Enhancing Effective Teaching and Learning of ICT in the Schools for the Blind in Ghana.

The paper examines role of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Special Education in Ghana. Taking the relevant literature as the guiding principle, the paper addresses the opportunities, barriers and challenges posed by the integration of Assistive Technologies devices in schools for the blind and visually impaired in the teaching and learning process. The paper shows that inadequacies of teachers’ knowledge and skills in Assistive Technologies coupled with lack of these technologies are some of the greatest hindrances to effective teaching in the schools for the Blind in Ghana. Educators and policy makers acknowledge Evidence-Based Teaching as one of the most effective strategies for teaching the blind and the visually impaired.The paper highlights that effective integration of Assistive Technologies into schools will help bridge the digital gap between the blind and the sighted in Ghana

Enhancing Effective Teaching and Learning of ICT in the Schools for the Blind in Ghana

The paper examines role of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Special Education in Ghana. Taking the relevant literature as the guiding principle, the paper addresses the opportunities, barriers and challenges posed by the integration of Assistive Technologies devices in schools for the blind and visually impaired in the teaching and learning process. The paper shows that inadequacies of teachers’ knowledge and skills in Assistive Technologies coupled with lack of these technologies are some of the greatest hindrances to effective teaching in the schools for the Blind in Ghana. Educators and policy makers acknowledge Evidence-Based Teaching as one of the most effective strategies for teaching the blind and the visually impaired.The paper highlights that effective integration of Assistive Technologies into schools will help bridge the digital gap between the blind and the sighted in Ghana

A combination of transformative and authentic assessment through ICT in Physical Education (Combinando una evaluación auténtica y transformativa a través de las TIC en Educación Física)

This work analyses the results of an authentic assessment (AA) and transformative assessment (TA) experience and use of information and communication technology (ICT) in Physical Education (PE) classes in high school. The experience involves the use of the Plickers application, and the participation of the students in the evaluation (self-evaluation and peer evaluation processes). This study was carried out in a high school from Spain, as part of a didactic dance unit, with 38 students (15th years old). The AA and TA task was for small groups of students to create a video tutorial of salsa steps as a final product of a dance teaching unit; were self-assessed and peer-assessed using Plickers. Experience was also evaluated. Results: the use of AA and TA processes in PE in high school based on the use of ICT has been a very positive experience. For the students the video tutorial is a good method of learning and assessment and they value positively the peer-assessment and self-assessment processes they carried out, as well as the use of the Plickers. This study can be interesting to PE teachers interested in using AA, TA and ICT. Further research about this topic may be need. Resumen. Este trabajo analiza los resultados de una experiencia de evaluación auténtica (EA) y evaluación transformativa (ET) que utiliza las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC) en Educación Física (EF) en Educación Secundaria. La experiencia implica la utilización de la aplicación “Plickers” y la participación del alumnado en la evaluación (procesos de autoevaluación y de evaluación entre iguales). El estudio se desarrolla en un instituto de educación secundaria español, como parte de una unidad didácica de danza, con 38 alumnos de 15 años. Las actividades de EA y ET se realizaron en pequeños grupos, que crearon un video-tutorial de pasos de salsa como producto final de la unidad didáctica, el cual fue autoevaluado y coevaluado utilizando la aplicación “Plickers”. Se evaluó también toda la experiencia. Los resultados muestran que la utilización de procesos de EA y ET a través de las TIC en EF en secundaria ha sido una experiencia muy positiva. Los alumnos lo consideran un buen método de aprendizaje y evaluación y valoran positivamente los procesos de evaluación entre iguales y autoevaluación utilizados, así como el uso de “Plickers”. El estudio puede ser de interés para el profesorado de EF interesado en utilizar EA, ET y TIC. Parece necesario realizar más investigación sobre la temática.

Security and imperceptibility improving of image steganography using pixel allocation and random function techniques

Information security is one of the main aspects of processes and methodologies in the technical age of information and communication. The security of information should be a key priority in the secret exchange of information between two parties. In order to ensure the security of information, there are some strategies that are used, and they include steganography and cryptography. An effective digital image-steganographic method based on odd/even pixel allocation and random function to increase the security and imperceptibility has been improved. This lately developed outline has been verified for increasing the security and imperceptibility to determine the existent problems. Huffman coding has been used to modify secret data prior embedding stage; this modified equivalent secret data that prevent the secret data from attackers to increase the secret data capacities. The main objective of our scheme is to boost the peak-signal-to-noise-ratio (PSNR) of the stego cover and stop against any attack. The size of the secret data also increases. The results confirm good PSNR values in addition of these findings confirmed the proposed method eligibility.

Toward People’s Community Control of Technology: Race, Access, and Education

This field review explores how the benefits of access to computing for racialized and minoritized communities has become an accepted fact in policy and research, despite decades of evidence that technical fixes do not solve the kinds of complex social problems that disproportionately affect these communities. I use the digital divide framework—a 1990s policy diagnosis that argues that the growth and success of the internet would bifurcate the public into digital “haves” and “have-nots”—as a lens to look at why access to computing frequently appears as a means to achieve economic, political, and social equality for racialized and minoritized communities. First, I present a brief cultural history of computer-assisted instruction to show that widely-held assumptions about the educational utility of computing emerged from utopian narratives about scientific progress and innovation—narratives that also traded on raced and gendered assumptions about users of computers. Next, I use the advent of the digital divide framework and its eventual transformation into digital inequality research to show how those raced and gendered norms about computing and computer users continue to inform research on information and communication technologies (ICTs) used in educational contexts. This is important because the norms implicated in digital divide research are also present in other sites where technology and civic life intersect, including democratic participation, public health, and immigration, among others. I conclude by arguing that naïve or cynical deployments of computing technology can actually harm or exploit the very same racialized and minoritized communities that access is supposed to benefit. In short, access to computing in education—or in any other domain—can only meaningfully contribute to equality when minoritized and racialized communities are allowed to pursue their own collective goals.

Information and communication technologies in food services and restaurants: a systematic review

Purpose Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are a key player in the food services and restaurants sector; thus, the aim of this work consists in studying the previous research on ICTs in food services and restaurants in the context of tourism and hospitality through a systematic literature review. Design/methodology/approach The systematic literature review is performed on full papers published in journals included in the Journal Citation Report of the WoS in the category of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism. A total of 165 articles from 28 journals are analyzed, following different criteria, such as the research methods, perspectives, statistical techniques, geographical focus, topics, technologies, authors and universities. Findings The restaurant sector is more and more based on the creation of experiences and ICTs, through their multiple possibilities, can undoubtedly contribute to adding value to the simple meal and create and recreate experiences to attract and retain customers who are increasingly sophisticated and hooked on ICTs. ICTs are basic for managers taking decision at the highest level in food services and restaurants, so ICTs should not be seen as a technical tool but as an essential element for top management. Research limitations/implications This paper examined articles from very well-known tourism and hospitality journals, leaving aside others as well as different publication formats such as books or papers presented at conferences. Originality/value A significant contribution made with this paper is the availability of a list of topics in the context of ICTs in food services and restaurants. These topics are classified into three areas (Consumers, Suppliers and Environment and Tendencies) that can serve as a future research framework. The paper also provides useful information to restaurant managers about ICTs, to researchers for their future projects and to academics for their courses.

Technology Usage and Academic Performance in the Pisa 2018 Report

In the last two decades, the great technological advances sweeping society have made inroads into the educational sphere. The use of information and communication technology and social networks has opened up new possibilities for student learning, which require appropriate treatment by family and teachers. This quantitative study takes a new approach to investigating the relationship between Spanish teenage students’ academic success and their use of technology and social networks. It analyses data published in the 2018 PISA report to assess whether the use of these resources is appropriate, and to determine their impact on students’ learning and performance in reading, mathematics and science. The study takes a new approach in terms of the variables selected and the analysis of the data through two statistical measures. The results suggest that excessive use of technology and social networks, both during the week and at weekends, impairs performance. This finding is more acute in the case of male students, as the data indicates that they start at an earlier age and are more likely to use social media for the detrimental activity of online gaming.

Digital Leisure: An Opportunity for Intergenerational Well-Being in Times of Pandemic?

Leisure activities shared by grandparents and grandchildren provide important benefits. The health and humanitarian crisis caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has made it necessary to use digital tools to alleviate the lack of contact between adults and children. This paper had as its aim to identify the digital leisure shared by grandparents and their pre-adolescent grandchildren (10-12 years old) before and during the pandemic, as well as its contribution to intergenerational well-being from a holistic paradigm, ultimately aiming to determine whether that digital leisure constitutes an experience of human development for young and old people alike. The sample was made up of 153 grandparents of 10-to-12-year-old children living in the north of Spain. Alongside the use of an ad hoc questionnaire, descriptive and inferential analyses were carried out. Most intergenerational leisure activities ceased to be performed during the lockdown, except for those that could be carried out remotely, thanks to information and communication technologies, which ensured the continuity of social and family interactions. Technological connectivity between generations provided greater support to communication and meaningful relationships, additionally facilitating active aging processes.