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This paper aims to focus on academic library managers’ learning practices in the context of cooperative work supported by computational artefacts. Academic library managers’ everyday work is mainly cooperative. Their cooperation is supported predominantly by computational artefacts. Learning how to use the computational artefacts efficiently and effectively involves understanding the changes in everyday work that affect managers and, therefore, it requires deep understanding of their cooperative work practices.

Focused ethnography was conducted through participant observations, interviews and document analysis. Ten managers from a university library in Sweden participated in the research. A thematic method was used to analyse the empirical material. Computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) and work-integrated learning was used as the conceptual lens.

Five learning practices were identified: collaboration, communication, coordination, decision-making processes and computational artefacts’ use. The findings show that learning is embedded in managers’ cooperative work practices, which do not necessarily include sufficient training time. Furthermore, learning was intertwined with cooperating and was situational. Managers learned by reflecting together on their own experiences and through joint cooperation and information sharing while using the computational artefacts.

The main contribution lies in providing insights into how academic library managers learn and cooperate in their everyday work, emphasizing the role of computational artefacts, the importance of the work context and the collective nature of learning. It also highlights the need for continual workplace learning in contemporary knowledge work environments. Thus, the research generates contributions to the informatics field by extending the understanding of managers’ work-integrated learning in their everyday cooperative work practices supported by computational artefacts’ use. It also contributes to the intersection of CSCW and work-integrated learning.

COVID-19 has changed the way we teach and learn, including service-learning (S-L). This study examines the impacts of the work-from-home (WFH) mode on the work performance and learning outcomes of student interns on an eight-week S-L internship programme, and the key factors in terms of its success.

A qualitative research methodology is adopted by interviewing nine student interns and four supervisors from three community partner organisations (CPOs) to understand their experiences of how the WFH mode has impacted intern work performance and learning outcomes. Thematic analysis is used for the data analysis.

The interns uncover a number of negative WFH impacts on the S-L internship, including ineffective communication and management practice, low work efficiency and quality, a lack of task variety and learning opportunities and distractions in the home environment. Furthermore, five critical factors for WFH success are also identified, including prior preparation, effective communication systems, personal motivators at work, the nature of the job in relation to it being suited to the WFH mode, and organisational support.

The study examines impacts on student work performance and learning outcomes in an S-L summer internship programme operating under the WFH mode as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key success factors and practical recommendations have been developed for enhancing the future success of S-L internships operating under the WFH mode.

Many organisations, including professional councils, operate manually to ensure document flow to clients and stakeholders. This results in the loss of valuable documentation such as certificates and the incurring of costs due to the returning of post to the sender. The purpose of this study was to explore digital transformation of document flow at the South African Council for Social Science Professionals.

The methodological approach involved qualitative data collected through interviews, observation and document analysis in response to research questions. The study was a participatory action research project that involved collaboration between researchers and study participants in defining and solving the problem through needs assessment exercise. All three phases of participatory action research were followed, namely, the “look phase”: getting to know stakeholders so that the problem is defined on their terms and the problem definition is reflective of the community context; the “think phase”: interpretation and analysis of what was learned in the “look phase” and the “act phase”: planning, implementing, and evaluating, based on information collected and interpreted in the first two phases.

The study identified various issues relating to poor data quality, high rate of registered postal returns and non-delivery electronic messages that cannot reach all the intended recipients and accumulation of data for decades. In this regard, the study proposes a framework that can be used by SACSSP to update and verify their details on the portal, as well as digital certificates for membership.

Although the proposed framework is tailor-made for the professional council, it is not depended on prescribed technologies due to usage of open standards that can be used by industry and researchers. Therefore, it can be applied in other context where institutions such as universities communicate with many clients via postal or courier services.

The study used participatory action research involving the researchers and the organisation to solve the problem. The study presented a workflow that the council can use to ensure that the documents reach intended recipients. Furthermore, digital transformation of the process will ensure that the registered professionals are able to access their certificates online and can print them when necessary.

The setting up of e-university has been slow-going. Much of e-university slow progress has been attributed to poor business models, branding, disruptive technologies, lack of organisational structure that accommodates such challenges, and failure to integrate a blended approach. One of the stumbling blocks, among many, is the handling of evaluation process. E-university models do not provide much automation compared to the original brick-and-mortar classroom model of delivery. The underlining technologies may not have been supportive; however, the conditions are changing, and more evaluation tools are becoming available for academics. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper identifies the extent of current online evaluation processes. In this process, the team reviews the case study of a UK E-University using Adobe Connect learning model that mirrors much of the physical processes as well as online exams and evaluation tools. Using the Riva model, the paper compares the physical with the online evaluation processes for e-universities to identify differences in these processes to evaluate the benefits of e-learning. As a result, the models can help us to identify the processes where improvements can take place for automating the process and evaluate the impact of this change.

The paper concludes that this process can be significantly shortened and provide a fairer outcome but there remain some challenges for e-university processes to overcome.

This paper examines the vital quality assurance processes in academia as more universities move towards process automation, blended or e-university business models. Using the case study of Arden University online distance learning, the paper demonstrates, through modelling and analysis that the process of online automation of the evaluation process is achieved with significant efficiency.

This research aims to explore digital feedback needs/preferences in online education during lockdown and the implications for post-pandemic education.

An empirical study approach was used to explore feedback needs and experiences from educational institutions in the Netherlands and Germany (N = 247) using a survey method.

The results showed that instruments supporting features for effortless interactivity are among the highly preferred options for giving/receiving feedback in online/hybrid classrooms, which are in addition also opted for post-pandemic education. The analysis also showed that, when communicating feedback digitally, more inclusive formats are preferred, e.g. informing learners about how they perform compared to peers. The increased need for comparative performance-oriented feedback, however, may affect students' goal orientations. In general, the results of this study suggest that while interactivity features of online instruments are key to ensuring social presence when using digital forms of feedback, balancing online with offline approaches should be recommended.

This research contributes to the gap in the scientific literature on feedback digitalization. Most of the existing research are in the domain of automated feedback generated by various learning environments, while literature on digital feedback in online classrooms, e.g. empirical studies on preferences for typology, formats and communication channels for digital feedback, to the best of the authors’ knowledge is largely lacking. The findings and recommendations of this study extend their relevance to post-pandemic education for which hybrid classroom is opted among the highly preferred formats by survey respondents.

As online teaching/learning is a new phenomenon with reference to regular degree programs in institutions of higher education in India (the situation having being thrust upon both students and faculty due to COVID-19 pandemic), an exploratory-descriptive study was carried out to find out how public university students in India perceive online teaching/learning (OTL) during the present pandemic, the methods of OTL being used by faculty and the challenges being faced by the students.

Online interviews with 40 students of three public universities in Delhi/NCR were conducted using open-ended and close-ended questions. The questionnaire was emailed to 82 university students of Commerce and Management specialisation out of which 40 responded. We analysed each participants interview responses using content analysis technique and categorised the themes/factors that emerged under suitable headings using the coding method. The frequencies of the occurrence of the themes/factors were thus determined and documented, and percentages were calculated. The questionnaire also had Likert-scale questions as they are useful to measure latent constructs.

Inadequate bandwidth and poor network connectivity were found to be major hindrances during OT/L. The other challenges were unsuitable home environment for attending online classes, feeling of isolation and demotivation due to lack of face-to-face interaction and excessive screen-time causing fatigue. Active online methods such as live lectures by faculty and article/case study/discussions facilitated live by faculty were most preferred while the passive method of learning such as online certification courses through education portals such as Swayam/ Coursera/Udemy, etc were least preferred. The level of satisfaction from student–faculty interaction was more than that from student–student interaction.

The study covered three public universities in India and the sample size was small because of limitations created by COVID-19 pandemic situation as campuses were closed and it was not possible to meet students personally to get responses.

Universities should provide data cards or access to university computer labs to those students who are from economically weaker sections of society so that online teaching may be effective. This will also help students who live in very small houses and do not have a quiet corner to study online. Other solution would be to reduce online teaching duration. This issue needs the attention of educational institution leaders as most universities have scheduled classes from morning till evening, as it was during real classroom teaching. Eight hours of online classes every day may not be feasible when Internet access is a critical problem. Teachers should encourage interaction between students so that the feeling of isolation may be reduced and students may be motivated to learn and take more interest in virtual classes.

50% of the Indian population does not have access to the Internet, while a large section that does have, cannot afford the cost of high-speed data that is needed for long-duration online classes spanning over months. Those who can afford it, do not have the privacy to engage effectively in classes on video conferencing portals. Both students and teachers suffer due to poor audio and video quality caused by poor infrastructure. COVID-19 has brought to focus, the severe inequality in some societies. Societies need to take serious cognizance of this issue and take appropriate measures.

This study is very unique as the radical change from real classroom to online teaching in Indian public universities is a very unique phenomenon. The disruption was forced due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and students along with their teachers learned the process “on-the-job”. As the issues and challenges faced by students were unexplored, this study aims to contribute knowledge to this existing research gap.

This paper introduces an audio encryption algorithm based on permutation of audio samples using discrete modified Henon map followed by substitution operation with keystream generated from the modified Lorenz-Hyperchaotic system. In this work, the audio file is initially compressed by Fast Walsh Hadamard Transform (FWHT) for removing the residual intelligibility in the transform domain. The resulting file is then encrypted in two phases. In the first phase permutation operation is carried out using modified discrete Henon map to weaken the correlation between adjacent samples. In the second phase it utilizes modified-Lorenz hyperchaotic system for substitution operation to fill the silent periods within the speech conversation. Dynamic keystream generation mechanism is also introduced to enhance the correlation between plaintext and encrypted text. Various quality metrics analysis such as correlation, signal to noise ratio (SNR), differential attacks, spectral entropy, histogram analysis, keyspace and key sensitivity are carried out to evaluate the quality of the proposed algorithm. The simulation results and numerical analyses demonstrate that the proposed algorithm has excellent security performance and robust against various cryptographic attacks.

The purpose of this paper is to describe an online faculty development pilot course on how to engage students online. A framework was used, referred to as the Trifecta of Student Engagement, for the design of the course. The Trifecta of Student Engagement proposes that students, in order to be fully engaged in a course, need to be engaged with their course content, with their peers and with their instructor. The course has three units of content that each correspond to the Trifecta of Student Engagement. This course has gone through one pilot with faculty and has impacted students and faculty positively.

An online faculty development course was piloted with eight faculty members across a range of disciplines who participated in the program. After taking the course, they had to apply the Trifecta of Student Engagement framework to a course they taught and share what they did via written report, webinar, or web presentation. This study summarized the faculty participants’ written reports and presentations as well as provided a qualitative evaluation on the impact this course had on students and faculty.

After faculty applied the Trifecta of Student Engagement framework to courses taught, faculty saw an improvement in student engagement, satisfaction, learning and achievement. Three faculty surveyed students to determine their engagement and satisfaction and found students to respond positively to the use of tools and activities for student-to-content engagement, student-to-student engagement and student-to-instructor engagement. Two faculty examined student grades to determine if there were changes in student outcomes. One professor saw average grades increase by 11 percent. Another professor saw grades improve by 8 percent. She also found that student assessment of learning increased by 0.57. Both faculty attributed the improvement to the effectiveness of the teaching strategies employed.

This research is limited to the eight faculty who participated in the pilot. Some faculty used methods to attempt to measure the impacts of their teaching practices by surveying students and looking at student performance data. A second pilot is needed for additional faculty to take the course and apply the Trifecta of Engagement framework to generate more data for impact.

Institutions looking to create an online teaching professional development course for faculty can utilize the Trifecta of Student Engagement framework for their course design. Additionally, faculty can read about tools and strategies that they can immediately apply to create more student-to-content engagement, student-to-student engagement and student-to-instructor engagement.

Faculty can be more intentional in how they engage students in their online course experience.

This paper adds to the literature on faculty development regarding student-centered teaching practices. Other institutions looking to create a faculty development course or program that utilizes a student-centered framework may find aspects of this paper useful for their own online teaching professional development initiatives.

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of videoconferencing technologies for mediating and transforming emotional experiences in virtual context.

Drawing on empirical data of video conferencing experiences, this study identifies different constitutive relations with technology through which actors cope with actual or potential anxieties in virtual meetings. It draws on the phenomenological-existential tradition (Sartre and Merleau-Ponty) and on an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) to conceptualize and illustrate the role of affective affordances in virtual settings.

The study identifies four different body–technology–other relations that provide different action possibilities, both disclosing and concealing, for navigating emotional experiences in virtual encounters of mutual gazing. These findings offer insights into the anatomy of virtual emotions and provide explanations on the nature of Zoom fatigue (interactive exhaustion) and heightened feelings of self-consciousness resulting from video conferencing interactions.

This paper builds on and extends current scholarship on technological affordances, as well as emotions, to suggest that technologies also afford different tactics for navigating emotional experiences. Thus, this paper proposes the notion of affective affordance that can expand current information system (IS) and organization studies (OS) scholarship in important ways. The focus is on videoconference technologies and meetings that have received little research attention and even less so from a perspective on emotions. Importantly, the paper offers nuanced insights that can advance current research discourse on the relationships between technology, human body and emotions.

The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) is the only institution to deliver legal education through Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in Sri Lanka. This study aims to analyze technology usage in learning and teaching law in the ODL under OUSL to evaluate the accessibility and also challenges.

A combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies has been used for the study. This includes both interviews with teachers and surveying among students on the usage of technology in learning and teaching law at OUSL. Since the LL.B Degree Programme of OUSL delivered at six regional centres in Sri Lanka, this study also includes the comparative analysis of technology usage in teaching and learning at selected regional centres.

The findings indicate that the majority of students have access to technology through mobile phones and are aware of blended learning. Even though they prefer to integrate blended learning with learning law, they do not prefer learning entirely online. Social media and mobile applications are the most preferred modes of blended learning by students. It is also acknowledged that the internal staff has knowledge and access to the use of technology in teaching law while the external staff faces challenges and is in need of adequate training.

The original contribution of this article provides insightful guidelines not only to the OUSL of Sri Lanka but also to the institutions offering similar disciplines through ODL to understand lecturers, learners in the future integration of technology.