Technology-mediated Environments Research Articles

Zoom In, Zoom Out: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Classroom

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic to be confronted by humanity. As a result, social isolation has become the norm in most countries, with the consequent replacement of face-to-face classes by classes mediated by information and communication technology. Within this context, this work sets out to investigate the factors necessary for courses mediated by technology to attain their pedagogical objectives. Additionally, the study examines how subjects that develop hard and soft skills differ in a technology-mediated setting. The results show that the teacher’s digital competence on the technological platform and the metacognitive support available in the digital environment are significant factors for a course to attain its pedagogical objectives successfully. Lastly, the study revealed that hard skill disciplines, when they migrate to technology-mediated environments, are more likely to fail to achieve their educational goals than soft skill disciplines subject to the same migration.

Aprendiendo inglés con objetivos médicos en un ambiente educativo a distancia. Un enfoque conceptual. Una aproximación conceptual

El aprendizaje de inglés para fines específicos (English for Specific Purposes) ha estado ampliamente disponible a través de una variedad de herramientas en línea y plataformas de aprendizaje electrónicas. Frequentemente, los cursos de aprendizaje electrónico ofrecen una réplica electrónica de los cursos presenciales que se centran principalmente en el desarrollo del conocimiento léxico y gramatical, así como en el desarrollo de habilidades receptivas. Estudios han mostrado la importancia de los equipos virtuales (Virtual Teams) para fomentar un aprendizaje más profundo y desarrollar el pensamiento crítico del estudiante; sin embargo, pocos estudios han investigado la implementación de los equipos virtuales en el aprendizaje del inglés para fines específicos en el campo médico. El presente estudio tiene como objetivo desarrollar un enfoque conceptual para mejorar los programas de aprendizaje electrónico del inglés con fines médicos (English for Medical Purposes) centrándose principalmente en el desarrollo de las habilidades comunicativas, el pensamiento crítico, la cooperación intercultural, el aprendizaje permanente y la motivación mediante el uso de equipos virtuales. El enfoque conceptual incluye un conjunto de tareas de resolución de problemas asociados con casos médicos reales organizados completamente en un entorno completamente mediado por la tecnología. A través del aprendizaje basado en problemas (problem-based learning), se espera que los participantes y los tutores organizados en equipos virtuales alcanzarán soluciones a los casos y los problemas médicos descritos. El enfoque conceptual propuesto desarrollará el dominio del idioma extranjero para fines médicos, así como también elaborará las habilidades de trabajo en equipo, el pensamiento crítico en interacciones sociales recurrentes y la colaboración en un entorno en línea.

An Investigation of the Teaching Needs of Faculty Members with regard to Technology

To integrate technology in teaching and learning, the need arises to investigate the teaching needs of educators making the transition from a traditional to technology mediated environment. This qualitative study selected a convenience sample of 120 faculty and administrators. Using an interview guide, interviewers met with 100 participants. Data was transcribed, and entered into a database for analysis. Findings reported were technology in teaching. Concluding statements report that participants use technology in their teaching. However, many faculty members are not integrating technology in their teaching or assessment strategies, or using technology in instructional management. Faculty members are interested in learning how to incorporate technology in their teaching and their comments suggest their need to combine technology with principles of pedagogy, andragogy, and constructivism.

Exploring Nursing Students’ Perceptions of their Learning Experience in a Gerontological Nursing Course with a Technology-Mediated Learning Environment

ABSTRACT This was a multi-method study employing pre- and post-course questionnaires and focus groups to explore nursing students’ learning experiences with a technology-mediated learning approach guided by the Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition (SAMR) model in the course Gerontological Nursing. 144 undergraduate nursing students completed the questionnaires. The findings suggest that the students perceived a significant improvement in their cognitive skills, class atmosphere, and educational practices at the end of the course when compared to the baseline. However, no significant increase was found in their perceived engagement in technology-mediated activities. Five themes emerged from three focus groups involving 17 students: Beneficial to my learning, Feeling less stressed, Motivating me to learn, Feeling more engaged, and Encountering some technical barriers and suggestions for improvement. Students’ perceptions of using technologies for teaching and learning were mostly positive. Digitalised teaching materials should be interactive and locally relevant to improve students’ learning experience and engagement.

Working and knowing in technology-mediated environments

Comprehensions of how technology-mediated environments work are marked by a lack of theoretical sophistication about how expertise emerges and develops. Using a practice-based approach to workplace learning and knowing, a case of telecardiological consultation is discussed, where a dedicated call center works by connecting general practitioners (GPs) with remote cardiologists. The service allows GPsto send electrocardiogram traces (ECGs) and discuss the needs of patients with a cardiologist. The role of materials (ECG traces, the recording machine, infrastructure), and communication (synchronous communication in the form of a phone call) are considered in the practical application of the service. It is argued that being an expert telecardiologist entails the ability to align heterogeneous elements, and co-construct, a reliable interpretation of the patient’s situation alongside a doctor. To do that when the situation is not immediately clear, necessitates both doctors discursively mobilize different bio-physiological, chemical, material, social and psychological aspects of a patient’s condition, in order to arrive at a reliable interpretation. Thanks to a practice-based sensitivity, I analyze the case study reading these interactions as competent material-discursive practices.

Integrating nursing informatics into undergraduate nursing education in Africa: A scoping review.

BackgroundInformation and communication technologies have become omnipresent in healthcare systems globally, and since nurses comprise the majority of the health sector workforce, they are expected to be adequately skilled to work in a technology‐mediated environment. Integrating nursing informatics into undergraduate nursing education is a cornerstone to nursing education and practice in Africa.AimThis scoping review aimed to evidence the integration of nursing informatics into undergraduate nursing education in Africa.MethodsA scoping review of the literature used electronic databases including CINAHL Plus databases; EmCare; MEDLINE Ovid; Scopus; ERIC ProQuest; Web of Science; Google; and Google Scholar to locate papers specific to the African context. From a total of 8723 articles, 19 were selected for critique and synthesis.ResultsSelected studies indicated that nursing students used several information and communication technologies tools primarily for academic purposes, and rarely for clinical practice. In Africa, the challenges for teaching informatics in nursing education included: limited information and communication technologies skills among faculty and students; poor teaching strategies; and a lack of standardization of nursing informatics competencies. Successful integration of nursing informatics into undergraduate nursing education in African countries depends on restructuring nursing informatics content and teaching strategies, capacity building of the faculty and students in information and communication technologies, political commitment, and collaborative partnership.ConclusionNursing informatics is scarce in undergraduate nursing education in Africa due to the implementation and adoption challenges. Responding to these challenges requires a multi‐sectoral approach in the revision of undergraduate nursing curricula.Implication for nursing education, practice, policy and researchThis study highlights the importance of nursing informatics in undergraduate nursing education, with its challenges and success. Nursing education policies should support the development of well‐standardized nursing informatics content and appropriate teaching strategies to deliver it. Further research is needed to establish which aspects of nursing informatics are integrated into undergraduate nursing education and nursing practice, implementation process, challenges and possible solutions. Collaborative partnerships are vital to developing nursing informatics policies to better prepare graduate nurses for the African healthcare workforce in the digital era.

Technology-mediated task-based language teaching: A research agenda

AbstractThis paper discusses key concepts in the emerging field of technology-mediated task-based language teaching (TMTBLT) and provides a research agenda for moving this sub-field forward in a theoretically sound and data-driven way. We first define TMTBLT and discuss the importance of considering technological affordances and specific learning contexts when matching individual technologies with particular tasks. We then explore the notion of task, specifically task complexity and sequencing, and how the introduction of technology may interact and modify tasks' features. Next, we examine the use of mobile apps and social media within a task-based language teaching (TBLT) framework and highlight areas primed for exploration or in need of reconciliation. Finally, we call for TMTBLT studies to capture and evaluate learner process data. Within each area above we propose a series of specific research tasks that incrementally build on previous research in both face-to-face and technology-mediated environments, which may help us better understand how tasks and technologies intersect to promote language learning.

ADULT LEARNING AND SOCIALIZATION PROCESSES: RTA EXPERIENCE

ERASMUS+ Strategic Partnership project Adult Self-Learning: Supporting Autonomy in a Technology-Mediated Environment/ ASL (Ref. No. 2019-1-TR01-KA204-076875) co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme, Key Action 2: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices – Strategic Partnerships for adult education. The project aims at teaching learners to acquire new skills and competences using learning innovative practices and digital technologies as well as developing a functioning collaborative learning environment to help them identify skills gaps and needs and to collaborate locally and independently for joint capacity-building. The ASL project is expected to produce three main results corresponding to three primary European priorities:1. Supporting the setting up of, and access to, up skilling pathways (priority: adult lifelong learning);2. Improving and extending the supply of high quality learning opportunities tailored to the needs of individual low-skilled or low-qualified adults (priority: social inclusion/further education opportunities);3. Open education and innovative practices in a digital era (priority: adults' professionalization/empowerment).

Developing a model for investigating one-to-one synchronous Chinese online language teaching via videoconferencing

Innovation in technology-enhanced language learning environments has been largely driven by the affordances of new tools and rich, smart learning environments alongside the use of everyday tools. Such technology-mediated environments open up further ways of researching and enhancing language learning and call for new methodological and conceptual tools to support the investigation of learning in productive ways. The focus of this article is to present a model to guide enquiry into and practice within one-to-one synchronous online language teaching via videoconferencing. The model has been derived from an ongoing study undertaken by the authors, so as each element is explained, brief excerpts of data from that study are provided to illustrate the personal, interpersonal and situational complexities that influence teachers’ and learners’ actions and interactions. The multi-layered nature of the framework uncovers different aspects of the interactions which provide affordances for learning within this multimodal language-learning environment. It draws on key concepts of sociocultural theory, including a situated investigation of agency in relation to language use and environmental factors. We argue that the model we have developed can provide useful conceptual and practical tools to guide enquiry into technology-enhanced language learning environments and teacher awareness of the affordances and emergent complexities of those environments.

Design Principles for Examining Student Practices in a Technology-Mediated Environment

In this article, we present a set of design principles to guide the development of instructional materials aimed to support preservice secondary mathematics teachers (PSMTs) examining student practices in technology-mediated environments. To develop design principles, we drew on the literature related to technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK; Niess, 2005), video cases as learning objects (Sherin & van Es, 2005), and professional noticing (Jacobs, et al., 2010). After presenting the design principles, we share a task created using these design principles. Finally, we share PSMTs’ reflections about changes in their own understanding after examining students’ practices. Their responses provide insights into the usefulness of the design principles for deepening PSMTs’ mathematical knowledge and knowledge of students’ understanding, thinking, and learning with technology.

Moments of friction in virtual reality: How feeling histories impact experience

This article examines embodied interaction in a virtual reality learning environment. Studies of embodied interaction in immersive learning environments, like virtual reality, tend to treat all bodies the same without considering the nuanced cultural histories those bodies have with being mobile, especially within—and beyond—technology-mediated environments. In response, this study pivots from perspectives on embodied interaction that underscore the inextricable link between mind and body in favor of sociocultural perspectives to embodiment that emphasize the cultural-historical production of embodied interaction across space and over time. Through multimodal analysis of 10 learners’ experiences in a virtual reality experience called Thought for Food, this article contributes (1) an overt focus on the importance of feeling histories—embodied ways of sensing, feeling, and moving within digital environments—of learners engaging in virtual reality environments in order to promote equitable learning opportunities and (2) argues for future designs that are attuned to frictions—contestations between bodies and interfaces—that potentially collide with learners’ feeling histories.

The role of demographic similarity in people's decision to interact with online anthropomorphic recommendation agents: Evidence from a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study

Abstract Recommendation agents (or decision aids) are prevalent in technology-mediated environments. Evidence suggests that people prefer to interact with anthropomorphic recommendation agents with human-like interfaces (avatars) that are demographically similar to them in terms of ethnicity and gender. Several competing theories in the literature have tried to explain why demographic similarity matters, most commonly similarity-attraction theory and dissimilarity-repulsion theory. We compare and contrast these theories by examining the neural bases of why demographic (ethnicity and gender) similarity matters when subjects decided to interact with the human-like avatars of online recommendation agents using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). The fMRI results showed that men prefer to interact with online anthropomorphic recommendation agents whose avatar matches their ethnicity, while women tend to avoid interacting with online anthropomorphic agents of the opposite gender. Interestingly, the activation levels in the identified brain areas predict the product recommendation of the online recommendation agent from which subjects choose to purchase. Implications for theory, managerial practice, and the design of online anthropomorphic recommendation agents are discussed.

The role of temporal coordination for the fuzzy front-end of innovation in virtual teams

In this paper, we study the role of temporal coordination in managing the early stages of innovation (aka fuzzy front-end) in the context of virtual teams. Following a comparative case study approach, we detail the role of temporal coordination through the study of two contrasting virtual teams—one with a 24-h lifespan, and one with a five-month lifespan—from two Industry-Academia collaboration projects. Our approach was longitudinal capturing virtual team activities from start to end of each project, and involved multiple data collection methods, including observations and interviews. The findings reveal that the virtual team lifespan influences the type of temporal coordination that emerges. In virtual teams with short lifespans, tight coordination with frequent communication can help to reduce the uncertainty characterizing the fuzzy front-end. On the other hand, in virtual teams with longer lifespans, loose coordination allows dispersed members to work simultaneously on different, complementary aspects of the task at hand. These findings extend scholarly understanding around how innovation activities are coordinated in technology-mediated environments, such as virtual teams. Finally, we discuss theoretical and managerial implications.

EXPLORING THE IMPACTS OF SERVICE INNOVATION ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN THE TELECOM INDUSTRY: A PERSPECTIVE FROM INTERACTIVE AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICE INNOVATIONS

The impact of service innovation on customer perception has been investigated in many studies. This paper provides a unique view of service innovation by categorizing service innovation into two forms, interactive and supportive service innovations, and exploring their effects on customer satisfaction and retention in the context of telecommunication services. A dataset of 402 telecom service users from Vietnam is collected for empirical hypotheses testing of the relationships among supportive/interactive service innovation, customer satisfaction, and customer retention. The findings show that the two components of service innovation, interaction and support, are the key determinants of customer satisfaction and customer retention, which provides important information for telecom managers in service strategy planning. The study suggests that service firms should differentiate themselves by investing in supportive service innovations since interactive services are characterized by ease of copying, especially in the telecom sector, which is a highly technology-mediated environment.

Exploring the relationship between online discourse and commitment in Twitter professional learning communities

Educators show great interest in participating in social-media communities, such as Twitter, to support their professional development and learning. The majority of the research into Twitter-based professional learning communities has investigated why educators choose to use Twitter for professional development and learning and what they actually do in these communities. However, few studies have examined why certain community members remain committed and others gradually drop out. To fill this gap in the research, this study investigated how some key features of online discourse influenced the continued participation of the members of a Twitter-based professional learning community. More than 600,000 tweets generated over six years under the hashtag #edchat were gathered. Online discourse was deconstructed to the cognitive dimension, the interactive dimension, and the social dimension. Text-mining methods were then used to automatically identify these dimensions in the tweets. Finally, survival analysis was used to quantify the influences of these dimensions on users' commitment time to the Twitter community. The implications of the results and findings are then discussed.Wanli Xing is an Assistant Professor in Instructional Technology at Texas Tech University, USA with background in learning sciences, statistics, computer science and mathematical modeling. His research interests are educational data mining, learning analytics, and CSCL.Gao Fei is an Associate Professor at Bowling Green State University. Her current research involves examining the types of interaction and learning enabled by online social technologies, designing technology-mediated environments that encourage meaningful social interaction, and exploring pedagogical methods that promote deep learning in such environments.

Improvising through the senses: a performance approach with the indirect use of technology

ABSTRACTThis article explores and proposes new ways of performing in a technology-mediated environment. We present a case study that examines feedback loop relationships between a dancer and a pianist. Rather than using data from sensor technologies to directly control and affect musical parameters, we captured data from a dancer’s arm movements and mapped them onto a bespoke device that stimulates the pianist’s tactile sense through vibrations. The pianist identifies and interprets the tactile sensory experience, with his improvised performance responding to the changes in haptic information received. Our system presents a new way of technology-mediated performer interaction through tactile feedback channels, enabling the user to establish new creative pathways. We present a classification of vibrotactile interaction as means of communication, and we conclude how users experience multi-point vibrotactile feedback as one holistic experience rather than a collection of discrete feedback points.

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 & 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.

Second Language Learning in the Technology-mediated Environments

Digital technologies are transforming formal educational practices that extend across space and time, blurring the traditional boundaries of learning in school and out of school. Multimedia software as well as most online materials delivered via combination of different media caters to learners with different cognitive styles. Technology-enhanced learning promotes active and ubiquitous learning, location-based learning, and the generation of learning communities. L2 learners with mobile devices have the advantage of interacting with peers anytime and anywhere.

Dialectic Antidotes to Critics of the Technology Acceptance Model: Conceptual, Methodological, and Replication Treatments for Behavioural Modelling in Technology-Mediated Environments

The technology acceptance model (TAM) is a prominent and parsimonious conceptual lens that is often applied for behavioural modelling in technology-mediated environments. However, TAM has received a great deal of criticism in recent years. This article aims to address some of the most pertinent issues confronting TAM through a rejoinder that offers dialectic antidotes—in the form of conceptual, methodological, and replication treatments—to support the continued use of TAM to understand the peculiarities of user interactions with technology in technology-mediated environments. In doing so, this article offers a useful response to a common but often inadequately answered question about how TAM can continue to be relevant for behavioural modelling in contemporary technology-mediated environments.

General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, Updating General Recommendation No. 19

Gender-based violence against women occurs in all spaces and spheres of human interaction, whether public or private, including in the contexts of the family, the community, public spaces, the workplace, leisure, politics, sport, health services and educational settings, and the redefinition of public and private through technology-mediated environments, such as contemporary forms of violence occurring online and in other digital environments. In all those settings, gender-based violence against women can result from acts or omissions of State or non-State actors, acting territorially or extraterritorially, including extraterritorial military actions of States, individually or as members of international or intergovernmental organizations or coalitions, or extraterritorial operations of private corporations. General recommendation No. 35 provides States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women with further guidance aimed at accelerating the elimination of gender-based violence against women.