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1 – 10 of 469Julián Monsalve-Pulido, Jose Aguilar, Edwin Montoya and Camilo Salazar
This article proposes an architecture of an intelligent and autonomous recommendation system to be applied to any virtual learning environment, with the objective of efficiently…
Abstract
This article proposes an architecture of an intelligent and autonomous recommendation system to be applied to any virtual learning environment, with the objective of efficiently recommending digital resources. The paper presents the architectural details of the intelligent and autonomous dimensions of the recommendation system. The paper describes a hybrid recommendation model that orchestrates and manages the available information and the specific recommendation needs, in order to determine the recommendation algorithms to be used. The hybrid model allows the integration of the approaches based on collaborative filter, content or knowledge. In the architecture, information is extracted from four sources: the context, the students, the course and the digital resources, identifying variables, such as individual learning styles, socioeconomic information, connection characteristics, location, etc. Tests were carried out for the creation of an academic course, in order to analyse the intelligent and autonomous capabilities of the architecture.
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The Open University (OU) in the UK has been providing distance learning since 1969. The purpose of this case study is to outline the impact that The OU Library in the UK has had…
Abstract
Purpose
The Open University (OU) in the UK has been providing distance learning since 1969. The purpose of this case study is to outline the impact that The OU Library in the UK has had on student learning outcomes by embedding academic literature and digital and information literacy (DIL) skills materials in the curriculum.
Design/methodology/approach
The case study presents an overview of the university context, including how the curriculum is developed. It discusses the role of the library in this process, outlining how librarians work with academic staff to embed skills and literature in the curriculum. Unique in-house technical solutions are presented to aid future approaches to providing distance library services.
Findings
The impact of the library on university education is discussed. Findings from qualitative research are presented, outlining the value the university places on the role of the library as an educational partner. Quantitative research studies are also presented, outlining the positive relationships between library content access and training attendance with student success.
Practical implications
As universities are considering their distance-learning offerings post-COVID-19, it is hoped that this case study will help both library and university administrators examine the role of their libraries in this strategy.
Originality/value
A case study on the approach The OU Library takes to support education in its broadest sense has not been published before.
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Claes Dahlqvist and Christel Persson
Primary teachers play a vital role in fostering pupils' successful futures. Therefore, gaining knowledge of primary teacher students' learning processes, including the achievement…
Abstract
Purpose
Primary teachers play a vital role in fostering pupils' successful futures. Therefore, gaining knowledge of primary teacher students' learning processes, including the achievement of information-seeking skills, is crucial. The aim of this paper is to understand better the interplay between cognitive appraisals and emotions in the constructivist process of learning and achieving information-seeking skills.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with six Swedish primary teacher students. The analysis of qualitative data was deductive and theory-driven, guided by Kuhlthau's information search process model, Scherer's semantic space of emotions and Pekrun's control-value theory of achievement emotions.
Findings
Anger/frustration, enjoyment and boredom were identified as activity emotions and anxiety, hopelessness and hope as prospective outcome emotions. The retrospective outcome emotions found were pride, joy, gratitude, surprise and relief. The appraisals eliciting the achievement emotions were the control appraisals uncertainty/certainty (activity and prospective outcome) and oneself/other (retrospective), and value appraisals negative/positive intrinsic motivation (activity) and failure/success (prospective and retrospective). The interplay between appraisals and emotions was complex and dynamic. The processes were individually unique, non-linear and iterative, and the appraisals did not always elicit emotions.
Originality/value
The study has theoretical and methodological implications for information behaviour research in its application of appraisal theories and the Geneva affect label coder. In addition, it has practical implications for academic librarians teaching information-seeking skills.
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Luca Rampini and Fulvio Re Cecconi
This study aims to introduce a new methodology for generating synthetic images for facility management purposes. The method starts by leveraging the existing 3D open-source BIM…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to introduce a new methodology for generating synthetic images for facility management purposes. The method starts by leveraging the existing 3D open-source BIM models and using them inside a graphic engine to produce a photorealistic representation of indoor spaces enriched with facility-related objects. The virtual environment creates several images by changing lighting conditions, camera poses or material. Moreover, the created images are labeled and ready to be trained in the model.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper focuses on the challenges characterizing object detection models to enrich digital twins with facility management-related information. The automatic detection of small objects, such as sockets, power plugs, etc., requires big, labeled data sets that are costly and time-consuming to create. This study proposes a solution based on existing 3D BIM models to produce quick and automatically labeled synthetic images.
Findings
The paper presents a conceptual model for creating synthetic images to increase the performance in training object detection models for facility management. The results show that virtually generated images, rather than an alternative to real images, are a powerful tool for integrating existing data sets. In other words, while a base of real images is still needed, introducing synthetic images helps augment the model’s performance and robustness in covering different types of objects.
Originality/value
This study introduced the first pipeline for creating synthetic images for facility management. Moreover, this paper validates this pipeline by proposing a case study where the performance of object detection models trained on real data or a combination of real and synthetic images are compared.
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Anna-Leena Kurki, Elina Weiste, Hanna Toiviainen, Sari Käpykangas and Hilkka Ylisassi
The involvement of clients in service encounters and service development has become a central principle for contemporary health and social care organizations. However, in…
Abstract
Purpose
The involvement of clients in service encounters and service development has become a central principle for contemporary health and social care organizations. However, in day-to-day work settings, the shift toward client involvement is still in progress. We examined how health and social care professionals, together with clients and managers, co-develop their conceptions of client involvement and search for practical ways in which to implement these in organizational service processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical case of this study was a developmental intervention, the client involvement workshop, conducted in a Finnish municipal social and welfare center. The cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) framework was used to analyze the development of client involvement ideas and the modes of interaction during the intervention.
Findings
Analysis of the collective discussion revealed that the conceptions of client involvement developed through two interconnected object-orientations: Enabling client involvement in service encounters and promoting client involvement in the service system. The predominant mode of interaction in the collective discussion was that of “coordination.” The clients' perspective and contributions were central aspects in the turning points from coordination to cooperation; professionals crossed organizational boundaries, and together with clients, constructed a new client involvement-based object. This suggests that client participation plays an important role in the development of services.
Originality/value
The CHAT-based examination of the modes of interaction clarifies the potential of co-developing client-involvement-based services and highlights the importance of clients' participation in co-development.
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Suzana Sukovic, Jamaica Eisner and Kerith Duncanson
Effective use of data across public health organisations (PHOs) is essential for the provision of health services. While health technology and data use in clinical practice have…
Abstract
Purpose
Effective use of data across public health organisations (PHOs) is essential for the provision of health services. While health technology and data use in clinical practice have been investigated, interactions with data in non-clinical practice have been largely neglected. The purpose of this paper is to consider what constitutes data, and how people in non-clinical roles in a PHO interact with data in their practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This mixed methods study involved a qualitative exploration of how employees of a large PHO interact with data in their non-clinical work roles. A quantitative survey was administered to complement insights gained through qualitative investigation.
Findings
Organisational boundaries emerged as a defining issue in interactions with data. The results explain how data work happens through observing, spanning and shifting of boundaries. The paper identifies five key issues that shape data work in relation to boundaries. Boundary objects and processes are considered, as well as the roles of boundary spanners and shifters.
Research limitations/implications
The study was conducted in a large Australian PHO, which is not completely representative of the unique contexts of similar organisations. The study has implications for research in information and organisational studies, opening fields of inquiry for further investigation.
Practical implications
Effective systems-wide data use can improve health service efficiencies and outcomes. There are also implications for the provision of services by other health and public sectors.
Originality/value
The study contributes to closing a significant research gap in understanding interactions with data in the workplace, particularly in non-clinical roles in health. Research analysis connects concepts of knowledge boundaries, boundary spanning and boundary objects with insights into information behaviours in the health workplace. Boundary processes emerge as an important concept to understand interactions with data. The result is a novel typology of interactions with data in relation to organisational boundaries.
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José M. Fernández-Batanero, Marta Montenegro-Rueda, José Fernández-Cerero and Eloy López Menéses
The purpose of this study is to determine the characteristics of the studies in terms of country, participant profile and methodology, as well as to determine what the Internet of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to determine the characteristics of the studies in terms of country, participant profile and methodology, as well as to determine what the Internet of Things (IoT) is currently contributing to higher education.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was developed following the methodology supported by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement and the PICOS strategy, retrieving scientific literature from Web of Science, Scopus, ERIC and Google Scholar. Of the 237 studies that the search yielded, 11 were included.
Findings
The results showed that among the opportunities offered by IoT is that it not only brings the introduction of information and communication technology into the classroom, but also enhances student interest, thus, improving the quality of teaching in higher education. On the other hand, one of the challenges it faces is the attitude of teachers towards its adoption, as well as the level of digital competence of teachers.
Originality/value
This study presents how higher education institutions are including the IoT in their educational activities. The IoT refers to a network of digital interconnectivity between devices, people and the internet itself that enables the exchange of data between them, allowing key information about the use and performance of devices and objects to be captured to detect patterns, make recommendations, improve efficiency and create better user experiences.
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The purpose of this study is to gain insight into the dynamics and considerations of professionals regarding the sharing of tacit, personal knowledge in their practice.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to gain insight into the dynamics and considerations of professionals regarding the sharing of tacit, personal knowledge in their practice.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting a social-constructivist ontology, the qualitative design deploys semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Data were coded, and analysed through interrelating and reasoning.
Findings
Personal knowledge is difficult to share precisely, but can be shared to some extent using reflection and stories. Knowledge also provides a position and professional agency, emphasising boundaries and impacting the decisions on interaction and sharing. As such, professional commitment is vulnerable and contextual and, by extension, material becomes part of this interplay of professional practice and collaborative development.
Research limitations/implications
Findings imply that exchange and use of knowledge and material present in organisations are impacted by individual professionals’ autonomy and decisions, which consequently impact on employees’ practice. This calls for research that focuses on individual factors such as autonomy, professionalism and attitudes in addition to organisational and facilitative matters.
Practical implications
Stimulating professional commitment and interpersonal learning is a matter of valuing personal knowledge and practice to avoid protectionism, boundaries and segregated agency. Management and professionals should consider how and why individuals exchange their personal knowledge, paying attention to social structures and individuals’ voices and objectives in forming communities.
Originality/value
This study combines the concept of tacit knowledge with the younger field of practice theory. By connecting personal knowledge to practice, it extends agency to the material world and offers a more individual perspective to knowledge sharing in and between entities.
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The purpose of this study is to describe an educational virtual reality (VR) photo-based tour used in an online course and investigate the influence of immersive capability on the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to describe an educational virtual reality (VR) photo-based tour used in an online course and investigate the influence of immersive capability on the dimensions of spatial presence and their relationship with learning-related variables.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs a descriptive and an experimental methodological approach. The research objectives were achieved using a two-group (n1 = 29 and n2 = 30) experiment, employing descriptive statistics, t-test and correlation analysis.
Findings
The t-test revealed that the immersive capability had a significant effect on the sense of physical space (SP) , Engagement (EN) and negative effects (NE) dimensions. Correlations between the dimensions of spatial presence were found to confirm reports from the literature. Furthermore, some of the dimensions were found to be correlated with motivational and learning variables.
Research limitations/implications
The study reported the results of a one-off experiment among 59 participants. While the results were promising, a longitudinal qualitative study could confirm the results in an actual distance learning context.
Practical implications
The study confirmed that adding VR photo-based tours as learning activities may enhance the learning experience of distance learners.
Social implications
The study shared a case of a learning activity that can be employed for flexible education. Virtual tours can support the need for context-based learning that the geographical or political constraints may limit.
Originality/value
While the paper confirms previous reports on the benefits of using VR photo-based tours as learning activities, this paper has empirically shown the relationship between the dimensions of spatial presence and immersive capability in this specialized context.
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Sarah Samuelson, Ann Svensson, Irene Svenningsson and Sandra Pennbrant
To meet future healthcare needs, primary care is undergoing a transformation in which innovations and new ways of working play an important role. However, successful innovations…
Abstract
Purpose
To meet future healthcare needs, primary care is undergoing a transformation in which innovations and new ways of working play an important role. However, successful innovations depend on joint learning and rewarding collaborations between healthcare and other stakeholders. This study aims to explore how learning develops when entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals and older people collaborate in a primary care living lab.
Design/methodology/approach
The study had an action research design and was conducted at a clinically embedded living lab at a primary care centre on the west coast of Sweden. Data consisted of e-mail conversations, recordings from design meetings and three group interviews with each party (entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals and older people). Data were analysed with inductive qualitative content analysis.
Findings
An overarching theme, “To share each other’s worlds in an arranged space for learning”, was found, followed by three categories, “Prerequisites for learning”, “Strategies to achieve learning” and “To learn from and with each other”. These three categories comprise eight subcategories.
Originality/value
This research contributes to knowledge regarding the need for arranged spaces for learning and innovation in primary care and how collaborative learning can contribute to the development of practice.
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