ABSTRACT
To identify the factors supporting online learning under pandemic conditions, a questionnaire based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology was adapted and administered to a sample of 704 Chinese university students. (2020) have shown how students nonetheless tend to benefit from this blended mode of learning, in terms of improved learning outcomes and even increased college graduation rates. Even a very basic online course has several costly requirements, including: a rapid and stable internet connection;a sizeable internet data allowance, to accommodate video content;a screen that is big enough for extended viewing;and a functioning keyboard, for even minimal interactions. Towards improving university student engagement during the current pandemic and future crises, the current research aimed to identify technology and user characteristics predicting Chinese university students' adoption of a specific online learning platform.
ABSTRACT
The current special issue was arranged by Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, during a point of the COVID-19 pandemic when many contingency plans were being made. Keywords: Special issue, Editorial, COVID-19, Information Systems In the middle of 2021, the Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (ISCRAM) Asia Pacific chapter was planning to follow up its very successful 2018 conference in Wellington, New Zealand, with an even more high-profile event in Melbourne, Australia. A framework to study supply chain strategies against global pandemic.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 scenarios were run using an epidemiological mathematical model (system dynamics model) and counterfactual analysis to simulate the impacts of different control and containment measures on cumulative infections and deaths in Bangladesh and Pakistan. The simulations were based on national-level data concerning vaccination level, hospital capacity, and other factors, from the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and the Our World in Data web portal. These data were added to cumulative infections and death data from government agencies covering the period from 18 March 2020 to 28 February 2022. Baseline curves for Pakistan and Bangladesh were obtained using piecewise fitting with a consideration of different events against the reported data and allowing for less than 5% random errors in cumulative infections and deaths. The results indicate that Bangladesh could have achieved more reductions in each key outcome measure by shifting its initial lockdown at least five days backward, while Pakistan would have needed to extend its lockdown to achieve comparable improvements. Bangladesh's second lockdown appears to have been better timed than Pakistan's. There were potential benefits from starting the third lockdown two weeks earlier for Bangladesh and from combining this with the fourth lockdown or canceling the fourth lockdown altogether. Adding a two-week lockdown at the beginning of the upward slope of the second wave could have led to a more than 40 percent reduction in cumulative infections and a 35 percent reduction in cumulative deaths for both countries. However, Bangladesh's reductions were more sensitive to the duration of the lockdown. Pakistan's response was more constrained by medical resources, while Bangladesh's outcomes were more sensitive to both vaccination timing and capacities. More benefits were lost when combining multiple scenarios for Bangladesh compared to the same combinations in Pakistan. Clearly, cumulative infections and deaths could have been highly impacted by adjusting the control and containment measures in both national settings. However, COVID-19 outcomes were more sensitive to adjustment interventions for the Bangladesh context. Disaggregated analyses, using a wider range of factors, may reveal several sub-national dynamics. Nonetheless, the current research demonstrates the relevance of lockdown timing adjustments and discrete adjustments to several other control and containment measures.