The Psychological well-being in Liguria before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the last years, the Ligurian Board of Psychologists have investigated the psychological well-being of the Ligurian citizens, facing an increased psychological discomfort and a high usage of antidepressants in the Ligurian population compared to the Italian population (SISM Reports 2015 - 2018). The current study reports two collections of data on independent samples relevant to the psychological well-being of the Ligurian citizens before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, using an online survey. The results suggest that the pandemic had an impact on citizens' well-being. In particular, a growth of potential depressive disorder and the presence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder were observed. In spite of a diminished perceived psychological well-being, the proportion of individuals that reported using psychological support services didn't increase, especially concerning the male population, who refer to those services to a lesser degree compared to the female citizens. Moreover, data showed that people with a higher education tend to address mental health professionals to a higher degree. Copyright © FrancoAngeli.

Adopting new technologies during the crisis: An empirical analysis of agricultural sector

Research and development in agricultural sector are becoming a crucial issue, especially to answer to growing global market needs and, in general, for rural innovation development. The innovation process involves stakeholders of all levels and rural development requires both personal farmers' characteristics along with favourable socio-political and infrastructural environment. Many countries and governments have executed innovation projects for agricultural firms, involving a number of actors from the public and private sectors. However, the literature lacks of studies that investigate the identification of the main factors that determine the agricultural entrepreneurs' probability to adopt new technologies during a crisis context. Thus, through the adoption of the Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour, this study aims at filling this lack. More specifically, the exploratory empirical analysis focuses on a sample of 130 agricultural entrepreneurs operating in a rural developing Italian region, during the historical context of global pandemic crisis of COVID-19. The results provided several insights showing the factors that influence the adoption of technologies, such as the Attitude to Environmental-Economic Sustainability and the Planned Behavioural Control. An important role is also assumed by the past farmer's technological experience. The paper offers implications for entrepreneurs and public government. © 2022 Elsevier Inc.

The Reaction of the University Ecosystem to the Pandemics in a Mid-East Country: The Case of IRAQ—A Compared Analysis of Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions

This paper presents an exploratory study on the reaction of the Iraqi university ecosystem to the Covid-19 pandemic, a learning ecosystem with no consolidated tradition in distance learning operating in a country where connectivity is granted mainly by a mobile phone infrastructure. The study analyses data collected from questionnaires filled in by 572 teachers and 2746 students belonging to more than 35 different universities and colleges located all over Iraq. The ecosystem was able to switch to distance learning in two weeks and to generate a reasonable level of satisfaction in the teachers and, even more, in the students, despite the problems that have been encountered. The influence of contextual and individual factors on the opinions and future intentions of both teachers and students has been investigated together with the causal network that puts in relation to such factors. The distance learning experience conducted during the first five months of lockdown induced a relevant change in the opinion about the nature of an educational experience, as well a desire to continue to experience distance and blended learning processes, in slightly more than 50% of the respondents. Future challenges are also highlighted. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

A comparative study on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on three different national university learning ecosystems as bases to derive a Model for the Attitude to get Engaged in Technological Innovation (MAETI)

This paper reports the outcomes of a unique investigation coordinated by ASLERD that had the aim of comparing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on three learning ecosystems with different cultural backgrounds and settings: Iraq, Italy and Mexico. Using the same questionnaire translated from Italian to English, Arabic and Spanish, the study has investigated these ecosystems through the lens of University teachers. Despite cultural and infrastructural differences that unavoidably influenced the outcomes, we have detected common effects in the three samples, such as an increase of the working load and a better organization of the time at individual level. Network analysis methods also allowed us to identify some relationships between variables common to the three contexts. In particular, some variables clustered in all samples: a cluster related to the setting (infrastructure and technologies, competences and readiness to respond), one related to the characteristics of the didactic activities, and one related to expectations for the future about use of and involvement in on-line learning. In addition, the reproducibility of classroom dynamics seems to have high betweenness centrality in all three networks. In one case, that of Iraq, we have been also able to include in the causal networks the factors considered by the TAM (Technology Acceptance Model), but the networks appear not to be substantially influenced by the inclusion of TAM variables. On the basis of these results, we propose a Model for the Attitude to get Engaged in Technological Innovation (MAETI), to be used as possible reference framework for future investigation on the effects induced by technologies on use intentions. © 2021, Interaction Design and Architecture(s). All Rights Reserved.

A comparative study on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on three different national university learning ecosystems as bases to derive a Model for the Attitude to get Engaged in Technological Innovation (MAETI)

This paper reports the outcomes of a unique investigation coordinated by ASLERD that had the aim of comparing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on three learning ecosystems with different cultural backgrounds and settings: Iraq, Italy and Mexico. Using the same questionnaire translated from Italian to English, Arabic and Spanish, the study has investigated these ecosystems through the lens of University teachers. Despite cultural and infrastructural differences that unavoidably influenced the outcomes, we have detected common effects in the three samples, such as an increase of the working load and a better organization of the time at individual level. Network analysis methods also allowed us to identify some relationships between variables common to the three contexts. In particular, some variables clustered in all samples: a cluster related to the setting (infrastructure and technologies, competences and readiness to respond), one related to the characteristics of the didactic activities, and one related to expectations for the future about use of and involvement in on-line learning. In addition, the reproducibility of classroom dynamics seems to have high betweenness centrality in all three networks. In one case, that of Iraq, we have been also able to include in the causal networks the factors considered by the TAM (Technology Acceptance Model), but the networks appear not to be substantially influenced by the inclusion of TAM variables. On the basis of these results, we propose a Model for the Attitude to get Engaged in Technological Innovation (MAETI), to be used as possible reference framework for future investigation on the effects induced by technologies on use intentions.

LiSC Model: An innovative paradigm for Liquid Supply Chain

Supply chain is studied all over the world by a number of researchers who propose description models, analyze quantitatively its efficiency and, more recently, create its digital twins. In the last years, according to some unpredictable events which upset the global economy, supply chain showed the capacity to change itself according to the new constraints but, also, the new opportunities raised. Classical models developed to describe supply chain are not powerful enough to model what today I4.0 pillars allow if we use open innovation as an extraordinary amplifier. Thus, the supply chain changes shape and connections. In this perspective, the paper propose and describe a new construct of supply chain called: Liquid Supply Chain (LiSC). It takes into account also the extraordinary effects of pandemic diffusion of Covid-19 virus and its influence on the companies. A critical comparison with other existing models is proposed and discussed. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.. All rights reserved.

The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic seen through the lens of the Italian university teachers and the comparison with school teachers' perspective

In this paper, we report one of the first investigations conducted at the National level with university teachers, with the aim to capture their perceptions about the capability of the learning ecosystems to react to the lockdown imposed by the pandemic and the recourse to on-line learning. The study, conducted about two months after the beginning of the lock-down, shows that: a) learning ecosystems reacted promptly and in a satisfactory manner to assure the didactic continuity at both the systemic and individual level;b) the teaching activities were mainly confined to transmissive excathedra lectures in the attempt to reproduce standard university dynamics;c) the working load increased with respect to face-to-face activities;d) the intention to use on-line learning in the future is driven by preconceptions rather than experiences and by the capability to manage one's own time. The comparison with the outcomes of a similar study conducted with school teachers shows that the latter adopt a broader spectrum of didactic activities (although they still tend to remain in their comfort zone), experienced a heavier increase of the working load, and were more influenced by the situation they experienced. Although both teachers categories recognized the relevance of digital pedagogy, in the case of school teachers - as shown by the causal structure of the variables considered in our studies - it should be urgently included in teacher education curricula, while in the case of the university teachers it appears to be a possible route to support integration of on-line activities with standard face-to-face ones.

The Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Italian Learning Ecosystems: the School Teachers' Perspective at the steady state

This study is one of the first investigations conducted within the Italian school system to capture teachers' perspective, experiences and perceptions about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on school education. It was performed two months after the beginning of lockdown, when online teaching and learning processes were fully in place and had reached a steady state. The paper reports a descriptive analysis together with a network analysis, and the search for causal relationships among the variables that have been investigated. Generally, respondents reported that the reactions of educational institutions and individual teachers were satisfactory, preventing the collapse of the education system in spite of loss of contact with 6-10% of the student population and a significant teacher workload increase that posed individual time management challenges. Although teachers tended to adopt teaching strategies that reproduced standard classroom dynamics, the possibility of operating in this comfort zone generated a positive feeling about using technologies, a perception of increased digital skills mastery and a change in mindset about educational processes. In turn, this led to an increase in the perceived sustainability of online education, with about a third of the teachers expressing the wish to adopt a blended configuration for future teaching activities. Almost all participants recognized the significance of a digital pedagogy and the need to include it in the training curricula to prepare future teachers.