Multiple Online Sources Research Articles

Expressions of pandemic fatigue on digital platforms: a thematic analysis of sentiment and narratives for infodemic insights

BackgroundThe infodemic accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an overwhelming amount of information, including questions, concerns and misinformation. Pandemic fatigue has been identified as a concern from early in the pandemic. With new and ongoing health emergencies in 2022, it is important to understand how pandemic fatigue is being discussed and expressed by users on digital channels. This study aims to explore and report on key narrative themes associated with expressions of pandemic fatigue by users on digital platforms.MethodsThis paper describes the collection of publicly available data over a 3-month period from multiple online sources using the Meltwater and CrowdTangle platforms to source data from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, Product Reviews, Twitch, blogs & forums. A comprehensive search strategy was developed and tested. A total of 1,484,042 social media posts were identified during the time-period that included the defined search terms for pandemic fatigue. These data were initially sorted by highest levels of engagement and from this dataset, analysts reviewed the identified posts to isolate and remove irrelevant content and identify dominant narratives. A thematic analysis was carried out on these narratives to identify themes related to expression of pandemic fatigue. Two researchers reviewed the data and themes.ResultsThe thematic analysis of narratives identified six main themes relating to expression of pandemic fatigue, and one theme of counter narratives against pandemic fatigue. Data volume increased concurrent with the time of the mpox emergency announcement. Emergent themes showed the different ways users expressed pandemic fatigue and how it was interlaced with issues of trust, preventative measure acceptance and uptake, misinformation, and being overwhelmed with multiple or sustained emergencies.ConclusionsThis paper has identified the different ways users express pandemic fatigue on digital channels over a 3-month period. Better understanding the implications of the information environment on user’s perceptions, questions, and concerns regarding pandemic and more broadly emergency fatigue is vital in identifying relevant interventions and, in the longer term, strengthening the global architecture for health emergency preparedness, prevention, readiness and resilience, as evidenced in this paper. There are clear pathways for further research, including incorporating additional languages and reviewing these themes over longer time periods.

The Role of Transliterated Words in Linking Bilingual News Articles in an Archive

Retrieving a specific digital information object from a multi-lingual huge and evolving news archives is challenging and complicated against a user query. The processing becomes more difficult to understand and analyze when low-resourced and morphologically complex languages like Urdu and Arabic scripts are included in the archive. Computing similarity against a query and among news articles in huge and evolving collections may be inaccurate and time-consuming at run time. This paper introduces a Similarity Measure based on Transliteration Words (SMTW) from the English language in the Urdu scripts for linking news articles extracted from multiple online sources during the preservation process. The SMTW link Urdu-to-English news articles using an upgraded Urdu-to-English lexicon, including transliteration words. The SMTW was exhaustively evaluated to assess the effectiveness using different size datasets and the results were compared with the Common Ratio Measure for Dual Language (CRMDL). The experimental results show that the SMTW was more effective than the CRMDL for linking Urdu-to-English news articles. The precision improved from 50% to 60%, recall improved from 67% to 82%, and the impact of common terms also improved.

A Study on Consumer Preferences with Reference to Online Food Delivery Amenities

Purpose: In a country like India, the advent of technology has magnified e- businesses. A person or a consumer who is hungry or craving food or lazy to cook or may not have time to go out and eat may now have food ordered online by getting a quick door delivery. Consumers continue to eat out, but they find ordering food online immensely convenient because it banishes the need to visit restaurants physically. The fundamental goal of the current study was to assess the consumer preferences and perceptions of online food ordering amenities. Objectives: To probe customers' insights on online food delivery amenities and to recognize the several components that influence the end-user decisions. Another objective is to avail oneself of online food delivery amenities. Consumer’s preferred online food delivery amenities portal was investigated. This study also intended to determine the elements that impact the consumer's decision to order food online. Due to the analysis of this study, it is helpful to understand better customer perceptions and preferences for online food ordering amenities. Design/Methodology/Approach: The survey was conducted as an approach to obtain information about customer preferences on online food delivery amenities. Along with this multiple online sources such as journal Papers, websites and blogs that guide and review online food delivery were used to conduct this company analysis. Open questions were asked to people in general on ordering food online using different apps. Findings/Result: The survey results were used better to understand people's insights on online food amenities. The study was based on Empirical Analysis. It demonstrates the swiftness in the consumers to discover the best restaurants or select their favorite dish from the menu as per their want with the feel of dining at home, with hot food on the Table with quick delivery at the door. Hence tools like NPS, Multidimensional scaling and factor analysis were engaged coupled with ABCD analysis. Originality/Value: The survey found that many respondents utilize Swiggy or Zomato to order food online, using both primary and secondary data. The study helped to find out the preferred app for online food delivery wherein it found that a smaller percentage of respondents preferred to use Swiggy and Zomato. Paper Type: A Case Study Analysis based paper on Consumer Preferences with reference to online food delivery amenities

Computational Understanding of Narratives: A Survey

Storytelling, and the delivery of societal narratives, enable human beings to communicate, connect, and understand one another and the world around them. Narratives can be defined as spoken, visual, or written accounts of interconnected events and actors, generally evolving through some notion of time. Today, information is typically conveyed over online communication mediums, such as social media and blogging websites. Consequently, the act of narrative delivery itself has shifted from simply imparting information through self-contained structures such as books, to more fragmented structures, such as social media websites, where evolving story events are constructed over multiple online sources. Ubiquitous online conversation can manifest into sophisticated narratives that have the potential to influence wide-spread user interpretations of cultural sentiments, attitudes, values, as well as geopolitical events and facts. As a result, narratives are actively being used as strategic tools for shaping local events, promoting collective opinions, and asserting ideologies and propaganda, making them sources of interest for identifying themes, intentions, and goals across multiple communities and potential adversaries. Identifying fragmented narratives, extracting thematic and temporal components that constitute evolving narratives, and locating signs of active rhetoric framing tactics, are difficult to detect and analyze without large-scale automation. This problem can be addressed through the use of natural language understanding technologies. Our goal is to document and discuss methods to efficiently construct, extract, and detect evolving online narratives. The novel contribution of this paper is the formal collation and documentation of such technologies and research areas, as well as extensive discussion on open research challenges and goals in the definition, identification, construction, generation, and representation of online narratives. To our knowledge, there is currently no existing formal documentation that organizes and provides extended discussion on narrative understanding research areas and open challenges.

Role of green hospitals in sustainable construction: Benefits, rating systems and constraints

Sustainability is a major concern for everyone. Degradation of resources and increment in the pollution are posing a question mark on the sustainability. This situation is creating a pressure on the firms to be greener. Green hospital is a hospital that improves people's health by continuously reducing environmental impacts on sustainability and meets its share of the burden to disease. The study aimed to know the concept of “Green Hospital”. The site of reputable domestic and foreign institutional electronic databases was searched to identify the patterns of green hospital. Thus, the data for this study was collected from the multiple online sources. It is found that there are various rating systems for the green buildings i.e., Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA), Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE): Star Rating, ASSOCHAM GEM, ECBC Compliance etc. Overlap in terms of energy efficiency, water efficiency and waste management patterns were observed in all other aspects could be due to differences in location patterns and different organizations providing organizations needs to be mentioned. There are several constrains are also available for constructing the green hospitals.

Municipal 5G bans during the Covid-19 pandemic: the case of Italy

PurposeSeveral sources have reported an increase in the opposition to the fifth-generation (5G) amongst local communities following the outbreak of Covid-19. In Italy, more than 300 municipalities banned 5G rollout from their territory between April and June 2020. Researchers have described this phenomenon as resulting from the infodemic caused by the pandemic, however, local protests also accompanied the rollout of the previous generation of mobile communications. This paper uses document analysis to explore the local debate on 5G municipal bans and map their evolution in an Italian region. This study aims to unravel the complexity of this phenomenon and inform future research on the actors and factors underlying the opposition of local communities towards 5G.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis focusses on Marche, a region in Italy where, by July 2020, 25% of the municipalities had banned 5G rollout. This analysis is based on secondary data, retrieved from multiple online sources (articles from the local press, public statements and press releases, minutes from local council meetings and resolutions from local councils).FindingsThe analysis revealed that concerns on the safety of electromagnetic fields predated the pandemic, although these concerns may have increased the sensitivity of local communities towards health issues. The local debates on 5G involved many actors from the civil society, including environmentalists that had long campaigned against wireless technologies and local politicians playing a proactive role in leading and coordinating the adoption of resolutions against 5G.Originality/valueThis paper addresses an emerging phenomenon, such as municipal bans against 5G, that has not yet been explored in academic literature. Researchers have recently investigated the propagation of conspiracy theories on 5G on social media, but little has been said on the factors and actors shaping the debate on 5G within local communities.

Study and Analysis of the Influence of UX in MIUI – A Case Study on Xiaomi

Purpose: In an ever-changing world, we all have one thing in our hands that is constant, a Mobile Phone. When we buy a Smart Phone, we do make sure we buy the best one that offers a combination of Good Hardware, Great Software, and also a price that we can put for the features offered. In that way, we cannot deny the fact that Xiaomi also called Mi or Redmi phones are some of the best market players we have seen. Even though people generally look only for the hardware features of the phone, it is inevitable to use an Operating System that will take advantage of the hardware features and also be user-friendly. Mi offers such one OS to its users in the form of MIUI, a modified version of the Android OS that normally comes in stock android-based phones. In this paper, we try to understand how Xiaomi as a company has made the OS a marketing strategy for them to popularize their product and become one of the best-selling mobile phones in China and India. Objectives: To understand the evolution and features that MIUI has to offer, to do a comparative study with its competitors and to provide suggestions to improve the company based on the analysis done. Design/Methodology/Approach: This company analysis was done by referring to multiple online sources, such as websites and blogs that guide and review products based on MIUI from Xiaomi. The analysis of the influence of UX in MIUI was done with a SWOC Analysis. Findings/Result: Based on the SWOC analysis of the company, keeping MIUI as a major criterion, the various opportunities and challenges that are there for Xiaomi are discussed. It is found that the company will be able to keep growing as long as it takes advantage of the current scenario and overcome its challenges. Originality/Value: Based on secondary data available, this paper analyses the influence of User Experience in MIUI provided by Xiaomi. Paper Type: A Case Study Analysis Based paper on the MIUI of Xiaomi Company

Clinical trials participation is directly influenced by the information received by cancer patients (pts) and caregivers: Real-world evidence with the use of a specialized digital health platform.

e18779 Background: Clinical trials (CT) participation is both crucial for medical advancement and an important treatment option, at times the only one, for oncological pts. However, only an estimate of ̃3% of cancer pts worldwide enrolls into such trials. Different factors have been implicated in underlying this low participation rate, with little current data on patients’ own perspective. In this study, pts & caregivers’ perception, knowledge and experience with CT were assessed via a unique digital health platform. Methods: 290 American and Israeli members of Belong.life cancer application (app) anonymously & voluntarily replied to a 10 questions survey detailing their demographics, diagnosis, and experience with CT as a treatment option. Results: 234 participants were pts (81%) and 56 (19%) caregivers. 73% of participants were US based. 35 participants (12%) were < 50 years of age (yoa), 94 (32%) were 50-59 yoa, 117 (40%) were 60-69 and 44 (15%) were > 70 yoa. There were 79 males and 211 females.The most common diagnosis was breast cancer in 74 (26%), hematologic in 36 (12%), lung in 35 (12%), colorectal in 26 (9%) and ovarian in 26 (9%). Stages were 4 in 117 (40%) and 3 in 52 (18%), early (1&2) in 73 (25%). 134 (46%) have not heard about CT participation as a treatment option. Among 125 participants of the 134 who were not familiar with CT as a treatment option, 115 (92%) stated they would like to learn more about it. Among the 156 participants who were acquainted with this option, 52 (33%) heard about it from medical staff, 41(26%) from multiple online resources, and 39 (25%) only through the Belong.life app. Only 23 participants (8%) previously participated in a CT. The most common reason for not participating was not being offered this treatment option (55, 49%) followed by lack of suitable trials for their condition (26, 23%). The most common reason for considering it was to receive an innovative treatment (60, 44%). Conclusions: Almost half of the pts and caregivers were not aware of CT participation as a valid treatment option. Among them, nearly all have expressed an interest to be better informed. This significant dissonance was also evident among those aware but who were not offered to participate, while expressing a favorable perception regarding participation. While the medical staff is a key source for CT awareness, and whilst patients are exposed to multiple online sources of information, this survey confirmed that 25% of Belong.life members received information about CT availability and participation singly from the app and 8% of them actively participated in a clinical trial. In sum, emphasis should be placed on providing personally tailored CT information to all cancer patients and caregivers. Digital health platforms are an important source for patients CT awareness.

FLOOD RISK, COASTAL MEGACITIES, AND URBAN POOR: ASSESSING THE FUTURE URBAN FLOOD RISK IN THE H/E WARD OF MUMBAI

In India, Mumbai city is highly vulnerable to the threats posed by climate change, such as sealevel rise, storm, and floods. The vulnerability of the city was demonstrated on the 26 July 2005 when thousands of houses were submerged in the water, and assets worth billions of rupees were damaged. The flood severely impacted the residents in informal settlements known as slums, which incurred substantial financial losses. With the increasing vulnerability of coastal megacities to urban floods, there is a need for an effective risk assessment and Adaptation Planning. Hence this study aims to assess the current amd future Flood Risk faced by the H/E Ward (study area) of Mumbai. The flood risk assessment is performed using the standard catastrophe Risk modeling, which combines Hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. Various data sources such as Historical rainfall data, Elevation Data, Soil Database, Landsat Imagery, and census data were collected from multiple online sources to achieve this objective. The data processing is done using GIS, Hydrological and Hydraulic Processes. As the H/E ward lies in the Mithi River catchment area, we processed the DEM and used the SCS-Curve Number and kinematic routing method to generate the peak discharge at the River Sub basins in HEC-HMS software. The River geometry is prepared in HEC-RAS software, and Flood Hazard Maps were prepared. The current & future Risk analysis shows an increase in the inundation extent for the 100 year return period in the H/E Ward, which highlights that there would be an increase in the total affected Population and losses incurred by them. The study also highlights that the people's adaptive capacity is deficient. Most of the affected Population are poor people, employed in menial jobs, chosen to stay in the riskier site because of proximity to work. Hence this study highlights an urgent need for an effective Risk Management and Adaptation planning in the H/E ward of Mumbai.

Reinforcing the Impact of Statistics on Society

What does statistics have to offer science and society, in this age of massive data, machine learning algorithms, and multiple online sources of tools for data analysis? I recall a few situations where statistics made a real difference and reinforced the impact of our discipline on society. Sometimes the difference lay in the insightful analysis and inference enabled by ground-breaking methods in our field like hypothesis testing, likelihood ratios, Bayesian models, jackknife, and bootstrap. But perhaps more often, the impacts came from thoughtful analyses before data were collected, and the questions that arose after the statistical analysis. The impact of understanding the problem, designing the experiment and data collections, conducting the pilot surveys, and raising important questions, is substantial. Through sensible explorations following formal statistical procedures, statisticians have made contributions in many domains. In this presentation, I recall some examples which made a long-lasting impact. Some of them, like randomization in clinical trials, known and familiar to all, are so ingrained in our practice that the role of statistics has been forgotten. Others may be less familiar but nonetheless benefited greatly from the critical input of statisticians. All remind us that our field remains today not only relevant but critical to science and society.

THE IMPACT OF BOARD INDEPENDENCE, PROFITABILITY, LEVERAGE, AND FIRM SIZE ON INCOME SMOOTHING IN CONTROL OF AGENCY CONFLICT

This research is aimed to earn empirical results about the effect of board independence, profitability, leverage and firm size on income smoothing. The study used purposive sampling as its sampling method on manufacture companies that’s listed on BEI for years 2015-2017. Information for this research was acquired from multiple online sources that store financial reports of companies. This research used Eckel Index to determine if a corporation did an income smoothing on its financial report or not. The results were significant relationships between board independence and income smoothing and between profitability and income smoothing while insignificant relationships were found in between leverage and income smoothing and between firm size and income smoothing. To improve this study there are mulitple ways that has been written in conclusion part.

THE IMPACT OF BOARD INDEPENDENCE, PROFITABILITY, LEVERAGE, AND FIRM SIZE ON INCOME SMOOTHING IN CONTROL OF AGENCY CONFLICT

This research is aimed to earn empirical results about the effect of board independence, profitability, leverage and firm size on income smoothing. The study used purposive sampling as its sampling method on manufacture companies that’s listed on BEI for years 2015-2017. Information for this research was acquired from multiple online sources that store financial reports of companies. This research used Eckel Index to determine if a corporation did an income smoothing on its financial report or not. The results were significant relationships between board independence and income smoothing and between profitability and income smoothing while insignificant relationships were found in between leverage and income smoothing and between firm size and income smoothing. To improve this study there are mulitple ways that has been written in conclusion part.

Eponyms are here to stay: Usage in the literature and among current neurology trainees.

To assess the historical trends of medical eponym use in neurology literature and knowledge and attitudes among current trainees related to eponyms. A comprehensive list of medical eponyms compiled from multiple online and print sources was queried against the titles and abstracts of PubMed articles authored by neurologists to assess historical prevalence in the literature from 1988 to 2013. We also surveyed current neurology trainees and trainees who have matched for residency in neurology, but not yet started neurology training, on their familiarity and attitudes toward eponyms. The yearly prevalence of eponyms among neurologist-authored publications ranged from 15% and 25%, with a mean of 21%. The total number of unique eponyms appearing in titles and abstracts increased from 693 in 1988 to 1,076 in 2013, representing 1.8% average annual growth. Our survey showed that residents with at least 1 year of neurology training reported familiarity with significantly more eponyms than those before neurology training (p < 0.001). For familiar eponyms, most residents were either unaware of an alternative descriptor or preferred using the eponym. Despite recognizing both the benefits and drawbacks of eponyms, the vast majority of trainees stated that historical precedent, pervasiveness, and ease of use would drive the continued use of eponyms in neurology. Eponyms will remain a cornerstone in medical education and communication moving forward. Educators in neurology should consider how best to integrate useful eponyms and alternative descriptors into residency training to enhance knowledge acquisition and retention.

Support group utilization and impact for patients with hidradenitis suppurativa

Support group utilization and impact for patients with hidradenitis suppurativa

Exploring Patterns in Student Dialogue While Using a Digital Platform Designed to Support Online Inquiry

Online inquiry, or using the Internet to generate questions and then search for, analyse, and synthesise information about these questions, is an essential part of digital literacy. However, processes involved in online inquiry are substantially complex. Prior research suggests that digital platforms can scaffold online inquiry processes. Moreover, the value of scaffolding dialogue in collaborative activities has been shown to enhance critical thinking, an important part of online inquiry. This study investigates whether the use of digital platforms designed to scaffold online inquiry can support productive dialogue when used collaboratively. Data from four pairs of high school students was collected as they worked together using both the digital platform and multiple online sources outside the platform to complete an online inquiry task. Each pair’s interactions were analysed to investigate whether features of the digital platform prompted productive dialogue. In line with research suggesting the use of academic language influences content understanding, each pair’s use of certain academic terms related to the task and digital platform’s interface were also statistically examined. Results suggested that most productive dialogue occurred when using the digital platform. Additionally, two of the four academic terms investigated occurred more often in talk while interacting with the digital platform, compared to talk when on another website. A comparison of timelines associated with these terms offered examples of how initially they were said exclusively while on the tool, and then progressed towards independent use.

Police-related triage interventions for mental health-related incidents: a rapid evidence synthesis

Background Police officers are often the first responders to mental health-related incidents and, consequently, can become a common gateway to care. The volume of such calls is an increasing challenge. Objective What is the evidence base for models of police-related mental health triage (often referred to as ‘street triage’) interventions? Design Rapid evidence synthesis. Participants Individuals perceived to be experiencing mental ill health or in a mental health crisis. Interventions Police officers responding to calls involving individuals experiencing perceived mental ill health or a mental health crisis, in the absence of suspected criminality or a criminal charge. Main outcome measures Inclusion was not restricted by outcome. Data sources Eleven bibliographic databases (i.e. Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, Criminal Justice Abstracts, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PAIS® Index, PsycINFO, Scopus, Social Care Online, Social Policy &amp; Practice, Social Sciences Citation Index and Social Services Abstracts) and multiple online sources were searched for relevant systematic reviews and qualitative studies from inception to November 2017. Additional primary studies reporting quantitative data published from January 2016 were also sought. Review methods The three-part rapid evidence synthesis incorporated metasynthesis of the effects of street triage-type intervention models, rapid synthesis of UK-relevant qualitative evidence on implementation and the overall synthesis. Results Five systematic reviews, eight primary studies reporting quantitative data and eight primary studies reporting qualitative data were included. Most interventions involved police officers working in partnership with mental health professionals. These interventions were generally valued by staff and showed some positive effects on procedures (such as rates of detention) and resources, although these results were not entirely consistent and not all important outcomes were measured. Most of the evidence was at risk of multiple biases caused by design flaws and/or a lack of reporting of methods, which might affect the results. Limitations All primary research was conducted in England, so may not be generalisable to the whole of the UK. Discussion of health equity issues was largely absent from the evidence. Conclusions Most published evidence that aims to describe and evaluate various models of street triage interventions is limited in scope and methodologically weak. Several systematic reviews and recent studies have called for a prospective, comprehensive and streamlined collection of a wider variety of data to evaluate the impact of these interventions. This rapid evidence synthesis expands on these recommendations to outline detailed implications for research, which includes clearer articulation of the intervention’s objectives, measurement of quantitative outcomes beyond section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 [Great Britain. Mental Health Act 1983. Section 136. London: The Stationery Office; 1983 URL: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1983/20/section/136 (accessed October 2017)] (i.e. rates, places of safety and processing data) and outcomes that are most important to the police, mental health and social care services and service users. Evaluations should take into consideration shorter-, medium- and longer-term effects. Whenever possible, study designs should have an appropriate concurrent comparator, for example by comparing the pragmatic implementation of collaborative street triage models with models that emphasise specialist training of police officers. The collection of qualitative data should capture dissenting views as well as the views of advocates. Any future cost-effectiveness analysis of these interventions should evaluate the impact across police, health and social services. Funding The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

Open data exploration in virtual reality: a comparative study of input technology

In this article, we compare three different input technologies (gamepad, vision-based motion controls, room-scale) for an interactive virtual reality (VR) environment. The overall system is able to visualize (open) data from multiple online sources in a unified interface, enabling the user to browse and explore displayed information in an immersive VR setting. We conducted a user interaction study (n=24; n=8 per input technology, between-group design) to investigate experienced workload and perceived flow of interaction. Log files and observations allowed further insights and comparison of each condition. We have identified trends that indicate user preference of a visual (virtual) representation, but no clear trends regarding the application of physical controllers (over vision-based controls), in a scenario that encouraged exploration with no time limitations.

Presentation layer of CMS Online Monitoring System

The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) is one of the experiments at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The CMS Online Monitoring system (OMS) is an upgrade and successor to the CMS Web-Based Monitoring (WBM)system, which is an essential tool for shift crew members, detector subsystem experts, operations coordinators, and those performing physics analyses. The CMS OMS is divided into aggregation and presentation layers. Communication between layers uses RESTful JSON:API compliant requests. The aggregation layer is responsible for collecting data from heterogeneous sources, storage of transformed and pre-calculated (aggregated) values and exposure of data via the RESTful API. The presentation layer displays detector information via a modern, user-friendly and customizable web interface. The CMS OMS user interface is composed of a set of cutting-edge software frameworks and tools to display non-event data to any authenticated CMS user worldwide. The web interface tree-like component structure comprises (top-down): workspaces, folders, pages, controllers and portlets. A clear hierarchy gives the required flexibility and control for content organization. Each bottom element instantiates a portlet and is a reusable component that displays a single aspect of data, like a table, a plot, an article, etc. Pages consist of multiple different portlets and can be customized at runtime by using a drag-and-drop technique. This is how a single page can easily include information from multiple online sources. Different pages give access to a summary of the current status of the experiment, as well as convenient access to historical data. This paper describes the CMS OMS architecture, core concepts and technologies of the presentation layer.

The Evolution of Learner Autonomy in Online Environments: A Case Study in a New Zealand Context

With the advent of technologies, language learners are faced with unprecedented opportunities and a wide range of alternatives to engage with in their self-directed learning. However, a review of the literature indicates that studies investigating how learner autonomy is shaped and reshaped in online learning environments are under-researched (Reinders &amp; White, 2016). Using a case study method, the primary objective of this study is to examine how a learner engaged with technology-mediated environments to meet his learning needs and goals and how his autonomy evolved in online environments. A qualitative analysis of the interview data collected at two different timescales reveals new developments in the learner’s autonomous learning. Instead of using limited online materials, the learner became a critical user of multiple online sources. Additionally, the learning conditions he was exposed to in New Zealand fostered an interdependent and social dimension in his autonomous learning. By the end of this research study, he was also found to be more capable of regulating his self-directed study. The results corroborate the argument that the notion of learner autonomy is fluid and dynamic, suggesting that apart from psychological factors of the learner, environmental factors, e.g. the guidance from the teacher and learning conditions also play a critical role in the formation of different dimensions of learner autonomy.

A Social Machine for Transdisciplinary Research

Aim/Purpose: This paper introduces a Social Machine for collaborative sensemaking that the developers have configured to the requirements and challenges of transdisciplinary literature reviews. Background: Social Machines represent a promising model for unifying machines and social processes for a wide range of purposes. A development team led by the author is creating a Social Machine for activities that require users to combine pieces of information from multiple online sources and file types for various purposes. Methodology: The development team has applied emergent design processes, usability testing, and formative evaluation in the execution of the product road map. Contribution: A major challenge of the digital information age is how to tap into large volumes of online information and the collective intelligence of diverse groups to generate new knowledge, solve difficult problems, and drive innovation. A Transdisciplinary Social Machine (TDSM) enables new forms of interactions between humans, machines, and online content that have the potential to (a) improve outcomes of sensemaking activities that involve large collections of online documents and diverse groups and (b) make machines more capable of assisting humans in their sensemaking efforts. Findings: Preliminary findings suggest that TDSM promotes learning and the generation of new knowledge. Recommendations for Practitioners: TDSM has the potential to improve outcomes of literature reviews and similar activities that require distilling information from diverse online sources. Recommendation for Researchers: TDSM is an instrument for investigating sensemaking, an environment for studying various forms of human and machine interactions, and a subject for further evaluation. Impact on Society: In complex areas such as sustainability and healthcare research, TDSM has the potential to make decision-making more transparent and evidence-based, facilitate the production of new knowledge, and promote innovation. In education, TDSM has the potential to prepare students for the 21st century information economy. Future Research: Research is required to measure the effects of TDSM on cross-disciplinary communication, human and machine learning, and the outcomes of transdisciplinary research projects. The developers are planning a multiple case study using design-based research methodology to investigate these topics.