24,128 research outputs found
Exploring the virtual classroom: What students need to know (and teachers should consider)
Technological improvements in many countries have meant that institutions offering distance education programmes now have more options available to them to communicate and interact with their students, and increasingly, attention is being turned to the potential of Web2 technologies to facilitate synchronous interaction. This study explores the affordances and limitations of an online virtual classroom, Adobe Connect Pro, when used in the learning programmes of two groups of undergraduate and postgraduate education students. Results indicate that while both groups gained value from using the classroom, they also found it a completely new environment, and one to which many had trouble transferring the interaction and communication skills developed in other contexts. The reasons for this related to three specific areas of knowledge – technical, procedural and operational, that were identified as being critical to student performance in this environment. The study suggests that educators and course designers need to embed strategies into their online offerings to enable students to develop these, if they are to gain substantial benefit from the availability of virtual classrooms. Additionally, the study identified that when making design decisions about online learning environments, it is very much a matter of horses for courses when selecting tools for specific purposes. While the virtual classroom proved useful for developing social connection and a sense of community, it may not be so beneficial for supporting deeper learning
Ethics and taxation : a cross-national comparison of UK and Turkish firms
This paper investigates responses to tax related ethical issues facing busines
Eye quietness and quiet eye in expert and novice golf performance: an electrooculographic analysis
Quiet eye (QE) is the final ocular fixation on the target of an action (e.g., the ball in golf putting). Camerabased eye-tracking studies have consistently found longer QE durations in experts than novices; however, mechanisms underlying QE are not known. To offer a new perspective we examined the feasibility of measuring the QE using electrooculography (EOG) and developed an index to assess ocular activity across time: eye quietness (EQ). Ten expert and ten novice golfers putted 60 balls to a 2.4 m distant hole. Horizontal EOG (2ms resolution) was recorded from two electrodes placed on the outer sides of the eyes. QE duration was measured using a EOG voltage threshold and comprised the sum of the pre-movement and post-movement initiation components. EQ was computed as the standard deviation of the EOG in 0.5 s bins from –4 to +2 s, relative to backswing initiation: lower values indicate less movement of the eyes, hence greater quietness. Finally, we measured club-ball address and swing durations. T-tests showed that total QE did not differ between groups (p = .31); however, experts had marginally shorter pre-movement QE (p = .08) and longer post-movement QE (p < .001) than novices. A group × time ANOVA revealed that experts had less EQ before
backswing initiation and greater EQ after backswing initiation (p = .002). QE durations were inversely correlated with EQ from –1.5 to 1 s (rs = –.48 - –.90, ps = .03 - .001). Experts had longer swing durations than novices (p = .01) and, importantly, swing durations correlated positively with post-movement QE (r = .52, p = .02) and negatively with EQ from 0.5 to 1s (r = –.63, p = .003). This study demonstrates the feasibility of measuring ocular activity using EOG and validates EQ as an index of ocular activity. Its findings challenge the dominant perspective on QE and provide new evidence that expert-novice differences in ocular activity may reflect differences in the kinematics of how experts and novices execute skills
Flexible Global Software Development (GSD): Antecedents of Success in Requirements Analysis
Globalization of software development has resulted in a rapid shift away from the traditional collocated, on-site development model, to the offshoring model. Emerging trends indicate an increasing interest in offshoring even in early phases like requirements analysis. Additionally, the flexibility offered by the agile development approach makes it attractive for adaptation in globally distributed software work. A question of significance then is what impacts the success of offshoring earlier phases, like requirements analysis, in a flexible and globally distributed environment? This article incorporates the stance of control theory to posit a research model that examines antecedent factors such as requirements change, facilitation by vendor and client site-coordinators, control, and computer-mediated communication. The impact of these factors on success of requirements analysis projects in a “flexible” global setting is tested using two quasi-experiments involving students from Management Development Institute, India and Marquette University, USA. Results indicate that formal modes of control significantly influence project success during requirements analysis. Further, facilitation by both client and vendor site coordinators positively impacts requirements analysis success
Designing for Ballet Classes: Identifying and Mitigating Communication Challenges Between Dancers and Teachers
Dancer-teacher communication in a ballet class can be challenging: ballet is one of the most complex forms of movements, and learning happens through multi-faceted interactions with studio tools (mirror, barre, and floor) and the teacher. We conducted an interview-based qualitative study with seven ballet teachers and six dancers followed by an open-coded analysis to explore the communication challenges that arise while teaching and learning in the ballet studio. We identified key communication issues, including adapting to multi-level dancer expertise, transmitting and realigning development goals, providing personalized corrections and feedback, maintaining the state of flow, and communicating how to properly use tools in the environment. We discuss design implications for crafting technological interventions aimed at mitigating these communication challenges
CRISALIDE – Concept of Corporative Information System for Governance and Management of Digital City
Corporative Information Systems (CIS) is a tool for decision making support for rather big business companies. Such systems were introduced approximately twenty years ago and have shown good results forbusinesses optimization since. The present-day demand is to move cities to a digital era. Considering this demand, let us take a look at a digital city governance and management from CIS ideology point of view. CIS approach based on proposed methodology provides means for development and support of decision making process for different levels of governance and management. Governance and management should notbe centralized, it should be distributed with weak feedback links. In this paper, we present our experience in this field based on "Aqueduct" systems (product of SPIIRAS– HTR&DO Ltd.) implementation for different subject domains and ideas for digital city localization
Digitalization and sustainability: virtual reality tourism in a post pandemic world
The government-imposed COVID-19 pandemic control measures brought the tourism sector to a complete halt. However, virtual reality (VR) tourism offered people a way to escape the isolation. Media reports and research have noted heightened activity in VR tourism, which has been touted as “alternative tourism” and “eco-tourism”. However, scholars have yet to determine whether this shift is temporary or will persist after the pandemic is over. Questions also remain regarding the factors driving this behaviour. The present study uses stimulus-organism-response theory (SOR) to propose a sequential mechanism of the interplay of antecedents and outcomes, theorising VR tourism as a sustainable tourism solution long into the future. The model, tested by analysing 359 responses collected from VR users through Prolific Academic, confirmed the positive association of the environmental impact of touristic travel and pandemic travel anxiety with eco-guilt; pandemic travel anxiety, moreover, was also associated with attitude towards VR tourism. Furthermore, attitude towards VR tourism was positively associated with willingness to forgo the pleasure of in-situ tourism and post-pandemic VR tourism continuance intentions, with willingness also mediating the association between the other two. Finally, willingness partially mediated the association of attitude and fully mediated the association of eco-guilt with intentions.publishedVersio
Migrant networks, language learning and tourism employment
This paper examines the relationship between migrants’ social networks, the processes of language acquisition and tourism employment. Data collected using netnography and interviews are used to identify the strategies that Polish workers in the UK use to develop their language skills. The paper highlights the roles played by co-workers, co-nationals and customers in migrants’ language learning, both in the physical spaces of work and the virtual spaces of internet forums. It also shows how migrant workers exchange knowledge about the use of English during different stages of their migration careers: prior to leaving their country of origin and getting a job, during their employment and after leaving their job. Implications for academic inquiry and human resource management practice are outlined
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