Interactive Online Environment Research Articles

Studying the Effectiveness of Interaction Between Libraries and Students in an Interactive Online Environment in Crisis Conditions

In this article, the authors share their own experience of developing and implementing the concept of an alternative and safe online environment for library interaction with users to overcome emotional tension in the crisis times of uncertainty of COVID-19 and martial law in Ukraine. This study examines the effectiveness of interactive online environment for library-user interaction and adds to the list of publications devoted to the concept of the library as ‘third’ place.

Mental health in the virtual world: Challenges and opportunities in the metaverse era.

Current rates of mental illness are worrisome. Mental illness mainly affects females and younger age groups. The use of the internet to deliver mental health care has been growing since 2020 and includes the implementation of novel mental health treatments using virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence. A new three dimensional digital environment, known as the metaverse, has emerged as the next version of the Internet. Artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality will create fully immersive, experiential, and interactive online environments in the metaverse. People will use a unique avatar to do anything they do in their "real" lives, including seeking and receiving mental health care. In this opinion review, we reflect on how the metaverse could reshape how we deliver mental health treatment, its opportunities, and its challenges.

Implementation of an automated grading tool for phonetic transcription training

ABSTRACT Clinical phonetic transcription is regarded as a highly specialised skill requiring hours of practice for mastery. Although this skill is a critical part of students’ clinical preparation to become speech-language pathologists, students often report feeling unprepared to apply the skill in clinical practice. Previous studies suggest that increased opportunities for practice and timely feedback on transcriptions are needed in order to develop skill confidence. However, providing more opportunities for practice can be impeded by the limited resources to manage the grading of additional assignments. The purpose of this study is to show the implementation of a web-based learning management system (LMS) designed in our labs for phonetics instruction. The Automated Phonetic Transcription Grading Tool (APTgt LMS) was developed to provide a platform for assignment delivery and automated grading of transcription assignments. The APTgt LMS has three embedded IPA keyboards (basic, advanced, and full IPA) and an automated edit distance algorithm modified by phonetic alignment principles, which allows for individualised scoring and visual course-level feedback in an interactive online environment. For pilot testing, student confidence was queried before and after practice opportunities using APTgt. A concurrent mixed methods research design was used to analyse four Likert scale and three open-ended questions. Student confidence in transcribing disordered speech was found to significantly increase (p <0.001) following additional practice. Students reported concerns related to accurate transcription of disordered speech and that additional practice is still needed. Tools like APTgt can aid in facilitating student learning and increasing student confidence in applied transcription.

Electronic Media Review

Electronic Media Review

Formation of group creative thinking when working with virtual walls

The problem and the aim of the study. Preparing a graduate capable of individual creative thinking, ready to work in a team, and to manage changes, projects, teams is one of the most important tasks that digital school teachers face. The effectiveness of its solution depends on the experience of collaboration, tools of virtual interaction, the formation of group thinking. The authors propose to use collective virtual walls to form group creative thinking as an important skill corresponding to the conditions of uncertainty of the future. Research methods. To activate cognition, create favorable conditions for creativity and discoveries when working together, methods of group interactive learning are used (demonstration in a remote mode of interaction, online discussion, project presentations, work on a collective virtual wall). The study was carried out on the basis of gymnasium No. 2 in Kirovo-Chepetsk. As a software tool to support online collaboration and co-creative discovery, the Trello service (https://trello.com/) was used. As a method for statistical processing of the experimental data, the Pearson’s χ2 (chi-square) criterion was used. Results. In the experimental group, students used collective virtual walls to obtain theoretical information, complete practical tasks in an interactive online environment, creative search and experience of collective discovery, group reflection and presentation of team projects. The assessment of the levels of formation of group creative thinking was carried out and statistically significant differences in the qualitative changes that occurred in the pedagogical system were revealed, χ2 emp. 2 &gt; χ2crit0.05 (6.89 &gt; 5.99). In conclusion, the authors generalized the conditions under which joint activity over a collective virtual wall contributes to the formation of group creative thinking. The conditions are: awareness of the meaning and motives of joint activity; the need for self-expression and active participation in the discussion; work according to a general plan; analysis of the progress of an individual task and the entire collective project; control and self-control; direct interpersonal communication, virtual communication, etc.

Nurses' Perspectives on Acquiring Play-Based Competence Through an Online Course: A Focus Group Study in Brazil

PurposeThe main stage of developing an educational health technology is meeting the expectations of users. Nurses in Brazil can benefit from online training about therapeutic play interventions. This study identified the learning demands of nurses for acquiring competence in the use of therapeutic play to build an online course. Design and methodsFocus groups study, guided by the COREQ guidelines. Nurses experienced in pediatric care participated in eight groups held in hospitals across all Brazilian regions in 2018. The focus group interviews had a mean duration of two hours and were moderated by the main researcher and an observer, both of whom were nurses experienced in qualitative research. All interviews were audio recorded.The transcripts of the audios were coded, from which the themes were developed, and thematic analysis performed. ResultsNurses (N = 53, 8.5 ± 6.3 years of experience in pediatric care) reported their learning demands in three themes: “Learning theoretical concepts”, “Developing therapeutic play skills”, and “Learning the therapeutic play in a fun, interactive and motivational online environment”. ConclusionNurses learning demands involve theoretical concepts and skills to implement therapeutic play through an interesting online course. Practice implicationsBy developing play-based competence through an online learning environment nurses can feel confident in implementing therapeutic play into their pediatric practice, setting the stage for a future of positive interaction between nurses and children in pediatric health care.

Exploring lecturer and student perceptions and use of a learning management system in a postgraduate public health environment

Learning management systems have become a key component of teaching and learning in higher education. However, the evidence on the importance of learning management systems to learning is still in its infancy. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the role that the Canvas learning management system played in the Sydney School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, Australia. To do this, we conducted interviews with lecturers ( n = 9) and postgraduate coursework students ( n = 7) from the School during Semester 2, 2018. We analysed the interviews thematically, identifying one overarching theme: that Canvas is predominantly used and perceived as an information repository by teaching academics and students. This means that lecturers place course materials on the learning management system for students to use and are making limited use of other, more interactive features of the learning management system, despite interaction being seen as essential to effective teaching and learning. This use of Canvas was explained by two factors: (1) face-to-face learning is perceived as superior to online learning and (2) the existence of skill and capacity barriers that hinder improved online teaching and learning practice, even where professional development opportunities exist for lecturers. We argue that this represents suboptimal use of a learning management system, especially when online learning is likely to become more significant in the coming years. To address this issue, we recommend employing and appropriately resourcing educational designers within higher education settings. These specialists can aid lecturers in the creation of genuinely interactive online environments so that the benefits of online teaching and learning can be fully realised.

Computer model for the cardiovascular system: development of an e-learning tool for teaching of medical students

BackgroundThis study combined themes in cardiovascular modelling, clinical cardiology and e-learning to create an on-line environment that would assist undergraduate medical students in understanding key physiological and pathophysiological processes in the cardiovascular system.MethodsAn interactive on-line environment was developed incorporating a lumped-parameter mathematical model of the human cardiovascular system. The model outputs were used to characterise the progression of key disease processes and allowed students to classify disease severity with the aim of improving their understanding of abnormal physiology in a clinical context. Access to the on-line environment was offered to students at all stages of undergraduate training as an adjunct to routine lectures and tutorials in cardiac pathophysiology. Student feedback was collected on this novel on-line material in the course of routine audits of teaching delivery.ResultsMedical students, irrespective of their stage of undergraduate training, reported that they found the models and the environment interesting and a positive experience. After exposure to the environment, there was a statistically significant improvement in student performance on a series of 6 questions based on cardiovascular medicine, with a 33% and 22% increase in the number of questions answered correctly, p < 0.0001 and p < 0.001 respectively.ConclusionsConsiderable improvement was found in students’ knowledge and understanding during assessment after exposure to the e-learning environment. Opportunities exist for development of similar environments in other fields of medicine, refinement of the existing environment and further engagement with student cohorts. This work combines some exciting and developing fields in medical education, but routine adoption of these types of tool will be possible only with the engagement of all stake-holders, from educationalists, clinicians, modellers to, most importantly, medical students.

Inovação em Software as a Service: funcionalidades em ferramentas de monitoramento de mídias sociais

O presente artigo busca descrever o lançamento de inovação incremental em softwares de monitoramento de mídias sociais. A tática, típica de produtos SaaS (software as a service) vai ao encontro do conceito de beta perpétuo, característico das mídias sociais e web 2.0. Como estudo de caso, trazemos a referência ao lançamento de módulos de análise de redes baseadas em grafos em 4 fornecedoras de serviço: Sysomos, Pulsar, Digimind, V-Tracker.

Students\u2019 feedback beliefs and anxiety in online foreign language oral tasks

Research about the interrelation between anxiety and corrective feedback has mostly been conducted in face-to-face environments. The present study examines the relationship between students showing anxiety when speaking a FL and feedback as a potential anxiety inhibitor in an online oral synchronous communication task. Two questionnaires, the Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (FLAS) and the Corrective Feedback Belief Scale (CFBS), were administered to 50 students from the School of Languages in an online learning environment. T-test analysis showed a significant difference between the learners’ preferences in two methods of CF. Recast and Metalinguistic feedback were better rated by the students who reported higher levels of anxiety in oral communication classes. Additionally, the High-level anxiety group rated teacher feedback as more effective than the other sources of feedback when compared to the Low-level anxiety group. These results indicate the need to take into account individual differences in terms of anxiety foreign language learning and students’ beliefs about CF in order to help them achieve their learning goals in an interactive online environment.

Using Jigsaw-Style Spectroscopy Problem-Solving To Elucidate Molecular Structure through Online Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning was employed as an instructional approach to facilitate student development of spectroscopy problem solving skills. An interactive online environment was used as a framework to structure weekly discussions around spectroscopy problems outside of class. Weekly discussions consisted of modified jigsaw-style problem solving activities in which students cooperatively interpreted infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. Students’ use of the discussion site was monitored and revealed that they accessed discussions in the days prior to examinations. Together with attitudinal surveys, which were used to gauge student perceptions of the activities, these results indicate that students found the discussions to be a useful resource for learning spectroscopy.

Fundraising in an Interactive Online Environment

This study investigates how nonprofit organizations could develop their websites to elicit positive evaluations and increase fundraising. More specifically, it focuses on the use of celebrity endorsements in an online context. The interaction between perceived congruence of the celebrity with the nonprofit organization and the level of interactivity induced by the website is examined on website experience, which is an important predictor of the attitude toward—and donation intentions for—a (fictitious) nonprofit organization. Using a 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design ( N = 122), the level of website interactivity and the (in)congruence between the celebrity and the organization are manipulated. The results show that an incongruent celebrity endorser incites a more favorable website experience than a congruent endorser on an interactive website. This, in turn, leads to a more positive attitude and a higher donation intention for the charity. In a non-interactive context, a congruent versus incongruent endorser has no differential impact on people’s responses.

Using interactive online role-playing simulations to develop global competency and to prepare engineering students for a globalised world

The world is changing significantly, and it is becoming increasingly globalised. This means that countries, businesses, and professionals must think and act globally to be successful. Many individuals, however, are not prepared with the global competency skills needed to communicate and perform effectively in a globalised system. To address this need, higher education institutions are looking for ways to instil these skills in their students. This paper explains one promising approach using current learning principles: transnational interactive online environments in engineering education. In 2011, the TU Dortmund and the University of Virginia initiated a collaboration in which engineering students from both universities took part in one online synchronous course and worked together on global topics. This paper describes how the course was designed and discusses specific research results regarding how interactive online role-playing simulations support students in gaining the global competency skills required to actively participate in today's international workforce.

A WebGIS tool for visualizing and exploring socioeconomic vulnerability to dengue fever in Cali, Colombia

WebGIS tools have the potential to disseminate the outputs of spatial vulnerability assessments to a wide range of communities, including public health decision-makers. Based on a previous assessment of socioeconomic vulnerability to dengue fever in Cali, Colombia, we developed and used a WebGIS tool to facilitate the visualization, exploration and dissemination of prevailing vulnerabilities to dengue fever in an interactive online environment. Results show that the tool presented here has distinct implications for policy and decision-making as it facilitates spatial prioritisation, both with respect to the intervention areas and the intervention measures needed to reduce human susceptibility and strengthen resilience to the disease.

Blended Learning in Rural Social Work Education: Reflections from a New Australian Bachelor of Social Work Course

This paper explores the developmental stages and phases of a new blended learning social work course at a rural Australian university. The background to the development of the discipline will be presented, with an exploration of the challenges and outcomes of designing an interactive online environment for a single cohort of on-campus and distance students. Themes explored cover engaging students, motivation, acculturation and facilitation. The paper concludes with the presentation of data from wave one of a longitudinal survey to ensure student expectations are being met, while at the same time providing an accredited programme of study.

Virtual money laundering: the case of Bitcoin and the Linden dollar

This paper presents an analysis of the money laundering risks of two virtual currencies, the Linden dollar, the in-world currency of the interactive online environment Second Life, and Bitcoin, an experimental virtual currency that allows for the transfer of value through peer-to-peer software. The paper will demonstrate that although these virtual currencies have money laundering utility, they are currently unsuitable for laundering on a large scale. The paper also considers whether either of these virtual currencies fall under the scope of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 and draws on similarities with online gambling to suggest a method of incorporating the Linden dollar and Bitcoin within the anti-money laundering framework.

Effect of Narrative Reports about Vaccine Adverse Events and Bias-Awareness Disclaimers on Vaccine Decisions

As the number of individuals who search for health information in interactive online environments is increasing, patient networks deserve more scientific attention. To quantitatively examine if and how reading statistical and/or narrative information as typically displayed in patient networks (e.g., patientslikeme.com) affects decisions for pharmaceuticals. Previous work suggests that narrative information (e.g., about vaccine adverse events, VAE) affects risk perceptions and intentions. The authors compare the effect of narrative and statistical information about VAE on vaccination decisions and examine if a disclaimer reduces the narrative bias as well as if low numeracy leads to increased use of the narratives. In an online experiment, 458 participants were randomly assigned to a 3 (relative frequency of vaccine adverse events in 1, 7, or 17 of 20 cases) × 3 (type of information: narratives, summary statistics, or both) × 2 (bias awareness v. control disclaimer) between-subjects design. Measurements. Perceived risk, vaccination intention, and subjective numeracy. A higher relative frequency of cases reporting VAE decreased the intention to get vaccinated. This relation was mediated by increased risk perception. The type of information moderated the contents' impact: Summary statistics had the smallest impact, whereas narrative information was more influential, and the presence of both types of information had the greatest impact on risk perception. Individuals who received the bias-awareness disclaimer were less influenced by the patient network. Highly numerate individuals were generally more sensitive to the provided information independent of its format. Patient networks can influence vaccination decisions by delivering risk-related information. Disclaimers may help to reduce the influence if desired.

Evaluation of a multimedia online tool for teaching bronchial hygiene to physical therapy students

Advances in information technology have been widely used in teaching health care professionals. The use of multimedia resources may be important for clinical learning and we are not aware of previous reports using such technology in respiratory physical therapy education. Our approach was to evaluate a conventional bronchial hygiene techniques (BHTs) course with an interactive online environment, including multimedia resources. Previous developed audiovisual support material comprised: physiology, physiopathology and BHTs, accessible to students through the Internet in conjunction with BHTs classes. Two groups of students were compared and both attended regular classes: the on-line group (n=8) received access to online resources, while the control group (n=8) received conventional written material. Student's performance was evaluated before and after the course. A preliminary test (score 0 to 10) was applied before the beginning of the course, showing that the initial knowledge of both groups was comparable [online, 6.75 (SD=0.88) vs. control, 6.125 (SD=1.35); p>0.05]. Two weeks after the end of the course, a second test showed that the online group performed significantly better than the control group [respectively, 7.75 (SD=1.28) vs. 5.93 (SD=0.72); p>0.05]. The use of a multimedia online resource had a positive impact on student's learning in respiratory therapy field in which instrumental and manual resources are often used and can be explored using this technology.

Virtual reflected-light microscopy

Research on better methods to digitally represent microscopic specimens has increased over recent decades. Opaque specimens, such as microfossils and metallurgic specimens, are often viewed using reflected light microscopy. Existing 3D surface estimation techniques for reflected light microscopy do not model reflectance, restricting the representation to only one illumination condition and making them an imperfect recreation of the experience of using an actual microscope. This paper introduces a virtual reflected-light microscopy (VRLM) system that estimates both shape and reflectance from a set of specimen images. When coupled with anaglyph creation, the system can depict both depth information and illumination cues under any desired lighting configuration. Digital representations are compact and easily viewed in an online setting. A prototype used to construct VRLM representations is comprised only of a microscope, a digital camera, a motorized stage and software. Such a system automatically acquires VRLM representations of large batches of specimens. VRLM representations are then disseminated in an interactive online environment, which allows users to change the virtual light source direction and type. Experiments demonstrate high quality VRLM representations of 500 microfossils.

Next Generation: Course Redesign

This article describes a course redesign project at the University of North Texas that is in the fifth year of a planned nine-year effort. The goals of the Next Generation Course Redesign (NGen) Project include practicing “never-ending course redesign,” affecting teaching and learning at all levels of the institution and beyond, and creating and sustaining a course-redesign community of practice. Over two years, NGen faculty fellows develop student-learning goals for courses that blend large-group lectures, a media-rich interactive online environment, and small-group experiential learning activities. They then assess these courses to ensure that they have enhanced student learning and success while containing cost of instruction. They also survey students to track changes in their attitudes toward the subject of study, preference for this form of instructional delivery, and sense of their own cognitive development. The article also describes the barriers to sustaining and replicating an innovative instructional approach and the actions that are being taken to increase its probability of success.