An exploration of student experiences with social media and mobile technologies during emergency transition to remote education

The adoption of mobile computing technologies in higher education has been accelerated during the emergency transition from on-campus to distance learning, which occurred due to the unprecedented situation caused by Covid-19 pandemic. The aim of this study is to explore how undergraduate students experienced learning through mobile computing devices during the emergency transition to remote education; how this experience may have impacted learner engagement and their overall academic performance; and students’ perceptions on the role social media played while learning under lockdown. To gather students’ insights and perceptions, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with both full-time and part-time undergraduate students. Three main themes emerged from the thematic analysis of the interview data. Firstly, the significant, multifaceted role social media play during distance education in keeping students engaged; secondly, students’ positive experiences with using mobile computing devices to support their learning under lockdown; and thirdly, the frustrations from learning at a distance with mobile technologies. The research findings can empirically inform the design of engaging, inclusive, and inviting mobile learning environments towards improving the experiences of the mobile learner in an everchanging world

Merging Policy and Practice: Crafting Effective Social Engineering Awareness-Raising Policies

Cybersecurity policies play a fundamental role in fostering organizational cyber governance and cyber resilience. Cybersecurity awareness-raising and training policies specify upskilling requirements and explicitly address persistent threats such as social engineering attacks. While cybersecurity awareness-raising and training activities complement the objectives of security policies, challenges including stakeholder diversity, budget constraints, generic messaging and low user engagement hinder their effectiveness. For successful policy adoption it is crucial for the workforce to grasp the relevance of these policies within their work context, understand how social engineering attacks are deployed, and apply policy rules appropriately. However, existing awareness-raising and training policies often lack specificity, leading to gaps in employee engagement and behavioural change, especially regarding social engineering threats. To address these issues, the paper proposes a dedicated social engineering awareness-raising policy, guided by Merrill's Principles of Instructions. This work aims to merge policy and practice, offering tailored examples of social engineering attacks, explicitly connecting them to relevant cybersecurity policies and making the content more engaging and relevant to the workforce. This is envisioned as a cost-effective resource for organizations with a limited training budget, which can be utilized as a starting point to enhance employee awareness, engagement, and foster a stronger organizational cyber resilience culture

Mitigating the challenges of mobile games-based learning through gamified lesson paths

The application of gamification in both educational and vocational training contexts is commonly associated with learner engagement, improved learning outcomes, and increased performance. While the benefits of gamification are evident in these contexts, the creation of gamified learning spaces, especially those that employ mobile technologies, remains challenging. This paper explores the key challenges discussed in the literature in relation to mobile games-based learning, and presents the Authoring Tool for Gamified Lesson Paths (AT-GLP) which incorporates a set of features teachers can utilise to create gamified lesson paths playable on both desktop and mobile devices. A lesson path can be constructed around a customisable storyline and it can integrate minigames engaging students with the learning content while enabling teachers to evaluate student learning. The authoring tool is the core component of the BEACONING platform which was initially developed to support Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. The system has been implemented across ten countries and has been piloted with over 5000 students. In this paper the authors discuss how the system can be applied in other disciplines, such as language learning, and how it can help mitigate some of the challenges associated with mobile games-based learning. Lessons learnt and suggestions for improvement are also discussed

Projeto TIME2ACT@SD – time to act through sustainable experiences for higher education students

A Agenda 2030 das Nações Unidas definiu 17 Objetivos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS) que devem ser implementados a vários os níveis: internacional, nacional, regional e local CCS2023 – 5ª Conferência Campus Sustentável 190 (United Nations, 2015). A educação para o desenvolvimento sustentável (EDS) tem um papel importante na concretização dos 17 ODS (UNESCO, 2017). Pretende-se apresentar as metas e os objetivos do projeto Erasmus+ TIME2ACT@SD, enquanto contributo para a EDS no contexto do ensino superior europeu (Time2Act@SD, 2023). O TIME2ACT@SD tem como objetivo atuar nos ambientes de aprendizagem, apoiando professores e estudantes do ensino superior na melhoria ao nível dos conhecimentos, das competências e das atitudes no domínio da EDS e dos ODS, independentemente da área de formação e dos currículos dos estudantes. O projeto adota uma abordagem holística, incluindo a sustentabilidade ambiental, social e económica, envolvendo Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES) de Portugal, Bélgica, Chipre e Turquia. Os estudantes e professores das IES serão envolvidos no desenvolvimento de todo o projeto, desde a fase de diagnóstico de necessidades até ao teste dos outputs. Este é, aliás, um dos elementos inovadores do projeto, assim como a garantia de maior adesão e impacto do projeto. O TIME2ACT@SD procura produzir recursos educativos abertos e promover iniciativas para colmatar a falta de conhecimentos e competências, bem como mudar atitudes em relação ao Desenvolvimento Sustentável (DS), dos jovens que frequentam o ensino superior. Através de práticas inovadoras de formação e educação (recorrendo a MOOC e estratégias de gamificação) e de metodologias ativas (workshops e bootcamps, enquanto atividades de carácter experimental), o projeto pretende promover a literacia do grupo-alvo no domínio do DS/ODS, bem como alterações comportamentais no que respeita a preferências individuais, sensibilização para o DS, hábitos de consumo e estilos de vida. Os outputs do projeto serão desenvolvidos para promover os três níveis de aquisição de competências de sustentabilidade: conhecimento (aprendizagem conceptual), saber-fazer (competências práticas) e fazer (ligado à demonstração em ação e à sua transferibilidade para situações da vida real).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Re-imagining the Distributed Nature of Learner Engagement in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Contexts in the Post-pandemic Era

Learner engagement has become more fragmented and distributed than ever before due to the challenging and unpredictable circumstances amidst the pandemic. Social isolation, mobility restrictions, and the emergency transition to online education have influenced students’ emotions, thoughts, and actions. The purpose of this study is to explore the factors that impacted learner engagement over time during the pandemic; to investigate students’ perceptions on the role of social technology during remote education; and to capture students’ reflections distilled through their recent and ongoing experiences with online learning. The findings from three exploratory case studies conducted during the pandemic with undergraduate students are collectively analysed and discussed. Four main themes emerged following a holistic, comparative data analysis: the distributed nature of learner engagement; the impact of the pandemic on the affective, behavioural, and cognitive dimensions of engagement within computer-supported collaborative learning contexts; the multifaceted and contradictory roles of social media and social technology while learning under lockdown; and finally, the lessons learnt and visions of students for learning in the post-pandemic era. The findings can inform the pedagogical design of inclusive, seamless, and accessible learning environments embracing social technology towards reactivating learner engagement

Learner Engagement in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Environments: A mixed-methods study in postgraduate education

The thesis draws on a mixed-methods study which empirically and theoretically investigates the ways in which postgraduate students engage in collaborative learning activities facilitated by technology. The research is both significant and distinct in its approach towards understanding how learners engage in real-life computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) settings; what enables or hinders learner engagement; and how engagement shapes the learning outcomes. The ensuing findings indicate that learner engagement is embodied in human behaviour, emotions, and reflection and therefore it is described as a multi-dimensional concept. Learner engagement also appears to be a socially distributed phenomenon – rather than a stable student characteristic – influenced by various personal, group-level, and other situational factors, the most prominent of which are captured by the Hierarchical Model of Enablers and Barriers. The study also reveals that learner engagement presupposes purposeful interaction which is presented as an integrative theme capturing the impact of pedagogical design on engagement. Another observation is that particular combinations of student actions, perspectives, and characteristics tend to resurface and therefore may be considered as strong predictors of potential engagement (or disengagement). This finding led to the development of the WISE Taxonomy of Learner Engagement Archetypes which portrays the most universal engagement approaches that emerged within the studied context. Finally, findings seem to suggest that the way students envisage their learning outcomes is driven by the engagement approach each student adopts, and vice-versa. When combined, the proposed model, taxonomy, and conceptualisation of learner engagement collectively define a holistic analytical framework labelled Distributed Engagement Theory. The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to explore, understand, and subsequently explain learner engagement aiming at making an original contribution to existing CSCL literature as well as informing the design of pedagogical models for enhancing learner engagement in CSCL environments within postgraduate education

Teaching and Learning in the New Normal: Responding to Students’ and Academics’ Multifaceted Needs

Alongside the prolonged social and economic instability and the escalating demands for upskilling, Covid-19 pandemic had a detrimental impact on students’ and academics’ mental health and wellbeing. Social isolation and the emergency transition to remote education caused high levels of psychological distress, hindering students’ self-efficacy and academic performance. The pandemic also induced sudden changes affecting academics’ personal and professional lives, leading to mental disorders and risk of burnout. While recent research focuses on addressing the effects of the pandemic on either students or academics, this paper presents a collective analysis. The key themes that emerged by examining the experiences of both students and academics in higher education are framed in a multi-layered support system embracing qualities such as: self-efficacy, wellbeing, equality, diversity, and inclusion, social interactions, human-centred technologies, and authentic pedagogical methods. The findings are discussed with the aim to extract informed recommendations for enhancing teaching and learning experiences in the post-pandemic era

#HerMetaverseToo - Gender-based Hate and Abuse in the Metaverse: The Case of Female Athletes

Metaverse applications are gaining popularity globally, empowering immersive virtual reality experiences and dynamic social interactions among users. The Metaverse sports arena is also expanding as athletes and their fans extend their interactions from long-established social media to the Metaverse. Unfortunately, the female population is subject to more hate, abuse, and discrimination on social media. A special case concerns female athletes, who are on the receiving end of such acts. Despite the male-dominated sports world, female athletes are generally more engaging with their fans and strive to inspire their audience more actively in comparison to their male counterparts. Inevitably, as female athletes craft their virtual selves, the risks and threats they are currently exposed to on social media may also emerge in the Metaverse. In this paper, we aim to explore how gender-based hate and abuse could potentially manifest in the Metaverse and under what circumstances. Suggested countermeasures are proposed to mitigate potential threats to both female athletes and their fans, also extending on the overall female population’s safety, privacy, mental health, and wellbeing