Supplemental Web Sites

Author(s):  
Malini Krishnamurthi

The population of today’s learners can be described as being more than 25 years old, with a job and/or family responsibilities. The vast student body requires a flexible program that can accommodate job-related travel, need for a more mobile learning environment and a learning method which may be more entertaining and interactive than the traditional “stand and lecture” method. In the process of innovating with technology in the college curriculum, business schools are confronted with the issue of achieving a balance between the issues of “richness” and “reach.” While members of the faculty see an opportunity to enrich education, administrators see an opportunity to realize economies of scale. Results from this empirical study show that students perceive a face-to-face course supported by a web site to be useful in enhancing their academic performance. Almost all the students made use of the classroom lectures and web site resources and did not feel the need to stay away from lectures.

2008 ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard T.A. Wood ◽  
Mark D. Griffiths

Three face-to-face focus groups that included 24 online poker players were conducted in Stockholm to investigate their motivations for playing online poker and issues relating to their trust of poker Web sites. Casual players played because they liked the convenience, the ease of learning, the low stake size, the relief from boredom, and the social interactions. "Professional" players played to win money and utilised several features of the online game for psychological tactics. They also tended to play several tables at once. Factors that affected how much a player would trust an online poker Web site included the size and reputation of the operator, the speed with which winnings were paid out, the clarity of the Web site design, the technical reliability of the service, and the accessibility and effectiveness of the customer service. Responsible gaming measures also increased levels of trust by demonstrating company integrity and by reducing anxiety about winning from other players. The findings indicate that providing a safe online environment with effective responsible gaming measures may be much more than just a moral and regulatory requirement. Players in this study suggested that such features are sometimes necessary in order to achieve an enjoyable gaming experience. Consequently, responsible gaming initiatives and good business practice do not have to be mutually exclusive. Indeed, in this particular scenario, they might even be considered mutually dependent. This project was funded by Svenska Spel, the operators of the Swedish National Lottery. Other than agreeing to the research question, Svenska Spel had no say in how the research was carried out, the results that were reported, the conclusions that were drawn, or the editing of the report.


2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 388-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedict Posadas

Using a socioeconomic database collected by face-to-face interviews of nurseries and greenhouses, empirical models were estimated to measure the economic impacts of mechanization or automation on annual gross sales, annual employment, and workers’ earnings, safety and retention. The survey was conducted among 215 randomly selected wholesale nurseries and greenhouses located in eight southern states from Dec. 2003 to Nov. 2009. The level of mechanization or automation (LOAM) observed among the participating wholesale nurseries and greenhouses averaged 20% of the major tasks performed by workers. Nurseries and greenhouses that reported greater annual gross sales demonstrated higher levels of mechanization, implying economies of scale associated with technology adoption by these wholesale horticulture production firms. The increase in total workers’ earnings associated with improved mechanization indicated that nurseries and greenhouses were able to pay their workers higher wages and salaries. The increased levels of mechanization produced neutral effects on employment and raised the value of the marginal productivity (VMP) of labor, implying that technology adoption by wholesale nurseries and greenhouses did not displace any worker but instead improved total workers’ earnings. Growers that reported higher levels of mechanization hired fewer new workers with basic horticultural skills, especially among horticultural firms which operated both nursery and greenhouse enterprises. The length of training period for basic horticultural skills was not influenced by the level of mechanization, but was significantly extended when nurseries or greenhouses hired more new workers without basic horticultural skills. The number of work-related injuries increased as a result of improvements in mechanization, which primarily consisted of back strains, cut fingers, shoulder and ankle strains, and eye injury. The workers’ retention impact (WRI) of the level of mechanization turned out to be neutral or indeterminate since almost all of their workers were with them during the past 2 years before conducting the interviews. Overall, advances in mechanization or automation generated enhancing effects on the annual gross sales of horticultural production firms, enabled them to retain and pay better wages for their workers, hired fewer new skilled workers, and reported more work-related injuries.


2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-86
Author(s):  
Christine Rzepka

One of the top reasons given for use of the internet is the ability to search for health information. However, much of the planning for web-based health information often fails to consider accessibility issues. If health care organizations and community agencies’ web sites have the latest, most wellresearched information on the health topics of the day, it is useless to those who cannot access it because of invisible technological barriers. Many flashy, high-tech sites were designed only to appeal to the needs of the mainstream population, with no consideration given to how people with disabilities must adapt their use of the web in order to access information. This article addresses issues of access specific to web site development, and will explore barriers to accessibility frequently experienced by web users with disabilities, requirements for ADA compliance, and how people with disabilities use the web. Web site accessibility guidelines, as well as simple evaluation tools, will be discussed. A thorough review of the article will enable even the least tech-savvy of health educators to enhance their skills in planning and evaluating web sites to promote access for people with disabilities.


Author(s):  
Petar Halachev ◽  
Aleksandra Todeva ◽  
Gergana Georgieva ◽  
Marina Jekova

he report explores and analyzes the application of the most popular programming languages from different organizations: GitHub; Stackoverflow; the TIOBE's Community index. The main client technologies: HTML; CSS; JavaScript; Typescript are presented and analysed. Features are characterized and the advantages and the disadvantages of the server technologies are described: Java; PHP; Python; Ruby. The application areas for web site development technologies have been defined. The creation of a quality web site is a complex and complicated process, but by observing some guidelines and recommendations in the work process can help to select the tools and the technologies in its design and development.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1357633X2098277
Author(s):  
Molly Jacobs ◽  
Patrick M Briley ◽  
Heather Harris Wright ◽  
Charles Ellis

Introduction Few studies have reported information related to the cost-effectiveness of traditional face-to-face treatments for aphasia. The emergence and demand for telepractice approaches to aphasia treatment has resulted in an urgent need to understand the costs and cost-benefits of this approach. Methods Eighteen stroke survivors with aphasia completed community-based aphasia telerehabilitation treatment, utilizing the Language-Oriented Treatment (LOT) delivered via Webex videoconferencing program. Marginal benefits to treatment were calculated as the change in Western Aphasia Battery-Revised (WAB-R) score pre- and post-treatment and marginal cost of treatment was calculated as the relationship between change in WAB-R aphasia quotient (AQ) and the average cost per treatment. Controlling for demographic variables, Bayesian estimation evaluated the primary contributors to WAB-R change and assessed cost-effectiveness of treatment by aphasia type. Results Thirteen out of 18 participants experienced significant improvement in WAB-R AQ following telerehabilitation delivered therapy. Compared to anomic aphasia (reference group), those with conduction aphasia had relatively similar levels of improvement whereas those with Broca’s aphasia had smaller improvement. Those with global aphasia had the largest improvement. Each one-point of improvement cost between US$89 and US$864 for those who improved (mean = US$200) depending on aphasia type/severity. Discussion Individuals with severe aphasia may have the greatest gains per unit cost from treatment. Both improvement magnitude and the cost per unit of improvement were driven by aphasia type, severity and race. Economies of scale to aphasia treatment–cost may be minimized by treating a variety of types of aphasia at various levels of severity.


2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-6
Author(s):  
Robert Fox

Purpose – In order to continue to respond to patron needs in a relevant way, it is necessary to continuously reevaluate the central message that the library website is intended to convey. It ' s necessary to question assumptions, listen to user needs, and shift our paradigm to make the library web presence as effective as possible. Design/methodology/approach – This is a regular viewpoint column. A basic literature review was done prior to the column being written. Findings – The library Web site remains, in many respects, the “first face” of the library for patrons. To remain relevant, traditional methodologies used in library science may need to be set aside or catered to the needs of the patron. Originality/value – Various methods regarding design philosophy are explored which may be of use to information professionals responsible for the design and content of the library Web sites.


Dermatology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Joachim W. Fluhr ◽  
Annie Gueguen ◽  
Delphine Legoupil ◽  
Emilie Brenaut ◽  
Claire Abasq ◽  
...  

The French government imposed the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown from March 17 until May 11, 2020. Only emergency cases and teledermatology (TD) were allowed in outpatient settings. A standardized questionnaire was developed to compare the satisfaction level of patients and their treating physicians. Our main question was whether the patients would perceive TD as a valid alternative for direct physical face-to-face consultation. Eighty-two patients and their 4 treating dermatologists from one dermatology department participated in the study (43 females, 39 males) with a mean age of 46.6 years (SD ±23.9). The reason for TD was a chronic disease in the majority (87.8%), and mainly as a follow-up (96.3%). Regarding satisfaction, almost all categories rated around 9 on a 0–10 verbal analogue scale. The same level of global satisfaction could be seen between the patients and the physicians as well as for the quality of the patient-physician relation and whether all questions could be addressed during the TC. Physicians showed significantly higher scores than patients only for the category of “length” of the consultation. Gender, age, as well as distance between the clinic and home of the patient were not influencing factors for satisfaction. Regarding the technical parameters, the evaluation was mostly comparable for patients and physicians, but overall lower than the relational satisfaction parameters, especially for image quality. Patients were significantly more motivated to continue the TD after the lockdown than their treating dermatologists. We see an interest for implementing TD in specialized centers with chronic patients coming from remote places for regular follow-ups. TD cannot replace in-person patient-physician interaction, but was helpful during the lockdown. As a result, TD might become part of dermatology training to prepare for future lockdown situations.


2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deniz Kucukusta ◽  
Rob Law ◽  
Alia Besbes ◽  
Patrick Legohérel

Purpose – This paper aims to report the findings of an empirical research focusing on Hong Kong online users’ intention to book online tourism products with latest figures. Focusing on the technology acceptance model (TAM), this case study extends the recent research with providing insight regarding the online users’ perceptions of TAM dimensions and how these dimensions are perceived among different demographic groups and Internet usage characteristics with latest figures in Hong Kong, a major tourism destination in Asia with many world-class hotels. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 213 Hong Kong online users were surveyed in March and April 2013 in Hong Kong business districts. Findings – Findings reveal that most respondents who use the Internet for booking online travel products are young, and people above a certain age are not likely to favor booking tourism products online. They are more likely to stick to traditional personal service. Perceived usefulness of the Internet is found more influential than its ease of use in forming a usage intention, and ease of use is perceived more important by jobseekers, student and employees than the other profession groups. In addition, respondents who use the Internet every day and did purchase online tourism product perceived usefulness more important than ease of use. Research limitations/implications – The generalization of this research is limited by its sample size and number of questions. Originality/value – The study gives a new perspective by linking TAM with intention to book online in Hong Kong. The paper would be of interest to the Web site planners or online tourism practitioners to consider Web site usefulness as much as its ease of its use, as both usefulness and ease of use of tourism Web sites are strong predictors of intention to book online.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Burk

Internet researchers increasingly have at their disposal of an array of automated software agents, or "bots," which can rapidly and efficiently retrieve a variety of economic and technical data from publicly accessible web sites. While these automated tools greatly facilitate the retrieval and analysis of data for academic research, they may pose ethical problems for Internet researchers. Specifically, automated software bots place some load on servers being accessed, possibly in contradiction to the expected use of such servers, and possibly in violation of the legal prerogatives of web site owners. Determining how and when to access such web sites, and whether to seek the consent of web site owners for retrieval of publicly accessible data presents an apparent conflict between general principles of information policy and the emerging legal precedent regarding trespass to computers. This conflict may be characterized as pitting utilitarian considerations against deontological considerations in a fashion reminiscent of previous debates over informed consent in on-line research. In this paper, we examine both utilitarian and deontological characterizations of the ethical obligations of researchers employing automated data retrieval bots, and argue that the contrasts between the two approaches do not necessarily result in conflict. Instead, we argue that the tension within the relevant practices indicates the need for a "meta-choice" between utilitarian and deontological considerations. We further suggest certain factors that may differentiate such a "metaethical" choice in the context of automated data retrieval from the "meta-ethical" choice presented in previously identified contexts of human subjects research or of web browser technology design. In the end, we argue that by analyzing the ethical issues in terms of the contrast between utilitarian and deontological ethics, it is possible to resolve some of the ethical dilemmas regarding automated data retrieval in fruitful and cogent ways.


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