A systematic review of the effectiveness of videoconference-based tele-education for medical and nursing education.

BACKGROUND: Rural nurses and doctors typically have little opportunity to further their education and training. Studies have shown high participant satisfaction with the use of educational technology, such as videoconferencing, for education. A review of effectiveness of videoconference-based tele-education for medical and nursing education was conducted. AIMS The aims of this study were to: (1) systematically review the literature and critique the research methods on studies addressing the review question: “How effective is videoconference-based education for the education of doctors and nurses?” (2) summarize the existing evidence on the effectiveness of videoconference education for medical and nursing staff; and (3) apply the findings to South Africa and other countries across the globe. Methods: Research citations from 1990 to 2011 from cumulative index of nursing and allied health literature, Medline, Pubmed, PsycInfo, EBSCOhost, SABINET, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the Cochrane Controlled Trial Registry, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness, unpublished abstracts through NEXUS and Internet search engines (Google/Google scholar) were searched. Review methods included searching, sifting, abstraction, and quality assessment of relevant studies by two reviewers. Studies were evaluated for sample, design, intervention, threats to validity, and outcomes. No meta-analysis was conducted as the studies provided heterogeneous outcome data. RESULTS: Five studies were reviewed. Videoconference and face-to-face education is at least equivalent and one study reported an increase in knowledge and knowledge integration. Recommendations: Despite the methodological limitations and heterogeneity of the reviewed studies, there appears to be sufficient evidence of effectiveness to provide a rigorous Grade B evidence-based recommendation of moderate support. Conclusions: The use of videoconferencing for nursing and medical education should be encouraged along with guidelines for the use of videoconferencing. The paucity of studies and the lack of empirical precision in evaluating effectiveness of these interventions necessitate future rigorously designed experimental studies.Department of HE and Training approved lis

A survey of University Students' Perceptions of Learning Management Systems in a Low-Resource Setting using a Technology Acceptance Model

Learning management systems have been widelyadvocated for the support of distance learning. Inlow-resource settings, the uptake of these systemsby students has been mixed. This study aimed to dentify, through the use of the Technology AcceptanceModel, the individual, organizational, and technological factors that could be influencing the use of learning management systems. A simple quantitative descriptive surveywas conducted of nursing and health science students at a university in South Africa as part of their first exposure to a learning management system. A total of 274 respondents (56.7%) completed the survey questionnaire,made up of 213 nursing respondents (87.7%) and 61 health sciences respondents (25%).Overall, the respondents found the learning management system easy to use and useful for learning. Therewere significant differences between the two groups of respondents, with the respondents from health sciences being both younger andmore computer literate. The nursing respondents, who received more support and orientations, reported finding the learning management system more useful. Recommendations are made for training and support to ensure uptake.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Informal mobile learning in nurse education and practice in remote areas-a case study from rural South Africa

BACKGROUND: With the proliferation of portable digital technology, mobile learning is becoming increasingly popular in nursing education and practice. Most of the research in this field has been concentrated on small-scale projects in high income countries. Very little is known about the ways in which nurses and midwives use mobile technology in remote and resource poor areas in informal learning contexts in low and middle income countries. OBJECTIVES: To address this gap, this study investigates whether nurses use mobile phones as effective educational tools in marginalized and remote areas, and if so, how and why. SETTING AND METHODS: In rural South Africa, 16 nurses who attended an advanced midwifery education program, facilitators and clinical managers were interviewed about their use of digital mobile technology for learning. Techniques of qualitative content analysis were used to examine the data. RESULTS: Several rich “organically-grown”, learning practices were identified: mobile phone usage facilitated (1) authentic problem solving; (2) reflective practice; (3) emotional support and belongingness; (4) the realization of unpredictable teaching situations; and (5) life-long learning. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that mobile phones, and the convergence of mobile phones and social media, in particular, change learning environments. In addition, these tools are suitable to connect learners and learning distributed in marginalized areas. Finally, a few suggestions are made about how these insights from informal settings can inform the development of more systematic mobile learning formats.Web of Scienc

Tadpole Shrimps – A General Review of the Little Known Crustaceans of Ephemeral Waterbodies

In time of global climate changes, astatic inland water reservoirs that contribute to water retention and alleviation of adverse effects of periodic river floods, are getting more and more important. Small, periodically drying off water reservoirs are also rich hubs of biodiversity. Animals especially connected to such ecosystems are primitive but unique crustaceans called tadpole shrimps (order Notostraca). Those animals seem to have universal significance – both ecological and economic. Though their primitive morphology and small size, they can radically affect the nature of their habitats, sometimes even helping us fight with noxious pests. Unfortunately, due to progressing global warming, intensification in agriculture, and urbanisation, habitats of notostracans are disappearing rapidly. Simultaneously, because of their rare occurences and taxonomic difficulties, tadpole shrimps have been insufficiently studied. However, protection of these crustaceans is inseparably connected with conservation of once numerous, periodically drying reservoirs as tadpole shrimps are referred as keystone species of such habitats. Thus, the aim of this review article is to sum up and disseminate current state of knowledge about Notostraca by a general overview of available international literature. This might help to engage more scientists into research and conservation of these little known, yet interesting crustaceans and their unique habitats

Polyhedral Geometry in OSCAR

OSCAR is an innovative new computer algebra system which combines and extends the power of its four cornerstone systems - GAP (group theory), Singular (algebra and algebraic geometry), Polymake (polyhedral geometry), and Antic (number theory). Here, we give an introduction to polyhedral geometry computations in OSCAR, as a chapter of the upcoming OSCAR book. In particular, we define polytopes, polyhedra, and polyhedral fans, and we give a brief overview about computing convex hulls and solving linear programs. Three detailed case studies are concerned with face numbers of random polytopes, constructions and properties of Gelfand-Tsetlin polytopes, and secondary polytopes.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure

Solving the area-length systems in discrete gravity using homotopy continuation

Area variables are intrinsic to connection formulations of general relativity, in contrast to the fundamental length variables prevalent in metric formulations. Within 4D discrete gravity, particularly based on triangulations, the area-length system establishes a relationship between area variables associated with triangles and the edge length variables. This system is comprised of polynomial equations derived from Heron's formula, which relates the area of a triangle to its edge lengths. Using tools from numerical algebraic geometry, we study the area-length systems. In particular, we show that given the ten triangular areas of a single 4-simplex, there could be up to 64 compatible sets of edge lengths. Moreover, we show that these 64 solutions do not, in general, admit formulae in terms of the areas by analyzing the Galois group, or monodromy group, of the problem. We show that by introducing additional symmetry constraints, it is possible to obtain such formulae for the edge lengths. We take the first steps toward applying our results within discrete quantum gravity, specifically for effective spin foam models.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 4 table

Points of Ninth Order on Cubic Curves

In this paper we geometrically provide a necessary and sufficient condition for points on a cubic to be associated with an infinite family of other cubics who have nine-pointic contact at that point. We then provide a parameterization of the family of cubics with nine-pointic contact at that point, based on the osculating quadratic