Challenges and Opportunities: Dance Education in the Digital Era

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, dance education, which is heavily dependent on a face-to-face model, had to change and continue in a virtual environment. How did the rapid adoption of online technologies affect tertiary dance educators' teaching? More importantly, what were the practical ideas and effective tools/strategies learned to move dance scholarship and practice into a post-pandemic era? This study investigates nine tertiary dance educators from Europe, Oceania, North America, and Asia, who conducted online dance classes during the pandemic. This study has utilized multiple sources of data (images, videos, and writings) from dance educators to explore the challenges, benefits, and innovations in the context of virtual dance teaching. Dance educators have shared their views on teaching dance online: tools they have utilized as well as pros and cons with regards to different pedagogies and learning spaces. Findings indicate that the present online model will have a significant impact on future dance education. This article shares lessons and insights on tools, pedagogies, and strategies, which not only support dance education in a post-pandemic era but can also benefit other practice-based subjects at large. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Online Interactive Flipped Classroom Teaching in Pediatrics for Medical Undergraduates.

OBJECTIVES: To introduce online flipped classroom teaching for medical undergraduates in Pediatrics and to assess students' engagement and satisfaction with the students and faculty with the flipped classroom teaching method. METHODS: An interventional education study was conducted on online flipped classrooms for final-year medical undergraduates. The core team of faculty members was identified, students and faculty were sensitized, and pre-reading material and feedback forms were validated. Students were engaged using the Socrative app, and feedback from students and faculty was collected using Google Forms. RESULTS: One hundred sixty students and six faculty members participated in the study. During the scheduled class, 91.9% of students were engaged. The majority of the students strongly agreed that the flipped classroom was interesting (87.2%) and interactive (87%) and developed an interest in the subject of Pediatrics (86%). Faculty were also motivated to adopt this method. CONCLUSION: The present study revealed that introducing flipped classroom strategy in an online model improved students' engagement and increased their interest in the subject.

A digital divide in direct market farmers' online sales and marketing: Early pandemic evidence from California

The use of the internet for sales and marketing has been on an upward trend in the past decade. The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted an increase in direct market farmers' use of online sales and marketing. This paper analyzes California direct market farmers' use of online sales and marketing technologies during the first ten months of the pandemic to understand (1) how their use interacted with farmers' sales and profitability and (2) which direct market farmers were more likely to use them. Research on farmers' access to online sales and marketing technologies is important since consumers increasingly use the internet to buy or find information about products. The findings are based on 364 responses to an online survey administered in January–April 2021 and 13 follow-up interviews conducted in September 2021–August 2022. We used quantitative and qualitative analyses to answer the following questions: (1) How did the use of online sales and marketing technologies interact with direct market farmers' gross income and profitability between March–December 2020? (2) What barriers did direct market farmers face in accessing online sales and marketing technologies? And (3) What farm and farmer characteristics were most associated with using online sales and marketing technologies in 2020? Our findings show that, between March–December 2020, direct market farmers who had an online presence or added online sales after March 2020 were more likely to increase their sales and profitability than farmers who did not use online sales and marketing at all. However, farmers who used online sales at the start of 2020 and continued using it as a market channel were likely to increase their sales but not profitability. We argue that (1) using online sales and marketing technologies likely helped direct market farmers access markets during the pandemic, (2) there are barriers to accessing these technologies, and online sales may not be the right fit for all direct market farms, (3) many farmers need training and reliable internet to be able to navigate online technologies, and (4) more research is needed to understand how direct market farmers experience and navigate the trend toward market digitalization, and how this is related to already-existing inequalities among direct market farmers.

How Cultural Diversity Influences Students' Online Learning Engagement with Online Technologies - A Narrative Analysis

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic early in 2020, it had versed the learning mode of offline into online teaching and learning in many parts of the world, while students from different cultural backgrounds may have different perceptions and responses toward online learning. Students' engagement, particularly the emotional dimension is discussed in this study to evaluate different students' perceptions about online learning to represent how culture impact on students' online learning by using Bamberg (1997)'s narrative analysis. 48 interviews were held and 2 interviews of their participants from Macau and Mainland China were particularly picked out to represent how students from different cultural backgrounds are going to position themselves in the discourse of online learning engagement with the involvement of online technologies. Through this study, it was found that students from the high-context cultural learning background (Macau) would hold a more positive attitude with online learning activities compared to students from the low-context learning context, position themselves as relaxed online capabilities. While students from a relatively low-context cultural background (Mainland China) eager to pursue high-efficiency of learning, with a negative attitude towards online learning, position themselves as positive efficiency seekers, underestimate the high-ambiguity and low-efficiency of online learning. Hence, after the rough understanding of students' different perceptions of online learning from different cultural backgrounds, this study further proved the influence of different cultures on learning engagement and provided some implications from different perspectives for pedagogical implementation and instructors to improve online curriculum design. © 2022 ACM.

YouTube as a complementary learning tool in times of COVID-19: Self-reports from sports science students.

OBJECTIVES: This study reports on sports science students' educational experience in times of the COVID-19 pandemic and explores their interactions with online technologies, exclusively for learning purposes. METHODS: A total of 181 Tunisian final-year sports science students were surveyed using, a custom-designed questionnaire, following the end of the academic year 2020/2021. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for triangulation and validation of the findings. FINDINGS: Participants reported that COVID-19-induced educational disruptions had detrimental effects on their learning experiences. Even though they deemed emergency remote teaching to be less effective than classroom-based teaching, participants recognized the role technology had played in mitigating the impact of the pandemic on their graduation year. They reported using a wide range of online technologies to complement remote curriculum delivery. Ranking second after Google Meet, with a marked difference from the rest of the list, YouTube seemed to be sports science students' best "learning companion" in times of COVID-19. YouTube helped them better understand instructional content delivered remotely and compensate for the missed opportunities for knowledge and motor skill acquisition. CONCLUSIONS: It is very likely that curriculum-based YouTube videos can smoothen emergency implementation of flipped classrooms during future crises that may force teachers and students into home confinement once again, but further empirical research is needed in this area.

Teaching and learning Arabic as a second language online: A case study of Dubai during COVID-19 pandemic

Enrollment into Arabic as a second language (ASL) in Dubai has increased steadily due to the high influx of expatriates' populations. Although Arabic is the primary language in Dubai, the government has mandated that Arabic be taught in all private schools for non-native Arabic speakers from grades one to nine. This was at the time when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world and it threw this mandated study into the world of teaching and learning via online means. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the teaching and learning of ASL online in Dubai during the COVID-19 pandemic by exploring the role of innovation and technology infusion in teaching ASL, assessing how education stakeholders can motivate students in online learning, and investigating ways of effectively assessing students' progress in online learning. The study utilized a qualitative case study where ten teachers and ten learners in 20 private schools in Dubai were interviewed, having been selected through the purposively sampling technique for the administration of unstructured interviews. The researcher analyzed the data using thematic analysis.There were three major findings in this study. First, the adoption of online digital technologies for the teaching and learning of ASL has a positive influence on online teaching. The adoption of such technologies was successfully carried out with the support of capable infrastructure and efforts by the Dubai government, parents, leaders, and teachers of Dubai schools. Second, students are motivated by their parents and teachers for the adoption of online learning techniques where the learning was made interesting, flexible, manageable, autonomous, and generalized. Third, online learning shifted the focus from quantifiable assessment means such as grades, credits, rankings, and markets to the achievement of learning and teaching outcomes and acquiring the needed skills. The study concluded with recommendations, implications for practitioners, and limitations of the study. It also identified suggestions for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

WeCheat: Algorithm for e-Learning Smart Cheating Detection Using Mean-Shift Clustering

During the COVID-19 pandemic, most people around the world started using internet and online technologies for multiple purposes. A very common digital transformation is online learning or e-learning. Despite its importance, online learning has several issues compared to standard learning. One of the most issues of concern is cheating between students during online exams. This paper aims to address cheating problem by proposing a novel method called WeCheat. It automates the cheating detection process on e-learning platforms, such as Google Forms. The target for the detection of cheating-groups are online exams. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time someone proposes such a system that detects cheating, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. To comply with the set goal, a clustering-based solution is proposed. This Method employs Mean-Shift, a non-parametric and density-based clustering algorithm for this task. Validation of this approach is evidenced by the application which performs excellently on an arbitrary number of features in the cheating detection problem in terms of accuracy. This application helps educational institutions to address cheating cases and at the same time offers the opportunity to focus more on the use of anti-cheating logistics. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

BLENDED LEARNING IMPLEMENTATION DURING TRAINING THE TEACHERS OF SPECIAL EDUCATION IN THE CONDITIONS OF QUARANTINE

The results of research on blended learning (BL) implementation during training the teachers of special education based on the V.O. Sukhomlynsky Mykolaiv National University in the conditions of quarantine are presented. The analysis of a modern experience of using BL in the practical activity of teachers of Ukraine and the world is carried out. The conditions for the effectiveness of BL are determined, namely: technological readiness of the educational institution, IC-competence of teachers and students, appropriate organizational and methodological support of the educational process. Analysis of the state of implementation of BL in the training of teachers of specialty 016 Special education revealed its significant potential with a balanced combination of full-time and distance learning, as well as appropriate organizational, technological, and methodological support. The main shortcomings are related to the inconsistency of classroom forms with online classes, technical support and organization of BL, the level of IC-competence of its participants, unclear assessment criteria, complexity, and sometimes the impossibility of forming important professional skills, in particular, communicative, social, etc. The introduced method of organization and implementation of the educational process under quarantine restrictions is not a technology of BL in its classical sense, but it demonstrated the flexibility and mobility of this form of learning in emergency conditions, helped increase the IC competence of teachers and students, contacts to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic. The results of the study allow considering BL not only as a forced measure related to quarantine but, first of all, as a promising technology that fits into the educational space of high-tech society, can cope with today's challenges and needs further development and implementation.

Cyberbullying detection system focusing on the isiXhosa language

Due to the Covid19 pandemic, and the restrictions placed in social interactions, there has been an upsurge in the use of social networks, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, Twitter, and others. As more people turn to the social networks for social interaction, there has been increased occurrences of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is a type of bullying that occurs through online technology, whereby harmful texts and pictures are shared through social networks. This research project aimed to develop a system that can detect cyberbullying on social networks such as Twitter focusing on the IsiXhosa language. Machine learning algorithms were applied to Twitter feeds in order to detect cyberbullying. The project will help law enforcement to apprehend and prosecute cyberbullies that make threats using isiXhosa. The methodology used incorporated machine learning algorithms to fully implement the cyberbullying detection system. It starts with collecting the data from Twitter using Python, cleaning the data followed by testing the data. The results show that the implementation successfully collected the desired data from Twitter and the data was then pre-processed and prepared to be tested using the different algorithms mentioned in the paper. © 2022 IEEE.

How Digitalization Influence Audit Qality during Pandemic of Covid-19

Digitization has permeated all aspects of business, including the public accounting firm and the auditor profession. Plus, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, where auditors are increasingly required to be able to work online, due to rules such as social distancing and other health protocol that suggest online technology use. This condition also requires auditors to change from traditional auditors who are manual to auditors who can use digital devices. Based on these conditions, we conducted research on how digitization and other factors affect audit quality. Our research uses quantitative methods, we use primary data which is distributed using a questionnaire to auditors who work in public accounting firms. Then we used structural equation modeling partial least squares (SEM - PLS) analysis using SMART PLS 3 statistical software. Our results state that digitalization, auditor competence, professional skepticism have a significant effect on audit quality, while locus of control and accountability have no effect on audit quality. © 2021 ACM.

Challenges of using online technology in the pandemic: voices from English language and literacy primary school teachers in central China

The pandemic has brought teachers, young children and their parents lots of uncertainties and challenges in adapting to new teaching and learning environment. Compared with other professionals, teachers might face more challenges in transiting from using a traditional face-to-face teaching method to an online or blended teaching and learning model. This study aimed to explore Chinese primary school English language and literacy teachers' teaching preparation, in particular, their knowledge with regard to incorporating online technologies in learning and teaching. Participants in this project were English language and literacy teachers in central China. The study used a survey with a Likert scale to examine primary school English language and literacy teachers' perceptions of using digital technology in teaching preparation, students' competence development, assessment and professional development (PD) for online teaching. The results confirmed differing perspectives between young teachers and their elder colleagues on the value of using digital technology for online teaching and their PD programmes. A call for PD programmes is also proposed and discussed.

The Education for Sustainable Development, Online Technology and Teleological Rationality: A Game between Instrumental Value and Humanistic Value

The concept of education for sustainable development (ESD) belongs to the latter exogenous type. It was not put forward as an independent concept at first. At present, it is necessary to shift from the approach to an understanding concentrating on sustainable development to an interpretation that focuses on the structure of education. Under the guidance of online technology’s pursuit of efficiency, effect, simplicity and materialization, the process of ESD embedded with online technology has highlighted its value of tools, while lacking rules and guidance of the teleological rationality, hence it cannot achieve the value tendency of humanism which accords with its reason and being good to it. In the course of realistic education, the instrumental value and humanistic value of ESD are always intertwined together, and the value choices of educational entities are often manifested as bounded rationality. Therefore, around the theme of ESD, any two of the players of educational organizations constitute the “evolutionary game with bounded rationality”. Based on the result of an evolutionary game, ESD should pay more attention to the humanization of purpose, the contextualizing of content, the experience of process and the rationalization of technology, to fully realize the return of humanistic value of ESD.

Give Them Grace: An Autoethnographic Study on Instructors' Adaptation to Online Technology in Education as a Result of COVID-19

This research paper describes the study of instructors' experiences in K-12 and higher education as they adapted to new technology while education shifted to an online format as a result of COVID-19. This autoethnographic study sought to understand commonalities in five instructors' attitudes toward online education tools, external variables that affected their adaptation, and their overall perceptions of the technology and its usefulness. The research design was guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Deductive analysis of reflections, interviews, and focus group transcripts demonstrated the presence of TAM constructs in participants' experiences. Participants recognized the usefulness of various technologies and tools but did not inherently view them or the experience of teaching online in a positive way compared to teaching in-person. Participants noted the need to practice empathy with their students and themselves, the effect that external factors (such as administrative support) had on their acceptance of technologies, and the lessons learned on how their instruction has changed as a result of online instruction. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

The Impact of Utilizing Online Technology in The Learning-Teaching Process During the Covid-19 Pandemic on Personal Behavior of Engineering and Non-Engineering Students

The coronavirus 19 pandemic is an extraordinary calamity that has unexpectedly struck across the world. This calamity has changed various aspects of human life activities to prevent the spread of a very dangerous and deadly disease. The role of information technology as a social media for the community is important in reducing direct social interaction between humans. Therefore, transmission of coronavirus 19 can be prevented. With no exception, social life related to the public education activities are changing as well. This study is intended to see the impact of changes in social interaction in the online education process using information technology facilities on the changes in student personality behavior patterns. Students who were the objects of the research are engineering and non-engineering collage students. The purpose of the study to obtain important information about the possibility of changes in the student's personality behaviour patterns after using information technology for some time in the teaching-learning process. It is the first step for further exploration in reducing the negative impact of online technology to support the teaching-learning process during coronavirus 19 pandemic. The results showed that online learning made both engineering and non-engineering students more introversion, antagonist, lack of direction, neuroticism, and closedness to experience. In terms of the differences between engineering and non-engineering students, it is found that online learning encourages engineering students to be more individualistic, asocial, impolite, and irresponsible compared to non-engineering students. In other words, online learning had more effects toward the personality patterns of engineering students than non-engineering students. © 2021 ACM.

The Central Arizona Conservation Alliance Programs: Use of Social Media and App-Supported Community Science for Landscape-Scale Habitat Restoration, Governance Support, and Community Resilience-Building

Land managers are currently faced with a nexus of challenges, both ecological and social, when trying to govern natural open spaces. While social media has led to many challenges for effective land management and governance, the technology has the potential to support key activities related to habitat restoration, awareness-raising for policy changes, and increased community resilience as the impacts of increased use and climate change become more apparent. Through the use of a case study examining the work of the Central Arizona Conservation Alliance’s social media ambassadorship and its app-supported community science projects, we examine the potential and realized positive impact that technology such as social media and smartphone apps can create for land managers and surrounding communities.

Does online technology provide sustainable HE or aggravate diploma disease? Evidence from Bangladesh-a comparison of conditions before and during COVID-19.

Higher education (HE) serves to produce well trained and job-ready graduates. Despite this belief, whether HE produces certificates/qualifications or job-ready graduates-this debate remains unsettled. To date, the current COVID-19 pandemic which erupted in late 2019 continues to create much economic, social and political dislocation throughout the world. Consequently, one outcome for HE during this crisis is the much greater dependence on online/digital technology to deliver courses and programs. Although it is not considered to be a complete substitute, critics argue that education delivered through online technology has expended the 'diploma disease' crisis and subsequently may pose a threat to the viability of producing HE graduates. It has been suggested that this can result in significant long-term problems that may be impossible to recover from. This study was based on a 'empirical survey' where the sample incorporated 240 people in two groups (before and during COVID-19, for a total of 120 in each), and the objective was to examine academic and job-readiness of graduates in greater depth. Findings demonstrate that pre-pandemic students scored poorly academically compared to their post-pandemic classmates. Pre-pandemic graduates, on the other hand, had higher work readiness scores in terms of both aptitude and practical aspects. Furthermore, both groups outperformed their job-readiness scores in terms of learning performance. This raises the question: is it the job of higher education to promote sustainable production of graduates or deliver certificates and degrees? COVID-19 appears to have been utilised by the HE system as an excuse to exacerbate the "diploma disease crisis," a scenario that must be resolved by developing a proper policy framework that allows HE to play the necessary role in an emergency. Meaningful measures should be taken so that online technology is employed properly in this situation.

Online technology: Sustainable higher education or diploma disease for emerging society during emergency-comparison between pre and during COVID-19.

Even as the pandemic rages on across the globe, the notion of shutting down higher education has never been an option; instead, finding ways to circumvent it has led to a greater reliance on online technology delivery of courses and programs. Although this is not meant as a complete substitute, critics argue that online education has widened the 'diploma disease' crisis. They argued that this would lead to serious long-term problems which may become irreversible. This comparative study was conducted using an 'empirical survey' with 120 students from each group (before and during COVID-19, giving a total of 240 samples/students) to conduct an in-depth study of the academic and job-ready performance of graduates. Findings show that pre-pandemic students did poorly academically compared to during-pandemic counterparts. On the other hand, pre-pandemic graduates achieved better job-readiness scores which included both aptitude and practicum. Moreover, both groups achieved well in terms of academic performance compared to their job-readiness scores. This leads to the question: is it the role of HE to value the concept of sustainable production or to produce certificates/qualifications? Apparently, the HE system has used COVID-19 as an excuse to extend the "diploma disease crisis", a situation that must be addressed by devising a proper policy framework.