The Eyes Beyond the Screen: Digital Media Policy and Child Health

Background: Modern communication technology and digital media have provided society with a foundation for instant messaging. Pictures, videos, and texts connect individuals with families, friends, and the world. Consequently, digital media has accelerated exposure to risk in which children and adolescents are most vulnerable. This project’s objective is to 1) congregate and highlight current knowledge about the impact of digital media on child health, and 2) underline deficiencies in related laws and regulations as well as offer solutions in digital media policy. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted through the JAMA Pediatrics database with keywords such as “digital media,” “social media,” “screen time,” “cyberbullying,” “child sexual abuse material,” “online exploitation,” “sextortion,” and “child privacy” to accumulate information from relevant studies and articles elaborating on adverse child health outcomes in relation to digital media use. Only peer-reviewed full-text publications between 2018 and 2021 were selected and 10 articles were obtained. The impact of digital media on child and adolescent health was synthesized, as shown in the results section. Furthermore, review of national digital media law was conducted through Congress.gov, and potential policy solutions are elaborated in the conclusions section. Results: (1) Screen time through social media use, gaming, and television among children and adolescents has dramatically increased, as charged by the COVID-19 pandemic, and is associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, hyperactivity, inattention, and conduct problems. (2) Reduced social contact with friends, peers, and teachers increases the risk of loneliness and helplessness which correlate to mental health harms. (3) Targeted advertisements attract young adolescents to increase screen time, establish brand allegiances, and form spending habits. (4) Time spent online is associated with increased risk of cyberbullying, sextortion, genuinely threatening messages, psychologically threatening messages, and intentional misinformation which has a strong correlation to negative mental health symptoms. (5) The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported over 21.7 million submissions of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in 2020, a 106% increase since 2019. (6) Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects social media sites from being sued over posts from their users, resulting in poor filtration of inappropriate material. Conclusions: Children and adolescents require modern media literacy to battle potential negative mental health symptoms heightened by the growing dependency on technology. The national government must enact legislation to hold social media companies accountable by straining their sites from harmful and inappropriate material. Proactive legislative measures such as negating targeted advertising for minors and an opt-out function from biased algorithms in social media apps prioritize lowering screen time over increasing business revenue

Optical Wireless Communications: Current and Future Trends

This paper considers the transmission of data over a wireless  channel in which the transmitter converts the message into an optical signal. This optical signal is transmitted over a wireless channel which is commonly known as optical wireless channel (OWC).   The OWC  is still not regulated, i.e., no license is required to transmit over this channel.  In addition, this channel can support communications with very high data rates. Further, in its construction, cheap components like light emitting diode (LED) is normally exploited. These factors attractive both the researchers and the industry field to develop a practical transceivers. In this paper, we initially review the basics of this systems, the benefits of using such a  system.  Then, the current applications are introduced and summarized. Finally, many potential applications are represented. Keywords: Optical Communications, Wireless Communications, Communication Channel

Translation Quality Assessment of Academic Research Titles: A Case Study of Islamic Education PhD at Yarmouk University

This study aims to examine the level of translation accuracy applied to the titles of PhD theses presented in the field of Islamic Education at Yarmouk University. A detailed analysis was conducted to reveal the types of errors present in the translation and these were subsequently categorized into six sections, based on the nature of the error. Furthermore, errors were assessed based on their impact on the translation accuracy, which determined the level of its acceptability. The findings uncovered major translation errors in the majority of the titles, many of which are the result of a shortfall in the translator’s terminology; general, educational, or Islamic. It is recommended that researchers and scientific research deanships should be aware of the importance of accurate translation being applied to academic research work and the positive outcomes that would ensue, not only on individual research work, but also on the university’s reputation

The Effectiveness of Using Generate Ideas (SCAMPER) Strategy on Improving Ninth Grade Students' Writing Skills at Wadi El Sir Schools in Jordan

The purpose of this study is to identify the effect of using SCAMPER strategy in teaching English writing skills; to improve the level of ninth grade students' writing skills at Wadi El Sir Schools in Jordan. The population of the study consisted of all ninth grade students of both sexes. The sample of the study was chosen randomly, four sections from two schools: two sections for males and two sections for females, (experimental and control). The results showed that there were statistically significant differences at the level of (α = 0.05) in the performance of students in writing skills, in favor of the experimental group. The results also showed statistically significant differences between the two sexes in their performance in writing in favor of the females. The researcher set some recommendations for future research in this topic. Keywords: SCAMPER, Writing Skills, Creative writin

Designing social personalized adaptive e-learning

Here we introduce Topolor, a social personalized adaptive elearning system aiming to improve social interaction in the learning process as well as applying classical adaptation based on user modeling. Here, we focus on the system architecture and preliminary evaluation that showed high system usability

Apply the We! Design methodology in E-learning 2.0 system design : a pilot study

During the emergence of Web 2.0, the methodologies and technologies of E-learning have developed to a new era, E-learning 2.0, emphasises on social learning and the use of social interaction tools. The students are the main end-user of the E-learning 2.0 systems, so it is essential to take students' opinions into consideration during the design process of such systems. The We!Design participatory design methodology is proposed for incorporating undergraduate students in the development of educational systems. This pilot study aims to investigate how the We!Design methodology would work and what the results might propose, and gather initial preferences and improve the quality and efficiency of the larger scale studies in the future

An exploratory study to design an adaptive hypermedia system for online-advertisement

The revolutionary world of the World Wide Web has created an open space for a multitude of fields to develop and propagate. One of these major fields is advertisement. Online advertisement has become one of the main activities conducted on the web, heavily supported by the industry. Importantly, it is one of the main contributors to any businesses’ income. However, consumers usually ignore the great majority of adverts online. This research paper studies the field of online advertisement, by conducting an exploratory study to understand end users’ needs for targeted online advertisement using adaptive hypermedia techniques. Additionally, we explore social networks, one of the booming phenomena of the web, to enhance the appropriateness of the advertising to the users. The main current outcome of this research is that end users are interested in personalised advertisement that tackles their needs and that they believe that the use of social networks and social actions help in the contextualisation of advertisement

Exploring participatory design for SNS-based AEH systems

The rapidly emerging and growing social networking sites (SNS) offer an opportunity to improve adaptive e-learning experience by introducing a social dimension, connecting users within the system. Making connections and providing communication tools can engage students in creating effective learning environment and enriching learning experiences. Researchers have been working on introducing SNS features into adaptive educational hypermedia systems. The next stage research is centered on how to enhance SNS facilities of AEH systems, in order to engage students’ participation in collaborative learning and generating and enriching learning materials. Students are the core participants in the adaptive e-learning process, so it is essential for the system designers to consider students’ opinions. This paper aims at exploring how to apply participatory design methodology in the early stage of the SNS-based AEH system design process

Pre-Service Mathematics Teacher Education in Jordan : Description and Analysis of the Situation at the University of Jordan/Amman ; A Case Study

ix Introduction The study has the purpose (1) to describe and explore the Mathematics student teachers’ performance inside the classroom during the training course “teaching practice” at the University of Jordan/ Amman, and (2) to include the main factors which influence the development of the professional teaching competence in their mode of action. This study has particularly the aim to investigate the difficulties which face the student teachers’ performance, and the facilities which help them in their performance and decrease the obstacles of the development of student teachers’ performance. The study has the aim to answer the following questions: 1. How does the performance of student teachers develop with respect to time of the training course? 2. What difficulties do the student teachers face during the training course? 3. What are the facilities that help in developing student teachers’ performance during the training course? 4. What are the factors related to performance? Are they personal, social, methodological, or related to mastering the curriculum? 5. What is the relation between student teachers’ performance and supervision? The 1st opening chapter of the study describes some facts about Jordan, the school system there, the system of pre-service teacher education, the background of the study, and the purpose of the study with the questions mentioned above. In the 2nd chapter a review of the existing literature follows with the theoretical concepts which are connected with the questions. Main concepts are: development of teachers’ performance, factors affecting the trainees’ performance, supervision and teacher development, problems of beginning teachers, models in teacher development, facilities that help trainees, standards of teaching competences, methodological basis of teaching Mathema tics. Chapter 3 describes the plan of the empirical research and the four methodological tools which are used: video tapes, interviews, questionnaires, and self reports. It is a case study with the seven Mathematics student teachers of the academic year 1999/2000 at the university of Jordan/Amman. Chapter 4 contains the data collection from the four resources in English. The data material was collected in Arabic and then translated into English by the author. Chapter 5 starts with the data analysis and description of the 7 cases. Chapter 6 continues the data analysis, presents the results, discusses these in an overview. This leads in chapter 7 to a combination of the results which come from the analysis of chapters 5 and 6, and to the answers to the que stions 1—5. The main results are concentrated around the main features of performance, which are in the teacher education plan of Amman five areas: lesson plan, mastering content knowledge, methods of teaching, assessment of teaching, and classroom management. This study is the first one which describes and analyses scientifically the phase of practice teaching at Jordanian universities. It is done exemplary at the University of Jordan/Amman with all Mathematics student teachers of one academic year. It for the first time is possible to win insight in the individual professional development of single student teachers in Jordan, and insight in the influence of specific relating factors. This study has a valuable starting point, looks to be won for a further development of the teacher-training in Jordan. These are attached in a short section as "recommendations"