Devastation and innovation: examining prison education during a national pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandria Bradley ◽  
Bill Davies
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Prison Education ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Learning Platforms ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Educational Delivery

Purpose This paper aims to highlight the impact that Covid-19 has had on the quality of education in prisons. This study considers the restrictive approaches taken by Her Majesty’s Prison Service during this challenging time, to argue that prisoner education is not being adequately prioritised. This study highlight issues relating to the digital divide in prisons and the lack of technological advancement, which could improve educational continuity and in-cell learning. Design/methodology/approach This study provides an examination of the broad impact the national pandemic has had on prisons and punishment, Covid-19 National Frameworks and policies relating to prison restrictions, the movements within prisoner education policy, scholarship and reflections from delivering Learning Together in HMP Full Sutton, to argue that prisoners are at the bottom of the educational hierarchy in terms of delivery, innovation and prioritisation of learner needs. However, this study proposes that some of the technologically enhanced learning is a potential solution, to transform educational equity and to reduce the digital divide. Findings This study highlights that education in prisons has taken a sudden and substantial deterioration. Findings suggest that there are few signs of this improving in the immediate future due to ongoing national restrictions. The Covid-19 prison restrictions further demonstrate the neglect of prisoners' educational needs. In addition, the national pandemic has highlighted the lack of use of technology within educational delivery in prisoners. However, findings suggest that through engaging digital learning platforms and the greater inclusions of technology in prisons, they can enhance educational opportunities and inclusive experiences for isolated learners. Research limitations/implications This is a study piece with support from a review of policy and scholarship. This is not based on data collected with serving prisoners during the national pandemic. Originality/value This study provides an overview of the current restrictions and lockdowns in prison associated with the national pandemic. Contemporary consideration to this underexplored area is essential to highlight the severe deprivations of prisoners and the fundamental impact this has had on educational delivery and much anticipated progression. Nuanced approaches to increase the use of technology within prison education are considered, in light of the challenges the pandemic has spotlighted.

Exploring the Impact of Digital Learning Platforms on Distance Learning Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 150-164
Author(s):  
Omar Mohamed Ali Albakri ◽  
Abubakar Albakri
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Learning Management Systems ◽  
Academic Life ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Learning Platforms ◽  
The Impact

Higher education has been shifting to learning management systems (LMS) for decades. Some universities, like the Open University, have managed to gain international recognition by providing undergraduate degrees to students in different countries. However, in moments of emergency and international disruption higher education institutions need to adapt at unprecedented speed. This chapter focuses on the use of technology in moments of extreme internationalised interference. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a ground for change, students enrolled in presential courses in Spain, Malta, and the United Kingdom were interviewed in order to understand how they are coping with having contact with their academic life exclusively online. The students' impressions, LMS software, and results (assignments and exams) were also discussed. Finally, the chapter analyses the solutions provided by lecturers and students.

scholarly journals Special Issue Editorial:

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Aileen Park ◽  
Pablo Ramirez ◽  
Paul Sparks
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Digital Inclusion ◽  
Multicultural Environment ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Learning Platforms ◽  
Facilitated Learning

The global pandemic has brought about fundamental changes in education. The abrupt closing of schools has disrupted the teaching and learning processes and presented challenges for schools worldwide. This Special Issue explores “digital inclusion” through the use of technology-facilitated learning platforms and modalities within the multicultural environment of schooling. It especially gives attention to cases that highlight the responses of parents, teachers, administrators, and students in countries that have the digital infrastructure and technological advancement and in those that do not in order to question the “digital divide” and the challenges and implications that this disparity brings to education.

Do disclosure and transparency affect bank’s financial performance?

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 1344-1361
Author(s):  
Isaiah Oino
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Loan Portfolios ◽  
Cent Level ◽  
Transparency And Disclosure ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of transparency and disclosure on the financial performance of financial institutions. The emphasis is on assessing transparency and disclosure; auditing and compliance; risk management as indicators of corporate governance; and understanding how these parameters affect bank profitability, liquidity and the quality of loan portfolios. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 20 financial institutions was selected, with ten respondents from each, yielding a total sample size of 200. Principal component analysis (PCA), with inbuilt ability to check for composite reliability, was used to obtain composite indices for the corporate governance indicators as well as the indicators of financial performance, based on a set of questions framed for each institution. Findings The analysis demonstrates that greater disclosure and transparency, improved auditing and compliance and better risk management positively affect the financial performance of financial institutions. In terms of significance, the results show that as the level of disclosure and transparency in managerial affairs increases, the performance of financial institutions – as measured in terms of the quality of loan portfolios, liquidity and profitability – increases by 0.3046, with the effect being statistically significant at the 1 per cent level. Furthermore, as the level of auditing and the degree of compliance with banking regulations increases, the financial performance of banks improves by 0.3309. Research limitations/implications This paper did not consider time series because corporate governance does not change periodically. Practical implications This paper demonstrates the importance of disclosure and transparency in managerial affairs because the performance of financial institutions, as measured in terms of loan portfolios, liquidity and profitability, increases by 0.4 when transparency and disclosure improve, with this effect being statistically significant at the 1 per cent level. Originality/value The use of primary data in assessing the impact of corporate governance on financial performance, instead of secondary data, is the primary novelty of this study. Moreover, PCA is used to assess the weight of the various parameters.

scholarly journals Knowledge sharing in open source software communities: motivations and management

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 791-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zilia Iskoujina ◽  
Joanne Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – This paper aims to add to the understanding of knowledge sharing in online communities through an investigation of the relationship between individual participant’s motivations and management in open source software (OSS) communities. Drawing on a review of literature concerning knowledge sharing in organisations, the factors that motivate participants to share their knowledge in OSS communities, and the management of such communities, it is hypothesised that the quality of management influences the extent to which the motivations of members actually result in knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach – To test the hypothesis, quantitative data were collected through an online questionnaire survey of OSS web developers with the aim of gathering respondents’ opinions concerning knowledge sharing, motivations to share knowledge and satisfaction with the management of OSS projects. Factor analysis, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to explore the survey data. Findings – The analysis of the data reveals that the individual participant’s satisfaction with the management of an OSS project is an important factor influencing the extent of their personal contribution to a community. Originality/value – Little attention has been devoted to understanding the impact of management in OSS communities. Focused on OSS developers specialising in web development, the findings of this paper offer an important original contribution to understanding the connections between individual members’ satisfaction with management and their motivations to contribute to an OSS project. The findings reveal that motivations to share knowledge in online communities are influenced by the quality of management. Consequently, the findings suggest that appropriate management can enhance knowledge sharing in OSS projects and online communities, and organisations more generally.

Shareholder risk-taking incentives in the presence of contingent capital

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Fatouh ◽  
Ayowande A. McCunn
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Banking System ◽  
Capital Requirements ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Basic Model ◽  
Conversion Rates ◽  
A Minor ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to present a model of shareholders’ willingness to exert effort to reduce the likelihood of bank distress and the implications of the presence of contingent convertible (CoCo) bonds in the liabilities structure of a bank. Design/methodology/approach This study presents a basic model about the moral hazard surrounding shareholders willingness to exert effort that increases the likelihood of a bank’s success. This study uses a one-shot game and so do not capture the effects of repeated interactions. Findings Consistent with the existing literature, this study shows that the direction of the wealth transfer at the conversion of CoCo bonds determines their impact on shareholder risk-taking incentives. This study also finds that “anytime” CoCos (CoCo bonds trigger-able anytime at the discretion of managers) have a minor advantage over regular CoCo bonds, and that quality of capital requirements can reduce the risk-taking incentives of shareholders. Practical implications This study argues that shareholders can also use manager-specific CoCo bonds to reduce the riskiness of the bank activities. The issuance of such bonds can increase the resilience of individual banks and the whole banking system. Regulators can use restrictions on conversion rates and/or requirements on the quality of capital to address the impact of CoCo bonds issuance on risk-taking incentives. Originality/value To model the risk-taking incentives, authors generally modify the asset processes to introduce components that reflect asymmetric information between CoCo holders and shareholders and/or managers. This paper follows a simpler method similar to that of Holmström and Tirole (1998).

Impact of embodiment on attitude strength

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunaina Shrivastava ◽  
Gaurav Jain ◽  
JaeHwan Kwon ◽  
Dhananjay Nayakankuppam
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Target Object ◽  
Attitude Strength ◽  
Quality Of Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lab Experiments ◽  
Attitude Accessibility ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Traditionally, it has been held that strong attitudes are a result of the conscious cognitive process of elaboration where one engages in effortful issue-relevant thinking. The purpose of this study is to show that attitude strength can follow from processes not just limited to elaboration – as a function of certain embodied states. This study examines bodily manipulations that could alter perceptions about the quality of the information describing a target (e.g. notion of “hard/soft” evidence), and, find that such an embodiment leads one to have strong attitudes toward the target object. This study proposes an attitude-rehearsal-based mechanism to explain the phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach This study have relied on lab experiments as a methodology – undergraduate students and American residents served as participants. This study have conducted a pre-registered study as well. Findings In the work, the study shows that strong attitudes can result from processes not just limited to elaboration, as a function of certain embodied states. This paper examines bodily manipulations that could alter perceptions about the quality of information describing the target (e.g. notion of “hard vs soft”; “converging vs diverging” information), and, find that such an embodiment leads one to have strong attitudes toward the target. This study consistently observed that the bodily manipulations influence attitude accessibility, a direct and operational indicator of attitude strength. This study further validates an attitude-rehearsal-based mechanism to explain the observed phenomenon. Originality/value While much work has investigated the impact of embodiment on attitudes, little attention has been paid to whether, and, how embodied states can impact the “strength” of the attitude without impacting the attitude itself – to the knowledge, this paper is the first to document this. Moreover, traditionally, it has been held that strong attitudes are a result of the conscious cognitive process of elaboration where one engages in effortful issue-relevant thinking. This study however shows that attitude strength can follow from processes not just limited to elaboration – as a function of certain embodied states.

The moderating role of cultural factors in the adoption of mobile banking in Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre da C. Goularte ◽  
Silvia Novaes Zilber
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Behavioral Intention ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Mobile Banking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
Cultural Variables ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Country Culture ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aims to evaluate the impact of country culture, represented by Hofstede cultural dimensions, in the adoption of Brazilian mobile banking services. Design/methodology/approach Based on the replication of a theoretical model previously tested in Mozambique (Africa) that combines the extended version of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) with the five Hofstede cultural dimensions, this study tested that model in another emerging country, Brazil, using partial least squares (PLS) as a modeling method. Findings Replication showed that the cultural dimensions do not present strong significance in the moderation of the use of mobile banking. In fact, out of the five dimensions tested, three were not significant and two showed weak significance (p < 0.10): collectivism and short-term orientation. Those results, contrasting with that one presented by Baptista and Oliveira (2015), made sense under Ajzen’s theory (1991) – the TPB, leading to the conclusion that the moderation of cultural dimensions on behavior use is not applicable. Originality/value The authors concluded that the tested model may not be adherent, finding a theoretical gap to be explored in future studies: the moderation of the behavioral intention by cultural variables proposed by Hofstede. That finding supported the proposition of a new theoretical model, which considers the moderation of cultural dimensions in another place: behavioral intention to use mobile banking instead of the behavior use, as proposed by Baptista and Oliveira (2015). So, based on the research results and based on some authors cited in this study (Choi et al., 2014; Chou, 2013; Srite and Karahanna, 2006), it is proposed to insert Hofstede cultural variables as moderators of independent variables on the behavioral intention.

The model of HRM-trust-commitment relationships

2015 ◽  
Vol 115 (8) ◽  
pp. 1457-1480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dagmara Lewicka ◽  
Katarzyna Krot
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Affective Commitment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Calculative Commitment ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Organisational Trust ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – It is worth focusing on the examination of factors influencing the quality of the work environment. The purpose of this paper is to verify the influence of the HRM system and organisational trust on employee commitment. Design/methodology/approach – The survey was conducted in Poland among 370 employees in organisations from two sectors of the economy: services and industry. The verification of the theoretical model was performed based on structural equation modelling. Findings – Research findings made it possible to successfully verify the model of the relationship between the HRM system (practices, process), organisational trust and commitment. The starting point for trust in an organisation followed by commitment is the HRM system. It seems that the impact of the HRM process on creating organisational trust is higher. Research findings have also confirmed a relationship between each type of organisational trust and calculative commitment based on benefits, which is a strong determinant of affective commitment. Organisational trust is, therefore, an intermediary factor because the organisation must build trust in employees first before they become affectively committed. Originality/value – Current studies have not examined the issue of a mutual relationship between three constructs: perceived HRM practices and process, organisational trust and commitment. What is more, previous research was confined to the constructs analysed holistically without considering their complexity (different types of trust and commitment). In addition, the authors attempted to enrich Allen and Mayer’s (1991) model with a new aspect of the commitment – calculative, which is linked to the benefits received by employees. The authors also identified the mediating influence of the trust and calculative commitment onto the affective commitment.

scholarly journals An Adaptive Bitrate Switching Algorithm for Speech Applications in Context of WebRTC

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Mohannad Alahmadi ◽  
Peter Pocta ◽  
Hugh Melvin
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Data Exchange ◽  
Quality Of Experience ◽  
End User ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Switching Algorithm ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) combines a set of standards and technologies to enable high-quality audio, video, and auxiliary data exchange in web browsers and mobile applications. It enables peer-to-peer multimedia sessions over IP networks without the need for additional plugins. The Opus codec, which is deployed as the default audio codec for speech and music streaming in WebRTC, supports a wide range of bitrates. This range of bitrates covers narrowband, wideband, and super-wideband up to fullband bandwidths. Users of IP-based telephony always demand high-quality audio. In addition to users’ expectation, their emotional state, content type, and many other psychological factors; network quality of service; and distortions introduced at the end terminals could determine their quality of experience. To measure the quality experienced by the end user for voice transmission service, the E-model standardized in the ITU-T Rec. G.107 (a narrowband version), ITU-T Rec. G.107.1 (a wideband version), and the most recent ITU-T Rec. G.107.2 extension for the super-wideband E-model can be used. In this work, we present a quality of experience model built on the E-model to measure the impact of coding and packet loss to assess the quality perceived by the end user in WebRTC speech applications. Based on the computed Mean Opinion Score, a real-time adaptive codec parameter switching mechanism is used to switch to the most optimum codec bitrate under the present network conditions. We present the evaluation results to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach when compared with the default codec configuration in WebRTC.

scholarly journals Antecedents of organizational identification: implications for employee performance

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Syeda Wajiha Kazmi ◽  
Syeda Tuba Javaid
Keyword(s):  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Organizational Identification ◽  
Employee Performance ◽  
Quality Of Education ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Perceived Supervisor Support ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of three determinants of organizational identification (OID) on employee performance (EP) in the context of private business institutions. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 175 permanent faculty members from four top universities in Karachi, Pakistan, was interviewed using a five-point Likert scale questionnaire. The data were inserted in SPSS 22 and SmartPLS v 3.2 for performing the analysis. Findings Results of the study showed a significant effect in perceived supervisor support on OID; OID; job satisfaction and EP; and mediating relationship. Conversely, an insignificant effect was observed in workplace incivility. Research limitations/implications It is highly recommended that organizations work on the areas that lead to enhancing their employees’ performance. Also, human resource should create a healthy culture that promotes initiatives, open-door policies and discourages power distance. Lastly, one of the key responsibilities of management is to strengthen their OID because employees are more likely to identify with their supervisors if they invest in the organizations they work for. Practical implications This study will help strengthen the relationship between supervisors and university employees. It will guide the supervisors to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of their subordinates and develop recreational policies and employee engagement activities. In addition, it will help develop a conducive environment and enhance the quality of education in the university and the society. Originality/value Understanding the determinants of OID on EP in the educational context is very important as it enhances the quality of EP and the overall quality of education of the institution.

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