Simulations have been shown to be an effective tool in traditional learning environments; however, as distance learning grows in popularity, the need to examine simulation effectiveness in this environment has become paramount. A casual-comparative design was chosen for this study to determine whether students using a computer-based instructional simulation in hybrid and fully online environments learned better than traditional classroom learners. The study spans a period of 6 years beginning fall 2008 through spring 2014. The population studied was 281 undergraduate business students self-enrolled in a 200-level microcomputer application course. The overall results support previous studies in that computer simulations are most effective when used as a supplement to face-to-face lectures and in hybrid environments.

Aim/Purpose: Governments, private business, and academia have become increasingly aware of the importance of collaboration in multi-stakeholder, multicultural environments. This is due to the globalization and (developing) mutual relationships with other global partners, due to the often varying visions and goals between the respective organizations in managing projects that span those environments. Background: This research conducts a survey of literature pertaining to organizational collaboration in multi-stakeholder, multicultural environments in government, private business, and academic sectors, conducting an analysis to identify the gaps in the basic questions thus far explored in the literature. The gap analysis will expose the opportunities for greater collaboration in these environments. Methodology: The author conducted a literature review to identify existing research gaps to focus interviews that will develop multiple case studies in future research. Contribution/Findings: This literature review has determined gaps in understanding how contributing factors to cultural communication impact collaboration in multi-cultural, multi-stakeholder organizations, encouraging additional research in this area. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners have the opportunity to develop their use of cultural communication contributing factors, potentially increasing their collaboration efficiency. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers have opportunity to gather empirical evidence that factors of cultural communication may influence collaboration in the multi-cultural, multi-stakeholder environment. Impact on Society Improved understanding of how cultural communication factors influence collaboration in multi-cultural, multi-stakeholder organizations can improve organizational efficiency. Future Research: Gather empirical evidence that factors of cultural communication may influence collaboration in the multi-cultural, multi-stakeholder environment.

Aim/Purpose: The authors provide different technology applications useful in online instruction in addition to providing effective strategies for use in a virtual environment. Background: Last year, educators were forced to move their instruction online almost overnight. Many were not prepared to teach effectively in a virtual environment. Contribution: This paper serves as a resource to educators who are unfamiliar with teaching online as well as for those who would like to enhance their current practice. Recommendations for Practitioners: Be flexible when teaching in a virtual environment. Remain open to using new and unfamiliar technologies. Be consistent in providing feedback to students and communicate frequently with them. Impact on Society: The abrupt transition for educators, as well as for most workplaces, to an exclusively online environment in response to COVID has long-lasting effects in how business as usual will be conducted. Being proficient and comfortable in navigating a virtual environment is essential. Future Research: As we continue to work virtually, ongoing research that informs our practice is critical for remaining effective educators. Additionally, it is important to remain knowledgeable about current and new technologies available to us. Keywords online instruction, technology applications, strategies

A central premise for the creation of Electronic Health Records (EHR) is ensuring the portability of patient health records across various clinical, insurance, and regulatory entities. From portability standards such as International Classification of Diseases (ICD) to data sharing across institutions, a lack of portability of health data can jeopardize optimal care and reduce meaningful use. This research empirically investigates the relationship between health records availability and portability. Using data collected from 168 medical providers and patients, we confirm the positive relationship between user perceptions of expected satisfaction with EHR availability and the expected satisfaction with portability. Our findings contribute to more informed practice by understanding how ensuring the availability of patient data by virtue of enhanced data sharing standards, device independence, and better EHR data integration can subsequently drive perceptions of portability across a multitude of stakeholders.

Aim/Purpose: This explanatory study aimed to determine the mediating role of ERP in the relation between the effect of a socio-technical approach and decision-making environment, and firms’ sustainable performance. Background: Although earlier studies have discussed the critical success factors of the failure or success of an ERP system and the extent to which it achieves its desired objectives, the current study focused on the significant impact of socio-technical elements and decision-making environment on the success of the ERP system (i.e., sustainable performance). In addition, the lack of research on ERP as a mediator in the above relationship motivated this study to bridge the literature gap. Methodology: The data was collected using questionnaires distributed to 233 randomly selected employees of three multinational companies (BP, LUKOIL, and Eni) operating in Iraq. The structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. Contribution: The study contributes to the literature by examining the mediating role of the ERP system in the relationship between socio-technical elements and the decision-making environment, as well as, the moderating role of organizational culture in the relationship between socio-technical elements and ERP systems. Findings: The results showed that ERP is a significant mediator between the linkage of socio-technical elements and the decision-making environment while organizational culture has an insignificant moderating role in the relationship between socio-technical elements and ERP systems. Recommendations for Practitioners: In a developing country like Iraq, there is a need to implement ERP to achieve better sustainable performance through change management and organizational development that ultimately work towards enhancing individual capabilities, knowledge, and training. Recommendation for Researchers: The researchers are recommended to conduct an in-depth study of the phenomenon based on theoretical and empirical grounds, particularly in light of the relationship of socio-technical elements and decision-making environments. Impact on Society: This study provides a reference for organizations with similar cultural backgrounds in using ERP systems to minimize pollution in Iraqi context. Future Research: A more in-depth study can be performed using a bigger sample, which not only includes the oil industry but also the other industries.

Aim/Purpose: This study investigated factors influencing the intention to engage in green innovation among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism sector, using an integrated approach from the pro-environmental planned behavior (PEPB) and technology organization environment (TOE) models. Background: Green innovation is a long-term strategy aimed at addressing environmental challenges in the Indonesian tourism sector, especially those related to SMEs in culinary, accommodation, transportation, and creative industries. While prior research primarily focused on innovation characteristics and various behavioral intentions towards new technologies, this study pioneered an approach to understanding green innovation practices among SMEs by examining behavioral intention and the influence of internal organizational and external environmental factors. This was achieved through the PEPB model, which extends the theory of planned behavior (TPB) by incorporating perceived authority support and perceived environmental concern and integrating it with the TOE model. This comprehensive approach was crucial for understanding SME motivations, needs, and challenges in adopting green innovation, thereby supporting environmental sustainability. Methodology: Data were collected through offline and online questionnaires and interviews with 405 SMEs that had implemented green innovation as respondents. The theoretical model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with top-level constructs. Contribution: This research contributed to the development and validation of an integrated model for green innovation in SMEs, offering insights and recommendations for all stakeholders in the tourism sector to formulate effective green innovation strategies. Findings: This research revealed that the integrated model of pro-environmental planned behavior and technology organization environment successfully explained 71% of the factors influencing the intention to engage in green innovation for SMEs in the tourism sector. Perceived authority support emerged as the strongest factor, while perceived behavioral control was identified as a weaker factor. Recommendations for Practitioners: The research findings recommended that SMEs in the tourism sector focus on customer satisfaction and operational efficiency and optimize the recruitment and training processes of resources to maximize success in adopting environmentally friendly innovations. Meanwhile, for the government, providing support, incentives, and stringent environmental regulations could encourage sustainable business practices. Recommendation for Researchers: The research findings recommended that SMEs in the tourism sector focus on customer satisfaction and operational efficiency and optimize the recruitment and training processes of resources to maximize success in adopting environmentally friendly innovations. Meanwhile, for the government, providing support, incentives, and stringent environmental regulations could encourage sustainable business practices. Impact on Society: Examining the factors influencing the intention to engage in green innovation among SMEs in the tourism sector carried significant social implications. The findings contributed to recommending strategies for businesses and stakeholders such as the government, investors, and tourists to collectively strive to minimize environmental damage in tourist areas through the implementation of green innovation. Future Research: There are several promising avenues to explore to enhance future research. Expanding the scope to include diverse regions and industries and using additional approaches, such as leadership theory and management commitment theories, can increase the R-squared value. Additionally, broadening the profile of interviewees to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the intention to engage in green innovation should be considered.

Aim/Purpose: This study examines the adoption and continued use of m-learning in Iraqi universities amidst an unstable environment by extending the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) and Expectation-Confirmation Model (ECM) models. The primary goal is to address the specific challenges and opportunities in Iraq’s higher education institutions (HEIs) due to geopolitical instability and understand their impact on student acceptance, satisfaction, and continued m-learning usage. Background: The research builds on the growing importance of m-learning, especially in HEIs, and recognizes the unique challenges faced by institutions in Iraq, given the region’s instability. It identifies gaps in existing models and proposes extensions, introducing the variable “civil conflicts” to account for the volatile context. The study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of m-learning acceptance in conflict-affected regions and provide insights for improving m-learning initiatives in Iraqi HEIs. Methodology: To achieve its objectives, this research employed a quantitative survey to collect data from 399 students in five Iraqi universities. PLS-SEM is used for the analysis of quantitative data, testing the extended UTAUT2 and ECM models. Contribution: The study’s findings are expected to contribute to the development of a nuanced understanding of m-learning adoption and continued usage in conflict-affected regions, particularly in the Iraqi HEI context. Findings: The study’s findings may inform strategies to enhance the effectiveness of m-learning initiatives in Iraqi HEIs and offer insights into how education can be supported in regions characterized by instability. Recommendations for Practitioners: Educators and policymakers can benefit from the research by making informed decisions to support education continuity and quality, particularly in conflict-affected areas. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers can build upon this study by further exploring the adoption and usage of m-learning in unstable environments and evaluating the effectiveness of the proposed model extensions. Impact on Society: The research has the potential to positively impact society by improving access to quality education in regions affected by conflict and instability. Future Research: Future research can expand upon this study by examining the extended model’s applicability in different conflict-affected regions and assessing the long-term impact of m-learning initiatives on students’ educational outcomes.

This paper reports on a case study of a group of six non-native English speaking migrant women’s experiences learning English vocabulary in a mobile assisted language learning (MALL) environment at a small community centre in Western Australia. A sociocultural approach to learning vocabulary was adopted in designing the MALL lessons that the women undertook. The women provided demographic information, responded to questions in a pre-MALL semi-structured interview, attended the MALL lessons, and completed a post-MALL semi-structured interview. This study explores the sociocultural factors that affect migrant women’s language learning in general, and vocabulary in particular. The women’s responses to MALL lessons and using the tablet reveal a positive effect in their vocabulary learning.

This study examined a professional development program designed to support Civics teachers in their efforts to promote empathy among Israeli Jewish students towards Israeli Arabs. The design rationale for the program is that teachers should experience empathic processes themselves before supporting their students in such an endeavor and that meaningful empathic processes can occur online if activities are properly designed. All phases of the program were designed to support teachers to participate as part of an online community of practice. Sixty Jewish teachers participated in two iterations of the design study. Refinements were made in the second iteration to provide teachers with explicit definitions of empathy and specific instructions for reflection. Findings indicate that these changes were reflected in higher degrees of empathic responses among teachers. Teachers also indicated that being a part of an online learning community contributed to the learning process they experienced during the program. We interpret this as a first step in enabling teachers to assist their students to develop a more empathetic approach toward the minority group and conclude with a discussion of recommended design principles for promoting such an approach.

This paper provides an overview of the impact that social media has on the development of collaborative learning within a cohort environment in a doctoral program. The researchers surveyed doctoral students in an education program to determine how social media use has influenced the doctoral students. The study looked at the following areas: a) the ability of social media use to develop a collaborative learning environment, b) access to social media content which supports learning, and c) whether social media use has contributed to the enhancement of the doctoral students’ academic achievement and learning progress. As social media use and on-line learning become more prevalent in education, it is important to continue to understand the impact that social media has on improving students’ ability to achieve their academic goals. This study provides insight on how doctoral students used social media and how social media use has influenced academic development in their cohort environment. In addition, this paper provides a discerning view into the role social media plays when developing a collaborative learning environment in a cohort.

Non-expert scientists are frequently involved in research requiring data acquisition over large geographic areas. Despite mutual benefits for such “citizen science”, barriers also exist, including 1) difficulty maintaining user engagement with timely feedback, and 2) the challenge of providing non-experts with the means to generate reliable data. We have developed a system that addresses these barriers. Our technologies, KnoWare and InSpector, allow users to: collect reliable scientific measurements, map geo-tagged data, and intuitively visualize the results in real-time. KnoWare comprises a web portal and an iOS app with two core functions. First, users can generate scientific ‘queries’ that entail a call for information posed to a crowd with customized options for participant responses and viewing data. Second, users can respond to queries with their GPS-enabled mobile device, which results in their geo- and time-stamped responses populating a web-accessible map in real time. KnoWare can also interface with additional applications to diversify the types of data that can be reported. We demonstrate this capability with a second iOS app called InSpector that performs quantitative water quality measurements. When used in combina-tion, these technologies create a workflow to facilitate the collection, sharing and interpretation of scientific data by non-expert scientists.

Aim/Purpose: Climate change mitigation is a global challenge, in which academia and business have a role to play. This research explores ways to develop a freely-available information system that would enable small businesses to identify and reduce their environmental footprint. Background: While large organizations have the resources to track emissions and other pertinent data, small businesses may not, despite intentions to be more environmentally responsible. Freely available applications to track emissions focus on the carbon footprint of things, whereas activities are a more meaningful unit of analysis for business managers. Methodology: Using a design science research approach, we conducted a study of a collaborative project that investigated how a low-cost, freely-available online wiki could be developed by group of students, under the guidance of university scholars and business owners. In the project, different student groups were tasked to create the wiki, input content and design a dashboard interface for managers to find data relevant to their business. The research takes an information systems view of the project, relying on the holistic notion of activity from activity theory and taking a design science approach to the study. Contribution: The paper contributes to the practices of green information systems, climate change, and small business. Theoretically it provides new insights into the linear view of design science in resource poor, collaborative projects. Findings: The research demonstrates the viability of an online system to track the envi-ronmental footprint of business activities. It reveals the challenges from a design science perspective of attempts to create online systems using freely available products and labor. Recommendations for Practitioners: Meaningful information systems to assist small businesses to manage their environmental footprint should focus on activities not things, be low cost and easy to use. Recommendation for Researchers: Complex nonlinear design science frameworks may be needed to build community-based green information systems projects. Impact on Society: This paper examines the role that university-community partnerships can play in mitigating climate change. Future Research: We should now investigate ways to ensure the viability and sustainability of systems developed by groups of university students.

The PALS system captures physical context from sensed data, reasons about the context and associated context-driven policies to make access-control decisions and detect intrusions into smart home systems based on both network and behavioral data

The post paper: Context Sensitive Access Control in Smart Home Environments appeared first on UMBC ebiquity.

Previous academic and popular literature has raised important debates concerning the contradictory incentives of international firms to reduce their environmental impacts and offer transparent environmental information about their operations. As an exhaustive review of this literature reveals mixed and partial evidence, we compared the individual corporate environmental performance and disclosure of the 100 most international non-financial firms in the world to those of 16,023 firms in their industries and a group of matched pairs of firms for three different years. Our results show that although the top international firms have a much better record of environmental disclosure than the firms within their industries and the matched pairs, the top international firms also show worse environmental performance than their peers. The results suggest that the top international firms seek legitimation for their environmental activities by means of voluntary disclosure.

There is a growing consensus that cooperative goal structures are more effective at motivating groups than competitive goal structures. However, such results are based largely on studies conducted in highly-controlled settings where participants were provided with the necessary resources to accomplish their assigned task. In an attempt to extend the boundary conditions of current theoretical predictions, we undertook a field experiment within a base-of-the-pyramid setting where resource scarcity is extremely high. Specifically, we collected data on 44 communities within rural Sri Lanka who were tasked with contributing a portion of their resources to the construction of a school building; 24 were assigned to a competition condition and 20 to a cooperation condition. The results of our field experiment, and subsequent follow-up interviews and focus groups, collectively suggest that competitive goal structures generally lead to higher levels of motivation within a resource scarce environment. However, our results also suggest that cooperative goal structures can be highly motivating when groups are unfamiliar with one another, as cooperating with unfamiliar groups can provide access to valuable and rare knowledge within such settings.

The Pirate Bay made its debut as a TV series on the Swedish streaming platform SVT Play earlier today. International viewers are left waiting until other services pick it up. In the meantime, some may be tempted to explore unofficial channels for pirated copies of the show. But finding a pirated copy is proving surprisingly difficult.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Privacy: In a series of posts on this blog, we have shown how practically everything our parents took for granted with regards to privacy has been completely eliminated for our children, just because they use digital tools instead of analog, and the people interpreting the laws are saying that privacy only applies to the old, analog environment of our parents.

Once you agree with the observation that privacy seems to simply not apply for our children, merely for living in a digitally-powered environment instead of our parents’ analog-powered one, surprise turns to shock turns to anger, and it’s easy to want to assign blame to someone for essentially erasing five generations’ fight for civil liberties while people were looking the other way.

So whose fault is it, then?

It’s more than one actor at work here, but part of the blame must be assigned to the illusion that that nothing has changed, just because our digital children can use old-fashioned and obsolete technology to obtain the rights they should always have by law and constitution, regardless of which method they use to talk to friends and exercise their privacy rights.

We’ve all heard these excuses.

“You still have privacy of correspondence, just use the old analog letter”. As if the Internet generation would. You might as well tell our analog parents that they would need to send a wired telegram to enjoy some basic rights.

“You can still use a library freely.” Well, only an analog one, not a digital one like The Pirate Bay, which differs from an analog library only in efficiency, and not in anything else.

“You can still discuss anything you like.” Yes, but only in the analog streets and squares, not in the digital streets and squares.

“You can still date someone without the government knowing your dating preferences.” Only if I prefer to date like our parents did, in the unsafe analog world, as opposed to the safe digital environment where predators vanish at the click of a “block” button, an option our analog parents didn’t have in shady bars.

The laws aren’t different for the analog and the digital. The law doesn’t make a difference between analog and digital. But no law is above the people who interpret it in the courts, and the way people interpret those laws means the privacy rights always apply to the analog world, but never to the digital world.

It’s not rocket science to demand the same laws to apply offline and online. This includes copyright law, as well as the fact that privacy of correspondence takes precedence over copyright law (in other words, you’re not allowed to open and examine private correspondence for infringements in the analog world, not without prior and individual warrants — our law books are full of these checks and balances; they should apply in the digital too, but don’t today).

Going back to blame, that’s one actor right there: the copyright industry. They have successfully argued that their monopoly laws should apply online just as it does offline, and in doing so, has completely ignored all the checks and balances that apply to the copyright monopoly laws in the analog world. And since copying movies and music has now moved into the same communications channels as we use for private correspondence, the copyright monopoly as such has become fundamentally incompatible with private correspondence at the conceptual level.

The copyright industry has been aware of this conflict and has been continuously pushing for eroded and eliminated privacy to prop up their crumbling and obsolete monopolies, such as pushing for the hated (and now court-axed) Data Retention Directive in Europe. They would use this federal law (or European equivalent thereof) to literally get more powers than the Police themselves in pursuing individual people who were simply sharing music and movies, sharing in the way everybody does.

There are two other major factors at work. The second factor is marketing. The reason we’re tracked at the sub-footstep level in airports and other busy commercial centers is simply to sell us more crap we don’t need. This comes at the expense of privacy that our analog parents took for granted. Don’t even get started on Facebook and Google.

Last but not least are the surveillance hawks — the politicians who want to look “Tough on Crime”, or “Tough on Terrorism”, or whatever the word of choice is this week. These were the ones who pushed the Data Retention Directive into law. The copyright industry were the ones who basically wrote it for them.

These three factors have working together, and they’ve been very busy.

It’s going to be a long uphill battle to win back the liberties that were slowly won by our ancestors over about six generations, and which have been all but abolished in a decade.

Our children are right to demand Analog Equivalent Privacy Rights — the civil liberties our parents not just enjoyed, but took for granted.

I fear the failure to pass on the civil liberties from our parents to our children is going to be seen as the greatest failure of this particular current generation, regardless of all the good we also accomplish. Surveillance societies can be erected in just ten years, but can take centuries to roll back.

Privacy remains your own responsibility today. We all need to take it back merely by exercising our privacy rights, with whatever tools are at our disposal.

Image from the movie “Nineteen-Eighty Four”; used under fair use for political commentary.

Solving difficult environmental questions is at the top of the agenda for Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.