Jordanian English language educators' perceived readiness for virtual learning environment.

Online engagement has assumed a pivotal role within educational pedagogy, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study delves into the perceptions of Jordanian English language educators regarding their preparedness for online teaching in the post-pandemic landscape. In this quantitative study, a group of 101 English language educators from Jordanian universities participated, and their responses were subjected to analysis through descriptive statistics. The findings of this analysis indicate that the respondents exhibited a moderate level of familiarity with technology and e-learning platforms, alongside a similarly moderate level of competence in managing their online courses. Furthermore, the study underscores a noteworthy gap in their exposure to online education, despite their considerable tenure in teaching English. Consequently, the study underscores the necessity for tailored training programs designed to comprehensively enhance the online teaching proficiency of English language educators, thereby facilitating a more effective virtual learning environment.

Online Teaching Practicum in Malaysia in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic.

When the teachers' training practicum was paralyzed during the COVID-19 pandemic, preservice teachers in Malaysia were required to adapt to the online practicum. This qualitative case study was conducted with 20 preservice teachers to investigate their online teaching practicum experiences. The study drew on the Engagement Theory and Disaster Management Cycle framework to further suggest teaching approaches that might be effective during a tragic situation. Data were collected from interviews and video observations, and analyzed thematically. The findings contribute to the understanding of how preservice teachers learn to modify their teaching practices during the challenging context. A number of themes related to positive experience were identified: (i) higher confidence level, (ii) improved interaction, (iii) engagement in active learning, and (iv) adapting to online syllabus. On the other hand, the negative experience revolves around the problem with Internet connection. It is hoped that the findings of this study will encourage preservice teachers to consider hybrid approaches and online teaching in the future.

A Phenomenological Study of Educators' Experience After a Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This phenomenological study investigated educators' lived experiences of teaching online in higher institutions in Malaysia. Data, which was generated through semi-structured interviews with 20 lecturers from three universities in the country, was analysed based on the thematic analysis approach guided by the Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK)-self-efficacy framework. The findings revealed that after a year of teaching online, the potential of technology has been acknowledged by the educators after some trials and constraints were addressed. The domains related to Technology Content Knowledge (TCK), Technology Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK), and TPACK were evident in the findings. However, Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) was not given emphasis, hence this manuscript argues that educators need to be constantly reminded of the significance of PCK. The findings discussed in this manuscript can be a helpful guide for educators when there is a need for them to teach online.

Towards the Sustainability of English Language Teachers Professionalism via Professional Development Programs: Extrinsic and Intrinsic Satisfactions.

With a great emphasis on understanding teacher satisfaction in designing and improving professional development programs (PDPs), this study investigated the intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of satisfaction among Malaysian English as a Second Language (ESL) primary school teachers after finishing their first-degree program. A mixed-methods design was employed by using both quantitative methods (by administering survey research) and qualitative methods (through the use of items of the semi-structured questionnaire). The survey questionnaire was adapted from OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) questionnaire to measure the level of intrinsic and extrinsic teacher satisfaction among the samples. Descriptive analysis was used to analyse the survey research data collected from 30 secondary school English language teachers in Kuala Terengganu, east coast of Malaysia. The findings revealed that personal gains did not contribute much to PD activities in relation to the level of the teacher's extrinsic satisfaction after following their first-degree PD program. The study indicates that teachers differ from each other in terms of the source of their motivation for PD, whether intrinsic or extrinsic, and the type of development they aim for. This is hoped to show direction to the policymakers and organizers of PD programs in enhancing the program by taking into consideration of the teacher satisfaction, seniority, and professional background.

Factors affecting the adoption of the Community of Inquiry Framework in Australian online nursing education: A transition theory perspective.

OBJECTIVES: This paper aims to understand the factors influencing the adoption of teaching, social and cognitive presence in online nursing education and explain the novice nurse academics journey in adopting these aspects. BACKGROUND: The quality of the online/blended courses is about the content and a need for suitable pedagogical design, clear instructions and a collaborative environment based on a valid and reliable theoretical framework. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: A qualitative study involves semi-structured interviews with 11 nurse academics from three Australian Universities and thematic analysis was conducted. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The Community of Inquiry framework informed three themes including several factors in each from the interviews: (1) Teaching Presence (TP): the lack of understanding of educational theory use, the inadequate course evaluation and the resources scarcity found to be the factors affecting the adoption of TP in online nursing education; (2) Social Presence: the engagement difficulty and creating a learning community affected the adoption of SP; and (3) Cognitive Presence: the variety in learning styles and formative assessment and discussion forums found to be affecting the adoption of CP. This study paper is unique because it uses the Community of Inquiry framework and Meleis's Transition Theory and provides insight on how to facilitate the transition [from role insufficiencies to role supplementation to role mastery] of nurse academics' journey in adopting teaching, social and cognitive presence for online higher education.

A Community of Inquiry lens into nursing education: The educators' experiences and perspectives from three Australian universities.

AIM: Nursing is a social and collaborative profession; therefore, nursing education requires a pedagogy that supports the establishment of a collaborative learning community. Despite the limited use of the Community of Inquiry framework in Australian nursing courses, the educators viewed it as applicable for course design. This paper aims to understand Australian nurse educators' current practices in designing and delivering courses using the Community of Inquiry lens. DESIGN AND METHODS: This paper represent the second phase of the explanatory mixed-methods approach-the data collected in October 2019 via semi-structured interviews with eleven nurse academics from 3 Australian universities. RESULTS: the deductive thematic analysis using the Community of Inquiry coding template confirmed that the 'cognitive presence' and its indicators are implicitly embedded in online/blended courses. But the 'social presence' and 'teaching presence' are faced with some challenges: the underuse of discussion forums by students, the use of social media pages with exclusion of educators and the educators' role of content development rather than course design. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings suggest that the Community of Inquiry framework's explicit application would strengthen 'social and teaching' presences in nursing courses design. Further studies on nursing students' evaluation and perspectives about courses design regarding Community of Inquiry are essential.

Assessing driving behavior upstream of work zones by detecting response points in speed profile: A naturalistic driving study.

Objective: To assess driving behavior when presented with different work zone features such as signs. Driving behavior upstream of a work zone is of interest since this is the point where drivers need to slow or react to upcoming conflicts such as lane closures, congested traffic, or presence of workers and equipment.Methods: Using 299 time series traces from four-lane roadways with both shoulder and lane closure scenario from the naturalistic driving study, this study analyzed driving behavior by detecting response points within the advance warning area from the first sign to the start of work zone. Response point was defined as the point where drivers reduced speed by a certain threshold. A mixed effect logistic model was developed to assess the relationship between driver response and work zone characteristics.Results: Results indicated the first work zone sign a driver encountered in the immediate area upstream of the work zone was not significantly likely to elicit a driver response. The model found lane ends, speed limit, and active changeable message signs (CMS) as statistically significant. Since more than one sign can be legible to the driver at the same time, the effect of overlapping signs was evaluated, but was not found to have significant effect on the driver response. In general, drivers were more likely to show a response to the signs the closer they got to the start of the work zone. Static work zone speed limit and dynamic speed feedback signs were both found to be more likely to elicit a response as compared to normal speed limit signs (non-work zone related). Drivers who were traveling over the posted speed limit were more likely to show response at any given work zone signs with the exception of the first sign. In addition, driver distraction, and driver information like age, gender, experience and other environmental factors were not found to be significant in the model.Conclusions: Overall, drivers were likely to show a response at the lane ends, work zone speed limit signs, and speed feedback signs.

The applicability of community of inquiry framework to online nursing education: A cross-sectional study.

The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework has the potential to contribute to online education by addressing the nexus of pedagogy, technology, and learners' needs. However, there has been limited investigation of the application of CoI to Australian online tertiary education, with the awareness of CoI amongst Australian nurse educators being unknown. This paper reports on a project which used an online survey to investigate the level of awareness of the CoI framework and its applicability to the design of online and blended courses in Australian higher education nursing schools. Most respondents ranked the core concepts of the CoI framework as applicable for nursing education, but only 20% of the participants were familiar with the CoI framework before they participated in the survey. While nearly 90% of the participants viewed instructional design and a theoretical framework as essential for building an online course, 70% of respondents indicated that they did not use an explicit theoretical framework to guide the design or the evaluation of their nursing teaching and learning. These results provide the impetus for further investigation of factors influencing the development of online nurse education including the specific consideration of CoI frameworks.