Connections Before Curriculum: The Role of Social Presence During COVID-19 Emergency Remote Learning for Students

This study examined the student experience (n=507) during emergency remote learning at a medium-sized private southeastern university during the COVID-19 pandemic, leveraging the Social Presence Model (SPM) as a guiding framework. Tensions were high at this critical time as students were stressed with financial burdens, supply shortages, overlapping work and educational schedules, and shared technological resources and physical spaces. Therefore, this study helps educators better understand students’ emotional needs and experiences during the March 2020 lockdown transition to remote learning. Specifically, examining the student experience in a time of crisis offers critical lessons about the importance of connectedness, online readiness, cultivating relationships, adaptability during transitions, and class interaction. The data revealed the depth of anxiety felt by students and suggests the need for increased empathy, communication, interaction, and flexibility from their instructor and course community to proceed with academic coursework, particularly for first-year college students. The findings elevate the importance of social presence as a literacy for learning in any modality, underscore the need to support the mental health of our students, and stress the urgency for online and remote learning readiness for current and future public emergencies.

The Teachers’ Online Readiness: an evaluation of Online Learning during Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesia

Online learning is the right choice to do during the Covid-19 pandemic. So that the challenges that teachers in implementing learning must face are in themselves. Therefore, this study assesses the influence of attitudes, interests, and motivation on teachers' online readiness in learning from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This research is quantitative by using a questionnaire for data collection. The sample was determined using an accidental sampling method, namely elementary school teachers and equivalent to senior high school teachers and equivalent from all regions of Indonesia, totaling 281 respondents. While the analysis technique used is multiple linear regression. The results of this study indicate that attitude has a significant influence on online readiness, with the most dominant indicator being behavior, interest also has a significant influence on online readiness, with the most dominant indicator being personal, and motivation has a minor influence on online readiness with the most indicator dominant being external. While simultaneously, attitudes, interests, and motivation positively affect online readiness with a significance level of less than 0.005. Due to the limited variables chosen, it is recommended to enrich it using other variables in further research.

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ FIRST EXPERIENCES FROM ONLINE COURSES IN COVID-19 PERIOD

<p>Prior to Covid-19 era, undergraduate courses were not allowed to be delivered online in Greece, which implies that University students may have encountered difficulties to get adjusted to the new form of courses implemented at the start of the pandemic. This research aims to investigate University of the Aegean students’ adjustment and satisfaction from online courses during spring semester 2020. The results show that both students’ adjustment and satisfaction, affected by factors recorded in literature, were moderate by the mid of semester which highlights the importance of online readiness. However, three specific factors (cohabitation causing difficulties to students in courses’ attendance, motivation to attend courses being linked more with students’ need to have a way out of the quarantine routine and sense of belonging in the University’s community) indicate that, in cases of implementation of emergency online education, social needs and external factors are of high importance.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0885/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Online learning readiness of the Science, Technology, and Engineering (STE) Program students of Sta. Cruz National High School during COVID-19 pandemic

The global health crisis created by COVID-19 has posed significant obstacles to the educational system, prompting a change from face-to-face classes to distance learning. In the middle of this global pandemic, different schools worlwide have used online learning as one of the distance learning modalities. This action research aimed to determine the online learning readiness of the Science, Technology, and Engineering (STE) Program students of Sta. Cruz National High School. A survey was used to determine the demographic profile and the online learning readiness level of these students in terms of expectations, self-direction, learning preferences, self-study habits, technology skills, hardware/software capabilities, and family support. This research utilized a quantitative descriptive research design. The results of this study shows that most of the STE students of this school have high level of online readiness in terms of expectations, self-direction, learning preferences, self-study habits, and technology skills. However, most of them only have an average level of online readiness in terms of hardware/software capabilities. Moreover, these students believed that their parents and family members are willing to support their needs that are essential for their active engagement in online learning. The findings of this research shall serve as basis for crafting policies, programs and projects to provide support in terms resources both physical and financial for the successful implementation of the online distance learning of students under the STE Program.

HUBUNGAN KESIAPAN ORANG TUA DENGAN KEMAMPUAN PSIKOMOTORIK SISWA DALAM PEMBELAJARAN DARING DIMASA PANDEMI COVID-19

COVID-19 is a type of virus that attacks the respiratory system, this virus is a family with SARS and MERS. The impact of this virus makes some countries force online learning, namely learning through internet social media, online learning has a very beneficial effect on the psychomotor aspects of students. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of parental readiness in online learning with students' psychomotor abilities. Subjects in this study were Mohammad Hatta elementary school students grade 3 and parents of students with 30 each. The parameters studied were online readiness including the provision of infrastructure tools, application systems, and online content. The parameters used for the psychomotor aspects of art and cultural materials and craft making a miniature house include the preparation stage, the process stage, the product. Data collection technique is observation using a Likert scale questionnaire. Data analysis using Pearson's task test. The results showed that the average readiness of parents during online learning in the provision of infrastructure tools was 73%, application systems 62%, online content 62%. The average value of psychomotor ability is 81%. The findings of this study are the correlation between parents 'readiness in online learning and students' psychomotor abilities (0.638 0.361)

Online readiness in universities from disabled students’ perspective

The aim of online universities is to increase learning accessibility for all students. After some years of existence, online higher education should be analysed in terms of its preparedness to meet the learning needs of people with disabilities. This paper presents a study that sheds light on the level of readiness of online higher education institutions by examining students’ views of a well-established online university, using a research-based questionnaire. The research involves all students with disabilities studying at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), with an effective participation of 421 students. The conclusion of the paper is generally highly positive concerning the extent to which the university has overcome barriers and provided satisfactory academic accommodations. However, the results do indicate a need for a more comprehensive and specific solutions for dealing with unmet needs, especially for those students with mental disabilities.

The Veterinary Treatment Facility as a Readiness Platform for Veterinary Corps Officers

ABSTRACT Introduction U.S. Army Veterinary Corps provides highly skilled and adaptive veterinary professionals to protect and improve the health of people and animals while enhancing readiness throughout the DOD. Army veterinarians must be trained and credentialed for critical tasks within the animal health and food protection missions across all components. The Veterinary Metrics Division in the U.S. Army Public Health Center’s Veterinary Services and Public Health Sanitation Directorate is responsible for tracking readiness metrics of Army veterinarians and maintains a robust online Readiness Metrics Platform. Readiness targets were developed based on trends in readiness platform data, input of senior veterinary subject matter experts, and feedback from the field. To date, no data have been published describing the cases presented to DOD-owned Veterinary Treatment Facilities (VTFs). Without capturing and codifying the types of cases that present to the VTF and comparing to cases typically encountered during deployments, it is difficult to determine whether the VTF serves as an adequate readiness platform. In this study, we compare a representative random sample of non-wellness VTF patient encounters in garrison to cases reported from two different combat zones to determine if the VTF is a suitable clinical readiness platform. Materials and Methods Multiple data sources, including pre-existing published data and new data extracted from multiple sources, were used. The Iraq 2009-2010 dataset includes data collected from a Medical Detachment, Veterinary Service Support (MDVSS) deployed to Iraq from January 5, 2009 through August 23, 2010. The Iraq 2003-2007 dataset originated from a retrospective cross-sectional survey that included database and medical record abstraction. The Afghanistan 2014-2015 dataset includes data collected from the MDVSS deployed to Afghanistan from June 2014 to March 2015. Working dog veterinary encounter data were manually extracted from monthly and daily clinical reports. Data for the Garrison 2016-2018 dataset were extracted from the Remote Online Veterinary Record. A random representative sample of government-owned animal (GOA) and privately owned animal (POA) encounters seen across all DOD-owned VTFs from June 2016 to May 2018 were selected. Results We found that animals present to the VTF for a wide variety of illnesses. Overall, the top 10 encounter categories (90.3%) align with 84.2%, 92.4%, and 85.9% of all the encounter types seen in the three combat zone datasets. Comparing these datasets identifies potential gaps in readiness training relying solely on the VTF, especially in the areas of traumatic and combat-related injuries. Conclusions Ultimately, the success of the DOD Veterinary Services Animal Health mission depends on both the competence and confidence of the individual Army veterinarian. As the MHS transitions and DOD Veterinary Services continues to transform emphasizing readiness through a public health and prevention-based Army medicine approach, Army veterinarians must strike a delicate balance to continue to provide comprehensive health care to GOAs and POAs in the VTFs. Leaders at all levels must recognize the roles VTFs play in overall public health readiness and disease prevention through the proper appropriation and allocation of resources while fostering the development, confidence, and competence of Army veterinarians training within these readiness platforms.

Realistic Job Preview as an Alternative Tool to Improve Student Readiness for Online Learning

Readiness for online learning has been established as a key component of student success in online classes. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored how vital being prepared for online can be. This paper highlights an orientation technique widely used in the business field, namely Realistic Job Preview (RJP), as a method to prepare students for what online learning might be like. Our research proposes an RJP would help students adapt to their new role as online learners. For the purposes of this study, we developed a video providing a realistic preview of online learning following recommendations from RJP research. We then conducted a mixed methods study to examine student perceptions of our realistic preview video and an online readiness self-assessment. Overall, our findings provide strong evidence for the use of RJP as a strategy to improve student readiness for online learning.

Engineering students’ readiness for online learning amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: Scale validation and lessons learned from a developing country

Background - Engineering education utilizes a face-to-face model for delivery of course materials and workshops. The recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic imposed a countrywide lockdown and forced education institutes to shift to an internet-based online delivery mode. Purpose/Hypothesis - This study developed an instrument to meticulously measure the students’ readiness for online learning in a pandemic situation. A situation like COVID-19 accelerates a long-standing issue of digital inequality among the students in education. The study proposed a reconceptualised model for students’ online readiness for emergencies like COVID-19. The proposed model consists of (a) motivation, (b) self-efficacy, and (c) situational factors.Design/Method - The proposed model was validated with the engineering students (for pilot study N = 68 and main study N = 988) from several universities in Bangladesh. To validate the underlying relationships between the latent constructs, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed followed by structural equation modelling (SEM) for the construct validity of the measurement model and to assess the model fit. Results - The findings showed that besides motivation and self-efficacy, the situational factors describing the contextual dynamics emerging from the COVID-19 significantly influenced the student's online readiness.Conclusions - The impact of situational factors on student readiness for online learning is complex, specially during events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. By analyzing the collected data, it is evident that current practices of teaching should be blended with face-to-face, synchronous and asynchronous internet-based learning. We argue that digital inequality is an important factor influencing student readiness for online learning.