Virtual School Research Articles

Rescue Strategy for Covid Heroes in Households: Reconstructing the Meaning of Hadith Ahkam in Sunan Abū Dāwud

Work from Home (WfH) and online schooling as a policy to reduce the risk of the spread of COVID 19 has an impact on increasing the risk of fatigue and stress for women. Especially for working women who are married and have children. While men can focus on completing office tasks at home, this is not the case for women. The economic movement of the family that slows down while domestic needs and responsibilities increase both in quantity and quality is a severe phenomenon that haunts the lives of women. Therefore, it is necessary to reconstruct the understanding of the meaning of the Prophet's hadith which contains the law as an argument which becomes the basic principle of the implementation of Islamic law. The method used in this research is the maudhui method, focusing on the hadith ahkam narrated by Abū Dāwud number 236 which explains the concept of partnership between men and women in household responsibilities. Content analysis is used as a data analysis technique. The hadith text is a basic legal reference for the principle of equality between men and women. Both have the same rights as human beings. The right to live with dignity, religion, politics, activities in the social, economic and educational spheres as well as the right and responsibility to take care of the household and obey the law. Not respecting women's rights means denying the law, which is the principle of equality in the hadith text. Taking care of the household is a job that can be learned and can also be done together. This is done as an effort to recognize and save women as household heroes from the increased risk of fatigue and stress, especially in difficult times.

Views on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health in people with Down syndrome from diverse backgrounds.

Down syndrome (DS) has a unique medical and psychological profile. To date, few studies have asked individuals with DS about their views of health, and fewer have explored the impact of COVID-19 on the health of individuals with DS and their families. We used a mixed methods approach including two studies on the health of individuals with DS and their parents conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) eight virtual focus groups, comprised of 20 parents and 8 individuals with DS to obtain participants' views of health, and (2) a 20-item questionnaire on health care experience of patients with DS who are African American or come from primarily Spanish-speaking homes. Focus group transcripts were coded using a hybrid inductive/deductive framework and thematically analyzed using the Framework Method. This questionnaire included questions regarding the impact of COVID-19 on caregivers and their loved ones with DS; responses to these questions were summarized using descriptive statistics. Individuals with DS discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their physical and social health including masking, online learning, and online communication with friends and family. Parents of individuals with DS discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted their child's physical, social, and mental health, as a result of virtual schooling and decreased socialization. There were unexpected positives of the pandemic such as improved hygiene and eased scheduling with telehealth visits. Caregivers noted COVID-19 impacted their own anxiety, employment, and other domains that have potential ripple effects on the health of their children. The COVID-19 pandemic had a pervasive impact on the mental health and wellness of caregivers as well as the physical, social, and mental health of individuals with DS.

Reflections From the Pandemic: Lessons Learned.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many children experienced multiple challenges while transitioning from traditional to online schooling. Teachers, administrators, and parents were expected to work together to provide students an optimal educational experience through those turbulent times. This experience generated new insights into how to teach deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students and assess their knowledge. New tools were invented and used during the pandemic, and though teachers and students are slowly returning to traditional learning environments, educators now know that alternative forms of teaching and learning exist. We acknowledge the ways teachers, administrators, and parents can innovate and bring new knowledge to the table. The present article introduces an American Annals of the Deaf Special Issue that offers further research and discussion in the event that another, comparable challenge occurs. Multiple issues must be considered in DHH education, from academic rigor to social-emotional wellness.

Covid related distress and its impact on mental health a study based on early and late adolescents in Bangalore

The closure of educational institutions and social distancing norms have impacted the life of adolescents. Forced to stay at home, limited interaction with friends and online schooling are some of the factors that have affected their lives. While some researchers believe that the true extent of the impact on the mental health of the adolescent is still not clear, others propose that the impact will only be observable in later stages of their life. In an attempt to understand the impact of the COVID related distress factors on the mental well being of adolescents, the current study collected data from 100 early adolescents and 100 late adolescents. The COVID related distress factors were measured through an instrument designed for the same, while mental well being was measured through depression symptoms and general anxiety levels. The finings of the study identify the particular distress factors that have a significant impact on the mental well-being of adolescents. The findings also identify the factors that are significant in predicting the mental well-being of each category, separately.

Addressing mental health, misinformation, & religious tensions among South Asian students across California higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative research study

BackgroundSouth Asian Americans comprise one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the US. Nevertheless, the scientific literature on the experiences of South Asian students is lacking, where often studies focused on Asian Americans exclude South Asians altogether. South Asian students have unique experiences in California higher education, often having to cope with high pressure to perform academically and various social responsibilities associated with being first-, second-, or third-generation American.Many South Asian countries have been more severely affected by COVID-19 due to the density of people living in close proximity to one another. Students of South Asian origin worry for their families overseas, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted populations there to a more considerable extent. MethodologyThis was a qualitative research study conducted using in-depth interviews with 25 students who identified as South Asian and were currently enrolled in higher education in California at the time they were interviewed. Ads were placed on social media networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, and participation in the study was voluntary. Students were chosen randomly to avoid bias. Study participants described their experiences navigating higher education throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in relation to their social, economic, cultural, and political spheres. Interviews were mainly conducted through Zoom, some through emails or phone calls. All participants will remain anonymous to protect the identities of students.This project sought to understand the experiences of South Asian students as they navigate the new normal amidst a global crisis. Qualitative responses were indexed by themes, with South Asian students reporting a relationship between the pandemic and worsened academic experiences, issues of exacerbated mental health, the spread of misinformation, and increased religious tensions.This research reflects pragmatism, and the findings of this paper are coupled with suggested recommendations to ameliorate pandemic related issues for future South Asian students. The project was conducted through both inductive and qualitative approaches. The research strategy is action research, and the research was meant to shine a light on issues South Asian students face and help university administrations understand how to better support students during a pandemic. The time horizon is cross-sectional. The research focuses on COVID-19 in relation to South Asian students’ performance and health.At 25 participants, data saturation was reached. Further participants were not needed as the qualitative research data was sufficient to draw conclusions from. The research was deemed to pose no risk to students; therefore, approval from an ethical committee was not sought. All participants signed consent forms in order to participate.Follow-up interviews were conducted to address students’ experiences with family in India experiencing the B.167.2 variant and the transition back to in-person learning following virtual schooling. Conclusions/significanceSouth Asian students in higher education bear a unique set of responsibilities in addition to the already rigorous coursework associated with college. However, the stresses and health of South Asian students often go understudied or overlooked. This research serves to begin to fill in the gaps in literature of South Asian experiences in higher education.The pandemic posed additional challenges for students, who lost access to their campus communities with university education going virtual, and many South Asian students had to move back home. Through this qualitative research study analyzing the experiences of South Asians enrolled in California higher education, it can be concluded that there is a relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and students’ academic performance, mental health, as well as an increase in the amount of misinformation spread regarding COVID-19 public safety guidelines.

Family stress during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative analysis

ObjectiveThis study aimed to understand experiences with stress and coping strategies used among families in the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/SettingThis qualitative study took place in the paediatric outpatient clinics of a large...

Improvements in Academic Performance among Students Enrolled in a Statewide Virtual School during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Improvements in Academic Performance among Students Enrolled in a Statewide Virtual School during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Exploring Game Behavior, Scaffolding, and Learning Mathematics in Digital Game-Based Learning Apps on Children

Background: Due to the increasing growth of the use of digital learning in schools, the rate of young students' use of educational digital games has also increased. Digital game-based learning (DGBL) includes various features. Each user may be attracted to certain features of each game due to their individual characteristics. However, it is not clear how individual differences and teachers' scaffolding can affect learners' learning responses to learning-based digital games. Objective: The purpose of this study is to explore game behavior, scaffolding, and improving learning mathematics in DGBL apps for children. Methods: This study has examined Khan Academy as a DGBL application in mathematics subject in the virtual school classroom. The interview method is a qualitative case study. A total of 21 young students at the primary level in Iran participated in this (ages 6-8). The presence of the teacher with the students during the learning of mathematics and its effect has been analyzed. From two types of scaffolding, the presence of the teacher in the classroom was considered one by one and the whole class. Both types of scaffolding had an effect on students' learning. Results: The results of the data analysis indicated that users with high experience in cooperation and increasing social skills had better progress and higher socialization than users with low experience. This is in case the less experienced users have paid more attention to the learning concepts in the game. Conclusion: Thus, the teachers' scaffolding enabled students to discover their interest in mathematics more independently and to be more motivated and active to solve problems. The findings of this research can be helpful for framework designers in the field of children’s behavior in designing games based on learning.

Virtual High Schools: Principal Leadership in an Underexplored Context

Principal Wilson is a first-year leader of a virtual high school. Following four years as an assistant principal in the brick-and-mortar school, she encounters unanticipated leadership challenges and policy dilemmas. Although discipline issues are nearly nonexistent, remote testing presents an ethical challenge. Moreover, she discovers that implementing the tenants of social presence is an unconditional requirement of a virtual school. In this case, the principal faces tough decisions when considering discipline for cheating, the lack of professional development for part-time teachers, and the potential effects of trauma-influenced behavior. This case explores the emerging field of virtual school principal leadership in the context of increasing online K–12 learning post-pandemic.

Irritability and rejection-elicited aggression in adolescents and young adults.

Violence exacts staggering personal and financial costs - a burden disproportionally born by adolescents and young adults. This may be partially due to an increased sensitivity to social rejection during this critical phase of development. Irritability, a transdiagnostic symptom, is often elicited by social interactions. Yet, little is known about age differences in social rejection-elicited aggression and irritability. Progress toward testing such relations has been hindered by a lack of ecologically-valid tasks that enable the measurement of in-the-moment social rejection-elicited aggression. In this paper, we describe an initial study of young adults (n = 55) that demonstrates the efficacy of a novel Virtual School and Aggression Paradigm (VS-AP). Next, we replicate these results in a second study of adolescents and young adults (ages 11-25 years; n = 173) and examine relations between social rejection-elicited aggression, irritability, and age. We found that aggressive behavior in the VS-AP differed for accepting, rejecting, and unpredictable peer types (Study 1: F(2, 108) = 20.57, p < .001, ε2 = .28; Study 2: F(2, 344) = 152.13, p < .001, ε2 = .47), demonstrating that the VS-AP successfully models social rejection-elicited aggression. In Study 2, age was negatively correlated with aggressive behavior (r = -.29, p < .001) and irritability (r = -.28, p < .001), while irritability was positively correlated with aggressive behavior (r = .28, p < .001). Age moderated the relation between social rejection-elicited aggression and irritability. Specifically, irritability was more predictive of aggression in young adults than in adolescents (F(3, 167) = 7.07, p < .001). Data suggest mechanisms promoting rejection-elicited aggression may differ across development and vary for those with and without high levels of irritability. The VS-AP is a promising tool for probing neurocognitive, developmental, and clinically relevant mechanisms underlying social rejection-elicited aggression.

Collaborative Leadership to Manage Virtual School in Island and Border Areas

The border region serves as a gateway that can easily be influenced by internal and external factors, making it a geopolitically significant area. This region is often referred to as a frontier or gray area, affected by the influence of neighboring countries. This research aims to explore the implementation of collaborative leadership in managing virtual schools in Indonesia's island and border areas. The study employs a descriptive qualitative design and involves stakeholders such as schools, universities, teachers, students, parents, and education offices in the regions. The research findings revealed the need for collaborative leadership in all levels of education in Indonesia, including elementary, middle, higher, and universities. All stakeholders, such as schools, universities, teachers, students, parents, and regional education offices, must be involved in this process. The research identified several fundamental issues in implementing education in archipelagic and border regions, including the long distances and travel time between islands, inadequate educational facilities due to limited funding, and a shortage of qualified teachers. One of the reasons behind the limited number of teachers is that the teaching profession is less attractive to island communities due to insufficient economic income.

Collaborative Leadership to Manage Virtual School in Island and Border Areas

Collaborative Leadership to Manage Virtual School in Island and Border Areas

Simulating Social Emotion Regulation in Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) is a valuable research tool offering advantages in terms of high experimenter control and standardization in the simulation of vivid personal and social experiences. It has been used for assessments and training in social cognition with the use of virtual agents instead of face-to-face interactions – but its potential for the study of social emotion regulation has, perhaps surprisingly, largely remained untapped. The present study evaluates a novel immersive VR scenario designed to study the efficacy of social support by a virtual agent using a modified version of Cyberball, an established paradigm to induce the feeling of ostracism. Participants embodied a new pupil in a virtual school environment and played Cyberball, after which they either did or did not receive emotional support. Self-reports and psychophysiological markers demonstrated that the negative impact of social exclusion in Cyberball was successfully replicated, while participants also reported a significant improvement in emotional state after being supported by the virtual agent. These results indicate the potential of the developed scenario for research on social emotion regulation in immersive VR. Future studies could aim to test the efficacy of social support for people with difficulties in self-regulation, for example individuals with high social anxiety, with a view to developing training programs in VR.

Neural correlates of peer evaluation in irritable adolescents: Linking anticipation to receipt of social feedback

Elevated irritability during adolescence predicts mental health issues in adulthood. Social interactions commonly elicit symptoms of irritability. Prior research has traditionally examined neural activity during the anticipation of, and immediate reaction to, social feedback separately in irritable adolescents. However, studies suggest that irritable adolescents demonstrate altered brain activation when anticipating feedback, and these alterations may have downstream effects on the neural activity when actually presented with feedback. Thus, the goal of this study was to characterize the influence of irritability on the relationship between brain function during anticipation and receipt of social feedback. We leveraged the Virtual School task to mimic social interactions using dynamic stimuli. Parallel region of interest (ROI) analyses tested effects of anticipatory bilateral amygdala (or dorsal anterior cingulate cortex; dACC) activation on the dACC (or bilateral amygdala) activation during receipt of peer feedback. Parallel exploratory whole-brain analyses were conducted to identify the effects of anticipatory bilateral amygdala or dACC activation on other regions during receipt of peer feedback. In ROI analyses, more vs. less irritable adolescents showed distinct relationships between anticipatory bilateral amygdala activation and dACC activation when receiving predictably mean feedback. Across both whole-brain analyses, anticipatory bilateral amygdala and dACC activation were separately associated with activation in socioemotional regions of the brain during subsequent feedback. These relationships were modulated by irritability, and the valence and predictability of the feedback. This suggests that irritable adolescents may engage in altered emotion processing and regulation strategies, depending on the valence and predictability of social feedback.

Teachers’ Perceptions of Communication Influencing the Teacher-Student Relationship in an Online Environment

The research examined high school teachers' perceptions of communication with their students in a remote virtual school setting. The problem was that communication was impacted when teachers and students transitioned from a traditional school setting to a remote virtual setting. This qualitative case study aimed to see how communication influenced the relationship between teachers and students. This case study provides teachers' perspectives on communication with students when pivoting from traditional schooling to remote instruction. Participants were ten teachers within a school district in Middle Tennessee who participated in at least one school year in a remote virtual school setting and one year in a face-to-face traditional school setting. A semi-structured interview protocol using Zoom and Survey Monkey questionnaires were used to gather data to determine how out-of-class communication and technology tools affect interactions and communication between teachers and students. Qualitative data revealed that online communication and technology tools positively influence communication and the teacher-student relationship in a remote setting.

Academic discourse and peer collaboration in online high school learning environments

AbstractBackgroundDialogic engagement is instrumental in promoting higher‐order thinking, motivation, and learning. Despite their dramatic uptake in the US in the past decade, there is limited evidence that online high school courses offer sufficient opportunities for students to communicate and collaborate with teachers and peers.ObjectivesThis two‐part study explores teacher perspectives and the experiences of students in online learning environments to determine if, how, and why students engage in two forms of dialogic engagement–academic discourse and peer collaboration.MethodsTo identify the extent to which teachers perceive academic discourse and peer collaboration to be valuable and feasible in online learning environments, Study 1 surveyed educators and advisors of online learning programs (n = 49). To determine whether these perspectives align with student experiences, Study 2 included a series of over‐the‐shoulder observations of five high school students engaging in their online coursework.Results and ConclusionsFindings reveal a disconnect between best practices in education and reality. Online teachers report that academic discourse is valuable and feasible, but also detail several challenges to successful implementation in online coursework. At the same time, direct observations of high school students indicate that they rarely, if ever, engage in peer collaboration and academic discourse activities.Major TakeawaysAlthough valued as a means to improve educational outcomes, opportunities for dialogic engagement are not translating to online learning environments. The solution is to develop curriculum, policies, and procedures that centre on meaningful integration of dialogic activities, motivating students to engage.

Do virtual schools deliver in rural areas? A longitudinal analysis of academic outcomes

Enrollments in full-time virtual schools have surged in recent years. One of the main arguments for virtual schools is that they extend school choice to rural areas where educational options are limited. In this study, we investigated the academic performance of virtual school students from rural areas by drawing on four years (2016–2019) of data from the US state of Oklahoma. Results show large negative associations with academic achievement for students who attend virtual schools in the overall sample (n = 836,250) and for a subsample of rural students (n = 371,503). Negative associations for virtual school students were also larger during elementary and middle school than in high school. This study's overall findings contribute to a growing evidence base indicating poor academic performance for virtual school students. Future research may be needed to identify conditions that foster student learning in virtual schools.

Virtual School Counseling and Covid-19 as Seen Through an Organizational Learning Lens

This article examines the shift to virtual school counselling through an organizational learning framework developed by Mary Crossan. This framework links the individual, group, and organization levels of an institution through the social and psychological processes of organizational learning, including intuiting, interpreting, integrating, and institutionalizing. The findings highlight four major challenges of virtual learning—technology, work-life balance, legal ramifications, and virtual counselling skills and abilities—that were partially or fully overcome with solutions that became institutionalized. RésuméCet article recourt à un cadre d’apprentissage organisationnel développé par MaryCrossan pour examiner la transition récente vers l’orientation scolaire virtuelle. Ce cadre relie les niveaux de l’individu, du groupe et de l’organisation d’une institution par le biais des processus sociaux et psychologiques de l’apprentissage organisationnel, y compris l’intuition, l’interprétation, l’intégration et l’institutionnalisation. Les résultats mettent en évidence quatre défis majeurs de l’apprentissage virtuel—la technologie, l’équilibre entre vie professionnelle et vie privée, les ramifications juridiques et les compétences et aptitudes en matière de conseil virtuel—qui ont été partiellement ou totalement surmontés grâce à des solutions qui par la suite ont pu être institutionnalisées. Keywords / Mots clés: virtual school counselling, organizational learning, virtual learning/ orientation scolaire virtuelle, apprentissage organisationnel, apprentissage virtuel

COVID-19 Policies, Pandemic Disruptions, and Changes in Child Mental Health and Sleep in the United States

The adverse effects of COVID-19 containment policies disrupting child mental health and sleep have been debated. However, few current estimates correct biases of these potential effects. To determine whether financial and school disruptions related to COVID-19 containment policies and unemployment rates were separately associated with perceived stress, sadness, positive affect, COVID-19-related worry, and sleep. This cohort study was based on the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study COVID-19 Rapid Response Release and used data collected 5 times between May and December 2020. Indexes of state-level COVID-19 policies (restrictive, supportive) and county-level unemployment rates were used to plausibly address confounding biases through 2-stage limited information maximum likelihood instrumental variables analyses. Data from 6030 US children aged 10 to 13 years were included. Data analysis was conducted from May 2021 to January 2023. Policy-induced financial disruptions (lost wages or work due to COVID-19 economic impact); policy-induced school disruptions (switches to online or partial in-person schooling). Perceived stress scale, National Institutes of Health (NIH)-Toolbox sadness, NIH-Toolbox positive affect, COVID-19-related worry, and sleep (latency, inertia, duration). In this study, 6030 children were included in the mental health sample (weighted median [IQR] age, 13 [12-13] years; 2947 [48.9%] females, 273 [4.5%] Asian children, 461 [7.6%] Black children, 1167 [19.4%] Hispanic children, 3783 [62.7%] White children, 347 [5.7%] children of other or multiracial ethnicity). After imputing missing data, experiencing financial disruption was associated with a 205.2% [95% CI, 52.9%-509.0%] increase in stress, a 112.1% [95% CI, 22.2%-268.1%] increase in sadness, 32.9% [95% CI, 3.5%-53.4%] decrease in positive affect, and a 73.9 [95% CI, 13.2-134.7] percentage-point increase in moderate-to-extreme COVID-19-related worry. There was no association between school disruption and mental health. Neither school disruption nor financial disruption were associated with sleep. To our knowledge, this study presents the first bias-corrected estimates linking COVID-19 policy-related financial disruptions with child mental health outcomes. School disruptions did not affect indices of children's mental health. These findings suggest public policy should consider the economic impact on families due to pandemic containment measures, in part to protect child mental health until vaccines and antiviral drugs become available.

Comparisons of school-day glycemia in different settings for children with type 1 diabetes using continuous glucose monitoring.

Using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), we examined patterns in glycemia during school hours for children with type 1 diabetes, exploring differences between school and non-school time. We conducted a retrospective analysis of CGM metrics in children 7-12 years (n=217, diabetes duration 3.5±2.5 years, hemoglobin A1c 7.5±0.8%). Metrics were obtained for weekday school hours (8 AM to 3 PM) during four weeks in fall 2019. Two comparison settings included weekend (fall 2019) and weekday (spring 2020) data when children had transitioned to virtual school due to COVID-19. We used multilevel mixed models to examine factors associated with time in range (TIR) and compare glycemia between in-school, weekends, and virtual school. Though CGM metrics were clinically similar across settings, TIR was statistically higher, and time above range (TAR), mean glucose, and standard deviation (SD) lower, for weekends and virtual school (p<0.001). Hour and setting exhibited a significant interaction for several metrics (p<0.001). TIR in-school improved from a mean of 40.9% at the start of the school day to 58.0% later in school, with a corresponding decrease in TAR. TIR decreased on weekends (60.8 to 50.7%) and virtual school (62.2 to 47.8%) during the same interval. Mean glucose exhibited a similar pattern, though there was little change in SD. Younger age (p=0.006), lower hemoglobin A1c (p<0.001), and insulin pump use (p=0.02) were associated with higher TIR in-school. Although TIR was higher for weekends and virtual school, glycemic metrics improve while in-school, possibly related to beneficial school day routines.