Desired Versus Actual Training for Online Instructors in Community Colleges

The growth of distance education and the demand for instructors has developed over the past ten to fifteen years. There is a perception that the type and amount of instructor preparation is highly variable between institutions. Of the faculty members at two year institutions surveyed, nearly half did not attend training over the previous year. With technology changing rapidly, there is a need for training annually to assure faculty members who teach online are prepared. Distance education administrators need to evaluate their distance education programs and develop a consistent and current infrastructure to assure that their faculty members are being properly trained to teach online

Using STEM Camps to Improve Female Interest in Technology Careers

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields have been traditionally entered by men, often establishing women as underrepresented in many of these fields. This research study focuses on participants at a STEM camp for middle- and high-school girls designed to introduce them to technology. The camp was held 4 times over 3 years, with many of the participants from rural areas, underrepresented by race and economic status. Sixty camp attendees completed pre- and post-camp surveys and are referred to as the intervention group. A control group of 200 middle- and high-school girls who did not attend the camp also took the survey. This paper focuses on a subset of the survey results that sought to determine the impact on camp participants in the areas of technology self-efficacy and technology career interest as it related to management information systems (MIS). Analysis of the data collected found a significant difference in MIS self-efficacy between the intervention group and control group but no significant difference in choices of MIS-related careers. Results also include recommended improvements to STEM camp design

Gender differences in the addiction to social networks in the Southern Spanish university students

Social networks sites have become the most popular instrument used to communicate and exchange information resulting in the addiction to this media. Previous studies suggested that personal characters play an essential role in addictive behavior and gender difference may be involved. Nevertheless, there are contradictions about the influence of gender. Some studies indicated higher addiction in men. Meanwhile, other researchers pointed out higher addiction among Spanish teenage female. Little studies in the Spanish context have analyzed the different socio-cultural and biological factors possibly related to this addiction and gender differences. With all being said, this study focused on determining the current incidence of social networks addiction in young college students, relating this social networking addiction with loneliness, prenatal testosterone (2D:4D ratio), self-esteem and personal satisfaction. A cross-sectional study focused on female and male college students aged 17–25 years (N = 278) was carried out. It was used several surveys, including the Social Network Addiction Questionnaire (SNA) and the 2D:4D ratio. The results showed difference among male and female about addiction (chi-square = 12.77, p-value = 0.002). Moreover, this addiction was linked with several factors, such as importance given to social networks by females (p-value < 0.001) and males (p-value < 0.001). Also, the findings showed that addiction to social networks might be influenced by gender, showing more importance sociopsychological factors in females and a combination of biological and social factors in the men. Moreover, Instagram has increased as the predominant social network for communication for college students (97.2% men and 93.7% women)