Knowledge socialism in the COVID-19 era: A collective exploration of needs, forms, and possibilities

The inspiration for this collective writing project began with a digital conference entitled ‘Knowledge Socialism, COVID-19 and the New Reality of Education' held at Beijing Normal University. In this conference and through this article, multiple researchers spread across six continents have engaged in the collaborative task of outlining emerging innovations and alternative contingencies towards education, international collaboration, and digital reform in this time of global crisis. Trends associated with digital education, knowledge openness, peer production, and collective intelligence as articulated by Michael A. Peters' conception of Knowledge Socialism are given careful analysis and exploration. Some of the members of this collective endeavor to identify problems, others, begin to draw boxes around potential solutions. Overall, this article engages with real world challenges and innovations that look beyond dominant neoliberal trends in the knowledge economy to build bridges toward novel possibilities in this era of rapid digital change.

Challenges Faced by University Teachers in Virtual Education During Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Background: COVID-19 affected education systems around the world. Virtual education was chosen as a solution not to stop education in schools and universities. While the resolution was adopted to prevent education in the countries, it presented new challenges and complications for university teachers. Objectives: This systematic review examines teachers' challenges during COVID-19 in virtual education. Methods: The present study is a systematic review based on the PRISMA guideline. To conduct this study, Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus databases were searched from 1 December 2019 to 11 November 2021. The inclusion criteria for this study were original research articles published in English that examined the challenges faced by professors in virtual education during COVID-19. Results: Finally, 17 articles were included from the 2219 articles found in the initial search stage, which examined the challenges faced by Professors in virtual education. The results indicated that the most critical challenges facing Professors during the COVID-19 pandemic were as follows, in order of highest to lowest: 1) Limitations on Internet access and appropriate communication infrastructures, 2) lack of access to computer equipment and hardware, 3) low levels of familiarity and necessary training of teachers and students in working with virtual education systems. Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, teachers have faced many challenges due to the existing circumstances and the rapid shift from face-to-face to virtual education. Relevant organizations and institutions should train teachers and students to apply virtual education tools properly. © 2023, Strides in Development of Medical Education is Published by Kerman University of Medical Science. This is an openaccess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution‐NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by‐nc/4.0/) which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cited.

Use of digital tools in virtual education in Ecuador

Education changes with the passing of time, in the modern age schools and universities emerged, including the teaching given by church professors, until the diversification of classes that could exercise the right to education given by governmental models such as democracy. All these changes transformed several human paradigms, among the recent changes of the contemporary age, we found: secular education, and virtual education, the latter became potentialized thanks to a global event. In the year 2020, humanity faced a critical situation that had not been experienced for more than six centuries, since the emergence of the Black Death in Eurasia in 1347-1353. The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted "normality”, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), leading countries to take restrictive protective measures, including the suspension of face-to-face classes in all educational institutions. Thanks to this event, digital tools were essential for the intellectual and economic development of the world, among those used was the e-learning platform that allowed teachers and students to interact with each other. However, there coexisted countless homes in which buying a technological device or hiring internet service was not possible, either because of the economic situation or geographical location, they could not access virtual classes, which led them to make monetary sacrifices such as: loans or mobilizing to places where the signal could reach. © 2022, Associacao Iberica de Sistemas e Tecnologias de Informacao. All rights reserved.

Teaching biochemistry and metabolism using a YouTube channel during COVID-19 pandemic.

YouTube is a widely recognized video-sharing platform that students often use to search for videos that explain ideas and concepts related to their courses, seminars, or research. With the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, education has undergone a dramatic shift toward virtual learning, leading to a surge in the number of YouTube viewers and video creators. This article discusses the launch of a Spanish-language YouTube channel focused on biochemistry and metabolism, which was found to be useful by the author's students enrolled in Nutritional Biochemistry course at Universidad Científica del Sur, Lima Perú. This innovation has also benefited students and teachers across Peru and other Spanish-speaking countries. Based on this experience, teachers and professionals should be encouraged to share their knowledge on this platform, making it a reliable source of information during challenging situations.

Radiation Oncology Virtual Education Rotation (ROVER) 2.0 for Residents: Implementation and Outcomes.

The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed the integration of a virtual education curriculum to support radiation oncologists in training. We report outcomes from Radiation Oncology Virtual Education Rotation (ROVER) 2.0, a supplementary virtual educational curriculum created for radiation oncology residents globally. A prospective cohort of residents completed surveys before and after the live virtual webinar sessions (pre- and post-surveys, respectively). Live sessions were structured as complex gray-zone cases across various core disease sites. Resident demographics and responses were summarized using means, standard deviations, and proportions. Nine ROVER sessions were held from October 2020 to June 2021. A total of 1487 registered residents completed the pre-survey, of which 786 attended the live case discussion and 223 completed post-surveys. A total of 479 unique radiation oncology residents (of which 95, n = 19.8%, were international attendees) from 147 institutions (national, n = 81, 55.1%; international, n = 66, 44.9%) participated in the sessions. There was similar participation across post-graduate year (PGY) 2 through 5 (range n = 86 to n = 105). Of the 122 unique resident post-surveys, nearly all reported learning through the virtual structure as "very easy" or "easy" (97.5%, n = 119). A majority rated the ROVER 2.0 educational sessions to be "valuable or "very valuable" (99.2%, n = 121), and the panelists-attendee interaction as "appropriate" (97.5%, n = 119). Virtual live didactics aimed at radiation oncology residents are feasible. These results suggest that the adoption of the ROVER 2.0 curricula may help improve radiation oncology resident education.

Feasibility of a Virtual Educational Programme for Behaviour Change in Cardiac Patients from a Low-Resource Setting.

Patient education is an integral part of recovery from a critical cardiac life event and a core component of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programmes. This study addressed the feasibility of a virtual educational programme for behaviour change in CR patients from a low-resource setting in Brazil. Cardiac patients from a CR programme closed due to the pandemic received a 12-week virtual educational intervention (WhatsApp messages and bi-weekly calls from healthcare providers). Acceptability, demand, implementation, practicality, and limited efficacy were tested. Overall, 34 patients and 8 healthcare providers agreed to participate. The intervention was considered practical and acceptable by the participants, who reported a satisfaction median of 9.0 (7.4-10.0)/10 (patients) and 9.8 (9.6-10.0)/10 (providers). The main difficulties in carrying out the intervention activities were related to technology, motivation to self-learning, and a lack of in-person orientation. All the patients reported that the information included in the intervention was aligned with their information needs. The intervention was associated with changes in exercise self-efficacy, sleep quality, depressive symptoms, and performance of high-intensity physical activity. In conclusion, the intervention was considered feasible to educate cardiac patients from a low-resource setting. It should be replicated and expanded to support patients that face barriers to onsite CR participation. Challenges related to technology and self-learning should be addressed.

Impacts, Learner Diversity, and Curricular Framework of a Virtual Global Health Elective Catalyzed by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: Place-based international electives that build global health competencies have existed for decades. However, these electives require travel and are infeasible for many trainees around the world, particularly those with insufficient financial resources, logistical complexities, or visa limitations. The emergence of virtual approaches to global health electives, catalyzed by the travel pause related to the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitates the exploration of learner impacts, participant diversity, and curricular frameworks. Child Family Health International (CFHI), a non-profit global health education organization that partners with universities to expand immersive educational offerings, launched a virtual global health elective in 2021. The elective drew on faculty from Bolivia, Ecuador, Ghana, Mexico, the Philippines, Uganda, and the United States. Objective: This study aimed to describe a newly developed virtual global health elective curriculum and evaluate the demographics of and impacts on trainee participants. Methods: Eighty-two trainees who were enrolled in the virtual global health elective from January to May 2021 completed both 1) pre- and post-elective self-assessments of domains of competency mapped to the elective curriculum and 2) free text responses to standardized questions. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistical analysis, paired t-testing, and qualitative thematic analysis. Findings: The virtual global health elective had 40% of its participants hail from countries other than the United States. Self-reported competency in global health broadly, planetary health, low resource clinical reasoning, and overall composite competency significantly increased. Qualitative analysis revealed learner development in health systems, social determinants of health, critical thinking, planetary health, cultural humility, and professional practice. Conclusion: Virtual global health electives effectively develop key competencies in global health. This virtual elective had a 40-fold increase in the proportion of trainees from outside the United States, compared to pre-pandemic place-based electives. The virtual platform facilitates accessibility for learners from a variety of health professions and a wide range of geographic and socioeconomic environments. Further research is needed to confirm and expand on self-reported data, and to pursue approaches to greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in virtual frameworks.

Changing Teaching Trends During Covid-19 And Its Impact On Ent Residency Program In India: A Cross Sectional Study.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an unmatched challenge to the ENT residency programs to adapt to a form of web-based learning process and stimulation-based training. It also focuses on the mental stress underwent and the viewpoint of the residents to the paradigm shift in clinical care and academics. Methods: An anonymous questionnaire was created in an online survey generator with 22 questions with limited options (yes/no) and was circulated through email and what's app which has been responded to by 240 ENT residents throughout the country. The questionnaire was divided into five sections, demographics, knowledge about COVID-19 and its management, impact on clinical activity, academics and mental well-being section. Results: Out of 240 respondents, 190(79.2%) were junior residents and 50(20.8%) were senior residents. Although many of them knew the necessary precautions to be taken, 94(39.8%) turned out to be positive themselves with the high fear of transmitting to their family members. Three-fourth participants suggested extending the training period after graduation for the loss incurred. However, half of them sought an opportunity to train themselves for the management of communicable disease, 95% of the residents opined that they are having a negative impact on the job performance due to loss of surgical hands-on which has been drastically reduced. Conclusion: The issues mentioned have been addressed through STEPs - Safety of the residents, Time utilisation by research, Education continuation by online web learning and stimulatory programs, psychological support for mental well-being. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-022-03377-7.

Assessment of virtual education during the covid-19 pandemic from the perspective of faculty members and students: a cross-sectional descriptive study in northwest Iran.

BACKGROUND: Since the coronavirus outbreak, many countries have replaced traditional education with virtual education in order to prevent the disease spread, and also avoid stopping education. The aim of the present study was to assess the virtual education status at Khalkhal University of Medical Sciences during the covid-19 pandemic from the perspective of students and faculty members. METHODS: This is a descriptive-cross-sectional study that was conducted between December 2021and February 2022. The study population included faculty members and students who were selected by consensus. Data collection instruments included demographic information form and a virtual education assessment questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out using independent T-test, one sample T-test, Pearson Correlation, and ANOVA test in SPSS software. RESULTS: A total of 231 students and 22 faculty members of Khalkhal University of Medical Sciences participated in the present study. The response rate was 66.57%. The mean and standard deviation of assessment scores of students (3.3 ± 0.72) were lower than those of faculty members (3.94 ± 0.64), which showed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.01). User access to the virtual education system (3.8 ± 0.85) and lesson presentation (4.28 ± 0.71) obtained the highest scores from the perspective of students and faculty members, respectively. There was a statistically significant association between employment status and the assessment score of faculty members (p = 0.01), and the field of study (p < 0.01), the year of university entrance (p = 0.01), and the assessment score of students. CONCLUSION: The results showed a higher than mean assessment score in both groups of faculty members and students. There was a difference between faculty members and students in terms of virtual education scores in the parts that require the creation of better processes and more complete capabilities in the systems, which seems that more detailed planning and reforms will improve the process of virtual education.

Virtual Adaptation of an International Exchange Program in Medical Education.

Medical education has drastically transformed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Measures such as adopting telemedicine visits, minimizing the number of trainees on service, discontinuing external rotations, and converting in-person to online didactics have been broadly and swiftly implemented. While these innovations have promoted greater interconnectivity amongst institutions and made continuing medical education possible, international exchange programs in medical education are still largely disrupted. In response to the changing guidelines and restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors used Kern's six-step approach to design and implement a virtual curriculum to replace the in-person activities of the 2020-2021 Neurology Peru-Rochester exchange program (NeuroPro). Twenty-seven trainees participated in this virtual adaptation. The average daily attendance was ≥85% and the program was rated 9/10 on average in a feedback survey (63% response rate). The median percentage of correct answers during the pre-test was 64% and it increased to 79% during the post-test (P = 0.003). Virtual adaptation of international exchange programs in medical education is feasible to safely continue international collaborative efforts to promote symbiotic building of local expertise and cross-cultural exchange during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

The phenomenon of online study rooms in the days of COVID-19

Access to physical study rooms to libraries were restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic declaration. The mandatory confinement and growth experienced on streaming platforms such as Twitch and Discord generated the proliferation of online study rooms. This article presents an exploratory descriptive study as a contribution to the literature on study rooms on streaming platforms. The results reveal that (i) most users discovered online study rooms through their social networks and the increase in users has been progressive since the beginning of the pandemic;(ii) studying is the main activity participants perform during these live transmissions;(iii) survey participants indicated that their productivity, motivation, and concentration increases when using online study rooms. Education is constantly evolving;therefore, the characterization and analysis of this new phenomenon can contribute to the improvement of teaching and learning processes in the face of a pandemic and post-pandemic landscape. © 2023 IEEE.

Methodology for Virtual Education of Clinical Engineering through the Implementation of Digital Tools for Simulated Scenarios and International Collaboration

The Covid-19 global pandemic has represented a challenge for education, which had to migrate to virtual environments. Universities adopted different teaching methods to keep contributing to the growth of the professionals in various fields. In this context, the Biomedical Engineering program of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru and the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia had to change or adapt the methodology of the courses included in its curriculum in order to reach the learning objectives. This paper presents a methodology for an innovative approach of simulated scenarios using digital tools for the virtual teaching of Clinical Engineering. The learning results achieved in two semesters of implementation of the methodology, during 2020 and 2021, were measured by means of a survey applied to the students at the end of the course. Obtaining achievement results above 76 % and improvement opportunities that would be useful for the next version of this course and for the replication of the methodology in other universities. © 2023 IEEE.

Improving the Model of Family-School Interaction with the Help of Digital Education.

The study of the consequences of school education has proved the need for reinforcement family interventions in school education and also the need to improve the model of family-school interaction (FSI). The family and the school are two complementary educational institutions. But the emergence of digital technologies and especially the critical situation caused by the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) has paved the way for their further interaction. However, both the family and the school have faced serious changes in their educational tasks and functions, and have raised questions about the possibility of upgrading the FSI and possible changes in curriculum. The present study is qualitative and the data collection tool is in-depth interview. Participators in the study are 24 teachers and parents of 6-11-year-old male and female learners who are involved in virtual education. Findings showed that virtual education in social, educational, cost-related, skill-related, emotional, and communication settings has a great impact and has created opportunities and challenges. This study also showed that in promoting family-school interaction, educational opportunities were the most significant and cost-related challenges were more than others. In addition, in order to promote family-school interaction, policies and strategies need to be identified that help in the equitable distribution of learning activities between parents and teachers and improve the model of family-school interaction according to the limited capacities of digital technologies.

The effects of developmental model of peer observation on the virtual teaching quality of basic medical sciences faculty.

BACKGROUND: After the Corona pandemic, medical education has shifted to virtual education, but there has been limited time and possibilities for empowering faculty for this purpose. Therefore, it seems necessary to evaluate the quality of the provided training and provide feedback to the faculty in order to improve the quality of training. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of teacher formative evaluation by peer observation method on the quality of virtual teaching of basic medical sciences faculty. METHODS: In this study, seven trained faculty members observed and based on a checklist evaluated the quality of 2 virtual sessions taught by each faculty of basic medical sciences, and provided them feedback; after at least 2 weeks, their Virtual teachings were again observed and evaluated. The results before and after providing feedback were compared through SPSS software. RESULTS: After intervention, significant improvements were observed in the average scores of "overall virtual performance", "virtual classroom management" and "content quality". Specifically, there was a significant increase in the average score of "overall virtual performance" and "virtual class management" among female faculty, and the average score of "overall virtual performance" among permanently employed faculty members with more than 5 years of teaching experience, before and after intervention (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Virtual and online education can be a suitable platform for the implementation of formative and developmental model of peer observation of faculty; and should be considered as an opportunity to empower and improve the quality of the faculty' performance in virtual education.

Tangent and Cotangent Similarity Measures of Pentapartitioned Neutrosophic Pythagorean Set in Virtual Education During Covid Pandemic

In this paper, a new tangent and cotangent similarity measures between two Pentapartitioned Neutrosophic Pythagorean [PNP] sets with truth membership, falsity membership, ignorance and contradiction membership as dependent Neutrosophic component is proposed and its properties are investigated. The unknown membership alone will be considered as independent Neutrosophic components. Also, the weighted similarity measures are also studied with a decision making problem © 2023,Neutrosophic Sets and Systems. All Rights Reserved.

COVID-19, Didactic Practices, and Representations Assumed by Preservice Teachers at Universidad Tecnica del Norte-Ecuador

As an alternative for university students to continue their professional training during the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions implemented virtual learning modalities. In this context, it was proposed to determine the social representations assumed by university students who are pursuing their studies as future educators. It is presumed that representations related to didactic practices are composed of content (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) and organization (central core and representational system). This is an ethnographic study, with an available nonprobabilistic sample of 227 students from the primary education major at Universidad Tecnica del Norte. Verbal association techniques and documentary research were used for information collection. To analyze the data, the IRaMuTeQ software (R interface for texts and questionnaire multidimensional analysis) was used. Two types of analyses were conducted: hierarchical classification and factorial correspondence. In conclusion, a virtuality with difficulties and a careful and responsible face-to-face modality are expressed as meanings associated to the representations, both of which require qualitative changes. Regarding the organization, didactic practice complementarity is assumed to be integrated in a hybrid learning modality.

Evaluation of Advantages and Disadvantages of the Virtual Morning Report Compared To the Classic Face-To-Face Method from the Perspective of the Paediatric Interns and Residents

Background: Morning reports were held virtual after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the world and Iran. We used the Skyroom platform, which was not used previously. The novelty of this method caused us to evaluate the learners' opinions about the advantages and disadvantages of the virtual method compared to the classic face-to-face one.Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study during 2021. The population included the interns and residents of Pediatrics. Their opinions were assessed through a questionnaire at Bahrami Children's Hospitals, Children's Medical Center, and Valiasr Hospitals in Tehran regarding the two methods of holding the morning report. The questionnaires were distributed and completed in a period of 6 months in 2021.Results: A total of one hundred and twelve interns and residents were included. According to them, the virtual method had a higher score in terms of increasing information technology skills and easier interpretation of the paraclinical results. The advantages of the virtual method were: no need for physical presence, availability, ease of use of the application, and time-saving as well as better prevention and protection of COVID-19. The only disadvantage of this method was the occasional low-quality of audio and video. Also, in the virtual method, there was less possibility of participating in the discussion. More than half of the participants wanted to hold face-to-face meetings with the possibility of virtual participation in future. Conclusion: Virtual training platforms have been able to eliminate some of the face-to-face training problems. Online morning reports can be a satisfactory complement to face-to-face ones.

E-learning platforms and their impact on university education during the COVID-19 pandemic

The current situation caused by COVID-19 has accelerated the change in lifestyles and therefore Universities have had to modify their teaching-learning models. The objective of this work is to explore the factors that affect the perception of satisfaction and the learning results of those when using online learning applications. Through a quantitative methodology and using as a basis the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Information Systems Success Model (ISs), the results were analyzed by means of PLS-SEM (Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling). The data were collected through a survey conducted by a structured questionnaire and sent to students of different levels of higher education. Among the main findings, it was obtained that the higher the satisfaction of users of online learning platforms, the higher the results. The information obtained can contribute to the Universities being able to enhance this type of tool to efficiently achieve the proposed educational objectives.

Learning Management System: An Approach towards Virtual Education

With India's rapid educational growth towards virtual education, the education system has intensified. India has gone through critical condition like COVID-19. There is huge increment in the implementation of online learning management system. This helped the educational institutions to manage their education system without being physically present in the institution. This paper is presenting the challenges required by institutions to transform their manual education system into virtual/online education system. The online learning management system has enhanced the way of teaching and learning process of students. This study will tell us about how online LMS has speeding up the quality of education for the On-Campus enrolled students as well as distance learning students also. In general, LMS are built to provide the course material in a static way only. The modern LMS has the ability for the group discussion which is helping the student to achieve the qualities of team-working. © 2022 IEEE.

Comparison of Virtual and Actual Education Models on the Learning of Internal Interns during COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: Following the outbreak of coronavirus and its impact on the educational process of medical students, attention was paid to e-learning due to the importance of education and research. The aim of the present study is an evaluation of virtual and actual education models on the learning of internal interns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The present study is a trial that was performed on 112 internal interns of hospitals from January to December 2020. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of the actual or virtual educational model groups with personal consent. Educational method was case-based discussion in both groups. The learning outcomes of the interns of these two groups were compared in 9 areas with 95% confidence level and 5% random error. Data about age, sex, type of residence (home or dormitory), pre-internship score (≤150 or >150) and entrance exam rank (≤300 or >300) were collected. Data were analyzed using SPSS Version 20. Results: The mean ±SD age of the participants was 24.9±2.3 years, 46% of participants were men and 54% of them lived in dormitories. The results of the study show that the difference in pre-test and post-test scores with actual and virtual education models in the male and female is significantly different (p-value=0.020). Virtual education for men and actual education for women have resulted in higher difference scores in pre-test and post-test. Actual and virtual education models were not different in academic achievements of the participants. Thus, the scores obtained in 9 areas did not make a significant difference between the two types of educational models. Conclusion:The comparison of virtual and actual education demonstrated that there is no significant difference between these two methods in student output. Given the conditions that have been created by COVID-19 in the world, it seems that the use of virtual education can be a good alternative to educating medical students so that education does not stop. Copyright © 2023, Journal of Iranian Medical Council. All rights reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.