Inculcating Ethical and Moral Values amongst the E-Learners: Proposing a Model for E-Learning Platforms

Under the influence of neo-liberalism and marketization, education is increasingly becoming more content-focused than character one. Ignoring the fact that money, science, and technology may take a person to the moon, these are ethical and moral values that take him/her to the even loftier heights of humanity. Recent COVID-19-driven focus on information and communication technology (ICT) and digital learning have further added to these woes by focusing more on human-machine interaction than human-human ones. Traditional models for inculcating these values through education which heavily rely on the physical presence of teachers do not seem to work in these circumstances. This demands a model for inculcating these values in learning management systems/ e-learning platforms. This study contributes in this regard by first identifying key players and factors, and then proposing a model for it. Using the Delphi model, it gathers opinions from 59 experts in two rounds. Academic institutions, society and online community members, teachers, and e-contents were identified as key factors and players. It suggests a holistic approach-based model through which all of them play their role and collaborate through an e-learning platform. That platform can be used to disseminate information, create awareness, monitor, and report the e-learners. It uses pull and push strategies to help the e-learners to develop those values. © 2023 The Author(s).

Analysis of Dynamic Resource Allocation in Digital Education Ecosystems

The use of technology enhanced learning in education institutions has been developing at a rapid pace. Higher education administration affirms the value of digitization in learning platforms, especially in view of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conventional education system is not consistent with the changing demands of modern education concepts, which are the driving factors towards formation and development of the digital educational ecosystem. To digitally transform education systems within a cross organizational environment, educational institutions should be interconnected, and the learners are able to access the learning modules from anywhere in the world. The effective allocation of learning modules to the students is of crucial importance due to the scarceness of such resources. The main objective of this paper is to identify the methods for assigning digital learning modules from a set of existing solutions. Facilitated by optimal resource allocation, the digital ecosystem can provision learning instances via virtual machines or containers and allocate it based on demand. Through the optimal resource allocation, the overall cost and power consumption shall be decreased and the availability of the learning service shall be increased. In this paper, literature research of different scheduling and allocation policies are discussed under varying statistical processes, priority, and performance metrics to increase efficiency and reduce operating cost of servers with no allocated task. © 2022 IEEE.

Combating COVID: Exploring Pakistani Universities' responses to COVID-19

This study investigates Pakistani universities' responses during COVID-19. Permanent faculty members from eight different universities were interviewed for data collection. The participants reported six different strategies that were employed to continue the teaching-learning process during COVID-19: from well-developed LMS to virtually no classes. They also pointed out five main issues and challenges during COVID-19 (i.e., infrastructure and internet-related issues, students' participation and engagement issues, teachers' training and attitudinal issues, quality assurance issues, and lack of uniform policy by HEC). They also feared increased educational disparities due to the digital divide. Although this pandemic has adversely affected the higher education sector in Pakistan, if the policymakers and institutions are willing to learn and innovate, this crisis can be turned into an opportunity. © 2022, IGI Global.

Comparative Research on Educational Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Eastern vs. Western Perspectives

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented ripples throughout society, bringing many sectors and fields, including education, to a virtual halt or forcing them to change their working style abruptly. Based on technological advancements, e-learning preparedness, and human and financial resources, higher education systems and universities in Eastern and Western countries have responded differently to this crisis. Comparative Research on Educational Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Eastern vs. Western Perspectives presents global research on the response of higher education to the COVID-19 pandemic from both the East and the West. It sheds light on the relevant challenges, strategies, and effectiveness of the policies set in place in response to the pandemic. Covering topics such as international student-related policies, pedagogical adaptation, and student motivation, this premier reference source is an essential resource for policymakers, government officials, faculty of higher education, students and educators of higher education, libraries, researchers, and academicians. © 2022 by IGI Global. All rights reserved.

Mental Health Status of Health Care Professionals during COVID-19 Pandemic at a Tertiary Care Hospital of Central Punjab

Introduction: Frontline medical workers are at risk of not just adverse physical outcomes from Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) but psychological ones too. Healthcare workers might develop symptoms of Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and substance use disorders. Objective: To assess the mental health status of health care professionals during COVID-19 Pandemic at a tertiary care hospital of Central Punjab. Methodology: Study design: Cross-Sectional study. Study setting: Sheikh Zayed Medical College/Hospital, R.Y.Khan. Study Duration: 20th May 2020 to 20th August 2020. Study subjects: Healthcare professionals including medical and paramedical staff. Sample size: A total of 215 Subjects were included in the study. Sampling technique: Convenient sampling technique. Inclusion criteria: Male and female health care professionals of SZMC/H, R.Y.Khan present in a single working shift. Exclusion criteria: Subjects who refused to give informed verbal consent and those absent from the shift of data collection. Data collection method: Data was collected on pre-designed questionnaire. The questionnaire included information regarding age, sex, job title, working station, etc. Data analysis: Data was entered in and analyzed by using SPSS Version. 21. Numerical variables like age was presented as mean ± standard deviation. Categorical variables like sex, job title, working station were shown as percentages. Results: Our study shows that sex ratio was Male (41.4%) and Female (58.6%). We compared the subjects on variables of Sex, Job title and Ward/Department. The prevalence of depression among Males was Normal 69.7%, Borderline 18.0% and Abnormal 12.4% while in Females it was Normal 56.3%, Borderline 20.6% and Abnormal 23.0%. The prevalence of anxiety among Males was Normal 67.4%, Borderline 18.0% and Abnormal 14.6% while in Females it was Normal 38.1%, Borderline 28.6% and Abnormal 33.3%. Our study on the basis of Job title showed that Medical Staff has prevalence of depression of Normal 67.8%, Borderline 18.3% and Abnormal 13.9% while in Paramedical Staff it was Normal 31.4%, Borderline 25.7% and Abnormal 42.9%. The prevalence of anxiety among Medical Staff was Normal 55.6%, Borderline 22.8% and Abnormal 21.7% while in Paramedical Staff it was Normal 22.9%, Borderline 31.4% and Abnormal 45.7%. On the basis of Wards/Department, the prevalence of Depression in Medicine and Allied was Normal 62.7%, Borderline 23.9% and Abnormal 13.4%;in Surgery and Allied was Normal 67.2%, Borderline 22.4% and Abnormal 10.3%;in Paeds and Gynae/Obs. was Normal 63.5%, Borderline 11.5% and Abnormal 25.0%;in Flu Filter Clinic/Isolation Ward/ICU was Normal 50.0%, Borderline 18.4% and Abnormal 31.6%. The prevalence of Anxiety in Medicine and Allied was Normal 52.2%, Borderline 20.9% and Abnormal 26.9%;in Surgery and Allied was Normal 55.2%, Borderline 24.1% and Abnormal 20.7%;in Paeds and Gynae/Obs. was Normal 46.2%, Borderline 26.9% and Abnormal 26.9%;in Flu Filter Clinic/Isolation Ward/ICU was Normal 44.7%, Borderline 26.3% and Abnormal 28.9%. Conclusion: COVID-19 Pandemic has some major effects on the mental health status of health care professionals in terms of depression and anxiety that need to be addressed by providing better health care facilities, by arranging awareness seminars and counseling sessions.

Practical challenges of managing COVID-19 patients in the adult intensive care unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital of Ireland

The COVID-19 pandemic has attracted our focus to those important aspects of health care facilities in which we were severely lacking. Due to the unprecendeted nature of this pandemic, even the more developed nations of the world were not prepared to handle the challenges it presented. The current surge of critical patients of COVID-19 has led to a severe burden on our acute and critical care services, resulting in a significant increase in the demand and supply of hospital staff and equipment. There has been such pandemics in the past and they may occur again in future. Thus, to handle the current challenges, several measures must be adopted to handle the surge in confirmed critical cases, such as: expanding hospital capacity of critical area by converting noncritical area to critical areas, training and deployment of non-critical care staff to participate in delivering critical care brainstorming and implementing innovative approaches to obtain, conserve, and increase the efficiency of our available supply of physical equipment. © 2020 Faculty of Anaesthesia, Pain and Intensive Care, AFMS. All rights reserved.