Factors influencing students' acceptance of m-learning: An investigation in higher education

M-learning will play an increasingly significant role in the development of teaching and learning methods for higher education. However, the successful implementation of m-learning in higher education will be based on users' acceptance of this technology. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to study the factors that affect university students' intentions to accept m-learning. Based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al., 2003), this study proposes a model to identify the factors that influence the acceptance of m-learning in higher education and to investigate if prior experience of mobile devices affects the acceptance of m-learning. A structural equation model was used to analyse the data collected from 174 participants. The results indicate that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, influence of lecturers, quality of service, and personal innovativeness were all significant factors that affect behavioural intention to use m-learning. Prior experience of mobile devices was also found to moderate the effect of these constructs on behavioural intention. The results of this research extend the UTAUT in the context of m-learning acceptance by adding quality of service and personal innovativeness to the structure of UTAUT and provide practitioners and educators with useful guidelines for designing a successful m-learning system

Who Am I? The Relationship between Cultural Identity and Globalization within the Local and Global Intersections

The imminent phenomenon of globalization has been mainly explored in academia through the lens of economics and politics. Little attention has been given to the relationship between this phenomenon and culture, and yet the yield of this relationship could be tremendous as culture determines how individuals operate in our growing globalized world. This research project takes place in Bertoua, the capital of the East Region of the Republic of Cameroon. The country is located in Central Africa, and is often referred as “Africa in Miniature” due to its vast cultural and geological diversity. The focus of the study is on the period of childhood, as this is the period in which one develops their cultural identity. The study seeks to assess children’s current knowledge, practice and learning channels of their own innate culture, other Cameroonian cultures and other world cultures. It also seeks to understand the realities and desires within the local and global cultural intersections. The data was collected through 84 surveys distributed to high school children and 8 interviews conducted with individuals who hold roles that influence the cultural lives of children. The study found that an overwhelming majority of children had knowledge of their own ethnic group culture, a majority had of other Cameroonian cultures, and only about half, had of world cultures. Respectively, the main learning channels were: the village, interaction with individuals from those cultures and the media (television and internet). Lastly, at the local intersection a strong desire for national integration, in other words, respect and harmony between the different ethnic groups is apparent. At the global intersection, the process of cultural assimilation, in which a child adopts other world cultures while sacrificing their own, is apparent. The desire, however, is a process of cultural integration, in which a child integrates in to his own culture, the positive from other world cultures

Teachers\u27 beliefs about creativity in the elementary classroom

Creativity is considered to be an essential life skill that should be fostered throughout the educational system. However, public elementary school classrooms in the USA generally do not appear to be creativity-fostering places. A better understanding of teachers\u27 beliefs about creativity would provide valuable insights into their practices in the classroom and facilitate the planning and evaluation efforts to foster creativity in all classrooms. Using a validated survey instrument, adapted from the Teachers\u27 Conceptions of Creativity Questionnaire (TCCQ), the researcher collected beliefs from 120 public elementary school teachers from six schools within one mid-sized public unified school district in the Los Angeles area. The survey included 25 forced choice and seven open ended items. Participating teachers taught in kindergarten through fifth grade and possessed teaching experience from 3 to 40 years. Major conclusions include that the teachers believe creativity is primarily expressed in the form of originality of product, behavior or thought. However, these teachers were not aware that creativity should also be appropriate for the situation, an aspect critical to scholars. The teachers believe creativity to be connected mainly with the arts and school subjects in the arts. These teachers support that creativity can be developed in all students but that only a small percentage of students are highly creative. When describing creative students, teachers reported only the positive traits of creative students. The teachers believe that creativity is essential in academic learning, however, teachers expressed an ambivalence regarding their training and capability to effectively promote student creativity within the classroom. The teachers feel impeded to promote student creativity in the classroom by the emphasis on testing, standards, and expectations of the school system. Some implications for practice are that pre-service teacher education and in-service staff development should provide courses, workshops, and activities that assist teachers with knowledge and skills to foster creativity in all students within the classroom. Policy makers and educational authorities must establish creative thinking as an essential learning goal in the educational system so that all children can develop their full personal and work creative potential

Atomic transformation in tetragonal CuPt alloy under uniaxial tension at low temperature

In the paper feature of atomic transformation was considered in CuPt alloy during dynamic deformation. Characteristics were studied for different stages: from primary tension to beginning of slip till crystal rupture. the transformation of atomic planes displacements and defects forming during tension has been studied. The investigation was revealed three main deformation processes at velocity 20 m/s and temperature 300 K, Quasi-elastic deformation, slipping and alloy fracture. Every stage is characterized by behavior of stored energy curve and some types of defects appearance. Vacancies, Frenkel pairs and interstitial atoms were found during first stage. Atomic displacement, dislocation, antiphase boundary and grain boundary forming were occurred during second stage. During third stage twins creation from grain boundaries has occurred

The Benefits of Teaching Professionals Using Mindful Practices for Stress and Emotional Regulation

Teaching requires a lot of caring, determination, creativity, flexibility, knowledge, and understanding. To have these traits shine through, teachers must have compassion for the students they educate. When compassion turns into mental health stressors, teachers can no longer concentrate effectively in the classroom environment. Giving a teacher tools of mindfulness practices can help the teacher to equip themselves to help counter compassion stress. This paper is a literature review intended to explain what mindfulness is, the history behind it, the need for mindfulness in an educational setting, and research evaluating the effectiveness of mindfulness for teachers in general education and other specialty positions like Special Education and Music Education. The paper answers the question, When given the tools of mindfulness, can teachers use this practice to regulate stress levels and build sustaining relationships, which can lead to increased job satisfaction and teacher retention? This review describes multiple qualitative and quantitative research designs that represent how mindfulness for teachers is beneficial to alleviate everyday mental health stressors of emotional regulation, negative perceptions, hyperreactivity, job burnout, and high distress. This study intends to inform school district administrators, teachers, and employees about the effectiveness of mindfulness practices for emotional regulation, building relationships, and job satisfaction

Estimation of Water Balance Components in the Gaza Strip with GIS Based WetSpass Model

This study was initiated to estimate the water balance components in the Gaza Strip for the year 2013 using the WetSpass spatially distributed water balance model. Relevant input data for the model is prepared in the form of digital maps using GIS tools such as rainfall, air temperature, wind speed, potential evapotranspiration, soil, water depth, Topography, slope and land-use. The model produces digital maps of long-term average annual surface runoff, evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge. Results of the model show that 77% of the precipitation in the Gaza Strip is lost through evapotranspiration, 11% becomes surface runoff and 12% recharges the groundwater system. Analysis of the simulated results shows that WetSpass model is good enough to simulate the hydrological water balance components of the study area. Keywords: Water balance, WetSpass model, GI

The Importance of Character Education for Tweens as Consumers

Tweens is a term that denotes a market segment mentality that falls between children at the lower end and teens at the upper end. Tweens marketing strategies are considered critical for most global brands. Advocates against excessive consumerism and materialism polluting innocent childhood, specifically tweens, call for values implantation through character education in the school to breed more educated consumers. The effect of implanting character building programs in schools on the consumer behavior of the exposed children in the marketplace, however, has never been tested before. This research endeavor is, in essence, an overlap between consumer behavior and educational psychology, investigating the link between personality and behavior in the market. It falls under both positivist and interpretive consumer research, specifically the consumer socialization of children. The aim of this work is to develop a conceptual model linking character education to purchasing lifestyles and consumption patterns of the exposed children as consumers. Following, prospects for future research are highlighted.Educational psychology, character education, attitudes and lifestyles, opinion-leadership, humanitarianism, ethnocentrism, adolescents and middle schools

Toward mobile learning deployment in higher education

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Mobile Learning (M-learning) refers to any kind of learning which takes place within and beyond the traditional learning environment via wireless mobile devices. These devices are able to move with the learner to allow learning anytime, anywhere. M-learning is considered as the next step beyond electronic learning (E-learning) and distance learning (D-learning) by using mobile wireless devices with internet connectivity to facilitate formal and informal learning. Over the past decade M-learning has become gradually popular in university settings by providing mobile access to learning resources, collaborative learning and to exchange formative evaluation and feedback between students and instructors. Therefore, M-learning involves learning activities that are not restricted to a specific time or place. Despite the familiarity with M-learning as a new paradigm in modern education, there has been a shortage of research concerning how to deploy this technology in a successful way. The integration of M-learning in a university environment needs to involve some aspects in terms of the readiness of users and institutions, users‟ acceptance and engagement, and the sustainability of the system. There are some initial models that investigate the implementation of M-learning which provide some guidelines that work as starting point for the future of M-learning deployment. However, there is no theoretical model that provides guidelines for staged deployment of M-learning. In addition, there was no clear definition of sustainability factors that will assure continues evaluation and upgrade of M-learning systems after deployment. The aims of this research work are to study students‟ readiness for M-learning, investigate the factors that affect students‟ acceptance and analyse M-learning literature in order to propose and evaluate a model which can be used to foster the sustainable deployment of M-learning within teaching and learning strategies in higher education institutions. The research was conducted in Brunel University, West London. Data were collected from School of Information, Computing and Mathematical Science students using three surveys: the first studied students‟ readiness for M-learning, the second investigated factors that affect students‟ acceptance of M-learning and the last one developed and evaluated a sustainable M-learning deployment model. The outcome of this research lead to a conceptual model that gives a wide overview of all elements that need to be addressed in the M-learning environment and bridges the gap between the pre- and post-implementation phases in order to ensure sustainability. Furthermore, the model provides university educators with a planned approach to incorporate M-learning in higher education curriculums with the aim of improving teaching and learning

Simulation of Groundwater Mound Resulting from Proposed Artificial Recharge of Treated Sewage Effluent Case study – Gaza waste water treatment plant, Palestine

Mounding of the groundwater table beneath recharge sources is of concern as the raised water table approaches closely to near-surface facilities or features. The shape and height of the mound depend on several factors including the recharge rate, hydraulic conductivity and thickness of the aquifer. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the suitability of the study area for a rapid infiltration system of treated wastewater effluent without causing excessive mounding of the water table. A comparison was made between two methods used to estimate ground-water mounding: an analytical approach and a numerical approach. Both approaches incorporate each of the saturated and the unsaturated zones. Results predicted that after 1400 days of groundwater level simulation, the maximum rise of the mound was 18 m in the center of the infiltration pond, and it was almost 17 m at the edges of the pond. As the natural average groundwater level was about 35 m deep in the area of the study, the groundwater mounding caused no problem on the groundwater level. Thus, the planned infiltration was feasible