MFS Design in Appstore-enabled Smart Featurephones for Low-literate, Marginalized Communities

Mobile Financial Services (MFS) has gained significant popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially among marginalized and low-income, low-literate communities around the world. Such communities have not been traditionally considered while designing MFS services via smartphone apps or USSD services in featurephones. Financial constraints limit such end-users towards basic featurephones, where recent appstore support has made it possible to deploy app-based MFS solutions beyond USSD. This new featurephone platform is a relatively underexplored area in terms of addressing design issues related to aforementioned end-users while developing MFS solutions. Our work addresses this gap by presenting qualitative findings on barriers to technology access focused on MFS solutions in marginal communities. We present a prototype non-USSD, app-based solution on an appstore-supported featurephone platform designed via a human-centered approach. This work has the potential to increase the financial inclusivity of marginalized communities in cashless MFS transactions via low-cost, appstore-enabled featurephones. © 2023 ACM.

HybridMingler: Towards Mixed-Reality Support for Mingling at Hybrid Conferences

Mingling, the activity of ad-hoc, private, opportunistic conversations ahead of, during, or after breaks, is an important socializing activity for attendees at scheduled events, such as in-person conferences. The Covid-19 pandemic had a dramatic impact on the way conferences are organized, so that most of them now take place in a hybrid mode where people can either attend on-site or remotely. While on-site attendees can resume in-person mingling, hybrid modes make it challenging for remote attendees to mingle with on-site peers. In addressing this problem, we propose a collaborative mixed-reality (MR) concept, including a prototype, called HybridMingler. This is a distributed MR system supporting ambient awareness and allowing both on-site and remote conference attendees to virtually mingle. HybridMingler aims to provide both on-site and remote attendees with a spatial sense of co-location in the very same venue location, thus ultimately improving perceived presence. © 2023 Owner/Author.

Qualitative study assessing the usage of mobile technology and its impact on self efficacy, motivation and willingness of high school students

The usage of mobile technology had been a burning issue in the nation with the prevalence of COVID-19 in society. The research problem was centered on the perception and acceptance of mobile technology in the education industry as it relates to students and teachers. It also ascertained the student achievement, motivation, and willingness to use mobile devices in a high school setting of students in grades ninth through twelfth. The development of mobile technology will massively impact the education industry making accessibility, and knowledge management simple. The purpose of the study was to add to the body of knowledge using a qualitative process of adoption of mobile technology by High School Students, assessing their self-efficacy, motivation, and willingness to utilize technology. The conceptual framework involved the Frame Model, in which teachers' and students' engagement and management of change, along with potential resistance to change may exist. The model considers a device's usability and the social and learner aspects of the learning. The research method for this study was qualitative in nature from a phenomenological perspective and involved 11 participants as determined by previous research as a viable population for consideration. The key results and findings clearly revealed that more than 90% showed that the education system should encourage transitioning to technology usage. Student engagement, willingness, motivation, and confidence were boosted with the use of technology. The implication is that the potential impact for positive social change at the personal, family, and organizational levels will yield satisfaction and active participation or engagement of students in the class, home, and society at large. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

The role of the California tier system in controlling population mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Policies to restrict population mobility are a commonly used strategy to limit the transmission of contagious diseases. Among measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic were dynamic stay-at-home orders informed by real-time, regional-level data. California was the first state in the U.S. to implement this novel approach; however, the effectiveness of California's four-tier system on population mobility has not been quantified. METHODS: Utilizing data from mobile devices and county-level demographic data, we evaluated the impact of policy changes on population mobility and explored whether demographic characteristics explained variability in responsiveness to policy changes. For each California county, we calculated the proportion of people staying home and the average number of daily trips taken per 100 persons, across different trip distances and compared this to pre-COVID-19 levels. RESULTS: We found that overall mobility decreased when counties moved to a more restrictive tier and increased when moving to a less restrictive tier, as the policy intended. When placed in a more restrictive tier, the greatest decrease in mobility was observed for shorter and medium-range trips, while there was an unexpected increase in the longer trips. The mobility response varied by geographic region, as well as county-level median income, gross domestic product, economic, social, and educational contexts, the prevalence of farms, and recent election results. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis provides evidence of the effectiveness of the tier-based system in decreasing overall population mobility to ultimately reduce COVID-19 transmission. Results demonstrate that socio-political demographic indicators drive important variability in such patterns across counties.

Think About It: Promoting Physical Activity with a Mobile App with a Theory-based Approach

Currently, people’s highly busy lifestyles and sedentary behavior contribute negatively to multiple health factors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the different sanitary measures, such as limited mobility and the closing of gyms and sports centers, have contributed to limited physical activity. In this context, there are several apps to enhance physical activity across all mobile stores with an emphasis on mobile sensing. However, the use of a formal theory incorporated into the app development and interventions is less evident. A theory-based approach contributes to understanding the reasons and situations in which an intervention strategy can have an impact. The present work considers the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), which addresses persuasion and attitude change. Can we develop a persuasive app that promotes physical activity based on contemporary attitudes and behavioral change theories? We developed a mobile application for Android OS. Then, 63 participants tested it, and were encouraged to think of ideas or arguments in favor of doing physical activity in a high elaboration task. A mediation analysis was done, with results showing that attitudes partially mediate the association between thought and physical activity. Participants’thoughts were seen to be positively correlated with their attitudes;and, in turn, participants’attitudes were correlated with their behavioral intention (to do physical activity). This suggests that a theory-based approach for the active production of biased beliefs is effective when designing an app that encourages positive attitudes toward physical activity. Author

Usability Testing of a Web-Based Empathy Training Portal: Mixed Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: The prepandemic period saw a rise in web-based teaching. However, web-based tools for teaching the essential clinical skill of cognitive empathy (also known as perspective taking) remain limited. More of these tools are needed and require testing for ease of use and understanding by students. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the usability of the In Your Shoes web-based empathy training portal application for students using quantitative and qualitative methods. METHODS: This 3-phase formative usability study used a mixed methods design. In mid-2021, we conducted a remote observation of student participants interacting with our portal application. Their qualitative reflections were captured, followed by data analysis and iterative design refinements of the application. Overall, 8 third- and fourth-year nursing students from an undergraduate baccalaureate program at a Canadian university, in the western province of Manitoba, were included in this study. Participants in phases 1 and 2 were remotely observed by 3 research personnel while engaged in predefined tasks. In phase 3, two student participants were asked to use the application as they liked in their own environments, after which a video-recorded exit interview with a think-aloud process was conducted as participants responded to the System Usability Scale. We calculated descriptive statistics and performed content analysis to analyze the results. RESULTS: This small study included 8 students with a range of technology skills. Usability themes were based on participants' comments on the application's appearance, content, navigation, and functionality. The biggest issues that participants experienced were with navigating the application's "tagging" features during video analysis and the length of educational material. We also observed variations in 2 participants' system usability scores in phase 3. This may be because of their different comfort levels with technology; however, additional research is required. We made iterative refinements to our prototype application (eg, added pop-up messages and provided a narrated video on the application's "tagging" function) based on participant feedback. CONCLUSIONS: With increasing engagement in web-based teaching, technology has become an essential medium for receiving health care education. We developed a novel prototype application as a supplemental classroom tool to foster students' self-directed learning of empathy. This study provided direction for refinements to optimize the usability of and satisfaction with this innovative application. Qualitative feedback revealed favorable input toward learning perspective taking place on the web and helpful recommendations for improving user experiences with the application. We could not fully assess the application's key functions owing to the COVID-19 protocols. Thus, our next step is to obtain feedback from a larger sample of student users, whose experiences performing "live" video capture, annotation, and analysis will be more authentic and wholesome with the refined application. We discuss our findings in relation to research on nursing education, perspective taking, and adaptive e-learning.

Innovative Methods Used in Monitoring COVID-19 in Europe: A Multinational Study.

Several innovative methods have been deployed worldwide to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study is to investigate which innovative methods are used to monitor COVID-19 health issues in Europe and related legislative and ethical aspects. An online questionnaire was administered to European countries' representatives of the project Population Health Information Research Infrastructure. Additional information was obtained from websites and documents provided by the respondents; an overview of the literature was also performed. Respondents from 14 countries participated in the study. Digital tools are used to monitor the spread of COVID-19 (13/14 countries) and vaccination coverage (12/14); for research, diagnostics, telehealth (14/14); to fight disinformation (11/14) and forecast the pandemic spread (4/14). The level of implementation of telehealth applications was mostly low/medium. Legislative and ethical issues were encountered in many countries, leading to institutional distrust. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for timely and accurate health data for research purposes and policy planning. However, the use of innovative methods for population health monitoring and timely data collection has posed challenges to privacy and online security globally. Adequate regulatory oversight, targeted public health interventions, and fight against disinformation could improve the uptake rate and enhance countries' emergency preparedness.

Willingness to Use Mobile Health Devices in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Nationwide Cross-sectional Study in China.

BACKGROUND: Despite the increased development and use of mobile health (mHealth) devices during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is little knowledge of willingness of the Chinese people to use mHealth devices and the key factors associated with their use in the post-COVID-19 era. Therefore, a more comprehensive and multiangle investigation is required. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to probe Chinese attitudes regarding the use of mHealth and analyze possible associations between the attitude of willingness to use mHealth devices and some factors based on the socioecological model. METHODS: A survey was conducted using quota sampling to recruit participants from 148 cities in China between June 20 and August 31, 2022. Data from the survey were analyzed using multiple stepwise regression to examine the factors associated with willingness to use mHealth devices. Standardized regression coefficients (ß) and 95% CIs were calculated using multiple stepwise regression. RESULTS: The survey contained a collection of 21,916 questionnaires and 21,897 were valid questionnaires, with a 99.91% effective response rate. The median score of willingness to use mHealth in the post-COVID-19 era was 70 points on a scale from 0 to 100. Multiple stepwise regression results showed that the female gender (ß=.03, 95% CI 1.04-2.35), openness personality trait (ß=.05, 95% CI 0.53-0.96), higher household per capita monthly income (ß=.03, 95% CI 0.77-2.24), and commercial and multiple insurance (ß=.04, 95% CI 1.77-3.47) were factors associated with the willingness to use mHealth devices. In addition, people with high scores of health literacy (ß=.13, 95% CI 0.53-0.68), self-reported health rating (ß=.22, 95% CI 0.24-0.27), social support (ß=.08, 95% CI 0.40-0.61), family health (ß=.03, 95% CI 0.03-0.16), neighbor relations (ß=.12, 95% CI 2.09-2.63), and family social status (ß=.07, 95% CI 1.19-1.69) were more likely to use mHealth devices. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of the theoretical framework of socioecological model, this study identified factors specifically associated with willingness of the Chinese people to use mHealth devices in the post-COVID-19 era. These findings provide reference information for the research, development, promotion, and application of future mHealth devices.

Modern Technical Solutions for Cleaning, Disinfection and Sterilization

The article describes a new technical solution for ensuring efficient and inexpensive cleaning, disinfection and sterilization of production facilities and their equipment, based on the principle of generating the use of ozone gas. It describes the technical solution and construction of sterilization and cleaning equipment with ozone gas and the sterilization of small objects, especially textiles contaminated with various viruses, including the Covid-19 virus. The device is designed as energy-saving, structurally simple, with high sterilization and cleaning efficiency. The sterilization device is small in size, mobile and its design enables transportation in the trunk of an ordinary passenger car. The weight of the device is 14 kg. The device's ozone source is an ozone air purifier, mass-produced according to valid EU standards. The power source of the ozone purifier is an electrical source with a voltage of only 230 V and a frequency of 50 Hz. Alternatively, it is possible to use power from a safe mobile source or inverter. The operation of sterilization and cleaning device in a closed, non-ventilated area, does not endanger people's health or damage plants. The description of the construction of a technical sterilization device is focused on a specific type of device, but the stated theoretical results can be equally well used in the electrotechnical, food, medical or pharmaceutical industries and in general wherever there is a need to effectively and efficiently clean and sterilize production objects, their equipment, used materials and all other production aids means and tools.

A survey of COVID-19 detection and prediction approaches using mobile devices, AI, and telemedicine.

Since 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an extremely high impact on all facets of the society and will potentially have an everlasting impact for years to come. In response to this, over the past years, there have been a significant number of research efforts on exploring approaches to combat COVID-19. In this paper, we present a survey of the current research efforts on using mobile Internet of Thing (IoT) devices, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and telemedicine for COVID-19 detection and prediction. We first present the background and then present current research in this field. Specifically, we present the research on COVID-19 monitoring and detection, contact tracing, machine learning based approaches, telemedicine, and security. We finally discuss the challenges and the future work that lay ahead in this field before concluding this paper.

Anxiety And Nomophobia In High School Students In The Context Of Virtual Education Due To Covid 19

As a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the socialization of individuals and the training and professional development processes have been adapted through the use of information and communication technologies, in the educational field to continue with the teaching process - learning classes are held remotely so it is necessary to be connected to a device. In this sense, the present investigation focuses on anxiety and nomophobia, that is, the irrational fear of not connecting to a device. The objective of this study was to determine anxiety and nomophobia in virtual education students in the context of a pandemic. The research was basic, with an explanatory level, non -experimental, causal correlational design. The sampling was probabilistic-stratified. The population consisted of 275 students and the sample was 52 students. The survey was used as a technique and the instrument for the anxiety variable was a Trait-State Anxiety inventory which consisted of 40 items and considered the trait and state anxiety dimensions with 20 items each, and for the nomophobia variable the questionnaire was used. And nomophobia questionnaire (NMP-Q), which considered four dimensions. According to the results , p < 0.01 and R value = 0.713, which indicates a positive and high correlation between both variables. Concluding that there is a significant relationship between the anxiety and nomophobia variables in virtual education students in the context of a pandemic.

Examining the influence of the performance of mobile devices on teaching quality based on the technological acceptance mode

Purpose This study aims to examine the effects of iPad distribution on all teachers in a university and its application in teaching and student learning at home via wireless network during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The attitude towards the use of iPads, behavioural intentions and the impact on the quality of teaching were evaluated. Design/methodology/approach This study used the technology acceptance model to explore the use of iPad smart mobile devices in multimedia teaching applications by university teachers. Furthermore, it used the structural equation modelling (SEM) for data analysis to explore the causal relationship between model variables, and it aimed to examine the causal relationship between variables to verify the theory. The SEM analysis included the following two stages: measurement model analysis and structural model analysis. Findings The "Internet information environment" had a significant positive impact on "perceived usefulness" and "perceived ease of use". Amongst them, perceived usefulness had a significant positive effect on the use attitude, and use attitude had a significant positive effect on behaviour intention. Originality/value The findings confirmed that a good information network environment will directly and positively affect the perceived usefulness and the ease of use of iPad smart devices, of which the perceived usefulness will further positively affect teachers' perception of iPad smart devices. The attitude and behaviour of using such devices will in turn positively affect the quality of teaching. The results of the quality performance evaluation can be referenced further by manufacturers and scholars regarding the use of iPad smart devices for work at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

M-health system for cardiac and COVID patient monitoring using body sensor networks and machine learning

The COVID-19 pandemic has promoted the need to take care of health at home, using M-Health systems to monitor vital signs in healthy people and in those with heart conditions. Thus, the body sensor networks (BSNs) are extremely useful for sensing and alerting when some type of health risk is identified such as arrhythmia and low oxygen levels as well as for helping to make a decision. This chapter describes a home health monitoring system to identify cardiac risk events and monitor oxygenation levels in a person using a BSN simulator and exploring the energy performance of the network, considering the IoT devices installed at home. The work is oriented toward monitoring and identifying risk events in closed spaces, and it is addressed to people with two types of conditions: (1) those with heart diseases and (2) those people who need to monitor their oxygen levels after recovering from the COVID-19 disease. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An Adaptive Biometric Authentication System for Online Learning Environments Across Multiple Devices

Online learning environments have become a crucial means to provide flexible and personalised pedagogical material, and a major driving cause is due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has rapidly forced the migration and implementation of online education strategies across the world. Online learning environments have a requirement for high trust and confidence in establishing a student’s identity and the authenticity of their work, and this need to lessen academic malpractices due to increased online delivery and assure the quality in education has accelerated. In addition to this, due to the ubiquity of mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops, students use a variety of devices to access online learning environments. Therefore, authentication systems for online learning environments should operate effectively on those devices to authenticate and invigilate online students. Confidence in authentication systems is also crucial to detect cheating and plagiarism for online education as strong authorisation and protection mechanisms for sensitive information and services are bypassed if authentication confidence is low. In this paper, we examine issues of existing authentication solutions for online learning environments and propose a design for an adaptive biometric authentication system for online learning environments that will automatically detect and adapt to changes in the operating environment. Multi-modal biometrics are applied in the proposed system which will dynamically select combinations of biometrics depending on a user’s authenticating device. The adaptation strategy updates two thresholds (decision and adaptation) as well as the user’s biometric template they are using the authentication system. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Connecting school actors using mobile applications

Communication between the different actors present in the school ecosystem is an essential issue. However, in a busy world where parents do not have much time to visit schools regularly, it is crucial to create mechanisms to better monitor student success and school demands. The current pandemic situation caused by the coronavirus has highlighted the role that technologies have in supporting the mission of schools and communication between the various school actors. The interaction between school, students and parents presents a growing and complex challenge. Technology has, in recent years, shaped the concepts of support and monitoring of learning - at school and outside it - as well as the way in which information flows between all actors in the school ecosystem. Emergently, the evolution of mobile applications, combined with the evolution of the capabilities of mobile devices, has enabled the creation of new and more effective intercommunication mechanisms, with ubiquitous approaches and in a predictable scenario of less willingness for physical interaction of the different actors. Based on these premises, this article reflects on the potential of mobile devices and their applications to support new models of intercommunication between parents or school sponsors, students and teachers. In this sense, a conceptual model is proposed that represents a work in progress that aims at creating and evaluating a prototype system capable of improving intercommunication and the overall success of the societal challenges of the school learning system. © 2020 IBIMA Publishing. All rights reserved.

Students’ Perception About the Incorporation of Technological Tools in the Educational Field During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Currently, teachers are changing the planning and organization of the courses due to the appearance of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This mixed research analyzes the perception of students about the use of Google Classroom, smartphones, and Google Meet through machine learning and decision tree techniques (data science). The participants are 76 students from the National Preparatory School No. 6 “Antonio Caso” who took the universal literature course in the 2021 school year. The incorporation of Google Classroom allowed that these students reviewed the contents, consulted the multimedia resources, sent the tasks and established a communication from anywhere. Also, smartphones allowed the communication in the virtual classes, search for information on the Internet and review of the school contents at any time. Lastly, these students used Google Meet to answer their questions, understand the school topics and actively participate. The machine learning technique indicates that the use of Google Classroom, smartphones, and Google Meet positively influence the active role of the students during the realization of the school activities. The decision tree technique determines 3 predictive models about the use of these technological tools considering the profile of the students. In conclusion, technological tools such as Google Classroom, smartphones, and Google Meet play a fundamental role to plan, organize and carry out new educational activities and practices in the distance modality. © 2022 by authors;licensee OJCMT by Bastas, CY.

A platform for health emergency warning and wandering behaviour detection supporting people with Intellectual Disability

People with intellectual disabilities (ID) encounter several problems in their daily life, regarding the interaction with their environment, the communication with their caregivers and their mobility. Mobile and modern smartwatch applications have great potential to provide early warning for medical emergencies, such as fever, oxygen saturation decline and, recently, Covid-19 disease. Furthermore, such apps can also track their position, if necessary, and even automatically detect wandering behaviour. In this paper, we propose a platform that will be able to a) automatically recognize health emergency situations and/or detection of wandering behaviour based on smartwatch/smartphone sensors, b) provide appropriate notifications to both user and caregiver when needed. The final system is currently developed within a Greek national research project and a pilot implementation will be evaluated by a Greek assistive center for people with ID. © 2022 ACM.

Using Mobile Devices to Realize Blended Learning at the University

Currently, blended learning is becoming a promising form of organization of higher education. Use of smartphones and other mobile devices for the realization of blended learning makes it possible to provide students with equal access to educational and methodological content, that is, the conditions for reducing the information inequality of students. In this regard, the article reveals the structure of the activities of a teacher and a student in the process of mobile learning in the context of the realization of blended learning. The novelty of the research is determined by the fact that the structure and main content of the advanced refresher course 'Blended learning at the university as a means of improving the quality of education in the context of the spread of coronavirus infection' are formulated. The practical significance of the study is determined by the fact that it shows the experience of organizing teacher training in an online format based on the platform ocs.wkau.kz. © 2022 IEEE.

Smartphone applications for sleep tracking: rating and perceptions about behavioral change among users.

Introduction: This study aims to assess existing sleep apps for mobile phones to determine the perceived effect of these applications on user's attitudes, knowledge, willingness to change, and its likelihood to change behavior from a user's perspective. Material and Methods: A systematic search was conducted through Google play store and iTunes Apple store using terms related to sleep tracking. Apps were evaluated using Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) tool for assessing and classifying mobile health applications quality. Additionally, a convenience sample of subjects were asked to evaluate the included apps for perceived sleep behavior changes. Results: The average MARS app quality score on a 5-point scale was 3.3. Between 30-50% of participants believed that sleep tracker apps are likely to increase awareness about sleep patterns and sleep hygiene, infuence sleep hygiene habits, and are likely to encourage help seeking for sleep hygiene when required. Conclusion: Apps available for sleep self-management and tracking may be valuable tools for self-management of sleep disorder and/or improving sleep quality, yet they require improvement in terms of quality and content, highlighting the need for further validity studies.

Delivering of Healthcare Service in South Africa during the Covid-19 Pandemic using Mobile Devices

The geographical widespread apart of communities in South Africa is increasingly a challenge in the delivery of healthcare services. COVID-19 pandemic emergency has impacted the South African healthcare system directly. As a result, mobile devices have been employed in recent years. However, the devices are not challenge-free, and have constrained healthcare service delivering in many instances, at various locations. As such, communities in rural areas continue to bear the brunt, which negatively affect their wellbeing. This study was therefore undertaken to provide critical analysis of how the devices can be better employed and utilised, to improve healthcare service delivery in the country. The study applied qualitative case study, and the data was analysed exhausting the Actor Network Theory (ANT). The researchers employed the documentation review approach within the healthcare sector. Healthcare documents enabled the researchers to gain more understanding of the role of ICT within healthcare and the data gathered through the healthcare document review was analysed using the Moments of Translation from the ANT perspective. Thereafter, a framework was developed to guide the delivery of healthcare services through the use of mobile devices. The primary aim of the framework, is to give guidance on what should be considered by healthcare in order to deliver a good service in South Africa.