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Full-Text Articles in Education

Digital Bridges: How Art Educators Build Professional Learning Networks On Twitter, Jennifer Heyser Dec 2023

Digital Bridges: How Art Educators Build Professional Learning Networks On Twitter, Jennifer Heyser

Doctor of Education in Instructional Technology Dissertations

This qualitative case study explores the experiences of K-12 art teachers in the United States who participate in the #K12ArtChat, as a form of professional learning. Grounded in social constructivist learning, connectivism, and informal learning, this study addressed how and why art educators use Twitter Chats for professional growth and the potential impact of participation on their teaching practices. Five themes emerged from this study: Twitter's role as a professional development art education platform, the fostering of personal relationships and support, active community participation and advocacy, continuous professional development, and any perceived pedagogical shifts. With a significant emphasis on combatting …


Cm-Ii Meditation As An Intervention To Reduce Stress And Improve Attention: A Study Of Ml Detection, Spectral Analysis, And Hrv Metrics, Sreekanth Gopi Dec 2023

Cm-Ii Meditation As An Intervention To Reduce Stress And Improve Attention: A Study Of Ml Detection, Spectral Analysis, And Hrv Metrics, Sreekanth Gopi

Master of Science in Computer Science Theses

Students frequently face heightened stress due to academic and social pressures, particularly in de- manding fields like computer science and engineering. These challenges are often associated with serious mental health issues, including ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), depression, and an increased risk of suicide. The average student attention span has notably decreased from 21⁄2 minutes to just 47 seconds, and now it typically takes about 25 minutes to switch attention to a new task (Mark, 2023). Research findings suggest that over 95% of individuals who die by suicide have been diagnosed with depression (Shahtahmasebi, 2013), and almost 20% of students …


Integrity, Confidentiality, And Equity: Using Inquiry-Based Labs To Help Students Understand Ai And Cybersecurity, Richard C. Alexander, Liran Ma, Ze-Li Dou, Zhipeng Cai, Yan Huang Nov 2023

Integrity, Confidentiality, And Equity: Using Inquiry-Based Labs To Help Students Understand Ai And Cybersecurity, Richard C. Alexander, Liran Ma, Ze-Li Dou, Zhipeng Cai, Yan Huang

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have brought society closer to the long-held dream of creating machines to help with both common and complex tasks and functions. From recommending movies to detecting disease in its earliest stages, AI has become an aspect of daily life many people accept without scrutiny. Despite its functionality and promise, AI has inherent security risks that users should understand and programmers must be trained to address. The ICE (integrity, confidentiality, and equity) cybersecurity labs developed by a team of cybersecurity researchers addresses these vulnerabilities to AI models through a series of hands-on, inquiry-based labs. Through …


Leading Online Professional Development For Instructional Technology Coaches With Effective Design Elements, Janet Cowart Oct 2023

Leading Online Professional Development For Instructional Technology Coaches With Effective Design Elements, Janet Cowart

Doctor of Education in Instructional Technology Dissertations

Online professional development became a necessity during the pandemic for educators, including Instructional Technology Coaches, to continue to gain knowledge to improve instruction. In this study, Instructional Technology Coaches participated in an online professional development series of synchronous and asynchronous sessions called Pathways. Two theoretical frameworks were used to support the research: Adult Learning Theory with an emphasis on the Theory of Computer-based Instruction for Adults, and TPACK. The seven characteristics of effective professional development created by Darling-Hammond et al. (2017) provided a foundation on which design elements to include in Pathways. There were 10 design elements that were implemented …


A Framework For Teaching Computational Thinking In Primary Schools: A Namibian Case Study, Maria M. Ausiku, Machdel C. Matthee Oct 2023

A Framework For Teaching Computational Thinking In Primary Schools: A Namibian Case Study, Maria M. Ausiku, Machdel C. Matthee

The African Journal of Information Systems

Several professional development programs have been designed to train in-service teachers on a computational thinking (CT) curriculum, but few researchers have examined how these affect primary school teachers' self-efficacy and knowledge of CT in emerging economies. This study's objective was to create a framework for the professional development of primary school in-service teachers for the teaching of CT (referred to as professional development for primary computational thinking - PD4PCT) to be integrated into teachers' professional development programs. An initial framework was refined after implementing it at a Namibian school with a group of 14 teachers from five different disciplines (social …


Upper Elementary Teacher, Instructional Technology Coach, And Administrator Experiences With Technology Integration During Covid-19 Related School Closures: A Phenomenography, Amber Gravitt Oct 2023

Upper Elementary Teacher, Instructional Technology Coach, And Administrator Experiences With Technology Integration During Covid-19 Related School Closures: A Phenomenography, Amber Gravitt

Doctor of Education in Instructional Technology Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenographic research was to qualitatively examine the experiences of teachers, instructional technology coaches, and administrators of technology integration during the emergency remote teaching (ERT) phase of the COVID-19 related school closures. Twelve participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview approach to gather information about their experiences of ERT using Moorhouse and Wong’s Phases to Innovation in Response to Crisis framework. An adapted phenomenographic data analysis approach was used to analyze the unique experiences of each participant group. Initially, teachers only used the technologies they were comfortable with and had used prior to school closures, but as …


Understanding How To Diversify The Cybersecurity Workforce: A Qualitative Analysis, Maria Chaparro Osman Dr., Maureen Namukasa, Cherrise Ficke, Isabella Piasecki, Tj Oconnor Dr., Meredith Carroll Dr. Oct 2023

Understanding How To Diversify The Cybersecurity Workforce: A Qualitative Analysis, Maria Chaparro Osman Dr., Maureen Namukasa, Cherrise Ficke, Isabella Piasecki, Tj Oconnor Dr., Meredith Carroll Dr.

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

A robust cybersecurity workforce is critical for protection against a range of malicious attacks. However, it has been noted that there are many vacancies and a shortage of individuals entering the cybersecurity workforce. This workforce shortage has partly been attributed to the lack of diversity in the cybersecurity field, with women, African Americans, and Hispanics remaining underrepresented in educational and professional settings. Using a qualitative approach, this work sought to investigate what led underrepresented minorities currently involved in cybersecurity to the industry, with the goal of determining methods to attract and diversify the workforce. A thematic analysis was conducted using …


Cybersecurity Challenges And Awareness Of The Multi-Generational Learners In Nepal, Raj Kumar Dhungana, Lina Gurung Dr, Hem Poudyal Oct 2023

Cybersecurity Challenges And Awareness Of The Multi-Generational Learners In Nepal, Raj Kumar Dhungana, Lina Gurung Dr, Hem Poudyal

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Increased exposure to technologies has lately emerged as one of the everyday realities of digital natives, especially K-12 students, and teachers, the digital immigrants. Protection from cybersecurity risks in digital learning spaces is a human right, but students are increasingly exposed to high-risk cyberspace without time to cope with cybersecurity risks. This study, using a survey (N-891 students and 157 teachers) and in-depth interviews (27 students and 14 teachers), described the students' cybersecurity-related experiences and challenges in Nepal. This study revealed that the school’s cybersecurity support system is poor and teachers has very low awareness and competencies to protect students …


A Mixed-Method Study Exploring Cyber Ranges And Educator Motivation, Cheryl Beauchamp, Holly M. Matusovich Oct 2023

A Mixed-Method Study Exploring Cyber Ranges And Educator Motivation, Cheryl Beauchamp, Holly M. Matusovich

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

A growing number of academic institutions have invested resources to integrate cyber ranges for applying and developing cybersecurity-related knowledge and skills. Cyber range developers and administrators provided much of what is known about cyber range resources and possible educational applications; however, the educator provides valuable understanding of the cyber range resources they use, how they use them, what they value, and what they do not value. This study provides the cyber range user perspective of cyber ranges in cybersecurity education by describing how K-12 educators are motivated using cyber ranges. Using mixed methods, this study explored educator motivation associated with …


Cue The Paralinguistics: A Qualitative Case Study Of Teacher Social Presence, Molly R. Bowden Oct 2023

Cue The Paralinguistics: A Qualitative Case Study Of Teacher Social Presence, Molly R. Bowden

Doctor of Education in Instructional Technology Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand teachers’ rationale and practices as they establish a social presence in a 100% online learning environment in a high school setting, with a specific emphasis on paralinguistic cues and symbols, such as emoji, emoticons, and Bitmoji. This case study focused on the meaning and understanding of teacher social presence in the virtual setting, utilizing a variety of data collection methods. In-depth interviews were conducted, followed by digital document collection and a focus group interview; transcripts of both interviews and the focus group were analyzed in order to establish the specific …


The Impact Of Digital Transformation On Institutional Growth. A Case Of Zimbabwean Universities, Vusumuzi Maphosa Sep 2023

The Impact Of Digital Transformation On Institutional Growth. A Case Of Zimbabwean Universities, Vusumuzi Maphosa

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

The pressure for institutions to digitally transform has been building, and COVID-19 accelerated the transition in developing countries. The study evaluated the impact of digital transformation on Zimbabwean universities. The Microsoft digital transformation framework guided the study. Thematic analysis was used to extract meaning and generate themes from qualitative data from university ICT Directors. Results show that digital transformation positively impacted institutional growth and efficiency. Most universities invest in digital technology to increase service reliability and availability. Digital transformation teams were bolstered to support student processes and create personalised learning journeys. The digital transformation led to the adoption of several …


Digital Transformation Of Smes Through Social Media, Georgette Eugenia Otoo, Raphael Amponsah, Eric Afful-Dadzie, Emmanuel Awuni Kolog Sep 2023

Digital Transformation Of Smes Through Social Media, Georgette Eugenia Otoo, Raphael Amponsah, Eric Afful-Dadzie, Emmanuel Awuni Kolog

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

This research paper explores the strategic integration of social media platforms by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) beyond marketing. Drawing from Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capabilities theories, the study investigates how social media enhances management, coordination, and control functions. Through five diverse case studies from Ghana, findings reveal SMEs’ innovative use of platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp, Slack, and Trello. These platforms foster efficient internal communication, customer engagement, project management, and talent acquisition. Challenges such as technical expertise and dynamic digital landscapes are identified.


Ap Statistics Students’ Conceptions Of Engagement And Technology In A Flipped Classroom: A Phenomenographical Study, Kimberly Gile Sep 2023

Ap Statistics Students’ Conceptions Of Engagement And Technology In A Flipped Classroom: A Phenomenographical Study, Kimberly Gile

Doctor of Education in Instructional Technology Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to study student engagement and disengagement within an AP Statistics course using flipped classroom strategies. Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding, Dewey’s Active Learning Theory, the Microsystem of Student Engagement in a Flipped Classroom, and the Framework for Engagement with Mathematics were the theoretical foundation for this study. A phenomenographical methodology was followed to answer the question: How do AP Statistics students experience engagement in the flipped classroom? as well as the sub questions: Which learning experiences help to engage students and why? And which learning experiences contribute to student disengagement and why? …


Case Study: The Impact Of Emerging Technologies On Cybersecurity Education And Workforces, Austin Cusak Jul 2023

Case Study: The Impact Of Emerging Technologies On Cybersecurity Education And Workforces, Austin Cusak

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

A qualitative case study focused on understanding what steps are needed to prepare the cybersecurity workforces of 2026-2028 to work with and against emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Conducted through a workshop held in two parts at a cybersecurity education conference, findings came both from a semi-structured interview with a panel of experts as well as small workgroups of professionals answering seven scenario-based questions. Data was thematically analyzed, with major findings emerging about the need to refocus cybersecurity STEM at the middle school level with problem-based learning, the disconnects between workforce operations and cybersecurity operators, the …


Becoming An Effective Digital Educator: A Case Study Of Technology Preparation In A Novel Preservice Teacher Internship Program, Stephanie Milner Jun 2023

Becoming An Effective Digital Educator: A Case Study Of Technology Preparation In A Novel Preservice Teacher Internship Program, Stephanie Milner

Doctor of Education in Instructional Technology Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to explore one teacher preparation program's internship model as implemented in one school district and discover the extent to which training for teaching with technology was integrated into the process. It also aimed to understand how former intern teachers felt the entire preparation program equipped them for technology-rich instruction during their first year of full-time teaching. Internship program documents and lesson plans were analyzed, and early career teachers, mentor teachers, school administrators, and internship program coordinators were interviewed individually. Classroom observations were conducted for the lesson plans analyzed. Findings spotlighted the district’s technology-friendly …