VERB-ING FORM

Wanted: Long-Term Thinking about Technology and Education

Educators need to think long-term about the role of technology in learning

The rampant spread of technology-mediated learning has set off fits of hype and hand-wringing—yet the U.S.'s traditional centers of higher education have mostly failed to confront the pace of change and the implications for students. There is probably no way anyone can keep up with this transformation: the technology is simply evolving too rapidly. Nevertheless, we keep trying. Will these developments truly serve our goals for advanced education? We need to know urgently.

But reacting too quickly could be as bad as adapting too slowly. As soon as the newest experiment in higher-learning technology is announced, would-be experts race to declare its success or failure. Even if their snap guesses prove correct in the near term, any alleged breakthrough will likely be sent to the scrapyard before long to make way for the next educational techno-marvel. Given what we know about the progress of technology, we need to ask which advances will persist longer than a few months.

Higher learning has three fundamental objectives: knowledge dissemination, intellectual development and “experiential growth”—mental maturation, in other words. As the field of educational technology grows, these functions must all be addressed.

The first item—dissemination of knowledge—has traditionally been the province of classrooms and lecture halls. Nowadays even the most venerated names in education are touting what they call MOOCs. These “massive open online courses” are the online equivalent of brick-and-mortar lecture halls, only with better functionality (such as the ability to pause and rewind), free tuition and unlimited seating.

That sounds good, but to see the real future of knowledge dissemination, we must look even farther ahead. Although adaptive learning technologies are still in their infancy, they are already displaying huge promise. The idea is to tailor the teaching process to each student's progress. As the tools develop, adaptive learning will bring seismic shifts to the instruction process. Companies such as Knewton and systems such as the Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University are just a hint of what's to come. These technologies will provide a whole new mode of instruction, and it will be less expensive and more effective than the old “sage on a stage” model. Although many traditional universities are addicted to the tuitions they draw with big lecture halls, online institutions and companies such as Western Governors University, UniversityNow and StraighterLine have begun demonstrating a viable alternative. The mainstream academic world should take notice.

The second priority is students' intellectual development. People often assume, mistakenly, that this area is beyond the scope of technological improvement. They see no substitute for the one-on-one student-teacher bond exemplified by the high-touch methods of the so-called Oxbridge tutorial system. But can even a very good mentor offset the shortcomings of most present-day institutions, where instruction is delivered course by course, with no core curriculum? The scaffolded curriculum at Minerva Schools at the Keck Graduate Institute, the San Francisco–based university that I helped to found in 2013, teaches a core set of concepts and exercises them throughout all classes in every subject.

The third and final task remains the big challenge for educational technology: personal development via experiential learning. For students, this is the lifelong process of becoming a more cultured, accomplished and compassionate human being. Traditional universities try to help students along through hands-on work in laboratories and apprenticeships, and they encourage undergraduates to take summer internships and spend semesters abroad. Nevertheless, students mostly remain anchored to their campuses. Even now technology should make it possible for a student to use the world as her or his campus.

Given the technological transformation taking place on all sides, universities need to think seriously about their medium-term strategic plans. What will universities look like in 2025? The changes will be consequential—so consequential, in fact, that stalling could jeopardize the future of higher education.

Suicide prevention guidelines for hospitals urged by advocates

 from killing themselves while under the care of designated Ontario psychiatric facilities — a situation advocates say needs to change.

“There ought to be some regulations to keep people safe,” said Anita Szigeti, a criminal defence lawyer and chair of the Criminal Lawyers Association Committee on Mental Health. “The biggest problem with mental health now is it’s not entirely clear who has what level of oversight.” Prashant Tiwari, 20, hanged himself in a bathroom at Brampton Civic Hospital on June 26. Less than two weeks earlier, his father, Rakesh Tiwari, took him to the hospital after he stuck himself seven times with a knife and asked for help.

“He was suicidal but he knew it,” said Gautam Tiwari, Prashant’s 17-year-old brother. “He wanted help.”

What happened during Prashant’s 10 days in the hospital is unclear. His family believed he was under a 24-hour suicide watch. Cara Francis, manager of public relations for the William Osler Health System, which includes Brampton Civic Hospital, refused to “comment on any individual patient experience.”

Tiwari is the first person to have committed suicide in the Brampton Civic psychiatric ward. A full autopsy is now being scheduled at the family’s request and the coroner’s investigation and the hospital’s internal investigation are ongoing.

The Star has obtained a recording of a conversation Rakesh Tiwari says is between him and a coroner that said there is a video showing Prashant entering a washroom in the psychiatric ward of the hospital around 3 p.m. He was found dead at 4:59 p.m., Rakesh Tiwari was told in the recording, almost two hours later.

Generally, patients at risk of suicide are monitored constantly or every 15 minutes, said Szigeti, who has attended five coroner’s inquests where mental health was a factor, adding “there’s no standard policy.”

The Brampton Civic Hospital declined to make anyone available to answer questions, despite receiving the family’s express written permission to disclose details of his care as per the requirements on the hospital’s website. The Star emailed a copy of the signed consent to Francis, who repeated she couldn’t comment on individual cases and resent a hospital statement calling the death “a tragic situation for everyone involved.” Questions regarding general psychiatric care guidelines at Brampton Civic Hospital were also not answered.

Since there is no standard of care in Ontario, it’s unclear what protocol the hospital uses to monitor patients at risk of suicide.

Many hospitals have “difficulty in terms of developing policy at the organizational level simply because of all the different scenarios that could exist and the difficulty of having a policy cover all scenarios,” said Chris Perlman, lead author of The Suicide Risk Assessment Guide: A Resource for Health Care Organizations, a guide that advocates for standardizing care. At the end of the day, Perlman said, clinical expertise is most important and best-practice guides — of which there are several — can help inform.

Emphasis should be on ensuring all hospitals have access to the necessary tools, Perlman said. “The problem that we run into is resources to be able to support environmental updates,” he said, “to make sure something like a seclusion room is perfectly safe.” In the last five years, more than a dozen people have taken their own lives while under the care of either a psychiatric facility or the psychiatric ward of a hospital, according to the Ontario Coroner’s Office. While an investigation is mandatory under the Coroner’s Act, in the last five years there have been no coroner’s inquests into the deaths, meaning no official recommendations.

In 2009, there were fewer than five suicides in psychiatric hospitals and fewer than five suicides in psychiatric wards (for privacy reasons, when there are fewer than five the exact number is not disclosed).

In 2010, there were five suicides in psychiatric wards and five suicides in psychiatric hospitals. In 2011, there were fewer than five in each individually. In 2012, there were five suicides in psychiatric wards and fewer than five in psychiatric hospitals. In 2013, there have been fewer than five in each individually. Attempting to constantly monitor a person at risk of suicide isn’t enough, Szigeti said. In the mental health cases with which she is familiar, many patients were observed as a way of prevention but had no real interaction with their caregivers. “If they (health-care professionals) were required to meaningfully engage with their patients on a regular basis, they wouldn’t lose them,” she said.

Verb-ing Form from the article above!

Verb –ing as a verb itself :

1. The technology is simply evolving too rapidly.
2. Nowadays even the most venerated names in education are touting what they call MOOCs.
3. They are already displaying huge promise.
4. UniversityNow and StraighterLine have begun demonstrating a viable alternative.
5. For students, this is the lifelong process of becoming a more cultured, accomplished and      compassionate human being.
6. Given the technological transformation taking place on all sides.

Verb –ing as a noun

1. The rampant spread of technology-mediated learning has set off fits of hype
2. As soon as the newest experiment in higher-learning technology is announced
3. But can even a very good mentor offset the shortcomings of most present-day institutions,
4. The changes will be consequential—so consequential, in fact, that stalling could jeopardize the  future of higher education.
5. There are no provincial guidelines for preventing suicidal people.
6. To make sure something like a seclusion room is perfectly safe.
7. A guide that advocates for standardizing care.
8. The Star has obtained a recording of a conversation Rakesh Tiwari.
9. Educators need to think long-term about the role of technology in learning

Verb –ing as an adjective (before noun)

1.  Although adaptive learning technologies are still in their infancy
2.  The idea is to tailor the teaching process to each student's progress.
3.  There is a video showing Prashant entering a washroom in the psychiatric ward of the hospital
4.  Many hospitals have “difficulty in terms of developing policy at the organizational level. 

Sources :
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wanted-long-term-thinking-about-technology-and-education/
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/07/03/suicide_prevention_guidelines_urged_by_advocates.html

MELIA CHOLILAH

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