Synchronising Online Resource (Penzu) and Computer Application for Language Instructions: A Pakistani Post Covid-19 Pandemic Context

Pakistan is going through a period of transition after Covid-19 pandemic situation which created a dire need to use computer as a tool and other online resources in the classrooms. To contribute to this situation, the present study investigated the effects of using computer as a tool and Penzu software as online source for language instructions. The study used experimental design and conducted a classroom experiment of 40 higher secondary school students ( 20 experimental & 20 in control group) through pre/post-tests over different period of time to examine development in students' writing skills. On post-test-I, it was observed that students in the control group showed sudden rise in the development of writing skills compared to experimental group. But, on post-test-II and III, students in the experimental group showed consistency in the development in writing skills while control group could not maintain their consistency of development in writings. Hence, findings of the study revealed that using computer as a tool for instructions and Penzu as online resource to conduct writing activities proved more useful in improving students' writing skills compared to the students in the control group. Finally, findings also revealed that students became more independent in self-corrections in the experimental group and continued to expand their learning outside the classroom while control group was dependent on teacher and could only find time in the classroom for corrective feedback which limited students' learning to their classroom. In addition to this, the study recommends that further computer applications and other online resources can be more useful in language instructions apart from teaching writing skills. Besides, findings of this study have significant theoretical and practical implications pertaining to EFL teachers' professional development, teaching skills and students' learning environment.

Students with learning disabilities/attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in higher education dealing with remote learning: lessons learned from COVID-19 era.

Introduction: The current study aimed to examine how students with learning disabilities (LD) and/or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) adjusted to higher education during the transition to remote learning (RL) in Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study involved 621 undergraduate students, 330 of whom participated during the COVID-19 pandemic and 291 before the pandemic. Among these students, 198 had been diagnosed with LD and/or ADHD, while 423 had no reported disabilities (control group). Results: Students with LD/ADHD generally had lower adjustment scores during face-to-face learning and RL than the control group. In-depth analyses of four subgroups revealed that students with LD + ADHD reported lower academic, emotional, and institutional adjustments as well as reported lower satisfaction with life during RL than the control group members. ADHD was found to directly predict low satisfaction with life through the mediation of adjustment scores. Discussion: In conclusion, it is recommended that support be provided to high-risk LD/ADHD populations during a crisis. Furthermore, the implication of this study can inform intervention during emergency times.

A Qualitative Examination of the Impact of COVID-19 on Transition Services for Autistic Youth.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused widespread disturbances in many human and social service programs. Several studies have examined special education programming adaptations since the onset of the pandemic; however, there has yet to be documentation of pandemic-related changes to transition programming and the impact of these changes for autistic youth. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine changes in transition programming for autistic youth amid the changing educational landscape. We conducted 12 interviews with caregivers (n = 5) and school providers (n = 7) about transition programming for autistic youth and the COVID-19 impact to these services. The pandemic had positive and negative effects on many aspects of transition programming, including student-focused planning, student development, interagency and interdisciplinary collaboration, family involvement, and program structure and attributes. Elucidation of the ways that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted transition programming from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders has important implications for school personnel and can help to inform the future directions for the field of transition programming research.

Leveraging affordances in an ecological stance: Reflective language teaching for professional development during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made a prominent impact of social contexts on teachers' professional development in remote classroom teaching. To explore how the change has altered human-environment relationships in university language classes, this qualitative case study investigated three teachers' progressive reflection on their use of affordances for teaching Chinese as a second language (L2) during COVID-19. Under the framework of human ecological language pedagogy, three themes of emergency remote teaching emerged from monthly semi-structured interviews about the three teachers' reflective practice in remote classrooms: computer-dominant teaching conditions, flexible classroom interaction, and rational social empathy in L2 education. The findings suggest the importance of a growth mindset for L2 teachers to leverage their teaching abilities and environmental resources for continuing professional development during COVID-19 and post-pandemic periods.

Post-Secondary Student Belonging in a Virtual Learning Environment during Covid-19

Psychological and social adjustment and academic success in post-secondary institutions are supported by a sense of belonging to a social group and having meaningful relationships with other students, staff, and faculty members. This exploratory study used a qualitative approach to investigate post-secondary students' sense of belonging in the virtual learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted at a small Western Canadian university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants who were undergraduate students, from various faculties, and in different years in their programs. Findings were clustered into three themes: (1) student expectations of university, (2) impact of virtual learning environments on students, and (3) the role of educators. Recommendations are included to enhance support and belonging for post-secondary students in virtual learning environments.

Conceptualizing the effects of digital transformation during Covid-19 on teachers' beliefs and practice

The current digital transformation agenda connects beliefs/attitudes to behaviour/practice. Both of these elements are well established and continue to evolve. This paper conceptualizes the effects of digital transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on understanding the effects of causal factors (COVID-19 and digital transformation, on teachers' beliefs and practices. In the context of this conceptual paper, we delineate this to university education but argue that it is conceptually applicable to any educational setting. Our exploration of the phenomenon has yielded the conclusion that beliefs/attitudes are fluid, are formed cyclically, and that teachers' associated behaviour/practices are located along a continuum and are influenced by both technological and personal factors. We believe our arguments are valid because when COVID-19 fades as an "event”, the world will have evolved new norms that include newer practices, inevitably informed by technological and personal factors. We provide a basis for understanding the effects of digitally transformed environments and how one might respond to such eventualities. We suggest a theoretical model that outlines the moderating constructs inherent in any digitally transformed environment. The theoretical model provides a hook for research into the beliefs-practice nexus and as a basis for supporting teachers in digitally transformed environments. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

How students view online knowledge: Epistemic beliefs, self-regulated learning and academic misconduct

The use of the internet in education has been greatly encouraged by the COVID-19 epidemic. Studying students' internet-specific epistemic beliefs (ISEB) and possible correlates would benefit online teaching and learning. However, little research has been conducted in this field. Therefore, we investigated the current status of ISEB among college students and considered the impact of self-regulated learning (SRL) and e-academic dishonesty (e-AD) on ISEB. A survey research method and convenience sampling were employed. A total of 538 Chinese college students completed the self-reported questionnaire. Our results indicate that although no significant differences were found in ISEB in terms of gender and academic major, students with different backgrounds also differed in e-AD experience and SRL. Three dimensions of ISEB were negatively correlated with SRL, while one had a significant positive correlation. In addition, the latter dimension of ISEB was negatively correlated with e-AD. Finally, SRL and e-AD jointly significantly predicted students' different ISEB, with explanatory power ranging from 14% to 36%. Study techniques of SRL were common predictors that could negatively predict the certainty, simplicity, and source of ISEB and positively predict justification. Based on the results, specific methods for schools, teachers and librarians to enhance students' ISEB are provided. © 2023

Interaction during online classes fosters engagement with learning and self-directed study both in the first and second years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maintaining students' learning engagement was a challenge in emergency online education during the pandemic. In this study, we investigated the predictors (social interaction) and outcomes (self-directed study) of engagement in online learning during the first and second years of the COVID-19 pandemic. First-year Japanese university students (N = 1167) enrolled in online classes during 2020 and 2021 responded to a questionnaire measuring perceived opportunities for social interaction during online classes, engagement with online learning, and extracurricular self-directed study time. Multi-group path analysis revealed that social interaction during online classes exhibited a positive indirect effect on self-directed study time through emotional and behavioral engagement with online learning. The positive indirect effect was significant in both the first and second years of the pandemic. The results suggest that increasing the number of opportunities for social interaction during online classes may exhibit spillover effects on learning outside the online classroom.

Social isolation & toxic behavior of students in e-learning: Evidence during the time of the covid-19 pandemic

The global COVID-19 pandemic has led educational institutions to shut down and adopt e-learning practices through computer-mediated communication. An unanticipated switch of online classes from face-to-face classes isolates students from social groups and teachers, causing online disinhibition. Therefore, this paper investigates factors influencing university students' toxic disinhibition behavior in online classrooms, WhatsApp groups, and Telegram groups. Also, social isolation has been used as a moderating variable to identify whether social isolation strengthens or weakens the proposed association. The research holds the basis of "Social Cognitive Theory" and "Theory of Planned Behavior." The data from 506 university students have been collected for analysis. The proposed framework and research hypotheses have been assessed via PLS-SEM using Smart PLS software. Findings from the study show that toxic behavior victimization, attitude, subjective norms, and behavioral control are factors that positively & significantly affect toxic disinhibition online. Furthermore, motives and self-efficacy showed an insignificant influence on toxic disinhibition. Additionally, toxic disinhibition significantly & positively affects toxic behavior. At last, social isolation is likely to have a moderation effect on the variables. Hence, the research yields guidance on reducing toxic disinhibition online. Further, implications and recommendations are discussed at the end of the study. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Faculty Perspectives of Academic Integrity During COVID-19: A Mixed Methods Study of Four Canadian Universities

Faculty members are crucial partners in promoting academic integrity at Canadian universities, but their needs related to academic integrity are neither well documented nor understood. To address this gap, we developed a mixed methods survey to gather faculty perceptions of facilitators and barriers to using the existing academic integrity procedures, policies, resources, and supports required to promote academic integrity. In this article, we report the data collected from 330 participants at four Canadian universities. Responses pointed to the importance of individual factors, such as duty to promote academic integrity, as well as contextual factors, such as teaching load, class size, class format, availability of teaching assistant support, and consistency of policies and procedures, in supporting or hindering academic integrity. We also situated these results within a micro (individual), meso (departmental), macro (institutional), and mega (community) framework. Results from this study contribute to the growing body of empirical evidence about faculty perspectives on academic integrity in Canadian higher education and can inform the continued development of existing academic integrity supports at universities. © 2022, Canadian Society for Studies in Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Post-Secondary Student Belonging in a Virtual Learning Environment During COVID-19

Psychological and social adjustment and academic success in post-secondary institutions are supported by a sense of belonging to a social group and having meaningful relationships with other students, staff, and faculty members. This exploratory study used a qualitative approach to investigate post-secondary students' sense of belonging in the virtual learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted at a small Western Canadian university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants who were undergraduate students, from various faculties, and in different years in their programs. Findings were clustered into three themes: (1) student expectations of university, (2) impact of virtual learning environments on students, and (3) the role of educators. Recommendations are included to enhance support and belonging for post-secondary students in virtual learning environments. © 2022, Canadian Society for Studies in Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Mental health challenges, treatment experiences, and care needs of post-secondary students: a cross-sectional mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND: Post-secondary students frequently experience high rates of mental health challenges. However, they present meagre rates of treatment-seeking behaviours. This elevated prevalence of mental health problems, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic, can lead to distress, poor academic performance, and lower job prospects following the completion of education. To address the needs of this population, it is important to understand students' perceptions of mental health and the barriers preventing or limiting their access to care. METHODS: A broad-scoping online survey was publicly distributed to post-secondary students, collecting demographic, sociocultural, economic, and educational information while assessing various components of mental health. RESULTS: In total, 448 students across post-secondary institutions in Ontario, Canada, responded to the survey. Over a third (n = 170; 38.6%) of respondents reported a formal mental health diagnosis. Depression and generalized anxiety disorder were the most commonly reported diagnoses. Most respondents felt that post-secondary students did not have good mental health (n = 253; 60.5%) and had inadequate coping strategies (n = 261; 62.4%). The most frequently reported barriers to care were financial (n = 214; 50.5%), long wait times (n = 202; 47.6%), insufficient resources (n = 165; 38.9%), time constraints (n = 148; 34.9%), stigma (n = 133; 31.4%), cultural barriers (n = 108; 25.5%), and past negative experiences with mental health care (n = 86; 20.3%). The majority of students felt their post-secondary institution needed to increase awareness (n = 231; 56.5%) and mental health resources (n = 306; 73.2%). Most viewed in-person therapy and online care with a therapist as more helpful than self-guided online care. However, there was uncertainty about the helpfulness and accessibility of different forms of treatment, including online interventions. The qualitative findings highlighted the need for personal strategies, mental health education and awareness, and institutional support and services. CONCLUSIONS: Various barriers to care, perceived lack of resources, and low knowledge of available interventions may contribute to compromised mental health in post-secondary students. The survey findings indicate that upstream approaches such as integrating mental health education for students may address the varying needs of this critical population. Therapist-involved online mental health interventions may be a promising solution to address accessibility issues.

Viewing oneself during synchronous online learning increases appearance anxiety and decreases memory for lecture content

In response to the COVID‐19 pandemic, instructors began using online learning platforms to offer live remote instruction (e.g., Zoom), which allow students to view themselves in real‐time (i.e., self‐view). The present research examined whether having students keep their cameras on, relative to cameras off, during a live online lecture would increase anxiety and reduce learning. In both Experiment 1a (small group setting) and Experiment 1b (large group setting), students in the camera‐on condition did not report greater state anxiety, nor was anxiety associated with lower performance on an immediate multiple‐choice exam. Experiment 2 specifically examined the effect of self‐view and if appearance anxiety (rather than state anxiety) might mediate the relationship between camera use and test performance. Results indicate that participants viewing themselves reported significantly higher appearance anxiety, and that higher appearance anxiety was related to decreased learning. These findings suggest that viewing oneself may uniquely contribute to heightened appearance anxiety and may reduce memory for content when learning synchronously online. [ FROM AUTHOR]

Faculty Perspectives of Academic Integrity during Covid-19: A Mixed Methods Study of Four Canadian Universities

Faculty members are crucial partners in promoting academic integrity at Canadian universities, but their needs related to academic integrity are neither well documented nor understood. To address this gap, we developed a mixed methods survey to gather faculty perceptions of facilitators and barriers to using the existing academic integrity procedures, policies, resources, and supports required to promote academic integrity. In this article, we report the data collected from 330 participants at four Canadian universities. Responses pointed to the importance of individual factors, such as duty to promote academic integrity, as well as contextual factors, such as teaching load, class size, class format, availability of teaching assistant support, and consistency of policies and procedures, in supporting or hindering academic integrity. We also situated these results within a micro (individual), meso (departmental), macro (institutional), and mega (community) framework. Results from this study contribute to the growing body of empirical evidence about faculty perspectives on academic integrity in Canadian higher education and can inform the continued development of existing academic integrity supports at universities.

Post-Secondary Educational Leadership Working Remotely During a COVID-19 Pandemic in Saskatchewan, Canada: Exploring Best Practices, Experiences, and the New Normal Post-Pandemic

This mixed methods research design focuses on post-secondary institutions in Saskatchewan, Canada, its employees' experiences of working remotely, and the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on school leadership. Presented are the perceived challenges as well as the benefits of the new workplace since the COVID-19 crisis. Administrative and instructional leadership had changed dramatically. Most identified their quality of work as better or the same because of having fewer distractions, interruptions, and less wasted time at the workplace. The participants' interviews and survey responses describe the necessary adaptation, flexibility, mental health and wellness, accountability, workload intensification, and future expectations of the workplace and leadership once the pandemic is over.

Ten years after. Reflections on the introduction of tuition fees for some international students in Swedish post-secondary education

In 2011, Sweden introduced tuition fees for students from countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland when they enrolled at higher education institutions (HEIs). As a direct consequence, the number of students in Sweden from those countries decreased by 80% that year. Since then, the number of students has increased again and, before COVID-19, was on its way to reaching the same level as before 2011. Nevertheless, the number of tuition fee-paying students only dropped by 3% for the academic year 2020/21, after nine consecutive years of growth. In this article we are assessing changes in inbound student flows and compare the outcome with the ambitions expressed by the Swedish government when the fees were introduced. The introduction of tuition fees in Sweden and the experiences from this offer quite unique possibilities to learn how students, HEIs, other actors, and societies react and adapt. By use of previous studies and new empirics we analyse and reflect on the outcome given the motives behind the reform, especially with regard to the ambition to continue internationalising post-secondary education and, furthermore, on the reform's possible benefits and costs for post-secondary education in Sweden.

What happens when post-secondary programmes go virtual for COVID-19? Effects of forced telecommuting on travel demand of post-secondary students during the pandemic.

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads globally, disrupting every aspect of everyday activities. Countermeasures during the pandemic, such as remote working and learning, proliferated tele-activities worldwide during the COVID -19 pandemic. The prevalence of telecommuting could lead to new activity-travel patterns. It is in the interest of transport demand modellers to capture this developing trend of telecommuting using state-of-art travel demand forecasting techniques. This study develops a modelling framework using activity-based and agent-based microsimulation to forecast activity-travel demand considering telecommuting and the pandemic. For empirical application, the modelling framework investigates changes in travel behaviours in post-secondary students when all major post-secondary institutions in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Canada, decided to go virtual during the pandemic. The empirical investigation reveals that enforced telecommuting and the pandemic caused significant mobility drops and shifts in students' trip starting time patterns. While only considering the influence of telecommuting, the empirical exercise reveals noteworthy dynamics between telecommuting and the overall travel demand. Telecommuting could simultaneously reduce the need to commute but also induce discretionary travel. When telecommuting is enforced, students' overall trip rates drop by 14.2%, despite increasing trip rates for all discretionary activities except shopping/market. Moreover, the study demonstrates that it is beneficial to model at-home productive and maintenance episodes when telecommuting is prominent.

Leadership processes during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for leadership preparation and training

The roles of school leaders have transformed significantly over time, making necessary shifts to place student learning at the core of what principals do. School leadership preparation has also evolved to keep up with the changing responsibilities and challenges that principals encounter. Although effective school leaders are recognized for their character and exemplary practices that contribute to and build collaborative school communities, principals have multiple responsibilities and often experience challenges while leading their schools. The role of the school leader has changed over the course of history. In response to these role shifts, the standards and practices providing the structure for post-secondary preparation and training programs, state certification, and formal evaluation programs have also had to adjust to keep up with societal changes and responsibilities of school leaders. While principals perform their regular responsibilities, with accompanying challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a myriad of new challenges for school leaders around the globe. Although challenges are not new to the principalship, this study seeks to investigate the challenges K-12 school leaders experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, how their leadership preparation and training did or did not prepare them to manage these challenges, and investigate the solutions principals implemented to counter the challenges experienced. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Trends in Post-Secondary Student Stress: A Pan-Canadian Study.

OBJECTIVE: Previous research has evaluated the sources of post-secondary student stress, but has failed to explore whether stressors fluctuate over time. The purpose of this research was to use the Post-Secondary Student Stressors Index to examine whether stressors changed significantly and meaningfully over the course of an academic year. Due to the timing of data collection, results also provide context around students' experiences of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: Cross-sectional data was collected at 3 time points via online surveys over the course of the 2020-2021 academic year from >10,000 students. Participants attended 15 post-secondary institutions across Canada, representing 9 provinces and 1 territory. Validated instruments were used to assess levels of stress, distress and the severity of student-specific stressors. Kruskal-Wallis ranked tests and multiple pairwise comparison analyses were conducted to assess whether the mean severity of stressors changed over time. Standard effect sizes were calculated using Cohen's d. RESULTS: Mean levels of stress and psychological distress were high at the start of the study and remained high across time points. A similarly high level of stress was observed on average for student-specific stressors. While significant differences in mean severity were observed over time for some stressors, standardized effect sizes were negligible, suggesting little meaningful change and consistent levels of chronic stress over the course of the academic year. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first paper to examine trends in student-specific stress using a nationwide sample of Canadian post-secondary students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Patterns observed in student-specific stressors reflected changes likely to be indicative of the pandemic, including the most severe stress associated with academics, finances and concerns for the future. Implications for future research are discussed, in particular, the importance of examining stressors related to COVID-19 and their impact on student mental health.