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1 – 10 of over 62000There are currently no studies concerning the use of Google Hangout in North Cyprus. Thus, this study examines the perceptions of preservice teacher and language instructors on…
Abstract
Purpose
There are currently no studies concerning the use of Google Hangout in North Cyprus. Thus, this study examines the perceptions of preservice teacher and language instructors on the use of Google Meet (GM) as a synchronous language learning tool for a distant online program in Cyprus.
Design/methodology/approach
To elicit information on the perception of preservice teachers and language instructors on this issue, a quantitative research design was used for this study.
Findings
Though the language instructors deemed GM effective and efficient as a language learning tool, the preservice teachers thought otherwise.
Research limitations/implications
It was difficult to collect data during this pandemic outbreak. Obtaining ethical consent from the participants was difficult as well and so the sample size was small.
Practical implications
The study was able to demonstrate that the use of GM was somewhat effective as a language learning tool for the online distant program, though the level of efficiency and effectiveness varies from preservice teachers to the language instructors. Also, the study was able to highlight the use of GM could be very effective if it is well managed by the teachers to stimulate student engagement during lessons. The study showcased that the unavailability of Internet data, poor Internet connection are possible constraints to the efficiency of GM. Recently, a university in Northern Cyprus has decided to partner with a telecommunication network (Turkcell) toward providing free Internet access for all registered students within a particular period of learning. This is a welcomed approach that can be emulated by other educational facilities in bridging the gap created by poor Internet connection in a remote online learning setting.
Originality/value
There are no studies within the context of North Cyprus on the use of GM as a synchronous language learning tool for online distant programs. Though the use of GM is adjured effective and efficient, this contextual overview of GM is a new insight into academia.
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This paper aims to explore student teachers’ views related to the online academic support e-tools used under the COVID-19 lockdown.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore student teachers’ views related to the online academic support e-tools used under the COVID-19 lockdown.
Design/methodology/approach
Mapping a pragmatic research approach, an explanatory mixed methods design was used for the study.
Findings
Empirical evidence revealed that student teachers were satisfied and experienced the academic support tools as being positively applied to their online learning. Furthermore, it is reported that student teachers preferred the discussion forum as the most appropriate academic support e-tool in the course under coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.
Research limitations/implications
This exploratory pragmatic study extends the knowledge of the online academic support e-tools for an open distance e-learning (ODeL) context that was used under COVID-19 lockdown. This study provides additional evidence concerning a revised academic support frame for an ODeL online learning context. Research limitations: small sample size was used, and therefore caution must be applied, as the findings might not be transferable to a similar context. The current study has only examined a teacher education course and could not be generalised to similar conditions as those under COVID-19 lockdown. This exploratory research has raised many questions that require further investigation. More research is required to determine the efficacy of the academic support e-tools with regard to student learning in other online courses and contexts.
Practical implications
The student teachers that participated in this study were empowered to using the academic support e-tools to support them under COVID-19 lockdown. The discussion was mostly preferred academic supportive e-tool as an engaged, participatory and communicative platform for accelerated learning in the teaching methodology of economics course.
Originality/value
A noteworthy contribution was made in the design and testing of the reliability of methodological tools, which could be replicated in blended and ODeL contexts.
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Felicity Small, David Dowell and Peter Simmons
Teachers have access to a growing range of online tools to support course delivery, but which ones are valued by students? Expectations and satisfaction are important constructs…
Abstract
Purpose
Teachers have access to a growing range of online tools to support course delivery, but which ones are valued by students? Expectations and satisfaction are important constructs in the delivery of a service product, and how these constructs operate in a service environment, such as education where the student can also take on the role of the customer is unknown. This study focuses on the student perspective of online tools. The aim of this paper is to measure students' expectations and perceived importance of, and satisfaction with, a range of tools available in a virtual learning environment.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative survey (n=396) was conducted and descriptive measures and statistical analysis were produced.
Findings
Results show that the tools that enable instructors to communicate with students and vice versa are more important to students and more satisfying to them than tools that enable students to interact with each other. Also, business students appear to be different from non‐business students, with respect to desired communications tools.
Practical implications
The findings help us to understand business students' communication preference, which in turn helps teachers to create an educationally meaningful learning environment.
Originality/value
This work connects an established model for online interactions with students' expectations and level of satisfaction with tools that are currently being used in the online education environment.
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Francisco Peco-Torres, Ana I. Polo-Peña and Dolores M. Frías Jamilena
This study aims to examine the antecedents and consequences of strategic online-reputation management among tourism firms. It is proposed that customer relationship management…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the antecedents and consequences of strategic online-reputation management among tourism firms. It is proposed that customer relationship management (CRM) is an antecedent of strategic online-reputation management, brand equity is a consequence of strategic online-reputation management and the use of online tools moderates the effect of strategic online-reputation management and CRM on brand equity.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative empirical study is conducted among online marketing managers of chain hotels. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to verify the proposed relationships.
Findings
The results show that CRM is an antecedent of strategic online-reputation management, and that strategic online-reputation management and CRM exert a positive effect on brand equity among firms that frequently use a range of online tools. No such effect is found in cases of limited usage of online tools.
Practical implications
Tourism firms seeking to achieve greater brand equity by means of strategic online-reputation management should implement CRM and make extensive use of online tools.
Originality/value
The main contributions of this study are that it analyzes the antecedents and consequences of strategic online-reputation management jointly and empirically; studies the moderating role of the use of online tools in the effect of online strategies – such as online-reputation management and CRM – on brand equity; and studies the consequences of CRM in online media.
研究目的
本研究探讨旅游公司战略性在线声誉管理的前因和后果。建议 a) 客户关系管理 (CRM) 是战略性在线声誉管理的先决条件, b) 品牌资产是战略性在线声誉管理的结果, c) 在线工具的使用调节战略性在线声誉管理的效果- 品牌资产的声誉管理和 CRM。
研究设计/方法/方法
本研究对连锁酒店的在线营销经理进行了定量实证研究。结构方程模型 (SEM) 用于验证所提出的关系。
研究发现
CRM 是战略在线声誉管理的前身, 战略在线声誉管理和 CRM 对经常使用一系列在线工具的公司的品牌资产产生积极影响。在有限使用在线工具的情况下没有发现这种效果。
研究实践意义
希望寻求通过战略性在线声誉管理实现更大品牌资产的旅游公司应实施 CRM 并广泛使用在线工具。
研究原创性
本研究的主要贡献在于:(i) 本研究联合实证分析战略性在线声誉管理的前因和后果; (ii) 本研究探讨了使用在线工具对在线战略(例如在线声誉管理和 CRM)对品牌资产的影响的调节作用; (iii) 本研究探讨了 CRM 在在线媒体中的影响。
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Sean P. Goggins, James Laffey and Michael Gallagher
This paper has two purposes. First, to provide insight into the formation of completely online small groups, paying special attention to how their work practices develop, and how…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper has two purposes. First, to provide insight into the formation of completely online small groups, paying special attention to how their work practices develop, and how they form identity. Second, to pursue conceptual development of a more multi‐level view of completely online group experience, which can be made visible through analysis of the unique interaction logging system used in this study.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conduct a mixed methods study that integrates interviews, grounded theory analysis, case study methods and social network analysis to build a multi‐layered view of completely online group and community development.
Findings
Completely online group formation is explicated as a socio‐technical system. The paper identifies themes of tool uptake and use, and patterns of interaction that accompany group formation and development of completely online group practices. These patterns show little respect for the boundaries of space and time. It then shows how groups who are paired together for two non‐sequential activities develop a common internal structural arrangement in the second activity, and are viewable as groups in the larger course context in four of six cases.
Research limitations/implications
The time bounded nature of the group and community, combined with the educational context limit the generalizability of these findings.
Practical implications
The study shows how completely online group development can be made visible. Managers of work teams and teachers who work with classrooms in completely online contexts need to recognize the dynamic structure and interaction practices of completely online teams.
Originality/value
First, little research has been conducted on completely online group formation. Second, a conceptual understanding of how group members relate to one another and how groups interact with other groups in the same socio‐technical context is not explored in prior work. Third, the paper performs this analysis including data from rich, contextualized usage logs, which enables greater insight into online group interactivity than prior research.
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Carmen Camarero, Javier Rodríguez and Rebeca San José
New information and communication technologies provide tools that help users to progress from traditional teaching methods towards new and more participative approaches consistent…
Abstract
Purpose
New information and communication technologies provide tools that help users to progress from traditional teaching methods towards new and more participative approaches consistent with collaborative learning. This study aims to assess the application of online discussion forums as a support tool for lecturing in marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors seek to pinpoint which factors determine student use of online forums on the basis of the Technology Acceptance Model and to provide empirical evidence concerning their impact on learning performance.
Findings
The findings indicate that it is not ease of use but perceived usefulness that determines a positive attitude towards forums, an attitude which in turn influences forum use and perceived learning. Adopting a new learning system may be seen as a gradual process in which students become involved as they develop a positive attitude towards the system.
Practical implications
Lecturers and web developers should pay particular care not only to the layout of the web site supporting the forums, but also to their usefulness and ability to stimulate ongoing and interesting debates among students.
Originality/value
The findings of the study are valuable in helping lecturers and educational administrators in the application and promotion of online forums for creating knowledge through internal and interactive dialogue in a more conversational model of learning.
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Robert Detmering, Anna Marie Johnson, Claudene Sproles, Samantha McClellan and Rosalinda Hernandez Linares
This paper aims to provide an introductory overview and selected annotated bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy across all library…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an introductory overview and selected annotated bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy across all library types.
Design/methodology/approach
It introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2014.
Findings
It provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.
Originality/value
The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.
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Ricardo Montelongo and Paul William Eaton
The purpose of this paper is to examine the online pedagogical practices and technological tools that influenced the attainment of skills and knowledge associated with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the online pedagogical practices and technological tools that influenced the attainment of skills and knowledge associated with professional multicultural competence in a graduate student online course focused on social justice and inclusion.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative case study includes a total of ten student participants. Two theoretical orientations guide the study. Mishra and Koehler’s (2006) model of technological pedagogical content knowledge is provided to understand the reciprocal relationship between content, pedagogy, knowledge and technology in online learning environments. Critical digital pedagogy (Morris and Stommel, 2018) provides insights into challenging the neutrality of technological tools and focuses on relational capacities of online learning environments. Initial coding by each researcher was reduced to thematic codes focused on technological tools, course content delivery, asynchronous and synchronous pedagogical strategies.
Findings
Data analysis revealed technological tools such as discussion boards, video, video conferencing and synchronous opportunities influence student engagement and learning. Further, findings reveal that the nature of online education itself – specifically asynchronocity – functions as both a distraction and possibility for online learning in multicultural education courses. Students in this study revealed the value of opportunities to engage synchronously in online learning environments. Instruction without such opportunities was disadvantageous to the learning of skills and knowledge associated with multicultural competence.
Research limitations/implications
The study is not generalizable to the experiences of all online students and only provides a small cross-section of online graduate students enrolled in a required diversity course at one institution.
Originality/value
There is a dearth of research focused on teaching courses in diversity, equity, social justice and inclusion in fully online environments, a gap this study begins to fill. The study also enhances the authors’ understanding of graduate student education.
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Anna Marie Johnson, Claudene Sproles and Robert Detmering
The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.
Findings
The paper provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.
Originality/value
The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.
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Keywords
Lior Fink, Aviv Zeevi and Dov Te'eni
The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences in how customers and organizations perceive online customer relations (OCR) tools – the online communication tools at the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences in how customers and organizations perceive online customer relations (OCR) tools – the online communication tools at the interface between organizations and customers – and how the different perceptions affect the implementation, use, and effectiveness of these tools.
Design/methodology/approach
The research model is tested empirically in three separate studies that explore the organizations' perspective of OCR tools, the customers' perspective of OCR tools, and the actual implementation and use of these tools.
Findings
The findings in this paper vary across the six OCR tools examined. The findings for the “contact form” suggest that the misalignment in the perspectives of organizations and customers can drive less effective online relationships. Conversely, the findings for the “order‐tracking system” illustrate the potential of the alternative situation, when the attitudes of organizations and customers are aligned.
Practical implications
This paper identifies two potential barriers to effective OCRs: misalignment between the attitudes of organizations and customers, and inconsistency between attitude and behavior on the part of organizations. The findings suggest ways for organizations to improve the effectiveness of their online strategy.
Originality/value
The research model emphasizes the implementation and use of tools that support relationships rather than commercial transactions, and assumes the availability of a portfolio of OCR tools rather than concentrating on an individual tool. This study contributes by developing and testing a research model that includes the distinct perceptions and behaviors of both organizations and customers.
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