Post COVID-19 Pandemic: The New Technology and Tourism Revolution for Tourism Fairs, Festivals and Events

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has helped businesses in hospitality and tourism industry to reduce costs, improve customer services as well as customer experience, enhance the efficiency of business operational and increase customer retention. The impact of Internet on tourism has been widely discussed and analyzed in tourism research. However, specific study on tourism fairs, festivals and events are less touched. During post COVID-19 pandemic, Internet and marketing are the main element of ICT that has powerful impact on tourism fairs, festivals and events. Tourism fairs, festivals and events make people united and social media become a perfect channel for participant to get their first experiences and share it to the Internet users. In addition, mobile communication technology such as mobile tablets and smartphones become significant where ease for individual to keep updated about changes on festivals and events or offer deals from businesses. Thus, essential for business in tourism fairs, festivals, and events to utilize the element of IT effectively for business continuity. In nutshell, the application of ICT in tourism fairs, festivals and events will be helping to speed up businesses' operation and make festivals and events more enjoyable and efficient. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

Impacts of Covid-19 pandemic on agriculture industry in Sri Lanka: Overcoming challenges and grasping opportunities through the application of smart technologies

COVID-19 is currently a global pandemic with worldwide magnitude and transversal implications. In Sri Lanka, during several island-wide curfews imposed since March 2020 and up to now, the agriculture industry's stakeholders and consumers have been coming across several challenges such as food scarcity, dramatic price fluctuations of commodities, and difficulties in searching of market for both product buying and selling. Also, communities have faced challenges related to the timely purchase of planting materials and other agro-inputs (fertilizers and pesticides), loss of income, inadequacy of reliable advices and directions, and market uncertainties, which have demoralized them with no clear way forward. This blockage created a sudden imbalance of the entire value chain of agriculture industry affecting almost all stakeholders. Electronic representation of physical entities-such as local fairs and mega trading hubs driven by computer intelligence services-are believed in this study to be viable solutions to overcome most of the above-mentioned challenges. Therefore, this study proposes a smart-agriculture support system naming it as Electronic Partner for Agro Services (EPAS), which would seamlessly connect farmers, consumers, and other relevant stakeholders of the agriculture value chain in the virtual space electronically. The system intends to regulate price for goods and services while organizing a balanced supply and demand in more informative and intelligent manner, thus provisioning electronic financial accounting facilities for subscribers. Timely dissemination of knowledge, advice, financial services and linking agro-input suppliers are also embedded into the proposed model. The Design Science Research (DSR) Methodology was adopted in this study in developing the EPAS conceptual model. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022. All rights reserved.

Enabling Genuine Connections in a Digital Learning Environment for Students Through Information Communication Technologies

This study introduces initial results concerning a collaborative learning mobile application to mitigate 8th-grade students' learning loss and learning variability. COVID-19's impact on the education system and its shortcomings before, during and after the pandemic was the starting point of this study. The interactive system's concept and design are derived from a collaborative reflection expressed on the school community's daily needs while teaching and learning during the unpredictable circumstances created by the pandemic. Also, by a state-of-the-art comparison of the scarce K-12 e-mentoring systems in combination with the ubiquitousness of various technological mediums, namely mobile devices like smartphones, and their fundamental role in e-mentoring programs could create successful bonds based on knowledge transmission. The OWL CLUB mobile application seeks to curate the knowledge exchange in a more humane and positive digital experience in an educational community. It also allows for creating and growing a space that encourages new genuine connections in a digital positive learning environment for students and their community. © 2023, ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering.

Blended Learning vs. E-learning: Determining the Best Mode of Education from the Perspective of the Learners

The study aims to determine students' perceptions regarding the blended mode of learning in the Post-COVID era of Aligarh Muslim University. An online questionnaire was designed (Google form) with the help of previous studies and forwarded the web link through text messaging, email, WhatsApp, and Facebook. In total, 291 participants (undergraduates, postgraduates, and research scholars) filled out the online questionnaire. The result shows that the blended mode of learning is well accepted by the students, but when it comes to practical classes, this mode surely does not suffice. When it comes to the attitude of the students towards the blended mode of learning, the results suggest that most of the students are comfortable. Further, the blended mode comes with the complexities of e-learning and technical issues like poor internet connectivity, technical problems, limited internet packs, unstructured reading materials, etc., causing many difficulties in the overall learning process. This is the first study that assesses the students' perceptions towards the blended mode of learning in Aligarh Muslim University. The findings may be useful in developing new strategies for improving the learning environment in any academic institution. © 2023, DESIDOC.

Ultraviolet sterilization information provision system of baggage carts and arriving baggage for airports

In this study, we develop a system to provide information on the sterilization of baggage carts and arriving passenger baggage to airport (Hereafter referred as arrival baggage) by using ultraviolet (UV) sterilization and information communication technology as border quarantine measures at airports. This system sterilizes arrival baggage and baggage carts by UV irradiation, and allows passengers to easily view the sterilization information recognized by radio frequency indentation technology. This is to provide safety and security not only to passengers, but also to staff, who may come into direct contact with the arrival baggage, of airport, airline, customs, and so on. In addition, the passengers can be provided with baggage tracking information, such as the current location and estimated delivering time of the baggage. This makes it possible to keep social distancing at baggage claims as an infection prevention. Furthermore, we verify the feasibility of the developed system and identify the issues to be addressed for its practical application through a demonstration of proof of concept at Central Japan International Airport. © 2022 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences

Responding to COVID-19: Privacy Implications of the Rapid Adoption of ICTs

COVID-19 increased reliance on information communication technologies (ICTs) as public and private organizations altered standard business operations to adhere to public health guidance. Across most sectors, technology deployment was swift, which left organizations with little opportunity to assess corresponding impacts. This chapter highlights various technologies implemented during the pandemic within four key sectors, government, education, healthcare, and employment, and the purpose these technologies serve. Social implications of the widespread use of these technologies are discussed, emphasizing privacy, trust, ethics, and potential effects on socially vulnerable populations. Through the Company Information Privacy Orientation (CIPO) privacy framework, this chapter also presents factors that public and private organizations should consider in emergency technology deployment. The chapter closes with research considerations to further understand the role of ethics, privacy, and trust in using ICTs, to facilitate core functions of life, which will continue after the pandemic ebbs away. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Older adult communication types and emotional well-being outcomes during COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The rationale for the present study is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as there are fewer opportunities available for older adults to engage in face-to-face interaction and social activities, which may result in changes in the communication methods with their social contacts. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between methods of social connectedness and emotional well-being outcomes among older adults at the start of the pandemic. METHODS: Two thousand five hundred and fifty-eight older adults Medicare beneficiaries (65 + years of age) in the National Health and Aging Trends Study at wave 10 (June 2020 to January 2021) were selected for cross-sectional analysis. Participants were measured on brief questionnaires regarding forms of communication with family and friends before and during the pandemic. Emotional well-being outcomes were measured on single items of sadness/depressed and loneliness; as well as a 6-item Likert scale of anxiety during the pandemic. Paired sample t-tests were utilized to examine the forms of communication between before and during pandemic. Hierarchical regressions were conducted to assess the relationship between forms of communication and emotional well-being outcomes. RESULTS: We found that there were overall decreases in communication frequency during pandemic. Findings from regression analyses indicated information communication technology (ICT) are associated with negative emotional well-being outcomes, whereas in-person social contact are associated with lower levels of negative affect. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest utilizing higher levels of ICT has negative implications for older adults' emotional well-being, contrasting with the positive implication of in-person contacts. These findings highlight the role of ICT in emotional well-being among older adults during pandemic.

The power of positive deviance behaviours: From panic-gogy to effective pedagogy in online teaching.

This study examines university faculty members' successful behaviours and the factors influencing these behaviours, when dealing with the issues posed by emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was gathered through interviews with 12 carefully chosen instructors who competently prepared and implemented their first online classes despite various challenges encountered during the crisis. Interview transcripts were analysed by applying the theoretical concepts of the positive deviance approach to identify exemplary behaviours in the face of crisis. The results revealed that the participants performed three unique but effective behaviours, called 'positive deviance behaviours', in their online teaching: philosophy-driven decision making informed planning and ongoing performance monitoring. These behaviours were affected by individual factors (e.g., community engagement and emotion management during different phases of emergency remote teaching) and organisational factors (e.g., networks/hardware and training/support). By examining the positive deviance behaviours of instructors who delivered effective classes, this study offers online teaching and faculty development strategies in both crisis and non-crisis situations.

Impact of ICT-Enabled Teaching-Learning Processes in Physical Sciences in Indian Higher Education in Light of COVID-19: A Comprehensive Overview.

The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic has caused a lot of damage to the social, economic and educational infrastructure of the world. The rapid change in the online learning environment calls for the development of effective learning strategies to support student learning. Principally information communication technology (ICT) emerged as a new hope in teaching-learning in streams like science and technology. Especially in the teaching-learning of a challenging subject like physics and its various streams, e.g. mechanics, wave, optics, etc., the use of ICT has increased exponentially due to its unique properties. However, some of its side effects have also been visible during this period. This study presents the feedback, experiences and recommendations of physics teachers regarding the application of ICT in the teaching-learning of physics. This article offers a comprehensive view of the impact of information and communication technology-enabled teaching-learning processes in physical sciences. To accomplish this study, an 18-question questionnaire was circulated among physics teachers across the nation and more than 100 physics teachers participated and recorded their responses. The outcomes of these responses were analysed, and corresponding conclusions with recommendations are presented. This study may be helpful for students, teachers, researchers and policymakers working in this field of ICT-enabled physics education.

Partnerships supporting policies: A social marketing case study of mask supply solutions in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: South Korea was one of the first countries to experience a large outbreak of COVID-19. Early on, public health authorities recommended mask wearing as one of the main preventive measures against the virus. Compared to people in other countries, most South Koreans were willing to follow this recommendation. However, during the early stages of the pandemic, panic buying and vendor hoarding led to a nationwide mask shortage. The problem that needed to be solved was not to change the public's behavior but rather to make masks more available to them. Case description: To stabilize mask supply and demand, the South Korean government implemented a distribution system that limited mask purchases to two per person per week, in a 5-day rotation determined by birth year. The places designated for selling masks included pharmacies, post offices, and marts that had access to data about registered South Korea residents who had and had not bought their allotted masks. Despite this system, supply problems persisted. In different regions of the country, population density and demand varied, and some pharmacies sold out their stocks of masks earlier than others. Recognizing that people needed a more effective system for finding masks, the government made mask inventory data available to companies and the general public. Three weeks later, about 200 mask apps and web services had been launched. Supplies of masks quickly stabilized, and people could more easily find and buy them. In addition, pharmacies were able to sell out their stocks of masks more efficiently. Conclusion: The South Korean case of mask demand and distribution during COVID-19 illustrates how all six of the social marketing components (policy, supplemented by products, price, place, promotion, and partnerships) need to be coordinated for effective mitigation of infectious disease. In particular, this case highlights the importance of public-private partnerships among the government, production companies, retailers, and members of the general public.

Online education via media platforms and applications as an innovative teaching method.

Online teaching has globally become a part of the learning process and has been more well-established in developed countries. In developing countries, online teaching or e-Learning is not practiced or recognized officially by educational organizations and policymakers. On the other hand, it is well-known that computers and technology are the future; in such a case, the advancement of distance-learning or online learning is immensely remarkable. It has reduced teachers' and students' introversion concerning e-learning and technology and has provided a platform for learning new technologies and developing new skills. The recent COVID-19 lockdown impelled governments to start implementing E-learning in schools, which resulted in several challenges. This study attempts to analyze and interpret the challenges and potentials of implementing online learning by surveying through an online questionnaire using 'Google Forms' (N = 968) with responses from high school and primary school English teachers during the first week of March through the last week of April. The findings revealed that most teachers had negative perceptions of implementing e-learning for several reasons, including lack of essential facilities such as electricity, electronic devices, and the absence of required skills. The actual contributions of students and educators are also among the major obstacles. This research suggests introducing Information Communication Technology modules across media platforms and applications in the education departments, opening intensive courses for teachers, and developing educational facilities in the education departments and schools to overcome these limitations and challenges.

Exploring the consequence of information communication technology-enabled work during non-working hours: a stress perspective

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of information communication technology-enabled work during non-working hours (ICT-enabled WNWHs), as a source of stress, on employee behavioral outcomes -in-role job performance, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) that benefit organizations and OCBs that benefit individuals, through emotional responses - work exhaustion, nonwork exhaustion and organization-based self-esteem. As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdowns demonstrated that employees frequently engage in ICT-enabled WNWHs, studying stress induced by ICT-enabled WNWHs is essential for understanding employee adaptation to the work-from-home trend that emerged from COVID-19 lockdowns.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative survey comprising 1,178 employees in China was conducted, and the data reliability and validity were confirmed. Partial least squares structural equation modeling analysis was employed to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe study results empirically proved that, although ICT-enabled WNWHs had significant effects on employee behavioral outcomes, the related emotional responses were the mediators of the stress transmission mechanism that directly affected employee behavioral outcomes. Notably, work exhaustion and organization-based self-esteem partially mediate the stress transmission mechanism, while nonwork exhaustion exerts a full mediating effect.Originality/valueThis study proposes the stress transmission mechanism of ICT-enabled WNWHs and delineates emotional responses regarding the work environment attributes of ICT-enabled WNWHs, an approach rarely seen in prior IS studies. To our best knowledge, this study is the first to identify and empirically demonstrate organization-based self-esteem as one among the emotional responses to ICT-enabled WNWHs. Furthermore, it expands understanding of the holistic impacts of ICT-enabled WNWHs, which is lacking in information systems (IS) literature.

An Exploration of the Potential Role of Augmented Reality-Based Pedagogical Tools

Augmented Reality (AR) is an Information Communication Technology (ICT) that is rapidly growing in today's modern world. Many industries are striving to improve and carry through the AR. When it comes to the education sector, specially the pedagogical tools for elementary education, the ICT tools like AR can prove to be of a great potential. The quest for such interactive education has become all the more relevant in the times of COVID-19, when the teachers are struggling on the question of how to engage the kids better. The current paper provides the readers with the knowledge of the use and impact of using AR in elementary education. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Always on Call: Is There an Age Advantage in Dealing with Availability and Response Expectations?

This research challenges the technology-related age stereotype that older employees might be disadvantaged in dealing with work-related information communication technology (ICT) demands. Rather, we hypothesize an age advantage in this regard. Based on theorizing on aging at work, we suggest that older employees are better at psychologically detaching from work under high availability expectations and that they show more adaptive responsiveness to response expectations. We examined a potential age-related mechanism underlying this effect, namely internal workplace telepressure. We pursued a two-study approach. Study 1 examined data from 5,938 individuals who participated in a large-scale survey of employees in Germany just before the COVID-19 pandemic, testing age as moderator of the relationship between availability expectations and psychological detachment from work. Results supported the hypothesized age advantage effect showing that for older employees, availability expectations were less strongly related to impaired psychological detachment. Study 2, a diary study with 106 participants answering more than 500 daily surveys during the pandemic, supported lower telepressure as explanation for this age advantage effect. Study 2 further extended this finding to the relationship of response expectations with responsiveness, identifying both age and telepressure as predicted by age to moderate this relationship. This research shows age advantage effects in dealing with ICT demands, enhancing understanding of the intersection between age and technology use at work.

Older Adults' Experiences Moving Community Online in Independent Living During the Covid-19 Pandemic.

In this paper, we explore older adults' experiences moving daily social activities online in a senior independent living community during the early stages (March 2020-June 2020) of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States. We present findings of a semi-structured interview study with eight older adult residents where we discuss their needs and how they used technology to support and adapt during the phase of required physical distancing. Our findings suggest that participants felt well supported by their organization and community, and found information and communication technologies (ICTs) that were useful for supporting the transition. However, some participants felt that they did face challenges and the ability to adapt may have been influenced by technology access and residents' prior established ties within the community. Based on our findings, we reflect on how we might better support older adults living in community settings in future crisis.

“I Can Teach With My Videos”: How Do Teachers Teach English to Young Learners in a Technology-Limited Environment?

To ensure that learning continues during the Covid-19 pandemic, educators must understand pedagogical and content knowledge through the integration of information and communication technology (ICT). An example is English teachers at elementary schools in Indonesia making videos to help young learners learn English remotely. This paper aims to find out how teachers maximize student learning from their videos in a technology-limited environment and how teachers integrate their role as facilitators into their videos. We gathered data by conducting observations of three English teachers for four months during the odd semester of the 2021–2022 academic year and interviews with the participants. The research findings indicated that participants implemented a cognitive load aspect that makes it easier for young learners to see real examples of objects, even if only on video, thereby reducing excessive cognitive load. In addition, the participants implemented the student engagement aspect, which reduces the intrinsic load and makes the text in the video more meaningful. A third aspect implemented was active learning, which serves to help students and teachers develop strong feelings of social cooperation. Moreover, participants integrated their role as facilitators in educational videos by using an information guide and by being friendly inquirers to their students. The findings imply that if packaged properly, teacher videos can be one of the learning techniques that teachers and students can use in any situation. Furthermore, unlike in offline learning, students can replay teaching videos to aid their learning process, without having to ask the teacher to repeat the explanation. ©Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

Addressing the Digital Gap for the Older Persons and their caregivers in the State of Qatar: A Stakeholders' Perspective

The demographics in the Arab world are expected to go through a change in the coming decades. It is projected that the older population in Qatar will increase. Access to and use of information communication technology (ICT) by older persons and their caregivers has rarely been discussed. This study exposes the perspectives of the policy-level stakeholders and non-profit organizations working with older persons regarding the access and use of ICT. Through focus groups, the study investigates existing services and identifies the challenges encountered within the ICT Ecosystem. The study also attempts to explore their personal perspectives toward the access and use of older persons and their caregivers to ICT Thematic analysis was employed to capture the main themes emerging from exchanges with the stakeholders. Five themes emerged to stress the importance of existing efforts, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the extent of technology acceptance. The findings revealed the extent of partnership between the different institutes when providing the different services, conducting raising awareness activities, and training campaigns, and supporting the technology acceptance. The paper concludes by providing recommendations for stakeholders on ways to address the digital gap. © 2021 IEEE.

Development and students' evaluation of a blended online and offline pedagogy for physical education theory curriculum in China during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The outbreak and continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the implementation of physical education theory (PET) curriculums among global colleges and universities. This study aimed to describe the design and students' evaluation of a blended "Sports Multimedia Courseware Design" course among Chinese university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using information communication technologies, a 4-month blended course was developed, which consisted of 36 credits (18-credit online self-learning + 18-credit offline group-learning). A total of 1300 Chinese university students who majored in physical education, completed the blended course from Mar to Jun 2020, among which 238 (69.75% males; 21 ± 1.2 years) were randomly recruited to evaluate the course in terms of three aspects: (1) online self-learning, (2) offline group-learning, and (3) overall learning outcomes. A descriptive analysis was conducted using the IBM SPSS 27.0. Students' overall positive evaluation supported a successful development and implementation of the blended course. Over 90% of students fulfilled the learning tasks and satisfied with the online learning resources. About 83% of students indicated high levels of autonomous motivation and engagement in online self-learning. Approximately 88% of students showed positive attitudes to the offline group-learning content, while the participation rate (60%) was relatively lower than of the online self-learning. Over 50% of the students indicated self-improvements in diverse aspects after attending the blended course. Blended online and offline pedagogy shows apparent promise in delivering the PET course among Chinese university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further application and comprehensive evaluation are warranted in the future.

Challenges of Humanitarian Logistics on disaster management: The experience of Corona Pandemic in Tanzania

Despite the government of Tanzania's multiple measures to combat the coronavirus epidemic, there is still a lot of misery and human death that is recorded from time to time. The goal of this research was to determine the role of coordination, transportation, and information and communication technology in the performance of humanitarian operations during the coronavirus pandemic and to give recommendations for how to improve it. The data was collected via a questionnaire from a sample of six referral hospitals in Dar es Salaam and the Coastal Region using quantitative methodologies and an explanatory research methodology. Using descriptive data analysis, the mean and standard deviation of the findings were computed, and the data were then summarized using frequency distribution tables before being analyzed using a multiple regression model. All independent factors demonstrated a significant positive relationship with humanitarian relief performance, including coordination, transportation, and information communication technology (p0.05). For better humanitarian relief operation performance, the study recommended that referral hospitals management ensure that there are adequate facilities for distribution of relief requirements, the required materials/ facilities arrive on time and adequate ICT facilities for coordination of all stakeholders in the relief operation.

Modern City Issues, Management and the Critical Role of Information and Communication Technology

Cities are currently dealing with major difficulties that no longer allow slight adjustments to the way cities operate. Instead, local officials must devise creative, transformative solutions. Fortunately, novel approaches to municipal administration and technological advancements are providing city officials with new and beneficial tools. As a result of these improvements, citizens, businesses, and other groups in the city will be able to actively participate in implementing the reforms. In a nutshell, technology can assist cities in becoming smarter. This paper highlighted the implications of the management challenges of cities, the types of cities, and the issues that cities face during epidemics. A coordinated approach that reacts to both COVID-19 and climate change is required to avoid negative outcomes from both. To figure out how Malaysian city administration works and how important information and communication technology is in Malaysian smart cities, it is important to look into technology and data opportunities. © 2022. All Rights Reserved.