The Mobile Electronic Dispensary System (MEDS) is an indoor medical dispensary system where robots locate and travel to patients within a grid in order to deliver medication or other medical supplies based on a predefined schedule. For older people or individuals with physical or mental disabilities, it is important to ensure that medications are taken as prescribed. Missing or mixing dosages can cause unwanted and even harmful consequences. As individuals grow older or battle disabilities, it is expected that adhering to their medicine regimen will be a daily challenge without the assistance of a fulltime caregiver. Therefore, to assist individuals in maintaining their independence, MEDS ensures the proper medicine is dispensed to the patient at the prescribed time and dosage. At the core of MEDS is a scheduler that maintains the medicines to be dispensed, including the times and dosages. Once a scheduled time arrives to deliver medicine to a patient, MEDS instructs the appropriate robot to wake up, locate the patient within a defined grid, and then travel to the patient and deliver the medicine. Upon receiving the delivery, the patient will accept the medicine physically and then update their mobile device, informing MEDS that the medicine was successfully delivered. At this time, the robot will return to its home base within the grid. The patients are within the confines of a building where GPS is not a viable solution to track items to pinpoint accuracy. Therefore, an indoor location based system with beacons and listeners are required in order to define a grid and enable robots to locate and travel to the patient. This paper defines and details the programs, database, algorithms, and hardware of MEDS using the Cricket Indoor Location System and iRobot Creates. / text

According to the available literature, schools with a positive organisational culture are more effective and will probably achieve better results. This study investigates the way in which a positive school culture is formed. It focuses on the role of the leadership of the principal in developing an organisational culture of an independent school. This qualitative study scrutinises one specific school in a group of several independent schools in South Africa and compares the school culture of the original school (between 1971 and 1974) to the current school culture as manifested in the last four years (2009- 2012). Data was gathered through interviews with the founder of the school, interviews with current teachers and the current principal, document research of artefacts as well as observations made by visitors to the school in a professional capacity. The data recorded was analysed in terms of a "levels of culture" model proposed by Edgar Schein (1985) by looking at what “the school” said about itself, what “the school” and the principal did, and what things look like. Furthermore, a study was made of what is seen as acceptable behaviour and unacceptable behaviour followed by what is regarded as important and not important in the school. The answers to these questions were used to determine the assumptions that members of the school community hold about the nature of the school. The analysis of the school’s culture aimed to determine how this school’s past is living in the present and what role the leadership of the principal played in shaping the school’s culture. All of this was done to determine how school culture is formed, so that other schools can also use the methods identified in this study to identify their own school’s culture and find ways of changing it. The researcher concludes that the formation of a school culture can be controlled and manipulated towards a positive outcome and ways of doing this are identified. It is also found that the culture of the specific school in this study seems to have been well-defined and positive throughout its history and that the leadership of the principal plays a significant role in the success of the school. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Education Management and Policy Studies / UPonly

Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur professionella behandlare i en form av öppenvårdsinsats skapar och upprätthåller behandlingsallians med barn i sitt dagliga arbete. Syftet är även att undersöka behandlingsfrämjande faktorer samt relationens betydelse i behandlingsarbetet. Urvalet består av fem behandlare som arbetar med barn på en skola med behandling i Sverige. Material har insamlats med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer och analyserats med stöd av tematisk analys. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna som användes för att tolka resultatet var anknytningsteori och systemteori. Resultatet visar att behandlare arbetar med ett individanpassat förhållningssätt för att kunna passa varje barn som kommer till verksamheten. I grund och botten skapas behandlingsallians av en god relation som därefter utvecklas till behandlingsallians. Därmed ses relationen som en nyckel för behandlingsallians. Upprätthållande av behandlingsallians visar även det vara olika beroende på mottagare. Det som framkommer vara gemensamma behandlingsfrämjande faktorer för både skapande och upprätthållande är involvering av barnets vårdnadshavare, bidrag i form av verksamhetens ekonomiska stöd samt det kollegiala sammanhanget. För att barn ska ha rätt till det stöd denne behöver för att kunna utvecklas är det därför av yttersta vikt att behandlare arbetar för att passa barnets behov och inte tvärtom. / The purpose of this study is to study how professional social workers create and sustain treatment alliances within the outpatient care programs for the children during their daily work.The purpose is also to study treatment support factors including the importance of relationships in treatment work. The selections of the study consists of five treatment workers working alongside children in a school with treatment in Sweden. Data has been gathered with semi-structured interviews and analysed with thematic analysis. The theoretical methods used to interpret the results were attachment theory and systems theory. The results show that treatment workers work with an individualized approach customized for each child. Treatment alliance are created from a good relationship which then develop into a treatment alliance. Therefore a good relationship between treatment worker and child is vital for a treatment alliance. Upholding of a treatment alliance also has to be different according to each receiver of the treatment. What is shown to be mutual treatment support factors is the amount of involvement from the children's caretakers, economic support from the organization and collegial context. In order for the children to have claim to the support needed for them to develop, it is of utter importance that treatment workers adjust their methods to each child's needs and not the other way around.

Children today have difficulty in finding places to play in the modern Swedish welfare society. Spontaneous play in the streets has almost vanished. When parents drive their children to different activities and institutions where the children are supervised and controlled by adults, the children are under constant surveillance. It’s not children or children’s desire to play that has changed, it is society. Despite this surveillance children still manage to create their own places. The aim of this study is to investigate when children create their own places in the preschool in a structured surveillance society as well as to find out what kind of materials they need to create such places. To be able to find out the answers to these questions I performed a mini ethnographic study in a preschool where I observed children. I followed the ethics rules of the Swedish research council. Ideas and concepts that I used were places for children – children’s places, breaking rules as a way to enter play, affordance as well as the theory of prospect refuge. Through these it was possible for me to identify and analyze when children were creating their own places as well as what materials that they used. The results show that children are capable of creating their own places, despite being under constant surveillance in the preschool. They managed to do so both indoors and outdoors. They both created their own places as well as used “places for children” as their own. By creating children’s places of their own, they get to break rules and use creativity as well as learn with their whole bodies, which benefits both their experience of joy as well as their learning.

The purpose of this study was to examine if the implementation of a technology-based music class in public high schools in the northeastern United States had any significant impact on the overall music department enrollment and on enrollment in traditional performance ensemble courses, such as band and chorus, as they are the courses most offered in high schools in the United States. The two phases of the study included identifying eligible schools and collecting data from schools. A six-year history of music department and school enrollment data was collected from participating schools (n = 12). Individual music classes in each school were categorized as Band, Chorus, Orchestra, Technology-based, or Other Music Classes. Results found a statistically significant increase in overall Music Department enrollment and no statistically significant change in enrollment in Band or Chorus after the implementation of a technology-based music class. Reductions in enrollment did occur in Other Music classes. No significant change to the number of teachers in music departments was found. This study suggests that implementing a technology-based music classes may help increase overall music department enrollment without negatively impacting enrollment in traditional performance ensembles and may not necessitate funding for additional faculty.

No description available.

In South African schools various factors influence relationships between facilitators and learners, compounding their frustrations: class sizes, cultural and language barriers, and hierarchical power/knowledge relations. These problems have led to a polarisation between facilitators and learners which could cause facilitators to experience a lack of appreciation and agency. Learners participated in this qualitative study experienced themselves as without voices, and wanted to be acknowledged as people with worthwhile knowledges of their own. This report shows how the therapist and participants engaged in a participatory process of narrative co-search during individual and group conversations where social construction of knowledges and practices of acknowledgement and care, enchanced by letters and externalising conversations, led to the co-creation of a better understanding of one another. This resulted in a more caring, supportive and acknowledging school community, where facilitators re-connected with their preferred stories, and learners found acknowledgement for their own knowledge and preferred ways of living. / Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology with specialisation in Pastoral Theology)

Rural primary schools have got an immense role to play regarding the educational foundation for the subsequent phases of schooling. In ensuring that an extremely solid foundation is laid. the creation and maintenance of a positive culture of teaching and learning becomes extremely very important in this category of schools. It is the primary task of the primary school principal to ensure that quality teaching and learning is taking place in her/his school. I Iowever, in ensuring that a positive culture of teaching and learning becomes a reality in their schools, principals cannot work in isolation but, in collaboration with other potential stakeholders. A variety of factors like good management on the part of principals to good commitment and involvement on the part of other stakeholders like educators, learners, parents. community, business people and the government. lead to teaching and learning of a very high and acceptable standard. The purpose of this research project was to investigate how principals of rural primary schools create and maintain a culture of teaching and learning. The outcomes of this investigation could assist rural primary school principals in their attempts towards ensuring a positive culture of teaching and learning. The outcomes could also assist other stakeholders as to how best can they assist rural primary school principals in making schools centers for a positive culture of teaching and learning. The methodology of research for this investigation is quantitative. The questionnaire was used as a tool for empirical data collection. This research project has revealed several mechanisms that arc utilized by rural primary school principals in creating and maintain a culture ofteaching and learning. It also emerged from thi s study that in creating and maintaining COLT in schools, rural primary school principals encounter some problems that need the undivided attention of every education stakeholder. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

Les travaux ayant utilisé la théorie de la connaissance créative (Nonaka et Takeuchi,1997 ; Nonaka et al, 2001) dans un contexte d’émergence organisationnelle sontrares, notamment dans le contexte d’accompagnement par incubation. La thèses’appuie sur ce corpus théorique pour apprécier les capacités d’apprentissage d’uneméthode d’accompagnement mobilisant le modèle GRP (Génération, Rémunérationet Partage de la valeur) de Verstraete et Jouison-Laffitte (2009). Il s’agit, à la fois, derelever le contenu des apprentissages et de comprendre comment cesapprentissages se forment, se cumulent et se traduisent en compétencesentrepreneuriales. Pour ce faire, le cadre opératoire déploie une recherche-actionpragmatiste auprès de quatre cas de porteurs de projet accompagnés parl’incubateur congolais I&Fentrepreneuriat. / Very little current literature has used the theory of creative knowledge (Nonaka andTakeuchi, 1997 ; Nonaka and al one, 2001) in the context of organizationalemergence, and what is more, in the context of support for business incubation. Noresearch either has understood through the business convention deploying the GRPmodel (Generation, Compensation and value sharing) (Verstraete et Jouison-Lafitte,2009). It is not just a question of highlighting the learning content, but also have aclose look at how these learning processes are formed, accumulated and lead toentrepreneurial skills (meaning). In so doing, the methodology deploys pragmatistresearch action with four cases of project holders supported by the Congoleseincubator I & F entrepreneurship.

Rural primary schools have got an immense role to play regarding the educational foundation for the subsequent phases of schooling. In ensuring that an extremely solid foundation is laid. the creation and maintenance of a positive culture of teaching and learning becomes extremely very important in this category of schools. It is the primary task of the primary school principal to ensure that quality teaching and learning is taking place in her/his school. I Iowever, in ensuring that a positive culture of teaching and learning becomes a reality in their schools, principals cannot work in isolation but, in collaboration with other potential stakeholders. A variety of factors like good management on the part of principals to good commitment and involvement on the part of other stakeholders like educators, learners, parents. community, business people and the government. lead to teaching and learning of a very high and acceptable standard. The purpose of this research project was to investigate how principals of rural primary schools create and maintain a culture of teaching and learning. The outcomes of this investigation could assist rural primary school principals in their attempts towards ensuring a positive culture of teaching and learning. The outcomes could also assist other stakeholders as to how best can they assist rural primary school principals in making schools centers for a positive culture of teaching and learning. The methodology of research for this investigation is quantitative. The questionnaire was used as a tool for empirical data collection. This research project has revealed several mechanisms that arc utilized by rural primary school principals in creating and maintain a culture ofteaching and learning. It also emerged from thi s study that in creating and maintaining COLT in schools, rural primary school principals encounter some problems that need the undivided attention of every education stakeholder. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)