Automated digital counselling with social network support as a novel intervention for patients with heart failure: protocol for randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Heart failure (HF) symptoms improve through self-care, for which adherence remains low among patients despite the provision of education for these behaviours by clinical teams. Open Access Digital Community Promoting Self-Care, Peer Support and Health Literacy (ODYSSEE-vCHAT) combines automated digital counselling with social network support to improve mortality and morbidity, engagement with self-care materials, and health-related quality of life. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Use of ODYSSEE-vCHAT via Internet-connected personal computer by 162 HF patients will be compared with a control condition over 22 months. The primary outcome is a composite index score of all-cause mortality, all-cause emergency department visits, and HF-related hospitalisation at trial completion. Secondary outcomes include individual components of the composite index, engagement with self-care materials, and patient-reported measures of physical and psychosocial well-being, disease management, health literacy, and substance use. Patients are recruited from tertiary care hospitals in Toronto, Canada and randomised on a 1:1 ratio to both arms of the trial. Online assessments occur at baseline (t=0), months 4, 8 and 12, and trial completion. Ordinal logistic regression analyses and generalised linear models will evaluate primary and secondary outcomes. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The trial has been approved by the research ethics boards at the University Health Network (20-5960), Sunnybrook Hospital (5117), and Mount Sinai Hospital (21-022-E). Informed consent of eligible patients occurs in person or online. Findings will be shared with key stakeholders and the public. Results will allow for the preparation of a Canada-wide phase III trial to evaluate the efficacy of ODYSSEE-vCHAT in improving clinical outcomes and raising the standard of outpatient care. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04966104.

A Disorienting Dilemma: Teaching and Learning in Technology Education During a Time of Crisis

The way individuals interpret and reinterpret their experience is central to meaning-making and impacts teaching and learning. Grounded in Mezirow’s transformative learning theory, this research explores whether pandemic-related emergency remote teaching manifested as a “disorienting dilemma” for technology educators. Teachers negotiated curricular outcomes between physical aspects of making and doing, as well as creative problem solving through design, resulting in a pandemic transformed pedagogy. Thematic analysis revealed that making and doing was severely challenged due to decreased communication, student motivation, and engagement. However, most concerning to educators was the heightened disparity in equity and access in their most vulnerable and at-risk students. In conditions of fear and trauma, little is known about the impact a chaotic way of being has on learners and educators. While we cannot predict what the “new normal” will look like for schools, and what the long-term effects of emergency remote teaching will be, our research demonstrates that the disorienting dilemma COVID-19 presents will continue to shape the pandemic transformed pedagogy of technology educators.Alternate :La manière dont les individus interprètent et renouvellent le sens de leur expérience est fondamentale au processus de recherche de significations et cela a des incidences sur l’enseignement et l’apprentissage. Ancrée dans la théorie de l’apprentissage transformationnel de Mezirow, cette étude vise à déterminer si l’enseignement à distance en tant que mesure d’urgence liée à la pandémie a causé un « dilemme déstabilisant» pour les formateurs en technologie. Les enseignants ont négocié des résultats d’apprentissage situés entre certains aspects physiques du « faire et mettre en pratique» et ont adopté une approche créative dans la résolution de problèmes par réflexion conceptuelle, ce qui a donné lieu à une pédagogie transformée par la pandémie. L’analyse thématique a démontré que le « faire et mettre en pratique» a été grandement éprouvé par la diminution dans les communications, la baisse de motivation des étudiants ainsi que de leur engagement. Toutefois, le plus inquiétant pour les enseignants, c’est la disparité grandissante en ce qui a trait aux questions d’équité et d’accès qui touchent leurs étudiants les plus vulnérables et les plus à risque. L’on connait bien peu de choses sur les conséquences d’une façon d’être qui est chaotique sur les apprenants et les enseignants évoluant dans des conditions qui favorisent la peur et le traumatisme. Bien que nous ne puissions pas prédire en quoi consistera la « nouvelle normalité» dans les écoles ni quels seront les effets à long terme de l’enseignement à distance comme mesure d’urgence, notre étude montre que le dilemme déstabilisant que la COVID-19 nous apporte continuera de façonner la pédagogie transformée par la pandémie pour les formateurs en technologie.

A Disorienting Dilemma: Teaching and Learning in Technology Education During a Time of Crisis

The way individuals interpret and reinterpret their experience is central to meaning-making and impacts teaching and learning. Grounded in Mezirow’s transformative learning theory, this research explores whether pandemic-related emergency remote teaching manifested as a “disorienting dilemma” for technology educators. Teachers negotiated curricular outcomes between physical aspects of making and doing, as well as creative problem solving through design, resulting in a pandemic transformed pedagogy. Thematic analysis revealed that making and doing was severely challenged due to decreased communication, student motivation, and engagement. However, most concerning to educators was the heightened disparity in equity and access in their most vulnerable and at-risk students. In conditions of fear and trauma, little is known about the impact a chaotic way of being has on learners and educators. While we cannot predict what the “new normal” will look like for schools, and what the long-term effects of emergency remote teaching will be, our research demonstrates that the disorienting dilemma COVID-19 presents will continue to shape the pandemic transformed pedagogy of technology educators.

Pandemic designs for the future: perspectives of technology education teachers during COVID-19

Purpose The disruption caused by the pandemic declaration and subsequent public health measures put in place have had a substantial effect on teachers' abilities to support student engagement in technology education (TE). The purpose of this paper is to explore the following research question: How do TE teachers see emergency remote teaching (ERT) transitions to blended learning into the next academic year affecting their profession? Design/methodology/approach A snowball and convenience sampling design was used to recruit specialist teachers in TE through their professional organization and were asked to respond to the question: What are your concerns about the future of teaching TE remotely? The qualitative data collected from the participants (N = 42) was analyzed thematically (Braun and Clarke, 2006). Findings The analysis revealed that the switch to ERT impacted the teachers' ability to support hands-on competency development owing to inequitable student access to tools, materials and resources, all of which affected student motivation and engagement. As a result, teachers raised questions about the overall effectiveness of online learning approaches and TE's future and sustainability if offered completely online. Originality/value This research is the first of its kind exploring the experiences of TE teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In answer to the challenges identified by teachers, the authors offer a blended learning design framework informed by pandemic transformed pedagogy that can serve as a model for educators to use when designing blended instruction.