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Background: Many instructors transitioned their courses from face-to-face environments to computer-mediated learning environments (CMLEs) following the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, little was known about how teleconferencing platforms and their corresponding functions affect student learning when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Objectives: The aim of this study was to provide more clarity on the conditions through which online teleconferencing platforms influence student achievement. More specifically, this study investigated how displaying lecture-relevant and lecture-irrelevant messages in a chat box during a video lecture delivered via the Zoom teleconferencing platform affected student learning and note taking. Methods: Participants viewed the video lecture either with (relevant or irrelevant) or without messages appearing in the chat box of the Zoom window. Participants completed a learning test immediately following the lecture. Results and Conclusions: No difference regarding student achievement was observed between the three groups. However, results revealed that students in the relevant-lecture messages group reported a higher extraneous cognitive load than the other groups even if they reported positive attitudes about the messages appearing on the chat box. Students in the lecture-relevant group also recorded more notes during the lecture compared to the two other groups, but this result did not reach significance. This study extends previous research that investigated how messaging influences learning in classroom settings. Findings suggest that allowing relevant discussions is not the best strategy to promote learning in CMLEs as this information seems to compete with the other relevant information being presented during the ongoing lecture.

Multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) have great potential for supporting learning experiences with a high social and teaching presence. One particular MUVE of note is Mozilla Hubs, a system of open-source virtual worlds that allow users to join sessions and interact as avatars. To date, prior studies have not examined teaching and social presence in the Mozilla Hubs environment as compared to face-to-face and web conferencing learning modes. The current study does this by comparing social and teaching presence in two university classes using the well-established community of inquiry questionnaire. Overall findings suggest that participants experienced the same amount of teaching and social presence in face-to-face, Webex and Hubs learning sessions. The implications of this study suggest that the communication medium used may not significantly influence key aspects of teaching and social presence.

The shift of learning activities from face-to-face classroom interaction to online learning beyond the classroom due to the global pandemic has caused technological anxiety in teaching and learning. This study analyzed strategies to overcome learning challenges in the COVID-19 pandemic with user-friendly platforms. This study was in the State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Surakarta, Indonesia, involving 469 lecturers who taught 983 classes as the respondents. The required data were collected using a web-based questionnaire using Google Forms. The data were analyzed descriptively in percentages and elaborated using focus group discussion. The data analysis showed that most teachers used WhatsApp group to overcome learning obstacles during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the considerations are the lack of information technology infrastructure, the lack of e-learning platforms, the lack of time to adapt, and the difficulty of internet access in some regions. This study contributes to the strategy performed by the lecturers to deal with these challenges is selecting a user-friendly and affordable platform for learning.

Much of lifelong learning is driven by our curiosity to ask ourselves questions about the things around us in everyday life. Unfortunately, we often fail to pursue these questions to acquire new knowledge, resulting in missed opportunities for lifelong learning. We investigated two approaches to technological support for lifelong learning from question-asking in everyday life: an in-situ approach -- reflecting and learning in the situatedness of the moment when a question is asked, and a post hoc approach -- self-reflecting and learning after the question-asking moment when one is available to reflect. The in-situ approach may enable people to tap into their embodied experience to gain understanding, while a post hoc approach may allow people to allocate greater cognitive and material resources to explore and understand. We implemented two systems embodying each of the two approaches. A study was conducted to compare the use of the two learning support systems in an everyday virtual environment. Results showed that the post hoc approach produces more curiosity questions and reflection than the in-situ approach. We discuss the implications of our results for the design of systems to support lifelong learning.

Higher education students with dyslexia are generally under enormous emotional pressure. The fear of getting exposed as "stupid" leads many of them to isolate themselves and avoid social contact with their peers. In consequence, a lot of dyslexic college students suffer from feelings of loneliness or even depression and anxiety. One promising way to palliate the anguish is participation in self-help groups. They can create a sense of belonging and of not being the only one out there with severe reading and writing problems. Moreover, they can help disseminate practical information on how to best cope with one's challenges. In this paper, we describe the opportunities that digital self-support groups (mostly by means of video conferencing) can offer. We argue that for these groups to be successful, they need a facilitator, must limit their attendance to a specific set of not more than five members, should have some etiquette and routines, should not limit the number of sessions that one is allowed to attend, and should be connected with nonprofit associations or other suitable organizations to elicit synergy effects.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams to hold virtual IEP meetings for students with disabilities instead of conducting them in person. Prior to the pandemic, research explored school professionals' and parents' perceptions of the IEP meeting experience in the context of in-person meetings. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how IEP meeting experiences changed for parents and school professionals as a result of the transition to virtual meeting collaboration due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ten school professionals and nine parents from two public school districts in the United States participated in semi-structured interviews about their perceptions of the IEP meeting experience before and after this transition. Six themes emerged from the analysis: (1) prioritizing preparedness; (2) conquering technology; (3) negotiating new communication norms; (4) building rapport; (5) adapting to a new kind of collaboration; and (6) harnessing flexibility. Findings identified challenges faced while preparing for and conducting virtual IEP meetings as well as opportunities to leverage virtual collaboration to improve the IEP meeting experience for school professionals and families of students with disabilities.

This article and project perfectly illustrate community, connection, and collaboration across disciplines and institutions. As history has shown us, sometimes it is difficult to study abroad or offer cultural immersion opportunities for students when global catastrophes or geopolitics maketravel difficult. Instead, this project approximates cultural immersion through engaged learning projects and teleconferencing. Featured most proximately is a project that includes three communities (a Ugandan vocational school, a Kansas university, and a city library) and is interdisciplinary in practice. As an international community of learners, this project brings together people from different backgrounds and continents. Among other things, the projectallows its participants an opportunity to recognize the global community and shared humanity that we all belong to. Breaking down stereotypes and misperceptions creates space for learning from and about one another. One way to overcome geographic, political, and even catastrophicglobal health challenges may be to create engaged learning opportunities where students conduct investigations.

As online education expands, cultivating a sense of belonging becomes increasingly complex, especially for students who may never set foot on a physical campus. In this article, we explore the nuanced nature of fostering a sense of belonging and mattering among distance learners on our own campus, Indiana University (IU) East. To address these students' unique needs, our English department organized three virtual events (the Alumni Career panel, the Faculty+Student Reading of creative work and the Celebration of Student Writing) utilizing Facebook Live, Zoom, and Pressbooks. Drawing on the concept of "belonging" as articulated by Strayhorn (2019), we examine the degree to which these virtual events fostered a sense of belonging and mattering, particularly through the concept of "matched pairs," which emerged as a useful framework for creating personalized connections between faculty and students, a critical ingredient in both belonging and mattering. Both the Faculty+Student Reading and the Celebration of Student Writing worked to establish closer ties between participating faculty and student pairs, while the third event, the Alumni Career Panel, encouraged students to interact with alumni in a virtual "living room," a relaxed online space (via Zoom) where they could learn about career paths. However, we also found that events like these cannot be viewed as "one-and-done" but rather must be part of a sustained program to enhance student connections. Acknowledging the time-intensive nature of planning and organizing such events, we caution against assumptions of seamless execution and underscore the need for purposeful planning, inclusive design, and flexibility to accommodate diverse student needs.

E-leadership as one of the new leadership paradigms is located in a wide field of different leadership theories and titles like remote leadership, virtual leadership, digital or distance leadership mean. However, all new leadership styles are mainly influenced by their environment above all by the organisational infrastructure of their companies as well as the individual competencies actual leaders have or need to have in dealing with new media. The following paper shows statistically proven, that the main competencies of e-leadership are e-trust, e-communication and e-technologies and that they are mainly influenced by the organisational infrastructure. The final result of the study contains the finding that information symmetry plays a crucial role in the whole e-leader-follower cooperation, which could be further explored in future research.

Based on the concept of Communities of Practice (CoP), this study describes the design and implementation of an online academic conference, Pedagogy and Practice in Technology Enhanced Language Learning (PPTELL) 2021, as a backdrop for exploring how to effectively promote the development of academic citizenship within the PPTELL CoP. To address this, we propose a framework focusing on four interrelated and interdependent dimensions: ubiquitous technologies, social practice, knowledge building, and academic citizenship. The conference utilized Zoom, Second Life, Slido, and several social media apps for various sessions and activities. A triangulation design was employed to analyze data from a post-conference online survey and observation notes. Our findings highlighted the effectiveness of the design in fostering academic citizenship, supported by multiuser virtual worlds like Second Life that enabled social engagement and knowledge building. We also discuss potential solutions to the challenges encountered, taking into account the nature of academic and higher education environments today.

Universities worldwide have come to embrace the rhetoric of environmental sustainability and a commitment to climate action while simultaneously seeking to internationalize themselves within the context of the global economy. In seeking to internationalize, universities are highly dependent on air travel, for both their academic staff and students. Yet airplane flights are a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and a driver of anthropogenic climate change. This article examines campaigns and individual efforts -- with particular attention to examples from Australia and New Zealand and the field of anthropology - to reduce flying among academics, including a greater reliance on teleconferencing, and explores strategies for drastically reducing student air travel. In that the internationalization of higher education has been occurring within the parameters of global capitalism, which functions as the overarching driver of climate change, this article proposes an eco-socialist alternative as a strategy for achieving social justice and environmental sustainability.

Engaging students in research can take many forms and such research-based learning is widely perceived as beneficial for student engagement and learning outcomes. Here, we report on our experience with organizing a cross-institutional seminar series dedicated to the question of where on Mars to land a coming NASA Mars mission. The seminar series was connected with the professional process for answering the same question and was organized through teleconferences and an internet site together with local discussions at seven participating institutions. We report on our own reflections as well as student reactions collected through group interviews at five participating institutions. We discuss the results against a model for research-based learning. Coordinating the seminar series across seven institutions and several time zones proved inspiring but challenging. Many specific aspects of how the class was organized could have been improved, but students generally reported high levels of engagement derived from the cutting-edge research nature and current relevance of the subject matter.

This research was a the students' motivation in learning English by using zoom platform during COVID-19 pandemic. During COVID-19, all teaching and learning process have been conducted from offline to online methods. The increasing of using the media in learning process such as android become a new phenomena, but the motivation of students in learning become less since the teachers did not meet and face-to-face with the students in the learning process. Because this study investigates students' motivation in English online learning via the Zoom app based on their experiences, a qualitative technique was chosen as an appropriate approach and descriptive research was conducted. In this research, the source of data was taken from primary source data. The primary source data was the data which the researchers took data of this research directly in the field of the problem's concern, namely in grade X MIA 2 of SMA Negeri 5 Pematangsiantar. The findings of this study are provided descriptively in order to provide a thorough picture of students' motivation. According to the data analysis offered, kids had two motivations: extrinsic motivation, which consists of a person's point of view and attitude, and extrinsic motivation, which consists of parents, school facilities, and teachers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every aspect of our lives, including instruction in the higher education system. In this sudden and stressful change, faculty had to explore different opportunities and technologies to continue to deliver quality instruction to their students. Instructional design has always been an important topic for education researchers and practitioners, and has become even more so in these challenging times. This paper presents an example of instructional design of a database course delivered virtually during the pandemic, using cloud-based tools and resources. The course employed cloud-based technologies, both synchronous and asynchronous. This paper discusses the process and tools that were used as well as the challenges encountered. The instructional design methods presented here can also be used in the post-COVID-19 era.

Founded in 2011, the Bay Area Science Festival (BASF), led by the Science and Health Education Partnership (SEP) at UC San Francisco, brings together academic, scientific, corporate and civic groups to develop and lead STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) events for all ages. From 2011-2019, the Festival hosted over 50 events each year, reaching tens of thousands of people. In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Festival pivoted to a virtual format, offering nearly 150 virtual events over five days. Events included hands-on science experiments, STEM storytimes, live interviews with scientists, demonstrations, behind-the-scenes tours and more. Nearly 19,000 unique users from over 35 countries have logged 82,100 views of Festival events to date. In a post-Festival survey, attendees rated their experience similarly to previous years and over 60% of attendees are interested in attending virtual events even when in-person events are again possible. Like many aspects of our lives, the Bay Area Science Festival will look different in future years as a result of the pandemic: a hybrid Festival made up of virtual and in-person events. While there are great benefits to in-person events, we have also come to better understand the benefits of virtual ones.

The current study is motivated by Tory Higgins's self-discrepancy theory and the objectification theory. It aimed to investigate university staff members' perspectives towards zoom dysmorphia while involved in e-teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic in terms of its popularity, causes, and instructors' experiences with the healing or eliminating mechanisms. Put simply, the researchers meant to identify the impact of the pandemic on body image and the long-term repercussions of e-teaching on instructors' quality. A descriptive online questionnaire was compiled to explore the way (630) university staff members having academic and academic/administrative positions evaluate, perceive, and handle zoom dysmorphia while teaching online. The study results showed several associations between the variables studied. Gender was significant because females proved to have more features of dysmorphia; faculty members who serve in scientific faculties also proved to expect more features of dysmorphia as they tended not to turn on their cameras. The study results also showed that sufferers of zoom dysmorphia warranted that their appearances occasionally made them feel insecure and occupationally unstable. Therefore, they tried different healing mechanisms to eliminate or, at least, reduce its traits. The study concluded that the prevalence of zoom dysmorphia may result in shifting the value from good, effective attributes (e.g., professionalism, adaptability, collaboration, empathy, and patience) of instructors to merely outside physical appearances. The researchers recommend that educators should elicit the presence of zoom dysmorphia at an early stage. They should prepare courses to improve instructors' self-confidence, and provide them with proper technical experience.

As measure against the rapid spreading of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which now has reached global level, Indonesian government established Large-scale Social Distancing (LsSD). As consequence, learning method used in junior and senior high school is substituted from face-to-face learning in class to online distance learning, including for science and biology. This study was conducted to know software preference used by science and biology junior and senior high school teachers for online learning during LsSD measure. A total of 189 science and biology junior and senior high school teachers from various area had given their response via questionnaire. Data was analyzed using quantitative descriptive method. About 57% respondents had never manage online learning before COVID-19 pandemic while the remaining 43% had experience in managing one before, however almost all managed online learning. Non-paid software used the most (81%) among respondents to manage online science/biology learning. Software types used were social networking (64%) especially WhatsApp, learning management system (LMS) (51%) especially Google Classroom, teleconference applications (12%), and assessment software outside of LMSs (15%). Software chosen were mostly non-paid, easily accessed by all people, already familiar among Indonesian, and its interface were easily mastered.

Given the status of clinical practice and the heavy reliance on technology due to COVID-19, it is important to investigate clinical supervision practices. The purpose of this study was to determine whether immediate feedback using technology was beneficial for a university clinical setting specifically where current supervision of students is undertaken via a virtual platform. The chat function via the Zoom teletherapy platform was used to deliver immediate written feedback to SLP graduate clinicians. Utilizing technology allowed supervisors to provide immediate, in-session written feedback to SLP graduate clinicians. The objective was to investigate the perceptions of immediate feedback for the SLP graduate clinicians and their supervisors. The objective was met through the utilization of surveys at the end of the study which indicated a preference for immediate feedback for both the supervisors and the SLP graduate clinicians. Having the ability to use technology helped supervisors support the SLP graduate clinicians discretely, especially given the nature of remote supervision. Immediate written feedback utilizing technology should be considered as a means of supporting the SLP graduate clinicians in developing their clinical skills.

The doctoral defense is an important step in the doctoral journey and an essential requirement for obtaining a doctoral degree. Past research on the doctoral defense has focused solely on national practices. In this work, I investigate the potential link between the doctoral defense format based on its major and minor elements and the perception of the defense by the student. For this purpose, I first reviewed the different defense formats used internationally to extract the different elements of the doctoral defense, and the literature on students' perceptions of the doctoral defense. Then, I carried out an international survey which received 297 responses, of which 204 were completed surveys which I used for the analysis in this article. I first analyzed the outcomes of the survey using qualitative and quantitative methods, and then cross-correlated the outcomes of defense format with the outcomes of student perception. From this analysis, I observed that the defense elements that positively impact the student's perception are: publication of the thesis before the defense, receiving committee feedback before the defense, knowing the recommendations of one or more committee member in advance, having the supervisor present in the audience or as part of the committee, using a dress code, and including a laudatio. The final conclusion of this work is threefold. The first conclusion is that the details of the defense format impact most the students' perception. The second conclusion is that doctoral students, on average, value the defense as a positive experience. The third conclusion is that the defense format cannot influence two important aspects of how a student perceives the defense: the student's inner life and experience during the defense, and the behavior of the committee members.

This study aims to examine the role of communication technology, as well as social media, by lecturers and students alike, in improving the quality of learning. To achieve this goal, 250 students and 65 professors from religious colleges in Parepare, Indonesia were recruited to participate in the study. Proportional random sampling was used to select the sample, and Google Forms was used to distribute surveys to students and lecturers using the WhatsApp communication application. Smart PLS 3.0 was later used for data analysis. We concluded that both in-class and online learning can be improved through the use of communication technologies, such as videoconferencing and teleconferencing. What is more, social media is more useful than communication technology when it comes to improving the quality of learning. In addition, this research found that these technologies worked better when used together rather than in isolation. As a result, it seems it is possible to better improve the quality of learning by increasing the use of communication technology and social media in tandem rather than just focusing on one or the other.

This paper describes a mixed-methods investigation into whether an asynchronous, virtual collaboration with Japanese peers helped pre-service social studies teachers in the U.S. demonstrate civic competence as it relates to international and global education. After the collaboration, most students described themselves as better-prepared world citizens; however, analysis of pre- and post-intervention surveys revealed only one statistically significant U-test result concerning participants' pedagogical thinking. This investigation suggests education programs can better prepare novice teachers to think and act globally by providing international telecollaborative experiences and explicitly emphasizing classroom instruction (practice) informed by civic competence as it relates to international and global education (theory).

The development of digital games over physical distance is a common practice in the gaming industry, yet widely neglected in the curricula of digital game development programs at university level. The coronavirus pandemic, however, pushed project-oriented game programs all over the world towards an implementation of ad hoc approaches to remote development in their project-based courses. The present article demonstrates practice-based research examining such a course and its 30 third-year undergraduate students of game arts, game design, and game programming, who remotely collaborated in interdisciplinary groups of two to five persons over the course of half a semester during Germany's logdown in spring 2020. Applying a mixed-method approach including quantitative and qualitative analyses of survey data (n=22) and qualitative content analyses of students' postmortem documentations (n=30), this exploratory study reconstructed the online practices, experiences, and learning processes of these students between their professional routines and psychosocial challenges. The results of this study can be used in curriculum development to inform the advancement of courses focused on the development of prototypes over physical distance, which may not only be relevant for the field of games education, but also for related creative and project-oriented fields of higher education, such as design, digital media, and software engineering.

The purpose of this small-scale qualitative research study was to examine the use and perceived value of integrating collaborative learning techniques at teleconferences at the Hellenic Open University (HOU). Qualitative semi-structure interviews with tutors from the School of Humanities at the HOU were conducted in order for the research plan to be fundamentally heuristic and generate original results. Purposeful sampling was chosen for the data collection process, cross-sectional organization for the data classification and thematic analysis for the data analysis. The results of the present research study indicate the parameters needed to be taken into account in order for the tutors to use collaborative learning techniques at teleconference teaching at HOU. An adequate teleconference platform, tutors' training on distance collaborative learning and group dynamics, and a common understanding regarding distance learning and group dynamics in e-learning environments are some of the most significant findings derived from this research study. The role of students, as well as the role of the distance-learning provider, in integrating and adopting distance collaborative learning strategies, are also highlighted by the results.

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak in the Indonesians nowadays, the public education department established the policy of the online education system to all education levels. Most educators employ an online flipped learning method to support the policy. Research aimed to measure the effect of online based-flipped classroom learning between using Microsoft Team and WhatsApp and student engagement on reading comprehension skills. The research approach was a quasi-experimental model with a 2 x 3 factorial pre-test-post-test non-equivalent control group design. The sample of this investigation was early period undergraduates of the management economics study program. Data analysis employed a two-way ANOVA test. The result confirmed that the online flipped learning scheme using Microsoft Team was better than WhatsApp in improving student engagement and reading comprehension skills. We advise English lecturers to apply better online media services, pay attention to the completeness of the learning features and train their competence in implementing distance learning to use compatible synchronous flipped classroom teaching based on internet technologies.

Evidence-based strategies for play, such as the application of systematic prompting techniques, require education and collaboration between occupational therapists and classroom educators to support implementation and carryover. Educating teachers and paraprofessionals regarding systematic prompting strategies to increase play within the classroom can work toward decreasing the play deficits experienced by students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). This pilot project investigated the immediate effects of a virtual workshop series for preschool educators on knowledge and self-efficacy of systematic prompting strategies for play. The virtual platform was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to follow health and safety protocols. Using a pretest posttest design, participants from an inclusive preschool were recruited to participate in a virtual workshop series. We found that participants demonstrated a positive and statistically significant change in both knowledge and self-efficacy. Participants were highly satisfied with the content and delivery of the workshops, however additional hands-on training to solidify their understanding was noted as an area of need. This pilot project provides a model for creation of virtual workshops, the sharing of resources as well as the value of interprofessional collaboration.

The COVID-19 global pandemic continues, and in Hong Kong numerous measures have been put in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus. One of the many facets of life that is being affected is education, with many face-to-face classes suspended and students having to go online for lessons. The virus continues to be active in the city, so our usual way of assisting secondary school students' character-building through visitation to elderly homes is restricted. Now we can only provide such service-learning in online mode. This paper explores how an online project helped adolescents in a boys' secondary school apply and adapt principles taught previously in their course dealing with positive character strengths such as kindness, love, social intelligence, gratitude, teamwork, and perseverance.

This article thinks through a practice-as-research exploration of facilitating active listening to the testimonies of female victims/survivors in Colombia, bridging a theoretical gap between applied theatre and performance studies by extending understanding of theatre's impact in contexts of transitional justice beyond visibility to an affective register. Rebuilding relationalities torn by war requires collective healing to overcome widespread trauma, disconnection and apathy. By "moving-with" recorded testimonial performances, sharing visceral responses via Zoom, witnesses feel more "implicated" in histories of violence. Fomenting shared "response-ability" in this way -- through listening from the body -- offers a form of resistance to the normalisation of violence.

Background: Since COVID-19, remote consultation (by telephone and video) has become widespread. This study investigated the experience of using remote consultation in Specialist Intellectual Disability Community services. Method: A total of 126 health staff working across eight Specialist Intellectual Disability Community teams in the NHS Health Board of Greater Glasgow and Clyde were asked to complete a short Likert-scale survey about remote consultation. Results: There were 61 (48%) respondents from a range of disciplines. Overall, respondents were positive about remote consultation but found it was often inadequate to complete a full patient assessment. Moving forwards, respondents wanted around 60% of all consultations to remain face-to-face. It was significantly more difficult to engage and communicate with patients with more severe levels of disability. Conclusions: Remote consultation has been successful, but there is still a need for face-to-face assessment in intellectual disability services, particularly when working with people with more severe levels of disability.

This study examines the impact of distance learning via Zoom on Arab students in Hebrew academia in Israel, from an academic and socio-individual level. The qualitative research methodology implemented in this study is based on in-depth interviews with 28 male and female master's students in two academic institutions in Israel. The findings show that learning despite certain difficulties, studying remotely via Zoom made the Arab students more comfortable, and were encouraged to participate more in the lessons. It seems that when studying in class with Jewish students in these institutions arouses fear and self-censorship among Arab students, in turn decreasing their desire and confidence to express themselves in class. As such, learning from home while 'hiding' behind the camera decreases their inhibition and offers new opportunities for greater self-expression.

School consultants often use problem-solving consultation when working with educators and caregivers to support the behavioral and academic outcomes of students. Considering some of the well-known limitations to in-person service delivery, consultants have increasingly relied on telecommunications as a medium through which to deliver problem-solving consultation, namely teleconsultation. Thus, this paper serves as a practical guide for school consultants, who work with educators and caregivers, on how to implement each stage of the problem-solving teleconsultation process. With an emphasis given to supports delivered through technology, we provide general guidance and empirically-supported recommendations for how to develop and maintain a strong working alliance with consultees, engage in effective communication practices, strive for equitable practices when collaborating with ethnically and racially diverse populations, monitor treatment progress and deliver performance feedback, and deliver teleconsultation in accordance with state and federal law.

Purpose: Cleft palate is one of the most common birth defects in the United States. Most of these children receive speech therapy by preschool and school-based clinicians. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive tutorial for speech-language pathology assistants (SLPAs) regarding treatment techniques and principles for children with cleft palate. Method: It has been reported that 68% of preschoolers with repaired cleft palate received speech therapy. Preschool and school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have reported a strong desire for practical professional development and continuing education resources regarding treatment of children with cleft palate. Thus, it seems likely that SLPAs may feel similarly unequipped to provide effective treatment for children with cleft palate. Obligatory and learned speech errors commonly found in children with cleft palate are described. Elicitation strategies for compensatory articulations are detailed. The implementation of evidence-based articulation and phonological treatment approaches is described in a step-by-step manner. "Red flags" that may arise during treatment and require input from the supervising SLP are highlighted. Results: SLPAs will learn elicitation techniques for compensatory articulations and implement evidence-based treatment approaches to improve the speech accuracy of children with cleft palate. Conclusion: It is important for all school-based clinicians to be familiar with speech therapy for individuals with cleft palate.

Background: Although speech and voice disorders are common in Parkinson's disease (PD), there is insufficient evidence to support the effectiveness of behavioural speech therapies in these patients. Aims: This study aimed to examine the effects of a new tele-rehabilitation program, a combining of conventional speech therapy and singing intervention, on voice deficits in patients with PD. Methods & Procedures: This study was a three-armed, assessor-masked, randomised controlled trial. Thirty-three people with PD were randomly assigned to the combination therapy, conventional speech therapy, or singing intervention group. This study followed the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials guidelines for non-pharmacological treatment. Each patient participated in 12 tele-rehabilitation sessions over 4 weeks. The combination therapy group received speech and singing interventions simultaneously (respiratory, speech, voice, and singing exercises). Voice intensity as a primary outcome and the voice handicap index (VHI), maximum frequency range, jitter and shimmer as secondary outcomes were evaluated 1 week before the first intervention session, 1 week after the last intervention session and 3 months after the last evaluation. Outcomes & Results: The results of repeated measures analysis of variance showed a significant main effect of time on all outcomes in all three groups after treatment (p < 0.001). There was a significant group effect for voice intensity (p < 0.001), VHI (p < 0.001), maximum frequency range (p = 0.014) and shimmer (p = 0.001). The combination therapy group demonstrated a significant outperformance in the VHI and shimmer than the speech therapy (p = 0.038) and singing intervention (p < 0.001) groups. The results of this study also indicated that combination therapy group compared to singing intervention group had a larger effect on voice intensity (p < 0.001), shimmer (p < 0.001) and maximum frequency range (p = 0.048). Conclusions & Implication: The results demonstrated that combining speech therapy with a singing intervention delivered through tele-rehabilitation might be more effective in improving voice problems in patients with PD.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated that speech--language therapists (SLTs) make a radical change to provide services to their clients safely via telepractice. For many practitioners, telepractice was an unfamiliar mode of practice that had to be implemented under emergency conditions. Limited literature on SLTs' experiences of implementing telepractice in the Global South during this time is available. Aims: To explore the experiences of South African SLTs (N = 45) who implemented telepractice services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods & Procedures: SLTs across the country were invited via professional bodies to participate in an online qualitative survey distributed in 2021. Data were analysed using thematic analysis principles. Outcomes & Results: We describe participants' reports of their current telepractices, discuss their perspectives on accessibility to telepractice for SLTs, clients and caregivers, and working with specific diagnoses, and consider the support needs of SLTs to enhance telepractice services. Most participants work in private practice or school settings with primarily paediatric caseloads. They reported telepractice as a positive experience and felt it was effective, although they judged that some clients were not well served by telepractice. SLTs felt underprepared for the rapid switch to telepractice and the flexibility required, especially given the limited availability of guidelines given the pandemic crisis. Greater preparation is required for telepractice sessions and more attention needs to be paid to supporting caregiver involvement online. Conclusions & Implications: Telepractice involves various barriers and facilitators, many of which seem common across Global North and South contexts. Support is required to enhance current telepractices in terms of computer literacy, technical education, different telepractice methods and caregiver coaching. Our findings have the potential to enable the development of support, training and guidelines to improve SLTs' confidence in providing telepractice whilst delivering quality services in an accessible and safe manner.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced university and college counseling and psychological service centers to swiftly switch to telepsychology service delivery to meet the continuing needs of student clients. This study was conducted at the onset and peak periods of the COVID-19 outbreak. We explored student client and counselor acceptability, attitudes, perceptions, experiences, barriers, and facilitators to remote telepsychology services using Qualtrics survey methodologies. Student clients and counselors were sent, via e-mail, two separate, but parallel anonymous questionnaires developed for purposes of this study. Results revealed that most student clients agreed that mental health service delivery via telepsychology was an adequate alternative to face-to-face therapy, there were few challenges with telepsychology with ease of access a key benefit. Student clients also felt that the therapeutic alliance was commensurate with face-to-face therapy while identifying lack of privacy in the home as the most problematic aspect of telepsychology. Counselors and student clients both identified convenience as the most important characteristic of telepsychology. Limitations are discussed as well as directions for future research.

Writing teachers often express they have insufficient time to provide adequate feedback during writing workshop conferences. Existing research has identified the importance of providing feedback to students and acknowledges the difficulty in finding the vast amount of time this requires. Educators have considered using digital tools as a means of solving this dilemma. This study explores the perceptions of teachers and students who used traditional face-to-face conferencing and digital conferencing tools as methods of delivering feedback during writing workshop. Participants from six middle school classrooms used face-to-face conferencing and provided feedback through Screencastify during a writing workshop. A survey of all participants and select interviews were conducted. Both a descriptive and content analysis were performed to examine the ratings and themes identified by the participants. The mean was used to compare the ratings for each conferencing method. An independent sample t test was used to compare the perceptions of teachers and students regarding each conferencing methods' effectiveness and ease of use. The quantitative results indicated that teachers and students found face-to-face conferences and Screencastify conferences to be equally effective and easy to use. The qualitative results identified several advantages and disadvantages for each type of conferencing method. Overall, teachers and students found benefits in each method and indicated that each method might be useful in different circumstances.

In the current context of COVID-19 restrictions, the perceived infection risk in healthcare facilities has resulted in limited opportunities for clinical placements. This paper aims to demonstrate how virtual WIL clinics (virtual simulated general practice clinics), provide an authentic clinical experience and to ascertain whether these virtual clinics allow the practice of generic WIL competencies. The clinics provide students with WIL experience without the face-to-face contact of a physical clinic via telehealth. The practice of WIL through virtual WIL clinics at James Cook University, Australia, is assessed using the Work Skill Development (WSD) framework via GoSoapBox surveys. Students surveyed (N=66) expressed a high level of motivation to engage, reflect and learn through this medium. The survey also highlighted some possible areas of improvement in time management and communication. Virtual WIL clinics are a suitable substitution for WIL clinical activity and ideally suited to the COVID-19 context.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and during the middle of the spring 2020 semester, many universities were forced to move from face-to-face (FTF) in-classroom to remote instruction. Many institutions used Zoom as their delivery platform. The purpose of this study was to investigate students' attitudes towards the use of Zoom in remote learning, and their perceptions of its effects on their learning and engagement in comparison to FTF learning. Thirty-one university students participated in this study. Data were collected using a 5-point Likert-type survey. The results indicated that students had a negative attitude toward the use of Zoom and perceived it as having a negative effect on their learning experience and their motivation to learn. Students listed flexibility as a main advantage to using Zoom for learning.

Faced with broad scale cancellation of allied health student placements due to COVID-19, placement coordinators at The University of Melbourne Department of Rural Health established remote, online work-integrated learning placements across a range of settings, including a primary school, specialist school, kindergarten association and a homelessness sector organization. To ensure safe and high-quality placements, the evidence for telepractice and placement innovation was reviewed and integrated with existing knowledge of developing quality service-learning placements and COVID-safe guidelines from professional associations. This paper describes how placements were established, how student learning needs were aligned with host site objectives, and critically analyses the benefits and challenges of the online placement format. Partnerships, communication, and planning with all stakeholders were critical in placement redesign. The outcome is that students have enhanced their clinical and professional skills and provided community services to clients that would otherwise not have been provided during a pandemic.

Social exploration is the key to spreading ideas through networks (Pentland, 2014). When people talk with others outside their immediate group, they can bring fresh ideas into the group--leading to improved outcomes. So, to improve educational practice, we should increase communication in our professional communities and encourage communication amongst professional educators in different disciplines, and across sectors of education and national boundaries. To improve social exploration opportunities for educators, we developed a massive open online course (MOOC) so they could explore technology-enhanced learning practices and technologies, and the topic of visual literacies. We investigated how a MOOC could be designed to support social exploration, and we examined the contribution of gamification and a live-streamed seminar. The pedagogical design of the MOOC was based on networked learning theory. This approach emphasises openness and democratic relationships between teachers and learners, and supports diversity and inclusivity of participants (Dohn, 2014). Social network analysis of 14 discussion fora was combined with qualitative data analysis of 11 questionnaires on the learner experience. Results revealed two distinct patterns of interaction in discussion fora as participants conversed about the learning material and shared ideas about teaching practice. The role of the tutor in promoting social exploration and creating teacher presence was found to be important in discussion fora and in a live webinar. This investigation illustrates how networked learning theory and tutor activity contribute to the creation of a social exploration MOOC for professional development and identifies avenues for further research on the design of learning communities.

Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the importance of telehealth has rapidly increased, in particular as many in-person clinics have closed. Early intervention is crucial for improving outcomes in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As such, the need for timely assessments and diagnoses remains despite COVID-19-related closures. This study offers preliminary data collected from 23 children assessed through a no-cost autism clinic in Southern California using a novel telehealth model. This includes an overview of an adapted, telehealth version of in-person observational assessment techniques for diagnosing autism. In addition, preliminary data on social validity assessed at two points are presented. Findings suggest that caregivers found the telehealth assessment procedures acceptable and convenient, and overall were satisfied with both the assessment and the written report/verbal feedback. Implications for future uses of telehealth are discussed, including how telehealth can assist with decision-making around school-based services and/or placement.

This study examined whether direct communication with people from other countries using Skype or Line would affect students' English test scores in listening and reading as well as the development of their curiosity concerning foreign cultures by comparing the data of an experimental group with that of a control group. The former group conducted online exchanges with foreign students, while the latter group did not. As many Japanese companies engaged in international business require high scores in the TOEIC test, which is one of the multiple-choice English tests of listening and reading often used to show each person's English proficiency, universities in Japan are making efforts to improve their students' scores in such an English test. Preparation classes for English tests have been offered. However, students have been likely to lose interest in learning English in the circumstances of this learning style. Results of the study indicated that although the aim of exchange activities is to foster students' curiosity concerning intercultural matters, students experiencing online exchange with skype significantly raised their scores in TOEIC tests in listening and reading after a programme of synchronous exchanges with foreign students, compared with ones who did not experience such online exchanges.