Academic literature on the topic 'Access level switch'

AbstractThe sudden switch to learning exclusively at home during the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the extent of low levels of digital inclusion for many low-income and socially disadvantaged families and children in Australia. Many students and families struggled with access to, and the affordability of, devices and data, along with having the required digital skills and mentoring to learn at home. The Australian Government recognises that “socially vulnerable children are over-represented among the group of students who are educationally vulnerable” and the Australian Digital Inclusion Index shows there is a “substantial digital divide between richer and poorer Australians” (Thomas J, Barraket J, Wilson C, Cook K, Louie Y, Holcombe-James I, Ewing S, MacDonald T, Measuring Australia’s digital divide: the Australian digital inclusion index 2018. RMIT University, for Telstra, Melbourne, 2018). This combination of digital and social disadvantage has far-reaching consequences for the educational outcomes of children from low-income families in Australia. Additionally, as social, government, education and commercial services move rapidly towards ‘digital by default,’ digital inclusion and in particular, digital ability, are critical for social and economic participation in society (Dezuanni M, Allan C, Pittsworth stories: Developing a social living lab for digital participation in a rural Australian community. In: Dezuanni M, Foth M, Mallan K, Hughes H (eds) Digital participation through social living labs –valuing local knowledge, enhancing engagement. Chandos Publishing, Cambridge, pp 141–171, 2018; Al-Muwil A, Weerakkody V, El-haddadeh R, Dwivedi Y, Inform Syst Front 21(3): 635–659, 2019). This chapter outlines policy, government, industry and community responses to enabling children from low-income families in Australia to learn at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. It discusses how such responses can be part of sustainable solutions to the digital inclusion challenges of families that enables all family members to fully participate in society now, and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

This chapter presents an in-depth case study of the creative use of a mobile technology system by a diverse learner who is also one of the authors of the chapter. This learner is blind, has significant fine and gross motor impairment, and speaks in a whisper that is not understood by today's speech recognition technology. The learner's inclusion as an author is, in itself, a testimony to the empowerment the mobile communication system has brought to his life, which in turn has allowed him to be an active participant in the design of a learning environment based on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. More specifically, the chapter details the ongoing development of a system for making math content more accessible not only to the individual learner who is the focus of the case study, but to other learners who struggle with higher level math content in higher education.

This chapter presents an in-depth case study of the creative use of a mobile technology system by a diverse learner who is also one of the authors of the chapter. This learner is blind, has significant fine and gross motor impairment, and speaks in a whisper that is not understood by today's speech recognition technology. The learner's inclusion as an author is, in itself, a testimony to the empowerment the mobile communication system has brought to his life, which in turn has allowed him to be an active participant in the design of a learning environment based on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. More specifically, the chapter details the ongoing development of a system for making math content more accessible not only to the individual learner who is the focus of the case study, but to other learners who struggle with higher level math content in higher education.

Lack of access to potable water has become an issue of concern in our society. In order to satisfy the increasing water demands of the galloping population in Nigerian communities, it is essential to use smart technology to manage water resources. The purpose of this research work is to ensure that inaccessibility to water as a result of pump failure is detected in real-time through smart technology. To solve this daunting challenge, an Arduino microcontroller and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) were used to switch on and switch off the submersible pump at a predetermined Water Level (WL) in the tank and also to determine the pump availability hours. The WL in the tank was monitored using an Arduino microcontroller, sensors, relays, and LCD. A Global System for Mobile telecommunication (GSM) module was also used to create an interactive medium between the user/maintenance team and the system to monitor the submersible pump reliability based on engineering theory and concept. The system was tested by introducing varying volumes of water in a constructed water distribution system prototype in the laboratory. The microcontroller was efficient in controlling the system; the pump was able to switch on and switch off when the WL in the tank was 50% and 100%, respectively. As an autonomous system, it was capable of taking decisions automatically without human interference. The system was able to send feedback via SMS to alert the user/maintenance team to check the pump whenever it failed to pump water at WL≤ 50%. This innovative design system will help to monitor and manage water distribution properly and it should be considered for use in schools, hospitals, residences, offices, etc. to ensure the availability of water always, save energy consumption and help in combating covid-19.

The concept of burst switching was initially proposed in the context of voice communications by Haselton (1983) and Amstutz (1983, 1989) in the early 1980s. More recently, in the late 1990s, optical burst switching (OBS) has been proposed as a new switching paradigm for the so-called optical Internet, in order to overcome the technical limitations of optical packet switching, namely the lack of optical random access memory (optical RAM) and to the problems with synchronization (Baldine, Rouskas, Perros, & Stevenson, 2002; Chen, Qiao, & Yu, 2004; Qiao & Yoo, 1999; Turner, 1999; Yoo & Qiao, 1997; Xu, Perros, & Rouskas, 2001). OBS is a technical compromise between wavelength routing and optical packet switching, since it does not require optical buffering or packet-level processing as in optical packet switching, and it is more efficient than circuit switching if the traffic volume does not require a full wavelength channel. According to Dolzer, Gauger, Späth, and Bodamer (2001), OBS has the following characteristics: • Granularity—the transmission unit size (burst) of OBS is between the optical circuit switching and optical packet switching; • Separation between control and data—control information (header) and data are transmitted on a different wavelengths (or channels) with some time interval; • Allocation of resources—resources are allocated using mainly one-way reservation schemes. A source node does not need to wait for the acknowledge message from destination node to start transmitting the burst; • Variable burst length—the burst size is variable; • No optical buffering—burst switching does not require optical buffering at the intermediate nodes (without any delay).

Enable Ireland's National Assistive Technology Training Service develops and delivers a range of training programmes targeting adult AT users, therapists, tutors, families, educators and employers. It also provides local AT Assessment support with a view to skilling up front line teams working directly with AT end users. A key challenge facing all AT users and their support teams is the sourcing of appropriate AT solutions to meet their evolving needs, at home, for communication, in education, in employment or for leisure purposes. Having developed a certified AT training course in partnership with the Dublin Institute of Technology in 2002, from which there are now over 160 graduates working in a range of AT service delivery roles nationally, Enable Ireland's National AT Training Service was asked to contribute to the content of an AT module designed by DIT's School of Engineering, targeting final year students of their degree programme in Product Design. The emphasis of this Product Design module was on the principles of Universal Design and how they can impact on AT design. The form of this collaborative AT module consisted of on-site visits to the AT Training Service where students were given an AT overview, hands on time with a range of electronic assistive technologies, and the opportunity to hear from AT end users about the strengths and failings of currently available AT products, from a design perspective. Product design students then undertook an AT Product Design project and were evaluated by a team of three assessors, who included a front line service provider, an academic tutor and an expert AT user. Corporate sponsorship facilitated the commendation of 5 students annually, in recognition of their achievements in the areas of: innovation; use of mainstream solutions; multi-purpose application of design concept and other criteria. During the second year of this initiative, one Product Design graduate was funded to bring his design concept, a voice output communication device targeting efficient exchange of social conversation, and accessible via switch and/or other access methods, to prototype stage. This paper will outline the steps necessary to bring this innovative collaboration to fruition, the role of AT users in defining the direction of the product design concepts, as well as the pedagogical principles which informed the development of course content. It will focus on the importance of user involvement at the core of the programme, as well as on the insights provided by the expert AT user during the projects evaluation phase. It will also address the benefits of public/private partnership as a method of promoting innovation in third level education, the role that mainstream media can play in promoting this mainstream message and will explore possible options to advance this type of partnership activity between the Health and Education sectors further. At a time when the questions of AT accreditation and of Design For All are central to the mainstreaming of Assistive Technology (with a view to reaching the widest possible audience, using cost effective means), this collaborative model offers some insights into some of the challenges facing service delivery agencies and academics, as well as some of the solutions which may enhance access to AT for all who need it.

This study assessed the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic in motivating digital transformation in the education sector in Zimbabwe. The study tracked the rate at which the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) tools were used by various institutions during the COVID-19 lockdown. Data were obtained from secondary sources. The findings are that, in Zimbabwe, during the lockdown, a variety of 4IR tools were unleashed from primary education to higher and tertiary education where educational activities switched to remote (online) learning. These observations reflect that Zimbabwe generally has some elements of excellence to drive the education sector into the 4IR, which has the potential to increase access. Access to education, particularly at a higher education level, has always been a challenge due to a limited number of spaces available. The pandemic has presented an opportunity to assess successes and failures of deployed technologies, costs associated with them, and scaling these technologies to improve access.

Edge analytics is an approach to data collection and analysis in which an automated analytical computation is performed on data at a sensor, network switch, or other device instead of waiting for the data to be sent back to a centralized data store. Cloud computing has revolutionized how people store and use their data; however, there are some areas where cloud is limited; latency, bandwidth, security, and a lack of offline access can be problematic. To solve this problem, users need robust, secure, and intelligent on-premise infrastructure for edge computing. When data is physically located closer to the users who connected to it, information can be shared quickly, securely, and without latency. In financial services, gaming, healthcare, and retail, low levels of latency are vital for a great digital customer experience. To improve reliability and faster response times, combing cloud with edge infrastructure from APC by Schneider electrical is proposed.

Edge analytics is an approach to data collection and analysis in which an automated analytical computation is performed on data at a sensor, network switch, or other device instead of waiting for the data to be sent back to a centralized data store. Cloud computing has revolutionized how people store and use their data; however, there are some areas where cloud is limited; latency, bandwidth, security, and a lack of offline access can be problematic. To solve this problem, users need robust, secure, and intelligent on-premise infrastructure for edge computing. When data is physically located closer to the users who connected to it, information can be shared quickly, securely, and without latency. In financial services, gaming, healthcare, and retail, low levels of latency are vital for a great digital customer experience. To improve reliability and faster response times, combing cloud with edge infrastructure from APC by Schneider electrical is proposed.