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1 – 10 of 13
Article
Publication date: 1 March 2024

Amy Stornaiuolo, Jennifer Higgs, Opal Jawale and Rhianne Mae Martin

With the rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence (AI), it is important to consider how young people are making sense of these tools in their everyday lives…

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Abstract

Purpose

With the rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence (AI), it is important to consider how young people are making sense of these tools in their everyday lives. Drawing on critical postdigital approaches to learning and literacy, this study aims to center the experiences and perspectives of young people who encounter and experiment with generative AI in their daily writing practices.

Design/methodology/approach

This critical case study of one digital platform – Character.ai – brings together an adolescent and adult authorship team to inquire about the intertwining of young people’s playful and critical perspectives when writing on/with digital platforms. Drawing on critical walkthrough methodology (Light et al., 2018), the authors engage digital methods to study how the creative and “fun” uses of AI in youths’ writing lives are situated in broader platform ecologies.

Findings

The findings suggest experimentation and pleasure are key aspects of young people’s engagement with generative AI. The authors demonstrate how one platform works to capitalize on these dimensions, even as youth users engage critically and artfully with the platform and develop their digital writing practices.

Practical implications

This study highlights how playful experimentation with generative AI can engage young people both in pleasurable digital writing and in exploration and contemplation of platforms dynamics and structures that shape their and others’ literate activities. Educators can consider young people’s creative uses of these evolving technologies as potential opportunities to develop a critical awareness of how commercial platforms seek to benefit from their users.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the development of a critical and humanist research agenda around generative AI by centering the experiences, perspectives and practices of young people who are underrepresented in the burgeoning research devoted to AI and literacies.

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 12 April 2024

Glenys Caswell

Abstract

Details

Time of Death
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-006-9

Book part
Publication date: 23 May 2024

Pooja Kansra

Coronavirus illness is an irresistible infection instigated by a newfound coronavirus. Social distancing was identified as the most effective preventive measure, and it has…

Abstract

Coronavirus illness is an irresistible infection instigated by a newfound coronavirus. Social distancing was identified as the most effective preventive measure, and it has shifted the teaching to online mode. The present study explored the various perceptions held by students while attending the classes during COVID-19. Primary data have been obtained for the fulfillment of the objective of the study. The data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. It was exhibited that students specified that online teaching provides real-world skills followed by financial benefits, active learning, recorded lectures, comfortable, ease of access, safe, flexible timings, interactive, and build self-confidence. However, various challenges in online classes were less interaction, technical issues, network issues, lack of self-discipline, social isolation, family distractions, difficult e-learning tools, etc. Logit regression provided that willingness to attend online classes in post COVID-19 was associated with age, gender, IT skills, prior experience, and location. Application of e-learning posed several challenges and possibilities throughout the entire field of education throughout the pandemic. The study suggested the need to address the various challenges faced by the students on immediate basis. It was recommended that training programs can help to prepare the students to take the benefits of digital education platforms.

Details

Navigating the Digital Landscape
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83549-272-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2023

Cleide Gisele Ribeiro, Plinio dos Santos Ramos, Raimundo Nonato Bechara, Juliano Machado de Oliveira, Erika Bicalho de Almeida, Soraida Sozzi Miguel, Djalma Rabelo Ricardo and Rodrigo Guerra de Oliveira

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a significant disruption in the educational systems worldwide. Some institutions opted for emergency remote education due to the need to cancel…

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a significant disruption in the educational systems worldwide. Some institutions opted for emergency remote education due to the need to cancel in-person activities. The aims of this paper were to evaluate the use of asynchronous methodology in health sciences education, determine whether asynchronous methodology was sacrificing overall student satisfaction, and investigate whether satisfaction improved as the program develops.

Design/methodology/approach

Initially, there was phase 1 that corresponded to four weeks of activities. Each professor produced a video lesson, and after each video lesson, a weekly educational activity was made available. Next, phase 2 was implemented using the same methodology, however lasting six weeks. Three questionnaires were developed, and a Likert scale was administered to verify the students’ level of satisfaction. Data were analyzed using frequency distributions, mean values, standard deviation and confidence interval. The normality of the sum data (total of the questionnaires) was tested using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test.

Findings

Although the students pointed out that the asynchronous methodology facilitated access to the content and considered this methodology satisfactory, they expressed a reduced level of satisfaction regarding emergency remote education in general when data from the first weeks were compared to those of the previous weeks. It is clear that students became increasingly discouraged and tired over time, which motivated the institution to shift into a combination of synchronous and asynchronous methodology to improve student learning.

Originality/value

Teaching in the field of health care encompasses difficult competencies that sometimes are impossible to be learned remotely, so there is a need to examine and evaluate properly the remote education in this area. With careful planning, educational institutions can evaluate their experiences during the pandemic, allowing those involved to highlight strengths and identify weaknesses to better prepare for future needs to improve remote education.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

Abstract

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Article
Publication date: 26 April 2024

Kasun Gomis, Mandeep Saini, Chaminda Pathirage and Mohammed Arif

The need to enhance student support is evident in higher education (HE) curricula. In addition to the complications created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the current strategies used…

Abstract

Purpose

The need to enhance student support is evident in higher education (HE) curricula. In addition to the complications created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the current strategies used in academia are criticised for their lack of appropriate student support in HE. The study focused on the themes under Section 4 of the National Student Survey (NSS): availability to contact tutors, receiving good advice and guidance and availability of good advice. The study aimed to provide recommendations for enhancing academic support by developing drivers that need implementation during course delivery.

Design/methodology/approach

A documental analysis and a qualitative survey were adopted for this study. A documental analysis of 334 mid-module reviews (MMRs) from levels three to six students in the built environment (BE) discipline. Critical themes identified from the MMRs were fed forward in developing a questionnaire for academics. A sample of 23 academics, including a Head of school, a Principal lecturer, Subject leads and Lecturers, participated in the questionnaire survey. Content analysis is adopted through questionnaire data to develop drivers to enhance academic support in BE. These drivers are then modelled by interpretive structural modelling (ISM) to identify their correlation to NSS Section 4 themes. A level partition analysis establishes how influential they are in enhancing academic support.

Findings

The study identified nine drivers, where two drivers were categorised as fundamental, two as significant, four as important, and one insignificant in enhancing academic support in HE. Module leaders’/tutors’ improving awareness and detailing how academic support is provided were identified as fundamental. Differentiating roles in giving advice and the importance of one-to-one meetings were identified as significant. A level partitioning diagram was developed from the nine drivers to illustrate how these drivers need to be implemented to promote the best practices in academic support in HE.

Practical implications

The identified drivers and their categories can be used to set prioritised guidelines for academics and other educational institutions to improve students’ overall satisfaction.

Originality/value

Novelty from the study will be the developed drivers and the level partitioning diagram to assist academics and academic institutions in successfully integrating academic support into HE curricula.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 May 2024

Laura Dixon and Valerie Makin

This paper explores the potential that block teaching offers to enhance employability in the context of large-scale classes. It suggests that block teaching, with its condensed…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores the potential that block teaching offers to enhance employability in the context of large-scale classes. It suggests that block teaching, with its condensed structure, necessitates curriculum innovation, fosters participatory learning and peer-to-peer networking, and has been shown to increase student focus and enhance engagement and attainment, especially amongst diverse learners. As these are the same challenges that large-scale teaching faces, it is proposed that intensive modes of delivery could be scaled up in a way that may help to mitigate such problems as cohorts in business schools continue to increase in size.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on secondary research and provides an overview of literature that looks at block teaching, followed by that which explores the challenges of large-scale teaching contexts. It compares and contrasts the gaps in both to suggest a way that they could be combined.

Findings

The paper provides key insights into changes in the contemporary landscape of teaching within UK business schools, which have seen increasingly large cohorts and draws out the key strengths of intensive modes of delivery, which include helping students to time manage effectively, encouraging curriculum innovation and the creation of participatory learning opportunities as well as providing closer personal relationships between students and staff. Outlining some of the well-documented issues that can arise when teaching larger cohorts, the paper suggests that scaling up blocked delivery may offer a new way help to overcome them.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results are subject to generalisation. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions in large-scale teaching scenarios.

Practical implications

This paper includes implications for the development of innovative modes of teaching in the context of large cohorts, an experience that is increasingly common amongst British business schools and beyond.

Originality/value

This paper brings together two bodies of literature for the first time – that of intensive modes of teaching and that focuses on large-scale teaching contexts – for the first time to show how the former may help to overcome some of the key issues arising in the latter.

Details

Journal of Work-Applied Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2205-2062

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 April 2024

Patrick Kraus, Elias Fißler and Dennis Schlegel

In recent years, the robotic process automation (RPA) technology has increasingly been used to automate business processes. While a lot of research has been published on the…

Abstract

Purpose

In recent years, the robotic process automation (RPA) technology has increasingly been used to automate business processes. While a lot of research has been published on the potential and benefits of the technology, only a few studies have conducted research on challenges related to RPA adoption. Hence, this study aims to identify and discuss challenges related to RPA implementation projects.

Design/methodology/approach

Following an inductive methodology, interviews have been conducted with consultants who were involved in multiple RPA implementation projects. Hence, their extensive experience and views contribute to a detailed and in-depth understanding of the phenomena under research.

Findings

The results suggest that there are various process-related, technical, resource-related, psychological and coordinative challenges that must be considered when conducting an RPA implementation project.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to knowledge by presenting a new typology of challenges, as well as providing an in-depth discussion of the individual challenges that organizations face.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 32 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 March 2024

William Joseph Fassbender

This study builds on previous theoretical work that considered artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential for creating “teacher-centaurs” whose labor could be accelerated…

Abstract

Purpose

This study builds on previous theoretical work that considered artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential for creating “teacher-centaurs” whose labor could be accelerated through the use of generative AI (Fassbender, in review). The purpose of this paper is to use empirical methods to study centaur teachers and the division of labor (Durkheim, 1893/2013) that arise from outsourcing teaching tasks to AI.

Design/methodology/approach

Multiple case study (Stake, 2006) was used to collect data on two secondary English teachers who were early adopters of generative AI. Data included semi-structured interviews as well as ChatGPT chat logs, which helped in describing how teaching approaches evolved using AI technology.

Findings

Results showed that teachers used AI for planning, instruction and assessment. AI-augmented teaching practices allowed teachers to complete tasks with greater speed, which in turn increased stamina and short-term work–life balance. Given the novelty of AI, concerns about data privacy and academic integrity raised ethical questions.

Originality/value

ChatGPT’s rise to popularity in 2023 brought with it significant discussions about education, specifically how students would use AI primarily as a tool for plagiarism. This study takes a different focus, considering how early adoption of AI has begun changing teacher labor, offering implications for the future of the teaching profession.

Article
Publication date: 14 February 2024

Ruth Li

This paper aims to offer an approach to cyborg composing with artificial intelligence (AI). The author posits that the hybridity of the cyborg, which amalgamates human and…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to offer an approach to cyborg composing with artificial intelligence (AI). The author posits that the hybridity of the cyborg, which amalgamates human and artificial elements, invites a cascade of creative and emancipatory possibilities. The author critically examines the biases embedded in AI systems while gesturing toward the generative potential of AI–human entanglements. Drawing on Bakhtinian theories of dialogism, the author contends that crafting found poetry with AI could inspire writers to problematize the ideologies embedded into the corpus while teasing apart its elisions or contradictions, sparking new forms of expression at the interface of the organic and the artificial.

Design/methodology/approach

To illustrate this approach to human–AI composing, the author shares a found poem that she wrote using ChatGPT alongside her reflection on the poem. The author reflects on her positionality as well as the positionality of her artificial interlocutor, interrogating the notion of subjectivity in relation to Bakhtinian dialogism and multivocality.

Findings

Weaving tales of resilience in harmony or tension with AI could unravel threads of possibility as human writers enrich, deepen or complicate AI-generated texts. By composing with AI, writers can resist closure, infiltrate illusions of objectivity and “speak back” to AI and the dominant voices replicated in its systems.

Originality/value

By encouraging students to critically engage with, question and complicate AI-generated texts, one can open avenues for alternative ways of thinking and writing, inspiring students to imagine and compose speculative futures. Ultimately, in animating assemblages of the organic and the artificial, one can invite transformative possibilities of being and becoming.

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Keywords

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