Digit Preference Research Articles

Developing a more engaging safety training in agriculture: Gender differences in digital game preferences

Digital games have been effectively used in different working sectors as an occupational safety training method but they are still overlooked in agriculture, despite the high hazardousness of this industry. At the same time, the gender issue is becoming more and more relevant both in the digital game and agricultural fields because of an increasing number of females, both among the agricultural operators and the game players . Based on these considerations, our study aimed at investigating gender differences in the preference for different game characteristics to point out which aspects of a new game for safety training purposes in agriculture may appeal to both male and female operators and which aspects need instead a careful design and high levels of customization, to be equally appreciated by both genders. An online questionnaire was administered to a group of Italian Agricultural Science university students (N = 137, 65% males and 35% females) to investigate their game preferences, in terms of game characteristics, genre and graphic style. Some clear differences (in tasks, quests, rules, and goals, colors and variety), and similarities (in graphics, drama, better rewards and game genre) emerged in males' and females' preferences. Based on these results, some practical guidelines are provided for the design of a gamified safety training tool which can appeal to and be considered engaging by both genders.

Promoting Child Development During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Parental Perceptions of Tele-Home Visits in Early Head Start Programs

ObjectiveThe COVID-19 pandemic prompted families to receive Early Head Start (EHS) home-based services virtually. This qualitative study evaluated parental perceptions of EHS tele-home visits.MethodsEHS parents who had transitioned to tele-home visits using any video-chat platform were recruited to participate in a Spanish or English virtual focus group that assessed their perceptions of tele-home visits. Using an iterative, consensus-seeking inductive content analysis approach, themes and subthemes were identified.ResultsThirty-five mothers of children newborn to 3-years-old, where the majority were Latino and Spanish-speaking, participated in four focus groups. Several patterns pertaining to technology, child engagement, child learning and development, and parent-home visitor relationship emerged in the qualitative analysis. Mothers revealed varying degrees of digital proficiency, device preference, and technology challenges. Mothers reported variability in child engagement and concerns with missed socialization opportunities for children as a results of tele-home visits, but also reported increased self-efficacy in supporting child development, positive relationships with their home visitor, and overall satisfaction with services.ConclusionParents revealed tele-home visits have the potential to be a viable service delivery method for EHS home-based programs. While parents perceived increased engagement and an uncompromised parent-home visitor relationship, they revealed areas of needed support that would optimize the use of tele-home visits.

Developing an alcohol and other drug serious game for adolescents: considerations for improving student engagement

ObjectivesTo explore perceptions of alcohol and other drug (AOD) education and digital game design preferences among Australian adolescents with the goal of identifying key factors to promote engagement in an AOD serious game for Australian secondary school students. MethodsSemi‐structured focus groups were conducted with 36 adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis. ResultsParticipants described heightened engagement with AOD education that incorporated relatable and relevant real‐life stories and interactive discussions. They also expressed a desire for learning to focus on practical strategies to reduce AOD harm and overcome social pressure to use AOD. Participants highlighted the importance of incorporating relatable characters and context‐relevant scenarios in promoting engagement, and identified social elements, player choice, and optimal challenge as important game design considerations. ConclusionsA focus on meaningful realistic scenarios, relatable characters, relevant information and practical skills may promote high school aged students’ engagement with AOD educational content. Game designs incorporating social elements and decision‐making opportunities may be conducive to promoting engagement and enhancing learning. Implications for public healthFindings from this study can be used by researchers and game designers for the development of future AOD serious games targeted at Australian adolescents.

Information and Communication Technologies in Patients With Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases: Cross-sectional Survey.

BackgroundInformation and communication technologies (ICTs) are changing the traditional health care model and redefining personalized health. ICTs offer effective communication and real-time monitoring of patients and provide additional data to support clinical decision-making, improve the quality of care, and contribute to the empowerment of patients. However, evidence on the use of ICTs and digital preferences of immune-mediated inflammatory disease (IMID) patients is scarce.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to describe the degree of use of ICTs in patients with IMIDs (including rheumatic diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases, and psoriasis), identify their needs, and analyze their interest in the use of apps as tools for better management of their disease.MethodsA questionnaire was created by a multidisciplinary team including pharmacists, rheumatologists, gastroenterologists, dermatologists, and nurses with experience in ICTs applied to the field of IMID. The survey included 27 questions organized into 3 blocks: (1) sociodemographic characteristics, (2) ICT use for health-related information, and (3) patient expectations about mobile health.ResultsA total of 472 questionnaires were analyzed. Overall, 52.9% (250/472) of patients were diagnosed with a rheumatologic disease, 39.4% (186/472) with inflammatory bowel disease, and 12.3% (58/472) with psoriasis. The state of health was considered good by 45.6% (215/472) of patients. Patients were interested in staying informed about health issues in 86.9% (410/427) of cases and sought health-related information mainly from the internet (334/472, 70.8%) and health care professionals (318/472, 67.4%). Overall, 13.6% (64/472) did not trust the health information they found in internet. Of the patients, 42.8% (202/472) had a health app, and 42.2% (199/472) had found it on their own. Patients would like a health app to help mainly to manage appointments (281/472, 59.5%), obtain information about their diseases and treatments (274/472, 58.1%), and get in contact with health professionals (250/472, 53.0%). Overall, 90.0% (425/472) of patients reported they would use an app to manage their IMID if their health professional recommended it, and 58.0% (274/472) would pay or probably be willing to pay for it.ConclusionsIMID patients were very interested in finding health-related information via ICTs, especially using smartphones and apps recommended by health professionals. Appointment management, advice on disease and treatment management, and personalized communication with health professionals were the most desired app features identified. Health professionals should play an essential role in recommending and validating these tools to ensure they are of high quality.

How registered nurses are measuring respiratory rates in adult acute care health settings: An integrative review.

This integrative review aimed to draw conclusions from evidence on how registered nurses are measuring respiratory rates for acute care patients. Despite the growing research supporting respiratory rate as an early indicator for clinical deterioration, respiratory rate has consistently been the least frequently measured and accurately documented vital sign. An integrative review. A systematic literature search was conducted in June 2022 in four databases: CINAHL, PubMed, Medline and Scopus. Quality appraisal was undertaken using the Joanna Briggs Institute's Checklist. PRISMA guidelines were followed to ensure explicit reporting and reported in the PRISMA checklist. Overall, 9915 records were identified, and 19 met the inclusion criteria. Of these 19 articles, seven themes emerged: estimation and digit preference, lack of understanding and knowledge, not valuing the clinical significance of respiratory rate, oxygen saturation substitute, interobserver agreement, subjective concern and count duration. A high prevalence of bias, estimation and incorrect technique was evident. A total of 15 articles reported specifically on how registered nurses are measuring respiratory rates on general medical and surgical wards. Despite its importance, this integrative review has determined that respiratory rates are not being assessed correctly by nursing staff in the acute care environment. Evidence of using estimation, value bias or quick count and multiply techniques are emerging themes which urgently require further research. No patient or public contribution.

Abstract P215: Evidence Of Terminal Digit Preference In Veterans Affairs Midwest Region Primary Care Clinics

Objective: This study examined terminal digit preference (TDP) and its association with BP control in Veterans Affairs Midwest region clinics. Methods: TDP was examined in 517,668 BP values from 202,781 Veterans age 18 to 85 years during primary care visits from January 1, 2019 to March 1, 2020 across eight Midwest region sites. Presence of TDP was examined using a goodness of fit test with 10 bins. BP control (<140/90 mmHg or <130/80 mmHg) was assessed in 98,433 Veterans with diagnosed hypertension based on last clinic visit vital signs. Spearman correlation coefficients examined the association of TDP with BP control. Results: Mean age was 65.9 (standard deviation [SD]15.7) years, 93.9% (188, 586/202,781) were male; race was White in 78.1% (153,372/202,781), Black or African American in 16.3% (33, 053/202,781), and Asian in 0.5% (1,014/202, 781). For SBP measurements, significant TDP (P<0.001) for digit 8 was noted in all 8 sites ranging from 12.6% (6,839/54,279) to 21.2% (18,124/85,493). For DBP measurements, significant TDP was noted (P<0.001) for digit 0 ranging from 13.5% (7,327/54,276) to 32.7% (27,956/85,493). Among the 8 sites, BP control rates (<140/90 mmHg) ranged from 72.2% (5,947/8,237) to 81.0% (15,405/19,019) while BP < 130/80 mmHg among Veterans with high CVD risk (n=179, 074) ranged from 33.6% (4,960/14,762) to 45.5% (8,204/18,233). Both SBP TDP for digit 8 (r=0.80; P<0.05) and DBP TDP for digit 0 (r=0.73; p < 0.05) were significantly and positively correlated with BP control. Conclusion: Our data show presence of BP TDP in the Midwest region VA sites. The correlation of TDP with BP control rates raises concerns about ability to accurately assess BP control in these sites.

Association of an Automated Blood Pressure Measurement Quality Improvement Program With Terminal Digit Preference and Recorded Mean Blood Pressure in 11 Clinics

Terminal digit preference has been shown to be associated with inaccurate blood pressure (BP) recording. To evaluate whether converting from manual BP measurement with aneroid sphygmomanometers to automated BP measurement was associated with terminal digit preference, mean levels of recorded BP, and the rate at which hypertension was diagnosed. This quality improvement study was conducted from May 9, 2021, to March 24, 2022, using interrupted time series analysis of medical record data from 11 primary care clinics in a single health care system from April 2008 to April 2015. The study population was patients aged 18 to 75 years who had their BP measured and recorded at least once during the study period. Manual BP measurement before April 2012 vs automated BP measurement with the Omron HEM-907XL monitor from May 2012 to April 2015. The main outcome was the distribution of terminal digits and mean systolic BP (SBP) values obtained during 4 years of manual measurement vs 3 years of automated measurement, assessed using a generalized linear mixed regression model with a random intercept for clinic and adjusted for seasonal fluctuations and patient demographic and clinical characteristics. The study included 1 541 227 BP measurements from 225 504 unique patients during the entire study period, with 849 978 BP measurements from 165 137 patients (mean [SD] age, 47.1 [15.2] years; 58.2% female) during the manual measurement period and 691 249 measurements from 149 080 patients (mean [SD] age, 48.4 [15.3] years; 56.3% female) during the automated measurement period. With manual measurement, 32.8% of SBP terminal digits were 0 (20% was the expected value because nursing staff was instructed to record BP to the nearest even digit). This proportion decreased to 12.4% during the automated measurement period (expected value, 10%) when both even and odd digits were to be recorded. After automated measurement was implemented, the mean SBP estimated with statistical modeling increased by 5.09 mm Hg (95% CI, 4.98-5.19 mm Hg). Fewer BP values recorded during the automated than the manual measurement period were below 140/90 mm Hg (69.9% vs 84.3%; difference, -14.5%; 95% CI, -14.6% to -14.3%) and below 130/80 mm Hg (42.1% vs 60.0%; difference, -17.9%; 95% CI, -18.0% to -17.7%). The proportion of patients with a diagnosis of hypertension was 4.3 percentage points higher (23.4% vs 19.1%) during the automated measurement period. In this quality improvement study, automated BP measurement was associated with decreased terminal digit preference and significantly higher mean BP levels. The method of BP measurement was also associated with the rate at which hypertension was diagnosed. These findings may have implications for pay-for-performance programs, which may create an incentive to record BP levels that meet a particular goal and a disincentive to adopt automated measurement of BP.

Did Covid-19 infect the news? How journalists, audiences and production processes have changed due to the pandemic

This article focuses on journalistic activities in the context of the first wave of Covid-19, in 2020, when ahigh presence of post-truth and fake news was identified in news production, which is justified in addressing these two conceptual objects. The objective was to understand how problems in the production process, suchas job insecurity during the pandemic, allowed information gaps, which were filled by misinformation andinfodemics. For this, a quantitative method was used, with the application of an online survey to 365 participantsfrom Ibero-America during 2020, on production processes, work routines, and information generatedduring the quarantine of journalists, and consumption of information during confinement to journalists andonline news receivers. As a result, most journalists have changed their work routine, such as digital datachecking and preference for scientific sources. About half of news receivers valued press work positively,even though news consumption has generated negative prospects. As conclusions, there is a need to reviewcertain productive practices in the journalistic field, during exceptional situations such as the pandemic.

The bias from heaping on risk estimation: effect of age at diagnosis of hypertension on risk of subsequent cardiovascular comorbidities

To investigate (1) the bias in effect estimation due to heaping or digit preference, (2) the association between age at hypertension diagnosis and risk of cardiovascular comorbidities, and (3) the influence of heaping on risk estimates. We performed a simulation study with various scenarios, binary outcome, and normal or lognormal distributed covariables. We calculated mean logistic coefficients under the original and heaped data and their relative deviation. The association of age at hypertension diagnosis and risk of ≥1 cardiovascular comorbidity was investigated using logistic regression among 50,858 participants in the NAKO Gesundheitsstudie (German National Cohort) who reported such diagnosis. We assessed the proportion of heaped observations and to what extent heaping may have influenced risk estimates. Based on the simulation study and assuming 50% of observations in the variable of interest to be heaped, relative bias was <6%. In NAKO, a 5-year younger age at hypertension diagnosis was associated with a 15% increased risk of having ≥1 cardiovascular comorbidity. Observed heaping in age at hypertension diagnosis was 12.6%, and bias of the risk estimate was 0.14%. Bias in effect estimation due to heaping is low in most common scenarios. Younger age at hypertension diagnosis is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular comorbidities.

Digit preference in Nigerian censuses data of 1991 and 2006


 Background: censuses in developing countries are prone to errors of age misreporting due to ignorance, low literacy levels and other social, economic and cultural factors. Ages are commonly rounded with great affinity for 0 or 5. This tendency to digit preference and/or avoidance results in age heaping or concentration of ages at certain digits. This study examined the extent of digit preference in the Nigerian census data of 1991 and 2006.
 Methods: this study utilized age data from the 1991 and 2006 Nigerian censuses reported in single years. The Whipple and Myers indices were used to determine the extent of digit preference.
 Results: both the 1991 and 2006 census data showed the expected pattern of errors, with Whipple and Myers indices being beyond acceptable levels. The Whipple index for 1991 and 2006 was 293 and 251 respectively, while the Myers index was 62.3 and 67.1 respectively. There was a strong preference for terminal digits 0 and 5, followed by 8 whereas terminal digits 1 and 9 were strongly avoided.
 Conclusions: the quality of age data in Nigerian census data is poor as a result of misreporting and no significant improvement or difference was observed between 1991 and 2006 censuses.

Closing the Gap: Potentials of ESE Distance Teaching

Environmental and sustainability education (ESE) traditionally relies on green teaching environments and active participation. Thus, during the lockdown phase, a gap between curricular goals and learning outcomes appeared. This study investigates the impact of ESE distance teaching on 288 Bavarian fifth-graders and learning factors that could bridge this gap. The influence of digital preferences on learning progress is examined and compared with the influence of fascination levels. A negative correlation between spending time outside in nature and spending time inside in front of a digital device is expected. A control group completed a learning unit about biological topics such as plant identification and environmental factors, as well as ESE topics such as characteristics of sustainable agriculture, at an out-of-school ESE center. The experimental group completed the same learning unit in distance teaching. Fascination with Biology (FBio) and Digital Nativity Assessment Scale (DNAS) were applied in addition to a customized knowledge test. Both values seem to have a positive impact on learning outcomes. There were no significant differences between the control and experimental group. Surprisingly, Fascination and Digital Nativity show a low, if not negligible, relationship. Implications for digital ESE, especially between outdoor learning centers and schools, are discussed.

Digital Learning Literacy Preference and Accessibility of Universitas Terbuka (UT)’s SUAKA-UT: An Evaluation towards Its System of Open Educational Resource (OER)

This article aims to analyze the preference and accessibility that determine the students' behavioural appreciation in using learning resources towards the Open Educational Resources (OER) system owned by the Universitas Terbuka (UT), a so-called SUAKA-UT. It used qualitative research methods with descriptive percentage analysis. Furthermore, the instrument employed a Sakal Likert questionnaire and limited interviews. The research population was a non-basic educational program, with the random sampling technique by selecting 123 students. The following sample details: 35 students in Makassar City, 19 Students in Sidrap Regency, 23 students in Tana Toraja Regency, 23 Students in Selayar Regency, and 23 students in Luwu Timur Regency. The results showed that the preference for online sources and accessibility is in the excellent category and had an average score of 4.10 out of ten SUAKA-UT service questions. They showed that, generally, the respondents strongly agree with the available learning resources since they can meet the needs and accessibility of online learning resources. Preference for online learning resources is a supporting tool for achieving independent learning success. The utilization of SUAKA-UT in the working area of UT Makassar went very well in providing easy access to learning resources. The UT has met students' needs and expectations so they can study flexibly. SUAKA-UT has become a preferred and has excellent acceptance as an online learning resource among the students. To maintain the existence of open learning sources of UT (SUAKA-UT), as a distance learning university with the motto of "Making Higher education," it must consistently innovate and update its online learning resources.

User preferences towards select attributes of digital reading

The pandemic called COVID 19 has altered the ways in which people think, act, and believe and what not. Though morbidity and mortality are the biggest causes for concern, one cannot ignore the effect such a pandemic has over the other aspects of life. One such aspect is reading. While digital reading keeps on gaining further significance due to the pandemic, it becomes necessary to investigate the various facets of the same. Hence the study was conducted with the aim of examining the user preference towards select attributes of reading in the digital format. The present study is a descriptive research using primary data collected through questionnaire. The sample size was 100. It was found through Garrett ranking analysis that the most and least preferred format was ‘pdf’ and ‘azw’ respectively. The same for genre was fiction and poetry, whereas for device it was laptop and tablet. Chi-square tests were conducted for testing hypothesis. It was found through analysis that age and occupation had significant association with format and genre respectively. This finding presents a new perspective on digital reading user preferences over the previous studies for the fact that individual groups were focussed here.

Terminal digit preference and the accuracy of breast cancer diameter reporting based on Benford's law

BackgroundBreast cancer is the most frequent cancer in women all over the world, and it is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in women. A pathologist's partiality for the last digit of a patient's name can lead to errors in the measurement of malignancies. This means that, rather than recording the exact measurement of a tumor, a pathologist might round it off to his preferred terminal digit. MethodsIt is a retrospective cross-sectional study in which data on primary tumor resection for 1000 breast cancer patients was obtained from KRL Hospital's patient directory from November 2016 to December 2020. The tumors were measured in cm to one decimal point along their longest dimension. Ki-67 markers were used to categorize the tumors into nine categories. Terminal digit preference was evaluated using Benford's law. ResultsThe recording of the Ki-67 index revealed evidence of pentameric preference. The numbers three, five, and six appeared more frequently in the histogram of the Ki-67 index distribution measured in percentage. The frequency of nine dropped dramatically. However, the influence of tumor size terminal digits on Ki-67 staining scores (low proliferative vs high proliferative) assessed using the Mann–Whitney U Test demonstrated that tumor size terminal digits had no significant effect on Ki-67 staining scores (p = 0.114). ConclusionThe Ki-67 index shows evidence of pentameric preference for digits three, five, and six. The frequency of nine has dropped dramatically. The influence of tumor size on terminal digits on staining scores (low proliferative vs. high proliferative) was assessed using the Mann–Whitney U Test.

Examination of Children’ Playing Game Tendencies and Digital Game Preferences Based on Gender

This study reports on a survey of 4-8th grade students’ (N=10139) playing game tendencies and digital game preferences based on gender. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the children’ playing game tendencies and digital game preferences. And also, frequent pattern mining was used to discover which digital games are played frequently and together by children. The findings showed that children have an increase time spent playing games on weekend and boys tend to playing game more than girls. On the other hand, action games stood out as the most common choice among the children both girls and boys. In terms of game language, Turkish and English games were preferred almost equally. In addition, children mostly preferred digital games that can be played online, offering in-app purchases, and played on mobile devices. According to the frequency of playing, it was found that the children mostly preferred to play Minecraft, followed by Subway Surfers and Hay Day, respectively. In terms of gender, it was concluded that girls mostly preferred Subway Surfers, while boys played Hay Day. When the games were considered according to the frequency of playing together, Temple Run and Subway Surfers games among girls, and FIFA and Piano Tiles games among boys can be played together. The research reveals more detailed information about children’ game preferences in terms of gender.

Explanatory and Descriptive Study Using Digital Marketing and Artificial Intelligence

Traditionally Digital Marketers were hesitant to use AI in digital marketing, but with the advancement of AI and its outcomes, AI has proven that it can and will bring dynamic changes to the marketing industry, dispelling much of the uncertainty.Digital Marketing Plan can improve from AI. AI is not around to take over marketers’ and advertising’ employment; it’s here to help them achieve their full innovative and operational potential.The study examines consumer experiences in several business domains, demonstrating the significance of innovative technology and its effects on customer preferences and decisions. The study is supplemented by the use of qualitative analytical tools to understand the digital marketing process. Explanatory and descriptive studies are conducted on digital marketing technologies. With the support of prior research studies, the article explains artificial intelligence and its effects or importance in marketing and digital preferences with consumer experience.

Factor Influencing the Digital Marketing Platform Preference in Management Educational Institutions

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the factor influencing the digital marketing platform preference in the management educational institutions, and to create a conceptual model to understand the relationship between the factors.Design/Methodology/Approach: Factors influencing the digital marketing platform preferences were identified based on extensive literature review and empirical investigation has been carried out using the survey data collected from 217 colleges in and around the state of Karnataka. Findings: The variables, Reachability (R), Competitor Analysis (CA), Cost Effectiveness (CE), and Conversion Rate (CR) have shown positive impact and, the variable Data Threat (DT) have shown a negative impact on intuitions’ overall digital platform preference. Research limitations/implications: The research result could help the management educational institutions to understand the factor influencing and to make an optimum investment in digital marketing. Future research is needed to determine if other cities to conduct the factor influence the digital marketing platform and whether other samples produce the same interpretations.

Protocol to improve hypertension management in a VA outpatient clinic.

This 20-week quality improvement study describes implementation of a hypertension identification and management program with use of a standardized oscillometric blood pressure (BP) measurement protocol, provider education, and audit/feedback of hypertension control in a Veterans Affairs primary care clinic. A total of 692 male Veterans ages 18-85 years with treated hypertension and at least one clinic visit in the previous year were included for analysis. Mean age was 69.7 years (standard deviation 7.6) and race and ethnicity were 42.0% White, 29.1% Black and 3.0% Hispanic. Prior to program implementation, clinic BP was measured using the auscultatory method with a manual syphgmomanometer. Baseline BP measurements demonstrated bias as determined by terminal digit preference for digits 0 and 8 in 29.5% and 25.2% of systolic (SBP) and 31.6% and 21.8% of diastolic BP measurements, respectively (p < 0.001). Post-implementation of the standardized oscillometric BP measurement protocol, digit preference was eliminated. Protocol compliance was 89.1% at 5 weeks and 92.4% at 20 weeks. Overall average SBP was significantly higher in the post-implementation period compared to average SBP in the 12-month pre-implementation period (137.4 [Standard Deviation (SD) 17.4] vs. 126.3 [SD 15.3]; P < 0.001). Uncontrolled hypertension, (BP ≥ 140/90 mmHg), increased from 17.8% at baseline to 41.8% post-implementation while provider therapeutic inertia declined from 84.5% at baseline to 55.8% after 20 weeks. This study shows that terminal digit preference is reduced with implementation of standardized oscillatory BP measurement and a quality improvement program can reduce therapeutic inertia of hypertension treatment.

The Limited Level of Digital Skills and Competencies of Optometry Students

Aim/Purpose: Digital health is increasingly being utilized in clinical practice given its ease of accessibility, but it lacks emphasis from universities and accreditation bodies. This study attempted to better understand the digital capabilities of optometry students. Background: With technological advancements transforming the Australian workforce and healthcare, there is a growing demand for digitally competent graduates. This study investigated digital perceptions and preferences of optometry students relating to their studies and readiness for work in healthcare. Methodology: Current optometry students participated in an anonymous online survey. Questions were designed to evaluate their understanding and awareness of digital skills and competencies for learning whilst at university, and for use in the health sector workforce. Results were analyzed to underscore key trends and answers to open-ended questions underwent inductive thematic analysis to generate themes for discussion. Contribution: Optometry educators can bridge the gap in digital practices between students and the workplace by obtaining a baseline of their capabilities and incorporating specific activities within the curriculum to increase student awareness and support their understanding and development in this aspect. Findings: Most students were confident in using daily technologies for learning. Reference management software was perceived to be most important and useful skill to attain. While students were less confident in creating applications, they were keen to learn even though it seemed peripheral to their career and professional development. 70% of the students knew how to manage their online privacy and security. Of the students, 92% highlighted that attaining competency in digital skills would enhance their career and professional development, but only 54% believed they possessed the relevant skills for entering the workforce. Only 19% of the students reported having sufficient university support. Recommendations for Practitioners: Digital capabilities of learners do need to be taught explicitly and should not be assumed. To improve student learning outcomes, digital skills and competencies need to be embedded throughout the curriculum and addressed through learning objectives. Recommendation for Researchers: More work needs to be done in implementing digital training and services at a subject, course, and institutional level. Some international benchmarking of optometry curricula and optometry research would clarify the need for digital education, to educators and students alike. Impact on Society: Currently, there is a lack of recognition of digital health by accrediting bodies, thus preventing digital competency from being a priority in the curriculum of schools. There is a further need to establish dialogue between universities, employers, and accrediting bodies to set consistent and realistic expectations of digital skills and competencies. Future Research: Future studies should consider having larger sample sizes to observe similarities and differences in digital capabilities between year levels. Student focus groups and interviews can be performed to better understand the rationale behind the desire and interest to learn digital technologies that seemed irrelevant to optometry.

Digital Platforms in the Emergency Remote Education: the Students’ Preferences

One positive side of the Covid-19 pandemic is the unprecedented opportunity it has offered to the Higher Education Institutions to experience digital learning like never before. During the pandemic, Distant Learning platforms, including Learning Management Systems and Video Conferencing Platforms, have been ubiquitous, and no single institution survived without them during the pandemic. Hence, one of the critical lessons that should be learned is the students’ experiences with these platforms. This study aims to investigate the digital platform preferences of English major students in the College of Language and Translation at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia during the Emergency Remote Education due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Its significance lies in the fact that it underscores and addresses students’ needs and preferences with regard to the digital platforms to be used for language learning, a pragmatic examination of which has been carried out in the following pages. It focuses on reasons for the preferences of the two leading digital platforms used in King Saud University: Blackboard and Zoom. A Survey with open-ended and closed-ended questions was designed to answer the questions of the study: which digital platforms do students prefer to use during Emergency Remote Education, and what were the reasons behind students’ preferences? A total of 300 students from both male and female campuses at different levels of study participated in the study. The results showed that students preferred the Zoom to Blackboard. Reasons of preferences were mainly the ease of use, followed by supporting smartphones, then having an app for smartphones. The thematic analysis of the open-ended question showed that technical problems and connection latency were the main reasons behind students’ preferences of the Zoom. The findings also indicated gender differences in reasons of preferences.