Face-to-face or Facebook: Can social connectedness be derived online?

Previous research has identified the importance of social connectedness in facilitating a number of positive outcomes, however, investigation of connectedness in online contexts is relatively novel. This research aimed to investigate for the first time social connectedness derived from the use of Facebook. Study 1 investigated whether offline social connectedness and Facebook connectedness were separate constructs. Participants were Facebook users (N = 344) who completed measures of offline social connectedness and Facebook social connectedness. Factor analysis (Maximum Likelihood analysis with Oblimin rotation) revealed Facebook connectedness to be distinct from offline social connectedness. Study 2 examined the relationship between Facebook social connectedness and anxiety, depression, and subjective well-being in a second sample of Facebook users (N = 274) in a cross-sectional design. Results suggest that Facebook use may provide the opportunity to develop and maintain social connectedness in the online environment, and that Facebook connectedness is associated with lower depression and anxiety and greater satisfaction with life. Limitations and future directions are considered. It is concluded that Facebook may act as a separate social medium in which to develop and maintain relationships, providing an alternative social outlet associated with a range of positive psychological outcomes.     

Impact of hand-assisted viewing on user performance and?learning patterns in virtual environments

The ability to locate, select and interact with objects is fundamental to most Virtual Reality (VR) applications. Recently, it was demonstrated that the virtual hand metaphor, a technique commonly used for these tasks, can also be employed to control the virtual camera, resulting in improved performance and user evaluation in visual search tasks.     

Dangerous minds? Effects of uncivil online comments on aggressive cognitions,emotions, and behavior

Despite the potential of online commenting spaces for public deliberation, they are often full of destructive or uncivil and aggressive comments. Based on research on social learning and social influence, we conducted an online experiment to investigate the effects of uncivil comments on readers' cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions. The experiment was built on a one-factorial between-subjects design including four experimental conditions and a control group: Participants were exposed to a news article and six user comments of which zero, one, three, or six were uncivil. Results suggest that exposure to uncivil comments can lead to an increase in readers' hostile cognitions. The effect, however, does not rise with exposure to a higher proportion of incivility. No significant effects were found on hostile emotions or the use of incivility in readers' own comments.     

Playing ‘catch up’ with blended learning: performance impacts of augmenting classroom instruction with online learning

This study examines the efficacy of blended learning – an approach that combines in-class and online methods in a way that leverages the strengths of both – using a field experiment spanning 16 weeks. An information-processing model of learning suggests that learners will weigh the cost of information accessibility against its value in ways that will impact their interactions with the available information sources, which will consequently affect learning outcomes. Results of our study suggest that such an assessment did indeed occur and that it impacted learning performance. Specifically, our results support the idea that providing high-value content in both settings – the classroom (rich, yet high cost) and online (efficient, yet low cost), enhances performance. The largest gains in performance were seen by those who used the blended learning system the most, with the lowest gains by those who did not use the system at all (i.e. the control group).     

How do learners respond to pedagogical agents that deliver social-oriented non-task messages? Impact on student learning, perceptions, and experiences

In this paper, I investigate the impact of non-task pedagogical agent behavior on learning outcomes, perceptions of agents’ interaction ability, and learner experiences. Quasi-experimental results indicate that while the addition of non-task comments to an on-task tutorial may increase learning and perceptions of the agent’s ability to interact with learners, this increase is not statistically significant. Further addition of non-task comments however, harms learning and perceptions of the agent’s ability to interact with learners in statistically significant ways. Qualitative results reveal that on-task interactions are efficient but impersonal, while non-task interactions were memorable, but distracting. Implications include the potential for non-task interactions to create an uncanny valley effect for agent behavior.     

Effect of AR-based online wearable guides on university students’ situational interest and learning performance

Universal Access in the Information Society - This study addresses whether augmented reality (AR)-based online wearable guides are better at improving learners’ situational interest (with...     

Students' self-report and observed learning orientations in blended university course design: How are they related to each other and to academic performance?

This study examines the extent to which the learning orientations identified by student self-reports and the observation of their online learning events were related to each other and to their academic performance. The participants were 322 first-year engineering undergraduates, who were enrolled in a blended course. Using students' self-report on a questionnaire about their approaches to learning and perceptions of the blended learning environment, ‘understanding’ and ‘reproducing’ learning orientations were identified. Using observations of student activity online, a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) and agglomerative sequence clustering detected four qualitatively different patterns of online learning orientations. Cross-tabulations showed significant and logical associations amongst the learning orientations derived by the self-report and observational methods. Significant differences were also consistently found in the students' academic performance across the mid-term and final assessments based on their learning orientations detected by both self-report and observational methods, results which have important implications for learning research.     

Mine,ours, and yours: Whose engagement and prior knowledge affects individual achievement from online collaborative learning?

In computer-supported collaborative learning research, studies examining the combined effects of individual level, group level and within-group differences level measures on individual achievement are scarce. The current study addressed this by examining whether individual, group and within-group differences regarding engagement and prior knowledge predict individual achievement. Engagement was operationalised as group members' exhibited activities in the task space (i.e., discussing domain-content) and social space (i.e., regulating ideas, actions and socioemotional processes). Prior knowledge and achievement were operationalised as group members' performance on a domain-related pre-test and post-test, respectively. Data was collected for 95 triads of secondary education students collaborating on a complex business-economics problem. Subsequently, three different multilevel models were tested to examine the combined effect. First a model with the individual level measures (model 1) was tested and in subsequent models the group level measures (model 2) and within-group levels measures (model 3) were added. Findings indicate model 2 showed the best fit; group members' individual engagement in the social space activities as well as the groups' average prior knowledge positively predicts individual achievement. No effects were found for either group members' or groups' engagement in the task space and for the within-group differences.     

Identity presence and knowledge building: Joint emergence in online learning environments?

This study examined the presence of identity in diverse online courses and explored how presence of identity correlated with content and students’ participation in online discussion and hence knowledge building in online educational spaces. Epistemic and participation data regarding online interaction and knowledge building were collected from a diverse group of students enrolled in seven multi-disciplinary online courses. Both qualitative and quantitative findings of the study suggested that online discussions with identity presence were associated with more follow-up participation and reinforced a more dialogic online interaction. Identity presence was also correlated with online interactions of knowledge sharing and egocentric elaboration.     

The learning environment,self‐handicapping,and Canadian high school mathematics students

Abstract

The strongest tradition of classroom‐environment research has focused on empirically testing the relationship between the classroom environment and student outcomes. This paper reports a study conducted within this general framework. Specifically, this research investigated the relationship between the classroom environment and self‐handicapping by students in Canadian high school mathematics classes. Results showed that the classroom environment accounted for appreciable proportions of variance in self‐handicapping, beyond that attributable to academic efficacy. Enhanced affective dimensions of the classroom environment were associated with reduced levels of self‐handicapping.     

Can we predict success from log data in VLEs? Classification of interactions for learning analytics and their relation with performance in VLE-supported F2F and online learning

Learning analytics is the analysis of electronic learning data which allows teachers, course designers and administrators of virtual learning environments to search for unobserved patterns and underlying information in learning processes. The main aim of learning analytics is to improve learning outcomes and the overall learning process in electronic learning virtual classrooms and computer-supported education. The most basic unit of learning data in virtual learning environments for learning analytics is the interaction, but there is no consensus yet on which interactions are relevant for effective learning. Drawing upon extant literature, this research defines three system-independent classifications of interactions and evaluates the relation of their components with academic performance across two different learning modalities: virtual learning environment (VLE) supported face-to-face (F2F) and online learning. In order to do so, we performed an empirical study with data from six online and two VLE-supported F2F courses. Data extraction and analysis required the development of an ad hoc tool based on the proposed interaction classification. The main finding from this research is that, for each classification, there is a relation between some type of interactions and academic performance in online courses, whereas this relation is non-significant in the case of VLE-supported F2F courses. Implications for theory and practice are discussed next.     

If online learning works for you,what about deaf students? Emerging challenges of online learning for deaf and hearing-impaired students during COVID-19: a literature review

Universal Access in the Information Society - With the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, educational systems worldwide were abruptly affected and hampered, causing nearly total suspension of all...     

Short- and long-term effects of students’ self-directed metacognitive prompts on navigation behavior and learning performance

This study seeks to promote learning in computer-based learning environments utilizing students’ self-directed metacognitive prompts. Such prompts are based on the idea of instructing students to design their own metacognitive scaffolds and learn with them afterward. In a pre-post experimental design, students in the experimental group (n = 35) were instructed to configure their own metacognitive prompts before learning whereas students in the control group (n = 35) learned without prompts. Log file analysis of navigation behavior indicates that students who learned with their individually designed, self-directed prompts visited relevant webpages significantly more often and spent a longer time on them compared with students in the control group. Moreover, participants in the experimental group attained better transfer performance immediately after learning. The long-term effect in transfer performance was even greater in a follow-up learning session conducted after three weeks without any instructional support in either group. These results are consistent with theories of metacognition and self-regulated learning and indicate that self-directed prompts can lead to sustainable effects.     

Is single or dual channel with different English proficiencies better for English listening comprehension,cognitive load and attitude in ubiquitous learning environment?

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of English proficiency (low vs. high) and material presentation mode (single channel vs. dual channel) on English listening comprehension, cognitive load and learning attitude in a ubiquitous learning environment. An experimental learning activity was implemented using PDA as a learning tool to facilitate learning. A quasi-experimental design was employed with university students participating in the experiment. The results revealed that (a) high English proficiency learners had significantly better English listening comprehension and lower intrinsic and extraneous load than low English proficiency learners; (b) both high and low English proficiency learners learning with dual channel had significantly better English listening comprehension and held more positive attitude toward the ubiquitous learning environment than learners learning with single channel; (c) for learners learning with single channel, low English proficiency learners had significantly higher extraneous load than high English proficiency learners; and (d) for low English proficiency learners, learners who learned with dual channel possessed significantly lower extraneous load than learners who learned with single channel. The suggestions for educators and instructional designers were also discussed in the present study.     

Effects of gender grouping on students’ group performance,individual achievements and attitudes in computer-supported collaborative learning

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of gender grouping on students’ group performance, individual learning achievements and attitudes in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). 588 undergraduate students enrolled in a digital design course were randomly divided into 147 four-student groups that fell into five categories according to the composition of group members’ gender, namely 4M (four males), 3M1F (three males and one female), 2M2F (two males and two females), 1M3F (one male and three females) and 4F (four females). Results indicated that: (1) For group performance, 2M2F and 4F groups significantly outperformed the other groups. (2) For individual learning achievements, no significant difference was found in females among different gender grouping interventions; however, males in mixed-gender groups performed significantly better than those in single-gender groups. (3) In terms of individual attitudes, males preferred mixed-gender, gender-balanced, and gender-majority grouping; however, females preferred single-gender and gender-minority grouping. (4) The effect of gender grouping mainly influences students’ attitudes, rather than performance. These findings provide evidence that female-only and balanced-gender grouping are two kinds of good grouping interventions that could be recommended for CSCL, and male-minority groups should be avoided because they led to the worst group performance and individual attitudes.     

Can online course‐based assessment methods be fair and equitable? Relationships between students' preferences and performance within online and offline assessments

To address concerns raised regarding the use of online course‐based summative assessment methods, a quasi‐experimental design was implemented in which students who completed a summative assessment either online or offline were compared on performance scores when using their self‐reported preferred or non‐preferred modes. Performance scores were found not to differ depending on whether the assessment was completed in the preferred or non‐preferred mode. These findings provide preliminary support for the validity of online assessment methods. Future studies could help determine the extent to which this finding generalizes beyond the assessment procedures and type of sample used here. Suggestions for follow‐up studies are offered, including exploring the validity of more complex computer‐related online assessment tasks and investigating the impact of using preferred and non‐preferred modes upon the quality of the student experience.     

A survey on deep learning in medicine: Why,how and when?

New technologies are transforming medicine, and this revolution starts with data. Health data, clinical images, genome sequences, data on prescribed therapies and results obtained, data that each of us has helped to create. Although the first uses of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine date back to the 1980s, it is only with the beginning of the new millennium that there has been an explosion of interest in this sector worldwide. We are therefore witnessing the exponential growth of health-related information with the result that traditional analysis techniques are not suitable for satisfactorily management of this vast amount of data. AI applications (especially Deep Learning), on the other hand, are naturally predisposed to cope with this explosion of data, as they always work better as the amount of training data increases, a phase necessary to build the optimal neural network for a given clinical problem. This paper proposes a comprehensive and in-depth study of Deep Learning methodologies and applications in medicine. An in-depth analysis of the literature is presented; how, where and why Deep Learning models are applied in medicine are discussed and reviewed. Finally, current challenges and future research directions are outlined and analysed.     

QSIA – a Web-based environment for learning,assessing and knowledge sharing in communities

This paper describes a Web-based and distributed system named QSIA that serves as an environment for learning, assessing and knowledge sharing. QSIA – Questions Sharing and Interactive Assignments – offers a unified infrastructure for developing, collecting, managing and sharing of knowledge items. QSIA enhances collaboration in authoring via online recommendations and generates communities of teachers and learners. At the same time, QSIA fosters individual learning and might promote high-order thinking skills among its users. QSIA's community, conceptual architecture, structure overview and implementations are discussed.     

To control or not to control? Parenting behaviours and adolescent online aggression

Non-empirical publications have espoused the importance of monitoring/controlling children’s online and computer activities through monitoring software; however, no empirical research has verified whether this is a viable means for promoting responsible and safe internet use. This study examined the association between parenting behaviours and adolescent online aggression. The sample included 733 adolescents (451 females), between 10 and 18 years, from Western Canada. Participants completed a questionnaire that included questions on internet aggression, and parenting. The parenting questions were modified from Stattin and Kerr’s (2000) questionnaire to better suit the online environment. Results from the univariate least squares factor analysis revealed two distinct factors: (1) Parent Solicitation (parents ask where child is going on the internet), (2) Child Disclosure (child naturally tells parents what they are doing). Hierarchical Linear Regression analysis revealed that having a computer in the bedroom increased the likelihood of engaging in online aggression and that adolescent self-disclosure of online behaviours (and not controlling or monitoring online activities) was negatively associated with online aggression. These findings emphasize the importance of establishing good communication between parents and adolescents rather than investing money on monitoring software and on controlling adolescent internet use.