Development of 4to24, a Transition Application for Parents of Students With Visual Impairments

2021 ◽  
Vol 115 (6) ◽  
pp. 493-505
Author(s):  
Karla Antonelli ◽  
Jennifer L. Cmar ◽  
Anne Steverson
Keyword(s):  
Independent Living ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Visual Impairments ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Advisory Board ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Content Development ◽  
Stakeholder Input ◽  
App Design

Introduction This article focuses on the development of 4to24, an informational app for parents of students with visual impairments, with emphasis on obtaining stakeholder input, developing content, and establishing content validity. The app provides information, resources, and activities to help students, ages 4–24 years, prepare for independence and employment as an adult. Method App design and content development involved multiple phases of iterative design and writing. Stakeholder input was obtained via an advisory board and user focus groups with parents and students. Experts reviewed and validated content with ratings and recommendations on accuracy, age-appropriateness, and relevance. Results Advisory board members identified important domains to address in 4to24 including social skills, technology, travel skills, health and fitness, independent living, career education, and self-determination. They recommended focusing on elevating parents’ expectations and confidence in supporting and teaching their children. Focus group participants recommended accessibility, ease of use, and relevant information to make the app appealing to users. The content validation process supported the content’s relevance, accuracy, and age-appropriateness and resulted in a final count of 410 informational modules. Discussion Parent involvement and expectations are critical to students’ preparation for future employment. 4to24 provides support for parents to collaborate with service providers and reinforce concepts and skills outside of school. Development of the app technology and its large volume of content required a full 5-year process. Implications for practitioners Lessons learned from this project can inform future resource development projects, including recommendations to start small and define goals early in the process. The 4to24 app is a new resource for parents of students with visual impairments that can supplement services provided by professionals.

Learners’ Technological Acceptance of VR Content Development: A Sequential 3-Part Use Case Study of Diverse Post-Secondary Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (03) ◽  
pp. 343-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinh T. Nguyen ◽  
Rebecca Hite ◽  
Tommy Dang
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Use Case ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Content Development ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Post Secondary Students

Web-based virtual reality (VR) development tools are in ubiquitous use by software developers, and now, university (undergraduate) students, to move beyond using, to creating new and energizing VR content. Web-based VR (WebVR), among other libraries and frameworks, have risen as a low-cost platform for users to create rich and intuitive VR content and applications. However, the success of WebVR as an instructional tool relies on post-secondary students technological acceptance (TA), the intersectionality of a user’s perceived utility (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU, or convenience) with said technological tool. Yet, there is a dearth of exploratory studies of students’ experiences with the AR/VR development technologies to infer their TA. To ascertain the viability of WebVR tools for software engineering undergraduates in the classroom, this paper presents a 3-case contextual investigation of 38 undergraduate students tasked with creating VR content. In each use case, students were provided increasing freedom in their VR content development parameters. Results indicated that students demonstrated elements of technological acceptance in their selection of webVR and other platforms, and not only successfully creating rich and robust VR content (PU), but also executing these projects in a short period (PEOU). Other positive externalities observed were students exhibitions of soft skills (e.g. creativity, critical thinking) and different modes of demonstrating coding knowledge, which suggest further study. Discussed are the lessons learned from the WebVR and VR/AR interventions and recommendations for WebVR instruction. This work may be helpful for both learners and teachers using VR/AR in selecting, designing, and developing coursework materials, tools, and libraries.

scholarly journals Co-Creation in Practice II: Co-creating a Digital Walking Guide (Bremen Hemelingen)

2020 ◽  
pp. 117-165
Author(s):  
Juliane Jarke
Keyword(s):  
Information Needs ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Care Service ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Social Care Service ◽  
Core Group ◽  
Group Of Seven ◽  
City District

Abstract This chapter reports on a co-creation project that was conducted in the city district Bremen Hemelingen. A core group of seven local service providers steered the process in which 46 older residents participated. One of the tasks of social care service providers is to organise outdoor activities for older residents (also to facilitate social participation). To support their work, this co-creation project resulted in a digital walking guide that provides multi-media information on walks in different parts of the district. The walks were defined and organised by social care service providers as well as individual older residents. Older participants defined relevant information needs. A core group of five older residents defined design requirements and created content for the digital walking guide. The chapter describes different kinds of co-creation walking methods such as ideation walks, data walks and user test walks. It concludes with lessons learned.

Validating the Measurement Constructs Affecting the Technology Adoption in Indian Mobile Banking Industry

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muragesh Y. Pattanshetti ◽  
Sachin S. Kamble ◽  
Sudheer M. Dhume ◽  
Shradha Gawankar
Keyword(s):  
Technology Adoption ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Retail Banking ◽  
Appropriate Technology ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Measurement Scale ◽  
Mobile Banking

Mobile phones have undeniably brought a paradigm shift, affecting both the lives of people and the business environment. Today, mobile phone has permeated the lives of billions of people around the world, becoming for many an indispensable device. Moreover, adoption of mobile banking has significant impact on reducing costs and enabling change in retail banking. Factors influencing the intention to use or adopt mobile banking are very important and will play a vital role for mobile banking service providers. The proposed study focuses on a comprehensive set of potential factors that influence the adoption of mobile banking. The research model identifies appropriate factors and captures dependency relationships among these factors in the form of a number of hypotheses to be tested in this research. This paper aims to design a scale with a high degree of reliability, validity, and dimensionality which helps to determine the appropriate technology adoption model based on the identified constructs, viz. Optimism (OPTI), Innovativeness (INNO), Insecurity (INSC), Discomfort (DISC), Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of Use (PEU), Perceived Risk (PR), Subjective Norms (SN), Attitude (ATTI), Behavioural Control (BC) and Behavioural Intention (BI). The data were collected through questionnaire survey from 201 respondents comprising software engineers, bank employees, professors, entrepreneurs. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the validity of the proposed measurement scale for all the identified constructs. This instrument helps bankers to determine and design there applications which will contribute to the knowledge of predicting customer intention.

scholarly journals The Determinants to Promote College Students’ Use of Car-Sharing: An Empirical Study at Dalian Maritime University, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6627
Author(s):  
Shichao Sun ◽  
Yuanqian Liu ◽  
Yukun Yao ◽  
Zhengyu Duan ◽  
Xiaokun Wang
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Car Sharing ◽  
Willingness To Use

Sustaining the development of car-sharing is considered an efficient way to counter environmental issues worldwide. Against this background, college students are recognized as a promising customer group of car-sharing service providers in China. However, the determinants that promote students’ willingness to use car-sharing services are rarely studied, and the uniqueness of college students in China in the context of car-sharing is justified. Therefore, this paper examines the key factors that affect Chinese college students’ adoption of car-sharing. An empirical study using samples from Dalian Maritime University was conducted, and survey data were collected via the Internet. Specifically, respondents’ socio-demographics were obtained, and their latent attitudes on car-sharing services were measured in terms of willingness to use car-sharing services, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and safety concerns. In addition, nine hypothetical travel scenarios were defined, and regarding each travel scenario, the respondents were asked to state whether they were willing or not to use car-sharing services. On this basis, a hybrid logit model was established to investigate the key factors that influenced the willingness to use car-sharing services. Aside from the common findings in line with previous studies, the results indicate that with the increase in the number of travel fellows, willingness to use car-sharing services went up. Furthermore, college students’ willingness to use car-sharing services was significantly affected by money costs rather than time costs. Additionally, college students in China are more likely to use car-sharing services during workday off-peak hours and weekends. Separately, among the respondents’ latent attitudes, only the perceived usefulness of car-sharing services was found to have a significant and positive impact on students’ willingness to use them. Relevant policy implications with regards to theoretical findings are also offered in this paper to car-sharing service providers in China.

Evaluating a Functional Family Therapy Intervention: Challenges and Lessons Learned

2021 ◽  
pp. 104973152098560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Celinska
Keyword(s):  
Family Therapy ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Evaluation Research ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Outcome Evaluation ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Functional Family Therapy ◽  
Functional Family ◽  
Family Based

Purpose: This case study is the introspective account of the evaluation process of Functional Family Therapy (FFT) as implemented in Middlesex County in New Jersey between 2005 and 2011. The study presents challenges and issues in evaluation falling into three main categories. Methods: The case study is based on the recollections and documented experiences of the author who was responsible for all major aspects of the evaluation including designing the study, collecting the data, and handling daily evaluation activities. Results: The author differentiated among three main categories of challenges. In respect to research design, the relative merits of experimental versus nonexperimental designs and quantitative versus qualitative research methods are discussed. The second set of issues involves developing and exercising the social competence skills necessary to form working partnerships with service providers. The third set encompasses logistical barriers encountered during daily evaluation activities. Conclusions: The challenges and lessons learned from conducting the outcome evaluation of FFT are situated within scholarly debates on evaluation research, with the goal of providing further insights into the on-the-ground implementation and process of program evaluations. The experiences, recollections and processes illustrate challenges and solutions applicable to evaluations of other family-based violence prevention interventions.

scholarly journals Moving through Motherhood: Involving the Public in Research to Inform Physical Activity Promotion throughout Pregnancy and Beyond

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 4482
Author(s):  
Victoria E. Salmon ◽  
Lauren R. Rodgers ◽  
Peter Rouse ◽  
Oli Williams ◽  
Emma Cockcroft ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Physical Activity Promotion ◽  
Resource Development ◽  
Physical Activity Behaviour ◽  
Patient And Public Involvement ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Activity Promotion ◽  
Development Outcomes

Information received by women regarding physical activity during and after pregnancy often lacks clarity and may be conflicting and confusing. Without clear, engaging, accessible guidance centred on the experiences of pregnancy and parenting, the benefits of physical activity can be lost. We describe a collaborative process to inform the design of evidence-based, user-centred physical activity resources which reflect diverse experiences of pregnancy and early parenthood. Two iterative, collaborative phases involving patient and public involvement (PPI) workshops, a scoping survey (n = 553) and stakeholder events engaged women and maternity, policy and physical activity stakeholders to inform pilot resource development. These activities shaped understanding of challenges experienced by maternity and physical activity service providers, pregnant women and new mothers in relation to supporting physical activity. Working collaboratively with women and stakeholders, we co-designed pilot resources and identified important considerations for future resource development. Outcomes and lessons learned from this process will inform further work to support physical activity during pregnancy and beyond, but also wider health research where such collaborative approaches are important. We hope that drawing on our experiences and sharing outcomes from this work provide useful information for researchers, healthcare professionals, policy makers and those involved in supporting physical activity behaviour.

scholarly journals Exploring the role of an emotional support and counselling service for people with visual impairments

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Hodge ◽  
Wally Barr ◽  
Louise Bowen ◽  
Martina Leeven ◽  
Paul Knox
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Support ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Low Vision ◽  
Visual Impairments ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
Mixed Methods Evaluation

There is growing evidence of the need for services to address the emotional support needs of people with visual impairments. This article presents findings from a mixed methods evaluation of an emotional support and counselling (ESaC) service delivered within an integrated low vision service, focusing primarily on the qualitative findings. Data collected using a standardised measure of psychological well-being (Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation–Outcome Measure; CORE-OM) show an improvement in the psychological well-being of clients of the service between baseline and follow-up assessment. Qualitative findings from interviews with service users and service providers help to illustrate and explain the experiences underlying the quantitative findings. The ESaC services are shown to be helpful to service users in two particular ways: helping them to normalise their experiences by talking to an impartial listener and helping them to accept and adapt to the physical, emotional and social changes in their lives resulting from their visual impairment.

An empirical investigation of tourist’s choice of service delivery options

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1892-1913 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arun Kumar Kaushik ◽  
Zillur Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Technology Readiness ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Perceived Ease Of Use ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Delivery Options

Purpose This paper aims to offer and examine a conceptual model of tourist innovativeness toward self-service technologies (SSTs) to confirm whether tourists prefer service delivery by SSTs over employees in an offline hospitality environment. Design/methodology/approach Tourists’ perceived usefulness (PU) of SSTs and need for interaction (NI) with service employees have been taken as crucial mediating variables to examine the effects of perceived ease of use and technology readiness index personality dimensions toward SST and employee-based service adoption. Findings Findings reveal that both “NI” and “PU” play significant roles in Technology Readiness and Acceptance Model (TRAM) when tourists select one of two service delivery options – SSTs and service employees. Research limitations/implications The foremost limitation of the study is its dependence on domestic tourist samples. However, such samples were chosen because tourists comprising these samples tend to use similar service delivery options more, in turn increasing their use of SSTs available in sample hotels. Practical implications The study gives a deeper understanding of TRAM with an extremely crucial mediating variable (NI) in an offline service context. It also provides useful insights to service providers and policy makers for developing new strategies and policies to enhance user experience. Social implications This study recommends the usage of numerous SSTs by tourists. Originality/value During extensive literature review carried out in this research, no study was found that proposed such an effective framework in an offline service context.

scholarly journals Predicting Consumer Intention to Use Mobile Payment Services: Empirical Evidence from Vietnam

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
The Ninh Nguyen ◽  
Tuan Khanh Cao ◽  
Phuong Linh Dang ◽  
Hien Anh Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Mobile Payment ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Intention To Use ◽  
Perceived Ease Of Use ◽  
Payment Services ◽  
The Impact

<p>Mobile payment has relative advantages compared to other payment methods, thus providing benefits for both consumers and the society. This study attempts to examine factors influencing consumer intention to use mobile payment services. Survey data are used to investigate the impact of consumers’ perceptions of mobile payment services and social influence on use intention. Empirical evidence from 489 Vietnamese consumers confirms a significant relationship between the factors and behavioral intention, and reveals that perceived trust is the strongest predictor of intention to use mobile payment services followed by perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, perceived behavioral control, perceived usefulness and subjective norm, respectively. The results contribute to the evolving literature, and suggest that mobile payment service providers should particularly focus on building up consumer trust, and making their services clear, understandable and easy to use. Future research directions for extending this study are also discussed.</p>

The Expanded Core Curriculum Areas Experienced by Campers during Camp Abilities: A Qualitative Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-41
Author(s):  
Lauren J. Lieberman ◽  
Katie Ericson ◽  
Maria Lepore-Stevens ◽  
Karen Wolffe
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Core Curriculum ◽  
Low Vision ◽  
Visual Impairments ◽  
Structured Learning ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Expanded Core Curriculum ◽  
Children With Visual Impairments

Introduction: The expanded core curriculum (ECC) refers to the generally accepted nine areas of instruction that children who are visually impaired (i.e., those who are blind or have low vision) must learn through explicit instruction in order to live independently as adults. Children with visual impairments must experience immersion in the ECC in their daily lives throughout the year rather than only being taught these skills during the school year by teachers of students with visual impairments. Therefore, this research was undertaken to determine whether athletes attending Camp Abilities, a sports camp for children with visual impairments, experienced new ECC skills or practiced previously learned ECC skills and if so, how. Method: Researchers chose to interview 10 athletes from a purposeful sample of 30 children who had previously attended camp. The 10 coaches who worked with these athletes one-on-one participated in focus group discussions at the end of the weeklong camp. In addition, all athletes and coaches attending camp listed their thoughts on posters describing how all athletes attending experienced areas of the ECC. Finally, researchers documented observations of athletes’ opportunities to practice ECC content throughout the weeklong program. Researchers transcribed interviews and focus group discussions and reviewed for themes relating to ECC areas that were part of the students’ lived experience during camp. Results: Three major conclusions emerged from reviews of the interviews, discussion group transcripts, posters, and observations: (1) athletes and coaches were initially unclear about what the ECC areas were and how the athletes experienced the ECC in their everyday academic and home activities; (2) following clarification of the ECC areas, the athletes came to recognize how they learned and applied ECC skills during the camp experience; and (3) a more structured instructional approach to applying the ECC at camp may further enhance their experiences. Discussion: The youth participants were not able to list and describe all of the ECC areas when interviewed at the end of camp. However, adult participants (coaches) listed most ECC areas and described how athletes experienced the ECC during camp in their focus group discussions. Once researchers clarified ECC areas for athletes, they identified self-determination, recreation and leisure, social interaction, and independent living as the areas of the ECC most often experienced during camp. Implications for practitioners: Practitioners need to pay attention to structured learning of the ECC areas and consider articulating for students which areas overlap in their everyday lives, so that they are fully aware of the multiple skills they are acquiring. Camp Abilities is a functional way for youths with visual impairments to experience all areas of the ECC.

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