Stay Awhile and Listen: User Interactions in a Crowdsourced Platform Offering Emotional Support

Internet and online-based social systems are rising as the dominant mode of communication in society. However, the public or semi-private environment under which most online communications operate under do not make them suitable channels for speaking with others about personal or emotional problems. This has led to the emergence of online platforms for emotional support offering free, anonymous, and confidential conversations with live listeners. Yet very little is known about the way these platforms are utilized, and if their features and design foster strong user engagement. This paper explores the utilization and the interaction features of hundreds of thousands of users on 7 Cups of Tea, a leading online platform offering online emotional support. It dissects the level of activity of hundreds of thousands of users, the patterns by which they engage in conversation with each other, and uses machine learning methods to find factors promoting engagement. The study may be the first to measure activities and interactions in a large-scale online social system that fosters peer-to-peer emotional support

Let\u27s get real: are today\u27s children playing with nature? Do the educational aspirations of the nature play movement emerge within children\u27s neighbourhood play?

The Irish Neighbourhood Play Research Project was a large scale research project which included almost 1700 participant families and 240 communities throughout Ireland. It used parental surveys and naturalistic observation to secure data on how children in modern Ireland aged 0-15 are spending their free time. An all-island approach was taken incorporating cities, towns and rural areas across a variety of socio-economic groupings. Interesting findings arose from the data relating to the choices that children are making within their free time. This paper focuses on the choices they are making within their engagement with nature and natural materials. Data on the children’s nature choices will be presented and discussed through a child development lens. The positive and negative implications for both learning and development are raised. This leads us to interesting questions about the role of nature within child development and learning. As an international nature play movement gains ground in raising awareness about the importance of nature based learning and its linkages with educational structure and pedagogy, this research into children’s nature choices is timely ©IATED (2016). Reproduced in Research Online with permission

Open learning at a distance:lessons for struggling MOOCs

Free education is changing how people think about learning online. The rise of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) (1) shows that large numbers of learners can be reached. It also raises questions as to how effectively they support learning (2). There is a timeliness in the introduction of MOOCs, reflecting the right combination of online systems, interest from good teachers in reaching more learners, and banks of digital resources, predicted as a “perfect storm of innovation” (3). However, learning at scale, at a distance, is not a new phenomenon. Seeing MOOCs narrowly as a technology that expands access to in-classroom teaching can miss opportunities. Drawing on decades of lessons learned, we set out aims to help spur innovation in science education

Creating Interactive Online Learning Experiences among Secondary School Students in Lagos State, Nigeria.

In the recent time teaching and learning is no more confined to face-to-face exercise where the students are mere listeners instead of fully participate in the class activities. The study is on creating interactive online learning experiences among Secondary School students in Lagos State, Nigeria. It was a survey study and the population for the study included all the teaching staff members of all the Public Senior Secondary School in Shomolu Local Government Area.  Random sampling technique was used to select 100 teachers who responded to the developed questionnaire. A structured questionnaire containing 40 questionnaire items were developed on four point scales. The response scale for the questionnaire is Strongly Agree (4), Agree (3), Disagree (2) and Strongly Disagree (1). The questionnaire was face validated while the reliability of the test was determined using test re-test procedure. The findings of the indicated that there are number ways which online learning can be made interactive. These ways include: involving feedback, creating interactive activities, Assignments & Breakout groups, exploring other free ICT tools, limiting seat time, good teachers/student relationship, discourage absenteeism, allow few minutes of jokes among students during classroom activities and creating course content that is engaging and encouraging peer. Teachers and students related challenges to effective and interactive online learning include lack of motivation in online learners, technical difficulties with online teaching tools, time-consuming resources, setting and forgetting online learning activities, poor learning outcomes, lack of appropriate devices, poor learning space at home, stress among students, lack of fieldwork and access to laboratories and loneliness. It was recommended that creating interactive online learning experiences among secondary school students in Lagos State, could be through involving feedback, creating interactive activities, assignments and breakout groups, exploring other free ICT tools, limiting seat time and good teachers/student relationship

Classroom collaborations: enabling sustainability education via student-community co-learning

open access articlePurpose: This case study explores co-learning classes, a novel approach to leveraging universities’ capacity to contribute to the local sustainable development agenda whilst enhancing students’ learning. These participatory classes were piloted on a UK university Masters module focussed on action for sustainability. The classes sought to combine knowledge exchange, reflection and social network development, by bringing together students and community stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach: The classes were run as a series of five free events, each focussed on sustainability issues relevant for local practitioners. These were either regular timetabled sessions opened up to the public or additional on-campus public events. Attendance was either face-to-face or online. Evaluation was based upon participation data, written feedback and module leader’s post-event reflections. Findings: The classes successfully secured participation from diverse community members, including local government staff, voluntary sector workers, and interested individuals. Both students and community stakeholders valued the participatory format, linkages of theoretical and practical knowledge and diversity of attendees. Research limits/implications: Findings are based upon a small-scale pilot study. Further research using a wider range of contexts is required to enhance understanding of the co-learning approach. Practical implications: This paper highlights some key practical issues to consider if employing co-learning approaches in other contexts, including using inclusive language, aligning with students’ motivations and choosing appropriate focal event topics. Originality/value: Opening up participatory university classes for the public to attend as co-learners is a rarely used approach and has little coverage in academic literature. This small-scale study therefore has value by highlighting some of the potential impacts, strengths and limitations of this approach.https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJSHE-11-2018-0220/full/html#sec01