluate alternative scaffolding approaches (e.g., chatbots or augmented reality), and to increase simulation fidelity further, so that even more student competences can be fostered

Are you there? : Presence in collaborative distance work

doi linkki ei toimi 31.1.2022, ilmoitettu lehteen/USAlready before the pandemic, digitally mediated collaborative work and communication were perceived as challenging. We investigate the attitudes towards emerging technologies and for transforming practises in workplaces. The focus lies on understanding the readiness for appropriating emotional tracking on presence and support for collaboration. The research-based design framework allowed to combine the various perspectives of the transdisciplinary team. Methods included participatory design, design thinking, contextual inquiry and prototype testing for enhancing presence while working with shared objects in video conferencing to explore the appropriation of tools. The findings revealed four indications: 1) awareness of interlocutors’ presence during synchronous communication is crucial. 2) Emotion and behaviour tracking raises concerns about privacy and personal control over what is displayed to others, and technology could be simpler non-distracting the work at hand. 3) The prototype was found to enhance the feeling of presence without disturbing work at hand, and 4) appropriation requires a step-by-step approach.Peer reviewe

Simulations at work — a framework for configuring simulation fidelity with training objectives

This study aims to provide framework for considering fidelity in the design of simulator training. Simulator fidelity is often characterised as the level of physical and visual similarity with real work settings, and the importance of simulator fidelity in the creation of learning activities has been extensively debated. Based on a selected literature review and fieldwork on ship simulator training, this study provides a conceptual framework for fidelity requirements in simulator training. This framework is applied to an empirical example from a case of ship simulator training. The study identifies three types of simulator fidelity that might be useful from a trainer’s perspective. By introducing a framework of technical, psychological and interactional fidelity and linking these concepts to different levels of training and targeted learning outcomes, the study demonstrates how the fidelity of the simulation relates to the level of expertise targeted in training. The framework adds to the body of knowledge on simulator training by providing guidelines for the different ways in which simulators can increase professional expertise, without separating the learning activity from cooperative work performance

La importancia del empleo del simulador en la formación del alumno de puente

El Convenio Internacional STCW establece todos los requisitos mínimos de formación, titulación y guardia de la gente del mar. Por esta razón, cualquier alumno de puente debe experimentar una transición de su educación marítima que abarca desde la escuela náutica hasta el periodo de formación a bordo, y siendo esta afianzada por el uso de simulador. En consecuencia, se ha analizado en un simulador de puente la jerarquía en el ámbito marítimo, su grado de realismo, la importancia de las instrucciones y evaluaciones, su valor económico y, finalmente, las repercusiones de la pandemia del COVID-19 en la educación marítima. Como resultado, se ha demostrado que el simulador durante la capacitación del alumno es una herramienta esencial.The International STCW Code sets out all the minimum requirements for training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers. Therefore, a bridge trainee must experience a transition of his maritime education from nautical school to the training period on board, supported using a simulator. Consequently, the hierarchy in the maritime domain, its degree of realism, the importance of instructions and evaluations, its economic value and, finally, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maritime education have been analyzed in a bridge simulator. As a result, the use of the simulator during training has proven to be an essential too

ErgoShip 2021 – Maritime artikler

Welcome to the special issue dedicated to the conference Ergoship 2021! The editorial committee are proud to present a selection of papers from Ergoship 2021 and a few invited papers within the topic of maritime Human Factors. The first Ergoshipwas held in Gothenburg in 2011 to create a meeting place for researchers in maritime Human Factors. The conference has lived on and was held in Australia 2016, in Haugesund 2019 and in South Korea 2021. We wish we could all have met in person, but this time it was not to be. Nevertheless, we look forward to sharing these papers with you and hope we can drive this field forward together. Enjoy the papers from a small but passionate group of contributors. The authors and the audience make this recurring conference special

Future Skills and Competence Needs

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