Use Of Personal Technology Research Articles

Digital literacy competence, digital literacy practices and teacher identity among pre-service teachers

ABSTRACT This study investigated how different dimensions of digital literacy (DL) competence were related to digital literacy practices in teaching and teacher identity. Survey data were collected from 910 pre-service teachers in China. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was conducted to analyse the data. Findings indicated that among the five dimensions of DL competence, three were significant positive predictors of digital practices in teaching, including information and information literacy, communication and collaboration, and security. In addition, digital literacy practices significantly and positively predicted teacher identity and mediated the effect of DL competence on teacher identity. The study suggests the significance of enhancing DL competence and integrating digital technology as pedagogical tools to help pre-service teachers bridge the gap between their personal use of technology and teacher identity in relation to digital literacy.

5627905 TECHNOLOGY ACCESS AND PREFERENCES FOR SMARTPHONE APP INTERVENTION TO OPTIMIZE IRON CHELATION ADHERENCE AMONG ADOLESCENTS, YOUNG ADULTS, AND PARENTS OF INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING CHRONIC TRANSFUSIONS

Background: Iron chelation therapy (ICT) is an essential medication for people with thalassemia and other hematological disorders requiring long-term red blood cell transfusion to minimize the risk of iron overload. Suboptimal adherence to iron chelation medication is prevalent and has been associated with increased risk of iron overload, resulting in increased morbidity, mortality, and healthcare utilization. Widespread use of personal technology makes mobile health (mHealth) an attractive platform to promote adherence. Aims: The objective of this study was to examine access to mobile technology and preferences for an mHealth intervention to improve adherence to ICT. Methods: This is an analysis of a cross-sectional survey that was administered through REDCap using tablets during pRBCs transfusion visits at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Parents of children receiving chronic transfusions, as well as adolescents and young adults (AYAs) receiving chronic transfusions were enrolled between August 2018 and June 2019. Patients had to have a hematologic diagnosis requiring chronic transfusions, be on an iron chelation therapy, and be 12 years or older to complete the survey. Parents were required to have a child older than 24 months who met these criteria. Results: A total of 60 participants were included (median age [IQR] 31.5 [20-39]; female, 36.7% [40/60]), with a total of 29 parents and 31 patients. The most endorsed mHealth app features among participants, both parents and patients, included laboratory monitoring (91.7%, 55/60), reminders to take ICT (83.3%, 50/60), and education about ICT (81.7%, 49/50). In particular, parents’ most endorsed features included laboratory monitoring (93.1%, 27/29), and education about ICT (86.2%, 25/29) (Figure 1). On the other side, AYA’s most endorsed features included laboratory monitoring (90.3%, 28/31) and reminders to take iron chelation medication (90.3%, 28/31) (Figure 1). There were no significant differences between parents and patients in their preferences, although there was a trend towards a greater proportion of patients compared to parents who preferred positive feedback in the form of encouraging messages when taking medications as an app feature (87.1% vs. 68.96%, p =0.09). Conclusions: Parents and AYAs reported a strong interest in multiple mHealth app features. Participants provided valuable insight into optimal strategies and preferred app features for developing a multifunctional technology-based behavioral intervention (mHealth app), to promote ICT adherence for AYA with thalassemia or other chronic-transfusion dependent conditions.

Better work-life balance through digital parenting

PurposeThis study aims to explore how working parents use personal technology to manage parenting responsibilities and to identify how technology use might help to support work–family balance.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth telephone interviews with US and UK working parents with children under the age of 18 were conducted.FindingsFindings suggest that personal technology can facilitate work and family activities and reduce work–family conflict by enabling parents to perform certain parenting duties remotely. However, parental attitudes toward technology and children’s rights to privacy influence both technology use and work and family outcomes.Practical implicationsBy better understanding employee personal technology use, and how this use facilitates reduced conflict between work and family roles, organizations might look to creatively expand their benefits offerings to include access/discounts to personal technology platforms that support parenting activities (e.g. Uber One, Amazon Prime and DoorDash).Originality/valueWhile substantial research has been conducted on employee use of work-enabled technology to facilitate work–life balance, less attention has been paid to how working parents are using personal forms of technology to achieve this same outcome. This exploratory study establishes certain parenting functions that are facilitated by personal technology use and identifies some parental attitudes that influence technology adoption.

Enforced remote working: The impact of digital platform-induced stress and remote working experience on technology exhaustion and subjective wellbeing

The COVID-19 pandemic forced most individuals to work from home. Simultaneously, there has been an uptake of digital platform use for personal purposes. The excessive use of technology for both work and personal activities may cause technostress. Despite the growing interest in technostress, there is a paucity of research on the effects of work and personal technology use in tandem, particularly during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a sample of 306 employees, this paper addresses this research gap. The findings highlight how both work and personal digital platforms induce technostress during the enforced remote work period, which in turn increases psychological strains such as technology exhaustion and decreases subjective wellbeing. Study results also show that employees with previous remote working experience could better negotiate technostress, whereas those with high resilience experience decreased wellbeing in the presence of technostress-induced technology exhaustion in the enforced remote work context.

Privacy Literacy: From Doomscrolling to Digital Wellness

Personal technology use can significantly impact wellness. The transition to widespread remote learning, working, and socializing during the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated society’s reliance on technology. This article presents a case study of how the authors applied their privacy scholarship to offer a responsive learning experience for students concerning the social implications of the pandemic. The article also explores the authors’ unique approach to digital wellness, which seeks to align wellness goals and habits regarding technology while placing a special emphasis on privacy, particularly information asymmetries, attention engineering, and the hidden harms of invasive data collection.

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY USE OF KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS FOR PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT: E-NVOLVEMENT IN THE TURKISH CONTEXT

The primary research aim of this current study was to better understand the digital technology use of Turkish kindergarten teachers in their parental involvement practices. A questionnaire designed by the authors was administered to 100 kindergarten teachers in five cities located within Turkey. It was revealed in the study results that the kindergarten teachers owned a variety of electronic devices and used those devices for both personal and educational purposes within the early childhood education setting. Teachers used digital technologies for their parental involvement practices less than they did for their own personal use or for other activities within the educational setting. The parental involvement types where teachers most often used digital technologies were for parenting and communicating. While the least popular parental involvement types where kindergarten teachers used digital technologies were decision-making and collaborating with the community. Teachers mentioned the two most common reasons for insufficient technology use for parental involvement were the parents’ financial status and level of knowledge. A negative relationship between teachers’ personal technology use and experience in the field increased, they were less likely to encounter problems regarding digital technology use for parental involvement

Beliefs and Practices About Remote Teaching Processes During the Pandemic: A Study with Chilean Mathematics Teachers

This study determines the factors associated with teachers’ beliefs and practices during the pandemic. An online instrument designed and implemented for Chilean mathematics teachers, with a total of 423 math teachers participating. The instrument is found psychometrically valid to study teachers’ pedagogical-technological beliefs and their remote practices. The results show teachers’ high self-efficacy levels regarding the personal use of technology, but moderate self-efficacy in integrating technology in teaching. Moreover, teachers see a much more active role for themselves than for students in online activities. Gender differences were only significant for teaching practices, where the results reported women as more active than men. Teacher age is not recognized as a factor affecting teachers’ pedagogical-technological beliefs and their remote practices. Finally, the study confirms a significant influence of socioeconomic context in teachers’ beliefs and practices during the pandemic. It recommends that policymakers need to provide adequate resources and knowledge to support teachers in integrating technologies in distance education, especially those working in the public sector.

Illuminating Opportunities for Smart Tourism Innovation That Foster Sustainable Tourist Well-Being Using Q Methodology

Technology innovation has become one of the driving forces that advance the tourism industry, but the industry has yet to account for the manner in which personal technologies can foster tourists’ sustainable well-being. Generating innovation that promotes the sustainable well-being of individuals is deemed to be challenging because the experience needs to account for users’ psychological well-being and their attitudes towards technology. A holistic apprehension of these needs, which requires multidisciplinary perspectives, can help designers to identify design spaces for further design investigations at the fuzzy front-end of innovation. Hence, the goal of this study is to identify design opportunities for smart tourism innovation that foster sustainable tourist well-being by using Q methodology to gather participants’ attitudes on the future use of such technology. The study involved 43 participants ranking 46 statements derived from the extant literature. The results show four opinion clusters related to the optimal use of personal technologies for sustainable tourist well-being. These clusters, which highlight both hedonic and eudaimonic user experience considerations, provide directions for designers for developing innovations that promote well-being. Recommendations of using Q as an exploratory design research method are discussed.

From personal to professional: impacts of trust in information systems and analytics

Trust continues to be a major focus of information systems research as technology pushes further into both our personal and professional lives. However, little attention has been paid to how personal use of technology influences professional trust in its value for modern business processes such as business analytics activities. We conduct an empirical study to examine whether emotional trust formed by personal use of technology impacts workplace trust in business analytics activities. In the context of personal use of social media technology, we examine trust as an antecedent to adoption and look at whether trust in social media will lead to a perceived relative advantage for its use in business analytics processes. Our findings suggest that personal use-based emotional trust influences the trust in social media-based business analytics processes. Additionally, we find evidence suggesting that trust towards social media communities affect the perceived advantage of using social media in analytics.

Evolving Attitudes Toward the Personal Use of Technology While at Work

Since the advent of the consumer internet and later the smartphone, the lines between “work time” and “personal time” have eroded. Employees increasingly have access to technology that facilitates the performance of personal activities while in the workplace. This study examines changes in attitudes towards using technology for personal gain while at work. The study uses a longitudinal data set of survey data collected from 2013 to 2018. This paper finds that attitudes have become more permissive over time when it comes to using technology for personal productivity and for obtaining information not related to work. In contrast, this research also finds that attitudes towards using technology for relaxation and entertainment while at work have become less permissive.

The association between personal technology use and cognition: Does use matter?

The association between personal technology use and cognition: Does use matter?

Digital Natives Unplugged: Challenging Assumptions of Preservice Music Educators’ Technological Skills

Generational labels such as digital native and the “net” generation may obscure the gap that exists between preservice music teachers’ personal uses of technology and how they will use technology professionally. The study’s purpose was to examine preservice music teachers’ personal use of technology, views toward technology in music teaching and learning, and experience with music technology. We distributed an online survey to collegiate members of the National Association for Music Education, with 360 undergraduate students providing responses. Participants reported using technology for a variety of purposes on a daily basis, but mostly in passive ways. Preservice music teachers were most comfortable using music technology common to undergraduate music curricula and less familiar with technology used in K–12 music classrooms. Skilled use of music technology in music teaching and learning situations requires meaningful and intentional facilitation in music teacher education curricula.

Technologies, Ethics and Journalism’s Relationship with the Public

Drones can provide a bird’s eye view of breaking news and events that can be streamed live or used in edited news coverage. Past research has focused on the training and ethics of journalists and drone operators. Little attention, however, has been given to audiences and their acceptance and perception of ethics. We suggest that audiences who are open to personal technology use will perceive news media using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as more ethical in an extension of the Diffusion of Innovation Theory. In a survey (N = 548) of adults living in the United States, we explore the correlates between trust, technology, privacy, and the use of UAVs. Results suggest all three are positively correlated with openness toward drone journalism. We find the audience has preferences for the types of news stories that should be covered using drones. Participants indicated they welcome drone journalism when covering traffic and investigative stories, but not celebrities and politicians. The findings have implications for newsrooms, suggesting transparency and outreach to educate people on the technology could help build trust. Further, the results suggest that Diffusion of Innovation theory can be applied when mediated through news media.

The Natural Selection Game: Incorporating Active Learning in Evolution Curricula for General Biology

Teaching evolution in high school and in entry-level college courses can be challenging due to the inherent misinformation, misunderstanding, and biases with which students approach the topic. In this setting, it is critical to both teach the basic concepts and address common student misconceptions about evolution. We present two paired activities that allow students to (1) explore the processes of natural selection in a direct and experiential way and (2) address common misconceptions in evolutionary theory. The first activity, the “Natural Selection Game,” has students simulate a bird population and experience shifts in phenotype frequency as a result of selective pressures. Following the end of the game, students discuss the outcomes and connect them to real-life examples. The second activity encourages students to actively research common misconceptions with the use of personal technology in order to distinguish between scientifically supported data and poor information online. Both activities can be incorporated in high school and university-level general biology curricula. They will allow students to connect their firsthand experiences to lecture-based instruction and, as a result, develop a stronger understanding of the mechanisms of evolution.

Differential Preferences for the Caring Contacts Suicide Prevention Intervention Based on Patient Characteristics

The Caring Contacts suicide prevention intervention has been promoted by the Joint Commission, given its effectiveness, high reach, and cost effectiveness. Despite its increased application, no study has examined whether patient characteristics influence perceptions of the intervention, which may inform implementation efforts and ultimately impact effectiveness. One hundred fifty-four veterans were recruited from a Veterans Affairs psychiatric inpatient unit. Participants completed a survey to provide feedback on preferences, including the message correspondent, format (e.g., postcard, email), the importance of handwriting (vs. typed), visual presentation, and schedule for mailings. Results demonstrated that Caring Contacts preferences did not differ by most variables, including military rank, combat deployment history, or most personal technology use characteristics. Some demographic differences were identified, especially by age. More older veterans preferred messages to be sent in a physical letter compared to younger veterans, but if messages were sent via postal mail, younger veterans had a stronger preference for messages to be handwritten and sent using real stamps and colorful envelopes. Overall, findings suggest that few Caring Contacts adaptations are needed based on patient characteristics. Programs targeting older cohorts should consider postal mail formats for Caring Contacts.

A statistical assessment of temporal instability in the factors determining motorcyclist injury severities

This study explores the temporal instability of factors affecting motorcyclist-injury severities in single-vehicle motorcycle crashes in Florida. Two data sources are used; one covers the 2012 to 2016 crash histories of Florida motorcyclists who were newly licensed in 2012, and the second covers motorcycle crashes that occur on horizontal curves in Florida from 2005 to 2015. In the first dataset (2012 new riders), temporal changes may result from riders gaining experience as well as general temporal shifts. In the second dataset, rider experience is unknown (thus becoming a source of potential unobserved heterogeneity) but the temporal changes will be largely from general temporal shifts. With three possible motorcyclist injury severity outcomes (no visible injury, minor injury, and severe injury), random parameters multinomial logit models, that allow for heterogeneity in means and variances, were estimated for all possible annual time periods in each dataset. Likelihood ratio tests were conducted to examine the overall stability of model estimates across time periods, and marginal effects of each explanatory variable were also considered to investigate the temporal instability of the effect of individual parameter estimates on motorcyclist injury-severity probabilities. A wide range of variables was considered including motorcyclists’ attributes (such as ethnicity and age), roadway and environmental conditions (such as light and road surface conditions), motorcycle characteristics (such as motorcycle make and type of motorcycle), rider actions (such as speeding and improper driving actions), and roadway conditions (such as obstacles on the road and speed limits). The results show significant temporal instability in motorcyclist-injury severity models, which likely result from changes in motorcycle technology and performance, changes in macroeconomic conditions, changes induced by how riders respond to the changing behavior of other road users (whose behavior may be changing as a result of technology changes in their vehicles, evolving use of personal technologies in their vehicle, such as cell phones, etc.), and the changes in riders’ behavior and skills over time.

When Spheres Collide: A Refocused Research Framework for Personal Use of Technology at Work

When Spheres Collide: A Refocused Research Framework for Personal Use of Technology at Work

Does Size Matter? Instructors’ and Students’ Perceptions of Students’ Use of Technology in the Classroom

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore whether students’ self-initiated personal technology use differ by class size as well as to explore students and instructors’ perspectives on whether students’ technology use in class is a problem. Background: Because class size influences several aspects of student engagement, it is plausible that class size would affect students’ technology behaviours, but, to our knowledge, no study has directly examined class size as a factor in students’ on- and off-task technology use. There is also a paucity of research on how the use of off-task technology affects instructors. Methodology: We surveyed all undergraduate students and faculty in one Faculty at a Canadian university in Fall 2016. A total of 478 students and 36 instructors completed the survey. The survey contained questions about students’ and instructors’ behaviours and attitudes towards the use of technology in class. Quantitative data were analyzed in SPSS and Excel and qualitative excerpts from short-answer questions on the survey were analyzed in NVIVO 8. Contribution: This paper demonstrates that students’ on- and off-task technology use in class is influenced by class-size. It also informs us on the impact students’ technology use has on instructors in the academic classroom. Findings: Student-initiated technology use increased significantly as class size increased. Students and instructors expressed little concern about the impact of class-related technology use on learning and views did not differ significantly between these two groups. Although both students and instructors believed off-task technology use hinders learning, their views differed significantly, with more instructors than students feeling strongly that students’ use of technology in class is a problem. Recommendations for Practitioners: We need to develop guidelines on how to address off-task technology use in class. Recommendation for Researchers: More research is needed to explore how the use of technology in class affects instructors. Impact on Society: Higher education industry needs to consider how to manage the use of off-task technology in class. Future Research: We need to explore further how to mitigate the factors contributing to the off-task technology use in academic classroom.

Young consumers in fast food restaurants: technology, toys and family time

PurposeThe purpose of the study was to further our understanding of in-restaurant family behaviors using an ethnographic study of families with children (at least one child from 2 to 12 years old) dining in fast food restaurants.Design/methodology/approachThis study includes an unobtrusive, direct observational study of family fast food restaurant behaviour, including use of mobile technology, toys and indoor play area. Ordering and dining behaviours include field notes and enumeration of activity times for 300 families (450 children).FindingsThe food ordering process was rapid (<6 min), during which personal technology use was minimal, and adult/child interactions were perfunctory. Visits averaged 53 min, and only 18 min on average was spent eating. Families were observed using the fast food restaurant as a “third place” (home away from home) for many activities other than eating food. In-restaurant family behaviours included frequent use of technology (40 per cent of children/ 70 per cent of adults), use of the indoor play area (65 per cent of children/ 33 min of play) and child engagement with a toy (53 per cent of children/10 min of play).Originality/valueStudying how time is spent in fast food restaurants expands the knowledge of current family eating behaviours and how young consumers behave in restaurants (i.e. with restaurant-provided activities, toys and indoor play spaces). Shifts in dining practices, from the intrusion of technology during the meal (technoference) to a decline in the use of restaurant-provided toys were noted. Dining visits now include many non-food activities, and the dining time in the restaurant was not a time for extensive family conversations or interactions, but rather a public home away from home.

Exploring the Use of Personal Technology in Type 2 Diabetes Management Among Ethnic Minority Patients: Cross-Sectional Analysis of Survey Data from the Lifestyle Intervention for the Treatment of Diabetes Study (LIFT Diabetes).

BackgroundMinority populations have higher morbidity from chronic diseases and typically experience worse health outcomes. Internet technology may afford a low-cost method of ongoing chronic disease management to promote improved health outcomes among minority populations.ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to assess the feasibility of capitalizing on the pervasive use of technology as a secondary means of delivering diabetic counseling though an investigation of correlates to technology use within the context of an ongoing diabetes intervention study.MethodsThe Lifestyle Intervention for the Treatment of Diabetes study (LIFT Diabetes) randomly assigned 260 overweight and obese adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus to 2 intervention arms. At baseline, we administered a survey evaluating access to and use of various technologies and analyzed the responses using descriptive statistics and logistic regression.ResultsThe sample population had a mean age of 56 (SD 11) years; 67.3% (175/260) were female and 54.6% (n=142) self-identified as being from ethnic minority groups (n=125, 88.0% black; n=6, 4.3% Hispanic; and n=11, 7.7% other). Minority participants had higher baseline mean body mass index (P=.002) and hemoglobin A1c levels (P=.003). Minority participants were less likely to have a home computer (106/142, 74.7% vs 110/118, 93.2%; P<.001) and less likely to have email access at home (P=.03). Ownership of a home computer was correlated to higher income (P<.001), higher educational attainment (P<.001), full-time employment (P=.01), and ownership of a smartphone (P=.001). Willingness to complete questionnaires online was correlated to higher income (P=.001), higher education (P<.001), full-time employment (P=.01), and home access to a computer, internet, and smartphone (P≤.05). Racial disparities in having a home computer persisted after controlling for demographic variables and owning a smartphone (adjusted OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.10-0.67; P=.01). Willingness to complete questionnaires online was driven by ownership of a home computer (adjusted OR 3.87, 95% CI 1.14-13.2; P=.03).ConclusionsAdults who self-identified as being part of a minority group were more likely to report limited access to technology than were white adults. As ownership of a home computer is central to a willingness to use online tools, racial disparities in access may limit the potential of Web-based interventions to reach this population.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01806727; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01806727 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6xOq2b7Tv)