Teaching techniques adapted for online delivery to achieve course learning outcomes in a virtual environment

Today we are moving from traditional learning to e-learning via digital means. The entire humanity learned how to adapt overnight to digital life and leave the traditional doing things behind. Digitization has been around for several years, but its use has become a necessity with the Covid-19 pandemic. The blockade forced us to work remotely overnight, to use digital networks to communicate, make payments, learn, all sectors of activity had to adapt to the digital age in one night. This paper shows how the teaching and learning approaches need to adapt to new communication requirements and students' needs to achieve course learning outcomes in a virtual environment. This paper uses both a quantitative and qualitative method to analyze the professors and students’ perspectives on the techniques of online teaching-learning, during the isolation period and after, and what are the best methods recommended to be used for online learning taking into consideration how students can maintain their class’s attention and how can get actively involved in a learning process. The value of this study is to develop a holistic image of online teaching-learning-assessment activities, to ensure the efficiency and quality of the educational process in the university environment.

The effects of different genres of music on passersby

Music preferences reflect both experience and societal or cultural influences. The characteristics of the music genre include both structural style and societal connotations. This study investigated reactions to different types of music. The behavior of passersby was observed as music from two stereotypically “opposite” genres, hip-hop and classical, was played by the researcher while jogging past them. It was hypothesized that due to societal stereotypes and reputations of these genres’ participants would react negatively toward hip-hop and favorably toward classical. As the study was conducted, participants were observed during six different outings over a three-week period. The researcher jogged at the same time of day and over the same route with either hip-hop or classical music playing. Passersby were observed on their facial expressions, any changes in behavior, and their body language to determine their overall reaction to the music, as being “positive”, “negative”, or “neutral.” The results indicate that older passersby responded negatively to hip-hop and positively to classical music. Younger age groups often had opposite reactions. This study provides insight into different populations’ responses to opposite genres of music and how societal stereotypes may have affected these responses.

Sentiment Evolution Analysis and Association Rule Mining for COVID-19 Tweets

This article presents a data mining study carried out on social media users in the context of COVID-19 and offers four main contributions. The first one consists in the construction of a COVID-19 dataset composed of tweets posted by users during the first stages of the virus propagation. The second contribution offers a sample of the interactions between users on topics related to the pandemic. The third contribution is a sentiment analysis, which explores the evolution of emotions throughout time, while the fourth one is an association rule mining task. The indicators determined by statistics and the results obtained from sentiment analysis and association rule mining are eloquent. For instance, signs of an upcoming worldwide economic crisis were clearly detected at an early stage in this study. Overall results are promising and can be exploited in the prediction of the aftermath of COVID-19 and similar crisis in the future.

Existing in Etherium: The autographic ontology of the non-fungible token artwork

This paper examines the concept that legitimate autographic identity may be granted to digital images created as a non-fungible token (NFT). The blockchain technology coded permanently into minted NFT’s keep track of the legitimacy of authorship and ownership, keeping them from being duplicated and removing them from the realm of allographic art. Questions arise of what ‘legitimacy’ and ‘ownership’ for a digital image—which are so easily reproduced and circulated—even look like. The main question that must be answered is whether the backend coding of a digital file is sufficient to alter its ontology into a token of one-of-a-kind autographic work, or if it only what is visible to the viewer of the image matters for its replicability and allographic ontological nature.

Digitalization and Backward Design take the finance teaching techniques and study plan strategy one step further

Digitization has been around for several years, but its use has become a necessity with the Covid-19 pandemic. Lockdown forced us to work remotely overnight, to use digital networks to communicate, make payments, learn all sectors of activity were forced to adapt to the digital age in one night. This paper shows how teaching, research, and the study plan must adapt to the new communication requirements and students’ needs to achieve the course learning outcomes in a virtual environment. The paper proposes a realistic academic plan design - backward. Taking into account new environmental and digital challenges, the backward design facilitates the decision on the content of the study plan, the elimination of less important parts, and the application of new communication and assessment techniques.

Modelling of Teaching for Pre-School Children with Mental Retardation

The article discusses the experience of using models in remedial work with children with mental retardation of preschool age in kindergarten conditions. Examples of outlines of lessons with this category of preschool children 6-7 years old are offered. The reactions of children to the introduction of models are illustrated. The aim of the article is to show that models are an effective technique for children with mental retardation to perceive cognitive material, because they stimulate children to independent voluntary purposeful activity. This is facilitated by the model algorithm, which includes generalized images that are familiar to children and do not cause them difficulties. We have taken into account that for children with mental retardation the operation "comparison" is one of the difficult ones, but through it the relations between objects and phenomena of the external world are learned. Comparison therefore plays an important role in cognition Comparison helps to generalise and systematise knowledge. The process of comparison is a necessary condition for generalisation. The model can help children with mental retardation to find similarities between objects, which for them is rather more difficult than finding differences.

The true and fait view concept: the palette of controversial points (of “worth banning” to “worth keeping”)

Dynamic changes and observed crisis phenomena in the economy, as well as high-profile accounting scandals of recent decades and subsequent revisions of accounting standards, necessitate a critical assessment of the conceptual framework for preparing financial statements that are adequate to the real state of affairs. At the same time, the accumulated practice of applying the true and fair view concept revealed some shortcomings. In this situation, the center of attraction of researchers' interest is the question of whether this concept meets the modern challenges of accounting, whether it is advisable to preserve and develop it. The aim of the article: an overview of the main research trends describing the significance of this concept for the current state of accounting, an assessment of the stages of their development. The analysis was carried out through research of scientific publications. The result was the identification of the main researching areas of the true and fair view concept, an analysis of their changes over time, an overview of the current increment of scientific knowledge, and the factors that led to such an increment for the last few years. In the course of the work, the areas of emerging scientific interest, as well as areas of maintaining scientific interest, were noted from the position of enriching theoretical and practical knowledge about the applicability of the concept. Special attention was drawn to the following issues: the relationship between overrides from accounting standards and the quality of financial statements, options for interpreting the concept by various groups of users of financial statements in settings of the legal and socio-cultural context differences, the role of auditors in assessing of the compliance with this concept. In conclusion were called the arguments of supporters to recognize this concept as worthy of banning, as well as the arguments of supporters to recognize this concept as worthy of keeping. Prospective directions of future scientific research in this direction were proposed.

The role of events in developing the cultural side of a city: Assessing events organized by European Capitals of Culture

People today are continuously searching for new experiences, and thus the events organized by a city can play an important role in influencing peoples’ decision to visit a certain city. In this regard, the title of European Capital of Culture can offer a city competitive advantage and it can help it improve its cultural as well as its social side. Hence, through the events organized while holding the title of European Capital of Culture, cities can better promote themselves as cultural cities, but they can also offer citizens and tourists diverse and interesting experiences and entertainment opportunities. Thus, we focused our research on the city of Aarhus. The purpose of our research was to assess the way Aarhus promoted itself through its events while having the title of European Capital of Culture in 2017, in order to extract some guidelines that could be further used as frame of reference by other cities in their development and promotion strategies. After analyzing one of the events organized by Aarhus- GrowOP - the only opera festival in Denmark designed for children, our findings revealed that the city used cultural events as a way to develop itself and attract tourists. The event was well organized, it was in line with the concept of the entire program of the city and through it, Aarhus aimed at integrating new and young audiences into its cultural life.

Cadet education in the Russian Federation: search for a management model

The object of research in the article is the system of cadet education in the Russian Federation. The study examined the structure of the system of military education, organizational-legal features and personnel, material-technological and ideological problems of providing cadet education in the Russian Federation of the present stage of development. The key problem is the lack of regular quality monitoring of this direction of education. An effective solution to this problem is propose - the development and implementation of a unique digital information and analytical system "Zvezda" for cadet education.

Senior Optimist pursues a better Future Beyond the COVID–19 Pandemic

The author claims that the COVID-19 Pandemic signalizes that time comes for making some changes. In short, he calls us to care more about people and their needs, about Earth and Nature and their potential unknown threats, rather than concentrating on the obsolete Capitalist call of "making money." Although nobody can assess the magnitude of these issues, the author estimates it as a very significant Issue. The COVID-19 pandemic clearly indicates how important and critical is the Public Sector in the fight against this enemy. Private funds were important but relatively less. The Author calls and offers a six steps strategy, for developing and inspiring people from all walks of life and all social classes. Finally, the Author believes that, it makes sense and justified to invest money and efforts in developing and empowering human-beings, as they are the keys and the leverage, the A and the Z, for every significant issue or project.