Technology in Social Work Education: Are We Practising What We Preach?

Research on the use of technology in social work education is underdeveloped and neither well designed nor comprehensive. Assertions about its effectiveness are premature. More critical analyses and rigorous research needs to be conducted on the use of technology in social work education to determine what kind of technology works best with what kind of student and what kind of course. This article presents and evaluates the existing research on the use of technology in social work education. An appendix at the end of the article summarizes the studies in this review, illustrating the type of technology, research design, study limitations, courses offered and conclusions of the researchers

Coordinating the Relationship between IT Services Providers and Clients: The Case of Cloud Computing

The focus of this research is on the IT service relationships that exist between clients and providers in cloud computing. Cloud computing is an important context in IT services management since it has become an increasingly popular delivery model. We use coordination theory and a case study of a cloud computing-based company to investigate how cloud service relationships are managed. Evidence of both the standardized and customized relationships is based on a case study of SiteWit, a new startup company that is both a user and provider of cloud services. This company is an interesting case to study, given the real-time, intensive nature of the technical demands, the multiple service relationships that must be managed, while at the same time minimizing costs

Minimizing Use of Aquaculture Ponds by Double-Crested Cormorants Phalacrocorax Auritus and Other Fish-Eating Birds

Methods used to minimize abundance of double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), great blue herons (Ardea herodias), and great egrets (Arded alba) at aquaculture facilities have limited success because of the birds\u27 ability to habituate to the applied technique. The primary objectives of this study were to evaluate and quantify the effects of overhead lines on minimizing number of cormorants, egrets and herons. We measured the long-term (01 December 2000 to 14 April 2001) effectiveness of exclusion barriers positioned every 30 m at 8 aquaculture ponds in southeastern Arkansas and the post-removal of the barrier effects from 15 April to 31 May 2001. The exclusion barrier limited the number of cormorants landing on treatment ponds significantly (P \u3c 0.001, by 10-fold), had a greater effect on herons (P \u3c 0.001, by 19-fold), and completely excluded egrets. Over 200 hours of observations with the barriers installed and an additional 90 hours of post-treatment observation resulted in 23,200 cormorant observations at the site. Eight treatment ponds averaged 429 cormorant landings (1.9 birds per hour) compared to 4,240 cormorant s landings (15.6 birds per hour) on 8 control ponds. Although the physical barrier did not exclude all cormorants and other fish-eating birds from a pond, this technique offers a nonlethal, cost-efficient, easy installation and removal, and low maintenance method to minimize depredation at aquaculture ponds

Community concepts of malaria-related illness with and without convulsions in southern Ghana

BACKGROUND: Malaria, both with or without convulsions, is a serious hardship for people living in endemic areas, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Community references to malaria, however, may encompass other conditions, which was collectively designated malaria-related illness (MRI). Inasmuch as the presence or absence of convulsions reportedly affects timely help-seeking for malaria, a local comparison of these conditions is needed to inform malaria control. METHODS: Vignette-based EMIC interviews (insider-perspective interviews) for MRI with convulsions (convulsion positive, MRI-CP) and without convulsions (convulsion negative, MRI-CN) were developed to study relevant features of MRI-related experience, meaning and behaviour in two rural communities in Ghana. These semi-structured interviews elicited both qualitative narrative and categorical codes for quantitative analysis. Interviews with 201 respondents were conducted. RESULTS: The conditions depicted in the vignettes were well recognized by respondents and named with various local terms. Both presentations were considered serious, but MRI-CP was more frequently regarded potentially fatal than MRI-CN. More than 90.0% of respondents in both groups acknowledged the need to seek outside help. However, significantly more respondents advised appropriate help-seeking within 24 (p = 0.01) and 48 (p = 0.01) hours for MRI-CP. Over 50.0% of respondents responding to questions about MRI-CP identified MRI-CN as a cause of convulsions. CONCLUSION: Local comparison of MRI-CP and MRI-CN based on vignettes found a similar profile of reported categories of perceived causes, patterns of distress, help-seeking and preventive measures for both presentations. This differs from previous findings in sub-Saharan Africa, which assert communities regard the two conditions to be unrelated. The perceived relationships should be acknowledged in formulating strategies to control malaria through timely help-seeking and treatment to reduce childhood mortality