ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic changed higher education radically and challenged faculties to adapt their teaching to the new circumstances. The aim of this study is to highlight changes, in particular, the advantages and disadvantages associated with them, and to find out what conclusions were drawn for the future in the three experimental natural sciences of biology, chemistry, and physics at the University of Konstanz (Germany). In a guided interview, the majority of the university teachers in the bachelor's programs were interviewed, and their statements were subsequently categorized. While lectures and tutorials in distance learning were held asynchronously or synchronously online, laboratory courses used a variety of formats. The number of disadvantages cited, as well as the number of university faculty citing the same disadvantage, is greater than for advantages. The most commonly cited drawbacks fall into the areas of workload, communication, feedback, and active student participation. Physical presence and a return to the original learning objectives in the lab courses is wanted by the majority. The results point to commonalities between the science subjects and should encourage science departments to work together on similar problems in similar formats in the future. Furthermore, there is an urgent and ongoing need for the training of natural science teachers in competence-oriented digital teaching. © 2023 by the authors.
ABSTRACT
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected employees across Malaysia to work remotely and in isolation. This crisis has particularly affected employee motivation, which is an important factor in maintaining work performance. The objectives of this study were to investigate the level of employee motivation in the remote working environment in the construction industry during the pandemic crisis, identify the effects of task-oriented and relation-oriented leadership behaviour in motivating employees during the pandemic crisis and determine the moderating role of digital readiness for the relationship between leadership behaviour and employee motivation. A questionnaire survey to 185 respondents was utilised in the data collection exercise. Various statistical analyses were done by using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) software. The findings indicated that task-oriented and relation-oriented leadership behaviour was acquired to maintain employee motivation in a remote working environment during crises. Furthermore, the study confirmed that relation-oriented leadership behaviour influenced employee motivation more than task-oriented behaviour. The employee digital readiness was found to have an insignificant moderating effect between leadership behaviour and employee motivation. The study would contribute to the body of knowledge as there is limited literature on leadership and virtual work regarding leadership behaviour effectiveness and its impact on employee motivation during a pandemic. © 2022, Construction Research Institute of Malaysia. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Across the globe, 2020 terms began under conditions incited by the corona pandemic. Within a relatively short amount of time, universities started to develop and implement online courses for distance learning. The current study is about an online survey at a German university investigating the unique circumstances under which students began the digital 2020 summer term. Of approximately 38 500 students, N = 5563 students from across all institutional faculties took part in the survey. Results indicate how well students are equipped with devices for digital learning, what kind of experiences they have already made with online learning, and how competent they reported feeling regarding digital learning. The study provides important insights into digital higher education during the exceptional pandemic situation. The results are intended to feed into student counselling systems via support by way of access to devices or courses regarding digital skills, or through counselling for students with special social burdens.
ABSTRACT
This exploratory study aims to assess and investigate Brunei Darussalam's readiness in developing and applying big data technologies for its public and private sectors, using the social, technological, environmental, and policy (STEP) framework. The results show that the population are digitally literate (social) and utilise smart devices as well as internet network connectivity that is widely offered by the local telecommunications company (technology). The government of Brunei Darussalam established multiple digital transformation initiatives including implementation of 5G connectivity as well as digital economy masterplan to digitally transformed in the near future (environment). Regardless of the absence of national digital data privacy policy (policy) in Brunei, the recent nation's successful big data application in public sector-BruHealth Application-to contain COVID-19 community spread was achieved. The existence of such policy in the near future will create opportunities for the local private sectors to capitalise on big data technologies to their business strategies.
ABSTRACT
Higher education includes e-learning in addition to on-site learning. Still, the shift to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) as reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic in the summer semester 2020, presented a challenging situation for students. Cross-sectional studies pointed towards higher stress levels of students. However, only a few studies addressed the development of students' stress across several dimensions (joy, worry, tension, demands) within one semester. The current study analyzed trajectories of stress in ERT in relation to age, gender, digital readiness, and experience of loneliness, based on a sample of N = 2795 German students. Latent Growth Curve Models (LGCM) revealed a significant increase in demands, tension and worries and a decrease in joy during the summer term 2020. The development of tension and demands was influenced by age, gender, digital readiness, and loneliness. The decrease in joy and increase in worries could be primarily attributed to digital readiness and loneliness.
ABSTRACT
The implication of the Covid-19 global pandemic is driving the transition of SMEs' business towards digitalization. However, despite the use of the digital platform, many SMEs are unable to survive. Therefore, this study included a focus on Decision Support System (DSS)-based dashboard model as a new feature in assessing SMEs' digitalization readiness. The twenty-four criteria appraisals are regarded in this sense as two views of business and Information Technology (IT) dimensions which include the Fuzzy-Analytical Hierarchy Process Method (F-AHP) for the weighting measurement and Objective Matrix (OMAX) for the performance mapping analysis, and both are embedded in the Business Intelligent (BI) dashboard development. In Riau Province, Indonesia, a total of 118 SMEs were interested in this study and fact thus revealed the general performance of SMEs as rated at an “Average” level of index value 4.95 with comprehensive parameters for index contribution viz., 3.79, 3.84, 7.75, 4.68, 4.32, and 5.43 for Business Activity (BA), Transaction (TC), Marketing (MC), Management (MG), Micro Environment (MI) and Macro Environment (MA) respectively. Furthermore, the dashboard prepares a tracking and analysis system with the graphical diagram extracted from each criteria hierarchy's root cause to sub-criteria. The DSS dashboard's information and knowledge have been developed into a promotional framework for stakeholders relevant to a digital business's success and sustainability performance initiatives. © 2022. All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 crisis revealed the necessity for teachers to have digital skills in order to effectively teach online. Teachers should be able to exploit, use, and apply digital technologies in all educational activities. This paper investigates teachers' perceptions regarding their digital skills for performing their teaching and professional responsibilities during the pandemic. More than eight hundred teachers participated in a survey regarding the use of digital technologies in their teaching and their professional responsibilities. Indicative digital tools that can be used by digital competent teachers are also presented to cover all areas of the teachers' professional activities. Their answers revealed that they mostly used digital tools for finding, evaluating, and developing educational resources as well for teaching. They also used digital tools for self-study, students' assessment, as well as interacting and communicating with students. However, they hardly used digital tools for other teaching activities such as feedback and final evaluation of the students, or revising the educational resources. Finally, they could not deal with long-term planning, management, and development of either their school or education in general. Although it is important for teachers to effectively respond to their daily emergent teaching responsibilities, consideration should also be given to the long-term planning and development of the digital school and digital education in general.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: The emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected organizations differently, leading to adopting alternative business operation models, including digital technologies. The rapid adoption of digital technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates how adaptive technologies intersect with human and social institutions in potentially risky or inequitable ways. However, the sustenance of the digital transformations (DTs) induced by the COVID-19 crisis is still unclear. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the sustenance of DTs accelerated by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic response in the Tanzanian context amid the crisis. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a qualitative approach that included a literature review and semi-structured interviews with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) personnel from selected public institutions in Tanzania. The interviews elicited interviewees’ perspectives on the following: the digital revolution that occurred during the COVID-19 outbreak;how it affects their work;and the country’s future digital landscape. Additionally, a literature analysis established and generalized the practices used by the governments during the COVID-19 crisis. Findings: The results show that there is enormous, colossal press toward adopting digital solutions. The use of digital technologies, such as digital payments, e-commerce, telemedicine and online education, has attracted the attention of businesses and individuals in Tanzania. Consequently, the move has enabled the country to cope with the cascading impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and progressive economic recovery to achieve its development goals. Furthermore, the findings offer policy strategies for taking the induced DTs to the next level and sustaining it. Originality/value: This study reports the lessons from the DTs induced by COVID-19 and their sustenance. It also contributes toward forward-thinking reforms and policy measures that could help Tanzania and the likes harness the DTs'’ potential in the wake of the pandemic. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.
ABSTRACT
Digital transformation has become inseparable from education, and its implementation has broadly increased due to the increased adoption of e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study evaluated the levels and influence of computer anxiety and digital readiness for academic engagement among undergraduate students. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 272 medical students enrolled in a medicine program. Two previously validated instruments were adopted. We examined the association between students' sociodemographic variables, internet use, and perceived academic performance during e-learning and their computer anxiety and digital readiness. The results show a significant effect of gender, age, and internet use on students' computer anxiety and digital readiness. Males' information-sharing behavior and skills outperformed those of females, and students' computer anxiety decreased with increasing age. In addition, the results indicate that the greater the students' internet use, the better their digital readiness for academic engagement. Furthermore, computer anxiety and digital readiness affect students' perceptions of their academic performance in e-learning. The rapid rate of technological advancements and the integration of e-learning into education means that careful attention must be paid to student characteristics as well as their skills. This will allow educators to create a successful, personalized learning framework.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Education, Medical , Students, Medical , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Pandemics , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring term 2020, students faced a sudden change from on-campus learning to online learning with synchronous and asynchronous online courses (emergency remote teaching). To study successfully, students not only needed to be prepared in terms of digital readiness (workspace, IT equipment, previous online learning experiences, and sharing information online), they also faced challenges that pertained to the self-regulated management of external resources (environment structuring, time management, and help-seeking). In the current study, we investigated students' digital readiness for the sudden switch to online learning; differences between students' intended and actual use of external resource management strategies; and the influence of students' digital readiness on their actual use of resource management strategies. Students enrolled in a full-scale, German university (N = 662) answered two online questionnaires (before and in the middle of the term). Descriptive statistics indicated that students seemed to be ready to study online. However, repeated measures ANOVA showed that students were not able to manage their resources during the term as frequently as intended. Finally, separate regression analyses revealed that availability of workspace and IT equipment predicted the use of environment structuring strategies. Additionally, IT equipment and information sharing behavior predicted students' help-seeking. Based on the current results, we discuss implications for the promotion of student self-regulated learning (SRL) in online emergency remote teaching based on both external resources and digital readiness.