ABSTRACT
Background: Cancer patients are at high risk of severe COVID infection and recommended at least three doses of SARS-CoV2 mRNA vaccines. Various anti-neoplastic treatments may affect long-term vaccine immunogenicity. Methods: Patients with solid or haematological cancer were recruited from two Singapore hospitals between July 2021 and March 2022. GenScript cPASS surrogate virus neutralisation assays measured antibody responses, which were correlated with clinical outcomes obtained from medical records and national mandatory-reporting databases. Results: In total, 273 patients were recruited (40 with haematological malignancies and the rest solid tumours). Two-hundred and four patients (74.7%) were receiving active cancer therapy: 98 (35.9%) receiving systemic chemotherapy and the rest targeted or immunotherapy. All patients were seronegative at baseline. After receiving one, two and three doses of SARS-CoV-2-mRNA vaccination, seroconversion rate was 35.2%, 79.4% and 92.4% respectively. After three doses, patients on active treatment for haematological malignancies had lower antibodies (57.3%±46.2) as compared to patients on immunotherapy (94.1%±9.56, p<0.05) and chemotherapy (92.8%±18.1, p<0.05). SARS-CoV-2 infection was reported in 77 (28.2%) patients of which 18 were severe. Conclusion: This study demonstrates high immunogenicity of three doses of vaccines and protection against severe infection in cancer patients.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has created many formidable challenges for educational institutions around the world. This case study sought to gain insight into South Korean university students’ satisfaction with online learning during the pandemic. It also obtained participant recommendations for improving online learning. Participants included 20 South Korean students studying at a university in central South Korea. Data included open-ended surveys, a focus group, and semi-structured interviews. Most students had mixed feelings in regard to satisfaction with online classes. A salient result is a need for more interaction in online classes. Students also provided a wide range of recommendations to improve online learning. Through these recommendations, university educators and administrators can better optimize online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and after the crisis has dissipated. © 2022, Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many educators had to transition from face to face to online classes. Zoom has become a popular platform for live, online classes in different educational contexts including English language learning. This phenomenological study sought to gain insight into South Korean students’ satisfaction with Zoom breakout rooms in English communication classes. Participants included 25 undergraduate students attending English communication classes at a university in central South Korea. Data collection comprised an open-ended survey, a focus group, and individual interviews. Data analysis centered on examining significant statements and developing themes. The results of this study indicate that most students were satisfied with using Zoom breakout rooms for EFL classes. Further, students expanded on various benefits of using Zoom breakout rooms and provided recommendations for improvement. This paper concludes with practical implications and suggestions for future research pertaining to the use of Zoom breakout rooms in EFL classes. © 2021 KASELL All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The onset of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) during the winter of 2020 presented challenges for education including transferring courses online, which gave experienced online lecturers an inherent advantage over their less tech-savvy counterparts. Online teaching poses challenges and affords opportunities for EFL instructors who rely on live communication for pronunciation and speech lessons. To help newcomers overcome the steep learning curve associated with computer-assisted language learning (CALL), this study maps expected benefits, challenges, and strategies of implementing an online EFL course among teachers with different levels of online teaching experience. A group of 43 EFL university instructors teaching communication courses in South Korea completed a survey measuring benefits and challenges for teachers, benefits, and challenges for students, communication channels, and activity types. Analysis of variance across no-, low-, and high-experience groups revealed several findings. Key differences between experience level included expected challenges for instructors and activity choice. Those with online teaching experience perceived fewer obstacles and used a wider array of communication channels and activities when doing so. All groups reported similar levels of expected benefits for instructors and teachers and challenges for students. The most popular benefits, challenges and strategies, and differences between the no-and high-experience groups are discussed and recommendations for future teacher training are given. © 2020, CALL-EJ. All rights reserved.