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1 – 6 of 6Alberto Battocchi, Ayelet Ben‐Sasson, Gianluca Esposito, Eynat Gal, Fabio Pianesi, Daniel Tomasini, Paola Venuti, Patrice Weiss and Massimo Zancanaro
Tabletop interfaces are a novel class of technologies that are particularly suited to support co‐located collaboration. The Collaborative Puzzle Game (CPG) is a tabletop…
Abstract
Tabletop interfaces are a novel class of technologies that are particularly suited to support co‐located collaboration. The Collaborative Puzzle Game (CPG) is a tabletop interactive activity developed for fostering collaboration skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The CPG features an interaction rule called Enforced Collaboration (EC); in order to be moved, puzzle pieces must be touched and dragged simultaneously by the two players. Two studies were conducted to test the effect of EC on collaboration. In Study I, 70 typically developing boys were tested in pairs to characterise the way they respond to EC; in Study II, 16 boys with ASD were tested in pairs. Results suggest that EC has a generally positive effect on collaboration and is associated with more complex interactions. For children with ASD, the EC interaction rule was effective in triggering behaviours associated with co‐ordination of the task and negotiation.
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Shakked Dabran-Zivan, Ayelet Baram-Tsabari, Roni Shapira, Miri Yitshaki, Daria Dvorzhitskaia and Nir Grinberg
Accurate information is the basis for well-informed decision-making, which is particularly challenging in the dynamic reality of a pandemic. Search engines are a major gateway for…
Abstract
Purpose
Accurate information is the basis for well-informed decision-making, which is particularly challenging in the dynamic reality of a pandemic. Search engines are a major gateway for obtaining information, yet little is known about the quality and scientific accuracy of information answering conspiracy-related queries about COVID-19, especially outside of English-speaking countries and languages.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted an algorithmic audit of Google Search, emulating search queries about COVID-19 conspiracy theories in 10 different locations and four languages (English, Arabic, Russian, and Hebrew) and used content analysis by native language speakers to examine the quality of the available information.
Findings
Searching the same conspiracies in different languages led to fundamentally different results. English had the largest share of 52% high-quality scientific information. The average quality score of the English-language results was significantly higher than in Russian and Arabic. Non-English languages had a considerably higher percentage of conspiracy-supporting content. In Russian, nearly 40% of the results supported conspiracies compared to 18% in English.
Originality/value
This study’s findings highlight structural differences that significantly limit access to high-quality, balanced, and accurate information about the pandemic, despite its existence on the Internet in another language. Addressing these gaps has the potential to improve individual decision-making collective outcomes for non-English societies.
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Irit Shmuel and Nir Cohen
This study aims to examine changes in the discourse concerning Israeli tourism to Turkey between 2000 and 2014.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine changes in the discourse concerning Israeli tourism to Turkey between 2000 and 2014.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the concept of geographic imagination and using a critical cultural discourse analysis of travel stories published in the Israeli media, the authors analyze the extent to which changes have both reflected and resulted from changing relations between the two countries.
Findings
The analysis reveals that before 2010, Turkey was depicted in largely positive geo-cultural terms, imagined as a desired cosmopolitan, culturally “authentic” destination, which elicits feelings of joy and peacefulness. More recent narratives, however, highlighted its negative geopolitical qualities, underscoring its anti-Israel stance and invoking a fearful discourse of political and ethno-religious radicalization.
Originality/value
The study makes three contributions. First, by attending to the significance of perceptions in the social construction of tourist destinations it brings the fields of tourism and cognitive geography into a closer dialogue. Second, by using a critical discourse analysis it highlights the changing cultural contexts within which places are imagined and constructed by tourists. Finally, by uncovering the geographic complexities that undergird the discursive construction of places as tourist destinations, it illustrates how everyday narratives change over time, reflecting the dynamic nature of inter-state relations.
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Yael Cohen-Azaria and Sara Zamir
The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of school principals of the evaluator’s role and to learn about their requirements of school evaluators.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of school principals of the evaluator’s role and to learn about their requirements of school evaluators.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study is based on the qualitative paradigm of data collection and analysis. This paradigm provides a profound a description of the phenomenon in the context in which it takes place, based on the respondents’ perceptions and how they interpret their experiences. In the course of the study, the authors used semi-structured in-depth interviews.
Findings
Findings indicated that principals had regarded the role of the school evaluator mainly as that of an expert, a managerial partner and an implementer of school evaluation culture.
Research limitations/implications
The interviewers were the teachers who had been trained for the school evaluator’s position.
Practical implications
The “school evaluator” and the principals bear the complex task of evaluation on their shoulders, and their success in fulfilling it depends on their insights about how to delineate and implement the evaluator’s role. The paper outlines some crucial benchmarks for resolving the issue of role definitions between them.
Social implications
As a relatively new profession, derived from other professions and research areas, evaluation has no solid, historical occupational legacy in schools. This paper broadens the merit of school evaluator as the facilitator of quality assurance.
Originality/value
The increased responsibility placed on schools, the demand of accountability as well as transparency, have obliged the schools to broaden and deepen the internal evaluation activities. This paper reveals the essence of school evaluator’s role and suggests some key points for his/her valuable work.
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As the school evaluator’s role is multifaceted and the school elevator is the school principal’s subordinate, this paper aims to present the school evaluator's complex conduct to…
Abstract
Purpose
As the school evaluator’s role is multifaceted and the school elevator is the school principal’s subordinate, this paper aims to present the school evaluator's complex conduct to achieve a better understanding of his or her functioning.
Design/methodology/approach
Theoretical paper.
Findings
The two critical dimensions connected to the purpose of this paper are introduced here: the school evaluators’ credibility and the school principal’s leadership style. Hence, the polymeric model displays four frames as follow: false evaluation, confusing evaluation, unreliable evaluation and trustworthy evaluation.
Research limitations/implications
Although this is a theoretical paper, it can be transformed into a research paper by conducting a follow-up study.
Practical implications
The increased responsibility that has been placed on schools and the demand for accountability as well as transparency have obligated schools to broaden and deepen the internal evaluation activities and those have led to the position of the school evaluator. This paper sheds light on the problem and suggests some relevant insights.
Social implications
Evaluative culture in an organization requires deliberate efforts by the leadership to encourage the credible evaluators, to support their skillful and reliable work, and finally, to implement their conclusions even though management may find them tedious and time-consuming. School management that is driven by dishonest motivations (such as gaining power and control) may not only deprive the school of effective evaluation but may also harm the infrastructure of the institution and lead to its decline.
Originality/value
This paper suggests an original model for school evaluation.
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Tal Samuel-Azran and Moran Yarchi
The study aims to examine the validity of the gender affinity effect on social media throughout election campaigns.
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to examine the validity of the gender affinity effect on social media throughout election campaigns.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper examines the role of gender in political discourse, using citizens' conversations on Facebook in the days leading up to Israel's 2021 elections as its case study. The analysis measured the engagement generated by male and female politicians in citizens' publicly open Facebook discussions (N = 1875) using a trend-tracking software. The analysis uses t-tests to examine differences in engagement between conversations about male versus female politicians and between posts written by male versus female authors. In addition, a two-way ANOVA analysis was conducted in an attempt to understand the shared impact of both the politicians' gender and posts authors' gender on the posts' engagement.
Findings
The study reveals that although more posts discuss male politicians, posts dealing with female politicians expressed significantly more support towards those politicians. The analysis also highlights that women tend to write more supportive posts and that most of their posts deal with female politicians. Furthermore, interaction effect analysis revealed that women's posts about female politicians generate more engagement in terms of likes, comments and number of participants than posts written by women that deal with male politicians.
Practical implications
The findings should encourage women politicians to run their campaigns via social media.
Originality/value
The study presents the first social media analysis for gender affinity effect and highlights the importance of the effect in online political communication studies.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-04-2022-0199
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