A quantitative analysis of the role of social networks in educational contexts

Recent advances in Information Technology (IT) and the advent of Web 2.0 created the path for education to ascertain its potential from this phenomenon. The role of e-learning has transformed completely as Web 2.0 technologies enabled the creation of learning content that is no longer based on textbooks and learning guides, but on manageable, modular learning components. The emergence of Education 2.0 enabled technology enhanced teaching and learning necessitating new pedagogical approaches while e-learning has evolved into an instrumental pedagogy of collaboration and sharing of resources through affordances of social media. Educational social networks were created as supportive mechanisms for special interest groups. Traditional teaching methods have been replaced with technology-enhanced media that enable ubiquitous learning. Social networks as educational tools have enabled individual and group learning through social engagement and social distribution of knowledge. Studies have demonstrated the role of social media as a complementary educational tool. Many studies have reported that a larger proportion of students spend more time engaging in social online activities than in classroom. However, there is a lack of quantitative study on how social networks such as Facebook can be influential on students’ progress and achievement. This paper investigates how a quantitative overview of Facebook’s influence on students’ progress can be incorporated in a proposed e-moderation model of teaching and learning through Facebook. The proposed e-moderation model (Salmon, 2003) provides an emphasis on the theoretical perspectives that support socially situated learning environment of social networks such as Facebook

An evaluation of social learning networks: a qualitative perspective

Affordances offered through ubiquitous nature of Web 2.0 technologies and social media have progressively become universal constituents of our lives. Presently our students have seen the escalation in use of multimedia in their studies. With technological advances in telecommunication technologies, students have become accustomed to instant, global communications modes. Educational institutions have progressively adapted more innovative pedagogical approaches in their provision. Web 2.0 has fundamentally altered communication methods between people around the world. Access to information, dissemination, sharing and creation of new digitised content are powerful tools that ease social media adaptation in everyone’s life. Over the last decade multimedia authoring tools have become more useful for content generation. The price and expertise to use these authoring tools has decreased, therefore offering opportunity for educators to broaden their experimental horizons with these technologies. With the advent of Web 2.0, access to information, dissemination, sharing and creation of new digitised content are powerful tools that ease social media adaptation in student’s life. Universities have reported reforms in the use of Education 2.0, while Web 2.0 is finding its momentums in further education and schools. Since the advent of Web 2.0 many educational institutions have reported remarkable positive influences in students learning behaviours. Research studies have illustrated association between students improved communication and collaboration linked to improved motivation hence more on going academic performance. Social learning networks represent a more diverse mechanism than a content delivery platform. The potential to release both students and instructors creative talents, ease of content creation and collaboratively sharing teaching and learning resources has enabled educational institutions to explore the strategic benefits of social learning networks. Recent studies indicate that these digital elements when aligned with the best practices of multimedia design become powerful learning agents. This study is aimed at highlighting the importance of social learning networks in education from a qualitative perspective. A series of recent studies at higher and further education has provided guidelines for the improved use of social media in e-learning. This paper’s findings will introduce qualitative verdicts for a framework adaptation of social learning networks in e-learning

Investigating the educational value of social learning networks: a quantitative analysis

The emergence of Education 2.0 enabled technology-enhanced learning, necessitating new pedagogical approaches, while e-learning has evolved into an instrumental pedagogy of collaboration through affordances of social media. Social learning networks and ubiquitous learning enabled individual and group learning through social engagement and social distribution of knowledge. Nevertheless, these developments have not been supported with extensive studies focusing on quantifying the impact of technology-enhanced learning on students’ progress and achievement. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a quantitative overview of Facebook’s influence on students’ progress can be incorporated in a proposed e-moderation model of teaching and learning. Design/methodology/approach The approach is based on extending Salmon’s (2003) e-moderation model, which provides an emphasis on the theoretical perspectives that support socially situated learning environments of social networks such as Facebook. The findings revealed that students’ grades were positively influenced by the complementary use of Facebook on their courses of study. Findings The use of a social learning network also triggered a significant increase in student participation in learning activities delivered over Facebook. Research limitations/implications The main research limitations were due to the fact that a single social network was chosen for conducting the experiments. Furthermore, the investigation was narrowed down to a selected range of sessions offered to college and university students as part of their course. Originality/value The paper’s contribution is twofold, as it offers an original set of guidelines for conducting social learning network experiments and provides valuable quantifiable findings on the educational value of such networks

On the Lipschitz operator algebras

summary:In a recent paper by H. X. Cao, J. H. Zhang and Z. B. Xu an $\alpha$-Lipschitz operator from a compact metric space into a Banach space $A$ is defined and characterized in a natural way in the sence that $F:K\rightarrow A$ is a $\alpha$-Lipschitz operator if and only if for each $\sigma \in X^*$ the mapping $\sigma \circ F$ is a $\alpha$-Lipschitz function. The Lipschitz operators algebras $L^\alpha (K,A)$ and $l^\alpha (K,A)$ are developed here further, and we study their amenability and weak amenability of these algebras. Moreover, we prove an interesting result that $L^\alpha (K,A)$ and $l^\alpha (K,A)$ are isometrically isomorphic to $L^{\alpha }(K)\check{\otimes }A$ and $l^{\alpha }(K)\check{\otimes }A$ respectively. Also we study homomorphisms on the $L^\alpha _A(X,B)$

Effect of time lapse on the diagnostic accuracy of cone beam computed tomography for detection of vertical root fractures

Accurate and early diagnosis of vertical root fractures (VRFs) is imperative to prevent extensive bone loss and unnecessary endodontic and prosthodontic treatments. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of time lapse on the diagnostic accuracy of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) for VRFs in endodontically treated dog’s teeth. Forty-eight incisors and premolars of three adult male dogs underwent root canal therapy. The teeth were assigned to two groups: VRFs were artificially induced in the first group (n=24) while the teeth in the second group remained intact (n=24). The CBCT scans were obtained by NewTom 3G unit immediately after inducing VRFs and after one, two, three, four, eight, 12 and 16 weeks. Three oral and maxillofacial radiologists blinded to the date of radiographs assessed the presence/absence of VRFs on CBCT scans. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy values were calculated and data were analyzed using SPSS v.16 software and ANOVA. The total accuracy of detection of VRFs immediately after surgery, one, two, three, four, eight, 12 and 16 weeks was 67.3%, 68.7%, 66.6%, 64.6%, 64.5%, 69.4%, 68.7%, 68% respectively. The effect of time lapse on detection of VRFs was not significant (p>0.05). Overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of CBCT for detection of VRFs were 74.3%, 62.2%, 67.2% respectively. Cone beam computed tomography is a valuable tool for detection of VRFs. Time lapse (four months) had no effect on detection of VRFs on CBCT scans. © 2016, Associacao Brasileira de Divulgacao Cientifica. All rights reserved

Effects of various penetration enhancers on percutaneous absorption of piroxicam from emulgels

A suitable emulgel formulation of piroxicam was prepared and its percutaneous permeation was investigated using Wistar rat skin and diffusion cell technique. The concentrations of the drug in receptor phase of diffusion cells were measured using HPLC method. The effect of three types of penetration enhancers (Myrj 52, cineol and Transcutol P) with different concentrations on transdermal permeation of the drug was also evaluated. Flux, Kp and enhancement ratios (ERs) of piroxicam in the presence of enhancers was measured and compared with emulgel base alone and simple commercial gel. The results showed a significant enhancement in the flux from emulgel base compared to hydroalcoholic gel formulation (9.91 folds over simple gel). The highest enhancement ratio (ER=3.11) was observed for Myrj 52 at the concentration of 0.25%. Higher concentrations of Myrj 52did not show any enhancement in the drug flux due to micelle formation and solubilization of the drug by micelles. The increase in solubility, in turn, increases the saturated concentration and reduces the thermodynamic activity of the drug. Transcutol® P with concentrations higher than 0.25% w/w showed burst transportation of the drug through the skin. All concentrations of cineol and Transcutol did not show any enhancing effects over emulgel base alone (ER <1)

Application of baited remote underwater video stations to assess benthic coverage in the Persian Gulf

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. A baited remote underwater video station (BRUVS) is generally considered an appropriate sampling tool for fish. The applicability of BRUVS to determine the substrate coverage was assessed by comparing stills from BRUVS videos to traditional point intercept transect (PIT) data to estimate percentage cover (PC) of different benthic substrate categories. Mean PCs of hard corals, rock, sand, and coral growth forms yielded statistically identical values with the two survey methods, while PCs of motile epibenthic invertebrates were underestimated by BRUVS in areas of both high and moderate relief. Yet, multivariate analyses revealed that the two methods yield similar substrate assemblage in an area of moderate relief. Results of our study suggest that the BRUVS can be effectively used to quantify both the presence/absence of a basic set of benthic habitat characteristics and diversity of coral growth forms on coral reefs in the Persian Gulf

Animal v. plant-based bait: Does the bait type affect census of fish assemblages and trophic groups by baited remote underwater video (BRUV) systems?

© 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles. Coral reef fish communities were sampled at the Nayband Marine Park, Iran, using baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVSs) which incorporated animal (i.e. frigate tuna Auxis thazard and beef liver), or plant-based baits (i.e. raw dough and raw dough-turmeric powder mix). The A. thazard was found to record significantly (P < 0·05) higher species richness and number of carnivorous fishes than plant-based baits, while abundance of herbivores was maximum in raw dough-turmeric powder mix trials. There was also a significant difference in trophic composition of fish assemblages surveyed by animal- and plant-based baits which seemed to be due to variations in attraction patterns of carnivores and herbivores occurring at the earlier phases of each BRUV deployments. Meanwhile, the assemblage structure was comparable among fish assemblages sampled by different bait treatments, indicating that species-level responses to each bait type may be more complicated. In essence, the efficiency of mixed baits should also be examined in future studies

Comparison of baited remote underwater video (BRUV) and underwater visual census (UVC) for assessment of reef fish in a marginal reef in the Northern Persian gulf

© 2019 Iranian Society of Ichthyology. Underwater Visual Census (UVC) and Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) are broadly used methods to study fish assemblages in marine and estuarine environments. This study compared the results of BRUV and UVC methods for assessing seasonal trends in coral reef fish assemblages in a marginal reef in the northern Persian Gulf. In doing so, seasonal surveys of coral reef fishes were done using BRUV and UVC methods. Comparison of assemblage metrics driven from each method indicated that both methods may reveal similar patterns of seasonal changes in fish and trophic group assemblages while there may be between-method differences in species richness, total abundance, and trophic group abundances. The observed differences may be related to the longer sampling times of BRUV