تاثیراستفاده از نرم افزار آموزشی موبایل DMOTMC در ارتقائ میزان آگاهی دانشجویان در زمینه‌ی ملاحظات دندانپزشکی بیماران سیستمیک

زمینه و هدف: آموزش رعایت ملاحظات دندانپزشکی بیماری­های سیستمیـک به دانشجـویان دندانپزشکی از مباحـث مهم درسی آن­ها به شمار می­رود. لذا این مطالعه اثر نرم افزار آموزشی موبایل DMOTMC طراحی شده توسط پژوهشگران را در ارتقائ میزان آگاهی دانشجویان در زمینه­ی ملاحظات دندانپزشکی بیماران سیستمیک بررسی کرده است. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه نیمه تجربی(پیش آزمون و پس آزمون)، از بین دانشجویان دو سال آخر سال تحصیلی 95-94 رشته­ی دندانپزشکی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی جندی شاپور اهواز، 60 نفر به روش تصادفی ساده انتخاب و به صورت تصادفی به دو گروه مداخله و کنترل تقسیم شدند. سپس به گروه مداخله نرم افزار آموزشی موبایل ارایه شد و 30 روز بعد از آن ، آزمون های جداگانه ای گرفته شد و نمره­ی آن­ها با دانشجویان گروه کنترل که از نرم افزار استفاده نکرده بودند، مقایسه گردید. اطلاعات توسط نرم افزارSPSS V21 و با آزمون رگرسیون مورد تجزیه وتحلیل قرار گرفت. یافته ها: میانگین نمرات آگاهی در دانشجویان گروه مداخله قبل و بعد از ارایه­ی نرم افزار افزایش پیدا کرده و معنادار بود (05/ <0 P). همچنین تفاوت میانگین نمرات اگاهی بعد از مداخله بین گروه مداخله و کنترل نیز معنادار بوده است(05/ <0 P). براساس آزمون رگرسیون، سن، جنس و ترم تحصیلی تاثیری بر تغییرات نمره­ی قبل و بعد از مداخله نداشت. نتیجه گیری: گوشی­های هوشمند می توانند در راستای اهداف آموزشی مورد استفاده­ قرار گیرند، گرچه این تکنولوژی هنوز بشکل رسمی در برنامه­های درسی گنجانده نشده ولی نمایانگر فرصتی است تا به دانشجویان امکان استفاده از روش­های متنوع یادگیری را فراهم ­آورد

COVID-19 AND EDUCATION: EFFECTS OF INTEGRATING MOBILE DEVICES WITH UNDERGRADUATE LEARNING PROCESS

Abstract The Covid-19 pandemic and the social distancing rules and lockdowns that followed have affected all aspect of our societies, including education. In order to keep education running, educational institutions have had to quickly adapt to the situation. This has resulted in an unprecedented push to online learning where mobile technologies are being used for the learning purposes. The study adopted a descriptive survey research method with a study sample of 200 undergraduate students drawn from the two colleges in Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti using random sampling technique. The study revealed that Telegram (67%), WhatsApp (64.5%) and Zoom (57.5%) were regularly used by students. Also, the students mostly used mobile devices for research and assignments. Some of the effects of mobile devices on education are access to and provision of current and up-to-date information (90%), access to online lectures being made possible (95%), quick transmission of information (85%), and improved academic performance (80%). Major challenges to the use of mobile devices were slow network problems (95%), lack of consistent training for users (92.5%) and use of personal data (95%) which incur additional costs on the part of students. The study recommended that universities should sustain the integration of mobile devices on education to promote and enhance teaching and learning process amid COVID-19

Exploring the extent to which ELT students utilise smartphones for language learning purposes

The advent of smartphones has had dramatic influences on our daily lives and has rendered human beings ‘walking computers’. This holds important reflections in the realm of language learning, as well as in many other areas. This study aimed to explore the extent to which English Language Teaching (ELT) students utilise smartphones for language learning purposes. To this end, a 25-item questionnaire was administered to 120 Grade Three and Four ELT students at Ondokuz Mayıs University in Turkey. Following the questionnaire, a follow-up oral interview was conducted with 29 of the participants on a voluntary basis in order to further investigate their perceptions of smartphones. The statistical analysis of the participants’ responses to the items in the questionnaire clearly shows that smartphones are actively used for language learning purposes. In particular, their contribution to the development of vocabulary skills is frequently reported, which is also verified by the answers given during the interview. The analysis regarding the ‘gender’ and ‘length of the students’ possession of a smartphone’ variables does not yield any statistically significant effect on the degree to which students utilise smartphones for language learning purposes. Given the fact that almost all students have a personal smartphone, and use it very often, and considering the findings of this study, it is suggested that students be encouraged to utilise the invaluable language learning opportunities offered by smartphones when put to conscious use.Keywords: autonomy; ELT students; language learning; smartphone; technolog

Love at First Touch: How Swiping vs. Typing Changes Online Dating Decision-Making

Online dating is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States. Due to its increasing popularity, various dimensions of online dating have been studied in recent years. However, no research has explored how the type of digital platforms used impacts online dating. In this research, we investigate how the use of different platforms (computers vs. smartphones) can influence customers’ decision-making process in the context of online dating. Through multiple studies, we demonstrate that while using their computers (vs. smartphones) to evaluate dating profiles, customers will prioritize the inner attributes of the person (e.g., personality and compatibility). Moreover, the effect of device type on customers’ online dating decision-making is moderated by customers’ gender. Finally, our results also exhibit a significant moderated mediation effect in that the device used by female participants moderates the indirect effect of inner attributes of dating profiles on customers evaluations through perceived psychological closeness. We further manipulated perceived psychological distance to dating profiles for females which reveals that when females use smartphones to look at dating profiles, the effect of psychological distance on participants\u27 rating is only significant when the profiles have attractive (vs. average) inner attributes. This research contributes to the literature on the use of computers vs. smartphones and the literature on gender differences in online dating. It also has important implications for online dating companies on how to design their websites and mobile applications more suited to customers’ preferences while also considering customers’ gender

Determinants of phubbing, which is the sum of many virtual addictions: A structural equation model

Background and aims Phubbing can be described as an individual looking at his or her mobile phone during a conversation with other individuals, dealing with the mobile phone and escaping from interpersonal communication. In this research, determinants of phubbing behavior were investigated; in addition, the effects of gender, smart phone ownership and social media membership were tested as moderators. Methods To examine the cause–effect relations among the variables of the theoretical model, the research employs a correlational design. Participants were 409 university students who were selected via random sampling. Phubbing was obtained via the scales featuring mobile phone addiction, SMS addiction, internet addiction, social media addiction and game addiction. The obtained data were analyzed using a correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis and structural equation model. Results The results showed that the most important determinants of phubbing behavior are mobile phone, SMS, social media and internet addictions. Discussion Although the findings show that the highest correlation value explaining phubbing is a mobile phone addiction, the other correlation values reflect a dependency on the phone. Conclusions There is an increasing tendency towards mobile phone use, and this tendency prepares the basis of phubbing

Smartphones

Many of the research approaches to smartphones actually regard them as more or less transparent points of access to other kinds of communication experiences. That is, rather than considering the smartphone as something in itself, the researchers look at how individuals use the smartphone for their communicative purposes, whether these be talking, surfing the web, using on-line data access for off-site data sources, downloading or uploading materials, or any kind of interaction with social media. They focus not so much on the smartphone itself but on the activities that people engage in with their smartphones

Smartphones and Tablets: Patterns of Usage among College Student Populations

This study offers insight into students' use and desire to use mobile devices for educational purposes. I examined college students' mobile device usage on the basis of demographic factors including sex, age, ethnicity, class standing, mode of delivery, and socioeconomic status. This study also investigated factors that affect students' likelihood to use mobile devices for academic pursuits. I utilized data from the EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research's (ECAR) 2015 Student Technology Survey. Of the 10,000 undergraduate respondents, 56% were female, 70% were between the ages of 18-24, 73% attended college full time and the breakdown of ethnicity included 59% Caucasian, 16% Hispanic, 13% African American, 8% Asian and 1% Native American. The results indicated that traditional aged students reportedly used smartphones more frequently, whereas non-traditional aged students reportedly used tablets more. Students most frequently reported using their devices in class to connect to the learning material. Institutional technology infrastructure and support were strong factors impacting students' use of smartphones. Results of this research can assist higher education faculty and administrators in devising comprehensive training and technology plans to support and encourage students' use of mobile devices for educational purposes