ABSTRACT
The present study reports on research conducted on novice teachers’ use of wikis with their high school students. These teachers had been previously exposed to wikis as a collaborative learning tool during their teaching preparation programme. The aim was to explore whether their experience with wiki usage helped them in their teaching. Participants included fifteen novice teachers in their first year of teaching foreign languages in Albania, who held their teaching partly online during the school year 2020-2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collected through in-depth interviews include their own reflections. These reflections indicate that the use of a wiki at the university level helped them feel at ease in using wikis in their online teaching. The study proved the use of wikis to be a feasible means of online collaboration, which facilitated constructing new knowledge for their students. As a result, wikis provide a collaborative medium of technology integration into their teaching. © 2022, Commonwealth of Learning. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background: The immunogenicity and safety of mRNA-based vaccination in people living with HIV have yet to be clarified. We aimed to describe the impact of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination on safety, HIV-RNA control, and humoral immune responses after two doses of vaccine. Methods: From January 2021 to April 2021, vaccination with mRNA1273 (Moderna) and BNT162b2 (BioNTech/Pfizer) was offered to every individual with HIV registered at our institution who fulfilled vaccination criteria and consented to routine vaccination. HIV-1 RNA levels and anti-SARS-CoV-2 S total Ig (Elecsys®, Roche Diagnostics, Rotkreuz, Switzerland) were measured at the time of the first and second doses, 30 days later, and at 6 months after the first dose. Results: The study sample included 131 individuals (median age: 54 years [interquartile range (IQR): 47-60.5]);male: 70.2%;median baseline CD4-T cell: 602 cells/μ l [IQR: 445.0-825.5]). HIV viral load data were collected for 129 patients at the time of the first dose (M0) and 30 days later (M1);for 124 patients, 30 days after the second dose (M2);and for 42 patients, 6 months after the first dose (M6). Twenty (15.5%) of 129 patients had detectable HIV-1 RNA (>20 copies/ml;IQR: 24.0-43.5) at M0, 13/129 (10.1%) at M1 (among which 5 were newly detected), 15/124 (12.1%) at M2 (among which 4 were newly detected), and 6/42 (14.3%) at M6. HIV-RNA levels returned below the detection threshold of 20 copies/mL at the subsequent measure. All analyzed patients showed a positive anti-SARS-CoV-2 S Ig after vaccination with geometric mean titers (GMT) of 131.8 U/ml (95% CI: 130.4-133.2) 30 days after the first dose and 2003.4 U/ml (95% CI: 2002.3-2004.4) 30 days after the second dose. Six months after the first dose, 75/131 patients were analyzed, and they were all still positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 S Ig, with GMT of 1132.2 U/ml (95% CI: 1131.0-1133.4). We found no statistical significance in anti-SARS-CoV-2 S Ig titers between patients with detectable and undetectable HIV-1 RNA. No serious adverse effects were reported. Conclusion: In a patient population on effective antiretroviral drugs, only minor or transient effects of mRNA vaccines on HIV-1 RNA levels were observed. All patients developed anti-SARS-CoV-2 S total antibodies after two-dose vaccination and antibodies were detectable in all analyzed patients 6 months after the first dose.