The pervasiveness of wearable technology has opened the market for products that analyse running biomechanics and provide feedback to the user. To improve running technique feedback should target specific running biomechanical key points and promote an external focus. Aim for this study was to define and empirically test tailored feedback requirements for optimal motor learning in four consumer available running wearables. First, based on desk research and observations of coaches, a screening protocol was developed. Second, four wearables were tested according to the protocol. Third, results were reviewed, and four experts identified future requirements. Testing and reviewing the selected wearables with the protocol revealed that only two less relevant running biomechanical key points were measured. Provided feedback promotes an external focus of the user. Tailoring was absent in all wearables. These findings indicate that consumer available running wearables have a potential for optimal motor learning but need improvements as well.
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Speculative and critical design constitutes a lens through which researchers and futurists interrogate (im)possible scenarios. Artifacts produced in this way may provide insights by providing a provocative contrast with our own present society. However, speculative design struggles to reach and engage a broad audience. A transdisciplinary dialogue with narrative and ludic approaches may bring speculative practices to wider publics. To argue for this connection, I examine the contributions of narration and pervasiveness in constructing speculative visions of alternative realities. I propose that a playful approach may elicit curiosity, free exploration and engagement with speculative design, thus supporting more distributed and effective experiences.
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The intellectual endeavour taken in this article is to be critically reflexive of the term 'integration' and its use in society, recognizing the power of discourse and the fact that words, and their use, have consequences. It is a term which is presented as an end goal for select groups, a potential threat to society if not adequately maintained, and which justifies the development of various programmes and policies initiated to support these selected groups in the attainment of this goal. The term is used in policy and everyday conversation in a taken-for-granted way, yet at the same time, despite its enormous power and pervasiveness, it is never clearly or structurally defined.
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Digital innovation in education – as in any other sector – is not only about developing and implementing novel ideas, but also about having these ideas effectively used as well as widely accepted and adopted, so that many students can benefit from innovations improving education. Effectiveness, transferability and scalability cannot be added afterwards; it must be integrated from the start in the design, development and implementation processes, as is proposed in the movement towards evidence-informed practice (EIP). The impact an educational innovation has on the values of various stakeholders is often overlooked. Value Sensitive Design (VSD) is an approach to integrate values in technological design. In this paper we discuss how EIP and VSD may be combined into an integrated approach to digital innovation in education, which we call value-informed innovation. This approach not only considers educational effectiveness, but also incorporates the innovation’s impact on human values, its scalability and transferability to other contexts. We illustrate the integrated approach with an example case of an educational innovation involving digital peer feedback.
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Background. Despite the increasing pervasiveness of digital entertainment and serious games in organisational life, there is little evidence for the validity of game-based team training and assessment. Aim. The authors used the game, TEAMUP for a series of team training and assessment sessions, while at the same time researching the internal validity of the game for this purpose. Method. A total of 106 sets of data on games played by teams of professionals (police officers, auditors, consultants, etc.) and undergraduates and postgraduates (in aerospace engineering, entrepreneurship, etc.) were gathered for analysis through pre- and post-game questionnaires focusing on constructs for team quality, such as psychological safety and team cohesiveness. In addition, a large quantity of such data as time to complete task, distance and avoidable mistakes were logged to measure in-game team performance. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to find relationships between team structure factors, team quality constructs and in-game performance measures. Results. The main finding is that the in-game performance measure ‘avoidable mistakes’ (a proxy for task quality) correlates markedly and pervasively with ‘team cohesiveness’. More important, the findings support the premise that in-game assessment can be internally valid for team research and assessment purposes.
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There is not much research on team collaboration in digital entertainment games, nor is there much evidence for the efficacy of game-based team training or the validity of game-based team assessment. This is a shortcoming because of an increasing pervasiveness of serious games in organizational life, e.g. for operational training, management and leadership. Is it possible to establish marked relationships between psychometric constructs that measure ‘team composition and performance’ and ‘analytics’ that unobtrusively measure gameplay performance? If so, what are the implications for game-based team research and assessment? The authors conducted explorative, quasi-experimental (field) experiments with the multiplayer serious game TeamUp. One field experiment was conducted with 150 police officers as part of task-specific twoday team training. Research data were gathered through pre-game and postgame questionnaires on team constructs such as ‘psychological safety’ and ‘team cohesion’. A large quantity of in-game data was logged to construct indicators like ‘time needed to complete the task’, ‘speak time’ and ‘avoidable mistakes’ to measure team performance. The conclusion of the analysis is that ‘team cohesion’ and ‘psychological safety’ correlate moderately and significantly with in-game performance indicators. Teams with an unequal individual game performance speak the most, while teams with an equally low or equally high individual performance spend significantly less time speaking. The indicative findings support the need to further develop validated analytics and gamebased environments for team research and assessment.
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Purpose – In the domain of healthcare, both process efficiency and the quality of care can be improved through the use of dedicated pervasive technologies. Among these applications are so-called real-time location systems (RTLS). Such systems are designed to determine and monitor the location of assets and people in real time through the use of wireless sensor networks. Numerous commercially available RTLS are used in hospital settings. The nursing home is a relatively unexplored context for the application of RTLS and offers opportunities and challenges for future applications. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This paper sets out to provide an overview of general applications and technologies of RTLS. Thereafter, it describes the specific healthcare applications of RTLS, including asset tracking, patient tracking and personnel tracking. These overviews are followed by a forecast of the implementation of RTLS in nursing homes in terms of opportunities and challenges. Findings – By comparing the nursing home to the hospital, the RTLS applications for the nursing home context that are most promising are asset tracking of expensive goods owned by the nursing home in orderto facilitate workflow and maximise financial resources, and asset tracking of personal belongings that may get lost due to dementia. Originality/value – This paper is the first to provide an overview of potential application of RTLS technologies for nursing homes. The paper described a number of potential problem areas that can be addressed by RTLS. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited Original article: https://doi.org/10.1108/JET-11-2017-0046 For this paper Joost van Hoof received the Highly Recommended Award from Emerald Publishing Ltd. in October 2019: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/authors/literati/awards.htm?year=2019
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The vast literature on accountability in the public sector (usually called ‘public accountability’originating from political science and public administration tends to emphasize the positive dimension of holding authorities to account. As formulated by one prominent scholar in the field, ‘[a]ccountability has become an icon for good governance’: it is perceived as ‘a Good Thing, and, so it seems, we can’t have enough of it’ (Bovens, 2005: 182, 183). Accountability has, thus, become one of the central values of democratic rule – varying on a well-known American slogan one could phrase this as ‘no public responsi bility without accountability’.
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Moral food lab: Transforming the food system with crowd-sourced ethics
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Background: Research on maternity care often focuses on factors that prevent good communication and collaboration and rarely includes important stakeholders – parents – as co-researchers. To understand how professionals and parents in Dutch maternity care accomplish constructive communication and collaboration, we examined their interactions in the clinic, looking for “good practice”. Methods: We used the video-reflexive ethnographic method in 9 midwifery practices and 2 obstetric units. Findings: We conducted 16 meetings where participants reflected on video recordings of their clinical interactions. We found that informal strategies facilitate communication and collaboration: “talk work” – small talk and humour – and “work beyond words” – familiarity, use of sight, touch, sound, and non-verbal gestures. When using these strategies, participants noted that it is important to be sensitive to context, to the values and feelings of others, and to the timing of care. Our analysis of their ways of being sensitive shows that good communication and collaboration involves “paradoxical care”, e.g., concurrent acts of “regulated spontaneity” and “informal formalities”. Discussion: Acknowledging and reinforcing paradoxical care skills will help caregivers develop the competencies needed to address the changing demands of health care. The video-reflexive ethnographic method offers an innovative approach to studying everyday work, focusing on informal and implicit aspects of practice and providing a bottom up approach, integrating researchers, professionals and parents. Conclusion: Good communication and collaboration in maternity care involves “paradoxical care” requiring social sensitivity and self-reflection, skills that should be included as part of professional training.
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