The Use of Metaverse in the Healthcare Sector: Analysis and Applications

With the use of blockchain, Internet of Things, virtual platform/telecommunications network, artificial intelligence and the fourth industrial revolution, the essential demand for digital transition within the health care settings has increased as an outcome of the 2019 coronavirus illness outbreak and the fourth industrial revolution. The evolution of virtual environments with three-dimensional (3D) spaces and avatars, known as metaverse, has slowly gained acceptance in the field of health care. These environments may be especially useful for patient-facing platforms (such as platforms for telemedicine), functional uses (such as meeting management), digital education (such as modeled medical and surgical learning), treatments and diagnoses. This chapter offers the most recent state-of-the-art metaverse services and applications and a growing problem when it comes to using it in the healthcare sector. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

A systematic review on pharmacist-led pharmaceutical care optimization through virtual platforms

Objectives To display virtual pharmaceutical care programs implemented by pharmacists across the world. Accordingly, a search in PubMed, Scopus and Embase with keywords such as ''Pharmacist', 'Pharmaceutical care', 'Virtual platform' and its associated medical subject headings retrieved appropriate articles. The quality of each filtered article were assessed with the Critical Appraisal Skills Program checklist. Key findings A total of 2 14 841 articles were identified through database screening and 16 articles were extracted and finalized. Twelve papers presented different forms of electronic medical record-based virtual pharmacy systems that had significantly contributed to patient care;minimizing medication errors, rectifying adverse events, modifying drug administration patterns to reduce the fatality of drug-drug interaction and further promoting medication counselling. Nevertheless, few studies had social media platforms for providing clinical pharmacy services that depicted good patient satisfaction. Additionally, we were also able to portray community pharmacies that transformed themselves to provide better and easily accessible pharmaceutical care to their society. There are limited numbers of peer-reviewed articles on pharmacist-operated virtual systems. However, owing to the benefits imparted to patient safety and care by the virtual pharmacy in the era of pandemic, it is highly recommended that more pharmacy professionals contribute and implement such programs in their settings. Prospero Registration ID CRD42022307175.

Engagement in Video Graphic Online Learning Using the Emotional Dimensions in the Learning Context

The COVID-19 pandemic has become the prime reason for organizations across the world to shift their entire workforce onto virtual platforms. One of the major drawbacks of these virtual platforms is that it lacks a real-time metric which could be used to detect whether a person is attentive during the lectures and meetings or not. This was most evident in the case of educational institutions, where students would often fail to pay attention to the content that was being taught by teachers and professors at home. With this research work, our aim is to create a solution for this problem with the help of AI-FER (Artificial Intelligence Facial Emotion Recognition). For this, we have proposed our own Convolutional Neural Network model achieving an overall accuracy of 59.03%. We have also used several pre-trained models available in Google's Tensorflow library like DenseNET and VGG. © 2023 IEEE.

Application of 'Design Thinking' in the Development of Virtual Platforms with Gamified Elements

This article presents the development of a virtual platform with the Design Thinking methodology and gamified elements, to strengthen the teaching-learning process in the teachers of the González Suárez Educational Unit. This research arises from the need of a virtual platform with gamified elements that are free, easy to use, interactive and motivational. In this study user stories with the agile POV format, test cases to verify the functionality and abuse cases for robustness and to prevent the vulnerability of the virtual platform are used, as well as a b-Learning approach for testing in the classroom. Obtaining in the end as significant results a high and satisfactory assessment of the use of the virtual platform. © 2022 IEEE.

Consumer Response Model for Luxury Brands

Even though the Covid-19 epidemic has affected the marketing of goods and services, this has not deterred people from purchasing luxury brands. Brand owners that wish to reach a large number of customers via social media marketing, including engaging and transacting on virtual platforms, have also discovered this. Social media marketing will assist customers in selecting things without their needing to physically visit the business. It must be acknowledged that purchasing things, particularly luxury items, demands accuracy hence, brand-owning corporations require their own marketing strategies. For instance, product photographs must be realistic so that they resemble actual items. Product specifics must be expanded upon and, most significantly, brand involvement must be increased. If customer participation in the brand is correctly achieved, then consumer reaction will be good and luxury brand sales will grow. This research is to assess marketing efforts on social media and luxury brand participation in relation to customer reactions when engaging and transacting on virtual platforms. A content analysis is used to draw the conceptual framework in this study. It is anticipated that the empirical contribution of this study will contribute to the advancement of science, particularly on the issue of consumer responses to marketing activities on social media. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Building a Digital Bridge Across Cultures and Continents: Exploring New Vistas in Virtual Collaboration

Virtual mobility was a fairly unexplored possibility to connect with overseas partners prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. The years 2020 and 2021 compelled the stakeholders in higher education to explore new vistas in virtual collaboration. This paper presents results of a virtual collaboration that connected Europe, Asia and Africa on cultural exchange, bringing 41 multidisciplinary students and 11 staff members together. The concept was developed as a part of the virtual Alumni Academy of University of Siegen, Germany Digitalisation 20+ on Blended Education by participants from universities in China, Egypt, North Macedonia and Sri Lanka. At the concluding stage of the first phase of the Academy, the participants were assigned to develop projects in different groups on concepts of digital teaching and learning. The students involved in the project selected different cultural themes at the launch and met virtually to prepare one presentation per group to be presented to a live audience six weeks later. Feedback from the students and the staff was gathered at different stages of the project to analyse their perspectives. The experience gathered during the project brought to light that such virtual collaboration is significant in promoting intercultural communication, understanding across borders and enhancing digital prowess. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

The engagement of students using the virtual platform tools. A successful case in a required subject of 1st year in mathematics in engineering (UPC)

Fonaments matemàtics is a required 1st year subject in engineering career at the university EPSEVG (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya) with approximately 270 students enrolled each semestre that traditionally it had a medium pass rate. Over the last 6 years we have introduced gradual changes in the teaching planning of it with the idea of achieving: 1) that students work throughout the course, 2) leveling knowledge and 3) reduce the number of students not presented to any exam. The changes have been implemented and corrected based on our feedback from students (engagement, grades, acceptance and survey assessments). The introduction of the calculator, laptops and tablets in everyday life and the use of the tools of the UPC virtual platform have been key. In this contribution, we present the strategies used and the good results obtained. © 2022 SEFI 2022 - 50th Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education, Proceedings. All rights reserved.

The teaching involvement of the users, the units and the whole UPC measured through the Moodle indicators of the virtual platform Atenea. An extension proposal of Atenea's BI platform

Atenea is the Moodle virtual platform of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) with about 31000 users and 5000 active subjects from 16 school centers. Atenea indicators give information on the teaching activity of the users and centers. This is specially relevant when teaching is online, as was the case in the Covid-19 period. The UPC already has a Atenea's Bussines Intelligent platform (BI), which has recently been launched. In this 1st phase the Institute of Science of Education (ICE) has actively participated in the design of the application. Currently it shows basic indicators over a period of time where one can filter or compare by centers or type of users. The paper presents this design and make a proposal for the extension of the BI, for the future, with respect to: 1) the inclusion of some key indicators for measuring the subjects' activity, 2) a proposal for cross-referencing data with academic performance. © 2022 SEFI 2022 - 50th Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education, Proceedings. All rights reserved.

Exploring Engineering Students' Perceptions About the Use of ICTs and Educational Technologies in VET

At the institutional level, Chilean universities and Vocational Education and Training (VET) institutions have made significant investments in information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as virtual platforms, learning technologies, and streamlining bureaucratic processes related to university management among others. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was already a significant use of ICT resources, especially in many post-graduate programs, which were offered in online or blended learning modalities. The main goals of the study were to explore students' perceptions from a Chilean vocational school (post-secondary education) and university of applied sciences, with campuses (more than 27) in all regions of Chile about the use of ICTs and educational technologies, and to know about the participants' attitudes towards the educational use of ICTs and other educational software. Based on scientific literature and their previous experience in research projects about the use of ICTs and the development of a didactical strategy to incorporate educational technologies in the learning process of engineering students, the authors developed a categories system with indicators for the instrument design. The instrument consists of a questionnaire with closed (25 items) and open-ended questions (3) organized into eight main categories with their respective items. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Consumer Response Model for Luxury Brands

Even though the Covid-19 epidemic has affected the marketing of goods and services, this has not deterred people from purchasing luxury brands. Brand owners that wish to reach a large number of customers via social media marketing, including engaging and transacting on virtual platforms, have also discovered this. Social media marketing will assist customers in selecting things without their needing to physically visit the business. It must be acknowledged that purchasing things, particularly luxury items, demands accuracy hence, brand-owning corporations require their own marketing strategies. For instance, product photographs must be realistic so that they resemble actual items. Product specifics must be expanded upon and, most significantly, brand involvement must be increased. If customer participation in the brand is correctly achieved, then consumer reaction will be good and luxury brand sales will grow. This research is to assess marketing efforts on social media and luxury brand participation in relation to customer reactions when engaging and transacting on virtual platforms. A content analysis is used to draw the conceptual framework in this study. It is anticipated that the empirical contribution of this study will contribute to the advancement of science, particularly on the issue of consumer responses to marketing activities on social media. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Mental practice for laparoscopic salpingectomy.

Mental practice (MP) is a method of enhancing surgical training by rehearsal of a task without physical action. The primary objective of the study was to develop and validate a MP tool for laparoscopic salpingectomy (LS). An imagery script for LS was developed and used to facilitate a structured MP session for trainees in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and expert gynaecologists across three teaching hospitals in the UK. A virtual platform was used for one trainee group to assess its feasibility compared to a face-to-face approach. Pre- and post-session assessments were conducted to evaluate the impact of the script on motivation, confidence, preparedness and quality of imagery and demonstrated a significant improvement in global imagery scores for both novice groups. The expert group scored significantly higher than the face-to-face novice group on all items both before and after MP, indicating construct validity. There were no significant differences demonstrated between the two novice groups, thus demonstrating the virtual platform to be a non-inferior approach - an important consideration in the current COVID era.

Web-Based Co-design in Health Care: Considerations for Renewed Participation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the work environment to a new reality of remote work and virtual collaboration. This shift has occurred in various work settings with an impact on spaces, approaches, applied techniques, and tools. This has resulted in the broad use of virtual tools in the health care sector to avoid physical encounters and in-person interactions that will likely outlast the COVID-19 pandemic. Developing effective virtual approaches requires the knowledge and skills of using digital technologies collaboratively combined with a deep understanding of the context or contexts in which these approaches may be used. The implementation of virtual health design methods, including web-based co-design, has increased to meet the realities of COVID-19 restrictions and is likely to outlast them. Adapting the use of co-design methodologies to a virtual configuration requires rethinking methods of collaboration and communication, adapting to virtual environments, and creating new methods of engagement and facilitation. With this viewpoint, we reviewed the current work on co-design (in person and web based) to propose techniques for the design, planning, and implementation of web-based co-design. We propose 7 considerations that may enable web-based co-design projects in the health care sector. The key considerations that affect the success of a web-based co-design approach should be considered in the process of planning, developing, and conducting web-based co-design sessions. These include facilitation, collaboration, accessibility and equity, communication, sensemaking, tangible tools and games, and web-based research ethics. We illustrate this work with a case study of co-design for an emergency department discharge tool developed during the pandemic.

Learning from supervisor experience of increased virtual supervision for educational psychologists

This research explored the experiences of supervisors of educational psychologists (EPs) and trainee EPs (TEPs), using an increase in virtual methods of supervision, first undertaken during the Covid-19 restrictions within one Local Authority (LA) in England. Eleven supervisors in different roles, with varying lengths of experience, were supervising a range of EP positions and contributed to the online semi-structured questionnaire, which focused on supervision delivery, opportunities, challenges, and contextual factors. The responses were analysed using thematic analysis, with a number of themes identified. Key conclusions related to value of supervision, differences in supervisory practice, adequate experience, and support for TEP development and competence including newly qualified EPs, emotional impact of supervising while working remotely, supervisor and supervisee wellbeing, and technological considerations. Implications for practice are explored. ©, Association of Educational Psychologists.

Towards the virtualization of university teaching: a methodological change based on three scenarios

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a forced change in university teaching, both methodologically and practically. The University of Granada has created a triple model based on three different scenarios: virtual learning (e-learning), blended learning (b-learning) and face-to-face learning. The objectives that we intend to achieve consist of presenting, analysing and disseminating this pedagogical model created to face future challenges that may arise. For the analysis process, the classroom experience and the results obtained during the three academic years in which this new model has been implemented in one or more of its scenarios will be evaluated. © GKA Ediciones, authors.

Analysis of virtual education, impacts on the training process and main trends

Virtual education, in recent decades, has had a significant increase in its use and development, which has been amplified by the problems generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, it emerged as a medium that complemented face-to-face education, but today it has an important role in the generation of learning and knowledge in its current and future scope. This research, in its central objective, seeks to identify the main aspects that conceptualize virtual education and its relationship with face-to-face education, the advantages and disadvantages generated by its application, the methodologies associated with its implementation, the instruments that strengthen it and its main challenges. Methodologically, it is a qualitative study of a descriptive nature, helping to understand the state of the art of the subject. As a result, the scope of virtual education in its E-learning modality in the current pandemic context and its main aspects to be addressed in the future are identified. Concluding that it is necessary to guarantee, principles of integration, equality and equity for the interaction of all educational actors and their respective communities, since virtual education, as an educational model, has allowed to expand the training scope that the face-to-face model has not been able to give. © 2022,Revista de Ciencias Sociales.All Rights Reserved.

Learning from supervisor experience of increased virtual supervision for educational psychologists

This research explored the experiences of supervisors of educational psychologists (EPs) and trainee EPs (TEPs), using an increase in virtual methods of supervision, first undertaken during the Covid-19 restrictions within one Local Authority (LA) in England. Eleven supervisors in different roles, with varying lengths of experience, were supervising a range of EP positions and contributed to the online semi-structured questionnaire, which focused on supervision delivery, opportunities, challenges, and contextual factors. The responses were analysed using thematic analysis, with a number of themes identified. Key conclusions related to value of supervision, differences in supervisory practice, adequate experience, and support for TEP development and competence including newly qualified EPs, emotional impact of supervising while working remotely, supervisor and supervisee wellbeing, and technological considerations. Implications for practice are explored.

Design of a Virtual Platform to Counter Economic Recession

This paper aims to present the proposal of a platform founded on a Virtual Breeding Environment (VBE) as an alternative for resource sharing, survival, and growth of organizations that were impacted by the economic recession caused by COVID-19. Considering this, an informational platform model is presented, based on the theoretical framework of VBE and the potential to meet the needs of actors who are part of this environment. The result is a platform called Collabore. This platform helps with resource sharing between companies and enables the development of new network technologies. It also facilitates the co-creation of value between actors, allows lobby creation to compete with large companies in the global market, ensures new jobs and income generation, and facilitates the collaboration between companies dispersed globally, connected by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). © 2022, IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.

Perception towards Preventive Strategies for Dental Caries and Oral Health Promotion among School Teachers: A Focus Group Discussion

Background and Aim: There are numerous preventive strategies available globally for dental caries. However, the incidence of dental caries is high among school going children in most of the developing countries. School teachers play a major role in inculcating good habits and behaviour to the children. Thus, we aimed to assess the perception of dental caries among school teachers qualitatively by focus group discussion. Methods: One focus group discussion was conducted among the primary level government and private school teachers in Tamil Nadu. A group of 12 teachers, 6 from Government schools and 6 from Private schools were recruited. The discussion was held in a virtual platform due to COVID-19 Lockdown. The session lasted for 45-60 min. The areas of discussion included attitude towards aetiology, prevention and treatment for dental caries. Results: Analysis of interview transcripts recognized many influences on children's oral health attitudes. Majority of teachers expressed a high efficacy using toothbrushes, tongue cleaners, mouthwashes, oil pulling and massaging gums as plaque control mechanisms. Most of the participants were aware of all treatment modalities for dental caries. However, they were not totally aware of the preventive strategies of dental caries. Conclusion: This qualitative study emphasizes that the overall knowledge, perception of aetiology and treatment for dental caries were superior and noteworthy among private school teachers as compared to government school teachers. Moreover, the teachers have expressed their interest for professional oral health assistance in dietary guidelines at schools, performing preventive strategies such as topical fluoride and pit and fissure sealant application. © 2022 by the Author(s).

Opportunities from Disruption - How lifelong learning helped create more connected classrooms

The coronavirus pandemic has led to instructors worldwide seeking ways to engage students better through virtual platforms. As the world interacts online, more than ever before, this paper reflects on an educator’s experience with the virtual teaching and learning spaces pre and during the ongoing pandemic © 2022 American Society for Engineering Education.

Covid-19 Challenges for Digital Education and Critical Analysis

Online study is not a new technology it was used since 2013 but become popular during the Corona virus. This research articles contain the study of the comparison between study through virtual platform and study by physical medium. Our study involves how the both traditions are different from each other. In this review paper we will also discuss the different online tools and methods used by the particular organisation for taking online classes. The advantage and disadvantage of online education and how it has changed the perspective of learning are also discussed. We will also discuss the importance of campus learning for improving the social skills and technical skills. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.