scholarly journals Professional work and learning with smartphones: a comparative study of school librarians from Australia, Hong Kong and United Kingdom

Author(s):  
Zvjezdana Dukic ◽  
Annie Tam

The study explores the role of mobile technologies in school librarians‟ daily work and professional learning and development. The aim of the study is to examine how school librarians search, access, use and share information via their smartphones, what smartphone functionalities they use for these purposes, and what apps and social media are most frequently used. The study is based on empirical research conducted on a sample of school librarians/teacher librarians in Australia, Hong Kong and United Kingdom. Data were collected with online survey. The major finding of this study is that school librarians in Australia and Hong Kong widely use smartphone technologies for their daily needs and for professional work and learning. Various smartphone functionalities tools are used to satisfy these varied needs. Also school librarians from Hong Kong use various smartphone functionalities more frequently than study participants from Australia and UK. Barriers to smartphone use are also discussed but it seems that they do not detract school librarians from using smartphone technologies for their daily professional activities.

2021 ◽  
pp. 150-167
Author(s):  
Anna Bagirova ◽  
Natalia Blednova

The article considers the problem of combining two types of labor activity — professional and parental labor. The aim of the research is to identify objective and subjective barriers for combination of these two labor spheres. We focus on specific elements of the organization of labor of working mothers (length of the working week and working day, time of the start and the end of work, alternation of work and days off, leave period, form of work organization) and on identifying subjective barriers that prevent the effective combination of professional and parental labor. We conducted an online survey of 265 women aged 18 to 45 working in various organizations in the Sverdlovsk region. We analyzed the data using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and group comparison based on nonparametric criteria. The results of the study are as follows: the length of the working day, as well as the time of its beginning and end, act as objective barriers to combining professional and parental work for Ural women. The subjective barriers preventing the effective combination of professional and parental work for Ural women are stereotypes of employers and colleagues who do not have children, based on the perception of the low efficiency of professional activities of workers with children, the negative impact of children on the implementation of professional work and the professional career of parents, misunderstanding of the advantages that children give to workers with children in the process of their professional work. The presence of such subjective barriers often entails refusals in employment of subjects of parental labor, a deterioration in the attitude of the employers towards them, and increases the likelihood of going on unpaid leave.


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 201-216
Author(s):  
Gaby Ersinta Parung ◽  
Nuno Ferreira

The goals of the study were to identify: (a) the differences in father involvement level between fathers in the United Kingdom and Asia; (b) the differences in father involvement between fathers within Asia (Indonesia and Hong Kong); and (c) the factor that contributed to father involvement the most: work-life balance or couple satisfaction. By using snowball sampling, 256 fathers (51 from the United Kingdom, 106 from Indonesia, and 99 from Hong Kong) participated in the study via an online survey that measured their level of involvement, couple satisfaction, and work-life balance. Results revealed a statistically significant difference in father involvement between fathers from Indonesia and Hong Kong (t = 6.307, p < .000, 95% = 16.286, 31.101), but not between fathers from the United Kingdom and Asia (t = - .487, p = .627, 95% = - 8.003, - 4.841). Couple satisfaction was directly correlated to father involvement and also acted as the mediating factor between work-life balance and father involvement meaning that father involvement was influenced by a larger system that was interconnected with wider society as well as the couple relationship.


Author(s):  
Paula Jegere

Dance teachers fulfil different roles in their daily work. It reflects as a need to act according to the circumstances that appear as a part of work process. If the economic situation in a certain country is unstable then more professionals are urged to obtain additional knowledge to use skills necessary for the development and sustainability of the profession. Skills that are often provided by other specialists in a different field of work. First of all the roles that are fulfil in a daily work need to be acknowledged and supported – denial of these roles can influence professional work/activity. Then according to the financial status occurs roles of secondary meaning, not used in the daily professional activities but rather occasionally. The recognition of one’s professional roles and their variability may take place in the higher education study process, when students realize and are motivated to obtain more information and knowledge/skills to expand their professional work. The aim of this article is to analyse professional roles of students in different higher education dance programs. The aim is carried out in the analysis of literature and on it’s base promoted evaluation indicators and levels of professional roles realized by dance teachers. A questionnaire is designed on a basis of these indicators and levels and offered for approbation to students in higher education dance programs in Latvian Academy of Music, Liepaja University, Latvian Academy of Culture


Author(s):  
Marcia A. Mardis ◽  
Ellen S. Hoffman

This methodological review reports how online focus groups not only benefit the qualitative researcher but also provide professional growth among participants. The authors suggest that for school librarians, who often have limited opportunities for tailored professional development, focus groups can rapidly build a community of practice that transcends the original purpose of the researcher, enhancing knowledge and empowering new actions within schools following the model of Denzin (1997). By providing interaction, self-reflection, and professional sharing, the online focus group is a potentially powerful tool to include educators who share a professional culture but would not easily be reached by in-person techniques, as well as a method through which researchers can foster meaningful beneficial opportunities for professional learning and empowerment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-47
Author(s):  
Ning Sa ◽  
Xiaojun (Jenny) Yuan

AbstractWith the development of mobile technologies, voice search is becoming increasingly important in our daily lives. By investigating the general usage of voice search and user perception about voice search systems, this research aims to understand users’ voice search behavior. We are particularly interested in how users perform voice search, their topics of interest, and their preference toward voice search. We elicit users’ opinions by asking them to fill out an online survey. Results indicated that participants liked voice search because it was convenient. However, voice search was used much less frequently than keyboard search. The success rate of voice search was low, and the participants usually gave up voice search or switched to keyboard search. They tended to perform voice search when they were driving or walking. Moreover, the participants mainly used voice search for simple tasks on mobile devices. The main reasons why participants disliked voice search are attributed to the system mistakes and the fact that they were unable to modify the queries.


Author(s):  
Vanessa W. S. Ng ◽  
Kenneth K. C. Man ◽  
Le Gao ◽  
Esther W. Chan ◽  
Edwin H. M. Lee ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 568.2-568
Author(s):  
L. Kranenburg ◽  
M. Dankbaar ◽  
N. Basoski ◽  
W. Van den Broek ◽  
J. Hazes

Background:The training curriculum for rheumatologists in training in the Netherlands describes competences and entrusted professional activities (EPA) to monitor the progress in learning. However, this training program does not discuss training of Shared Decision Making. As the basis for shared care and patient participation is made during these years, the question arises how rheumatologist in training think about Shared Decision Making and how they use this in daily practice.Objectives:Inventory of vision, experience and self-evaluation of skills related to Shared Decision Making amongst rheumatologists in training in the Netherlands in order to identify barriers in the implementation of Shared Decision Making in daily practice.Methods:Qualitative data was collected from on online survey amongst rheumatologists in training who were registered in January 2018 by the Dutch Society of Rheumatology.Results:Forty-two rheumatologists in training from various years of training responded (60%). Respondents think that Shared Decision Making is important. A third applies Shared Decision Making on a regular basis in daily practice. Self rating of skills for Shared Decision Making varies from sufficient to good. However, respondents are uncertain about their performance due to a lack of feedback and unclearness of the concept. They indicate that Shared Decision Making is not possible for all patients and find it difficult to assess whether the patient has a clear understanding of the options. Patient’s preferences are discussed only by 33% of the doctors on a regular basis when starting new treatment.Conclusion:Rheumatologists in training agree on the importance of Shared Decision Making, but are uncertain about their performance. Unclearness of the concept is described as a known barrier in literature1,2and is frequently mentioned by respondents. Rheumatologist in training indicate that not all patients are fit for Shared Decision Making. Regarding the limited training on the subject this could also be a misjudgment of patients preferences and lack of experience how to deal with different patient types. There is a clear plea for more training and feedback on the subject. Training should be integrated in the curriculum focusing on how to assess patients preferences and how to apply Shared Decision Making also for patients who indicate to leave decisions up to their doctor.References:[1]van Veenendaal, H.et al.Accelerating implementation of shared decision-making in the Netherlands: An exploratory investigation.Patient Educ Couns101, 2097-2104 (2018).[2]Legare, F., Ratte, S., Gravel, K. & Graham, I. D. Barriers and facilitators to implementing shared decision-making in clinical practice: update of a systematic review of health professionals’ perceptions.Patient Educ Couns73, 526-535 (2008).Disclosure of Interests:Laura Kranenburg Grant/research support from: Pfizer and UCB for the development of the Reuma App, a tool to support selfmanagement for patients. This is not used for the research related to the submitted abstract., Mary Dankbaar: None declared, Natalja Basoski: None declared, Walter Van den Broek: None declared, Johanna Hazes: None declared


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