Netnography and volunteer tourism: Critical reflections on conducting online research during a global pandemic

COVID-19 curtailed a significant amount of research in the field, forcing social scientists to consider the future of fieldwork. Netnography seems to offer a covid-resistant alternative to traditional fieldwork methods. This paper expands knowledge of the netnographic approach, focusing on a study of spirituality in international volunteer tourists' experiences. It explores the potential of netnography as a research tool within the context of ongoing concerns around the viability and sustainability of physically travelling to collect data. As such, this paper presents a critical, reflective analysis of the main author's experience in conducting netnographic research during the pandemic, presenting the challenges and limitations, as well as the benefits of the method.

Emergent time-spaces of working from home: Lessons from pandemic geographies

The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent health regulations compelled office-based knowledge workers to work from home (WFH) en masse. Government and employer directives to WFH disrupted common norms of commuting to city office spaces and reshaped the geographies of office-based knowledge work, with potentially lasting implications. Pandemic-induced cohabitation of work-space and home-space saw more workers navigating the performance of paid labour in the home to produce new relational geographies of home, work, and worker. This paper provides a window on the lived experiences of the sizeable cohort of office-based knowledge workers displaced from Sydney's CBD to undertake WFH in the Illawarra region during the pandemic. We explore the unfolding pandemic geographies of work and home by drawing together feminist economic geography and geographies of home literatures. Our analysis reveals the emergent and variegated time-spaces of WFH that emerged as the rhythms and routines of WFH shaped the home and vice versa. The analysis also reveals the differentiated agency of embodied workers to orchestrate emergent configurations of WFH, shaped by gender and by the socio-materialities of home shaped by size, tenure, and life-cycle stage. We conclude by drawing out important lines of analysis for further research as "hybrid work" evidently becomes entrenched post-COVID.

Remote teaching in the pandemic: Opportunities fora transformative learning

The Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced remote teaching (RT) as a trend in management education. This research reflects on the central elements that make RT a transformative learning (TL) experience, based on a case study of a TL-anchored sustainability discipline that was migrated to RL during the pandemic. Theoretically, we propose a framework or reference that combines TL, education for sustainability (EfS), and communicative ecosystem (CE) theories;we also extend the concept of RL, coining the term 'transformative remote teaching' (TRT). With regard to practice, students' feedback points to three elements that are key for TRT: exploring different windows of knowledge;rethinking the teaching role;and adapting tools to support the teaching-learning process. We conclude by highlighting the need to approach education in ways anchored in epistemological, paradigmatic, and transformative changes.

Precarious inclusion: A collaborative account of casualisation and teaching leadership challenges at the post-pandemic university

PurposeThis paper emerged from the challenges encountered by both authors as academics during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Based on their subsequent reflections on inclusion in education for minoritised academics in pandemic-affected institutional contexts, they argue that beyond student-centred foci for inclusion, equity in the field, is equally significant for diverse teachers. Working as tempered radicals, they contend that anything less is exclusionary.Design/methodology/approachUsing a reciprocal interview method and drawing on Freirean ideals of dialogue and education as freedom from oppression, the authors offer dual perspectives from specific positionings as a non-tenured woman academic of colour and a tenured staff member with a disability.FindingsIn framing this work dialogically and through Freirean ideals of conscientizacao, the authors' collective discussions politicise personal experiences of marginalisation in the teaching and researching of inclusion in education for preservice teachers, or more pointedly, in demonstrating the responsibility of all to orientate towards context-dependent inclusive practices. They assert that to enable educators to develop inclusion-oriented practice, the contextual frameworks need to ensure that they question their own experiences of inclusion as potentially precarious to enable meaningful teaching practice.Research limitations/implicationsIt offers perspectives drawing on race, dis/ability and gender drawing on two voices. The bivocal perspective is in itself limitation. It is also located within a very Australian context. However, it does have the scope to be applied globally and there is opportunity to further develop the argument using more intersectional variables.Practical implicationsThe paper clearly highlights that universities require a sharper understanding of diversity, and minoritised staff's quotidian negotiations of marginalisations. Concomitantly inclusion and valuing of the epistemologies of minoritised groups facilitate meaningful participation of these groups in higher education contexts.Social implicationsThis article calls for a more nuanced, empathetic and critical understanding of issues related to race and disability within Australian and global academe. This is much required given rapidly shifting demographics within Australian and other higher education contexts, as well as the global migration trajectories.Originality/valueThis is an original research submission which contributes to debates around race and disability in HE. It has the potential to provoke further conversations and incorporates both hope and realism while stressing collaboration within the academic ecosystem to build metaphorical spaces of inclusion for the minoritised.

Active learning: a new look at learning organizations

This article aims to analyze the national scientific production on andragogy, active learning and organizational learning, in the period from 2015 to 2021, in order to identify the contribution of distance education (DL) in the learning process to overcome the challenges faced by organizations today. To this end, a systematic literature review was conducted based on the protocol for selecting and analyzing sources defined by Cronnin, et al. (2008). The qualitative and quantitative research was carried out in journals classified as Qualis Capes A1 to B2, in the Web of Science database. Bibliometric mapping was used to analyze the publications and Iramuteq software was used to process the lexical data of the s of the selected articles. The results of the research point to distance education as a potential model for the educational process capable of working on different organizational competencies.

EFL Students' Reflections on their Language Learning Shifts: Before, During, and After COVID-19

Many ELT scholars have researched various issues in online language learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, only one study applies a Narrative Inquiry approach in researching students' stories as reflections regarding their learning shifts because of the pandemic. Inspired by John Dewey's (1933, 1986) notion and other scholars about the significance of learners' reflections in education, this study attempts to fill the gap by exploring the in-depth stories as reflections of EFL students from three different Indonesian universities about their learning shift experiences before and during the pandemic and their perceptions about learning trends in the future. Nine students as the participants were asked to share their experiences and viewpoints through an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The collected responses were then analyzed using the techniques and tools from Narrative analysis. The results reveal that most participants proposed Blended Learning (BL) with some required conditions for their effective learning: they loved to be taught with the assistance of online materials and applications but longed for more meaningful interactions in conventional face-to-face classes for the issues experienced in fully online learning. For them, the future BL needs to be managed with some relatively balanced proportions of both online and offline classes. Banyak akademisi pada bidang pengajaran bahasa Inggris (ELT) telah meneliti berbagai macam isu dalam pembelajaran bahasa secara daring selama pandemi COVID-19. Namun, hanya satu studi yang menggunakan pendekatan Narrative Inquiry dalam meneliti cerita mahasiswa sebagai refleksi mengenai perubahan aktivitas belajar mereka akibat pandemi. Terinspirasi oleh gagasan John Dewey (1933, 1986) dan para akademisi lainnya mengenai pentingnya refleksi siswa dalam pendidikan, penelitian ini berusaha mengisi kesenjangan (gap) yang ada melalui eksplorasi cerita secara mendalam sebagai refleksi mahasiswa jurusan bahasa Inggris (EFL) dari tiga universitas berbeda di Indonesia mengenai pengalaman belajar mereka yang berubah sebelum dan selama pandemi serta persepsi mereka mengenai tren pembelajaran di masa depan. Sembilan mahasiswa sebagai peserta diminta untuk berbagi pengalaman dan sudut pandang melalui kuesioner terbuka dan wawancara semi-terstruktur. Tanggapan yang terkumpul dari mereka kemudian dianalisis menggunakan teknik dan alat dari Narrative Analysis. Hasilnya mengungkapkan bahwa sebagian besar peserta mengusulkan Blended Learning (BL) dengan beberapa persyaratan tertentu yang diperlukan untuk pembelajaran efektif mereka: mereka senang diajar dengan bantuan materi dan aplikasi daring, tetapi merindukan interaksi yang lebih bermakna dalam kelas tatap muka konvensional karena pertimbangan masalah yang dialami selama pembelajaran daring secara penuh. Bagi mereka, BL di masa yang akan datang perlu dikelola dengan proporsi yang relatif seimbang antara kelas daring dan luring. Aziza Restu Febrianto & Allvian Ika Fiki Susanto. © 2023 AsiaTEFL. All rights reserved.

Making cultural and tourist attractions accessible and inclusive for people with disability through value co-creation amidst COVID-19: a critical discourse analysis

People with disabilities (PwD) are a COVID-19 vulnerable group, and globally they are experiencing even higher rates of social exclusion than before the pandemic. Value co-creation is a process whereby firms and their customers work together to develop service offerings and provides a tool for service improvement during disruptions such as health crises. Although many cultural and tourist attractions have access and inclusion as part of their strategic plans not all of them have turned to value co-creation to address access and inclusion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They also have varying degrees of understandings about what facilitates social inclusion. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, this study explores how museums have addressed access and inclusion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the degree of uptake, discourses of value co-creation, and how their responses can be categorised. The research design included semi-structured, participatory interviews with 15 managers from eight museums;and ethnographic observation and semi-structured, post-museum visit interviews with 12 PwD. Then, an iterative data analysis process using ATLAS-ti was undertaken. The results provide insight into the social inclusion of PwD in museums during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction to part VII: Students' reflections

This section gives space for learners to express their impressions and present their experiences during their learning process in health promotion. This section comprises two chapters: Chap. 45, A Student Perspective on Learning and Doing Settings-Based Health Promotion in the Era of TikTok by Catherine Jenkins, from London South Bank University, London, UK;and Chap. 46, The Impact that Learning About Health Promotion Had on Me. Embracing Health Promotion: A Puerto Rican Metamorphosis by Elisa Ramos-Vazquez and colleagues. Chapter 45 reflects the present time as it was written during the COVID-19 pandemic and describes the use of digital devices to develop its teaching-learning process. The other chapter, 46, has in its title an intriguing word-"metamorphosis, " which means transformation, change, transition, and movement. This chapter brings many examples to illustrate the voices of the students. These two chapters are an inspiration to always include students not as passive subjects in the teaching-learning process in health promotion but as fundamental partners in the construction of meaningful and transformative learning. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Web-Based Tracheostomy Care Game on Nursing Students? Knowledge Levels and Their Views of the Process

Objective: This study investigated nursing students' views of the effect of a web-based tracheostomy care game on their knowledge levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods:This pretest-posttest single-group quasi-experimental study was conducted between April and July 2021. The study population consisted of all nursing students in Turkey. The sample consisted of 125 students who filled out the pretest and posttest forms. Participation was voluntary. Participants were recruited using snowball sampling method. Participants entered the website "trakeostomibakimi.com" They filled out the demographic characteristics questionnaire and the tracheostomy care knowledge test (TCKT) on the website. They downloaded the virtual tracheostomy care game on their computers. They played the game as much as they wanted and then filled out the posttest and the student opinion forms.Results: Participants had a higher mean posttest TCKT score than pretest score (p<.05). They stated that the game helped them enjoy learning tracheostomy care and remember their prior knowledge and made them feel like they practiced in a real-life clinical setting. Conclusion: The web-based tracheostomy care game improved nursing students' knowledge levels. There should also be online educational games tailored to other nursing areas.

Seeking dramatic reality in the digital world

More than two years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, online drama therapy seems to be viewed both by therapists and clients in an extreme way: either as a means of salvation in the limitations of distance and quarantine restrictions or as a discount to in-person therapy. In this conceptual article, the author explores the ways in which online drama therapy utilizes aesthetic distance and dramatic reality. The author theorizes how these concepts translate into an online space without breaking the relationship between therapist and client/group that is already being hindered by the literal distance, the lack of body involvement and the mediation of technology and the screen. Through discussion of the existing literature on aesthetic distance and fantastic/dramatic reality, the author examines these concepts through the lens of the online setting, providing some thoughts that might be of use when planning an online session.

Lockdown and psychotherapy for children and adolescents: Clinical reflections and examples

The article offers reflections on the change of setting in psychotherapeutic work with children and adolescents during the Covid-19 pandemic: a change partly resulting from discussion and comparisons with colleagues. Two clinical situations, in particular, are presented: one involving an eight-year-old girl and the other concerning a young girl aged eighteen. During the online sessions, the little girl's response proved to be more active and engaged, whereas the older girl's reaction was more problematic and persecutory, primarily in relation to the absence of the canonical setting and the patient's difficulty in carving out a private space for herself that was separate from that of her family. The authors pause to describe and analyse the unexpected dynamics that Covid-19's unforeseeable arrival has revealed in the two different psychotherapeutic settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Italian) Il lavoro presenta delle riflessioni relative al cambiamento di setting nella psicoterapia con bambini e adolescenti durante la pandemia da Covid-19, frutto anche di discussioni e confronti tra colleghe. In particolare vengono esposte due situazioni cliniche: una bambina di 8 anni e una giovane ragazza di 18. Nelle sedute online, la risposta maggiormente attiva e partecipativa si e manifestata nel caso della bambina, mentre la reazione della ragazza e stata piu difficile e persecutoria, soprattutto in relazione all'assenza del setting tradizionale e alia difficolta della paziente di ricavarsi uno spazio privato differenziato dalla famiglia. Ci siamo soffermate sul descrivere e comprendere le inaspettate dinamiche che 1'arrivo del Covid-19 ha manifestato nei diversi setting di psicoterapia. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Theme Introduction to Special Issue: "Critical and Performative Reflections on Current Crises”

The essays in this Special Issue respond in part to a call to acknowledge the multiple crises we now face: the global covid-19 virus pandemic;natural disasters caused by climate change and more. The essays call for a critical collaborative engagement over issues of trauma and survival, to build new templates of sociality towards progressive futures.

Effects of mindfulness and stress management on neurocardiovascular and psychological outcomes

There has been a higher prevalence of developing anxiety due to frequent episodes of stress among adults in recent years. Chronic anxiety can contribute to the prevalence of elevated blood pressure and hypertension. High anxiety and stress also contribute to overactivation of the sympathetic nervous system which can be quantified by increased muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA). Sympathetic overactivation can lead to vasoconstriction and loss of arterial elasticity. Anxiety, MSNA, blood pressure, and arterial stiffness are all interconnected, thus studying these relationships is crucial to understand the underlying mechanisms for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Non-pharmacological and mind-body treatments such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and stress management education (SME) have gained popularity in the management of anxiety and CVD risk. In Study 1, 19 volunteers (18-45 years) were randomized into 8-week MBSR or SME, where we monitored changes in anxiety, decentering, and arterial stiffness. There was a tendency for state anxiety to be reduced after MBSR (p=0.06), but carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) did not change from pre to post in either condition. Study 2 enrolled 27 volunteer participants (25+/-1 years) to determine how muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) reactivity influence post mental stress aortic augmentation index (AIx). The mental stress task significantly increased HR (DELTA15+/-2 beats/minute), MAP (DELTA14+/-1 mmHg), and perceived stress (DELTA1.9+/-0.1 a.u.), while MSNA (DELTA -13 to +20 bursts/min) was not significantly increased. The change in MAP during mental stress was a significant predictor (beta=0.47;p=0.03) of the change in AIx (post-stress vs. baseline). Changes in MSNA and perceived stress were not predictors of mental stress- xiv related changes in AIx. Study 3 examined how 8-week MBSR, or SME influenced anxiety and decentering in 36 volunteer participants. Nineteen participants completed the 8-week study prior to concerns over COVID-19 (no pandemic group = NPG), while 17 participants were affected by the stay-at-home order due to the pandemic (pandemic group = PG). Anxiety and decentering were measured before and after the 8-weeks of MBSR and SME. Trait anxiety was reduced in NPG/PG and MBSR/SME (p<0.05), while decentering was also improved in PG (p<0.03). The results of these studies agree with previous studies that indicate how MBSR can help to reduce anxiety. However, MBSR does not appear to decrease arterial stiffness (cfPWV). Aim 2 challenges the concept that acute stress-induced changes in aortic augmentation index are directly linked to changes in MSNA. The changes in AIx were linked to changes in MAP, but not MSNA. Aim 3 provides indications of how MBSR and SME can reduce trait anxiety and improve the ability to decenter during a global health crisis like COVID19. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Reflections on a nursing education institution transitioning to online education during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2022, nursing faculty reflect on the transition without global or national benchmarks or blueprints of a South African Nursing Education Institution to online education during the Covid-19 pandemic. Objective: To provide policy makers a resource in preparation for future crises in education. A theoretical-reflective study supported by a SWOT analysis aimed to understand the transition to online teaching and learning and assessments for the Nursing Discipline (nursing faculty n = 22; undergraduate students n = 291) of a select South African university. It revealed four key lessons learned. Firstly, whether change is planned or unplanned, policy frameworks should guide it. Secondly, resources exist within faculty, and at times, change agents might not be necessary as strengths can be drawn from within. Thirdly, through managing a crisis, faculty-service partnership can be strengthened. Lastly, a need exists for continual surveillance as the inequality gap in Higher Education students has become increasingly visible and amplified further marginalisation. Our reflections have highlighted that opportunities and strengths abound as the pandemic has fast-tracked nursing education institutions to embrace technology for teaching and learning and assessments. Three of the key lessons learned emphasise what is known about the successful outcome of working together.

A Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (Lamp)-Based Point-of-Care System for Rapid on-Site Clinical Detection of Sars-Cov-2 Viruses

In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, sensitive and rapid on-site detection of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has been one of crucial objectives. A point-of-care (PoC) device called PATHPOD for quick, on-site detection of SARS-CoV-2 employing a real-time reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-rLAMP) reaction on a polymer cartridge. The PATHPOD consists of a standalone device (weighing under 1.2 kg) and a cartridge, and can identify 10 distinct samples and 2 controls in less than 50 minutes. The PATHPOD PoC system is fabricated and clinically validated for the first time in this work © 2023 IEEE.

Online Teaching of an Undergraduate Research Module amid COVID-19 Lockdowns: Reflections of an Academic at a University of Technology in South Africa

With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the transition from face-to-face teaching to online teaching was enforced in higher education institutions. The study illuminates the lecturer's reflections on practices adopted whilst embarking on the trajectory to move teaching an undergraduate research module to online platforms amid COVID-19 lockdowns at a South African University of Technology. An auto-ethnographic qualitative approach was adopted, with personal reflections as data sets. Using a Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework to analyse data, findings indicate that cognitive, teaching, and social presence are crucial in an online undergraduate research module. Significant during the lockdowns was the need for communication;the lecturer had to be present as a real person;show compassion towards students;and treat students as real people online, thus adopting humanistic pedagogy. Furthermore, the findings indicate various factors enhancing or impeding the quality of online undergraduate research pedagogical practices. Hence, the study recommends the addition of "policy presence" focusing on staff development, provision of online related resources, and ensuring a conducive environment in pursuit of inspiring and enabling both staff and students to participate in impactful research.

Personal and professional reflections: Shame and race

In this chapter, I will discuss my understanding of shame and race having been born, and having lived and worked in racialised societies. I decided to write from my personal and professional experiences of seeing people who expressed their feelings of being made to feel ashamed and what actions they took to be relieved of these feelings. On refection, during this year of the enforced "lock down" caused by the pandemic of COVID-19, I have had more time to observe people whilst standing at the stipulated distance of two metres. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

COVID-19 and Quality of Life: Twelve Reflections.

COVID-19 has severely affected the world since December 2020. Because of its sudden onset and highly contagious nature, the world has responded in a "crisis management" manner. With effective vaccines almost available, it is appropriate at this time to have some reflections about COVID-19 in relation to the quality of life issues. In this paper, we highlight twelve issues for reflection, which can help us better prepared for future pandemics. These include: digital divide, health inequality, gender inequality, economic disadvantage, family well-being, impact on holistic well-being, economic development versus saving lives, consumption versus environmental protection, individual rights versus collective rights, international collaboration versus conflict, prevention of negative well-being, and promotion of positive well-being.

Undertaking rapid evaluations during the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons from evaluating COVID-19 remote home monitoring services in England.

Introduction: Rapid evaluations can offer evidence on innovations in health and social care that can be used to inform fast-moving policy and practise, and support their scale-up according to previous research. However, there are few comprehensive accounts of how to plan and conduct large-scale rapid evaluations, ensure scientific rigour, and achieve stakeholder engagement within compressed timeframes. Methods: Using a case study of a national mixed-methods rapid evaluation of COVID-19 remote home monitoring services in England, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, this manuscript examines the process of conducting a large-scale rapid evaluation from design to dissemination and impact, and reflects on the key lessons for conducting future large-scale rapid evaluations. In this manuscript, we describe each stage of the rapid evaluation: convening the team (study team and external collaborators), design and planning (scoping, designing protocols, study set up), data collection and analysis, and dissemination. Results: We reflect on why certain decisions were made and highlight facilitators and challenges. The manuscript concludes with 12 key lessons for conducting large-scale mixed-methods rapid evaluations of healthcare services. We propose that rapid study teams need to: (1) find ways of quickly building trust with external stakeholders, including evidence-users; (2) consider the needs of the rapid evaluation and resources needed; (3) use scoping to ensure the study is highly focused; (4) carefully consider what cannot be completed within a designated timeframe; (5) use structured processes to ensure consistency and rigour; (6) be flexible and responsive to changing needs and circumstances; (7) consider the risks associated with new data collection approaches of quantitative data (and their usability); (8) consider whether it is possible to use aggregated quantitative data, and what that would mean when presenting results, (9) consider using structured processes & layered analysis approaches to rapidly synthesise qualitative findings, (10) consider the balance between speed and the size and skills of the team, (11) ensure all team members know roles and responsibilities and can communicate quickly and clearly; and (12) consider how best to share findings, in discussion with evidence-users, for rapid understanding and use. Conclusion: These 12 lessons can be used to inform the development and conduct of future rapid evaluations in a range of contexts and settings.

Apple in My Eyes (AIME): Liveness Detection for Mobile Security Using Corneal Specular Reflections

The demand for contactless biometric authentication has significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. The global pandemic unexpectedly affords a greater opportunity for contactless authentication, but iris and facial recognition biometrics have many usability, security, and privacy challenges, including mask-wearing and presentation attacks (PAs). Mainly, liveness detection against spoofing is notably a challenging task as various biometric authentication methods cannot efficiently assess the real user's physical presence in unsupervised environments. Although several face anti-spoofing methods have been proposed using add-on sensors, dynamic facial texture features, and 3-D mapping, most of them require expensive sensors and substantial computational resources, or fail to detect sophisticated 3-D face spoofing. This article presents a software-based facial liveness detection method named Apple in My Eyes (AIME). AIME is intended to detect the liveness against spoofing for mobile device security using challenge-response testing. AIME generates various screen patterns as authentication challenges, then passively detects corneal-specular reflection responses from human eyes using a frontal camera and analyzes the detected reflections using lightweight machine learning techniques. AIME system components include challenge and pattern detection, feature extraction and classification, and data augmentation and training. We have implemented AIME as a cross-platform application compatible with Android, iOS, and the Web. Our comprehensive experimental results reveal that AIME detects liveness with high accuracy at around 200-ms against different types of sophisticated PAs. AIME can also efficiently detect liveness in multiple contactless biometric authentications without any costly extra sensors nor involving users' active responses.