ABSTRACT
While online learning had traditionally been implemented to aid in-person education, it has recently evolved into a critical tool for remote education. In particular, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the spread of online learning and its significance. However, this wave of innovation in the education field has revealed the lack of research on how online education should be systematically provided and which educational aspects should be considered to enhance learner satisfaction in online settings. With the recent emergence of the Metaverse, VR education is once again proposed as a major tool for online learning despite existing limitations in research which put both systematic and educational aspects into consideration. Hence, this study presents and discusses a research model that converges technology acceptance model, information systems success model, and self-determination theory with the purpose of exploring variables that affect learner satisfaction, mediating the flow theory. Results showed that most variables of both self-determination theory and information system quality within VR education impact learner satisfaction. In particular, learners’ flow—complete immersion in learning—functions as an important mediating variable for learner satisfaction. These findings suggest designing and running a systematic platform that reflects self-directed learning is imperative to bring the best educational practices into the Metaverse. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
While online learning had traditionally been implemented to aid in-person education, it has recently evolved into a critical tool for remote education. In particular, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the spread of online learning and its significance. However, this wave of innovation in the education field has revealed the lack of research on how online education should be systematically provided and which educational aspects should be considered to enhance learner satisfaction in online settings. With the recent emergence of the Metaverse, VR education is once again proposed as a major tool for online learning despite existing limitations in research which put both systematic and educational aspects into consideration. Hence, this study presents and discusses a research model that converges technology acceptance model, information systems success model, and self-determination theory with the purpose of exploring variables that affect learner satisfaction, mediating the flow theory. Results showed that most variables of both self-determination theory and information system quality within VR education impact learner satisfaction. In particular, learners' flow-complete immersion in learning-functions as an important mediating variable for learner satisfaction. These findings suggest designing and running a systematic platform that reflects self-directed learning is imperative to bring the best educational practices into the Metaverse. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
As the demand for social distancing increases due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it becomes hard to have close interaction between people in an office. Thus, this research aims to develop a contactless office assistant robot that offers interactive services using user differentiation. Our robot system utilizes various functions such as image recognition, user tracking, voice recognition, voice utterance, and secondary image output to enable natural interaction with human and configures a task manager to operate the functions as one integrated system at the required timing. For system evaluation, a video survey was conducted on the appearance of the robot, the robot’s functions, and the demonstration service scenario in which our robot plays an automated assistive service to people in a department office located on the university campus. As a result 92% (62 people) of the survey participants evaluated the robot positively. And 57% (40 people) of the survey participants rated this system as effective in preventing infectious diseases. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has changed the medical use of stroke patients. This study evaluated the health-seeking behavior of stroke patients and changes in stroke care services at the time of three domestic COVID-19 outbreaks in Korea using the Korean Stroke Registry (KSR) data. Methods: We reviewed data from patients with acute stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) from Jan 2019 to May 2021. There were three domestic COVID-19 outbreaks (1st: Feb to Mar 2020, 2nd Aug to Sep 2020, 3rd Nov 2020 to Jan 2021). Outcomes included patient characteristics, times from stroke onset to hospital arrival, and in-hospital stroke pathways. Results: The study included 34,271 patients who visited hospitals that contribute to the KSR. In the first outbreak, in Daegu city (the main epicenter), the number of patients decreased by two-thirds compared to the pre-COVID period, and the number of TIA patients was particularly decreased (9.97% to 2.91%). Unlike other regions, the median onset-to-door time increased significantly in the epicenter (361 min vs. 526.5 min, p=0.016), and longer times were common for patients with mild symptoms and who were in their 60s or 70s. The median onset-to-door time increased in the epicenter during the second outbreak, but it was not statistically significant. At the third outbreak, the median onset-to-door time was reduced even in the epicenter compared to the previous one. The number of patients decreased with each outbreak compared to the previous one, but the decrease gradually became smaller. Conclusions: Korean stroke patients in a COVID-19 outbreak region showed clear changes in health-seeking behaviors and showed a pattern of adaptation to the COVID-19 environment. There is a need for continued attention to an appropriate triage system and public education on the importance of early treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Background and purpose: With the wide spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) around the world, not only patients with COVID-19, but also patients with other disease such as stroke have undergone many changes in their health-seeking behavior. Between late February and March 2020, COVID-19 was epidemic in the community of Daegu city and Gyeongsangbuk-do region (D-G region) in Korea. We aimed to clarify the changes in the health-seeking behaviors of stroke patients and stroke care services by region in Korea through analysis of data from Korean Stroke Registry (KSR). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data with acute stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) patients between 2019 and 2020. We compared the stroke onset to hospital arrival (onset-todoor) time of these patients in the D-G region and other regions in Korea during the epidemic period in 2020 (post-COVID-19: February 18-March 31, 2020) and the same period in 2019 (Pre-COVID- 19). In addition, we investigated the in-hospital stroke pathways with the patients. Results: 1,792 patients in pre-COVID-19 and 1,555 patients in post-COVID-19 who visited KSRregistered hospitals were analyzed. Compared to pre-COVID-19, the number of patients registered in KSR decreased in most regions in post-COVID-19. In the D-G region, the number of registered patients decreased by two thirds, and the proportion of patients with TIA decreased significantly. (9.97% to 2.91%). Unlike other regions, the median onset-to-door time increased significantly in the D-G region (361 versus 526.5 minutes, p=0.0084). The proportion of patients with onset-to-door time within 3 hours also decreased significantly (36.45% versus 28.16%, p=0.0485). Patients in their 60s and 70s and mild symptoms (NIHSS score 0 to 3) came to the hospital later. As a result, the patients who underwent thrombectomy also decreased, but the treatment time did not differ between the two periods. Conclusion: During the epidemic of COVID-19, the patients residing in the epicenter showed distinct changes in health-seeking behavior. Appropriate public education about stroke is needed during the COVID-19 pandemic.