IT Courses Research Articles

Free and open source cloud technology based on the type Software as a Service

The aim of this study is to design and implement the cloud computing technology with types of the services Software as a Service (SaaS). Objectives of the study is to analyze the free and open source cloud technology based on the type Software as a Service. The object of research is the process of using of the cloud computing technology with types of the services Software as a Service in education. The subject of research is the use of free cloud computing technology with types of the services Software as a Service in education for students of university. This article covers the free and open source cloud computing technology and its application in Web-based IT education. One of the technologies that can be used in teaching online IT courses is cloud computing. In this work the analysis and systematization of research on the use of free cloud-based ICT in education, research and organizational activities. Results of the study is planned to use for the design of methods e-learning education with the free and open source cloud technology.

Adapting the Structured Operational Research Training Initiative (SORT IT) for high-income countries.

SORT IT (Structured Operational Research Training InitiaTive) is a successful capacity building programme started 10 years ago to develop operational research skills in low- and middle-income countries. Public Health England (PHE) aims to embed a culture of research in front-line staff, and SORT IT has been adapted to train frontline health protection professionals at PHE North West (PHE NW) to collate, analyse and interpret routinely collected data for evidence-informed decision-making. Six participants from the PHE NW Health Protection team were selected to attend a two-module course in Liverpool, UK, in May and in November 2018. Five participants finished the course with completed papers on characteristics and burden of influenza-like illness in elderly care homes (two papers), use of dried blood spots for blood-borne virus screening in prisons, uptake of meningococcal ACWY (groups A, C, W-135 and Y) vaccine in schoolchildren and fires in waste management sites. The SORT IT course led to 1) new evidence being produced to inform health protection practice, and 2) agreement within PHE NW to continue SORT IT with two courses per year, and 3) showed how a research capacity building initiative for low- and middle-income countries that combines 'learning with doing' can be adapted and used in a high-income country.

Building sustainable operational research capacity in Pakistan: starting with tuberculosis and expanding to other public health problems

ABSTRACTBackground: For many years, operational research capacity has been a challenge and has remained a low priority for the health sector in Pakistan. Building research capacity for developing a critical mass of researchers in Pakistan was done through Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT) courses in Paris and Asia between 2010 and 2016.Objective: The aim of this paper is to describe the journey of SORT-IT in Pakistan from its inception to progressive expansion and discuss the challenges and ways forward.Methods: The journey began with the training of the Pakistan NTP research team lead in 2010 in an international SORT IT course at Paris. This was followed by training of two team members in Asia SORT IT courses in 2014 and 2015. These three then worked together to conceive and implement the first national Pakistan SORT IT course supported by WHO/TDR and the Global Fund in 2016. This was facilitated by international facilitators and local trained SORT-IT participants from Paris and Asia. This was followed by two further national SORT IT courses in 2017 and 2018.Results: Between 2010 and 2017, a total of 34 participants from Pakistan had been enrolled in national and international SORT IT courses. Of the 23 participants from completed courses, 18(78%) successfully completed the course. In total 18 papers were submitted and up until June 2018, 15(83%) have been published and 21 institutions in Pakistan involved with operational research as a result of the SORT IT initiative.Conclusions: The SORT IT course has been an effective way to build operational research capacity at national level and this has resulted in a large number of published papers providing local evidence for decision making on TB and other disease control programmes. The experience from Pakistan should stimulate other countries to adopt the SORT-IT model.

UAE Undergraduate Student Digital Etiquette and Belief-Oriented Technology USE

The objectives of this article are: explore the adherence to digital etiquette and ‎belief-oriented technology use, examine the relationship between ‎digital etiquette and belief-oriented technology use, and examine the influence of ‎IT Course on students' digital etiquette. The ‎sample comprised 350 students, who were taking IT and ‎non-IT Courses at two private universities. The research employed a ‎cross-sectional survey using a two-part questionnaire. The first part measured digital etiquette, while the second part measured technology use orientation results showed a widespread adherence to digital etiquette among the respondents ‎with very small numbers reporting the violation of ethics. The same positive pattern was found with use orientation where most respondents reported a positive technology use orientation ‎based on their belief. The correlation analysis indicated a strong positive relationship ‎between digital etiquette and belief-orientation (r = 932), while the t-test results revealed a non-‎ significance difference between IT and non-IT students in their digital etiquette.

A Case Study on Developments of Globalization in Teaching IT Courses in English

This paper, through the analysis and investigations of development in teaching IT courses in English over the years at School of Management, puts forward some strategies to reform and innovate the teaching methods and brings up some issues like qualified teachers, student’s awareness, enhancements for lab classes and quality teaching materials, and so on. The paper finally concludes that the globalization is the inevitable trend in higher educations.

A 13-year real-life study on efficacy, safety and biological effects of Vespula venom immunotherapy

BackgroundHymenoptera venom immunotherapy (VIT) is a clinically effective treatment. However, little is known about its long-term clinical efficacy and biological effects. Several mechanisms have been proposed to account for VIT efficacy, including reduction of specific IgE and induction of allergen-specific IgG4, but the overall picture remains elusive. We investigated Vespula VIT clinical efficacy up to 8 years after discontinuation and the kinetics of Vespula-specific IgE and IgG4. Out of 686 consecutive patients we retrospectively selected and analysed a series of 23 patients with Vespula allergy that underwent a 5-year IT course, followed by a prolonged follow-up.MethodsClinical efficacy of VIT was assessed as number and severity of reactions to Vespula re-stinging events. The presence of Vespula-specific IgE and IgG4 was also monitored over time.ResultsDuring the VIT treatment, patients were protected, reporting no reactions or mild reactions in occasion of re-stinging events. This protection was entirely maintained during the follow-up, up to 8 years. Skin reactivity (reflecting mast cell-bound Vespula-specific IgE) and circulating Vespula-specific IgE levels declined substantially during VIT. Notably, this reduction was maintained over time during the follow-up. Moreover, all the patients were analysed for IgG4. A robust induction of Vespula-specific IgG4 was observed during the VIT course, with a substantial decline during the follow-up.ConclusionsWe conclude that Vespula VIT is a clinically effective treatment, which induces long-term protection after discontinuation. The reduction of specific IgE, assessed by skin tests and RAST, closely matches the VIT- induced protection, while the IgG4 induction seems not to be associated with VIT clinical efficacy in the long term.

Does the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT) continue to influence health policy and/or practice?

ABSTRACTBackground: The Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT) is a successful model of integrated operational research and capacity building with about 90% of participants completing the training and publishing in scientific journals.Objective: The study aims at assessing the influence of research papers from six SORT IT courses conducted between April 2014 and January 2015 on policy and/or practice.Methods: This was a cross-sectional mixed-method study involving e-mail based, self-administered questionnaires sent to course participants coupled with telephone/Skype/in-person responses from participants, senior facilitators and local co-authors of course papers. A descriptive content analysis was performed to generate themes.Results: Of 71 participants, 67 (94%) completed the course. A total of 67 papers (original research) were submitted for publication, of which 61 (91%) were published or were in press at the censor date (31 December 2016). Among the 67 eligible participants, 65 (97%) responded to the questionnaire. Of the latter, 43 (66%) research papers were self-reported to have contributed to a change in policy and/or practice by the course participants: 38 to a change in government policy or practice (26 at the national level, six at the subnational level and six at the local/hospital level); four to a change in organisational policy or practice; and one study fostered global policy development.Conclusion: Nearly two-thirds of SORT IT course papers contributed to a change in policy and/or practice as reported by the participants. Identifying the actual linkage of research to policy/practice change requires more robust methodology, in-depth assessment and independent validation of the reported change with all concerned stakeholders.

Using Social Media to Improve Student-Instructor Communication in an Onlinef Learning Environment

The lack of effective faculty-student interaction has been identified as a main contributor to the high dropout rate in online education. For this paper, the authors conducted an empirical study using a social networking tool, specifically Facebook, to improve student-instructor communication and student performance in an online learning environment. They recruited three sections of an introductory IT course at a public university and divided them into two groups: (1) a treatment group where Facebook was used as an additional communication tool and (2) a control group where the course setting wasn't changed. The authors surveyed the participants' opinions on the use of Facebook in the treatment group, and collected participants' academic performance data for both the treatment and control groups. Their research findings show that the use of Facebook as a supplemental communication method can help an instructor better reach out to students, reduce a course's failure rate, and improve student course performance.

ИТ-ОБРАЗОВАНИЕ С ПРИМЕНЕНИЕМ ИНТЕЛЛЕКТУАЛЬНОЙ ОБУЧАЮЩЕЙ СРЕДЫ

Предлагается системный подход к решению проблемы структурирования и представления содержания, методологии и дидактики преподавания ИТ-дисциплин в формате продукционно-фреймовой модели знаний интеллектуальной обучающей среды, реализующей интерактивные формы обучения. В качестве основы, определяющей состав и взаимосвязь ИТ-дисциплин, дающих синергетический вклад в формирование профессиональных компетенций, предлагается обобщенное многоуровневое представление архитектуры вычислительной системы. Данное представление включает десять уровней детализации системы, с позиций которых она может рассматриваться конечными пользователями, прикладными программистами, системными программистами или специалистами по ее аппаратной части, включая теоретиков от естественных и точных наук, использующих законы и явления окружающего мира для создания новых базовых принципов организации вычислений. С последними можно связать появление нейрокомпьютеров, эксперименты по созданию квантовых и молекулярных компьютеров. A new systematic approach for structuring of content, methodology and didactics for IT courses is proposed. A mixture of frame-based and production systems is used to represent the knowledge and organize the interactive learning. A general multilevel representation of the computer architecture is considered as a base, which defines structure and interconnection between subjects. The representation consists of ten specification levels of the computer. By means of these levels computer architecture can be studied by end users, applied software programmers, system software programmers or hardware specialists, including natural science theoreticians, which use natural laws, phenomena and effects to create and research new ways of computing. Last one can be mentioned in relation to neurocomputers invention and putting them into practice, experiments with creation of quantum- and biocomputers

Library employment

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the library employment in UAE and explore the perceptions of academic librarians toward job satisfaction, employment opportunities, employment challenges, and future actions needed to improve employment opportunities for librarians in UAE.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through an online survey questionnaire. A total of 62 academic librarians from public and private universities and colleges participated in the study. The collected data are analyzed to answer research questions and verify the hypotheses.FindingsRespondents expressed high satisfaction with salary and benefits, job positions, responsibilities given to them, and appreciations from senior management. However, they are found unsatisfied with promotion policies and employment opportunity. They reported challenges for getting jobs and expressed concerns about the future of librarians in UAE. With the exception of experience, findings of the study show no significant difference of demographic factors on job satisfaction, the perceived employment opportunity, and challenges. Majority of participants believe that employment opportunity for librarians can be improved through IT courses, promotion policies, training, career structure, marketing, and changing school name. They agree that reducing the number of students will not improve employment opportunities for librarians.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a descriptive study based on a survey questionnaire. Future studies may use qualitative methods such as the interview for more exploration and in-depth analysis.Practical implicationsThe findings provide concerns about the future of librarianship in UAE and appeal to library educators, managers, and decision makers to improve employment opportunities for librarians.Originality/valueThe paper reports original research findings on job satisfaction, employment opportunities, employment challenges, and future actions as perceived by academic librarians in UAE.

Creating a Database of Peonies and Its Use for Teaching IT Courses

The aim of this paper is to describe one of the possible ways of making IT courses more interesting through collecting practical field data and a subsequent creation of databases. Since the establishment of a specialized peony garden near Prague in 2008, details of the origin of acquired plants and of their cultivation under local conditions have been continuously recorded. The data resulting from the peony research are used as support for our IT courses. They are used in practical modelling of a relational database and in creating student projects focused on responsive web designs. The peonies data make the IT courses more attractive and stimulating for students. Literature survey of the peony research publications and our own data obtained from the peony garden revealed some of the main problems in cultivating and identification of peonies. Herbaceous peonies are widespread perennials. Mostly historical varieties of Paeonia lactiflora are cultivated. However, these plants have long and weak stems, which are bent down by heavy flowers and must therefore be mechanically held up by stakes or support rings. By contrast, the new cultivars have solid stems, such as the hybrid herbaceous peonies and intersectional hybrids (Itoh hybrids) and do not require as much labour but are not commonly cultivated. Our research has discovered that most peony cultivars in home gardens have not been properly identified. Great emphasis has, therefore, been placed on the correct identification of peony cultivars.

Peran Broadband Learning Center dalam community development

Answering the need of non-formal education or courses that reach all levels of society in the field of information and communication technology (ICT), the Government of Surabaya through the Department of Communications and Information Technology has developed Broadband Learning Center (BLC). BLC plays significant role in community development Surabaya since they provide media for public to choose training program which they can register independently or in groups training for free. This study aims to describe the framework in BLC as the implementation of e-governance performed by Government of Surabaya and to explore the role of BLC in community development process in achieving e-governance. The method used by researcher is qualitative approach with descriptive research type, focusing on Department of Communications and Information Technology, BLC Rumah Bahasa, BLC Taman Prestasi and BLC Taman Flora. This research reveals that BLC is facilitated with openness service to IT and various courses to enhance capacity and capability to utilize computer, and to increase public participation in using IT based program.

Vínculos organizacionais: o caso de docentes de uma instituição privada de ensino superior localizada em Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais

This research analyzes organizational links of professors with a private Superior Education Institution in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The study comprises a quantitative and qualitative descriptive study that was carried out with 82 professors who teach in Engineering and IT courses. The most relevant links to the professors were the feelings of belongingness and autonomy. The age above 40 years old was correlated to links of autonomy and idealization of the institution, whereas schooling was correlated to the link cooperation during activities and the length of teaching experience was associated with the integration among the members. Academic experience and the brand of the institution are amongst the elements that justify those associations. The qualitative results suggest that belongingness denotes a congruence of the professors with the philosophy of the institution and that autonomy results from the freedom they have to express ideas and to plan and perform their own work.

Free and open source cloud technology based on the type Software as a Service

The aim of this study is to design and implement the cloud computing technology with types of the services Software as a Service (SaaS). Objectives of the study is to analyze the free and open source cloud technology based on the type Software as a Service. The object of research is the process of using of the cloud computing technology with types of the services Software as a Service in education. The subject of research is the use of free cloud computing technology with types of the services Software as a Service in education for students of university. This article covers the free and open source cloud computing technology and its application in Web-based IT education. One of the technologies that can be used in teaching online IT courses is cloud computing. In this work the analysis and systematization of research on the use of free cloud-based ICT in education, research and organizational activities. Results of the study is planned to use for the design of methods e-learning education with the free and open source cloud technology.

Sustained research capacity after completing a Structured Operational Research and Training (SORT IT) course.

We systematically assess the post-course output of participants who complete the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT) courses1–3 to determine whether the courses, designed for participants in low- and middle-income countries, build sustainable capacity and leadership for operational research. Between January and June 2016, we assessed the output of participants who had successfully completed six SORT IT courses 18 months previously in Fiji, Estonia, Luxembourg, India, Nepal and Ethiopia. Of 71 participants enrolled in the six courses, 67 (94%) successfully completed the course and submitted a scientific paper to a peer-reviewed journal. These successful alumni were all sent structured questionnaires by e-mail, of whom 64 (96%) returned the completed questionnaire.

Building Global Capacity for Conducting Operational Research Using the SORT IT Model: Where and Who?

SettingResearch capacity is weakest in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) where operational research is highly relevant and needed. Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT) courses have been developed to train participants to conduct and publish operational research and influence policy and practice. Twenty courses were completed in Asia, Africa, Europe and the South Pacific between 2009 and 2014.ObjectivesIn the 20 completed SORT IT courses, to assess where the research was conducted, who was trained, who became facilitators in subsequent courses and course outcomes.DesignA cohort study of completed SORT IT coursesResultsThere were 236 participants (41% female) including 64 nationalities who conducted research in 59 countries, mostly from Asia and Africa (mean course duration = 9.7 months). Most participants (68%) were from government health programs and non-governmental agencies. A total of 213(90%) participants completed all milestones successfully with 41(19%) becoming subsequent course facilitators, 88% of whom were from LMICs. Of 228 manuscripts submitted to scientific journals, 197(86%) were either published or in press; in 86%, the principal investigator (first author) was a LMIC national. Papers were published in 23 scientific journals (impact factor 0.5–4.4) and covered 21 disease categories (median publication time = 5.7 months). Published papers (186) had 94,794 cumulative article views/downloads. Article views/downloads for immediate open access articles were double those from closed access journals.ConclusionThe SORT IT model has been effective in training personnel to produce relevant operational research in LMICs. It merits continued commitment and support for further scale-up and development.

Bot Herding With RSS

Students in a large, introductory IT course created individual RSS feeds that pointed to personal content and syndicated, course-related content. In a relatively short period the class had amassed approximately 1000 web resources. The process paralleled one of a benevolent bot herder; the outcome stimulated an interest in social computing.

Does research through Structured Operational Research and Training (SORT IT) courses impact policy and practice?

Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT) courses are well known for their output, with nearly 90% of participants completing the course and publishing in scientific journals. We assessed the impact of research papers on policy and practice that resulted from six SORT IT courses initiated between July 2012 and March 2013. This was a cross-sectional study involving e-mail-based, self-administered questionnaires and telephone/skype/in-person responses from first and/or senior co-authors of course papers. A descriptive content analysis of the responses was performed and categorised into themes. Of 72 participants, 63 (88%) completed the course. Course output included 81 submitted papers, of which 76 (94%) were published. Of the 81 papers assessed, 45 (55%) contributed to a change in policy and/or practice: 29 contributed to government policy/practice change (20 at national, 4 at subnational and 5 at hospital level), 11 to non-government organisational policy change and 5 to reinforcing existing policy. The changes ranged from modifications of monitoring and evaluation tools, to redrafting of national guidelines, to scaling up existing policies. More than half of the SORT IT course papers contributed to a change in policy and/or practice. Future assessments should include more robust and independent verification of the reported change(s) with all stakeholders.

Towards adaptive open learning environments: Evaluating the precision of identifying learning styles by tracking learners’ behaviours

Open learning represents a new form of online learning where courses are provided freely online for large numbers of learners. MOOCs are examples of this form of learning. The authors see an opportunity for personalising open learning environments by adapting to learners' learning styles and providing adaptive support to meet individual learner needs and preferences. Identifying learning styles of learners in open learning environments is crucial to providing adaptive support. Learning styles refer to the manner in which learners receive and perceive information. In the literature, a number of learning style models have been proposed. The Felder and Silverman Learning Styles Model (FSLSM) has been selected as the most appropriate model for open learning. In previous studies two approaches have been used to automatically identify learning styles based on the FSLSM. These approaches are known as the data-driven method and the literature-based method. In the literature, the literature-based method has been shown to be more accurate in identifying learning styles. This method relies on tracking learners' interactions with the provided learning objects based on a set of pre-determined patterns that help in inferring learning styles. The patterns are monitored based on pre-identified threshold values. This paper aims to apply the literature-based method to open learning environments and introduce the optimal patterns and threshold values for identifying learning styles based on the FSLSM. To achieve this aim, a study was conducted whereby a prototype that simulates the open learning environment was developed and piloted on an undergraduate IT course so that learner behaviour could be tracked and data could be collected. Next, different sets of threshold values from the literature were considered along with some updated threshold values considering the context of open learning environments, and the precision of identifying learning styles was calculated. Eighty-three students participated in the study and used the developed prototype. Precision results from different threshold values presented in the literature along with customised threshold values for this study are reported and analysed in this paper. It is shown that threshold values derived from literature and customised to suit open learning environments provide a high level of accuracy in identifying learning styles. The paper presents the first study of its kind in evaluating threshold values and precision in identifying learning styles based on the FSLSM in open learning environments. The results are promising and indicate that the proposed methodology is efficient in detecting learning styles in open learning environments and useful for developing an adaptive framework.

라즈베리파이를 활용한 IT 교과목 개발

IT 장치들은 엔지니어들뿐만 아니라 우리의 일상에서도 떼어 놓을 수 없게 되었으며, 새로운 IT 장비들이 물밀듯이 등장하고 있다. 그에 따라 IT 장치에 대한 소프트웨어/하드웨어 기술 지원 능력이 있는 엔지니어에 대한 수요가 크고, 관련 분야의 실용적 교과목의 개설 및 운영 또한 중요하다. 그러나, 수요 기관의 예산 문제 또는 제조사의 기술적 한계 등으로 인해 IT 분야의 발전 속도에 맞추어 교과과정 및 장비를 제 때 갱신 또는 업그레이드하지 못 하는 경우가 있다. 이 논문에서는 저가형, 소형 컴퓨터인 라즈베리파이를 활용하여 저렴한 비용으로 IT 실습기자재를 구성하고, 신속한 갱신 내지 업그레이드를 가능하게 하며, 다양한 IT 장치 및 시스템 구현을 통해 IT 기술을 실습할 수 있는, 효율적 IT 과목 운영 방안을 제시한다. IT technologies are closely related to our daily life, and we are experiencing the emergence of new IT devices every day. The ongoing rapid progress of IT technology results in the increasing demand of experienced software & hardware engineers, and leads to the short life cycle of lab kits. However, the normally small to medium sized manufacturers of lab kits usually cannot even afford to support timely update and upgrade of their own kits. In this paper, we propose a way of effectively running an IT course by building a Raspberry Pi based kit. Raspberry Pi has features that allow us to not only timely update/upgrade the kit, but also expose students to various IT fields.