bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Knowledge Acquisition Process for Intelligent Decision Support in Critical Health Care
Authors: Portela Filipe , Cabral Alexandra , Abelha António , Salazar Maria , Quintas César , Machado José , Neves José , Santos Manuel Filipe
Published: October 2014

An efficient triage system is a good way to avoid some future problems and benefit the patient. However, a limitation still exists. The triage system is general and not specific to each case. Manchester Triage System is a reliable known system and is focused in the emergency department of a hospital. When applied to specific patients' conditions (such as pregnancy), it has several limitations. To overcome those limitations, an alternative triage system, integrated into an intelligent decision support system, was developed. The system classifies patients according to the severity of their clinical condition, establishing clinical priorities and not diagnosis. According to the urgency of attendance or problem type, it suggests one of three possible categories of the triage. This chapter presents the overall knowledge acquisition cycle associated with the workflow of patient arrival and the inherent decision making process. Results show that this new approach enhances the efficiency and the safety through the appropriate use of resources and by assisting the right patient in the right place, reducing the waiting triage time and the number in general urgency.
Workarounds
Authors: Nadhrah Nada , Michell Vaughan
Published: October 2014

Patient safety and the quality of clinical interventions rely on the application of best practices in clinical processes to achieve clinical and service specifications for patients. However, outcomes vary due to variations in work activity performance in terms of efficiency and quality, and variations in what is done. This chapter explores the concept of deviations from formal work processes as workarounds in health interventions. It examines workaround evolution and development, the motivation for them, and types. It identifies their positive and negative impact on patient safety and quality. The chapter is based on primary research and workaround case studies of 14 staff in three hospitals. The approach supports the work to develop a generic conceptual normative analysis model of workarounds and adopts BPMN and organisational semiotics to qualitatively and quantitatively define and compare the original work process and workaround. This chapter extends definitions of workaround types and the relationship between actors in the formal work process and informal workaround process. The authors propose a conceptual model to identify the relative safety risk of workarounds and hence their likely patient impact. The discussion focuses on the initial findings of this model on patient safety and how different workaround types impact patient safety. The chapter highlights examples of the clinical work deviations and shows that they can have both positive and negative benefits for patient safety. It emphasises how, using an informatics approach, workarounds need to be considered in detail to understand the motivation and potential impact on health activities.
Real-Time Biomedical Telemetry System for Ambulances
Authors: Novas Nuria , Gázquez José Antonio , Noguerol Marina
Published: October 2014

This chapter discusses the development and implementation methodology of a real-time biomedical telemetry system for ambulances. Comparable systems, together with their authors' claimed improvements, are evaluated and analysed in this chapter. The authors start by providing an overview of the most relevant systems, and then introduce the reader to the methodology used to develop and implement a real-time communications system that allows low-cost data transmission from a medical monitor and haematology analyser installed in an ambulance. This system was evaluated in terms of how well it can provide health assistance within a 50 km radius of the Torrecardenas Hospital (part of the public health-care system in southern Spain). Results have been technically and medically validated, and encourage further implementation of this technology, since it was proved to be reliable, while the transmitted data allow a correct and thorough patient evaluation throughout the patient's transportation to the hospital.
Cloud Service Platform
Authors: Zhiyuan Fang , Li Wei
Published: October 2014

Health Information eXchange (HIX) is a part of Happiness Cloud Service Platform of Happiness Guangdong in Guangdong Province of China based on innovation of cloud-based business model. This article illustrates the hospital health care business services system based on cloud computing. major business functions of HIX includes integrated mobile medical information services, and mobile health information services. Key cloud service platform capabilities include appointment of HIX registration, doctor-patient interaction and Health Manager System, medical statistical analysis, and the other integrated support module including service platform and platform management provided by two major cloud computing technologies of SaaS and PaaS. Medical cloud services of HIX is an innovative business model for cloud computing, that is, the medical and health services provided to the public going though by cloud computing all over Guangdong Province in China.
Leveraging Cloud Technology for Rural Healthcare in India
Authors: Suryanarayana Girish , Joseph Roshan , Bhaskaran Sabishaw , Basu Amarnath
Published: October 2014

Cloud technology is used for a variety of purposes in order to handle large volumes of data. This chapter explores a rural healthcare project in India in which cloud technology was introduced in order to store and share large volumes of data. This project benefits from cloud technology because of the ability to store patients' full health history on the cloud and access them wherever services are provided. The impetus for this project originated with the fact that many hospitals maintained their proprietary information systems, and thus, patient history was unavailable to physicians outside of that system. The search engine used in this project is called Indexer, which can search a vast collection of records stored in the cloud and help with the diagnosis. The solution developed supports multi-tenancy of data and uses the Azure platform. The project has taken adequate precautions to protect the data. This project is not focused on privacy protection per se but on saving lives.
Home Healthcare in Cloud Computing
Authors: Deng Mina , Petkovic Milan , Nalin Marco , Baroni Ilaria
Published: October 2014

Cloud computing is one of the emerging technologies that has an increasing impact on both private and public sectors. It represents an on-demand service model for delivering computing resources ranging from storage and data access, via computation and software provisioning. This chapter describes an application of Cloud Computing in home healthcare by introducing several use cases and application architecture based on the cloud. A comprehensive methodology is used to integrate security and privacy engineering process into the development lifecycle and to identify challenges for building security and privacy in the proposed cloud-based home healthcare system. Moreover, a functional infrastructure plan is provided to demonstrate the integration between the proposed application architecture with the cloud infrastructure. Finally, this chapter discusses several mitigation techniques putting the focus on patient-centric control and policy enforcement via cryptographic technologies, and consequently on digital rights management and attribute-based encryption technologies.
Mobile Device Application in Healthcare
Authors: Lakkaraju Sandeep , Lakkaraju Santhosh
Published: October 2014

Clinical practitioners need to have the right information, at the right time, at the right place, which is possible with mobile healthcare information technology. This chapter will help in understanding the need for mobile device usage across six different roles in healthcare: physicians, nurses, administrative staff, pharmaceutical staff, emergency staff, and patients. Research indicates that even in this advancing digital age, there are more than 98,000 deaths because of preventable medical errors. This can be abated with proper utilization of mobile devices in the healthcare sector. Utilization of technology in the process of sharing information may help in improving the decision making, and thereby reducing the medical errors and costs involved. This chapter illustrates the implementation and the application of mobile devices in healthcare from six different user perspectives, and summarizes the advantages, challenges, and solutions associated with mobile information technology implementation in healthcare.
PINATA
Authors: Dingli Alexiei , Abela Charlie , D'Ambrogio Ilenia
Published: October 2014

Owing to growing population health needs, the proportion of medical staff to patients keeps diminishing; yet, the quality in healthcare services is likely to increase. Through the amalgamation of Ambient Intelligence (AmI) and Semantic Web technologies, PINATA seeks to deal with this issue. To perk up the quality of healthcare services, PINATA utilises pervasive devices to help doctors and nurses to concentrate on the patient. The movement of medical staff and patients is tracked by means of Wi-Fi sensors whilst an automated camera system monitors the interaction of people within their environment. The system operates autonomously in response to particular situations by guiding medical staff towards emergencies in a timely manner and providing them with the information they require on their handheld devices. This assures that patients are given the best possible attention on a 24/7 basis especially when the medical staff is not nearby.
Making Quality Control Decisions in Radiology Department
Authors: Al Hamouche Valentina
Published: October 2014

In the radiology department, radiographers' performance appraisal cannot be performed continuously due to time pressure and the lack of objective performance indicators. The authors conducted an empirical study where they assessed radiographers' performance based on objective performance indicators derived from data stored in the PACS and RIS. The study indicated that one is able to use the PACS-RIS environment as a Decision Support System (DSS) that delivers promptly objective indicators for performance appraisal purposes. Besides, the model of a DSS allows radiographers' continuous performance appraisal.
Using RFID and Wi-Fi in Healthcare
Authors: Dingli Alexiei , Seychell Dylan
Published: October 2014

Europe faces a considerable challenge in providing good quality health care in the forthcoming future as the aging population increases. The phenomenon also results in a considerable cost on society due to the dependency on the public health sector particularly because such individuals would not be able to contribute to the economy. On the other hand, younger persons would need to make alternative arrangements to assist their elderly parents or relatives, potentially affecting productivity. The project PervasIve Nursing And docToral Assistant (PINATA) seeks to tackle this matter through the merging of Ambient Intelligence (AmI) and semantic web technologies. PINATA utilises pervasive devices to aid doctors and nurses to focus on the patient and thus improve the quality of healthcare services. This project proves the significant importance of using wireless technology in healthcare. This paper focuses on the use of Wi-Fi and RFID in an effort to enable continuous and intelligent monitoring of patients' conditions remotely. Results show that the detection system performs well (over 80%) accuracy on fall detection and the manual readings mapped 100% with the results collected by the system over the Wi-Fi infrastructure discussed in this paper.
Operating Room Management in Health Care
Authors: Ozkarahan Irem , Edis Emrah B. , Ozfirat Pinar Mizrak
Published: October 2014

Surgical units are generally the most costly and least utilized units of hospitals. In order to provide higher utilization rates of surgical units, scheduling of operating rooms should be done effectively. Inefficient or inaccurate scheduling of operating room time often results in delays of surgery or cancellations of procedures, which are costly to the patient and the hospital. Therefore, operating room scheduling and management problems have been an important area of research both for operations researchers and artificial intelligence researchers since the 1960s. In this chapter, the operations research and artificial intelligence solutions developed for operating room scheduling problems in the operational level are examined and discussed. The studies are classified according to the approaches employed. The chapter is aimed to be helpful for researchers who are willing to make contributions in this area as well as the practitioners who are looking for efficient and effective ways to handle the operating room management problem of their own.
Teamwork in Medical Organizational Cultures
Authors: Vasilache Simona
Published: October 2014

The chapter discusses the specificities of organizational culture in healthcare environments, taking into account general managerial theories and their suitability to particular professional settings. The challenges of teamwork and the things to be particularly considered by decision-makers in the healthcare system are discussed and critically analyzed.
Nursing Information Systems
Authors: Macedo Ana Paula , Petronilho Fernando , Cainé João
Published: October 2014

We have witnessed a change in the Health Information Systems (HIS) in what concerns structure, contents, and support for optimization of the resources, the best efficiency in cost control, and a better management of the quality of services rendered to the citizens. From the standpoint of reformulating the HIS, we can see an evolution in the production of information centered almost exclusively in the need of a documental proof on the care rendered by nurses to the citizens to produce information that can constitute a central resource for their clinical decision making. The authors describe the evolution of the Nursing Information Systems (NIS), reflect upon the impact of reformulation and implementation of the NIS in Portugal in the development of the nursing practice, and reflect upon the impact of the NIS reformulation in the quality of care as well as in education and training in the nursing area.
Big Information Technology Bet of a Small Community Hospital
Authors: Motorny Sergey P.
Published: October 2014

Broadlawns Medical Center (BMC) is a teaching acute care community hospital of 200 beds located in Des Moines, Iowa. As other safety net providers across the nation, the hospital operates in a difficult environment with a growing number of uninsured patients and simultaneously dwindling tax support. By 2005, George Washington University and several Joint Commission reports had publicly highlighted the hospital's challenges of financial sustainability and the provided quality of care. The hospital's senior management team decided to adopt an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system in an attempt to gain access to real-time performance data. The EHR adoption project posed many organizational, managerial, and technological challenges but also provided numerous eventual benefits. BMC had not only successfully resolved the stated problems of healthcare quality, financial stability, and patient satisfaction scores, but also became one of the national leaders in healthcare information technology.
Patient Centered Design
Authors: Reis Catarina I. , Freire Carla S. , Fernández Joaquin , Monguet Josep M.
Published: October 2014

Patient-Centered Design (PCD) is a particular type of User-Centered Design (UCD), where the end-user is a patient that will use an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solution for healthcare. It focuses on needs, wants, and skills of the product's primary user and implies involving end-users in the decision-making and development process of the solution. e-Therapy aims to provide support to therapy sessions through ICT solutions. It has grown in the last years, and in the mental health arena is being used for specific therapeutic contexts. It is an especially difficult environment due to specificities of the patients' conditions and the physical access to patients being restricted and, sometimes, not even possible. Thus, a PCD approach can be accomplished through the health professionals involved, applying some of the most well known methods of UCD: interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, and participatory design. eSchi is an e-Therapy tool that complements traditional practices for the cognitive rehabilitation and training of schizophrenic patients. It was successfully developed using a PCD approach.
Patients' Medication Errors
Authors: Gavgani Vahideh Zarea , Oskouei Mina Mahami , Salehi Rezvanyieh
Published: October 2014

Patients' awareness and informed involvement may reduce the prevalence of patients' errors. The aim of this study is to identify the occurrence of patients' medication errors in one of the leading tertiary care educational superspeciality hospitals in Iran during one year from October 2010 to October 2011. This is a retrospective study. Patients' medical records were investigated to identify the reported errors in taking medication. A total of 140 medical records of patients who were hospitalized in Madani Heart Hospital of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences were investigated. Then the errors were categorized into three groups including: Reporting, Recklessness/ adherence, and Preference. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze data. Out of total 140 patients' records, 16 (11%) patient medication errors were identified. Most of these errors were related to communication and reporting followed by non-adherence to the medication prescriptions. The least errors were related to patients' preference. The study suggests that these errors could have been prevented by involving patients in decision making and self-care through information prescription.
The Need for a Socio-Technical Analysis in E-Health
Authors: Muhammad Imran , Teoh Say Yen , Wickramasinghe Nilmini
Published: October 2014

Healthcare systems around the globe are facing a number of challenges. Thus Increasing focus is being placed on constructing appropriate healthcare reforms which are attempting to address how to tackle these challenges. A critical enabler in these reforms is the adoption of an e-health solution. Such e-health solutions are not only expensive and complex endeavours, but also have far reaching implications. Given that the implementation and adoption of these e-health solutions is so important, not to mention also requiring a substantial investment in various resources such as time and money, it is therefore essential to ensure their success. The following proffers a socio-technical analysis as an appropriate strategy to ensure more successful outcomes. An exemplar case study of the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR), the chosen e-health solution by the Australian government is provided to illustrate the benefits such an analysis might provide
Customer Strategy Definition in Elderly Care
Authors: Khashab Basel , Joshi Uday , Gulliver Stephen R.
Published: October 2014

With an aging global population, it is important that clinicians empower their patients. Empowering the patient-physician interaction leads to a more positive health outcome. This chapter discusses the potential of adopting Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as a way of guiding non-critical care services (i.e. linking the problems of customer-focused care expectation and resource allocation management). Implementation of CRM solutions would create value for patients by supporting trust and service creation; however, the chapter highlights a need for a common and systematic way to implement CRM solutions in the healthcare domain.
Utilization of Primary Health Services in Hong Kong
Authors: Chan Raymond K. H. , Hu Kang
Published: October 2014

This chapter analyzes the issue of primary health care utilization in Hong Kong and introduces the case of Hong Kong where a special division between public and private sectors has developed in the field of primary health services. The chapter argues that in the foreseeable future, it is likely that the division of health care between the public and private sector will be maintained. In recent years, more and more individuals and families have purchased private health insurance so as to gain more options. The idea of universal health insurance was rejected by the public in recent consultations; the current alternative is government-regulated private insurance. Although private primary health services will continue as usual in the near future, public primary health services should be maintained or even expanded. Given the costliness of private services (especially specialist services), it is recommended that more resources should be invested in corresponding public health services.
The Effects of Telehealth on Patients with Long-Term Conditions in Routine Healthcare Use and Lessons from Practical Application
Authors: Joseph Victor Vuni
Published: October 2014

There is increasing uptake of telehealth for long-term conditions (LTCs). However, evidence of their effectiveness remains largely inconclusive. Similarly, success factors for implementation of telehealth into routine healthcare practice are not fully understood. The objectives of this chapter are to determine the effectiveness of telehealth; and to update existing checklist on key success factors for implementation of telehealth. Both randomized controlled trial (RCT) and observational study methods were used as case-studies. Analysis was carried out using logistic regression model and summary statistics. There was a statistically significant reduction in hospital admissions in favour of the intervention groups in the RCT, with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.08 (95% CI: 0.01, 0.81); p-value = 0.03, while in the observational study, the mean hospital admission per person reduced from 2.19 (95% CI: 1.67, 2.69) to 1.20 (95% CI: 0.88, 1.52); p-value 0.0004. Key success factors identified were used to update the second version of telehealth checklist tool. Telehealth was effective in reducing hospital admission in patients with COPD, heart failure, and diabetes. Key success factors were updated to support telehealth practitioners in embedding telehealth in routine practice.
The Role of ICTs in the Management of Rare Chronic Diseases
Authors: Teixeira Leonor , Saavedra Vasco , Ferreira Carlos , Santos Beatriz Sousa
Published: October 2014

This chapter outlines a study that examines the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in management of a rare and chronic disease, hemophilia. Evidence in literature shows how the adoption of ICTs can improve the management of chronic conditions. Furthermore, these tools may also give response to rare diseases' needs, while greatly improving the quality of life of those patients. A Web-based application that was developed to facilitate communication between Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) and patients in a specific Hemophilia Treatment Center (HTC), to improve the utility and quality of clinical data and treatment information, as well as to help the management of resources involved in a specific rare chronic disease, represents a practical case presented in this chapter. This technological solution allows the management of inherited bleeding disorders, integrating, diffusing, and archiving large sets of data relating to the clinical practice of hemophilia care, more specifically the clinical practice at the Hematology Service of Coimbra Hospital Center.
A Preliminary Study of Key Factors Affecting Management and Evaluation of IT Outsourcing Contracts in Hospitals
Authors: Lin Chad , Huang Yu-An , Li Chien-Fa , Jalleh Geoffrey , Liu Ying-Chieh
Published: October 2014

Many hospitals are experiencing pressure to improve their operational efficiency and patient safety due to escalating costs and increased competition. In order to achieve these and other business objectives, hospitals have to outsource some of their Information Technology (IT) functions to external outsourcing contractors. The scope and range of IT-related outsourcing services are also increasing, as evidenced by the promotion of Applications Service Providers (ASP), Business-to-Business (B2B) integration, cloud-drive business and IT services, desktop and helpdesk, IT infrastructure services, and software development outsourcing. However, little attention has been paid by many hospitals to the key factors that affect their IT outsourcing decision-making and negotiation processes. This is important given that the IT outsourcing can play a key role in organizational success. Moreover, contract decision-making and negotiation processes in hospitals are particularly under-studied, especially in the management and evaluation of the IT outsourcing contracts. Hence, the main objectives of this chapter are to: (1) examine and identify some key factors affecting the management and evaluation of IT outsourcing contracts in Taiwanese hospitals; and (2) propose a set of recommendations to overcome or minimize the key issues identified in this study. One contribution of the study is the recommendations provided to deal with issues that are critical in the management and evaluation of IT outsourcing contracts in hospitals.
Concept and Types of Organizational Cultures of Hospitals
Authors: Sulkowski Łukasz , Sulkowska Joanna
Published: October 2014

This chapter sets out to analyze the problem of defining the concept of organizational culture as well as models and typologies used in reference materials. It presents various issues of organizational culture: paradigms of organizational culture, definitions of organizational culture, and two-dimensional typologies of organizational culture. The single-dimensional classifications present the following dichotomies: 1) weak culture – strong culture, 2) positive culture – negative culture, 3) pragmatic culture – bureaucratic culture, 4) introvert culture – extrovert culture, 5) conservative culture – innovative culture, 6) hierarchic culture – egalitarian culture, 7) individualist culture – collectivist culture. Furthermore, this chapter includes: multidimensional typologies of organizational culture, corporate identity – alternative approach to organizational culture and relations between culture, and structure, strategy, and organization setting. Moreover, based on the quality pilot study, it strives to explain peculiarity of this concept in relation to Polish hospitals. Results of pilot studies of organizational cultures of hospitals in Poland relate to four hospitals in Lodz Province.
Conceptualizing Emergency Department Scenarios
Authors: Kaner Maya , Gadrich Tamar , Dror Shuki , Marmor Yariv N.
Published: October 2014

To handle problems and trends in emergency department (ED) operations, designers and decision makers often simulate and evaluate various case-specific scenarios before testing them in a real-life environment. However, conceptualizing broad possible scenarios for ED operations prior to simulation operationalization is usually neglected. The authors developed a methodology that integrates design of simulation experiments (DSE) as follows: 1) From a literature survey, they culled generic factors whose varying levels determine possible scenarios; 2) the authors drew up a set of generic interactions among these generic factors; 3) a questionnaire was constructed to serve as an instrument to gather the relevant information from management staff about relevant factors, their levels and interactions for a specific ED. Questionnaire responses support a schematic conceptualization of scenarios that should be simulated for a specific ED. They illustrate the application of the authors' methodology for conceptualization of ED simulation scenarios in two different EDs.
Recent Evidence on the Changing Mix of Providers of Healthcare in England
Authors: Matchaya Greenwell , Allen Pauline , Turner Simon , Bartlett Will , Perotin Virginie , Zamora Bernarda
Published: October 2014

English health policy has promoted the diversity of providers of health care to NHS patients in recent years. Little research has been done to map the extent of actual and possible supply. Using data from four local health economies England the authors found that there was a low supply of such organisations, but that it is growing. Despite the greater emphasis placed by policy makers and researchers on non-profits, there were substantially more for-profits. This suggests they should be subject to further scrutiny, as the pressure to increase diversity of supply increases under the Coalition government.
Modernization of Healthcare and Medical Diagnosis System Using Multi Agent System (MAS)
Authors: Gupta Shibakali , Mukherjee Sripati , Roy Sesa Singha
Published: October 2014

The healthcare system that prevailed some years ago was a mere pen and paper based system. A number of workers, staff, and written records were the main components of the prevailing system of healthcare. This had a number of drawbacks, and a number of mishaps occurred due to mismanagement of data and information. There was a need for development. Then, the concept of telemedicine came, which revolutionized the healthcare paradigm to a great extent. With the advancement of telemedicine, many major problems of the prevailing system were removed. But, still there were many other aspects which could be further improved to make healthcare facilities more enhanced. Keeping this in mind, the concept of Multi Agent System (MAS) was introduced in the healthcare system later. MASes are considered as the best and most appropriate technology that can be used in the development of applications in healthcare paradigm where the presence of multiple agents, heterogeneous and loosely coupled components, the data management in a dynamic and distributed environment, and multi-user collaborations are considered the most pertinent requirements for healthcare system. This chapter focuses mainly about MAS, its applications, and some systems that were developed by the authors.
Global Telemedicine and eHealth
Authors: Davis S. A.
Published: October 2014

This chapter is about the intersections taking place globally in the delivery of healthcare. In today's world, quality health is about access: access to transportation to the hospital, access to the right people, doctors, nurses, and specialists, and the doctor's access to the latest lab tests and equipment. But in our future, all of this goes away. You do not need transportation, as medical ecosystems are becoming ubiquitous. Access to the best medical care available means access to the hospital system living in the cloud. The best labs are built into our phones whereby today's array of sensors can be focused on prevention and delivery systems designed for keeping people healthy. Behind this is the driving vision that medicine will be transformed from reactive and generic to predictive and personalized, reaching patients from the cloud through their telephones in their own homes, making up for a coming shortage in doctors and nurses. Where this brings us is that there is an abundance of confusion as to what Telehealth and eHealth is or what it will be. This chapter addresses an eHealth definition for review, thoughts on eHealth systems, resistance to change issues to be considered, the CVS Minute Clinic's introduction of innovation and disruptive eHealth care models and systems, a Systems Engineering Management proof of concept project with the Kansas Department of Corrections, and globally oriented conclusions and recommendations. (Diamandis & Kotler, 2012).
The Benedum Collaborative
Authors: Steel Sarah , Shambaugh Neal , Curtis Reagan , Schrum Lynne
Published: October 2014

The idea of simultaneous renewal articulated in the work of John Goodland (1994) has guided the Benedum Collaborative, a 20-year-old school-university partnership at West Virginia University. A strategic plan was developed in 2007 and updated in 2009 to guide simultaneous renewal activities. A rationale for simultaneous renewal is provided followed by a summary of the Collaborative's coordination features and governance structure. Previous program evaluation efforts are summarized. How the strategic plan was evaluated is followed by an analysis of the plans and reports across the ten goals. The current dean of the college taps her lenses and experiences in qualitative research, teacher education, and technology integration to comment on what has been done to support simultaneous renewal. The chapter recommends a program evaluation structure utilizing dynamic logic models be implemented in school-university partnerships to inform practice and understand the complexities of simultaneous renewal.
Developing a More Systematic Approach to Professional Development School Partnerships
Authors: Polly Drew , Spooner Melba , Chapman Marvin
Published: October 2014

In this chapter, the authors describe the growth and development of a Professional Development School network between a large urban university and its school partners. This partnership included a variety of grade levels, ranging from Pre-Kindergarten through High School (PK-12). This chapter provides a historical overview, decisions that shaped the current status of PDS partnerships, and provides implications for systematic approaches to PDS partnerships.
Early Childhood Programs as Professional Development Schools
Authors: Taylor Linda K. , Clark Patricia
Published: October 2014

The focus of this chapter is on the establishment and maintenance of early childhood Professional Development Schools (PDSs). While the advent of PDS partnerships goes back to the 1980s and 1990s, very few of the PDSs have involved university partnerships with early childhood (pre-K) programs. This chapter outlines some of the opportunities and possibilities that early childhood PDSs offer, as well as some of the unique obstacles that are encountered when working with pre-kindergarten programs. Specific examples are provided of work in three different early childhood PDSs. The chapter concludes with an examination of future directions for early childhood Professional Development Schools.
Co-Development of Professional Practice at a Professional Development School through Instructional Rounds and Lesson Study
Authors: Suh Jennifer M. , King Lesley A. , Weiss Andrea
Published: October 2014

This chapter examines the co-development of professional practices for both clinical faculty and teacher candidates at a Professional Development School through instructional rounds and lesson study. In particular, the authors highlight the nature of the transformative partnership of a collaborative network composed of two university teacher educators, a school-based site facilitator, and clinical faculty who co-designed and implemented a clinical model to enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics methods for elementary teacher candidates and faculty. The model of instructional rounds (City, Elmore, Fiarman, & Teitel, 2009) and lesson study (Lewis, 2002; Lewis, Perry, & Murata, 2006; Fernandez & Yoshida, 2004) were used in an elementary mathematics methods course at a Professional Development School to support teacher candidates in becoming reflective practitioners alongside clinical faculty. The chapter explores the following research questions: (1) In what ways did the targeted Instructional Rounds and Lesson Study impact the development of teacher candidates and clinical faculty's professional practice? (2) How does the co-development model for professional development enhance the transformative partnership at the Professional Development School?
The Professional Development School
Authors: Rock Tracy , Heafner Tina L.
Published: October 2014

This chapter examines the differences and similarities in learning outcomes between the two espoused approaches to service-learning in teacher education: an elementary school service-learning approach called the teachers as leaders of change model and a high school service-learning approach named the tutoring for change model. The purpose in comparing both models is to highlight the distinct learning outcomes that are associated with the manner in which service-learning is structured. Given the benefits of service-learning, the authors contend that service-learning in the PDS context has the potential to improve the overall quality of teacher preparation. However, benefits vary depending on the model organization. The authors describe structural differences in the models as three thematic outcomes: a) reasons for valuing, b) likelihood of future implementation, and c) attitudes on community participation. They recommend that decisions regarding program goals be aligned early in PDS organizational planning to effectively embrace unique service-learning benefits.
The University Partnerships for Critical Reflection by Teacher Trainers
Authors: Üstünel Eda , Dikilitaş Kenan
Published: October 2014

This chapter explores educational training-based partnerships between universities in relation to in-service teacher education practices to enhance the quality of the professional development activities currently in practice. With this in mind, the nature and content of the collaboration between different universities located in Turkey are depicted through the analysis of triangulated data sets from written reports, focus group discussions, and the Likert scale questionnaire in order to elaborate on the impact of exchange of information and visitations on the trainers' professional development. The chapter accomplishes the self-reported impact of university-university collaboration on the participating trainers as well as one-day T-PLUS (Trainers' Professional Learning and Unlimited Sharing) meeting during which the trainers exchange ideas about teacher training and professional development tools and procedures in focus group discussions. The results indicate positive stance towards such a collaboration model that emerged as a result of the written reports and the Likert scale questionnaire.
Integrated Methods Block
Authors: Popejoy Kate , Good Amy J. , Rock Tracy , Vintinner Jean Payne
Published: October 2014

At a large, urban university, the clinically based preparation of undergraduate elementary education teacher candidates has been transformed. Following the Blue Ribbon Panel Report (NCATE, 2010), faculty created a more intense, integrated, and rigorous clinical experience for teacher candidates, which required more engagement, monitoring, and collaboration among methods faculty and PDS PK-6 schools, while immersing the candidates in a more realistic setting. This chapter describes how (a) methods curricula were reconfigured to include integrated clinical assignments, (b) opportunities were created for candidates to experience extended time in clinical classrooms, (c) university faculty liaisons were present at each PDS clinical school to provide on-site support, feedback, seminar instruction, accountability, and increased communication between the university and the school, (d) new evaluation instruments were implemented to gather and report teacher candidate knowledge, skills, and dispositions, and (e) technology was utilized, allowing teacher candidates opportunity to present and reflect on experiences.
Transformative Professional Development
Authors: Kissel Brian T. , Thunder Kateri , Tassell Linde Rickert , Hansen Jane
Published: October 2014

This chapter begins by describing the authors' professional development team and its influence in schools where they have engaged in professional development partnerships. Next, the authors offer literature that supports the need for professional development teams in educational settings. Then, referring to the excited conversation above, they show how they study students, write about them, share writings, and share this work in schools. The authors end by explaining how this recursive process—study, write, share—might serve as a PD prototype for other collaborative teams within Professional Development Schools.
Nurturing Teacher Development and Promoting Student Academic Achievement through a Reciprocal Learning Experience
Authors: Heafner Tina L. , Spooner Melba
Published: October 2014

True education occurs when teachers become learners and learners become teachers (Freire, 2000). This epistemological ideal was achieved through reciprocal learning experiences of a successful Professional Development School (PDS) partnership between one high school and a local university. This chapter presents a model for a PDS relationship that: a) promotes a professional community of learners, b) engenders reciprocal teaching and learning, c) encourages mentoring at multiple levels, and d) positively impacts student and candidate learning. Data analyses indicate significant benefits to all participants due to the unique opportunities created by the partnerships in learning embedded within a PDS setting.
Online Learning in Illinois High Schools
Authors: Picciano Anthony G. , Seaman Jeff , Day Scott L.
Published: October 2014

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the role that online learning plays in addressing the thoughts, concerns, and issues facing Illinois high school principals. Data were collected from a sample of high school principals who were members of the Illinois Principals Association with respect to the extent, nature, and reasons for participating in online learning programs. An important aspect of this study was to compare the findings in Illinois to those collected from a national sample of high school principals. It concludes that online learning and blended learning are making inroads into the high schools in Illinois comparably to those in other parts of the country. The results of this study indicate that online and blended learning are becoming integral to a number of high school reform efforts, especially with regard to improving graduation rates, credit recovery, building connections for students to their future college careers, and differentiating instruction.
Challenges, Opportunities, and Trends in Quality K-12 Online Environments
Authors: Boboc Marius
Published: October 2014

This chapter provides background information related to K-12 online education, ranging from definitions to benefits and challenges. An in-depth analysis of the virtual learning landscape reveals the multitude of dimensions by which it could be evaluated, including the range of programs, service provider types, approaches to blended learning, kinds of instruction delivery, as well as levels of interaction within cyberspace. A proposed theoretical framework identifies academic programs/curricula, student support services, and virtual program/school administration as categories that connect the relevant literature review to recommendations for future research intended to inform policy-setting efforts aimed at supporting the further development of high quality K-12 online environments.
Meeting the Demand for Online Education
Authors: Linton Jayme Nixon , Journell Wayne
Published: October 2014

Although K-12 online education is becoming more common in the United States, the research base is still lagging behind. The field's understanding of how K-12 online teachers are being prepared is especially sparse. Given that few teacher education programs include online pedagogy in their teacher training efforts, it becomes incumbent on states to find alternative ways to prepare teachers for virtual instruction. This chapter analyzes a 9-week orientation session that is part of an established, state-run induction program for prospective K-12 online instructors. Although the findings are specific to the program being studied, the authors believe they can serve as a model for educators in other states wishing to develop similar types of induction programs and for teacher education programs that will eventually have to incorporate online pedagogy into their existing programs in order to meet the rising demand for K-12 online instruction in the United States.
Practical Guidelines for Creating Online Courses in K-12 Education
Authors: Journell Wayne
Published: October 2014

Online learning is the future of K-12 education. However, few online K-12 instructors have been formally trained in online pedagogy. This chapter describes best practices in creating online courses for K-12 students. Many aspects of online learning are the same regardless of the age of the students taking the courses, but adolescents often experience online instruction differently than university students or adult learners. Although far from comprehensive, this chapter describes basic guidelines and offers recommendations for K-12 educators wishing to create engaging online learning opportunities for their students.
Effective Online Learning Begins with Effective Teacher Preparation
Authors: Frazier Laura Corbin , Palmer Barbara Martin
Published: October 2014

This chapter provides a description of four models for professional development for online instruction and analyzes each model according to clearly defined domains of effective online instruction including faculty stance, student self-regulation, faculty support, authentic practice, engagement, community development, and cognitive demand. Subsequent to model analysis, a decision model is provided for K-12 and university administrators, teacher educators, and policymakers to guide strategic decision-making in the determination of a model for professional development best suited to the needs and resources of their institution.
The Ever-Evolving Educator
Authors: Larson Jean , Archambault Leanna
Published: October 2014

This chapter reviews the current research on the educational, training, and demographic characteristics of those involved in teaching K-12 online. Although very few colleges of education incorporate any aspect of teaching online into their curricula, the existing online teacher preparation programs are discussed. Past and ongoing research reveals a dramatic disconnect between: (a) the rapidly expanding expectations for and implementation of online education at the K-12 levels and (b) the surprisingly limited extent to which teachers are actually being educated, trained, and otherwise prepared to function in this challenging new educational environment. The implications for teacher education programs and current K-12 virtual schools are clear. Effective online teaching techniques must be defined, empirically proven, and efficiently implemented by both future and current K-12 online teachers.
Online Learning in K-College Classrooms
Authors: Putman S. Michael , Kissel Brian , Vintinner Jean , Good Amy J.
Published: October 2014

The rapid expansion of technology within educational contexts has created a situation where teachers are increasingly asked to find ways to use technology to allow learners to interact authentically with the content and other users. This often encompasses some form of online instruction; yet not all teachers feel prepared to engage in online teaching. To address this context, this chapter identifies various elements of design that have proven effective within online instruction. To expand upon these elements, the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework is introduced. The chapter further describes how the CoI's social, cognitive, and teaching presences can be used to create an environment conducive to learners' active engagement with content and each other. The chapter concludes with descriptions of specific activities integrating the presences that can be used to facilitate learning in online environments as well as implications for future research in this area.