ABSTRACT
Affective computing (AC) has been regarded as a relevant approach to identifying online learners' mental states and predicting their learning performance. Previous research mainly used one single-source data set, typically learners' facial expression, to compute learners' affection. However, a single facial expression may represent different affections in various head poses. This study proposed a dual-source data approach to solve the problem. Facial expression and head pose are two typical data sources that can be captured from online learning videos. The current study collected a dual-source data set of facial expressions and head poses from an online learning class in a middle school. A deep learning neural network using AlexNet with an attention mechanism was developed to verify the syncretic effect on affective computing of the proposed dual-source fusion strategy. The results show that the dual-source fusion approach significantly outperforms the single-source approach based on the AC recognition accuracy between the two approaches (dual-source approach using Attention-AlexNet model 80.96%;single-source approach, facial expression 76.65% and head pose 64.34%). This study contributes to the theoretical construction of the dual-source data fusion approach, and the empirical validation of the effect of the Attention-AlexNet neural network approach on affective computing in online learning contexts.
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Owing to the impact of COVID-19, the venues for dancers to perform have shifted from the stage to the media. In this study, we focus on the creation of dance videos that allow audiences to feel a sense of excitement without disturbing their awareness of the dance subject and propose a video generation method that links the dance and the scene by utilizing a sound detection method and an object detection algorithm. The generated video was evaluated using the Semantic Differential method, and it was confirmed that the proposed method could transform the original video into an uplifting video without any sense of discomfort. © 2023 SPIE.
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Children are one of the groups most influenced by COVID-19-related social distancing, and a lack of contact with peers can limit their opportunities to develop social and collaborative skills. However, remote socialization and collaboration as an alternative approach is still a great challenge for children. This paper presents MR.Brick, a Mixed Reality (MR) educational game system that helps children adapt to remote collaboration. A controlled experimental study involving 24 children aged six to ten was conducted to compare MR.Brick with the traditional video game by measuring their social and collaborative skills and analyzing their multi-modal playing behaviours. The results showed that MR.Brick was more conducive to children's remote collaboration experience than the traditional video game. Given the lack of training systems designed for children to collaborate remotely, this study may inspire interaction design and educational research in related fields. © 2023 ACM.
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In recent years, the COVID-19 has made it difficult for people to interact with each other face-to-face, but various kinds of social interactions are still needed. Therefore, we have developed an online interactive system based on the image processing method, that allows people in different places to merge the human region of two images onto the same image in real-time. The system can be used in a variety of situations to extend its interactive applications. The system is mainly based on the task of Human Segmentation in the CNN (convolution Neural Network) method. Then the images from different locations are transmitted to the computing server through the Internet. In our design, the system ensures that the CNN method can run in real-time, allowing both side users can see the integrated image to reach 30 FPS when the network is running smoothly. © 2023 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Online and distance learning classes have been touted for the last several years as an innovation in higher education that should help improve the entrepreneurial growth mindset of students. However, the reported negative online learning experience of many college students worldwide during the COVID-19 epidemic has shown that many opportunities remain to improve the sustainable development and growth of online visual instruction practices. In this study, we outline and investigate a set of hypotheses related to the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use (from TAM) of online video instruction in higher education courses during the pandemic. We employ grounded theory using autoethnographic case studies as a data source. We found that (a) synchronous broadcast lectures improve participant attitude (H1) and motivation (H2) toward online instruction, (b) prerecorded video instruction increases participant perceived "ease of use" (H3) and perceived behavioral control (H4) of online instruction, but (c) indicators of recorded dates on pre-recorded video instruction decreases participant perceived "usefulness" (H5) and "certainty" (H6) of online instruction. We enrich the insights of popular motivation models for organizations and the higher education industry by outlining a set of emotional elements originating in neuroscience leadership research (SCARF) that might either amplify or diminish the perceived the ease of use and perceived usefulness to technology usage relationships when participations engage in online learning situations.
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PurposeIn order to ensure effectiveness of staff's performance using online meetings applications during coronavirus disease (COVID-19), having the behavioural intention is mandatory for staff to measure, test, and manage the staff's data. Understanding of Public Higher Education Institution (PHEI) staffs' intention and behaviour toward online meetings platforms is needed to develop and implement effective and efficient strategies. The objectives of this paper to identify the factors that affect staff to use online meetings applications, to develop a model that examining the factors that affect PHEI staff to online meetings applications and to validate the proposed model. This study used a cross-sectional quantitative correlational study with using UTAUT2 model by validating the model and mediating variables to enhance the model's explanatory power and to make the model more applicable to PHEI staff's behavioural intention.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected in Malaysia from March to May 2021. The survey took place using Google form and was send to PHEI staff for answer. This research particularly chooses PHEI as the location to carry out the research due to two main factors. Statistical analysis and hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling based on the optimisation technique of partial least squares. SmartPLS software, Version 3.0 (Hair et al., 2010) was used to conduct the analysis. A conceptualised estimation model was "drawn in” the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyse the consequences of the variables' relationships. In essence, the PLS-SEM simulation was carried out in a model by assessing and computing various parameters that included elements like validity, durability, and item loading. Henseler et al. (2009) suggested a two-step method that includes PLS model parameter computing. This is accomplished by first solving the estimation model in the structural model independently before calculating the direction coefficients. The results of data analysis using SmartPLS findings and interpretation of the data are addressed. The questionnaire was extensively examined to ensure that the data obtained were presented in a clear and intelligible manner, with the use of figures, and graphs.FindingsThis current study found that the usability of the material, the reliability of operating, the impact of the PHEI staff's views on its usage, and finally the familiarity with the online meetings platforms influenced PHEI staff's behavioural intention for adoption and long-term use of online meeting platforms using UTAUT2. The staff's behavioural intention for using online meeting platforms was significantly influenced by the effort expectancy, facilitating conditions and habit of online meeting platforms. There was a clear association between "Habit” and "Behavioural Intention” for the usage of information technology in learning in several studies (El-Masri and Tarhini, 2017;Uur and Turan, 2018;Mosunmola et al., 2018;Venkatesh et al., 2003). As a consequence of the utility of online meeting platforms in daily staff meetings and learning activities, this technology has been adopted.Originality/valueThis study used UTAUT2 and structural equations modelling in this study to assess respondents' perspectives on the use of online meetings platforms in PHEI, since users' perspective is a significant factor in the adoption and acceptance of online meeting applications. Staff's behavioural intention to use online meeting platforms was effectively enhanced by "Effort Expectancy,” "Facilitating Conditions” and "Habit” in this study. The study shows that identifying PHEI staff's perspectives will effectively increase the staff's aversion to utilising online meeting platforms for online meetings purposes.
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In recent years, the increasing social isolation has become a major problem in Japan because of the growing trend toward nuclear families. In addition, further social isolation is concerned caused by a decrease on face-to-face communication opportunities due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 infection. Therefore, it is necessary to create connections among people. On the other hand, opportunities for people to communicate online have increased rapidly. However, various information obtained the face-to-face is missing online, which degrades the quality of communication and causes physical and mental fatigue to users. To solve these problems, this study aims to minimize the gap that exists between online and the face-to-face, and to propose an Augmented Architectural Space that creates casual connections between people within their living space. By comparing the results of impression evaluation experiments using questionnaires for the face-to-face environment, the video conferencing system environment, and the proposed system environment, we demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed Augmented Architectural Space system for creating casual connections between people. © 2023, Association of American Publishers. All rights reserved.
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[...]a large number of lecturers called in sick or declared that they were unable to attend for health and safety reasons. The transition required the following steps: prompt communication with the students about the new modus operandi;staff training on the use of Teams;setting up of Teams exam meetings;evaluation and re-design of the exam content. Another clear benefit of Teams meetings is the centrally stored video recordings for all examinations, which can be used for quality assurance purposes, that is, checking by external examiners, in potential student appeals or academic misconduct investigations. Unstable or poor Internet connection;2. student camera turned off;3. hardware issues with the camera or microphone;4. background noise and echo;5. poor student or examiner information technology (IT) skills.
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[...]flexibility ensures that students feel included and stay interested in learning. [...]dealing with varied genres allows students to get acquainted with different registers of the language. [...]the lack of physical classes also resulted in a lack of group activities. [...]as part of its policy of inclusion, JNU offers admission to students with visual impairment and also offers extra classes for them. [...]for overcoming the impersonal nature of online teaching, I made sure to get each student to speak in the class. The purpose was to ensure that students were active during the entire class. [...]I had to make sure that whilst recording the teaching session, I started recording only after having played the DW video.
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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and compulsory social distancing, researchers in educational fields started to investigate alternatives to face-To-face (F2F) training methods with greater focus, such as video conferencing (VC) and virtual reality (VR) applications. This study investigated the differences between VC, VR and F2F training conditions by evaluating the level of body ownership and agency perceived by trainees. An electrical circuit repair task and multiple surveys were used to gather data from 106 participants in the form of four dependent variables: A circuit knowledge test, task completion rate, number of the subtasks completed by failing participants, and test phase duration. The study included two visits by each participant to measure knowledge retention while there were no training and surveys in Visit 2. Results showed significantly higher circuit learning and knowledge retention scores in F2F and VR conditions than in VC. Also, regarding the retention of knowledge, participants had significantly better knowledge retention in Visit 1 than Visit 2. The authors hope the results of this study enable training developers to enhance the learning process in computer mediated communications. © 2023 IEEE.
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The internet is often thought of as a democratizer, enabling equality in aspects such as pay, as well as a tool introducing novel communication and monetization opportunities. In this study we examine athletes on Cameo, a website that enables bi-directional fan-celebrity interactions, questioning whether the well-documented gender pay gaps in sports persist in this digital setting. Traditional studies into gender pay gaps in sports are mostly in a centralized setting where an organization decides the pay for the players, while Cameo facilitates grass-roots fan engagement where fans pay for video messages from their preferred athletes. The results showed that even on such a platform gender pay gaps persist, both in terms of cost-per-message, and in the number of requests, proxied by number of ratings. For instance, we find that female athletes have a median pay of 30$ per-video, while the same statistic is 40$ for men. The results also contribute to the study of parasocial relationships and personalized fan engagements over a distance. Something that has become more relevant during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, where in-person fan engagement has often been limited. © 2023 Owner/Author.
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Grandparents who were separated from their infant grandchildren during COVID-19 sought other ways to connect, including video chat. Video chat supports learning, and its features (e.g., contingent responsiveness) may allow for cultural exchange. However, technological problems may disrupt these exchanges. In a seminaturalistic, longitudinal study, 47 families submitted up to three video chats and surveys. Families were predominantly White/Caucasian, highly educated, and lived between 1 and 2,700 miles apart. Multilevel models were used to predict the proportion of the sessions devoted to exchanging culture (e.g., holidays, parenting advice) and managing tech problems. Culture exchange did not change as a function of infant age, video chat experience, or when encountering tech problems. Although only marginally statistically significant, culture exchange increased as distance increased. Tech problems changed as a function of tech talk. Qualitative analysis revealed that cultural transmission occurred via a culture of care and sharing of information across video chat, that families adapted their behaviors to the new technology, and that technology disruptions rarely interfered with the flow of information. These findings demonstrate the ability to share culture when physically separated and in the presence of tech disruptions. Further, this study supports previous work on the emerging culture of video chat. Families adapted to being separated, and grandparents and infants successfully communicated through a new modality. Because video chat supports family relationships, equitable access to high-speed internet should be a priority to enable more families to use it. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement This study demonstrates that video chat allowed for familial culture exchanges to be maintained through a separation during COVID-19. Examining what and how cultural exchanges took place suggests that supports for using video chat, including access to high-speed internet, are necessary for families separated by other circumstances. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Both enterprises and their employees have globally experienced remote work at an unprecedented scale since the outbreak of COVID-19. As the pandemic becomes less of a threat, some companies have called their employees back to a physical office, citing issues related to working remotely, but many employees have refused to return. Thus, working in the metaverse has gained much attention as an alternative that could complement the weaknesses of completely remote work or even offline work. However, we do not know yet what benefits and drawbacks the metaverse has as a legitimate workspace, because there are few real cases of 1) working in the metaverse and 2) working remotely at such an unprecedented scale. Thus, this paper aims to identify real challenges and opportunities the metaverse workspace presents when compared to remote work by conducting semi-structured interviews and participatory workshops with various employees and company stakeholders (e.g., HR managers and CEOs) who have experienced at least two of three work types: working in a physical office, remotely, or in the metaverse. Consequently, we identified 1) advantages and disadvantages of remote work and 2) opportunities and challenges of the metaverse. We further discuss design implications that may overcome the identified challenges of working in the metaverse. © 2023 Owner/Author.
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Lung ultrasound (LUS) is possibly the only medical imaging modality which could be used for continuous and periodic monitoring of the lung. This is extremely useful in tracking the lung manifestations either during the onset of lung infection or to track the effect of vaccination on lung as in pandemics such as COVID-19. There have been many attempts in automating the classification of the severity of lung involvement into various classes or automatic segmentation of various LUS landmarks and manifestations. However, all these approaches are based on training static machine learning models which require a significantly large clinically annotated dataset and are computationally heavy and are most of the time non-real time. In this work, a real-time light weight active learning-based approach is presented for faster triaging in COVID-19 subjects in resource constrained settings. The tool, based on the you look only once (YOLO) network, has the capability of providing the quality of images based on the identification of various LUS landmarks, artefacts and manifestations. This tool also predict the severity of lung infection and make use of the possibility of active learning based on the feedback from clinicians or on the image quality. The capability of this tool to summarize the significant frames which are having high severity of infection and high image quality will be helpful for clinicians to discern things more easily. The results show that the proposed object detection tool has a mean average precision (mAP) of 66% at an Intersection over Union (IoU) threshold of 0.5 for the prediction of LUS landmarks with initial training on less than 1000 images. The 14MB lightweight YOLOv5s network achieves 123 FPS while running on a Quadro P4000 GPU. The tool is available for usage and analysis upon request from the authors and details can be found online.
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Princeton University, including the various language programs it offers, has intentionally resisted distance learning for decades, primarily out of a desire to concentrate on the residential undergraduate educational experience. In New Jersey, USA, state-level restrictions and institutional decisions resulted in the closure of campus instructional spaces from the halfway point of the 2020 spring semester through the end of the 2020-2021 academic year, with further precautions, mitigations, and flexible responses throughout the following academic year, including but not limited to frequent reversion to remote instruction during periods of high incidence, interior masking requirements, and social distancing when possible in classroom spaces. For the past six years, I have also redesigned, expanded, and aligned our second-year German program with the first year, which is based on a high-frequency core vocabulary and the development of contextual reading strategies, among other approaches (for a detailed description of approach, form, and function, see Oberlin, in press). Of the many tools and approaches considered during this frantic and bewildering week, one stands out: the application of outside-of-class student-to-student communication via Zoom or other video-conferencing technologies with written follow-up to fulfill a number of desiderata: (1) that students speak more in an alternate assignment format given the realities of affective and technological hurdles while using video conferencing software;(2) that they are provided with an unsupervised opportunity to speak in an effort to reduce anxiety;(3) that self-scheduled partner work might offer flexibility necessary during home-based study and the various complications and distractions that entails, particularly during a period of ongoing disruptions;and (4) that a written response to this oral communication would generate classroom discussion, deepen engagement with materials, and present instructors with another avenue for teacher-student feedback and the assessment of sentence- or paragraph-level writing.
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As the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in school closures since early 2020, children have spent more time online through virtual classrooms using educational technology (EdTech) and videoconferencing applications. This increased presence of children online exposes them to more risk of cyber threats. Here, we present a review of the current research and policies to protect children while online. We seek to answer four key questions: what are the online threats against children when learning online, what is known about children's cybersecurity awareness, what government policies and recommendations are implemented and proposed to protect children online, and what are the proposed and existing efforts to teach cybersecurity to childrenƒ Our study emphasizes the online risks to children and the importance of protective government policies and educational initiatives that give kids the knowledge and empowerment to protect themselves online. © 2023 IEEE.
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COVID-19 affected our lives intensly. That state of affairs made humans helpless. They had been depressed and experienced loneliness. At that time many human beings were determined to play video games just to loosen up their minds. Many games changed into an additional source of revenue wherein during COVID-19 they were playing while earning money. With these advantages, there were also some poor effects was accrued. A number of players remained playing video games post COVID-19. The carried out survey is based on the social video games results on players' well-being and additionally on the effects of gamers' health and their sensible lifestyles. We are going to investigate the behavior of gamers engaged with video games during the COVID-19 lockdown and the video games affects on their well-being, the time they served in playing video games, and the consequential effect on their behavior and social and mental well-being. The results provide a start line for empirically grounded discussions on video games at some stage in the pandemic, their use, and potential outcomes. Different agegroups of players have been investigated. Most players are between 18 and 30 years. A number of the gamers during lock down played a few hours but most of players were males who spent most of their day playing video games. However, now the ratio of playing video games is reduced as examined with past circumstances. Roughly we can say that the condition as a whole is better, the reason why players enforced video games in their post COVID-19 practical life1. © 2023 IEEE.
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The effects of the pandemic have shed light on the evolution of technology in the legal space, including the use of technology in videoconferencing proceedings and facilitating court procedures. Despite the benefits associated with technology, the rapid adoption of videoconferencing proceedings in courts may have unprecedented impacts on the relevance and practicality of the forum non conveniens doctrine. Additionally, the drastically different approaches that federal courts have taken in response to the disproportionate geographic effects of the pandemic may give way to forum shopping. Plaintiffs may be more incentivized to bring their cases to forums that allow for videoconferencing proceedings as a strategic way to circumvent a defendant's potential forum non conveniens argument in a motion to dismiss. This Note argues that videoconferencing technology allows courts to effectively transcend the restrictions of geography while mitigating arguments about the relative convenience of different forums. Creating more uniform rules for videoconferencing proceedings will ensure easier predictability and uniformity in the forum non conveniens analysis. Specifically, this Note recommends that Congress and the courts mandate standardized technological videoconferencing requirements and adopt the original understanding of the forum non conveniens doctrine for lower courts to more explicitly consider the benefits of technology when making a forum non conveniens determination.
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Telemedicine is a modality which utilizes technology to provide and support health care across large distances. It has redefined the practices of medicine in many specialties and continues to be a boon for clinicians on many frontiers. Its role in the branch of anesthesia remains largely unexplored but has shown to be beneficial in all the three phases: pre-operative, intra-operative, and post-operative. Now time has come that anesthesiologists across the globe reassess their strategies and utilize the telemedicine facilities in the field of anesthesia.Copyright © 2021 EDP Sciences. All rights reserved.
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AimsTo study feasibility and impact of telephone and video communication on perceptions of loneliness and social isolation in community-dwelling older adults.MethodsPurposive flyer distribution to communities, area agencies on aging, meals on wheels, and snowball sampling. Sixteen people met inclusion criteria. Pre- and post-intervention data were collected: UCLA-3, UCLA20, FRAIL Scale, and Social Frailty Scale. Participants were allocated to either telephone or video communication groups, completing 8 weeks of one time per week 45-60-minute conversations.ResultsUCLA-20 demonstrated statistical significance (p = .017) for the full cohort with large effect size (Hedges' g = 1.273). UCLA-3, SFS-8, and FRAIL Scale did not demonstrate statistically significant pre-post differences. No statistically significant differences (p > .05) were identified between the telephone and video communication groups.ConclusionRemote communication may have a positive impact on perceptions of loneliness that appear to be independent of the communication modality utilized. Randomized controlled trials are required to determine if either modality is more effective.