Hodaya Avikasis, Adi Shalem-Rabinovich, Yehudit Yehezkeli, Azi Lev-on
The outbreak of COVID-19 has transformed our daily lives, raising concerns about transmission, infection, and recovery rates. This has led to a proliferation of rumors. Online social media platforms have played a significant role in fueling the spread of these rumors. To better understand the character of rumors that circulated on social media during the initial months of the COVID-19 crisis, we collected and analyzed the content of around 100 major rumors, collected in Israel mainly from websites that track of the dissemination of rumors. We found that the majority of rumors focused on health-related issues. In addition: (1) The majority of rumors focused on ways to prevent contracting the virus or how to recover from it, with a significant emphasis on the body and health of individuals. There were significantly fewer rumors that addressed more “distant” issues, such as the origin of the virus. (2) Many rumors cited the name of a researcher or institution, either in Israel or abroad, arguably to enhance the credibility of the rumor. (3) While the number of rumors that aimed to downplay the severity of the pandemic (e.g., claims that government institutions intentionally exaggerated the threat, in order to control the population) was relatively small, it was double the number of rumors that inflated the significance of the pandemic (i.e., that it may be more severe and fatal than it appears).
{"title":"What characterize the rumors circulating on social media in Israel in the first wave of COVID-19?","authors":"Hodaya Avikasis, Adi Shalem-Rabinovich, Yehudit Yehezkeli, Azi Lev-on","doi":"10.30935/ojcmt/13681","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13681","url":null,"abstract":"The outbreak of COVID-19 has transformed our daily lives, raising concerns about transmission, infection, and recovery rates. This has led to a proliferation of rumors. Online social media platforms have played a significant role in fueling the spread of these rumors. To better understand the character of rumors that circulated on social media during the initial months of the COVID-19 crisis, we collected and analyzed the content of around 100 major rumors, collected in Israel mainly from websites that track of the dissemination of rumors. We found that the majority of rumors focused on health-related issues. In addition: (1) The majority of rumors focused on ways to prevent contracting the virus or how to recover from it, with a significant emphasis on the body and health of individuals. There were significantly fewer rumors that addressed more “distant” issues, such as the origin of the virus. (2) Many rumors cited the name of a researcher or institution, either in Israel or abroad, arguably to enhance the credibility of the rumor. (3) While the number of rumors that aimed to downplay the severity of the pandemic (e.g., claims that government institutions intentionally exaggerated the threat, in order to control the population) was relatively small, it was double the number of rumors that inflated the significance of the pandemic (i.e., that it may be more severe and fatal than it appears).","PeriodicalId":42941,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies","volume":"34 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136080090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gender representation portrayed in popular mass media is known to reflect and reinforce societal gender stereotypes. This research uses two methods of natural language processing–Word2Vec and bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) model–to analyze gender representation in popular fiction and quantify gender bias with gender bias score. Word2Vec, which represents the words in vectorized format, can capture implicit human gender bias with the geometry relationship between word vectors. BERT, a newer pre-trained deep learning model, is specialized in understanding words in the larger context it appears in. The research will compare the results obtained from Word2Vec and BERT. With book check out records from the Seattle Public Library checkout dataset–an ongoing open source dataset from the public library system of Seattle, WA–the research aims to identify evolutionary trends of gender bias in popular fiction and analyze consumer preferences regarding gender representation.
{"title":"Characterizing gender stereotypes in popular fiction: A machine learning approach","authors":"Chengyue Zhang, Ben Wu","doi":"10.30935/ojcmt/13644","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13644","url":null,"abstract":"Gender representation portrayed in popular mass media is known to reflect and reinforce societal gender stereotypes. This research uses two methods of natural language processing–Word2Vec and bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) model–to analyze gender representation in popular fiction and quantify gender bias with gender bias score. Word2Vec, which represents the words in vectorized format, can capture implicit human gender bias with the geometry relationship between word vectors. BERT, a newer pre-trained deep learning model, is specialized in understanding words in the larger context it appears in. The research will compare the results obtained from Word2Vec and BERT. With book check out records from the Seattle Public Library checkout dataset–an ongoing open source dataset from the public library system of Seattle, WA–the research aims to identify evolutionary trends of gender bias in popular fiction and analyze consumer preferences regarding gender representation.","PeriodicalId":42941,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45638691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tin Tin Ting, Kuok Tiung Lee, Siew Mooi Lim, Che Ching Lai, Marja Azlima Omar, James Alin, Aisah Meri
Digital technology has become a part of undergraduate daily life as digital assistant in the age of digital communication (social media and smartphones), purchasing necessities (online shopping), releasing stress (online game) and education resources supply (social media) during or after COVID-19 pandemics especially those involved in online education. However, excessive participation in these technologies raises concerns among the society. The most visible impact will be academic performance, physical and mental health. This research aims to analyze the addiction level and impacts of digital culture in undergraduates who involved in digital education, using empirical study. 320 scholars from a private university are invited to participate in the study. Pearson correlation and descriptive analysis are performed using SPSS in data analysis. The result shows that 62.05% of the respondents fall under a moderate level of addictive digital. Social media addiction, smartphone addiction, online game addiction, and online shopping addiction do not significantly affect undergraduate academic performance, but they have a significant impact on physical and mental health. This research brings new perceptions of different digital technologies to undergraduates in a comprehensive view in terms of digital technology empowerment or endangerment in education in this age of digital communication. This is useful as guidance to policy makers in the future design of online education.
{"title":"Assessing the identity of digital technology in education in the age of digital communication","authors":"Tin Tin Ting, Kuok Tiung Lee, Siew Mooi Lim, Che Ching Lai, Marja Azlima Omar, James Alin, Aisah Meri","doi":"10.30935/ojcmt/13695","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13695","url":null,"abstract":"Digital technology has become a part of undergraduate daily life as digital assistant in the age of digital communication (social media and smartphones), purchasing necessities (online shopping), releasing stress (online game) and education resources supply (social media) during or after COVID-19 pandemics especially those involved in online education. However, excessive participation in these technologies raises concerns among the society. The most visible impact will be academic performance, physical and mental health. This research aims to analyze the addiction level and impacts of digital culture in undergraduates who involved in digital education, using empirical study. 320 scholars from a private university are invited to participate in the study. Pearson correlation and descriptive analysis are performed using SPSS in data analysis. The result shows that 62.05% of the respondents fall under a moderate level of addictive digital. Social media addiction, smartphone addiction, online game addiction, and online shopping addiction do not significantly affect undergraduate academic performance, but they have a significant impact on physical and mental health. This research brings new perceptions of different digital technologies to undergraduates in a comprehensive view in terms of digital technology empowerment or endangerment in education in this age of digital communication. This is useful as guidance to policy makers in the future design of online education.","PeriodicalId":42941,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135275466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Given the numerous theoretical gaps in explanations regarding online hate speech and the insufficient level of empirical data to fully understand this phenomenon, this study utilized an explanatory sequential mixed-method approach through two phases; it employed a quantitative online questionnaire (n=2,242), followed by a qualitative online vignette interview (n=23) to contribute to the knowledge in the field. In particular, it aimed to investigate the moderating roles of online civic intervention (OCI), online disinhibition, and demographic variables in the relationship between online hate exposurevictimization and perpetration. Among the most interesting findings of this research was that the impact of toxic online disinhibition was a negative moderator in the relationship between online hate exposure and perpetration. Furthermore, the impact of high-threshold OCI was positive in this relationship. However, the impact of low-threshold OCI was positive in the relationship between online hate speech victimization and perpetration. Further justifications for OCI and new proposed types of online disinhibition have been suggested based on the findings.
{"title":"Effect of online civic intervention and online disinhibition on online hate speech among digital media users","authors":"Shuaa Aljasir","doi":"10.30935/ojcmt/13478","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13478","url":null,"abstract":"Given the numerous theoretical gaps in explanations regarding online hate speech and the insufficient level of empirical data to fully understand this phenomenon, this study utilized an explanatory sequential mixed-method approach through two phases; it employed a quantitative online questionnaire (n=2,242), followed by a qualitative online vignette interview (n=23) to contribute to the knowledge in the field. In particular, it aimed to investigate the moderating roles of online civic intervention (OCI), online disinhibition, and demographic variables in the relationship between online hate exposurevictimization and perpetration. Among the most interesting findings of this research was that the impact of toxic online disinhibition was a negative moderator in the relationship between online hate exposure and perpetration. Furthermore, the impact of high-threshold OCI was positive in this relationship. However, the impact of low-threshold OCI was positive in the relationship between online hate speech victimization and perpetration. Further justifications for OCI and new proposed types of online disinhibition have been suggested based on the findings.","PeriodicalId":42941,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46271181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sergei P. Zhdanov, Lilia M. Sadrieva, I. A. Astakhov, N. Sokolova, E. E. Grishnova, L. I. Tararina
Rapid expansion of information and communication technologies (ICT) underscores importance of ICT competency for success in modern society. In education, ICT facilitates knowledge acquisition, innovative teaching methods, and development of digital literacy skills. By measuring ICT competencies, teacher training programs can better equip educators for technology integration, leading to more effective teaching and learning processes. It is crucial for educational policies to emphasize integration of ICT and ensure teachers are prepared to utilize it effectively. The study aims to determine psychometric properties of “information and communication technology competency scale (ICTCS)” for pre-service teachers (PSTs) in the Russian setting and identify distinct proficiency levels among them. This study employed a mixed-methods approach to adapt a scale measuring PSTs’ ICT competencies. The research involved two different samples for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (n=160) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (n=326). To establish language validity, a translation, and cross-cultural adaptation process was followed. Data analysis included EFA, CFA, reliability estimation, and latent profile analysis, with satisfactory results obtained for scale’s psychometric properties. The study concludes that ICTCS, with two factors (ICTC-PU and ICTC-ID), is a valid and reliable measure of teachers’ attitudes and skills regarding ICT use. Four-class latent profile model reveals distinct competence levels, informing targeted professional development programs. Educational institutions and policymakers should prioritize these programs and use the scale for teacher evaluations. Future research should explore the efficacy of these programs, expand the sample size, incorporate objective measures, and employ longitudinal designs to better understand the impact on student outcomes.
{"title":"Psychometric properties of information and communication technology competencies scale: Latent profile analysis","authors":"Sergei P. Zhdanov, Lilia M. Sadrieva, I. A. Astakhov, N. Sokolova, E. E. Grishnova, L. I. Tararina","doi":"10.30935/ojcmt/13479","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13479","url":null,"abstract":"Rapid expansion of information and communication technologies (ICT) underscores importance of ICT competency for success in modern society. In education, ICT facilitates knowledge acquisition, innovative teaching methods, and development of digital literacy skills. By measuring ICT competencies, teacher training programs can better equip educators for technology integration, leading to more effective teaching and learning processes. It is crucial for educational policies to emphasize integration of ICT and ensure teachers are prepared to utilize it effectively. The study aims to determine psychometric properties of “information and communication technology competency scale (ICTCS)” for pre-service teachers (PSTs) in the Russian setting and identify distinct proficiency levels among them. This study employed a mixed-methods approach to adapt a scale measuring PSTs’ ICT competencies. The research involved two different samples for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (n=160) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (n=326). To establish language validity, a translation, and cross-cultural adaptation process was followed. Data analysis included EFA, CFA, reliability estimation, and latent profile analysis, with satisfactory results obtained for scale’s psychometric properties. The study concludes that ICTCS, with two factors (ICTC-PU and ICTC-ID), is a valid and reliable measure of teachers’ attitudes and skills regarding ICT use. Four-class latent profile model reveals distinct competence levels, informing targeted professional development programs. Educational institutions and policymakers should prioritize these programs and use the scale for teacher evaluations. Future research should explore the efficacy of these programs, expand the sample size, incorporate objective measures, and employ longitudinal designs to better understand the impact on student outcomes.","PeriodicalId":42941,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46272716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Esraa Omran, Estabraq Al Tararwah, Jamal Al Qundus
Adetecting and mitigating hate speech in social media, particularly on platforms like Twitter, is a crucial task with significant societal impact. This research study presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of machine learning algorithms for hate speech detection, with the primary goal of identifying an optimal algorithmic combination that is simple, easy to implement, efficient, and yields high detection performance. Through meticulous pre-processing and rigorous evaluation, the study explores various algorithms to determine their suitability for hate speech detection. The focus is finding a combination that balances simplicity, ease of implementation, computational efficiency, and strong performance metrics. The findings reveal that the combination of naïve Bayes and decision tree algorithms achieves a high accuracy of 0.887 and an F1-score of 0.885, demonstrating its effectiveness in hate speech detection. This research contributes to identifying a reliable algorithmic combination that meets the criteria of simplicity, ease of implementation, quick processing, and strong performance, providing valuable guidance for researchers and practitioners in hate speech detection in social media. By elucidating the strengths and limitations of various algorithmic combinations, this research enhances the understanding of hate speech detection. It paves the way for developing robust solutions, creating a safer, more inclusive digital environment.
{"title":"A comparative analysis of machine learning algorithms for hate speech detection in social media","authors":"Esraa Omran, Estabraq Al Tararwah, Jamal Al Qundus","doi":"10.30935/ojcmt/13603","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13603","url":null,"abstract":"A<b> </b>detecting and mitigating hate speech in social media, particularly on platforms like Twitter, is a crucial task with significant societal impact. This research study presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of machine learning algorithms for hate speech detection, with the primary goal of identifying an optimal algorithmic combination that is simple, easy to implement, efficient, and yields high detection performance. Through meticulous pre-processing and rigorous evaluation, the study explores various algorithms to determine their suitability for hate speech detection. The focus is finding a combination that balances simplicity, ease of implementation, computational efficiency, and strong performance metrics. The findings reveal that the combination of naïve Bayes and decision tree algorithms achieves a high accuracy of 0.887 and an F1-score of 0.885, demonstrating its effectiveness in hate speech detection. This research contributes to identifying a reliable algorithmic combination that meets the criteria of simplicity, ease of implementation, quick processing, and strong performance, providing valuable guidance for researchers and practitioners in hate speech detection in social media. By elucidating the strengths and limitations of various algorithmic combinations, this research enhances the understanding of hate speech detection. It paves the way for developing robust solutions, creating a safer, more inclusive digital environment.","PeriodicalId":42941,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135113329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study aims to review the existing literature on using ChatGPT in academic writing and its implications regarding plagiarism. Various databases, including Scopus, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and ProQuest, were searched using specific keywords related to ChatGPT in academia, academic research, higher education, academic publishing, and ethical challenges. The review provides an overview of studies investigating the use of ChatGPT in academic writing and its potential association with plagiarism. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of the use and misuse of ChatGPT in academic writing, considering the growing concern regarding plagiarism in higher education. The findings suggest that ChatGPT can be a valuable writing tool; however, it is crucial to follow responsible practices to uphold academic integrity and ensure ethical use. Properly citing and attributing ChatGPT’s contribution is essential in recognizing its role, preventing plagiarism, and upholding the principles of scholarly writing. By adhering to established citation guidelines, authors can maximize ChatGPT’s benefits while maintaining responsible usage.
{"title":"Using ChatGPT in academic writing is (not) a form of plagiarism: What does the literature say?","authors":"Adeeb M Jarrah, Yousef Wardat, Patricia Fidalgo","doi":"10.30935/ojcmt/13572","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13572","url":null,"abstract":"This study aims to review the existing literature on using ChatGPT in academic writing and its implications regarding plagiarism. Various databases, including Scopus, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and ProQuest, were searched using specific keywords related to ChatGPT in academia, academic research, higher education, academic publishing, and ethical challenges. The review provides an overview of studies investigating the use of ChatGPT in academic writing and its potential association with plagiarism. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of the use and misuse of ChatGPT in academic writing, considering the growing concern regarding plagiarism in higher education. The findings suggest that ChatGPT can be a valuable writing tool; however, it is crucial to follow responsible practices to uphold academic integrity and ensure ethical use. Properly citing and attributing ChatGPT’s contribution is essential in recognizing its role, preventing plagiarism, and upholding the principles of scholarly writing. By adhering to established citation guidelines, authors can maximize ChatGPT’s benefits while maintaining responsible usage.","PeriodicalId":42941,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42890618","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
After more than a decade of the so-called Arab Spring in Egypt, it is perhaps time to carry out in cold an examination of the role the news media played during the uprising. In so doing, this piece examines the way Egyptian newspapers from the government and opposition reported those events. The study investigates to what extent the newspapers’ coverage of the political events help to de-escalate or escalate tensions. It analyzed the content of two newspapers in Egypt; Al-Ahram, owned by the government and, Al-Wafd, owned by an opposition party. Our analysis included 366 news articles from 105 issues of the selected newspapers during nine weeks of 2011. The finding indicated that the coverage helped to escalate tension, including that of the government-owned newspaper that had more news coverage of this type than the opposition one. We argue that our findings invite further reflection upon normative assumptions regarding the news media editorial position, its relation to power, and individual agency.
{"title":"Reporters’ agency and (de) escalation during the 2011 uprising in Egypt: Re-writing the historical role of the news media during the Arab Spring","authors":"Khayrat Ayyad, J. Lugo-Ocando","doi":"10.30935/ojcmt/13254","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13254","url":null,"abstract":"After more than a decade of the so-called Arab Spring in Egypt, it is perhaps time to carry out in cold an examination of the role the news media played during the uprising. In so doing, this piece examines the way Egyptian newspapers from the government and opposition reported those events. The study investigates to what extent the newspapers’ coverage of the political events help to de-escalate or escalate tensions. It analyzed the content of two newspapers in Egypt; Al-Ahram, owned by the government and, Al-Wafd, owned by an opposition party. Our analysis included 366 news articles from 105 issues of the selected newspapers during nine weeks of 2011. The finding indicated that the coverage helped to escalate tension, including that of the government-owned newspaper that had more news coverage of this type than the opposition one. We argue that our findings invite further reflection upon normative assumptions regarding the news media editorial position, its relation to power, and individual agency.","PeriodicalId":42941,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47435506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Word learning is a key component in second language learning and one that L2 learners often find laborious. With the advent of mobile technology in recent years, research on mobile-assisted vocabulary learning has uncovered the immense potential mobile devices (namely smartphones and tablets) have for providing L2 learners with opportunities for effortless learning of L2 lexis. To this end, we pinpoint ten reasons why L2 learners should abandon traditional pen-and-paper-based methods of word learning and shift instead to a digital mobile word learning environment that fully utilizes the virtues of mobile learning. The role of mobile applications (apps) dedicated to word learning is hence stressed as such apps represent the core basis of mobile-assisted vocabulary learning. For EFL learners to entertain a more manageable and less time-consuming word learning experience, we emphasize the role of EFL teachers in calling their learners’ attention to the ten reasons we underscore in this article to help encourage those who are still into conventional word learning and have not yet explored learning words via mobile gadgets to make the digital shift at once.
{"title":"Second language vocabulary learning in the digital era: Ten reasons it should be on the go!","authors":"Sultan Alhatmi","doi":"10.30935/ojcmt/13283","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13283","url":null,"abstract":"Word learning is a key component in second language learning and one that L2 learners often find laborious. With the advent of mobile technology in recent years, research on mobile-assisted vocabulary learning has uncovered the immense potential mobile devices (namely smartphones and tablets) have for providing L2 learners with opportunities for effortless learning of L2 lexis. To this end, we pinpoint ten reasons why L2 learners should abandon traditional pen-and-paper-based methods of word learning and shift instead to a digital mobile word learning environment that fully utilizes the virtues of mobile learning. The role of mobile applications (apps) dedicated to word learning is hence stressed as such apps represent the core basis of mobile-assisted vocabulary learning. For EFL learners to entertain a more manageable and less time-consuming word learning experience, we emphasize the role of EFL teachers in calling their learners’ attention to the ten reasons we underscore in this article to help encourage those who are still into conventional word learning and have not yet explored learning words via mobile gadgets to make the digital shift at once.","PeriodicalId":42941,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45990821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Teamwork is usually a component of the learning assessment framework of online courses, and the timely sharing of information and feedback through synchronous communication is beneficial for team-based assignments. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, university students did not always actively engage in virtual teamwork in online environments because they were learning from home and were subject to the effect of disruptions at home. This study explored the perceptions of university students who engaged in synchronous discussions involving teamwork during the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 25 Taiwanese university students. Through qualitative methods that incorporated individual interviews and a content analysis, six content concepts were established. Afterward, relational content analysis was conducted. This study revealed that the students benefited from visible synchronous discussions in terms of inquiry dialogue, project creation, and learning satisfaction. Notably, the interviewees mostly did not switch on their webcams but recognized that webcam use can benefit discussions. The participants’ decision to switch on/off their webcams was primarily influenced by their perception of the importance of a given project than by their privacy concerns. Moreover, when home-based leaning was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, group leaders encountered an obstruction when they were guiding their group members to engage in teamwork involving physical tasks. Future studies should explore how members should be guided to engage in teamwork involving physical tasks during synchronous discussions.
{"title":"Perceptions of university students regarding engagement in synchronous discussions involving teamwork during the COVID-19 pandemic","authors":"Shih-Hsiung Liu","doi":"10.30935/ojcmt/13282","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13282","url":null,"abstract":"Teamwork is usually a component of the learning assessment framework of online courses, and the timely sharing of information and feedback through synchronous communication is beneficial for team-based assignments. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, university students did not always actively engage in virtual teamwork in online environments because they were learning from home and were subject to the effect of disruptions at home. This study explored the perceptions of university students who engaged in synchronous discussions involving teamwork during the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 25 Taiwanese university students. Through qualitative methods that incorporated individual interviews and a content analysis, six content concepts were established. Afterward, relational content analysis was conducted. This study revealed that the students benefited from visible synchronous discussions in terms of inquiry dialogue, project creation, and learning satisfaction. Notably, the interviewees mostly did not switch on their webcams but recognized that webcam use can benefit discussions. The participants’ decision to switch on/off their webcams was primarily influenced by their perception of the importance of a given project than by their privacy concerns. Moreover, when home-based leaning was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, group leaders encountered an obstruction when they were guiding their group members to engage in teamwork involving physical tasks. Future studies should explore how members should be guided to engage in teamwork involving physical tasks during synchronous discussions.","PeriodicalId":42941,"journal":{"name":"Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43037549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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