Adoption of Information and Communication Technology in Teaching and Learning Environment in Jordanian Higher Education

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays an important role in modern institutions by facilitating and improving the teaching and learning process to be in line with the information technology age. Jordan, as one of the developing countries, highly values the importance of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and their role in achieving an economic prosperity through the development of human resources. Unfortunately, the adoption and usage of ICT in teaching and learning process is quite low among the academic staff in the public HEIs in Jordan. The main purpose of this study is to examine the potential prominent factors related to the adoption and usage of ICT in Jordanian HEIs among the academicians. The study provides an understanding on the ICT usage by applying the Diffusion of Innovation theory, Theory of Planned Behavior and the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior. A self-administered survey was conducted on 500 academic staff selected from public HEIs in Jordan. A total of 415 participants (83%) responded to the questionnaires. The findings showed that subjective norms, attitude towards technology, and perceived behavioral control positively affected the behavioral intention to use ICT in HEIs among academicians. The study provides recommendations to the higher education leaders and policy makers towards promoting a successful adoption and diffusion of technologies in the future. Besides, it offers a clear description about the adoption in the field of educational technologies in the context of developing countries and the Arab world in particular

The Implications of Naturalism as an Educational Philosophy in Jordan from the Perspectives of Childhood Education Teachers

The purpose of this study was to identify the educational implications of naturalism as an educational philosophy from the Jordanian childhood education teachers' perspectives. Each philosophy simply represents a unique conviction concerning the nature of the teaching/learning process. This study could serve as a grounded theory for Jordanian childhood teachers to comprehend the need for a clear educational philosophy within the Jordanian educational system. In addition, this research study would draw Jordanian childhood teachers' interest to be acquainted more with the educational principles of such philosophical theory. The researchers employed a questionnaire consisted of twenty one items, which correspond to the educational principles of naturalism. The quantitative approach is used to gather data as one of the techniques and descriptive due to its suitability for this study. The study findings revealed that Jordanian childhood education teachers' perspectives toward the implications of naturalism as an educational philosophy were positive for all domains; curriculum, aims, and activities. Based on the findings, the researchers provided some relevant recommendations. Keywords: Naturalism, Educational Philosophy, Childhood Education Teachers, Jordan.

How the design of Complete Streets affects mode choice: Understanding the behavioral responses to the level of traffic stress

Following a federal policy statement in 2010 supporting bicycle and pedestrian accommodation in federal-aid transportation projects, many cities across the US have implemented Complete Streets principles and invested in developing better-planned infrastructure that can be safely accessed by a diversity of modes of transportation by all types of users, in a mix of land uses. However, most of the travel demand forecasting models and planning tools used in practice are not sensitive to changes in demand for non-motorized modes such as walking and cycling in response to road infrastructure improvements. Hence, there is a need for models and tools that are capable of evaluating impacts of infrastructure changes that include Complete Streets implementations on the travel behavior, and estimate shifts in mode choices from motorized to non-motorized modes. This paper proposes a specific data collection plan, a multi-modal choice model, and strategies to update traditional trip-based transportation models to forecast rates of non-motorized trips for evaluating Complete Streets plans at a higher level. Concretely, we estimate elasticities to Level of Traffic Stress, which defines the comfort or discomfort experienced by walkers and bikers, segmented by income levels and trip purposes. We then use them to compute the new non-motorized mode shares that would be achieved by improving CS attributes leading to lower levels of traffic stress. The proposed modeling framework has been successfully applied to the Maryland Statewide Transportation Model, producing reliable non-motorized trip rates, and can be extended to other methodological frameworks used by public agenciesThis research was sponsored by the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (Project No: MD-21- SHA/UM/5-25, Erdogan et al., 2021), and the Urban Mobility & Equity Center (UMEC), based at Morgan State Universit

Green Communication for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks: Triangle Metric Based Multi-Layered Routing Protocol

[EN] In this paper, we propose a non-localization routing protocol for underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs), namely, the triangle metric based multi-layered routing protocol (TM2RP). The main idea of the proposed TM2RP is to utilize supernodes along with depth information and residual energy to balance the energy consumption between sensors. Moreover, TM2RP is the first multi-layered and multi-metric pressure routing protocol that considers link quality with residual energy to improve the selection of next forwarding nodes with more reliable and energy-efficient links. The aqua-sim package based on the ns-2 simulator was used to evaluate the performance of the proposed TM2RP. The obtained results were compared to other similar methods such as depth based routing (DBR) and multi-layered routing protocol (MRP). Simulation results showed that the proposed protocol (TM2RP) obtained better outcomes in terms of energy consumption, network lifetime, packet delivery ratio, and end-to-end delay.This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah (under grant no. DF-524-156-1441). The authors, therefore, gratefully acknowledge DSR for the technical and financial supportKhasawneh, AM.; Kaiwartya, O.; Lloret, J.; Abuaddous, HY.; Abualigah, L.; Shinwan, MA.; Al-Khasawneh, MA.... (2020). Green Communication for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks: Triangle Metric Based Multi-Layered Routing Protocol. Sensors. 20(24):1-23. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20247278123202

Modeling Asphalt Pavement Frictional Properties using Different Machine Learning Algorithms

The objective of this work is to use some machine learning algorithms and test its efficiency in developing models to predict Locked Wheel Skid Trailer (LWST) values from Dynamic Friction Tester (DFT) and Circular Texture Meter (CTM) measurements conducted on asphalt pavement surfaces. For this prediction, three models were developed using DFT measurements at different speeds starting from 20km/h (12.5 mph) up to 64 km/h (40 mph) and then same DFT measurements as combination with Mean Profile Depth (MPD) and the last model used the International Friction Index (IFI) parameters (F60 and SP). The machine learning techniques includes two supervised learning algorithms: the Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) type of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and M5P tree model. In addition to one lazy algorithm called the K Nearest Neighbor (KNN) or Instance-Based Learner (IBL). The results showed that MLP models are the best in terms of the correlation coefficient that resulted in 81% prediction power using DFT parameters. Additionally, it was shown that the result of tree models was close to ANN but with much simpler regression. However, KNN models were recommended for LWST prediction of similar data characteristics and it is expected that this algorithm will be more efficient as the training data set becomes larger

An examination of teacher collaboration in professional learning communities and collaborative teaching practices

The present study aims to examine the influence of teacher collaboration within professional learning communities (PLCs) and collaborative teaching practices on both the professional growth and academic achievement of students. The study employed a mixed-methods research design that  incorporated both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. This research comprises both survey responses and interview transcripts obtained from K-12 educators who are currently engaged in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) or collaborative teaching methodologies. The findings of this study have the potential to enhance the existing literature on teacher collaboration and furnish educators, policymakers, and researchers with valuable perspectives to steer optimal strategies for promoting effective teacher collaboration in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and collaborative teaching approaches. The objective of the research is to investigate the influence of teacher collaboration within Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and collaborative teaching practices on the development of professional skills and academic achievements of students. The results of this study underscore the importance of recognizing the advantageous effects that collaborative teaching methodologies can have on the academic achievements of students. This necessitates the provision of adequate time for collaborative activities, encouraging supportive leadership within educational institutions, and allocating sufficient resources for collaboration

Factors affecting consumers’ behavioral intentions to use and adopt digital wallets

The current research paper aims to pinpoint the determinants that impact consumers' perceived ease and perceived usefulness of digital wallet usage in Jordan. To accomplish this, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been used, which encompasses additional dimensions like the perceived risk of COVID-19, social influence, government support, promotional benefits, perceived value, and personal innovativeness. A quantitative research approach was employed in this paper; an online survey was applied to gather data from a total of 401 participants. The gathered data underwent analysis using a two-step PLS-SEM method. The study outcomes show that digital wallet users' perception of promotional benefits and perceived value significantly and positively affect the digital wallet's perceived usefulness. However, governmental support and social influence do not have a significant impact on digital wallets' perceived usefulness

بناء مسطرة معيارية في الانجاز الرقمي لفعاليات السباحة لدى طلبة كلية التربية الرياضية في جامعة اليرموك

هدف المقال التعرف إلى نتائج الإنجاز الرقمي في بعض أنواع السباحة لدى طلبة كلية التربية الرياضية في جامعة اليرموك، كما هدفت إلى إيجاد مسطرة معيارية لتقييم النتائج، وتم استخدام منهجاً وصفياً بالطريقة المسحية الكيفية لملائمته لأغراض الدراسة، وأجريت الدراسة على (97) طالباً تم اختيارهم بالطريقة العشوائية المسجلين في مساقات تدريب السباحة في جامعة اليرموك للفصل الثاني من العام الدراسي (2021/ 2022)، قياس زمن أداء السباحات الثلاث مسافة 25 م من قبل محكمين في السباحة، وتم إدخال ومعالجة البيانات إحصائيا باستخدام برنامج الرزم الإحصائية للعلوم الاجتماعية (SPSS) وحساب المتوسطات الحسابية والانحرافات المعيارية والنسب المئوية ومعاملات الالتواء والارتباط، والدرجات المئينية، وأشارت النتائج إلى تجانس نتائج الإنجاز الرقمي لدى طلبة كلية التربية الرياضية في جامعة اليرموك في أنواع السباحة، وكانت ضمن المستوى المتوسط وتم إيجاد مسطرة ومستويات معيارية في فعاليات السباحة، ويوصي الباحثون باستخدام المسطرة المعيارية في تشخيص وتقييم طلبة مساقات السباحة في كليات التربية الرياضية. The article aimed to construct Standard Scale in digital achievement for swimming types among students of the Faculty of Physical Education at Yarmouk University. Also, it aimed to find a standard ruler to evaluate the results. The randomization of those enrolled in swimming training courses at Yarmouk University for the second semester of the academic year (2021 / 2022), and to measure the level of digital achievement of students in swimming activities, the time of the performance of the three swimmers at a distance of 25 m was measured by swimming arbitrators. The data were entered and processed statistically using a program called Statistical packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS), arithmetic means, standard deviations, percentages, skewness and correlation coefficients, and percentile degrees standard in swimming activities, and the researcher recommends using the results of the levels of the standard ruler in the diagnosis and evaluation of students Swimming courses in the faculties of physical education

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DECISION OF TOURIST BUSINESSES TO ADOPT DIGITAL MARKETING

The purpose of the current study is to investigate how the views of domestic tourists affect their propensity to adopt platforms and tools for digital marketing. On the basis of the perceived organisational E-readiness and the revised information systems success model, regression analyses were employed to evaluate the assumptions based on 375 selfadministered questionnaire surveys done with tourist businesses. The selection of questionnaires was based on a convenience strategy and a stratified proportional sampling method. The results of the research indicate that user satisfaction, system quality, IT infrastructure, information quality, service quality, and top-level management support are substantially associated with the use of digital marketing platforms and tools. The results of this study have practical and policy implications for legislators, marketers, and managers as they design successful and efficient digital marketing strategies to satisfy the requirements and expectations of tourist businesses