Teachers and educators' experiences and perceptions of artificial-powered interventions for autism groups.

BACKGROUND: Artificial intelligence-powered interventions have emerged as promising tools to support autistic individuals. However, more research must examine how teachers and educators perceive and experience these AI systems when implemented. OBJECTIVES: The first objective was to investigate informants' perceptions and experiences of AI-empowered interventions for children with autism. Mainly, it explores the informants' perceived benefits and challenges of using AI-empowered interventions and their recommendations for avoiding the perceived challenges. METHODOLOGY: A qualitative phenomenological approach was used. Twenty educators and parents with experience implementing AI interventions for autism were recruited through purposive sampling. Semi-structured and focus group interviews conducted, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic analysis. FINDINGS: The analysis identified four major themes: perceived benefits of AI interventions, implementation challenges, needed support, and recommendations for improvement. Benefits included increased engagement and personalized learning. Challenges included technology issues, training needs, and data privacy concerns. CONCLUSIONS: AI-powered interventions show potential to improve autism support, but significant challenges must be addressed to ensure effective implementation from an educator's perspective. The benefits of personalized learning and student engagement demonstrate the potential value of these technologies. However, with adequate training, technical support, and measures to ensure data privacy, many educators will likely find integrating AI systems into their daily practices easier. IMPLICATIONS: To realize the full benefits of AI for autism, developers must work closely with educators to understand their needs, optimize implementation, and build trust through transparent privacy policies and procedures. With proper support, AI interventions can transform how autistic individuals are educated by tailoring instruction to each student's unique profile and needs.

Digital communication activities and EFL learners' willingness to communicate and engagement: Exploring the intermediate language learners' perceptions.

EFL/ESL teachers have used digital communication activities to teach language skills. However, the effect of digital communication activities on EFL learners' Willingness to Communicate (WTC) in classrooms and learner engagement has yet to be well investigated. This study examined the influence of digital communication activities on the engagement and willingness to communicate of intermediate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. It also assessed the potential advantages of integrating digital communication into language learning contexts. A mixed-methods approach involving pretest-posttest comparisons and qualitative interviews was employed. In the quantitative phase, four intact classes of 80 intermediate Chinese EFL learners were recruited and assigned to control and experimental groups. They attempted the scales (WTC and engagement) before and after treatment. However, 20 EFL learners exposed to digital communication activities were interviewed. The research revealed notable enhancements in affective, cognitive, and behavioral engagement among the experimental group. Moreover, a substantial positive effect on EFL learners' willingness to communicate was observed, particularly in speaking, writing, reading, and comprehension activities. Findings have practical implications for EFL teachers and learners to use digital communication activities to enhance the learners' WTC in the classroom and different aspects of engagement.

Academic and real-life task-based language needs of marine engineering students: interface between students' and subject teachers' perspectives.

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and Needs Analysis (NA) have been studied to a great extent, since a couple of decades ago. The review of the related studies also shows that needs analysis has been of much concern to the researchers interested in the ESP field. However, ESP for the students of marine engineering has not been investigated in terms of the task-based language needs. The researchers used a quantitative survey. To collect the data, a researcher developed questionnaire consisting of two components (academic & real-life) was employed. The data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics (independent samples-t-tests). Both ME students and subject specialists believed that the academic and real-life task-based language needs are important to ME students. Results also showed that the differences between mean scores of the students and subject specialists were statistically significant. It can be concluded that maritime engineering students, to accomplish their study, need mastery in both receptive and productive language skills. Findings are both theoretically and pedagogically important to ESP educators, administrators of the universities as well the policymakers and administrators of marine engineering.