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1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 1 July 2001

Magdalena Mo Ching Mok and Yin Cheong Cheng

Aims to develop a theoretical model for understanding and enhancing effective self‐learning in a networked human and information technology (IT) environment. Recent educational…

2292

Abstract

Aims to develop a theoretical model for understanding and enhancing effective self‐learning in a networked human and information technology (IT) environment. Recent educational reforms in different parts of the world emphasize that independent self‐learning throughout the life span is a sine qua non of education. Parallel to this is the development that the Internet and information technology have changed the modes of teaching and learning fundamentally and created unlimited opportunities for learning. There is an urgent need to develop a theory or model that can be used to deepen the understanding of the nature and process of self‐learning and facilitate students becoming highly motivated and effective self‐learners with the support of a networked human and IT environment. The implications drawn from the theory can contribute to the paradigm shift of education in current worldwide education reforms.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2018

Xiaoliang Qian, Heqing Zhang, Cunxiang Yang, Yuanyuan Wu, Zhendong He, Qing-E Wu and Huanlong Zhang

This paper aims to improve the generalization capability of feature extraction scheme by introducing a micro-cracks detection method based on self-learning features. Micro-cracks…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to improve the generalization capability of feature extraction scheme by introducing a micro-cracks detection method based on self-learning features. Micro-cracks detection of multicrystalline solar cell surface based on machine vision is fast, economical, intelligent and easier for on-line detection. However, the generalization capability of feature extraction scheme adopted by existed methods is limited, which has become an obstacle for further improving the detection accuracy.

Design/methodology/approach

A novel micro-cracks detection method based on self-learning features and low-rank matrix recovery is proposed in this paper. First, the input image is preprocessed to suppress the noises and remove the busbars and fingers. Second, a self-learning feature extraction scheme in which the feature extraction templates are changed along with the input image is introduced. Third, the low-rank matrix recovery is applied to the decomposition of self-learning feature matrix for obtaining the preliminary detection result. Fourth, the preliminary detection result is optimized by incorporating the superpixel segmentation. Finally, the optimized result is further fine-tuned by morphological postprocessing.

Findings

Comprehensive evaluations are implemented on a data set which includes 120 testing images and corresponding human-annotated ground truth. Specifically, subjective evaluations show that the shape of detected micro-cracks is similar to the ground truth, and objective evaluations demonstrate that the proposed method has a high detection accuracy.

Originality/value

First, a self-learning feature extraction method which has good generalization capability is proposed. Second, the low-rank matrix recovery is combined with superpixel segmentation for locating the defective regions.

Article
Publication date: 2 August 2013

Mei‐Yu Wang

The purpose of this paper is to present an exploratory analysis of the blog sites built by older adults and public libraries in Taiwan in order to explore what improvements public…

1136

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an exploratory analysis of the blog sites built by older adults and public libraries in Taiwan in order to explore what improvements public library blogs can make to support self‐learning for older adults.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was conducted in three stages: location of blogs built by older adults that meet the search criteria; location of blogs built by public libraries in Taiwan; and examination of data related to the blog posts by adopting a content analysis methodology.

Findings

The content of blogs built by older adults is categorised into eight major themes, i.e. spiritual growth and religion, health and medicine, leisure activities, learning, food, politics, investment, and selling. Blogs built by public libraries concentrate on four dimensions, i.e. news or announcements, library instruction materials, learning information or materials, and book clubs. Only a few blogs support self‐learning by supplying learning materials and/or initiating learning activities.

Research limitations/implications

This study has two limitations: there are cut‐off dates for the target content (31 January 2010 for blogs built by older adults and 28 February 2010 for blogs built by public libraries in Taiwan); and it is possible that some of the blogs targeted were not detected and identified.

Practical implications

The paper is useful as an introduction for public libraries to build or redesign their blogs, so that they can support self‐learning for senior citizens.

Originality/value

This study represents a timely analysis of rapidly growing blogs built by older adults and public libraries and makes an original contribution by identifying what has not been discussed in the literature.

Details

The Electronic Library, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 1 May 2019

Arturas Kaklauskas, Irene Lill, Dilanthi Amaratunga and Ieva Ubarte

This article’s purpose is to develop The Model for Smart, Self-learning and Adaptive Resilience Building (SARB).

Abstract

Purpose

This article’s purpose is to develop The Model for Smart, Self-learning and Adaptive Resilience Building (SARB).

Design/Methodology/Approach

Products and patents of methods and systems analysis was carried out in the fields of BIM application, Smart, Self-learning and Adaptive Resilience Building. Based on other researchers’ findings, The SARB Model was proposed.

Findings

Analysis of the literature showed that traditional decisions on the informational modelling do not satisfy all the needs of smart building technologies owing to their static nature. The SARB Model was developed to take care of its efficiency from the brief stage to the end of its service life.

Research Limitations/Implications

The SARB Model was developed to take care of its efficiency from the brief stage to the end of its service life. The SARB Model does have some limitations: (1) the processes followed require the collection of much unstructured and semi-structured data from many sources, along with their analyses to support stakeholders in decision-making; (2) stakeholders need to be aware of the broader context of decision-making and (3) the proposal is process-oriented, which can be a disadvantage during the model’s implementation.

Practical Implications

Two directions can be identified for the practical implications of the SARB Model. The initial expectation is the widespread installation of SARB Model within real estate and construction organisations. Furthermore, development of the SARB Model will be used to implement the ERASMUS+ project, “Advancing Skill Creation to ENhance Transformation—ASCENT” Project No. 561712-EPP-1-2015-UK-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP.

Originality/Value

The practical implications of this paper are valuable.

Details

10th Nordic Conference on Construction Economics and Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-051-1

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 June 2019

Lin Jia, Lijuan Huang, Zhijun Yan, Dianne Hall, Jiahe Song and David Paradice

Although the use of instant messaging (IM) at work has been studied in the IS field, its effective use and impact on performance have not been adequately addressed. The purpose of…

Abstract

Purpose

Although the use of instant messaging (IM) at work has been studied in the IS field, its effective use and impact on performance have not been adequately addressed. The purpose of this paper is to explore the antecedents and consequences of the effective use of IM at work by adapting Burton-Jones and Grange’s theory of effective use.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors introduce “Comprehensive IM policy” as a facilitator of adaptation and learning actions to improve the effective use of IM, which will improve communication quality and productivity. The impact of IM competence on effective use is also discussed. Based on a survey of 215 managers, this study applies the partial least square technique to test the research model.

Findings

The results indicate that comprehensive IM policy encourages adaptation and learning actions, which improve the effective use of IM and thereafter improve communication quality and productivity. Meanwhile, IM competence has a substitutive interaction effect with IM reconfiguration and self-learning on effective use.

Originality/value

The results refine the general theory of effective use and provide managers with an approach to leverage IM use at work for performance gains.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 33 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 December 2010

David Woodger and Jim Cowan

In this article, we return to a piece of work we did with two NHS trusts in the mid 1990s that focused squarely on tackling institutional racism. We do this for two reasons…

695

Abstract

In this article, we return to a piece of work we did with two NHS trusts in the mid 1990s that focused squarely on tackling institutional racism. We do this for two reasons. First, because we feel that the current context for equalities may be obscuring the need to continue to find ways to tackle institutional racism. Second, we brought together very achievable survey and group work techniques in a co‐produced process, which makes tackling institutional racism less laden with rhetoric and much more of a practical proposition. This article articulates a three‐staged approach to identifying racism operating inside the trusts, an appraisal of the experience of black patients and the development of learning groups. In these learning groups, black and white practitioners and managers engaged with each other on their impacts and relationships with black patients, thereby changing their practices with all patients. What achieves equality of health service response from this experience is the creation of an environment in which practitioners can become self‐motivated in re‐working ‘with and for themselves’ the way they work with patients based on a recognition of racial identities in service relationships.

Details

Ethnicity and Inequalities in Health and Social Care, vol. 3 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-0980

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 July 2009

Dan Bouhnik, Yahel Giat and Yafit Sanderovitch

The purpose of this study is to characterize learning from asynchronous sources among research and development (R&D) personnel. It aims to examine four aspects of asynchronous…

798

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to characterize learning from asynchronous sources among research and development (R&D) personnel. It aims to examine four aspects of asynchronous source learning: employee preferences regarding self‐learning; extent of source usage; employee satisfaction with these sources and the effect of the sources on the workplace.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 120 R&D employees of a high‐tech firm were administered questionnaires consisting of open‐ended and close‐ended questions regarding different features of asynchronous learning.

Findings

The study finds that a synchronous sources are highly utilized by employees and are used both for general‐purpose learning and solving specific problems. Despite the high usage and satisfaction from these sources, we do not find evidence to support the creation of an expert community of practice.

Research limitations/implications

The research is limited to a single, albeit large, firm. Possibly, in different organizational, cultural or geographical settings, expert communities of knowledge may be created in a more pronounced manner.

Practical implications

Managers should: consult with employees as to what they need most to complement the asynchronous sources; put more emphasize on measuring satisfaction from asynchronous sources to predict the value of these sources to the organization; and encourage and ensure the creation of an expert community of practice and support and maintain it thereafter.

Originality/value

Empirical research about the implications of asynchronous sources on the workplace is scarce. This paper complements previous research and provides new insight into understanding these effects.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 21 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 January 2023

Zhixiang Chen

The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel improved teaching and learning-based algorithm (TLBO) to enhance its convergence ability and solution accuracy, making it more…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel improved teaching and learning-based algorithm (TLBO) to enhance its convergence ability and solution accuracy, making it more suitable for solving large-scale optimization issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Utilizing multiple cooperation mechanisms in teaching and learning processes, an improved TBLO named CTLBO (collectivism teaching-learning-based optimization) is developed. This algorithm introduces a new preparation phase before the teaching and learning phases and applies multiple teacher–learner cooperation strategies in teaching and learning processes. Applying modularization idea, based on the configuration structure of operators of CTLBO, six variants of CTLBO are constructed. For identifying the best configuration, 30 general benchmark functions are tested. Then, three experiments using CEC2020 (2020 IEEE Conference on Evolutionary Computation)-constrained optimization problems are conducted to compare CTLBO with other algorithms. At last, a large-scale industrial engineering problem is taken as the application case.

Findings

Experiment with 30 general unconstrained benchmark functions indicates that CTLBO-c is the best configuration of all variants of CTLBO. Three experiments using CEC2020-constrained optimization problems show that CTLBO is one powerful algorithm for solving large-scale constrained optimization problems. The application case of industrial engineering problem shows that CTLBO and its variant CTLBO-c can effectively solve the large-scale real problem, while the accuracies of TLBO and other meta-heuristic algorithm are far lower than CLTBO and CTLBO-c, revealing that CTLBO and its variants can far outperform other algorithms. CTLBO is an excellent algorithm for solving large-scale complex optimization issues.

Originality/value

The innovation of this paper lies in the improvement strategies in changing the original TLBO with two-phase teaching–learning mechanism to a new algorithm CTLBO with three-phase multiple cooperation teaching–learning mechanism, self-learning mechanism in teaching and group teaching mechanism. CTLBO has important application value in solving large-scale optimization problems.

Details

International Journal of Intelligent Computing and Cybernetics, vol. 16 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-378X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 1997

Wing‐Ming Cheung and Yin Cheong Cheng

Argues for the importance of self‐management in ensuring quality of teacher performance. Aims to propose a framework of teacher self‐management and draw implications for teacher…

6295

Abstract

Argues for the importance of self‐management in ensuring quality of teacher performance. Aims to propose a framework of teacher self‐management and draw implications for teacher training. Teacher self‐management is a continuous process comprising two self‐propelling cycles. The major cycle consists of five sequential stages, in which teachers as strategic actors will be aware of the changing education environment and able to readjust their personal goals and action plans to meet emerging challenges. The support cycle facilitates action learning in various stages of the major cycle. Practising in the major and support cycles, teachers may develop the necessary self‐renewal and competence for ensuring the quality of their professional work in the changing environment. From this conception of self‐management, the traditional staff development practice in school can be re‐engineered to maximize opportunities for facilitating teachers’ self‐management and self‐learning. For both pre‐service and in‐service teacher training, the self‐management theory can also bring alternative ideas for reforming teacher education programmes and preparing teachers for quality performance in a changing education environment. The implications should be useful not only to educational organizations but also to other professional organizations.

Details

Training for Quality, vol. 5 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0968-4875

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 February 2020

Lih-Juan ChanLin

This study aims to analyze the engagement of community members in an English as a second language (ESL) live broadcast. A platform for encouraging language and culture learning in…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the engagement of community members in an English as a second language (ESL) live broadcast. A platform for encouraging language and culture learning in ESL was planned and implemented. Research purposes were to explore the following aspects for engaging students’ participation: operation-monitoring, planning and implementation, incentives and motives, interactions with multiple formats and challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

The platform used for the ESL live broadcast was Open Broadcaster Software Studio. Through the live videos and instant messages delivered by the network, real-time interactions from different virtual sites were achieved. Observations and operation documentation were recorded. Interviews with the teacher, the library administrator and the students were carried out for collecting data. Inductive analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data from the different sources.

Findings

It was observed that the ESL broadcast reached a great number of users weekly. To engage the ESL broadcast community, efforts to monitor and plan for implementation were made. Students were encouraged by both external incentives and internal motivation. Managing the connectivity problems was essential for guaranteeing the quality of the real-time interactions. From their experiences, the participants were positive about the broadcast approach to learning ESL. More diverse topics and alternatives for oral interactions in the class are suggested in future implementations.

Research limitations/implications

The implementation of the ESL live broadcast provides a model for inviting members within the university community to engage in the language and culture learning. The research is preliminary and is limited to a specific university. Future research on diverse learning settings is needed.

Originality/value

The findings of this study will contribute to the research in streaming media interactions. The case might be applied to other settings and other subject domains.

Details

The Electronic Library , vol. 38 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

Keywords

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