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Scholars' engagement with digital social networks is complex, warranting a comprehensive understanding of their use and participation. Current research has not yet grasped the motivators, gratification, and challenges that academics encounter across multiple digital social networks. With this in mind, this study surveyed scholars who purposely participate in digital social networks for professional endeavors. The theoretical frameworks guiding this research are the Uses and Gratification framework and the networked participatory scholarship conceptualization. A total of 307 higher education scholars completed an electronic survey with closed and open-ended questions. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and a team-coding approach for qualitative data. The results of this investigation highlight specific motivators for using digital social networks to support the scholar's teaching, research, and professional development. The results of this investigation suggest that scholars are constantly navigating challenges and trading them off against the benefits. The results of this investigation also helped determine the imagined audiences that scholars perceive as potential spectators when using digital social networks for their scholarly efforts. The results illustrate the many reasons provided by scholars, which aligned with the self-presentation and impression management theory.

As technology integration advances, higher education institutions (HEIs) are experiencing varying degrees of digitalization of their systems, processes and services. This qualitative study explores the status of technology integration and the digital infrastructure of five higher education institutions within the Caribbean. It seeks to answer three questions: i) what is the level of digitization in the institutions' systems? ii) what is the status of technology integration in the teaching-learning processes in the institutions? iii) what types of digital infrastructures are in place to support the institutional functions? The analysis of the data reveals advances in the digitalization of a number of areas including communication processes, administrative processes, the student life cycle processes and in teaching and learning. This study provides important insights into the evolving landscape of digitalization of higher education within the Caribbean, and should serve to inform policy and practice in this important area.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a worldwide commitment to a set of ambitious goals that advance sustainable social justice across the globe. Higher education (HE), while featuring in SDG 4: Quality Education, needs to occupy a bolder and more explicit position in the formulation of the SDGs and in their attainment, not only as an instrument toward the achievement of the SDGs but also in the sociocultural consciousness of countries towards a more sustainable and socially just world. Engaging with students in HE around these issues plays a vital role. Given Student Affairs and Services' (SAS) role and position in terms of support and development of students worldwide, it is a key player in supporting HE to become a more effective instrument in advancing the SDGs and in advancing students' attitudes and commitment to SDGs. To explore how SAS can play a more impactful role in advancing the SDGs and SAS' role in and contribution to SDGs around the world, we researched SAS practitioners' awareness of and engagement with SDGs. To collect data, we used a survey with open and closed questions via snowball sampling with self-selected participants from fifty-three countries (N=318). The results of our study suggest that SAS practitioners engage with and utilize the SDGs in a variety of ways across the globe, thus contributing to the role HE plays in advancing SDGs. In exploring the patterns, it emerges that SAS in the Global South (GS) and Global North (GN) engage differently with the SDGs. According to the results of our study, SAS in the GS appears to have more awareness of, engage more deliberately with, and use the SDGs more broadly in their work with students. While there are different trends on the role SDGs play across the global HE sector, the consensus seems to be around the need to discuss and engage with the SDGs more deeply, at curricular and co-curricular levels in higher education. Our research suggests that HE and SAS can do much more to generate awareness of SDGs, particularly in the GN.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the education sector worldwide, and on undergraduate students in particular. This Scoping Review seeks to unearth research examining the psychosocial impact of the pandemic on undergraduate students in the regions of North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Additionally, this review explores students' coping mechanisms as a means to guide researchers in conducting informed investigations and to allow institutions in making meaningful decisions to combat the effects of the pandemic and future disruptions. Despite the wealth of research on COVID-19, findings from this review show a notable scarcity of literature specifically focused on undergraduate students. Findings reveal a consensus among studies regarding increased stress, anxiety, and depression among undergraduate students. Coping strategies employed by students highlight possible challenges such as overuse of social media and substance use, but they also shed light on potential interventions including physical activities, emotional strategies, and social supports. Future research should focus on filling the gaps in the existing literature and assessing the efficacy of targeted interventions. By gaining a deeper understanding of undergraduate student experiences and identifying effective support mechanisms, we can enhance the overall well-being and academic success of students.

The growing presence and impact of predominantly female online influencers suggests the proliferation of a cultural phenomenon that characterizes the social aspects of our digital lives. Working with the notion of gender and maker literacies, this paper shines light on newer forms of making practices by looking at influencer cultures of five popular online social media platforms. Situating the research in a Caribbean context, this paper examines the "influencer culture" by looking at the platformized literacy practices of four Caribbean female influencers and using the concepts of literacy sponsorship and creolization as lenses through which to view the interrelationships and accompanying practices between the influencers and their local and global followers. The paper argues that social media platforms are strategically curated digital-maker spaces that influencers use to shift and change literacy practices and perspectives related to gender, language, and culture. Findings from this qualitative study suggest that these influencers' sponsorship of creolized literacies is reflected in their power to enact social change and transformation through advocacy, consciousness, and community-building. The paper concludes by considering the potential for such social actors and their digital-making practices to influence our contemporary global sociocultural and educational landscapes.

This article presents an analytical framework for examining the different roles the state can play in improving higher education governance in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It argues that adequate governance of national higher education systems is fundamental to moving toward a new social contract in the sector. It describes different roles the state can play in a new social contract for the future governance of higher education and proposes recommendations for strengthening the governance of national higher education systems in LAC. It also reviews the literature on higher education governance and discusses changes in analytical approaches. It emphasizes that local factors are key determinants in understanding changes in the governance of national higher education systems and identifies trends toward the configuration of hybrid governance systems. It is suggested that a new social contract in higher education depends on the capacity of national governments to articulate the necessary political consensus; to pursue an agenda of higher education modernization as a human right and a public good; and to achieve greater effectiveness in addressing key challenges related to equity, quality, sustainability, and the long-term development strategy of higher education.

Gender differences in early childhood development are under-researched in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where almost 90% of the world's young children live. This study examines the direction, magnitude, and variation of gender similarities and differences in 3- and 4-year-olds' early childhood development in 71 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Moreover, we explore whether country-level gender inequality correlates with gender differences in early development. We analyzed Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) data from UNICEF's Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys and the Demographic and Health Surveys between 2010 and 2019 (n = 226,980). Using logistic regression, we estimated children's odds of being developmentally on track in literacy-numeracy, approaches to learning, social-emotional, and physical domains. We also used meta-analytic regression to examine associations between early childhood development and country-level indicators of gender inequality. In approximately one-half of LMICs, odds of being developmentally on track did not significantly differ for girls and boys; in countries with significant differences, girls were more likely to be on track than boys (odds ratio [OR] = 1.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.18-1.24], p < 0.001). Differences favoring girls were largest in the social-emotional domain (OR = 1.27, 95% CI = [1.24-1.30], p < 0.001). Country-level gender development index explained a substantial amount of variation in gender differences across countries. Overall, findings suggest that when gender differences exist, girls are more likely than boys to be developmentally on track, particularly in the social-emotional domain and in countries with greater gender equality.

Challenges from globalization, population growth, and climate change require science, technology, and engineering (STEM) professionals to have global competency. However, the impact of international experiences on STEM students' development of these abilities has not been well studied. We assessed the effects of international research experiences in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and Europe on the development of global competency for STEM graduate students from the United States. Research placements in LAC were generally field-based, involving interactions with community members, while placements in Europe were mostly lab-based. Surveys and interviews with participants before and after their trips revealed increases in intercultural abilities for students from all groups. Students who traveled to LAC had higher intercultural abilities before the trip but experienced smaller gains than their counterparts who traveled to Europe. Despite the value in community-based activities for students outside of university settings, more effort is needed to eliminate students' barriers to understanding communication styles in their host communities.

Large-scale, evidence-based interventions face challenges to program fidelity of implementation. We developed implementation strategies to support teachers implementing an evidence-based HIV prevention program in schools, Focus on Youth in The Caribbean (FOYC) and Caribbean Informed Parents and Children Together (CImPACT) in The Bahamas. We examined the effects of these implementation strategies on teachers' implementation in the subsequent year after the initial implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from 79 Grade 6 teachers in 24 government elementary schools. Teachers completed training workshops and a pre-implementation questionnaire to record their characteristics and perceptions that might affect their program fidelity. School coordinators and peer mentors provided teachers with monitoring, feedback, and mentoring. In Year 1, teachers on average taught 79.3% of the sessions and 80.8% of core activities; teachers in Year 2 covered 84.2% of sessions and 72.9% of the core activities. Teachers with "good" or "excellent" school coordinators in the second year taught significantly more sessions on average (7.8 vs. 7.0, t = 2.04, P < 0.05) and more core activities (26.3 vs. 23.0, t = 2.41, P < 0.05) than teachers with "satisfactory" coordinators. Teachers who had a "good" or "satisfactory" mentor taught more sessions than teachers who did not have a mentor (7.9 vs. 7.3; t = 2.22; P = 0.03). Two-level mixed-effects model analysis indicated that teachers' program fidelity in Year 1, confidence in the execution of core activities, and school coordinators' performance were significantly associated with Year 2 implementation dose. Implementation of FOYC + CImPACT was significantly associated with improved student outcomes. Teachers maintained high fidelity to a comprehensive HIV prevention program over 2 years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future program implementers should consider additional implementation support to improve the implementation of school-based programs.

We employ a policy assemblage, mobilities, and mutations framework to analyze the geographies that constitute and reflect educational policy circulation at the regional or supranational level in trans-regional regimes and/or quasi-federal polities such as the European Union (EU) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Recognizing that policies are mobile in a fragmentary fashion as they are re/dis/assembled in specific ways, places, and purposes, we move beyond methodological nationalism and pay attention to the make-up of policies as they are in motion and the places they affect. In other words, using the trans-regional and/or quasifederal level, we juxtapose the tensions between policy as fixed, territorial, or place-specific against the dynamic, regional, and relational policy elements. Methodologically, we use a comparative federalist lens to trace and examine the distillation, translation, and mobilization of education policy across and between quasi-federal polities. In this sense, epistemologically, we further explicate the manner in which such policy instruments move across the various interconnected units and sites composing these federal-type entities, while (re)territorializing and deterritorializing what we construe as complex educational assemblages. We show that contra to the extant literature, in Europe/EU and the Caribbean/CARICOM, movement, and mobility involves the connectivity between policymaking sites, and policies arrive at their destination in the same form as they appeared elsewhere, allowing for forms of discursive isomorphism.

As a result of globalization, technological advances, travelling facilities and internet, more communities from diverse cultures begin to interact and share their daily lives. Today, English is utilized for communication prevalently occurred in the encounters among the people whose native languages are not English. For this reason, main goal of instructing English is being competent enough in intercultural interactions. With the emergence of "globalization" paradigm and its effects on social, economic and ethical fields, the necessity of interaction between different cultures, the importance of mutual tolerance and respect becomes more essential in the progress of time. Being able to interact in English necessitates being able to appreciate different traditions, daily lives, values and beliefs. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages also emphasizes the necessity of teaching culture. Consequently, this research analyses the content and seeks to evaluate the presence of the culture oriented contexts and visuals related to Inner, Outer, and Expanding Circles regarding the sociocultural knowledge elements of CEFR in 10th grade Count Me In English course book. This study reveals that the course book employs most of the sociocultural knowledge elements of CEFR moreover it predominantly reflects the culture related contexts and images of Inner Circle and Expanding Circles regarding the sociocultural knowledge elements of CEFR. Especially, Sociocultural knowledge elements of CEFR related to source country Turkey and USA cover very large proportion of the course book. The analyzed course book involves a small percentage of the sociocultural knowledge elements of CEFR related to Outer Circle countries.

It is well known that there are disparities in access to education around the world, with developed countries generally having better educational resources and opportunities compared to developing countries. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have been proposed as a way to bridge this gap by providing free or low-cost online education to anyone with an Internet connection. This study aimed to better understand the effects of location, both country and region, on the use of MOOCs, using data from 3.5 million learners who registered for MOOCs offered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The data set provided a broad picture of how MOOCs are being used around the globe. The results of the study indicated significant differences in the use of MOOCs among students from different countries and their corresponding economic levels. In order to address these differences and improve access to education through MOOCs, the study suggested several actions that could be taken. These include providing better infrastructure and support for MOOC learners in developing countries, increasing awareness of and access to MOOCs in these regions, and working to improve the quality and relevance of MOOC offerings. Overall, the study highlighted the potential of MOOCs to bridge the educational gap between developed and developing countries, but also emphasized the need for continued efforts to remove barriers and improve access to these resources.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of three different learning modes--online, blended, and face-to-face--on student course performance. Performance was measured by achievement (grades). This study compared student grades in classes taught using each of these delivery methods. This study was designed to serve as a foundation for evaluating student outcomes in open-admission courses that are components of the program for earning a Bachelor of Education degree in a multicultural educational institution.

Based on a human rights and development approach, this article aims to study the influence and impact of structural violence in the Northern Triangle of Central America on children's right to education. First, it analyses the context of poverty, inequality and generalised violence that plagues the sub-region under study. Secondly, a diagnosis is made of the situation regarding the right to education through indicators of educational completion and efficiency, including critical moments in the transition through the education system, as well as the phenomenon of school dropout. The article then analyses a series of determining factors in the violation of the right to education, insofar as they are linked to the situation of generalised structural violence. Finally, a series of conclusions are offered in order to guide debate and reflection on possible solutions to the problem studied.

The DigiLit Framework suggests criteria for digital text and tool selection (content accuracy, intuitiveness, interactivity, quality) and integration (model a literacy skill or strategy, guide a literacy skill or strategy, model digital feature use, guide digital feature use) in literacy lessons. Using survey research, we explored which DigiLit criteria literacy professors prepared preservice teachers to use in K-12 settings. Participants included 199 literacy professors (194 from USA and one each from Australia, Canada, Caribbean, Middle East and Europe). We used a multivariate outcome logit/probit model to analyze how this was related to (a) professor characteristics, (b) institution characteristics, and (c) time. Findings showed that certain professor characteristics (e.g., interest in integrating technology, being knowledgeable about digital literacies), institution characteristics (e.g., access to equipment, professional development, technical support, incentives), and time to plan and practice integration were related to literacy professors' increased preparation of preservice teachers to use digital text or tool selection and integration. These findings provide specific ways to improve literacy teacher preparation by providing specific kinds of supports.

This research seeks to understand the outcome of decades of education reform initiatives in the West Indies. Utilising the Qualitative Document Analysis (QDA) method, official public documents were collected through web and catalogue searches. Dominant themes were identified through manual and electronic coding using MaxQDA software. These emergent themes were examined through the lens of the edutocracy and elite theories to provide more in-depth analysis of this research problem. The document analysis constructed a narrative of how colonial ideology embedded within the inherited West Indian educational system runs counter to the progressive and more humanist visions and missions envisaged for present-day Caribbean education, culminating in deleterious conflicts between educational theory and practice. This work therefore concludes that there has been little substantive Caribbean education reform owing to the significant gaps between early twenty-first century, and even earlier drafted education visions, and current education practice.

This study examined the use of music software as a pedagogical tool for the delivery of specific content in a music education course offered to Certificate and Bachelor of Education Program students at a Caribbean university. The existing course uses a traditional approach, and thus, the study is significant as the results would propel a shift toward transformational teaching. Twenty-four university students were chosen for the study which adopted a mixed methods approach. Over one semester, participants used a free, open-source music software program to learn simple time signatures. Students produced an assignment as well as completed a questionnaire. Ninety percent of students were able to compose eight bars of music according to a simple time signature using the software. Most participants intimated they felt comfortable and motivated using the software, they understood concepts taught, and they suggested its continued use. The majority of participants also stated that they required more training. Some participants even said that they would adopt this methodology on their teaching practicum. Based on the results, recommendations include the adoption of this and other technological teaching tools within the music program, a teaching practicum assessment, and a progressive training component for both students and staff.

This paper illustrates the mutually constitutive processes of race and neoliberalism in the labour market navigation and integration for Black Caribbean and South/Southeast Asian international student graduates in Canada. The data was gathered from recent international students and key informants in Canada's immigration policy circle using semi-structured interviews. The paper reveals that international student graduates (ISGs) are constrained to seek out precarious and low-skilled forms of employment and participate in a labour market that profits from cheap, exploitable flexible labour. Participants in areas outside the populous Greater Toronto Area (GTA) are perceived as contingent workers. The paper concludes with an argument for centering both race and neoliberalism in future empirical studies of ISG labour market integration.

The primary objective of this study is to examine the relationship between education aid and different levels of schooling, specifically primary, secondary, and tertiary education, from a gender perspective, with a particular focus on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) four. The study is structured into three main parts: the analysis of female outcomes, the analysis of male outcomes, and conducting a comparative analysis of results between females and males. Firstly, the study analyzes the impact of education aid on completion rates for females and males at the primary level, net enrolment rates for females and males at the secondary level, and gross enrolment rates for females and males at the tertiary level. Subsequently, a comparative analysis of the female and male outcomes is conducted. The study drew data from a 19-year panel (2002-2020) of fifty low and lower-middle-income countries. The system GMM (One-step GMM and Two-step GMM) was utilized for the analysis. Both methods demonstrated a favorable correlation between education aid and primary and secondary education. However, the results suggest that males benefit more from education aid than females at primary and secondary levels. Additionally, the findings for the tertiary level demonstrate that the relationship between tertiary education aid and tertiary education is not optimal. The primary contribution of this study lies in its focused examination of the impact of a specific level of educational aid on particular educational outcomes, with a special emphasis on gender considerations within a comprehensive framework aligned with SDG four.

This case study focused on a university teacher-education course that included NOS content. An adapted questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data on 83 secondary science teachers' views about three NOS themes before and after completing the course. Qualitative data were collected from eight of the teachers who were observed teaching during their field experience after completing the course. The teachers' post-course mean NOS scores were statistically significantly higher than their pre-course scores (t (65) =-10.08, p<0.001; Cohen's d = 1.4). Despite the favourable NOS knowledge among the science teachers, low levels of NOS portrayal were observed in their instructional practices. These findings point to some success in explicitly addressing NOS in science education content courses. However, they raise questions about the transferability of teachers' NOS knowledge into their classrooms. The findings have implications for teacher-preparation programmes regarding durability of NOS knowledge.

This mixed-methods study explored cultural models of parent-school involvement. African American, Caribbean, and Hispanic parents, along with teachers, were recruited from an urban school district. Participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol based on Joyce Epstein's (1995) framework for parent-school involvement, and their responses were thematically coded. Statistical and qualitative analyses of responses revealed significant group differences in ideas about involvement and education across the domains of parenting, communicating, and learning at home, but not for volunteering. The findings suggest that conventional beliefs and practices of parent--school involvement in the U.S. are not universal among parents of different cultural groups, and discrepancies between parents' and teachers' ideas about involvement may therefore emerge as well. The implications of these findings for schools' efforts to involve parents are discussed.

Globally, the private school share of enrollment increased from about 14 percent in 2000 to about 18 percent in 2019. We estimate the systemic effect of private enrollment share on learning outcomes. Estimates of the systemic effect of private school enrollment capture any competitive effects as well as any differences between public and private schools in raising student outcomes. We use new data from the World Bank on harmonised learning outcomes for mathematics, reading, and science to produce an unbalanced sample of 120 countries from 2000 to 2017. We find that, all else equal, on average, a one percentage point increase in private enrollment is associated with null to at most weakly positive effects on country-level learning outcomes. Countries that increased private school enrollment experience as much or slightly more learning than countries with no change in private school enrollment.

Ethnic-racial socialization is one strategy Black parents use to support their children's school engagement and academic achievement given the occurrence and toxic effects of discrimination. Egalitarianism and preparation for bias socialization messages have yielded mixed evidence of promotive and protective effects for Black youth's school outcomes, and effects may vary according to ethnicity. Thus, this research examined associations between ethnic-racial socialization messages and school engagement and achievement, and whether these messages protected against teacher discrimination effects on academic achievement transmitted through school engagement, among a nationally representative sample of Black adolescents who participated in the National Survey of American Life Adolescent supplement study. Ethnic-racial socialization message content and the frequency of communication about race demonstrated different associations with engagement (i.e., school bonding, aspiration-expectation discrepancy, and disciplinary actions) and achievement (i.e., grades) for African American and Caribbean Black youth. However, the benefits were not sufficient to combat the adverse effects of teacher discrimination on school engagement and, in turn, achievement. These findings highlight the utility of integrating ethnic-racial socialization into prevention programs to support Black youth's school experiences; demonstrate the importance of attention to heterogeneity within Black youth; and underscore the critical need for prevention programs to address teacher discrimination.

As the demand for tertiary education increases, Caribbean universities are choosing online education as a means of increasing access to education. The transition from the traditional classroom to the online classroom has proved challenging for some. The purpose of this study was to analyse why Caribbean adult learners do not perceive online education as providing the same learning experience as the traditional classroom. Little research has explored the perception of online learners in the Caribbean. The focus was the immediate needs that must be met before higher order learning needs can be achieved. Research questions explored the perceptions and experiences of Caribbean adult learners in the online class as opposed to the traditional classroom. Young Caribbean adult learners between the ages of 18 and 25 provided their experiences with online classes and in the traditional classroom. Qualitative case study research was used to explore the reasons and motivations of the participants in the research study. The population for this study was 14 students who completed online and on-ground classes. Purposive sampling was used to identify the participants for the study. Data were collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, and template analysis was used to document students' experiences.

An earlier diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder might lead to an earlier intervention, yet knowledge and awareness of autism spectrum disorder in Latin America and Caribbean Countries are limited. A later autism spectrum disorder diagnosis has been associated with negative consequences, as it might imply later access to services. This study aims to identify factors associated with the age of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis as reported by 2520 caregivers of autistic children from six Latin America and Caribbean Countries. Results indicate that on average, caregivers were concerned about their child's development by 22 months of age; however, the diagnosis was 24 months later. Current age of autistic individuals, better language abilities, and having public health coverage increased the age of diagnosis. On the contrary, the presence of medical comorbidities, severity level, and type of diagnosis decreased the age of diagnosis. The age of diagnosis of autistic individuals in Latin America and Caribbean Countries corresponded to the start of formal schooling despite a much earlier age of first noticed developmental concern, highlighting the need to reduce this age gap and increase children's probability of benefiting from early intervention. Taken together, autism spectrum disorder personal/clinical characteristics and access to health service are the main determinants for the age of diagnosis.

This article explores the idea that teachers, even when aiming to implement culturally and personally relevant pedagogies, are subject to passing on colonial agendas and practices that stultify learning in art classrooms. I argue that even in self-governing, majority non-European societies, well-intentioned teachers can unintentionally perpetuate colonial educational agendas that narrow students' learning, as well as the ideas students deduce about art, culture, and their roles in contributing to them. I focus on Jamaican and Anglo-Caribbean art classrooms, where many teachers and students have non-European lineages and a shared national heritage rooted in slavery and colonialism. I conclude the article by raising implications for how art educators there and elsewhere might avoid unconsciously engaging in neocolonial pedagogies, especially when teaching non-White students whose heritages are rooted in colonial oppression.

In Spanish language curricula, it is essential that we teach about "afrodescendientes" in Latin America and the Caribbean to present an inclusive representation of the diverse people, practices, and cultural products. Their perspectives and cultural products must be integrated in the curricula of Spanish undergraduate programs beyond the few notable figures whose work is included in widely used anthologies. By introducing students of Spanish to the significant population of "afrodescendientes" in regions of Latin America and the Caribbean even at the earliest levels, we enable them to understand ideologies of homogeneity that work against an awareness of diversity. The hope is that through critical readings and analyses, students become aware of the complexities of race, color, and class in the development of a nations' cultural identity. In examining the history, literature, and cultural productions, students analyze the role that equity, justice, and power play in Latin America and the Caribbean, where whiteness is privileged and Blacks continue to be marginalized, from the colonial period to the present day.

This study examined student perceptions of screencast feedback and their learning behaviors following screencast feedback in an online graduate course. While there is widespread research on instructor feedback, there is far less literature focusing on video-based feedback and self-regulatory behavior within a Caribbean online learning environment. This case study addressed this gap by examining twelve management students' perceptions of screencast feedback on their online learning experience. Data were collected using visual documentation, student interviews and focus groups. The results suggest that students have positive perceptions of video-based feedback in adding value to the online learning experience. Emergent themes placed most value on the potential improved intimacy, communication, and timeliness of screencast feedback. The findings also corroborate preliminary research about the role video-based feedback plays in fostering self-regulated learning (SRL). This has implications for the design and development of instructor feedback to include video-based cues and feedback messages that promote SRL.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused unique challenges to international students. Student Affairs and Services (SAS) across the higher education sector played a key role in supporting students and institutions during the pandemic. This article reports the findings of an exploratory survey with SAS practitioners from around the globe on the ways in which SAS responded to the pandemic and sought to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on students, in general, and international students specifically. The results demonstrate that international students were among the primary groups of students impacted by the pandemic. Specific challenges identified include mental well-being, inability to return home, financial hardships, fear, and uncertainty. Discrimination of certain groups was also noted. SAS intervened to assist international students in navigating these challenges across world regions, including services declared essential for international student support. Finally, financial implications and the future of international student support are explored.

The current push for more diverse populations to attend predominantly white institutions frequently overlooks the political nuances of racial and ethnic identity in higher education. When there is a push for Black students, who are they talking about? Do they want African American students, Black Caribbean students, or Black African students? Grouping students together in their diasporic group can result in identity confusion. Not every Black student is African American, and assuming such displays the invisibility of other Black ethnicities and encourages the disillusion of the Black community. This paper will identify student development theories, apply those to the related literature on the subject matter, and eventually develop conclusions that disprove the monolithic nature of Black student support. Understanding the different ethnic identities and their group relations within the Black community can improve policies, procedures, and overall campus climate regarding equity, diversity, and inclusion.

COVID-19 caught the world off-guard, bringing disruption and chaos to all sectors, including education. Within Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the experiences were varied, as were the responses of educational stakeholders at all levels to the crisis of the pandemic. Stakeholders' experiences and responses should inform educational planning and policy, and it is against that backdrop that this research was conducted. This research captures the insights from three webinars sponsored by the Caribbean Centre for Educational Planning, which focused on challenges faced by educational institutions at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of the education system. The transcripts from those webinars were used to construct this paper using a generic qualitative research design. The webinars pulled on the expertise of panelists from across the Caribbean and North America. The findings reveal that most stakeholders were unprepared for the challenges occasioned by COVID-19, which translated into further difficulties adapting to online/blended teaching/learning, psycho-social stresses, heightened economic challenges, and disruptions to examinations. In response to these challenges, among the stakeholders, training was implemented, open communication increased, technical and infrastructural resources were upgraded, health and safety protocols were enforced/reinforced, and domestic and international groups collaborated to bolster access for all students. Lessons learned included the need for collaboration, equity, access, and opportunities, and exercising the courage to radically rethink the region's 'educational futures' by incorporating the shared perspectives of key stakeholders in educational planning and policy making.

Black students originating from African and Caribbean nations are well represented in the ranks of international students attending U.S. colleges, at over 51,000 annually (Institute of International Education, 2021). In addition to contributing heavily to the overall economic impact of the universities they attend (NAFSA, 2021), Black foreign-born students play a critically important role in adding diversity of thought and perspective to these academic communities. However, because of the additional socio-political challenges they face in a racially polarized United States, these students must navigate a more difficult pathway to acculturation and desirable academic outcomes than their non-Black peers. This qualitative study examines the phenomenological experiences of 15 foreign-born Black students from the subSaharan African and Caribbean regions -- lived experiences found at the intersection of immigration, race, and higher education. The findings suggest that the interpolations of race salience, racism, and racial microaggressions all contribute to negative acculturation postures whereby the students are more likely to reject rather than accept the host country's cultural norms. This aversive positionality leads to increased acculturative stressors and a higher likelihood of self-construed feelings of marginalization or separation.

This paper considers the widening access and participation agenda, its implications for higher education institutions (HEIs) and contends that it must be underpinned by strategic measurement and monitoring. Access is viewed through the following lenses: (i) supporting participation, and (ii) facilitating equity. Using mixed methods, the paper draws on data from The University of the West Indies (UWI) and provides examples from key plans and initiatives over 20 years to showcase how the UWI has increased access. Concurrently, the need for more nuanced and complex datasets to assess the extent of equity is highlighted with metrics drawn from the "Times Higher Education University Impact Ranking." The authors argue that the strategic use and management of data can promote public accountability associated with access and boost institutional reputation. However, universities will have to be innovative and accelerate measures to survive/thrive in the post-pandemic environment by identifying their institutional scope and "system of interest" in widening access.

Graduate students newly embarking on community-engaged scholarship often find themselves in a unique context, wherein as students they may enjoy a wealth of opportunities but a dearth of other resources that contribute to quality community-engaged research. This reflective essay explores how three ecological-community psychology doctoral students used their student status to leverage opportunities for community-engaged research despite resource-limited/shifting resource situations. After positioning the essay within existing thought and research, each author provides an in-depth description of a community-engaged project. Each vignette includes an assessment of the level of community engagement during various phases of the project using Doberneck and Dann's (2019) abacus for collaboration. The authors then reflect on commonalities among their approaches and lessons learned and conclude with recommendations for graduate students and their mentors who may be operating in opportunity rich, resource poor contexts.

Nonnational students in the Anglophone Caribbean are often affected by natural or man-made disasters that affect their experiences in the host country. However, the region had never experienced pandemic disasters such as COVID-19. Its occurrence highlighted latent concerns such as prejudices, border issues, and weak institutional support despite the existence of geopolitical treaties. Using the concept of the looming vulnerability framework, and incorporating a transformative lens, the research examined factors that contributed to these students' vulnerabilities at institutions of higher education in the Caribbean during the pandemic. A qualitative research design using regional newspapers accounted for students' collective voices. The results showed that nonnational students' mental well-being was affected by factors including institutional role, management of communication, access to resources, their governments' expression of financial support, and perceived discrimination from the host community. The article highlights the potential for students' further marginalization in the absence of pragmatic disaster preparedness plans.

To ensure its partners have the capacity to implement gender responsive projects, COL introduced an online training programme on gender equality and women's empowerment. This paper reports the methodology and results in measuring the efficacy of this online training at individual and organisational levels. The ability of individuals and organisations to plan and implement transformative actions with a gender perspective require adequate knowledge, skills and a change in attitudes. Given this need, the commonly used Knowledge, Attitude, Skills (KAS) model was used to measure the efficacy of this online training at individual and organisational levels by defining different dimensions of capacities with three learning domains -- Cognitive, Affective, Psychomotor (Bloom's Taxonomy). The baseline and the end line of KAS at the individual level on the six core gender capacities was established for comparison. Two questionnaires were designed to assess the learning achievements of the participants and to measure the efficacy of the training. An analysis of the study registers a clear trend of positive outcomes at the individual level regarding improved knowledge, attitudes and skills on gender equality that could be applied in their work. Furthermore, the paper reports that the organisations demonstrate an enabling environment for more gender equal policies, structures and practices and proposes ways to convert the success of this training by integrating it into the broader gender equality strategy of these organisations.