The Future Use of Technology in Education and Learning in the Commonwealth

ABSTRACT

Modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have increasingly been used in education systems and for learning across the world over the last quarter of a century, and are frequently seen as being an important means of delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG4. However, rhetoric about their potential benefits has often led to uncritical adoption of inappropriate and costly technologies, that have not benefited the poorest and most marginalised. This contribution explores likely uses of such technologies in Commonwealth education systems in the future, and what needs to be done so that these do indeed benefit everyone, rather than just the privileged with access to the latest technologies. It begins with an overview of existing Commonwealth initiatives, and then explores how ICT use for learning throughout the life-cycle is likely to change over the next decade. The next section suggests how Commonwealth organisations can best support governments and citizens in ensuring equitable distribution of relevant learning opportunities and mitigating the negative aspects of technology use. In conclusion, it advocates for the need to focus especially on the poorest and most marginalised, and it highlights the challenges of a future in which machines and humans are ever more intertwined.     

Learning from Uncle Sam? Exploring U.S. Influences on British Crime Control Policy

This paper examines the idea of "policy transfer" in the arena of crime control. More specifically, it examines the influence of the United States on recent criminal justice and penal policy developments in Britain. Three policy areas are discussed: privatized corrections, "zero-tolerance" policing, and "three-strikes" sentencing. Changes in these areas are widely perceived as being strongly influenced by developments in the U.S., although there has yet to be a systematic empirical study of how and why these policy developments occurred. Drawing on a review of literature, this paper examines the plausibility of the idea of policy transfer and highlights distinct routes through which policy transfer may occur between jurisdictions. It uses Bennett's (1991) model of "policy convergence" as a framework for exploring how "emulation,""elite-networking,""harmonization," and "penetration" might have been relevant to policy changes in these areas. Finally, the paper considers how the concept of policy transfer in criminal justice and penal policy might be further examined empirically.     

Health systems decentralization and human resources management in low and middle income countries

The aim of this article is to explore the experiences of human resources management in the context of health sector decentralization. The initial review of health sector decentralization covers issues relating to the context, content, formulation/implementation and impact of decentralization. The review of the literature on human resources management (HRM) and decentralization has identified a number of key points that are organized around the following HRM functions: HR planning/ staff supply, personnel administration and employee relations, and performance management. The importance of the management of change is also highlighted. The article concludes by emphasizing the need to include human resources as a key issue in health systems change and emphasizes the areas of policy dialogue and research. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ORO. The Physical Developer replacement?

In the process of fingerprint development Physical Developer has been largely the method of choice on porous surfaces after coming into contact with wet environments. It is only recently that a new technique has been identified which could replace this standard technique. This study aims to build on previous research and expand knowledge regarding the technique. The study built on previous research and compared Physical Developer to Oil Red O, testing both on four paper types, while being placed in three different water types and an accelerant for various amounts of time. Marks were placed with both heavily ‘loaded’ sebaceous fingers and ‘normal’ un-washed fingers. Results show that Oil Red O consistently produced clearer more detailed marks from the ‘loaded’ fingers, but neither technique proved to work better on the ‘normal’ marks. Neither technique developed any prints from the accelerant.     

The relationship between shift work, perceived stress, sleep and health in Swiss police officers

Purpose

This study examined how a specific shift system was associated with stress, sleep and health among police officers. Moreover, this study investigated whether gender moderated the association between shift work and stress, sleep and health. Additional analyses were performed to find out how stress and shift work interact in explaining sleep and health.

Methods

The findings are based on a cross-sectional survey. A written questionnaire was sent to all employees of a local police force. 460 police officers (M = 40.67 years, SD = 9.66; 25.2% females) volunteered to take part in the study. 251 subjects were shift workers (54.6%). Police officers filled in a series of validated instruments assessing stress (TICS), perceived health (SF-12, somatic complaints, health care use) and sleep (ISI, PSQI).

Results

Shift work was associated with increased social stress, work discontent and sleep complaints. In turn, shift workers reported decreased use of primary health care. Moreover, stress was associated with increased sleep complaints and lower scores in perceived health. The interplay between stress and shift work did not produce any significant effects.

Conclusions

Workforce health promotion should make attempts to reduce chronic stress, while occupational health physicians should emphasize the diagnosis of undetected sleep disorders.     

Complaint reduction in Australian federal policing in the Australian Capital Territory

Across fifteen years to 2015–2016 the rate of public complaints against police in the Australian Capital Territory fell by an extraordinary 79%. This was a much larger and longer-term reduction in complaints than occurred anywhere else in Australia, and it is very unusual in the international policing literature. The paper attempts to examine the nature of this change in greater detail, and possible factors that may have influenced the change. Unlike some other studies, however, there was limited evidence of specific point-in-time innovations that may have affected the trend. Nonetheless, it is likely that a range of reforms in policing influenced the change, with possible lessons for other departments struggling with significant complaint problems. The main reforms included improved custody procedures, greater attention to ethics in recruitment and training, a complaints system focused on managing officer behaviour, enlarged external oversight, and more attention to de-escalation skills in use-of-force training.     

What is a ‘university’? (The English Patient)

The term ‘university’ is used in most cases with only a vague understanding of exactly what a university is and does. Is a university anything with the word in its title or does the word actually convey a meaning as to the purpose of the institution? Much of the time this does not matter—people have an understanding of what it is, what it does and what it means. However, with globalisation and the creation of alliances and networks, the creation of the European Higher Education Area, competition for the best students and scholars, competition for funding, ‘league tables’ etc. the need for clarity and transparency increases. Even with cultural diversity this should be easy, but the impact of government policy may in fact skew the understanding, removing the word in England from the universal concept of what a university is and replacing it with a narrow English law definition.