A global model for effective use and evaluation of e-learning in health.

Healthcare systems worldwide face a wide range of challenges, including demographic change, rising drug and medical technology costs, and persistent and widening health inequalities both within and between countries. Simultaneously, issues such as professional silos, static medical curricula, and perceptions of "information overload" have made it difficult for medical training and continued professional development (CPD) to adapt to the changing needs of healthcare professionals in increasingly patient-centered, collaborative, and/or remote delivery contexts. In response to these challenges, increasing numbers of medical education and CPD programs have adopted e-learning approaches, which have been shown to provide flexible, low-cost, user-centered, and easily updated learning. The effectiveness of e-learning varies from context to context, however, and has also been shown to make considerable demands on users' motivation and "digital literacy" and on providing institutions. Consequently, there is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of e-learning in healthcare as part of ongoing quality improvement efforts. This article outlines the key issues for developing successful models for analyzing e-health learning.

A global model for effective use and evaluation of e-learning in health.

Healthcare systems worldwide face a wide range of challenges, including demographic change, rising drug and medical technology costs, and persistent and widening health inequalities both within and between countries. Simultaneously, issues such as professional silos, static medical curricula, and perceptions of "information overload" have made it difficult for medical training and continued professional development (CPD) to adapt to the changing needs of healthcare professionals in increasingly patient-centered, collaborative, and/or remote delivery contexts. In response to these challenges, increasing numbers of medical education and CPD programs have adopted e-learning approaches, which have been shown to provide flexible, low-cost, user-centered, and easily updated learning. The effectiveness of e-learning varies from context to context, however, and has also been shown to make considerable demands on users' motivation and "digital literacy" and on providing institutions. Consequently, there is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of e-learning in healthcare as part of ongoing quality improvement efforts. This article outlines the key issues for developing successful models for analyzing e-health learning.

Experimental demonstration of femtosecond switching of a fully packaged all-optical switch

We experimentally demonstrate femtosecond switching of a fully packaged hybrid-integrated Mach-Zehnder switch. A record switching window of 620fs at fult-width-half-maximum is achieved. © 2004 Optical Society of America.

How to avoid the problems of target-setting

Purpose: Advocates and critics of target-setting in the workplace seem unable to reach beyond their own well-entrenched battle lines. While the advocates of goal-directed behaviour point to what they see as demonstrable advantages, the critics of target-setting highlight equally demonstrable disadvantages. Indeed, the academic literature on this topic is currently mired in controversy, with neither side seemingly capable of envisaging a better way forward. This paper seeks to break the current deadlock and move thinking forward in this important aspect of performance measurement and management by outlining a new, more fruitful approach, based on both theory and practical experience. Design/methodology/approach: The topic was approached in three phases: assembling and reading key academic and other literature on the subject of target-setting and goal-directed behaviour, with a view to understanding, in depth, the arguments advanced by the advocates and critics of target-setting; comparing these published arguments with one's own experiential findings, in order to bring the essence of disagreement into much sharper focus; and then bringing to bear the academic and practical experience to identify the essential elements of a new, more fruitful approach offering all the benefits of goal-directed behaviour with none of the typical disadvantages of target-setting. Findings: The research led to three key findings: the advocates of goal-directed behaviour and critics of target-setting each make valid points, as seen from their own current perspectives; the likelihood of these two communities, left to themselves, ever reaching a new synthesis, seems vanishingly small (with leading thinkers in the goal-directed behaviour community already acknowledging this); and, between the three authors, it was discovered that their unusual combination of academic study and practical experience enabled them to see things differently. Hence, they would like to share their new thinking more widely. Research limitations/implications: The authors fully accept that their paper is informed by extensive practical experience and, as yet, there have been no opportunities to test their findings, conclusions and recommendations through rigorous academic research. However, they hope that the paper will move thinking forward in this arena, thereby informing future academic research. Practical implications: The authors hope that the practical implications of the paper will be significant, as it outlines a novel way for organisations to capture the benefits of goal-directed behaviour with none of the disadvantages typically associated with target-setting. Social implications: Given that increased efficiency and effectiveness in the management of organisations would be good for society, the authors think the paper has interesting social implications. Originality/value: Leading thinkers in the field of goal-directed behaviour, such as Locke and Latham, and leading critics of target-setting, such as Ordóñez et al. continue to argue with one another - much like, at the turn of the nineteenth century, proponents of the "wave theory of light" and proponents of the "particle theory of light" were similarly at loggerheads. Just as this furious scientific debate was ultimately resolved by Taylor's experiment, showing that light could behave both as a particle and wave at the same time, the authors believe that the paper demonstrates that goal-directed behaviour and target-setting can successfully co-exist. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

The role of infrastructure in improving human settlements

This paper considers how the provision of integrated household-level infrastructure – particularly water and environmental sanitation (including water supply, sewerage, roads, storm drainage and solid waste management) –can play a leading role in improving the conditions in slum settlements. Around 700 socio-economic interviews were carried out in India and South Africa to investigate an innovative approach called slum networking, which sees the strong correlation between slum locations and drainage paths as an opportunity for improving the wider urban environment. This recognition allows resources to be mobilised locally, thereby removing the need for external aid funding. The evidence from the 700 families shows that communities perceive water and sanitation inputs to be their top priority and are willing to contribute to the costs. If slum upgrading is led with access to integrated water and environmental sanitation at household level with community contributions to the cost of infrastructure, then slum communities subsequently invest considerably greater sums in improved housing and education, with longer term contributions to poverty alleviation, improvements in health and literacy and an increase in disposable incomes.

Experimental demonstration of femtosecond switching of a fully packaged all-optical switch

We experimentally demonstrate femtosecond switching of a fully packaged hybrid-integrated Mach-Zehnder switch. A record switching window of 620fs at full-width-half-maximum is achieved. © 2004 Optical Society of America.