E-Learning Readiness Assessment Using Machine Learning Methods

Assessing e-learning readiness is crucial for educational institutions to identify areas in their e-learning systems needing improvement and to develop strategies to enhance students' readiness. This paper presents an effective approach for assessing e-learning readiness by combining the ADKAR model and machine learning-based feature importance identification methods. The motivation behind using machine learning approaches lies in their ability to capture nonlinearity in data and flexibility as data-driven models. This study surveyed faculty members and students in the Economics faculty at Tlemcen University, Algeria, to gather data based on the ADKAR model's five dimensions: awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement. Correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between all dimensions. Specifically, the pairwise correlation coefficients between readiness and awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement are 0.5233, 0.5983, 0.6374, 0.6645, and 0.3693, respectively. Two machine learning algorithms, random forest (RF) and decision tree (DT), were used to identify the most important ADKAR factors influencing e-learning readiness. In the results, ability and knowledge were consistently identified as the most significant factors, with scores of ability (0.565, 0.514) and knowledge (0.170, 0.251) using RF and DT algorithms, respectively. Additionally, SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) values were used to explore further the impact of each variable on the final prediction, highlighting ability as the most influential factor. These findings suggest that universities should focus on enhancing students' abilities and providing them with the necessary knowledge to increase their readiness for e-learning. This study provides valuable insights into the factors influencing university students' e-learning readiness.

Establishment of medical service protocols in large public hospitals for the prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019.

Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) poses a challenge to hospitals for the prevention and control of public health emergencies. As the main battlefield of preventing and controlling COVID-19, large public hospitals should develop service protocols of diagnosis and treatment for outpatient, emergency, hospitalization, surgery, and discharge. The construction of medical protocols should be based on the risk factors of key points and focused on pre-inspection triage and screening, to establish a rapid response mechanism to deal with exogenous and endogenous risk factors. Implementation of all-staff training and assessment, strengthening the information system, and use of medical internet service are important. This study explores the construction of medical protocols in large public hospitals during the pandemic, and provides a reference for the orderly diagnosis and treatment in hospitals during the pandemic.Copyright © 2021, Peking Union Medical College Hospital. All rights reserved.

Understanding the use of digital finance among older internet users in urban China: Evidence from an online convenience sample

Inclusive digital financial services should welcome older populations and make them beneficiaries of the digital and financial revolution. To understand older adults' experience of using digital financial tools, we conducted an online survey of 268 older internet users aged 60 or above from urban areas of 14 Chinese provinces after China's nationwide COVID-19 lockdown in 2021. Our results revealed that older internet surfers were active in digital financial activities and engaged most with activities that were highly compatible with their lifestyles. Active users significantly differed from inactive users in sociodemographics, confirming that a digital divide related to social stratification exists among older internet users. Digital finance active users were also distinguished from inactive users' attitudes and perceptions toward digital finance. Logistic regression results indicated that perceived usefulness, access to proper devices for digital finance, risk perceptions, and perceived exclusion if not using technology were associated with their adoption of these advanced tools. Older adults reported the perceived inconvenience of in-person financial services during the lockdown. They also expressed a willingness to participate in relevant training if provided. The findings of this study could help aging-related practitioners to understand older adults' engagement in digital finance and guide policy and project design in the area of financial inclusion of the aging population.

A Review of Research on Urban Playability from a Social Justice Perspective

Playability is an attribute that refers to the ability to stimulate individual responses or collective action in an immersive activity in an exploratory way. Playability is an important component of the enjoyment and well-being of urban dwellers, has the potential to stimulate urban vitality and is an important expression of the inclusiveness and equity of urban space. The pursuit of economic development and efficiency-oriented urban construction has led to the domination of urban space by overcrowded traffic, economy-oriented commerce and densely populated housing. Moreover, the existence of playable space has become a scarce resource and is seen as a site for the materialisation of social rights. As the haze of the COVID-19 pandemic fades and cities are again exposed to wider and more participatory use, determining how to adapt urban spaces to the playability needs of users of different ages, cultural backgrounds and social classes, and provide them with appropriate site use and experience, is becoming a hot issue of concern for building equitable and high-quality urban spaces. The study of the playability of urban spaces is highly complex, and the related research on social justice is cryptic. In order to better investigate the social equity aspects of urban playability, this paper integrates scientometric and manual methods to review the relevant research. This paper takes 2664 related papers from the Web of Science (WOS) core dataset from 1998 to 2022 as the research object and employs CiteSpace to organise the existing research results of playful urban spaces. Quantitative analysis is used to clarify the theoretical foundations, developments and research hotspots of urban spatial playability, while the manual collation and generalisation of the studies uncover the hidden issues of social justice research. Based on the proposed research method, we summarize the key three research stages related to urban spatial playability and social equity. We also discuss the development of urban spatial playability in the perspective of social justice from three aspects: micro, meso and macro. The results can help readers better understand the current status and development process of research on playful urban space. In particular, we clarify the issues related to social justice under the theme of the playability of urban spaces and provide directions for future research on building playful cities and promoting the development of urban socio-spatial equity.

Emergencies in dental surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: Patients' negligence and difficult access to healthcare have an impact on the worsening of emergency conditions, which require immediate treatment due to the possibility of exacerbation in a short period of time. Untreated intra- and extraoral abscesses can have serious consequences on the patient's health and in many cases are life-threatening conditions increasing risk of respiratory obstruction, thrombophlebitis, meningitis, mediastinitis and septicemia. Background: The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of the pandemic and the resulting impediments to accessing medical care on the incidence and type of emergencies in the Oral Surgery Department. Material and methods: This was a retrospective study of 85375 patients aged 2 months to 90 years old with diagnosed intra- and extraoral abscesses before COVID-19 pandemic (2018,2019), and during pandemic (2020, 2021) in the Department of Oral Surgery of the Medical University in Lublin. The obtained results were statistically analyzed with the use of a computer program. Conclusions: The fewest patients were admitted in 2020, and the most in 2021, where we can already see the effects of the pandemic. Emergencies occurred most frequently in people aged 21-30, then 31-40. In 365 cases, tooth extraction was performed, and only in 28 cases, root canal treatment was attempted. Conclusions. Oral health service provision has been significantly affected by COVID-19. Patients came to their appointments too late, which in most cases resulted in the necessity of tooth extraction without attempting root canal treatment.

social welfare advice and health among young people: a scoping review

Social determinants of mental and physical health that influence young peoples' trajectories into adulthood are often remediable through law. To address inequalities, including those exacerbated since the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need to better understand young people's need for and uptake of advice for social welfare legal problems. This scoping review aimed to review available evidence and identify gaps to inform further research. To identify studies relevant to social welfare legal advice among young adults we conducted searches of eight bibliographic databases (compiled between January 1998 and June 2020), hand searches of included article reference lists and targeted grey literature searches. 35 peer reviewed and grey literature studies were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria including evaluations of interventions to promote access to advice, general population surveys, observational studies, and audits of charity data or targeted surveys. Evidence suggests considerable and inequitable need for social welfare legal advice among young adults with adverse consequences for health and wellbeing. Needs among higher risk groups are likely underestimated. Evidence for interventions to enhance access/uptake of advice is limited and methodologically weak. We identify several gaps in the literature to inform research and to enable systematic reviews around more specific questions to inform practice.

Getting Students to (and Through) Advanced Math: Where Course Offerings and Content Are Not Adding Up. American Educator Panels. Research Report. RR-A827-10

This report uses Spring 2022 data from nationally representative surveys of principals and math teachers in kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) to explore students' opportunities to prepare for and take advanced math. The authors found that small high schools, high schools in rural areas, and high schools that predominantly serve students from historically marginalized communities tend to offer fewer advanced math courses (e.g., precalculus, Advanced Placement math courses) and that uneven access to advanced math begins in middle school. K-12 teachers who work in schools that predominately serve students living in poverty are more likely to report skipping standards-aligned content and replacing the skipped content with concepts from previous grade levels. Also, more than half of K-12 math teachers said they need additional support for delivering high-quality math instruction, especially teachers who work in schools that serve predominantly high-poverty students. In the wake of the disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students living in poverty and students of color, these results highlight a critical need for resources to support teachers and to increase student access to advanced courses. [For technical information about the surveys and analysis in this report, see "Learn Together Surveys. 2022 Technical Documentation and Survey Results. Research Report. RR-A827-9" (ED626092).]

Bridging the Digital Divide: Distance Music Learning among Older Adult Musicians

The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of conductor-teachers and older adult musicians in a New Horizons ensemble engaged in distance online music-making and music learning. This study employed intrinsic and particularistic qualitative case study designs in which older adult musicians and conductor-teachers of a New Horizons orchestra were interviewed and observed for one year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Primary data sources included verbatim interview transcripts of 11 older adult musicians and the principal conductor, e-mail correspondences, video recordings, and the principal conductor's journal entries. Findings distilled from the data included (a) the information communication technology (ICT) and music learning technology (MLT) introduced and the technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) needed to teach orchestra members and (b) how orchestra members navigated both ICT and MLT to engage in meaningful music-making and music learning in a distance learning environment. Implications for research and practice include challenging implicit assumptions and messages regarding technology use among older adult musicians, continuing post-COVID distance music learning that may lead to promising models for informal music learning, and continued connectivity beyond the locality of the rehearsal hall.

Innovative Methods for Integrating Social Determinants of Health Data with Administrative Claims to Facilitate Health Equity Research

Objectives: The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of considering Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) in healthcare research. Administrative claims databases are widely used for research, but often lack SDoH data or sufficient transparency in how these data were obtained. This study describes innovative methods for integrating SDoH data with administrative claims to facilitate health equity research. Method(s): The HealthCore Integrated Research Database (HIRD) contains medical and pharmacy claims from a large, national US payer starting in 2006 and includes commercial (Comm), Medicare Advantage (MCare), and Medicaid (MCaid) populations. The HIRD includes individually identifiable information, which was used for linking with SDoH data from the following sources: national neighborhood-level data from the American Community Survey, the Food Access Research Atlas, and the National Center for Health Statistics' urbanicity classification;and member-level data on race/ethnicity from enrollment files, medical records, self-attestation, and imputation algorithms. We examined SDoH metrics for members enrolled as of 05-July-2022 and compared them to the respective US national data using descriptive statistics. We also examined telehealth utilization in 2022. Result(s): SDoH data were available for ~95% of currently active members in the HIRD (Comm/MCare/MCaid 12.5m/1m/7.6m). Socioeconomic characteristics at the neighborhood-level differed by membership type and vs. national data: % of members with at least a high-school education (90/88/84 vs. 87);median family income ($98k/$76k/$70k vs. $82k);% of members living in low-income low-food-access tracts (9/14/18 vs. 13);urban (57/52/47 vs. 61). At the member-level, the % of White Non-Hispanics, Black Non-Hispanics, Asian Non-Hispanics, and Hispanics were 61/6/5/6 (Comm), 76/12/2/2 (MCare), and 45/26/5/19 (MCaid). Imputation contributed 15-60% of race/ethnicity values across membership types. Telehealth utilization increased with socioeconomic status. Conclusion(s): We successfully integrated SDoH data from a variety of sources with administrative claims. SDoH characteristics differed by type of insurance coverage and were associated with differences in telehealth utilization.Copyright © 2023

Self-Sovereign Identity for Consented and Content-Based Access to Medical Records Using Blockchain

Electronic health records (EHRs) and medical data are classified as personal data in every privacy law, meaning that any related service that includes processing such data must come with full security, confidentiality, privacy, and accountability. Solutions for health data management, as in storing it, sharing and processing it, are emerging quickly and were significantly boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic that created a need to move things online. EHRs make a crucial part of digital identity data, and the same digital identity trends - as in self-sovereign identity powered by decentralized ledger technologies like blockchain, are being researched or implemented in contexts managing digital interactions between health facilities, patients, and health professionals. In this paper, we propose a blockchain-based solution enabling secure exchange of EHRs between different parties powered by a self-sovereign identity (SSI) wallet and decentralized identifiers. We also make use of a consortium IPFS network for off-chain storage and attribute-based encryption (ABE) to ensure data confidentiality and integrity. Through our solution, we grant users full control over their medical data and enable them to securely share it in total confidentiality over secure communication channels between user wallets using encryption. We also use DIDs for better user privacy and limit any possible correlations or identification by using pairwise DIDs. Overall, combining this set of technologies guarantees secure exchange of EHRs, secure storage, and management along with by-design features inherited from the technological stack. © 2023 Marie Tcholakian et al.

Tele-ACP amidst COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

BackgroundWhen COVID-19 hit Singapore in 2020, the public was advised to avoid visiting the hospitals unless for essential services. Advance Care Planning (ACP) services in hospital and community had to be stopped to reduce exposure for the public. However, it was not feasible for ACP services to stop with no foresight of when it could resume. Ironically, ACP should all the more be advocated amidst the pandemic.Henceforth, the team planned and implemented a tele-ACP workflow in February 2020 to ensure accessibility in continuity of care and reduce waiting time for ACP appointments.MethodsTele-ACP is conducted only via Zoom, given its security and encryption features. Criteria of patients include ability to read basic English, having electronic device with internet access, and having no severe hearing or speech impairment.Pre-ACP appointment: Zoom details including a guide were sent to patients and/or NHS.On appointment day: Before session starts, ACP Facilitator will ensure that patient and/or NHS are at a space where there is privacy. Internet stability will also be checked.Post-ACP appointment: Signatures will be obtained electronically or via post, while ensuring personal data is well-protected.ResultsFrom February 2020 to November 2022, 105 tele-ACPs (14 General ACPs and 91 Preferred Plan of Care) were completed. 45 were completed in 2020 and 2021 each, while 15 were done in 2022 (as of November). The average duration for tele vs in-person ACPs is both about 90 minutes, indicating that the effort and time spent are not any less despite ACP discussions being done virtually.ConclusionsLooking at the number of tele-ACPs completed and how it is still actively carried out despite COVID-19 situation being stable and restrictions lifted, tele-ACP is clearly in healthy demand. This shows that tele-ACP is here to stay, being both sustainable and transferable to multiple settings.

The Impact of Disadvantage on Higher Education Engagement during Different Delivery Modes: A Pre- versus Peri-Pandemic Comparison of Learning Analytics Data

The pandemic forced many education providers to pivot rapidly their models of education to increased online provision, raising concerns that this may accentuate effects of digital poverty on education. Digital footprints created by learning analytics systems contain a wealth of information about student engagement. Combining these data with student demographics can provide significant insights into the behaviours of different groups. Here we present a comparison of students' data from disadvantaged versus non-disadvantaged backgrounds on four different engagement measures. Our results showed some indications of effects of disadvantage on student engagement in a UK university, but with differential effects for asynchronously versus synchronously delivered digital material. Pre-pandemic, students from disadvantaged backgrounds attended more live teaching, watched more pre-recorded lectures, and checked out more library books than students from non-disadvantaged backgrounds. Peri-pandemic, where teaching was almost entirely online, these differences either disappeared (attendance and library book checkouts), or even reversed such that disadvantaged students viewed significantly fewer pre-recorded lectures. These findings have important implications for future research on student engagement and for institutions wishing to provide equitable opportunities to their students, both peri- and post-pandemic.

The digital divide: An ongoing state of emergency in adult literacy programs

COVID-19 and closures of in-person interactions with support programs, education providers, government services, and consumer offerings have raised concerns that vulnerable populations may not be able to mitigate the effects of the digital divide. Our chapter discusses the digital divide with a focus on programs for adult learners who have not completed high school. These include literacy, high school completion, and vocational programs. We look specifically at Ontario as a case sample that shares similarities with programs across Canada. These programs are operated by community-based non-profits, school boards, and community colleges. They are usually marginalized within the broader education system and have not been considered as part of comprehensive supports and initiatives when schools and post-secondary institutions were closed. The digital inequalities learners experience have parallels in the very programs they attend to mitigate their own digital learning divide. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.

Economic Inequality during Covid-19 as a Pathway to Food Insecurity for People who are Disabled and Racialized as Non-White

Covid-19 heightened economic inequality across the U.S., especially for people who are disabled and non-white. These intersecting economic vulnerabilities open pathways to hunger. Using a survey from July 2020 (n = 2,043) in the Intermountain West, we find that economic inequality explained a substantial portion of food insecurity for people with disabilities. Racially stratified models show that people who were also non-white were more likely to be food insecure and receive differential protection from economic resources. Stronger social support will help mitigate food insecurity, yet such programs must grapple with the ways that ableism and racism intersect, especially during economic shock.Copyright © 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

DaF, COVID-19, and newer technologies: Experiences from an Indian University

[...]flexibility ensures that students feel included and stay interested in learning. [...]dealing with varied genres allows students to get acquainted with different registers of the language. [...]the lack of physical classes also resulted in a lack of group activities. [...]as part of its policy of inclusion, JNU offers admission to students with visual impairment and also offers extra classes for them. [...]for overcoming the impersonal nature of online teaching, I made sure to get each student to speak in the class. The purpose was to ensure that students were active during the entire class. [...]I had to make sure that whilst recording the teaching session, I started recording only after having played the DW video.

COVID-19 income and price shocks effect on household food access in Malawi

The paper contributes to the scarce literature on the negative effect of coronavirus 2019-induced income and food price shocks on household economic access to food, focusing on Malawi during the first two pandemic waves and using a country representative sample. We find that household income reduction, as explained by income source shocks and health mitigation measures, has a wave-specific and persistent effect on ordinal categories of food security perception. Our evidence supports the implementation and monthly scaling-up of nutrition-sensitive social protection programmes and health measures at the household level to address these adverse effects. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics. All rights reserved.

Changes in Food Acquisition Source, Behaviors, and Perceptions During Early Months of COVID-19 Pandemic: Differences Between Those Living in and Not Living in Low Income Low Food Access Urban Areas

We examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food access in US households located in low-income low-food access (LILA) zip codes and those in other areas. We explored changes in utilization of key food sources and in reported challenges, worries, and strategies related to obtaining food. Living in a LILA zip code was associated with a higher prevalence of using food programs, experiencing challenges finding help for food, worrying that food was unsafe, and worrying about losing access to food programs. Examining food acquisition during the pandemic may inform ways to reduce barriers to food access.Copyright © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

COVID-19 and the family courts: key practitioner findings in children cases

In March 2020, stringent social distancing measures were introduced across England and Wales to reduce the spread of Covid-19. These measures have presented significant challenges for the family justice system. This article sets out the findings of interviews conducted with professionals in the North East of England who have represented or otherwise supported litigants in private and public children proceedings since social distancing measures were introduced. The findings reveal that whilst practitioners are broadly positive about their experiences of shorter non-contested hearings, they nonetheless have concerns about the effectiveness of remote/hybrid hearings in ensuring a fair and just process in lengthy and complex cases. In particular, the findings indicate that the move to remote hearings has exacerbated pre-existing barriers to justice for unrepresented and vulnerable litigants. The aims of this article are not to ‘name and shame' any particular court but to highlight evidence of good practice in the North East of England and provide scope for improving practitioners' and litigants' experiences within current restrictions.