Disrupting the Technology Adoption Spectrum: Thinking Creatively about Faculty Technology Use

Faculty development at Smith College is grounded in research that has included the use of the well-known technology adoption spectrum that ranks technology adopters from laggard to innovator. Where faculty fall on this spectrum has informed our educational technology collaborations across campus. However as we used this spectrum we found that it was not a great fit with our approach and sometimes created a barrier to more creative ways of thinking about the sophistication of educational technology use. In order to gain a more nuanced understanding of faculty technology adoption at Smith, we embarked on a year-long research study called “The Landscape of Educational Technology at Smith College.” We surveyed faculty about their technology use in teaching and conducted follow-up focus groups that explored where faculty placed themselves on the technology spectrum and why. One of our main findings was that the traditional educational technology spectrum did not apply to our cultural context. In fact, this study allowed us to disrupt the linear nature of this spectrum and develop what we call a “recipe” model of understanding technology use. In this model, the sophistication of the outcome is a direct result of the combination of technology and pedagogy - allowing for a broader range of faculty to be viewed as (and to view themselves as) technologically sophisticated – even when the tools themselves are not. In this session we will share the results of our study (which reached 47% of our faculty and spanned 22 academic departments) and practical examples of how these data allowed us to develop a more meaningful faculty development plan. We will also discuss how disrupting the linear technology spectrum has become an essential part of our work and of our “recipe” model

Disrupting the Technology Adoption Spectrum: Thinking Creatively about Faculty Technology Use

Faculty development at Smith College is grounded in research that has included the use of the well-known technology adoption spectrum that ranks technology adopters from laggard to innovator. Where faculty fall on this spectrum has informed our educational technology collaborations across campus. However as we used this spectrum we found that it was not a great fit with our approach and sometimes created a barrier to more creative ways of thinking about the sophistication of educational technology use. In order to gain a more nuanced understanding of faculty technology adoption at Smith, we embarked on a year-long research study called “The Landscape of Educational Technology at Smith College.” We surveyed faculty about their technology use in teaching and conducted follow-up focus groups that explored where faculty placed themselves on the technology spectrum and why. One of our main findings was that the traditional educational technology spectrum did not apply to our cultural context. In fact, this study allowed us to disrupt the linear nature of this spectrum and develop what we call a “recipe” model of understanding technology use. In this model, the sophistication of the outcome is a direct result of the combination of technology and pedagogy - allowing for a broader range of faculty to be viewed as (and to view themselves as) technologically sophisticated – even when the tools themselves are not. In this session we will share the results of our study (which reached 47% of our faculty and spanned 22 academic departments) and practical examples of how these data allowed us to develop a more meaningful faculty development plan. We will also discuss how disrupting the linear technology spectrum has become an essential part of our work and of our “recipe” model

Inherent change in MammoSite applicator three-dimensional geometry over time

Accelerated partial breast irradiation is commonly done with the MammoSite applicator, which requires symmetry to treat the patient. This paper describes three cases that were asymmetric when initially placed and became symmetric over time, without manipulation

Accelerated partial breast irradiation: the case for current use

The treatment of early stage breast cancer is evolving from traditional breast conservation techniques, employing conventionally fractionated whole breast irradiation, to techniques in which partial breast irradiation is used in an accelerated fractionation scheme. A growing body of evidence exists, including favorable findings. Additional studies are under way that may ultimately prove equivalence. The logic behind this approach is reviewed, and the currently available data are presented to support the current use of carefully applied partial breast irradiation techniques in appropriately selected and informed patients

Sacrococcygeal chordoma in a 9-year-old boy

A case of sacrococcygeal chordoma in a 9-year-old boy is presented. The symptoms at presentation were pain in both legs and sacrococcygeal region for the last two years that increased in the last four weeks irradiating mainly to the left leg. X-ray and CT scan examinations of the lumbar region revealed an expansive process in the coccygeal region with multiple calcifications and a partially eroded coccyx. There was no invasion of the retroperitoneum and regional lymph nodes. A biopsy was performed and showed cords and nests of cells with large cytoplasm, sometimes vacuolated, nuclei with moderate pleomorphism and clumped chromatin. Immunohistochemistry with avidin-biotin peroxidase technique showed positivity for CK, S-100 protein, CEA, vimentin and to EMA. Chordomas are a distinctly uncommon neoplasm in the first two decades of life, specially in the sacrococcygeal region. They have an aggressive behavior. Treatment of choice is complete resection.Os autores apresentam um caso de cordoma sacroccígeo em um menino de 9 anos de idade. O paciente foi admitido no hospital com história de dor na região sacral e nos membros inferiores com dois anos de evolução, piorando nas últimas quatro semanas. O exame físico revelou atrofia muscular moderada em ambos os membros inferiores, diminuição do reflexo patelar e presença do sinal de Lasègue à esquerda. Os exames de imagem da região lombar mostraram um processo expansivo na região sacrococcígea com erosão parcial do coccix e focos de calcificação, sem evidência de metástases para linfonodos regionais. Foi realizada biópsia diagnóstica que mostrou neoplasia formada por cordões e ninhos de células de citoplasma amplo, por vezes vacuolado, com núcleos moderadamente pleomórficos com cromatina grumosa. O estudo imuno-histoquímico revelou positividade para CK, proteína S-100, CEA, vimentina e EMA. Cordomas são tumores raros que representam em torno de 2% de todas as neoplasias malignas do osso. Os locais de maior acometimento são as extremidades da coluna espinhal e são incomuns nas primeiras duas décadas de vida, especialmente na região sacrococcígea

Doses to internal organs for various breast radiation techniques - implications on the risk of secondary cancers and cardiomyopathy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Breast cancers are more frequently diagnosed at an early stage and currently have improved long term outcomes. Late normal tissue complications induced by adjuvant radiotherapy like secondary cancers or cardiomyopathy must now be avoided at all cost. Several new breast radiotherapy techniques have been developed and this work aims at comparing the scatter doses of internal organs for those techniques.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A CT-scan of a typical early stage left breast cancer patient was used to describe a realistic anthropomorphic phantom in the MCNP Monte Carlo code. Dose tally detectors were placed in breasts, the heart, the ipsilateral lung, and the spleen. Five irradiation techniques were simulated: whole breast radiotherapy 50 Gy in 25 fractions using physical wedge or breast IMRT, 3D-CRT partial breast radiotherapy 38.5 Gy in 10 fractions, HDR brachytherapy delivering 34 Gy in 10 treatments, or Permanent Breast ¹⁰³Pd Seed Implant delivering 90 Gy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>For external beam radiotherapy the wedge compensation technique yielded the largest doses to internal organs like the spleen or the heart, respectively 2,300 mSv and 2.7 Gy. Smaller scatter dose are induced using breast IMRT, respectively 810 mSv and 1.1 Gy, or 3D-CRT partial breast irradiation, respectively 130 mSv and 0.7 Gy. Dose to the lung is also smaller for IMRT and 3D-CRT compared to the wedge technique. For multicatheter HDR brachytherapy a large dose is delivered to the heart, 3.6 Gy, the spleen receives 1,171 mSv and the lung receives 2,471 mSv. These values are 44% higher in case of a balloon catheter. In contrast, breast seeds implant is associated with low dose to most internal organs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The present data support the use of breast IMRT or virtual wedge technique instead of physical wedges for whole breast radiotherapy. Regarding partial breast irradiation techniques, low energy source brachytherapy and external beam 3D-CRT appear safer than ¹⁹²Ir HDR techniques.</p

Surgical perspectives from a prospective, nonrandomized, multicenter study of breast conserving surgery and adjuvant electronic brachytherapy for the treatment of breast cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) may be used to deliver radiation to the tumor bed post-lumpectomy in eligible patients with breast cancer. Patient and tumor characteristics as well as the lumpectomy technique can influence patient eligibility for APBI. This report describes a lumpectomy procedure and examines patient, tumor, and surgical characteristics from a prospective, multicenter study of electronic brachytherapy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study enrolled 65 patients of age 45-84 years with ductal carcinoma or ductal carcinoma in situ, and 44 patients, who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria, were treated with APBI using the Axxent^®electronic brachytherapy system following lumpectomy. The prescription dose was 34 Gy in 10 fractions over 5 days.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The lumpectomy technique as described herein varied by site and patient characteristics. The balloon applicator was implanted by the surgeon (91%) or a radiation oncologist (9%) during or up to 61 days post-lumpectomy (mean 22 days). A lateral approach was most commonly used (59%) for insertion of the applicator followed by an incision site approach in 27% of cases, a medial approach in 5%, and an inferior approach in 7%. A trocar was used during applicator insertion in 27% of cases. Local anesthetic, sedation, both or neither were administered in 45%, 2%, 41% and 11% of cases, respectively, during applicator placement. The prescription dose was delivered in 42 of 44 treated patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Early stage breast cancer can be treated with breast conserving surgery and APBI using electronic brachytherapy. Treatment was well tolerated, and these early outcomes were similar to the early outcomes with iridium-based balloon brachytherapy.</p