Issues in developing e-health systems: an Australian case study

Over the last few years, perceptions of the importance of eHealth have increased rapidly, together with the use of IS&T in the delivery of health and social services. Although “e” approaches to health and social services have much potential, they are not panaceas, and the use of new technologies in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of such systems cannot be considered in isolation from their wider context. eHealth systems remain complex socio-organisational systems and, as we will argue and illustrate through this case study, require that a balanced approach to feasibility and desirability analysis be taken.

The case study in this paper describes a feasibility study into the potential effectiveness of a smartdevice-based electronic data collection and payment system which was proposed for the provision of disability services. A key finding of the study was that the most significant impediment to such a system was the highly diffused, fragmented, interlocking organisational structure of the social service administration itself. Rather than raise issues specific to the implementation or diffusion of new technologies in designing e-health services, it raised issues associated with decision making and control in such an environment, and with the design of the underlying organisational system: for service provision, the level of detail required in the service data, and the locus of decision-making power among the stakeholders.

In our account we illustrate the existence of multiple, incommensurate but valid perceptions of the human service provision problem, and discuss the implications for developers or managers of information systems in the arena of e-health or governance. We examine this environment from sociological and information systems perspectives, and confirm the usefulness of socio-organisational approaches in understanding such contexts.

New technology in a developing country - a case study in the Maldives

In 1998, Maafahi Island was leased by the Maldives government to a private company for development as a multi-faceted primary production value-adding project. The project included boat building, agriculture and fish processing. As part of the agriculture project, a hydroponics facility was commenced in 2001, using a novel zero-runoff nutrient system. Virtually no information was available for using this system in tropical conditions; however Deakin University had been undertaking research on the system for tomato production. In 2004, two Deakin scientists visited the island with the specific purpose of assisting the project operators to ‘improve the greenhouse conditions’ and optimise the production from the greenhouse. In essence, the transition to successful production from ‘book learning’ and ‘no practical experience’ was found to be limited by a range of constraints, and demonstrated that a little knowledge is no substitute for a multidisciplinary approach. Progress had come to a standstill, not because of lack of horticultural expertise, but because of lack of understanding of fundamental science, and lack of understanding by equipment suppliers of the requirements imposed by the conditions.

From crystals to pixels: new technology in the documentary work of John Hughes

Film technology, in the broadest sense, embraces a vast array of knowledge, skills, tools, and systems. These include the codes and conventions of screen representation at the centre of much screen scholarship. The electro-mechanical tools of filmmaking are less often the focus of academic study than these codes and conventions, but they are central to them and to the daily work of artists and educators in the field of screen production. This paper traces the scope and significance of technical change, for independent film making, over the past four decades. Melbourne documentary filmmaker John Hughes provides a varied and expansive oeuvre through which to arrange an historical equipment list.

Deakin as a national leader in teaching and learning

Deakin University has set itself the ambitious goal of becoming a national leader in teaching and learning and in the provision of high quality flexible education. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sally Walker, recently reinforced the target of Deakin being in the top third of Australian universities in relation to teaching and learning by 2012.

A new era in United States cooperation in international insolvency adminstrations?

Cross-border insolvency laws are increasingly being influenced by the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-border Insolvency provisions. The United States has recently enacted domestic legislation based on these provisions by way of Ch 15 of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act 2005, which inserted Ch 15 into USC, Title 11. This article briefly explains the provisions of this United States legislation and draws attention to the important case law commenting and explaining same. It further attempts to alert local practitioners to the changes, benefits and detriments they may encounter when acting pursuant to this legislation.

Online pedagogy and academic work

This paper emerges from a study that foregrounds the complex nature of the consequences of a decision to implement a range of new technologies including a Learning Management System at one university. The paper draws upon data from interviews with academics to provide insights into the experience of being academic in the 21st century during a time when new technologies of teaching, learning and administration impact on the work of professional academics. It focuses on how academics view and understand online teaching environments; how they make professional judgments about their use of online environments in their teaching and how they make professional judgments about pedagogy. In doing this the paper looks at the differing levels of uptake of new technologies by academics, their levels of engagement and disengagement, the complexity of their relationship with these technologies and their impact on the pedagogy of academics in the study as it looks at patterns of usage in terms of age, gender and levels of experience of academics. It demonstrates the importance of pedagogy to academics and the problems that academics face many of which can be attributed to the impact of measures of bureaucratisation and standardisation including the introduction of an LMS that some argue has lead to the homogenisation of the experience of teaching and learning for both academics and students.

New insights in asymmetric tetraorganodistannoxane ladder formation. A NMR-spectroscopic and crystallographic study

The syntheses of the asymmetrically substituted tetraorganodistannoxanes [t-Bu₂(X)SnOSn(Y)(CH₂SiMe₃)₂1₂ (1, X = Y = OH; 2, X = Cl, Y = OH; 3, X = Y = Cl) are reported and their structures in solution and in the solid state are characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray analyses. In toluene, the tetrahydroxy-substituted derivative 1 is in equilibrium with the organotin oxides cyclo-[t-Bu₂Sn{OSn(CH₂SiMe₃)₂}₂O] (4), cyclo[(Me₃SiCH₂)₂Sn(OSnt-Bu₂)₂O] (5), and cyclo-(t-Bu₂SnO)₃, and some additional, undefined species containing pentacoordinated tin atoms. In contrast, the dihydroxydichloro-substituted derivative 2 is inert in solution.

Emerging futures : innovation in teaching and learning in VET

This report on Innovation in Teaching and Learning in the vocational education and training (VET) sector demonstrates that pressures for change are flowing with increasing force into teaching and learning practice within VET. As a consequence of this ongoing change, wider, deeper and more frequent innovation is now needed in VET teaching and learning practices. However, this report shows that there are good grounds for optimism about the quality and scope of current innovation in teaching and learning practices in VET. The particular and local instances of practitioner innovation found in the research for this project serve as a reminder of the many different ways in which VET practitioners are knowledgeable and innovative. Positive futures for VET are emerging, as a result of this practitioner innovation. A literature review, interviews, focus groups and case study research inform the key findings.

Faculty collaboration in teaching global business, MBA teaching process

This presentation stems from global business teaching and ongoing research of an interactive group of professors working together in the service delivery of online MBA education at University of Maryland University College . A model for collaborative teaching by delocated professors who literally span the globe – from Australia to Canada, including the United Kingdom, both coasts of the USA, China and Dubai - is offered, underscoring the enormous mobility of knowledge and knowledge workers. Working together as a collaborating team, it was found that the "whole is greater than the sum of the parts". The teachers became more than a teaching team, they became a collaborating operation as they worked together in the sharing and development of materials, insights and knowledge. The model demonstrates how the teaching of global business in an MBA environment is really an exercise in the management of global service operations.