rain School restraint rules not fit for purpose - union By www.bbc.com Published On :: Fri, 08 Nov 2024 15:44:09 GMT The NASUWT union said that despite a year of waiting for the advice to be published, there was a "lack of practical guidance" from the government. Full Article
rain 'A brain tumour the size of a tennis ball came out my eyebrow' By www.bbc.com Published On :: Fri, 25 Oct 2024 05:21:56 GMT Patient Doreen Adams of Aberdeen says she is grateful for the benefits of the new brain surgery. Full Article
rain One dead in train crash By www.bbc.co.uk Published On :: Tue, 22 Oct 2024 06:36:00 GMT The services involved were the 18:31 from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth on Monday night. Full Article
rain Rail services cancelled due to shortage of trains By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 09:14:08 GMT Transport for Wales says the service will not operate on Tuesday due to trains needing repairs. Full Article
rain Rapid-charging battery train trials under way By www.bbc.com Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 06:09:02 GMT The trains are converted from old Underground trains and will be rolled out in the Thames Valley. Full Article
rain The flooded families living in fear of the rain By www.bbc.com Published On :: Mon, 11 Nov 2024 06:15:58 GMT Residents say they are scared by wet weather after their homes flood multiple times. Full Article
rain This is your brain on wheels By infovore.org Published On :: Wed, 11 May 2022 17:01:42 +0000 This turned into an even longer essay than expected, and whilst it’s a personal narrative about cycling, the important part is: I’m riding RideLondon 100 for charity, you can find a link to the details – and the fundraising – at the end. But first, an essay about riding bikes. Since moving to London, I […] Full Article posts cycling exercise selfimage sport
rain London Looks Like A Model Train Set From This Bridge Near Victoria Station By londonist.com Published On :: Sun, 10 Nov 2024 10:00:00 +0000 Ever hung out on Ebury Bridge? Full Article London Things To Do Headlines trains Victoria view EBURY BRIDGE
rain Training for legal translators. Part IV. Make at least one big study commitment. By legalspaintrans.com Published On :: Mon, 04 Feb 2019 08:55:05 +0000 This is the last part of a series on training for legal translators. See the first post here. To put yourself on the path to becoming a good legal translator, you need to make one big study commitment. A big study commitment is anything that takes at least a year, challenges you, and costs a lot of […] Full Article CPD Legal translation MA Legal Translation legal translation
rain Winter is coming ou choisir entre la Souveraineté et le Marché By marc-vasseur.over-blog.com Published On :: Fri, 14 Dec 2018 12:43:00 +0100 Petite nouveauté : j'ouvre mon blog afin de faire vivre le débat et certains auront remarqué le changement d'intitulé. Désormais, Il y aura un nouveau contributeur en la personne de Vincent Grenier qui est entrepreneur et membre du Conseil National du... Full Article
rain La Russie lance un "nombre record" de drones sur l'Ukraine. Barrage de drones ukrainiens sur Moscou By fr.euronews.com Published On :: Sun, 10 Nov 2024 13:05:18 +0100 La Russie lance un "nombre record" de drones sur l'Ukraine. Barrage de drones ukrainiens sur Moscou Full Article
rain Trump et Poutine auraient discuté de la guerre en Ukraine, "une pure fiction", selon le Kremlin By fr.euronews.com Published On :: Mon, 11 Nov 2024 08:22:47 +0100 Trump et Poutine auraient discuté de la guerre en Ukraine, "une pure fiction", selon le Kremlin Full Article
rain Les enfants ukrainiens enlevés par la Russie destinés à servir son armée ? By fr.euronews.com Published On :: Wed, 13 Nov 2024 12:51:49 +0100 Les enfants ukrainiens enlevés par la Russie destinés à servir son armée ? Full Article
rain Ruffin souhaiterait une "colère sociale" mais craint la résignation - Bourse Direct By news.google.com Published On :: Wed, 13 Nov 2024 09:05:00 GMT Ruffin souhaiterait une "colère sociale" mais craint la résignation Bourse DirectAuchan va fermer une dizaine de magasins et voici les premières villes concernées Linternaute.comFrançois Ruffin souhaiterait une « colère sociale » mais craint la résignation 20 MinutesDans la grande distribution, des emplois amenés à changer... voire à disparaître ? France CultureMeuse. Fermeture d’Auchan : les commerçants de la galerie marchande de Bar-le-Duc s’inquiètent pour leur avenir Est Républicain Full Article
rain Aide à l'Ukraine : Antony Blinken met la pression sur les Européens avant le retour de Donald Trump - FRANCE 24 By news.google.com Published On :: Wed, 13 Nov 2024 03:47:12 GMT Aide à l'Ukraine : Antony Blinken met la pression sur les Européens avant le retour de Donald Trump FRANCE 24Les craintes des dirigeants ukrainiens face aux futures nominations annoncées par Donald Trump Le Monde«La confrontation entre Trump et Poutine est inévitable, mais que va-t-elle coûter à l’Ukraine et à l’Europe ?» Libération24H Pujadas du mardi 12 novembre 2024 - 24 h Pujadas, l'info en questions | LCI TF1+Guerre en Ukraine : "Donald Trump souhaite parvenir à la paix le plus rapidement possible", en acceptant de céder à Poutine les territoires conquis par son armée L'Indépendant Full Article
rain Guerre en Ukraine : Vladimir Poutine «est en train de lancer une attaque de missiles sur Kiev», avertit le chef de cabinet de Volodymyr Zelensky - CNEWS By news.google.com Published On :: Wed, 13 Nov 2024 09:40:56 GMT Guerre en Ukraine : Vladimir Poutine «est en train de lancer une attaque de missiles sur Kiev», avertit le chef de cabinet de Volodymyr Zelensky CNEWSGuerre en Ukraine, jour 994 : attaque massive sur Kiev, Blinken promet « une réponse ferme » La CroixUkraine: Kiev visée par une attaque de missiles et de drones RFIGuerre en Ukraine. Alerte aérienne, soldats nord-coréens à Koursk… le point sur la nuit Ouest-FranceVincent Hervouët : Trump mettra-t-il fin à la guerre en Ukraine ? Le Journal du dimanche Full Article
rain Risk-based operation of plug-in electric vehicles in a microgrid using downside risk constraints method By www.inderscience.com Published On :: 2024-10-07T23:20:50-05:00 To achieve the benefits as much as possible, it is required to identify the available PEV capacity and prepare scheduling plans based on that. The analysis revealed that the risk-based scheduling of the microgrid could reduce the financial risk completely from $9.89 to $0.00 and increases the expected operation cost by 24% from $91.38 to $112.94, in turn. This implies that the risk-averse decision-maker tends to spend more money to reduce the expected risk-in-cost by using the proposed downside risk management technique. At the end, by the help of fuzzy satisfying method, the suitable risk-averse strategy is determined for the studied case. Full Article
rain An effective differential privacy protection method of location data based on perturbation loss constraint By www.inderscience.com Published On :: 2024-07-01T23:20:50-05:00 Differential privacy is usually applied to location privacy protection scenarios, which confuses real data by adding interference noise to location points to achieve the purpose of protecting privacy. However, this method can result in a significant amount of redundant noisy data and impact the accuracy of the location. Considering the security and practicability of location data, an effective differential privacy protection method of location data based on perturbation loss constraint is proposed. After applying the Laplace mechanism under the condition of differential privacy to perturb the location data, the Savitzky-Golay filtering technology is used to correct the data with noise, and the data with large deviation and low availability is optimised. The introduction of Savitzky-Golay filtering mechanism in differential privacy can reduce the error caused by noise data while protecting user privacy. The experiments results indicate that the scheme improves the practicability of location data and is feasible. Full Article
rain Smart approach to constraint programming: intelligent backtracking using artificial intelligence By www.inderscience.com Published On :: 2024-07-01T23:20:50-05:00 Constrained programming is the concept used to select possible alternatives from an incredibly diverse range of candidates. This paper proposes an AI-assisted Backtracking Scheme (AI-BS) by integrating the generic backtracking algorithm with Artificial Intelligence (AI). The detailed study observes that the extreme dual ray associated with the infeasible linear program can be automatically extracted from minimum unfeasible sets. Constraints are used in artificial intelligence to list all possible values for a group of variables in a given universe. To put it another way, a solution is a way of assigning a value to each variable that these values satisfy all constraints. Furthermore, this helps the study reach a decreased search area for smart backtracking without paying high costs. The evaluation results exhibit that the IB-BC algorithm-based smart electricity schedule controller performs better electricity bill during the scheduled periods than comparison approaches such as binary backtracking and binary particle swarm optimiser. Full Article
rain Application of integrated image processing technology based on PCNN in online music symbol recognition training By www.inderscience.com Published On :: 2024-10-07T23:20:50-05:00 To improve the effectiveness of online training for music education, it was investigated how to improve the pulse-coupled neural network in image processing for spectral image segmentation. The study proposes a two-scale descent method to achieve oblique spectral correction. Subsequently, a convolutional neural network was optimised using a two-channel feature fusion recognition network for music theory notation recognition. The results showed that this image segmentation method had the highest accuracy, close to 98%, and the accuracy of spectral tilt correction was also as high as 98.4%, which provided good image pre-processing results. When combined with the improved convolutional neural network, the average accuracy of music theory symbol recognition was about 97% and the highest score of music majors was improved by 16 points. This shows that the method can effectively improve the teaching effect of online training in music education and has certain practical value. Full Article
rain Design of data mining system for sports training biochemical indicators based on artificial intelligence and association rules By www.inderscience.com Published On :: 2024-07-02T23:20:50-05:00 Physiological indicators are an important basis for reflecting the physiological health status of the human body and play an important role in medical practice. Association rules have also been one of the important research hotspots in recent years. This study aims to create a data mining system of association rules and artificial intelligence in biochemical indicators of sports training. This article uses Markov logic for network creation and system training, and tests whether the Markov logic network can be associated with the training system. The results show that the accuracy and recall rate obtained are about 90%, which shows that it is feasible to establish biochemical indicators of sports training based on Markov logic network, and the system has universal, guiding and constructive significance, ensuring that the construction of training system indicators will not go in the wrong direction. Full Article
rain Survival Mode: The Stresses and Strains of Computing Curricula Review By Published On :: Full Article
rain Examining the Efficacy of Personal Response Devices in Army Training By Published On :: Full Article
rain Towards Egocentric Way-Finding Appliances Supporting Navigation in Unfamiliar Terrain By Published On :: Full Article
rain ICT Education and Training in Sub-Saharan Africa: Multimode versus Traditional Distance Learning By Published On :: Full Article
rain Getting Practical With Learning Styles In “Live” and Computer-based Training Settings By Published On :: Full Article
rain Applying and Evaluating Understanding-Oriented ICT User Training in Upper Secondary Education By Published On :: Full Article
rain Inquiry-Based Training Model and the Design of E-Learning Environments By Published On :: Full Article
rain Responding to the Employability Challenge: Final Projects for IT-based Organizational Training By Published On :: Full Article
rain Playing it Safe: Approaching Science Safety Awareness through Computer Game-Based Training By Published On :: Full Article
rain Modeling, Training, and Mentoring Teacher Candidates to Use SMART Board Technology By Published On :: Full Article
rain Securing the Information and Communications Technology Global Supply Chain from Exploitation: Developing a Strategy for Education, Training, and Awareness By Published On :: Full Article
rain Training Librarians for 21st Century Repository Services: Emerging Trends By Published On :: 2016-05-17 The paper reviewed the emerging roles of the 21st century librarians, charged with the responsibility to manage repository services across libraries in present-day information technology environment. Librarians need to be trained and empowered with requisite skills and knowledge needed for successful management of the ICT driven repository initiatives that the 21st century demands. Literature was reviewed on the roles and responsibilities of librarians, training needs and opportunities, career path and recruitment of librarians, and community support necessary for effective and efficient implementation and management of repository initiatives. This entails the ability to comprehend trends and change patterns which are essential for providing research focused and user-friendly models in open repository services that are based on thorough analytical understanding of the challenges of emerging trends. To achieve this requires the training and retraining of librarians to reposition them as information specialists in their career path. The role of the library as an integral part of its social environment is to educate the community about the existence of an open repository by building partnership with community-oriented research centres through seminars, workshops, symposium, training, and awareness programmes. The study recommends that librarians should strategize and collaborate with researchers to make open repository an essential research tool. Full Article
rain Assessing the Graphic Questionnaire Used in Digital Literacy Training By Published On :: 2019-04-16 Aim/Purpose: To capture digital training experiences, the paper introduces a novel data collection method – a graphic questionnaire. It aims to demonstrate the opportunities and limitations of this tool for collecting feedback from socially disadvantaged participants of digital literacy training about their progress. Background: In training of digital skills for disadvantaged audiences through informal educational interventions, it is important to get sufficient knowledge on factors that lead to their progress in the course of training. There are many tools to measure the achievements of formal education participants, but assessing the effectiveness of informal digital skills training is researched less. The paper introduces a small-scale case study of the training programme aimed at the developing of reading and digital skills among the participants from three socially disadvantaged groups – people with hearing impairments, children from low income families, and elderly persons. The impact of the training on participants was evaluated using different tools, including a short graphic questionnaire to capture the perceptions of the participants after each training. Methodology: We performed a thematic analysis of graphic questionnaires collected after each training session to determine how the students perceived their progress in developing literacy and digital skills. Contribution The findings of the paper can assist in designing assessment of digital literacy programmes that focus not only on final results, but also on the process of gaining digital skills and important factors that facilitate progress. Findings: The graphic questionnaire allowed the researchers to get insights into the perception of acquired skills and progressive achievements of the participants through rich self-reports of attitudes, knowledge gained, and activities during training sessions. However, the graphic questionnaire format did not allow the collection of data about social interaction and cooperation that could be important in learning. Recommendations for Practitioners: Graphic questionnaires are useful and easy-to-use tools for getting rich contextual information about the attitudes, behaviour, and acquisition of knowledge in digital literacy training. They can be used in applied assessments of digital literacy training in various settings. Their simplicity can appeal to respondents; however, in the long-run interest of respondents in continuing self-reports should be sustained by additional measures. Recommendations for Researchers: Researcher may explore the variety of simple and attractive research instruments, such as “honeycomb” questionnaires and similar, to facilitate data collection and saturate feedback with significant perception of personal experiences in gaining digital literacy skills. Impact on Society: Designing effective digital literacy programmes, including engaging self-assessment methods and tools, aimed at socially disadvantaged people will contribute to their digital inclusion and to solving the issues of digital divide. Future Research: Exploration of diverse research methods and expanding the research toolset in assessing digital literacy training could advance our understanding of important processes and factors in gaining digital skills. Full Article
rain Integrating Drone Technology in STEM Education: A Case Study to Assess Teachers’ Readiness and Training Needs By Published On :: 2019-04-10 Aim/Purpose: Drone technology has been increasingly used in education. This paper reports a study of assessing teachers’ readiness and training needs for using drone technology in their teaching. Background: New technology promotes new ways of practices. With the sophisticated design and the affordance to explore our world from a bird’s eye perspective, a drone has been increasingly used to support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. However, it also brings challenges to teachers to integrate drone technology in their teaching. It is therefore important to obtain a better understanding of various aspects of integrating drone technology in education. Methodology: A group of pre-service teachers was engaged in a case study conducted using a designed-based approach. The participants were randomly assigned into three groups. They were required to develop lesson plans with the application of drone technology in teaching. The lesson plans were subsequently analyzed using the TPCK framework to identify teachers’ readiness and training needs. Findings: The participants, to a large extent, have sufficient competence to master the skills and knowledge of drone technology and to integrate it into their teaching. However, they were required to strengthen the pedagogical knowledge, subject content knowledge, and technological content knowledge in order to maximize the potential benefits of drone technology in education. Contribution: This paper reports the level of readiness and training needs of teachers regarding the use of drone technology in their teaching. Recommendations for Practitioners: To conduct teacher training regarding the use of drone technology in education, a particular focus should be put on enhancing teachers’ pedagogical knowledge, subject content knowledge, and technological content knowledge. Recommendations for Researchers: Researcher may further explore the strategies to integrate drone technology in teaching. Impact on Society: This paper suggests the area of teacher training regarding the use of drone technology in education. The teaching and learning effectiveness could be improved. Future Research: Future research may study the safety issue and ethical issue of using a drone in education. Full Article
rain The Tutor’s Role in the Online Training of Preservice Teachers: Tutor and Tutee Perspectives By Published On :: 2022-05-11 Aim / Purpose This study examined the perception of the role of tutors in online training of preservice teachers during the COVID period, from the perspective of pre-service teachers and their tutors. Background Because of the COVID pandemic, learning in schools was conducted online, therefore preservice teachers’ practicum also took place online, as did the tutoring process. Methodology The research question was: How did preservice teachers and their tutors perceive the experience of teaching during the COVID period perceived by them; specifically, what was their sense of self-efficacy and satisfaction, and what difficulties did they encounter? This was a quantitative study. The sample included 221 participants comprising 111 tutors and 110 preservice teachers. Data were collected in Israel in 2021. Contribution This study sheds light on the process of online tutoring of preservice teachers by their tutors. Findings The study found that preservice teachers and their tutors perceived the practicum during the COVID period to be helpful, answering preservice teachers’ needs and providing professional assistance in their training. This was more so in the professional aspects of teaching, in the emotional aspects of the tutoring process, and in the process of shaping the preservice teachers’ professional identity, and less so in the organizational aspects of the school. In both groups (tutors and preservice teachers), it emerged that during a complex period of social isolation, maintaining contact reinforces the sense of self-efficacy. Tutors who encountered fewer technical difficulties and thought the tutoring process was enjoyable expressed more satisfaction with the tutoring process. Tutors felt that they were able to get better acquainted personally with the preservice teachers they taught, and vice versa, and preservice teachers were able to get to know their tutors personally. Tutors thought that their interpersonal communication benefitted the preservice teachers, that they listened to their mentees, and understood them. Preservice teachers felt that tutors allowed them to voice their expectations and concerns about their teaching experiences. Recommendations for practitioners One of the main goals of practicum in studies toward a teaching certificate is to prepare the students for their role as teachers. In the online tutoring process, emphasis should be placed on professional aspects (such as instruction and classroom management, identifying points for improvement and setting them as goals and challenges for the future) and on emotional aspects (such as promoting growth and personal development of preservice teachers in the process of shaping their professional identity). Recommendations for researchers One of the findings of the study is that the tutor-mentee relationship should be preserved in remote tutoring. The findings showed a positive correlation between maintaining such contact and high self-efficacy for both tutors and preservice teachers. It was found that tutors who reported high self-efficacy felt that interpersonal communication benefitted the teachers they were guiding. Impact on society Information collected in this study indicates that the tutors made a great effort to provide preservice teachers with meaningful coaching during the COVID period. In certain aspects, the tutoring was more successful and in other aspects less so, given the characteristics of the period, such as social distancing, no attendance of regular classes at school, and so forth. Future research It is recommended to continue investigating the online tutoring process, both from the perspective of preservice teachers and of tutors, to explore in-depth the correlation between self-efficacy and interpersonal communication, with emphasis on feedback between the tutors and preservice teachers. Full Article
rain Mandatory Gamified Security Awareness Training Impacts on Texas Public Middle School Students: A Qualitative Study By Published On :: 2023-06-13 Aim/Purpose. The problem statement in the proposed study focuses on that, despite the growing recognition that teenagers need to undergo security awareness training, little is known about the impacts security training experts believe implementing a mandatory gamified security awareness training curriculum in public middle schools will have on the long-term security behavior of students in Texas. Background. This study was guided by the research question: What are the impacts security training experts believe implementing a mandatory gamified security aware-ness training curriculum in public middle schools will have on the long-term security behaviors of students in Texas? The study gathers opinions from experts on the impacts of security awareness training on students. Methodology. Our research used semi-structured interviews with twelve experts chosen through the use of purposive sampling. The population for the study consisted of experts in the fields of security awareness training for and teaching middle school-aged children. Candidates were recruited through the Cyber-Texas Foundation and snowball sampling techniques. Contribution. The research contributed to the body of knowledge by using interviews to explore the impacts of security awareness training on middle school students based on the opinions and views of the teachers and instructors who work with middle school students. Findings. The findings of this study demonstrate that middle school is an ideal time to provide cybersecurity training and will impact student behaviors by making them more conscious of cyber threats and preparing them to be more tech-savvy professionals. The research also showed that well-designed cybersecurity games with real-world application combined with traditional teaching techniques can help students develop positive habits. The research also suggests that teachers possess the skills to teach cybersecurity classes and the classes can be integrated into the current school day without the need for any significant changes to existing daily schedules. Recommendations for Practitioners. A well-design gamification-based curriculum implemented in Texas Middle Schools, combined with traditional teaching techniques and repeated over an extended time period, will impact students’ behaviors by making them more able to recognize and respond to cyber risks and will transform them into more secure and tech-savvy members of society. Recommendations for Researchers. The research shows middle school instructors and technology experts believe the implementation of a security awareness training program in middle schools is both possible and practical, while also beneficial to the students. The recommendation is to encourage researchers to explore ways to build curricula and games capable of appealing to students and implementing the instruction into school programs. Impact on Society. Demonstrating that training provided in middle school will make lasting impacts and improvements to student behaviors benefits children and their families in the short-term and workplaces in the long-term. The development of a more security-conscious workforce can reduce the significant number of data breaches and cyber attacks resulting from the poor security habits of companies’ users. Future Research. Future research that will add significant value to the body of knowledge includes testing the effectiveness of habit-shaping games to determine whether existing long-term games maintain student interest. Qualitative studies could interview parents of teenagers using habit-shaping games to determine the effectiveness of the applications. Another qualitative study could interview teachers to determine how teachers’ ages affect their comfort level teaching technology classes. Both studies could provide valuable insights into how to implement security awareness training in schools. Full Article
rain Pedagogical Training During the COVID-19 Epidemic and Its Two Tracks: Remote and Face-To-Face By Published On :: 2023-06-12 Aim/Purpose. The study aimed to examine the remote and face-to-face experience of pedagogical training in kindergarten after the third COVID-19 closure in Israel. Background. The outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 changed the training system, and preservice teachers were required to have their practical experience in the kindergartens both remotely and face-to-face. They had to adapt to the new requirements of teacher training programs and receive professional coaching and support from the pedagogical instructor remotely. Methodology. The sample comprised 26 early childhood preservice teachers, who received academic training that includes proficiency in digital technology. The data were collected through feedback that they wrote themselves during the training period and analyzed in the interpretive approach. Contribution. The contribution of the present study is that it examines the pedagogical coaching from the perspective of preservice teachers in a kindergarten during the COVID-19 epidemic, which forced a transition from face-to-face to remote pedagogical training, then back to face-to-face pedagogical instruction. To the best of my knowledge, no such study has been carried out to date, which makes it unique. Findings. The main findings indicate the dissatisfaction of most preservice kindergarten teachers with the remote pedagogical training (about 85%) at the physical, emotional, technological, and pedagogical levels, and the satisfaction of most preservice kindergarten teachers with face-to-face pedagogical training (about 92%) at the physical, emotional, and pedagogical levels. The main conclusion is that technology is a potential barrier in training, and that preservice kindergarten teachers need a pedagogical instructor present at a professional face-to-face meeting. Recommendations for Practitioners. The findings of the study show how important in-person learning and engagement is for everyone especially for Preservice teachers’ and may be helpful for pedagogical coaching teams. Recommendations for Researchers. Preservice teachers’ awareness of the pedagogical coaching experiences could persuade the coaching teams to avoid potential difficulties, increase emotional support, and refine the use of technology to make it a closer substitute for frontal communication. Impact on Society. Face-to-face training based on interpersonal relationship, allows to develop better during the training period. Full Article
rain (GbL #2) Constructive Simulation as a Collaborative Learning Tool in Education and Training of Crisis Staff By Published On :: Full Article
rain Heart Rate Recovery in Decision Support for High Performance Athlete Training Schedules By Published On :: 2014-12-18 This work investigated the suitability of a new tool for decision support in training programs of high performance athletes. The aim of this study was to find a reliable and robust measure of the fitness of an athlete for use as a tool for adjusting training schedules. We examined the use of heart rate recovery percentage (HRr%) for this purpose, using a two-phased approach. Phase 1 consisted of testing the suitability of HRr% as a measure of aerobic fitness, using a modified running test specifically designed for high-performance team running sports such as football. Phase 2 was conducted over a 12-week training program with two different training loads. HRr% measured aerobic fitness and a running time-trial measured performance. Consecutive measures of HRr% during phase 1 indicated a Pearson’s r of 0.92, suggesting a robust measure of aerobic fitness. During phase 2, HRr% reflected the training load and significantly increased when the training load was reduced between weeks 4 to 5. This work shows that HRr% is a robust indicator of aerobic fitness and provides an on-the-spot index that is useful for training load adjustment of elite-performance athletes. Full Article
rain Intention to Use and Satisfaction of e-Learning for Training in the Corporate Context By Published On :: 2016-11-27 Together, the fields of education and information technology have identified the need for an online solution to training. The introduction of e-learning has optimised the learning process, allowing organisations to realise the many advantages that e-learning offers. The importance of user involvement in the success of e-learning makes it imperative that the forces driving intention to use e-learning and satisfaction thereof be determined. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between the metrics influencing intention to use and the satisfaction of using e-learning in companies. The results of a survey distributed amongst a South African software development company’s customer base revealed that the 94 respondents have positive enjoyment and self-efficacy levels, and low computer anxiety levels. Correlation analysis revealed significant relationships between enjoyment and self-efficacy and between enjoyment and satisfaction. Companies should therefore ensure that users enjoy using e-learning as it can directly influence satisfaction and self-efficacy. Full Article
rain Content-Rating Consistency of Online Product Review and Its Impact on Helpfulness: A Fine-Grained Level Sentiment Analysis By Published On :: 2023-09-22 Aim/Purpose: The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of review consistency between textual content and rating on review helpfulness. A measure of review consistency is introduced to determine the degree to which the review sentiment of textual content conforms with the review rating score. A theoretical model grounded in signaling theory is adopted to explore how different variables (review sentiment, review rating, review length, and review rating variance) affect review consistency and the relationship between review consistency and review helpfulness. Background: Online reviews vary in their characteristics and hence their different quality features and degrees of helpfulness. High-quality online reviews offer consumers the ability to make informed purchase decisions and improve trust in e-commerce websites. The helpfulness of online reviews continues to be a focal research issue regardless of the independent or joint effects of different factors. This research posits that the consistency between review content and review rating is an important quality indicator affecting the helpfulness of online reviews. The review consistency of online reviews is another important requirement for maintaining the significance and perceived value of online reviews. Incidentally, this parameter is inadequately discussed in the literature. A possible reason is that review consistency is not a review feature that can be readily monitored on e-commerce websites. Methodology: More than 100,000 product reviews were collected from Amazon.com and preprocessed using natural language processing tools. Then, the quality reviews were identified, and relevant features were extracted for model training. Machine learning and sentiment analysis techniques were implemented, and each review was assigned a consistency score between 0 (not consistent) and 1 (fully consistent). Finally, signaling theory was employed, and the derived data were analyzed to determine the effect of review consistency on review helpfulness, the effect of several factors on review consistency, and their relationship with review helpfulness. Contribution: This research contributes to the literature by introducing a mathematical measure to determine the consistency between the textual content of online reviews and their associated ratings. Furthermore, a theoretical model grounded in signaling theory was developed to investigate the effect on review helpfulness. This work can considerably extend the body of knowledge on the helpfulness of online reviews, with notable implications for research and practice. Findings: Empirical results have shown that review consistency significantly affects the perceived helpfulness of online reviews. The study similarly finds that review rating is an important factor affecting review consistency; it also confirms a moderating effect of review sentiment, review rating, review length, and review rating variance on the relationship between review consistency and review helpfulness. Overall, the findings reveal the following: (1) online reviews with textual content that correctly explains the associated rating tend to be more helpful; (2) reviews with extreme ratings are more likely to be consistent with their textual content; and (3) comparatively, review consistency more strongly affects the helpfulness of reviews with short textual content, positive polarity textual content, and lower rating scores and variance. Recommendations for Practitioners: E-commerce systems should incorporate a review consistency measure to rank consumer reviews and provide customers with quick and accurate access to the most helpful reviews. Impact on Society: Incorporating a score of review consistency for online reviews can help consumers access the best reviews and make better purchase decisions, and e-commerce systems improve their business, ultimately leading to more effective e-commerce. Future Research: Additional research should be conducted to test the impact of review consistency on helpfulness in different datasets, product types, and different moderating variables. Full Article
rain OER Usage by Instructional Designers and Training Managers in Corporations By Published On :: 2015-12-14 Since the development of Open Educational Resources (OERs), different models regarding the usage of these resources in education have appeared in the literature. Wiley’s 4-Rs model is considered to be one of the leading models. Research based on Wiley’s model shows that using materials without making changes is the most common use. Compared to the extensive literature regarding OER usage in education, the literature barely deals with OER usage by instructional designers or training managers in corporations. The purpose of this research is to examine the OER usage of these two stakeholders, distinguishing between Little and Big OER repositories, in which Little OER repositories such as YouTube and Wikipedia aren’t necessarily designed to fulfill educational purposes. Findings show that these stakeholders almost use only Little repositories and that their usage level is higher than what is documented in the literature: they mostly Revise–modify the form of the resource, and Remix–combine different resources to create new ones. These differences can be explained by the fact that materials from Little OER repositories are raw materials, requiring further editing and adjustment. Significant differences between instructional designers’ and training managers’ usage of OERs were found regarding the Reuse level of resources from internal repositories and the Google Images repository, and the frequency of this Reuse. Full Article
rain Computer Skills Training and Readiness to Work with Computers By Published On :: 2016-05-10 In today’s job market, computer skills are part of the prerequisites for many jobs. In this paper, we report on a study of readiness to work with computers (the dependent variable) among unemployed women (N=54) after participating in a unique, web-supported training focused on computer skills and empowerment. Overall, the level of participants’ readiness to work with computers was much higher at the end of the course than it was at its begin-ning. During the analysis, we explored associations between this variable and variables from four categories: log-based (describing the online activity); computer literacy and experience; job-seeking motivation and practice; and training satisfaction. Only two variables were associated with the dependent variable: knowledge post-test duration and satisfaction with content. After building a prediction model for the dependent variable, another log-based variable was highlighted: total number of actions in the course website along the course. Overall, our analyses shed light on the predominance of log-based variables over variables from other categories. These findings might hint at the need of developing new assessment tools for learners and trainees that take into consideration human-computer interaction when measuring self-efficacy variables. Full Article
rain The Impact of the National Program to Integrate ICT in Teaching in Pre-Service Teacher Training By Published On :: 2017-12-25 Aim/Purpose: This study examines the impact of the Israeli National Program on pre-service teachers’ skills in the integration of ICT in teaching and discusses the influential factors of successful implementation of practices in the field. Background: In the current Information Age, many countries relate to education as an im-portant factor for national growth. Teacher education plays a significant role in coping with the challenge of educating a new generation of school students to compete in a technology-driven society. In 2011, the Israel Ministry of Education initiated the National Program for transforming teacher education colleges to meet the demands of the 21st century. Methodology: The study focuses on two research questions: (1) What was the impact of the National Program on pre-service teacher training concerning the integration of ICT in their teaching? (2) What are the predictors of the pre-service teachers’ practice of ICT integration in teaching? It is a quantitative study, based on data collected in two rounds two years apart that compares several indices of pre-service teachers’ preparation to teach with ICT. Contribution: The findings offer insights regarding influential factors of successful integration of ICT in education. Findings: Analyses showed a significant increase in most of the indices of teacher training according to the National Program, in particular in the number of ICT-based lessons that pre-service teachers taught in their teaching practice at schools. Predictors of ICT integration in teaching were modeling by faculty members and school mentor teachers, the number of ICT-based lessons taught by pre-service teachers, and pre-requisite conditions at schools and colleges. Recommendations for Practitioners: The current challenge is to promote innovative ICT-based teaching methods among teacher educators, school teacher mentors, and pre-service teachers. Recommendation for Researchers: The findings underscore the importance of modelling by the school mentors as well as pre-requisite conditions at schools. Impact on Society: Being acquainted with the most influential factors of successful integration of ICT in teaching by pre-service teachers can improve teacher education as well as the education system in educating future generations. Future Research: More research is needed to learn about the dissemination of innovative models of ICT integration in teaching by pre-service teachers and their educators. Full Article
rain Training Facilitators for Face-to-Face Electronic Meetings: An Experiential Learning Approach By Published On :: Full Article
rain Data Quality in Linear Regression Models: Effect of Errors in Test Data and Errors in Training Data on Predictive Accuracy By Published On :: Full Article
rain The Importance of Addressing Accepted Training Needs When Designing Electronic Information Literacy Training By Published On :: Full Article