A comprehensive system of clinical terms covering all the health-care professions is a vital tool for promoting information flow between carers. This article describes the contribution of the professions allied to medicine to the development of a coded thesaurus of health-care terms.
Purpose -As higher education becomes an increasingly global commodity, the rush is on to embrace best practice in the delivery of online courses. This author advocates that the delivery of such courses be treated as management of a Virtual team community of practice (VTCoP) and as such, delivering academics should embrace relevant theory and tools in this area. Design/methodology/approach -Based on extensive work on European projects, the author advocates a timeline of relevant theory and tool application that can be applied to the lifecycle of an online course. Theory overviewed includes Use and Gratification theory, Social Exchange theory, Bond theory and Identity theory as well as IT-based models such as Information Systems Success Model (ISSM). Findings -A theoretical model is presented.Research limitations/implications -The theoretical model has still to be tested. Practical implications -The paper argues that by creating the conditions commensurate with a successful VTCoP throughout the engagement lifecycle, students are more likely to be engaged and committed to completing an online course. Social implications -The paper uses existing theory to potentially improve completion rates on online courses. Originality/value -The paper is original in that it combines existing socio-technical theory from the informations systems domain with that of educational pedagogy to inform good practice.
Abstract:There are high expectations on Second Life, a multi-user interactive virtual environment, to play a prominent role in higher education in the future. Across universities worldwide many projects aim to engage students in a variety of activities related to Second Life. However typically the number of students participating in those projects is small and the use of Second Life is an optional addition to the syllabus. We present two activities, conducted in 2007 and 2008 where Second Life has been used as an integral, non voluntarily part of an assignment in project management. Feedback from the 200 participants has been collected in the form of a questionnaire and interviews. Our results show that students have found the experience mostly positive, or, at least, didn't object to it. However technical and administrative problems have been identified that still question the suitability of Second Life for a smooth provision of these activities on a large scale.
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