Utilizing ICT to prevent loneliness and social isolation of the elderly. A literature review

Ageing of the population is a worldwide phenomenon. Numerous ICT-based solutions have been developed for elderly care but mainly connected to the physiological and nursing aspects in services for the elderly. Social work is a profession that should pay attention to the comprehensive wellbeing and social needs of the elderly. Many people experience loneliness and depression in their old age, either as a result of living alone or due to a lack of close family ties and reduced connections with their culture of origin, which results in an inability to participate actively in community activities (Singh & Misra, 2009). Participation in society would enhance the quality of life. With the development of information technology, the use of technology in social work practice has risen dramatically. The aim of this literature review is to map out the state of the art of knowledge about the usage of ICT in elderly care and to figure out research-based knowledge about the usability of ICT for the prevention of loneliness and social isolation of elderly people. The data for the current research comes from the core collection of the Web of Science and the data searching was performed using Boolean? The searching resulted in 216 published English articles. After going through the topics and abstracts, 34 articles were selected for the data analysis that is based on a multi approach framework. The analysis of the research approach is categorized according to some aspects of using ICT by older adults from the adoption of ICT to the impact of usage, and the social services for them. This literature review focused on the function of communication by excluding the applications that mainly relate to physical nursing. The results show that the so-called ‘digital divide’ still exists, but the older adults have the willingness to learn and utilise ICT in daily life, especially for communication. The data shows that the usage of ICT can prevent the loneliness and social isolation of older adults, and they are eager for technical support in using ICT. The results of data analysis on theoretical frames and concepts show that this research field applies different theoretical frames from various scientific fields, while a social work approach is lacking. However, a synergic frame of applied theories will be suggested from the perspective of social work.

Effect of reading sport chronicles on the perception of justice and the predisposition to protest actions in soccer

In this study three chronicles from national newspapers (one generalist and two sport press) were analyzed. The chronicles belong to Spain’s soccer final of the King’s Cup in 2014. The aim of the study was to know if there was any influence on the readers’ perception of justice and consequently if this influence could cause a particular predisposition to participate in acts of protest. 462 university students participated. The results showed that different chronicles caused differences in the perception of justice depending on the chronicle read. However, a clear influence on the willingness to participate in acts of protest was not obtained. These results should make us think about the impact of sport press and its influence, and to be aware of the indirect responsibility of every sector on the antisocial behaviors generated by soccer in our country.

Cooperative or collaborative learning: Is there a difference in university students’ perceptions?

The hypothesis that the same educational objective, raised as cooperative or collaborative learning in university teaching does not affect students’ perceptions of the learning model, leads this study. It analyses the reflections of two students groups of engineering that shared the same educational goals implemented through two different methodological active learning strategies: Simulation as cooperative learning strategy and Problem-based Learning as a collaborative one. The different number of participants per group (eighty-five and sixty-five, respectively) as well as the use of two active learning strategies, either collaborative or cooperative, did not show differences in the results from a qualitative perspective.

Motivation and Vocabulary Breadth in CLIL and EFL Contexts. Different age, Same Time of Exposure

Numerous studies have found a positive connection between learners’ motivation towards foreign language and foreign language achievement. The present study examines the role of motivation in receptive vocabulary breadth (size) of two groups of Spanish learners of different ages, but all with 734 hours of instruction in English as a Foreign Language (EFL): a CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) group in primary education and a non-CLIL (or EFL) group in secondary education. Most students in both groups were found to be highly motivated. The primary CLIL group slightly overcame the secondary non-CLIL group with respect to the mean general motivation but this is a non-significant difference. The secondary group surpass significantly the primary group in receptive vocabulary size. No relationship between the receptive vocabulary knowledge and general motivation is found in the primary CLIL group. On the other hand, a positive significant connection, although a very small one, is identified for the secondary non-CLIL group. We will discuss on the type of test, the age of students and the type of instruction as variables that could be influencing the results.

Who is in charge? An L2 Discourse Intonation Study on Four Prosodic Parameters to Exert the Pragmatic Function of Dominance and Control in the Context of L2 Non-specialist Public Speaking

This paper reports the findings from a study of the learning of English intonation by Spanish speakers within the discourse mode of L2 oral presentation. The purpose of this experiment is, firstly, to compare four prosodic parameters before and after an L2 discourse intonation training programme and, secondly, to confirm whether subjects, after the aforementioned L2 discourse intonation training, are able to match the form of these four prosodic parameters to the discourse-pragmatic function of dominance and control. The study designed the instructions and tasks to create the oral and written corpora and Brazil’s Pronunciation for Advanced Learners of English was adapted for the pedagogical aims of the present study. The learners’ pre- and post-tasks were acoustically analysed and a pre / post- questionnaire design was applied to interpret the acoustic analysis. Results indicate most of the subjects acquired a wider choice of the four prosodic parameters partly due to the prosodically-annotated transcripts that were developed throughout the L2 discourse intonation course. Conversely, qualitative and quantitative data reveal most subjects failed to match the forms to their appropriate pragmatic functions to express dominance and control in an L2 oral presentation.

Receptive Vocabulary of CLIL and Non-CLIL Primary and Secondary School Learners

CLIL instruction has been reported to be beneficial for foreign language vocabulary learning since CLIL students show higher vocabulary profiles than students of their same age in traditional EFL contexts. However, to our knowledge, the receptive vocabulary knowledge of CLIL and non-CLIL learners at the end of primary and secondary education has not been examined yet. Hence, this study aims at comparing the receptive vocabulary size 79 CLIL primary learners with the receptive vocabulary knowledge of 331 non-CLIL learners at the end of primary and secondary school. Sex-based differences were also analysed. The 2k Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT) was used for the purposes of the study. Results revealed that learners’ receptive vocabulary sizes lie within the most frequent 1000 words, non-CLIL secondary school students throw better results than primary students but the differences between the secondary group and the CLIL group are not statistically significant. As for sex-based differences, we found no significant differences among the groups. These findings led us to believe that the CLIL approach offers a benefit for vocabulary acquisition since CLIL learners have been exposed to the foreign language for a shorter period of time and the results are quite similar to their non-CLIL secondary school partners.

Students’ Use of Knowledge Resources in Environmental Interaction on an Outdoor Learning Trail

This study examined how students leveraged different types of knowledge resources on an outdoor learning trail. We positioned the learning trail as an integral part of the curriculum with a pre- and post-trail phase to scaffold and to support students’ meaning-making process. The study was conducted with two classes of secondary two students. We coded two groups’ discourse to examine the use of knowledge resource types in the meaning-making process in an outdoor learning setting: contextual resource, new conceptual resource, prior knowledge resource, as well as the relationship among these knowledge resource types. Next, we also examined environmental interaction and integration in the students’ use of these knowledge resource types. Analysis showed that contextual resources are chiefly instrumental in fostering students’ capacity to harness new conceptual resource and to activate prior knowledge resource in interacting with and integrating the outdoor learning environment in the meaning-making process.

A First Step Towards Synthesising Rubrics and Video for the Formative Assessment of Complex Skills

Abstract. The performance objectives used for the formative assessment of com- plex skills are generally set through text-based analytic rubrics[1]. Moreover, video modeling examples are a widely applied method of observational learning, providing students with context-rich modeling examples of complex skills that act as an analogy for problem solving [1]. The purpose of this theoretical paper is to synthesize the components of video modeling and rubrics to support the formative assessment of complex skills. Based on theory, we argue that application of the developed Video Enhanced Rubrics (VER) fosters learners’ development of mental models, quality of provided feedback by various actors and finally, the learners mastery of complex skills.

Newcomer Integration in Online Knowledge Communities: Exploring the Role of Dialogic Textual Complexity

Using online knowledge communities (OKCs) as informal learning environments poses the question how likely these will integrate newcomers as peripheral participants. Previous research has identified surface characteristics of the OKC dialog as integrativity predictors. Yet, little is known about the role of dialogic textual complexity. This contribution proposes a comprehensive approach based on previously validated textual complexity indexes and applies it to predict OKC integrativity. The dialog analysis of N = 14 blogger communities with a total of 1937 participants identified three main components of textual complexity: dialog participation, structure and cohesion. From these, dialog cohesion was higher in integrative OKCs, thus significantly predicting OKC integrativity. This result adds to previous OKC research by uncovering the depth of OKC discourse. For educational practice, the study suggests a way of empowering learners by automatically assessing the integrativity of OKCs in which they may attempt to participate and access community knowledge.

Designing networked learning for innovation: A dimension perspective

In her presentation, Emmy discusses a case study where a teacher group is followed in its innovative attempt to start up a new curriculum. Searching for guidelines to facilitate knowledge-creating teacher groups, the ‘Dimensions of Social Learning (DSL) Framework’ is applied as a starting point to assess the group's social configuration. To supplement the DSL Framework towards knowledge creation, social capital and value creation theories were studied. This has resulted in an extended framework that can bring the knowledge creation of teacher groups into view.

Creating New Design-Build-Test Experiences as Outputs of Undergraduate Design-Build-Test Projects

This paper describes a methodology of using individual engineering undergraduate student projects as a means of effectively and efficiently developing new Design-Build-Test (DBT) learning experiences and challenges.
A key aspect of the rationale for this approach is that it benefits all parties. The student undertaking the individual project gets an authentic experience of producing a functional artefact, which has been the result of a design process that addresses conception, design, implementation and operation. The supervising faculty member benefits from live prototyping of new curriculum content and resources with a student who is at a similar level of knowledge and experience as the intended end users of the DBT outputs. The multiple students who ultimately undertake the DBT experiences / challenges benefit from the enhanced nature of a learning experience which has been “road tested” and optimised.
To demonstrate the methodology the paper will describe a case study example of an individual project completed in 2015. This resulted in a DBT design challenge with a theme of designing a catapult for throwing table tennis balls, the device being made from components laser cut from medium density fibreboard (MDF). Further three different modes of operation will be described which use the same resource materials but operate over different timescales and with different learning outcomes, from an icebreaker exercise focused on developing team dynamics through to full DBT where students get an opportunity to experience the full impact of their design decisions by competing against other students with a catapult they have designed and built themselves.

Learning Treewidth-Bounded Bayesian Networks with Thousands of Variables

We present a method for learning treewidth-bounded Bayesian networks from data sets containing thousands of variables. Bounding the treewidth of a Bayesian network greatly reduces the complexity of inferences. Yet, being a global property of the graph, it considerably increases the difficulty of the learning process. Our novel algorithm accomplishes this task, scaling both to large domains and to large treewidths. Our novel approach consistently outperforms the state of the art on experiments with up to thousands of variables.

Learning to recognize faces incrementally

[EN]Most face recognition systems are based on some form of batch learning. Online face recognition is not only more practical, it is also much more biologically plausible. Typical batch learners aim at minimizing both training error and (a measure of) hypothesis complexity. We show that the same minimization can be done incrementally as long as some form of ”scaffolding” is applied throughout the learning process. Scaffolding means: make the system learn from samples that are neither too easy nor too difficult at each step. We note that such learning behavior is also biologically plausible. Experiments using large sequences of facial images support the theoretical claims. The proposed method compares well with other, numerical calculus-based online learners.

Design and implementation of a non-destructive defect detection technique based on UWB-SAR imaging

In the last twenty years aerospace and automotive industries started working widely with composite materials, which are not easy to test using classic Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) techniques. Pairwise, the development of safety regulations sets higher and higher standards for the qualification and certification of those materials. In this thesis a new concept of a Non-Destructive defect detection technique is proposed, based on Ultrawide-Band (UWB) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging. Similar SAR methods are yet applied either in minefield [22] and head stroke [14] detection. Moreover feasibility studies have already demonstrated the validity of defect detection by means of UWB radars [12, 13]. The system was designed using a cheap commercial off-the-shelf radar device by Novelda and several tests of the developed system have been performed both on metallic specimen (aluminum plate) and on composite coupon (carbon fiber). The obtained results confirm the feasibility of the method and highlight the good performance of the developed system considered the radar resolution. In particular, the system is capable of discerning healthy coupons from damaged ones, and correctly reconstruct the reflectivity image of the tested defects, namely a 8 x 8 mm square bulge and a 5 mm drilled holes on metal specimen and a 5 mm drilled hole on composite coupon.

An Investigation into the Use of Computer-based Simulation Games for Learning and Teaching in Business Management Courses

Computer-based simulation games (CSG) are a form of innovation in learning and teaching. CGS are used more pervasively in various ways such as a class activity (formative exercises) and as part of summative assessments (Leemkuil and De Jong, 2012; Zantow et al., 2005). This study investigates the current and potential use of CGS in Worcester Business School’s (WBS) Business Management undergraduate programmes. The initial survey of off-the-shelf simulation reveals that there are various categories of simulations, with each offering varying levels of complexity and learning opportunities depending on the field of study. The findings suggest that whilst there is marginal adoption of the use CSG in learning and teaching, there is significant opportunity to increase the use of CSG in enhancing learning and learner achievement, especially in Level 5 modules. The use of CSG is situational and its adoption should be undertaken on a case-by-case basis. WBS can play a major role by creating an environment that encourages and supports the use of CSG as well as other forms of innovative learning and teaching methods. Thus the key recommendation involves providing module teams further support in embedding and integrating CSG into their modules.