Virtual Reality for Software Engineering Presentations

Due to the impact of the pandemic situation, applying online learning methods become an immediate response to tackle the difficulties in teaching and learning, including software engineering courses. Online video meeting platforms (e.g., MS Teams, Webex) are popularly adopted as a medium between instructors and students to conduct online learning classes and they have been modified to provide functions supporting remote teaching and learning activities such as the breakout rooms for conducting group activities. However, maintaining student engagement is still a challenging problem in online learning. Especially, drawing students' attention and enhancing their experience during in-class activities (e.g., project presentations, group discussions) is critical to achieving of activities' objective. Virtual Reality (VR) has been considered to be a potential answer to this online teaching and learning enhancement. This study evaluates the benefit of adopting VR in software engineering class presentation activities. The evaluation result from 3 courses shows that VR improves the online learning and presentation experience by offering visual attractions and presence to students. © 2022 IEEE.

Mariotel: A web-based virtual remote computer science lab

This paper reports on the design, development and first use experience of Mariotel: a free-software project for deploying virtual remote computer science labs simply accessible from ordinary web browsers. Mariotel platform has been developed during the first generalized lockdown period due the Covid-19 pandemic situation. Simplicity has been the main principle that guided the design and development process of Mariotel. We show that this principle has largely contributed to the quick adoption of this new platform. The system has been successfully used at USPN since 2020. 42 different teachers have used the platform in order to supply ensure 9989 lab sessions, each has in average three hour duration. © 2022 IEEE.

Aprendizaje en línea durante COVID-19 con estudiantes de ingeniería de zonas rurales marginadas en México

COVID-19 has affected education worldwide, in Mexico. In this study, the impact of the extraordinary online modality because of the pandemic on the accreditation of courses for engineering students was evaluated, of the 64 students officially registered in three courses of microbiology, only 90% registered on the Moodle platform to take the online course, 71% of the dynamics were delivered, 67% of the final project and 80% of the delivery of the team’s activities were not reached, there was an approval of 54%. Some problems were that videoconferences were not attended and assignments were not turned in. IEEE

The E-Learning Effect on Learning Activities during Covid-19 Pandemic in Higher Education

The study aimed to identify factors influencing learning limitations using e-learning methods during the Covid 19 pandemic. The changes in learning methods previously carried out face-to-face to online learning methods. using online learning methods there are several obstacles in using online learning methods, starting from the internet which is less stable which can cause disruption of the learning process. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is the model used to analyze. This research used purposive sampling as research methodology and this data collected with questionnaires and the respondents specifically chosen from students in higher education with various majors. As a result of this study, e-learning has had a significant impact on the learning process, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. When meeting in person is not possible, e-learning becomes a solution to support the learning process in an ongoing manner. © 2022 IEEE.

Online Learning in Times of COVID-19 With Engineering Students From Marginalized Rural Areas in Mexico

COVID-19 has affected education worldwide, in Mexico. In this study, the impact of the extraordinary online modality because of the pandemic on the accreditation of courses for engineering students was evaluated, of the 64 students officially registered in three courses of microbiology, only 90% registered on the Moodle platform to take the online course, 71% of the dynamics were delivered, 67% of the final project and 80% of the delivery of the team’s activities were not reached, there was an approval of 54%. Some problems were that videoconferences were not attended and assignments were not turned in.

PEDATI Learning Design to Develop Asynchronous Online Learning Methods During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in the implementation of learning switching from face-to-face to virtual face-to-face and or online asynchronous. Online learning Asynchronous requires both teachers and students to be able to adapt to distance learning independently and collaboratively. However, one of the independent and collaborative learning strategies is the application of PEDATI learning designs to develop online learning methods asynchronous. PEDATI learning design is an abbreviation of PElajari-DAlami-Terapkan-evaluasI. This study aims to describe the application of PEDATI learning design to develop online learning methods asynchronous in elementary schools in Banjarmasin City. The subjects of this research are teachers and students who develop online learning methods asynchronous in elementary schools Central Banjarmasin District, while the object of this research is how to apply PEDATI learning designs into online learning methods asynchronous during the Covid-19 pandemic. The research method used is descriptive qualitative with primary data collection techniques are observations and interviews and secondary data sources are literature studies. Test the validity of the data by using the triangulation technique of data sources and extending the participation of informants. The data analysis technique used the Spradley braid analysis model. The results showed a positive response from partner institutions to participate in the participation extension program, seen from the effectiveness of the question-and-answer session between the instructor and training participants in the "very satisfied"category, as well as the content of Google Classroom virtual classrooms that had implemented PEDATI learning designs in the "eligible"category. © 2021 IEEE.

@Home collective(ly): Opening doors and doing books with literacy-cast

Although isolating, lockdown also created unexpected opportunities for connection and inspiration. This article describes the lockdown literacies of a sibling pair, Marco and Mara, as they wrote digital texts/books for Literacy-Cast, a virtual, interactive literacy space offered by Appalachian State University from March 2020-present. Since lockdown began, this virtual space has been enacted 4-5 days weekly with 70-250 participants logging in from “home” to co-construct a multigenerational, multilingual, geographically-dispersed community engaged in reading, writing/composing, making, speaking, and listening. Literacy-Cast was imagined, built, and enacted collaboratively among faculty, laboratory school teachers, graduate-level teacher candidates, and children (and families) in grades K-5. We hear a lot about the limitations of virtual classrooms/learning (e.g., COVID “learning loss,” lack of engagement, unequal access), particularly in relation to historically marginalized communities, but rarely are we offered counter-narratives: examples where young children who live and go to school in these communities shaped the creation of new virtual spaces/places by making visible meaningful “at home” literacy/language practices, cultural artifacts, and people. Through invitations embedded in the multimodal texts/books shared on Literacy-Cast’s digital bookshelf, children brought the community into their homes–bedrooms, kitchens, backyards, back porches, and backseats, reframing “home visits'' as sites/events for new kinds of community knowledge production. Research about home visits, educators visiting students’ homes to learn about children’s lives, has documented the impact of home environment awareness on school interactions, improved relationships between caregivers and teachers, typically focused on intervention supporting school-based achievement and school practices, often with unidirectional flow from school-to-home;however we conceptualize Literacy-Cast’s daily activity as multidirectional “home visits,” where invitations to come over and play, read, and write together brokered relationships and strengthened a gamut of literacy practices for all participants. Through collaborative ethnography, we explore ways “home” (e.g., objects/people/practices/languages/events) became tools/co-authors for children’s digital composing/making and, ultimately, home/community-making. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Early Childhood Literacy is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Instructor's perceptions of college learners engagement online during the COVID-19 pandemic

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore how Higher Education Institutions' (HEIs) instructors perceived the engagement of college learners with instructional practices online during the COVID-19 Pandemic at a college in New York. Underpinning the study was the engagement theory framework, which focuses on the use of collaborative (relate), problem (create), and service (donate) based instructional practices that promote learning in an online setting. Three research questions were identified: (1) What are Higher Education Institution (HEI) instructors' perceptions of college learners' engagement with instructional practices in the online learning environment considering the engagement theory component "relate?" (2) What are Higher Education Institution (HEI) instructors' perceptions of college learners' engagement with instructional practices in the online learning environment considering the engagement theory component "create?" (3) What are Higher Education Institution (HEI) instructors' perceptions of college learners' engagement with instructional practices in the online learning environment considering the engagement theory component "donate?" Fifteen faculty members from a college in New York participated in this study. A COVID-19 Faculty Survey, semi-structured interviews, and a focus group were used to assess instructors' perceptions of student engagement. The findings in the present study indicated that exposing students to activities where they can work collaboratively, in teams solving problems, and where they can transfer learning through service to their communities can increase student engagement in online learning. Recommendations for future practice suggested that as the COVID-19 Pandemic continues, the educational community must identify and implement instructional practices and faculty development that can effectuate student engagement and effective teaching. Future research may use a phenomenological approach and might provide instructors with insight that could be used to identify aspects of instructional practices that engage students. Further research might provide instructors with insight and recommendations for effective lesson delivery or differentiation to address student engagement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Between Awareness and Acceptance: a more mature School Teachers' Perspective on Integrated Learning one year after the pandemic outbreak

One year after the outbreak of the pandemic that provoked a forced and massive adoption of technology enhanced learning practices, followed by a continuous evolution of their delivery modalities (on-line learning, blended learning, parallel blended learning, hybrid learning) and, finally, by a strong commitment to come back to a "new normal", we have investigated, by mean of a survey, the evolution of: a) perceptions and perspectives of Italian school's teachers about integrated learning;b) the undergoing innovation process characterized by unprecedented features and vastness. The exploration has been conducted by integrating perspectives and factors introduced in the past by several models - TAM, UTAUT, DOI, TOE, KAM - to describe technology innovation and adoption processes. We observed a higher perceived teachers' technological and pedagogical preparation, together with a higher readiness of the schools to react to unexpected events or sudden prescriptions. A readiness that should be ascribed mainly to the quality of the management and to an increase in the level of collaboration and cohesion among the actors of the learning process, rather than to an enhancement of the technological infrastructures. Collaboration, indeed, emerges as the main peculiarity of this last year, an engine capable to foster the spread of competences and a beacon capable to guide the choice of teaching practices. The influence of contextual factors appears not relevant and that of the "perceived values" somewhat marginal. As far as the innovation process: the awareness phase developed satisfactory and, in parallel, the acceptance phase also started. The possible transition to the adoption phase appears uncertain and not easy to characterize. At the time of the survey, however, the teachers perceived, the integrated learning as a modality that could be used in the future to realize 36% of the school activities.

Strategies for teaching idea generation for project-based learning and adapting these approaches to an on-line environment

Problem solving is a key skill for engineers and innovative problem solving relies on effective idea generation. Over several years a blended learning approach to teach idea generation has been developed at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. This article describes the approach which includes an on-line pre-workshop module followed by an in-person workshop. In the workshop students work in teams and generate ideas for a given scenario using different idea generation methods. Ideas are then shared, and students reflect on the methods they have used. In 2021 the in-person workshop was moved on-line due to a Covid-19 lockdown. The workshop was redesigned to use breakout rooms in Zoom and Google Docs were used to enable students within the team to share their ideas in a safe environment, while at the same time allowing staff to monitor progress and offer assistance when needed. While the on-line workshop was successful at teaching idea generation techniques, it was not possible to replicate the same environment as the in-person workshop. © WIETE 2022

Beyond “carrots” and “sticks” of on-line learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Case of Uganda Martyrs University

Listening and appreciating the views of the academic staff and students is critical in a learning period characterised by abrupt changes in the mode of classroom delivery where the traditional classroom teaching and learning is replaced by virtual classes. This study explored the “carrots” and “sticks” of on-line learning experienced by both academic staff and students at Uganda Martyrs University in Uganda. The study used a qualitative research approach involving in-depth interviews for academic staff and focus groups with selected university students from three academic Faculties. The study results showed that both students and academic staff found on-line learning beneficial in terms of incurring reduced transport expenses and chances of getting infected with Covid-19 due to reduced physical mobility. Due to increased use of technologies, the participants became more innovative and conscious in time use during the teaching-learning process. However, the effectiveness of on-line learning was limited by the challenges of limited data, unreliable internet connection, failure to record lectures, few zoom links at Faculty level, limited class control, and unstable attendance by students. Results further revealed the challenges of time constraint for computational subjects, assessment challenge, limited skills and knowledge in using , limited consultations, and speedy lecturers. The results provide valuable information on the progress in adjusting to the demands of the “new normal” in higher education teaching and learning. Concerted efforts of institutional leadership, academic staff and students should be the norm especially in acquiring and using ICT Infrastructure to enable academic staff and students’ transit to the “new normal”.

Is Online Learning Method Better than Traditional Method in Customer Psychology Course Regarding Academic Results?

Thanks to the rapid advancement of technology, online learning is a part of many institutions' course offerings around the world. The transition from traditional method to online learning method has been occurring in every country in the world, especially in today's context where the pandemic of the COVID-19 is still affecting the world's education. In this study, the author analyzes and compares students' academic results of Customer psychology course employed traditional method and online learning method at a vocational institution in Hanoi, Vietnam. The author uses a simple statistical method to process the data. The secondary data used in the analysis are collected from the Department of Academic Affair at the studied institution. The research results show that the traditional teaching and learning method brings good learning outcomes for students. Specifically, the pass rate is high, the fail rate is low and so is the ineligibility rate. With online learning method, the academic results are a bit worse compared to traditional method regarding the pass rate and fail rate, but the percentage of students who are eligible to take the test is higher than the traditional method. In general, the online learning method with its prominent benefits still brings positive results for students. If the institution continues to implement this method, it is necessary to make some adjustments. © 2021 Association for Computing Machinery. All rights reserved.

Case study: An exploratory-descriptive study on the engineering students' perceptions about online assessment during the COVID-19

To ensure high-quality educational processes, more educational research should be developed about student experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the student's perception about distance learning education (under the current situation) could be used as input for instructors and educational institutions to guide their distance learning process. The primary aim of this research is to explore engineering undergraduate student's perceptions about the online assessment methods during the COVID-19 age. This paper presents an exploratory-descriptive study based on content and quantitative analysis tools. The main findings of this research concern the factors perceived as the main differences between the face-to-face and online assessment by a group of engineering students during the current pandemic. These factors are: teaching presence, self-efficacy, autonomy, teamwork, and coherence between assessment and class. Furthermore, in the analyzed state-of-the-art, the last three factors have not been reported. These results will be used to guide the improvement of future online assessment methods in our engineering school. © 2022, Rajarambapu Institute Of Technology. All rights reserved.

A GLOBAL GLANCE AT COVID-19 EDUCATION PROCESS AND CONSIDERING TURKEY’S COVID-19 RESPONSE

Coronavirus disease which spread around the world from China where it emerged in the early months of 2020, is a severe, fatal, and highly infectious disease mostly resulting in severe acute respiratory and related syndrome. In this context, following the school closures on a global scale, millions of students needed to catch up with the rest of the curriculum on-line or continue learning distantly under the guidance of their instructors through on-line learning tools, do various on-line assignments from other on-line sources alternatively depending on their preferences. The study aims at detailing the Covid-19 process for K-12 education in the world in contrast with Turkey. The study mentions some common distance education characteristics on global scale and that education response of Turkey was highly effective compared to many others. The inferences can lead the education specialists in terms of helping their governments create smoother and more in-line situations for distance education for “new-normal” processes. © 2022, Milli Egitim. All Rights Reserved.

Behaviors of Online Learners: A Case Study

This research envisages findings from observations on the behaviors of online learners. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, universities and colleges were forced to use online learning methods, even in places wherein such learning techniques were not previously utilized. However, in 2021, after one year of experience, institutions and students became accustomed to online teaching and learning. Consequently, the behaviors of online learners have a certain resemblance to their behaviors in person face-to-face class situations. This research illustrates the findings on the behaviors of online learners from a case study on a medium-sized private college in rural Japan. © 2021 IEEE

Developing social presence in online learning among nurses: Exploration of the community of inquiry models domain of social using a qualitative descriptive design.

There is marked increase in the demand for online learning in nursing curriculums. However, online learning has been criticised for being detached and impersonal resulting in low levels of engagement. In a world that is rapidly shifting to online learning as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic creating quality online learning environments has become more pressing. The Community of Inquiry (COI) is a well-established model used to frame online environments in many disciplines including nursing. The COI model proposes that social, cognitive and teacher presences must exist in the online learning space for learning to occur. It is argued that social presence remains less understood despite being one of the essential elements. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to understand how facilitators and participants engage with and use a social presence in an online seminar. It is concluded that when facilitators include the use of a social presence in the design of the online learning space in-depth engagement with online content also increases. This can happen rapidly (less than an hour) and continue for several weeks. It is deduced that a social presence enhances a sense of realness among participants of online learning and through an increased sense realness engagement increases.

Rapid Adaptation of Cancer Education in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evaluation of a Live Virtual Statistics and Research Skills Workshop for Oncology Trainees.

Due to COVID-19, an annual interactive statistics and research methodology workshop for radiation oncology trainees was adapted at short notice into a live virtual format. This study aimed to evaluate trainee opinions around the educational value of the workshop, logistical aspects and impact on interactivity. A post-course on-line survey was completed by 26/42 trainee attendees (response rate 62%). For five pre-specified learning outcomes (LO), 58 to 69% of trainees agreed that the LO was completely or largely met (Likert scores 6 and 7 on a scale 1 = not met at all; 7 = completely met). All trainees felt that logistical aspects of the workshop including organisation, accessibility to the platform and sound/image quality were good or excellent. With regard to opportunities for interaction and suitability for small-group 'break-out' sessions, the majority felt that interaction could be adequately maintained whilst just under a quarter felt the delivery method was not fit for the purpose. Networking/social engagement with peers and teachers was the factor most impaired using the live virtual delivery format. Over three-quarters of trainees replied they would favour the current event or other educational sessions being offered (at least as an option) in a virtual format in the future. Cost and convenience were given as the major non-COVID-19-related benefits of virtual on-line learning. These preliminary findings provide valuable feedback to help adapt or develop further on-line educational and training initiatives that will be necessary in the COVID-19 pandemic period and beyond.

Academic clinical learning environment in obstetrics and gynecology during the COVID-19 pandemic: responses and lessons learned.

COVID-19 pandemic is changing profoundly the obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) academic clinical learning environment in many different ways. Rapid developments affecting our learners, patients, faculty and staff require unprecedented collaboration and quick, deeply consequential readjustments, almost on a daily basis. We summarized here our experiences, opportunities, challenges and lessons learned and outline how to move forward. The COVID-19 pandemic taught us there is a clear need for collaboration in implementing the most current evidence-based medicine, rapidly assess and improve the everchanging healthcare environment by problem solving and "how to" instead of "should we" approach. In addition, as a community with very limited resources we have to rely heavily on internal expertise, ingenuity and innovation. The key points to succeed are efficient and timely communication, transparency in decision making and reengagement. As time continues to pass, it is certain that more lessons will emerge.