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Background: Technology-enabled services (TES; clinical services that include both technology-driven [e.g., personal sensing technologies] and person-powered support elements) may address gaps in depression and anxiety treatments in healthcare settings. The current study: (1) developed a TES tailored for Primary Care patients with depression and/or anxiety, and (2) conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy of the TES compared to a digital psychoeducation control app. Methods: Participants were randomized to either: (1) TES: the "Vira" smartphone app (Ksana Health Inc.), informed by behavioral activation and using passive sensing technology to provide behavioral "insights" and target behaviors associated with mental health symptoms, alongside lay-provider coaching, or (2) Control: the Mood Education mobile app (ME), containing static psychoeducational resources designed to target mental health symptoms. Both apps collected usage data. Participants completed assessments on depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), health-related quality of life (PedsQL), and engagement (TWEETs) at baseline, mid-treatment (week 4), end-of-treatment (week 8), and post-treatment (week 12). Results: Participants (N = 130) were randomized to receive either the TES (Vira; Mage= 30) or ME (Mage= 33). Linear mixed-effects models determined significant improvements in PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores for participants across both conditions (ps < 0.001). There was no interactive effect of intervention and time for the PHQ-9 (p =.90) nor the GAD-7 (p =.49). Adjusting for baseline differences and randomization strata, TES participants reported a greater change in a quality of life rating of Physical Functioning (PedsQL) across time (p =.018). TES participants also reported higher levels of engagement and demonstrated higher app usage. However, adjusting for baseline symptom severity, neither app usage nor coach interaction frequency moderated outcomes (ps ≥ 0.2). Conclusions: While the TES demonstrated superior engagement, improvements in depressive and anxious symptoms for both conditions speak to the potential benefit of both TES and low-intensity psychoeducation treatments in care settings. Future research is needed to better understand which patients might differentially benefit from TESs and broader personal sensing technologies over low-intensity treatments. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05406791. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile application developers rely largely on user reviews for identifying issues in mobile applications and meeting the users' expectations. User reviews are unstructured, unorganized and very informal. Identifying and classifying issues by extracting required information from reviews is difficult due to a large number of reviews. To automate the process of classifying reviews many researchers have adopted machine learning approaches. Keeping in view, the rising demand for educational applications, especially during COVID-19, this research aims to automate Android application education reviews' classification and sentiment analysis using natural language processing and machine learning techniques. A baseline corpus comprising 13,000 records has been built by collecting reviews of more than 20 educational applications. The reviews were then manually labelled with respect to sentiment and issue types mentioned in each review. User reviews are classified into eight categories and various machine learning algorithms are applied to classify users' sentiments and issues of applications. The results demonstrate that our proposed framework achieved an accuracy of 97% for sentiment identification and an accuracy of 94% in classifying the most significant issues. Moreover, the interpretability of the model is verified by using the explainable artificial intelligence technique of local interpretable model-agnostic explanations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Physicians often use mobile apps for patient care, but few apps are dedicated to pediatric critical care medicine (PCCM). This study developed a mobile app specifically for Pediatric Critical Care Unit (PICU) residents to aid their onboarding process and aimed to assess whether it could enhance their confidence and comfort levels. Method: From March 2020 to April 2021, 90 residents participated and completed pre- and post-rotation quizzes with 20 questions each. Quiz score differences between the control and app groups were analyzed using t-tests. A survey was also administered at the end of the rotation to compare comfort level and confidence in PCCM knowledge pre- and post-rotation. Results: Enrollment included 50 residents in the control group and 40 in the app group. The participation rate was 100%, but not all participants completed both quizzes and survey. The app group showed a significantly greater improvement in quiz scores from pre- to post-rotation compared to the control group (increase of 0.23 questions vs 1.67, p = 0.045). However, the two groups had no significant differences in confidence in PCCM knowledge (p = 0.246) or comfort levels (p = 0.776) in the PICU. Conclusions: This study found no significant difference in confidence levels between the App and control groups at the end of the PICU rotation. However, the App group outperformed the control group in knowledge assessments. Frequent use of the app likely reinforced essential concepts and facilitated adaptation to the PICU service. Overall, the app's positive impact on knowledge and adaptation indicates it is a valuable tool for enhancing medical residents' educational experiences in busy clinical environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of RED - Revista de Educación a Distancia is the property of Universidad de Murcia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present study aimed to improve the speaking skills of university students at the B1 level who presented limitations in their oral competence. An educational methodology based on designing and implementing an application adapted to the Common European Framework of Reference was developed and applied to boost language performance. A case study was used to conduct the two stages of this research; the former had to do with a control group where intervention was carried out using non-probabilistic sampling with students of the Computing Faculty; a pretest was applied to test the knowledge acquired in their classroom sessions during the first quarter in 2020. The second process was tracking an experimental group, which was assessed after implementing the developed methodology using the app "4SkillsWeb". A posttest was used to evidence learners' progress during the COVID-19 lockdown, and the results showed improved oral competence in aspects such as grammar and vocabulary, discourse management, pronunciation, and interactive communication, with about 95% confidence in its validation. A qualitative-quantitative methodology was used to determine the influence of the English app. A t-students test was implemented to corroborate the data analysis taken by both groups through SOFTWARE JMP v 11.0.0G. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many technological applications (apps) purport to help children learn academic material. Building on research in developmental and educational psychology, we developed and tested an app to teach biological and physical science content to preschool children. There were 21 children in the control condition (Mage = 50.30 months, SD = 8.61) and 21 children in the intervention condition (Mage = 53.21 months old, SD = 6.36). Children were given pre- assessments and post-assessments of their understanding of living things, inheritance, buoyancy, and balance. Half were assigned to play the app for 3 weeks or to a control condition that only completed the assessments. Based on ANCOVA and ANOVA models, children in the app condition increased in their understanding of living things and buoyancy on a near-transfer task from pre-test to post-test assessment, whereas the children in the control condition did not increase their understanding. The findings suggest that drill and tests apps focusing on science content that take account of folk theories of science can support children's science learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A systematic review examining the efficacy of commercially available foreign language-learning apps (FLL) was completed. A database search of ERIC, PsychINFO, and LearnTechLib produced 1,786 journal articles. After applying specific inclusion and exclusion criteria based on Burston's seminal study (2015) requiring a minimum number of 10 participants, quantitative learning outcome data and rigorous research design, eight studies remained. These studies were categorized in terms of the app studied, year of publication, language taught, age group of participants, setting, length of study, and device(s) used. Descriptive statistics demonstrate there is a dearth of studies examining app efficacy, that English was the most commonly taught language, and that vocabulary was the most commonly tested area. Although commercial apps were found to successfully support FLL, the included studies' methods varied in ways that made direct comparison difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mobile revolution has influenced students' preferences for various educational platforms in the new digital era, especially regarding young learners' utilization of mobile devices such as smartphones, iPads, and other gadgets for mobile learning (m-learning). Because of this, universities that implement learning management systems (LMS) through standard web-based platforms should explore the potential for integrating mobile devices and technologies into m-learning platforms. Through the utilization of this technology, LMS can facilitate continuous user interaction and enhance user awareness of any revisions made to the material. To reach the majority of LMS users, mobile applications must be developed for all major mobile platforms. By utilizing the Web View API, this research combined native mobile and web technologies to develop the mobile application. This strategy was adopted in anticipation of the requirement to create and maintain the application across multiple mobile platforms. It was anticipated that this approach would reduce the time needed for creation, maintain a consistent interface, and enable the use of platform-specific features. It also makes sense to provide mobile device access to some of the LMS virtual classroom's functions. The K-means algorithm is used for analyzing course material and learning. Nevertheless, achieving this goal might not be an easy process. To enable this form of connection between the LMS and the m-learning applications, this chapter assesses the challenges involved in achieving that goal and presents various common interchange designs and related research and development efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with Down syndrome (CDS) potentially have a high risk of oral health problems due to their poor oral hygiene issues. Intellectual disability in CDS complicates the delivery of education leading to the inadequacy of knowledge and the inefficient ability to maintain oral hygiene. The teaching of CDS requires a special approach and an edutainment method that utilizes digital development through Mobile Apps. To analyze the knowledge of CDS before and after using Gigiku Sehat Mobile Apps. This experimental study included 34 CDS aged 7-12 with dental health education using the Mobile app Gigiku Sehat. The Mobile apps and questionnaires were tested for validity and reliability before being used on respondents. Dental health education was conducted in a subject for seven days, 15 minutes per day accompanied by their parents. The scores assessment was done before, immediately, and after seven days of education using a Mobile app Gigiku Sehat. The Friedman test showed the difference between baseline, immediately after, and seven days of dental health knowledge after education using Mobile Apps statistically significant (p=.001). Mobile Apps Gigiku Sehat appears to be an effective learning method for dental health education in CDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Women who are sexually active are at risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), which can cause serious difficulties for their reproductive health. However, despite the high global burden of STIs, most infections are preventable with education for behavioral change. The purpose of this study is to investigate the Efficacy of Mobile-Based Educational Intervention Using Instructional Systems Design in Promoting Preventive Behaviors for Sexually Transmitted Infections among Iranian Women. Methods: This randomized controlled trial aimed at promoting preventive behaviors related to STIs in Iranian women with an educational intervention based on the Instructional Systems Design (ISD) in 2022. The participants in this study were recruited from a single center, specifically the Health House No. 3 located in District 11 of Tehran Municipality. Two instruments were used in the present study: a) a valid scale titled: "Four-Scale of STI Preventive Behaviors", and b) a researcher-made Questionnaire titled: "Social perception affecting sexually transmitted infections (SOPESTI)". These tools contain 8 demographic items and specific questions with a total of 68 five-point Likert scales. The intervention comprised three phases: a pre-test (baseline), a training program, and two follow-up assessments (4 and 12 weeks after the start of the training program). The experimental group received education through a mobile app, while the control group received no intervention. SPSS v.26 was used, with a significance level of P < 0.05. The chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, independent t-tests, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and repeated measures ANOVA were used to analyze the data. Results: A total of 80 women, with a mean age of 36.524 ± 6.91 (experiment group) and 34.78 ± 8.20 (control group), respectively, participated in the trial. The study revealed a statistically significant difference in the mean score for eight domains, including STIs Knowledge, STIs Vulnerability, STIs Preventive Self-efficacy, STIs Prevention intentions, STIs Perceived social exclusion, STIs Perceived cognitive barriers, STIs Perceived social support, and STIs Perceived risks in the experiment group following the intervention compared to before the intervention (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that a mobile-based educational intervention based on the ISD model had a significant effect on the preventive behaviors of STIs in Iranian women. These results highlight the potential benefit of mobile health in enhancing reproductive health. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov IRCT20200602047638N1. Registered on 22 May 2021 with the IRCTID, V1.0. https://www.irct.ir/trial/55632 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) is commonly used in developing and innovating information systems, particularly in creating artifacts such as mobile apps for education and healthcare. This study aimed to apply DSRM to create learning media for students with spastic and dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy at SLB Bina Mandiri ABCD Cirebon who have difficulty communicating due to limited arm muscle movement. The study produced two iterations of learning media artifacts: a book with picture cards using the PECS method and a mobile app with added Indonesian audio. The study focused on designing and developing the second artifact, which was more effective than the first. Future research could evaluate the second artifact in greater depth through client-initiated testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of Realistic Mathematics Education Strategies Mobile App (REMSAM) on the mathematical problem solving performance of students with learning disabilities (LD). The participants of this study consisted of five children (three girls, two boys) with LD. The study was carried out based on a multiple-baseline across-participants design. Participants' problem solving performances (understanding the problem, identifying the elements of the problem and solving the problem) were evaluated with multiple-choice tests. The findings revealed that REMSAM had a significant and positive effect on students' mathematical problem solving performances. In addition, it was determined that the students were willing to use REMSAM, the parents and teachers of the students had positive opinions about REMSAM. Future directions and limitations of the study were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the use of educational apps in medical education among undergraduate medical students in India. A survey was conducted among 205 students, and the results showed that a majority of electronic device users were using their devices for medical education, particularly for online lectures and note-taking. The study concludes that incorporating educational apps into the medical curriculum could be beneficial, considering the increasing use of electronic devices by students. The article suggests that universities should develop policies for introducing electronic devices and applications in medical education. [Extracted from the article]

The article reveals the main advantages of using mobile applications in the educational process and shows their significance in increasing the level of knowledge and skills of higher education students; elements of the content of mobile learning are revealed; didactic principles are singled out and factors that educational mobile applications must meet are grouped; didactic features of mobile applications are shown in the educational process of a higher school. The methodological basis of the study is the general theoretical and methodological provisions of philosophy regarding the relationship between theory and practice of the Impact of mobile applications on higher education. The results of the conducted research testify to the fact that the use of mobile applications in the educational process to increase the level of knowledge and skills of students has a positive effect on increasing the level of skills and motivation of students to study, significantly facilitates the educational process based on the implementation of a personalized approach outside classroom time, allows you to organize productive independent work in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Comunicar (English Edition) is the property of Oxbridge Publishing House and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Given the effective role of a mobile applications in disease management, disease monitoring, and self-care in patients with COVID-19 disease, we aimed to design, development and evaluation of a self-care Mobile app for COVID-19 patients not requiring hospitalization. Methods: The design, development and evaluation the usability of the self-care and education mobile app for patients with COVID-19 disease were conducted in two main phases at 2021 in Northwest of IRAN; (1) Determine the features and capabilities and (2) Design, development and evaluation of self-care mobile App. JAVA programming languages and Android Operating System were used and selected to design and development of a mobile app. There were 25 participants who conducted evaluations of the mobile app's usability and impact using the mobile health app usability a Questionnaire of User Interface Satisfaction was administered to assess the usability of the developed application. The results were analyzed via Excel 2013. Results: The model of developing a mobile app as an Information System was the Waterfall model. The smartphone application based on a set of capabilities and features was designed and consists of two main parts: the login screen for user registration, and the main home menu. The user interface includes three main pages or activities; (a) Main Menu for quick access to all of the pages, (b) Symptom management and monitoring to monitor the signs and symptoms during the illness, and (c) Set Reminders and Alarms to notify patients. The users' mean score of the application usability was calculated as 7.91 out of 9 indicating a good level of satisfaction. Conclusion: This app can be a guideline and a useful tools for managing and monitoring symptoms, reminding medications, and implementing self-care instructions in outpatients. The authors suggest evaluating the efficacy and functionality test of mobile-based applications for COVID-19 in clinical trial studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Instructional Technology & Lifelong Learning is the property of Instructional Technology & Lifelong Learning and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic's disruptions to education, there is a growing need for alternative learning methods, particularly for children with autism who thrive on routine and familiarity. This study aims to enhance numeracy learning for children with autism by using the touchscreen-assistive learning numeracy application (TaLNA) during the post-pandemic period, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 (quality education). Our primary focus is to leverage mobile learning through the TaLNA application to provide specialized educational content and remote progress monitoring. Combining mobile learning with SDG 4 principles ensures continuous access to education, promoting inclusivity and equity, even in challenging circumstances. Mobile learning offers personalized numeracy experiences tailored to individual needs, maintaining educational consistency and structure amidst disrupted routines and environments. This research has significant implications for instructors, teachers, and parents of children with autism, providing valuable insights for their pedagogical approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a study related to the learning of decision-making heuristics such as preference matrix, break-even point and decision tree from the perspective of using a computational tool. With their respective algorithms, a virtual learning environment through a mobile application (app) aimed at Engineering students was developed. To answer the research questions posed in this report, an empirical study was conducted to assess the effectiveness, efficiency and cost in solving decision-making problems with and without the use of the app. The results in this study suggest that the use of the app in learning decision-making skills facilitates the mathematical process for students, and that by using critical thinking competence, they can make assertive and accurate decisions considering different alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To determine whether a nurse-led care model with telemonitoring in primary care for patients with stable heart failure and their caregivers is feasible and acceptable.Patients and Methods: A mixed-methods feasibility study was conducted. Patients with stable heart failure and their caregivers were consecutively enrolled from March 2021 to April 2022. Participants were managed by nurses in a community health center through education and monitoring with a mobile app. The outcomes were feasibility outcomes, self-care outcomes, and qualitative acceptability and satisfaction. Quantitative and qualitative outcomes were linked to understanding how the model of care might benefit patients.Results: Twenty-six patients and nine of their caregivers were enrolled. Ten participants used the mobile app. Nineteen patients and eight caregivers were interviewed. Participants who improved their self-care appreciated the help in finding coping strategies, being close to the clinic, and feeling cared for. Participants with fewer improvements in self-care perceived the model of care as useless and were far from the centre. Participants decided to use the app mainly for usefulness prevision, and most of them were satisfied.Conclusion: The model of care was not successful in recruiting patients, and adjustments are needed to improve the recruitment strategy and to engage people who perceive the model of care as not useful or unable to use the app. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of digital technologies that are part of everyday life, new cultural norms and patterns are developing with which children play, learn, communicate, and socialise in the digital age. Technologies are also fundamentally changing teachers' attitudes to education. This study aims to determine the motivation of teachers of generation Alpha for using technology and mobile applications, what technologies were preferred by generation Alpha after the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, and for what reason. The research sample included one segment of the Alpha generation, pupils of primary schools (N =53) and their primary school teachers (N =83). A qualitative research design was used. The data processed by thematic content analysis identified the themes associated with using digital tools by generation Alpha, according to the teachers. The results showed the teachers' motivation for using digital technology with generation Alpha, such as meeting their physiological, safety, social, cognitive, aesthetic, and self-actualisation needs. Generation Alpha's media applications saturated four needs: entertainment, information, education, and games. They were covered by 12 applications. The findings show that the digital communication activities of generation Alpha refer to the audience's intentionality, selectivity, and involvement with the media. The presented research opens other possible research topics, such as how new communication and mobile apps influence the behaviours of Alpha generation, value orientation, and well-being, and how effectively to use mobile apps in education praxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile health interventions are widely used to facilitate individuals' management of their health behavior. A notable issue is that health interventions with obvious persuasive intent may cause negligence and reactance. In this study, we propose a subtle but powerful way to bolster self-regulation in maintaining healthy behavior by leveraging embodied interaction design. Our study shows that bodily actions in interacting with digital devices can trigger thoughts about prior associated experiences and, thus, be strategically designed to affect individuals' judgments, decisions, and behavior. Specifically, in three experiments, we find that firmly pressing a touchscreen during mobile interaction (as compared with gently tapping a touchscreen) can activate users' approach motivation and, thus, induce their preference for a healthy over a tasty beverage, lead to more challenging exercise goals and more exercise, and reduce personal hygiene lapses after receiving hygiene education. Hence, designers of digital health products may consider designing interaction with pressing gestures to facilitate users' self-regulation and attainment of health-related goals. Policymakers can also encourage the adoption of relevant app designs to improve citizens' health wellbeing. Many mobile applications use push notifications and reminders to explicitly educate, remind, and motivate users to perform healthy behaviors. However, users do not always act according to these explicit digital interventions. Our study investigates whether users' self-regulation can be implicitly facilitated with a proper mobile interaction design. Specifically, we investigate the impacts of two touch modes that are supported by force-based interaction technology, that is, pressing and tapping. Drawing on the theory of embodied cognition, which suggests that people automatically infer meanings from their bodily actions, we conjecture that pressing, compared with tapping, enhances self-regulation because the action of pressing on the touchscreen embodies resolute approach motivation toward goals. We test our hypotheses in three experiments. The first experiment investigates beverage choices on a mobile app; the second experiment examines goal setting on a fitness app; and the third experiment focuses on personal hygiene learning on a mobile education app. The results from the three experiments show that pressing actions can improve users' self-regulation in selecting a healthier but less tasty beverage (Study 1), setting higher exercise goals and performing more physical exercise (Study 2), and reducing lapses in maintaining personal hygiene (Study 3). In addition, such effects were more salient among users with a higher level of health knowledge and a promotion-focused health orientation. This study contributes to healthcare IT research by showing that mobile interaction can be leveraged to nudge users toward enhanced self-regulation. History: Alok Gupta, Senior Editor; David (Jingjun) Xu, Associate Editor. Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 72202172 and 72032006], the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China [Grant HKU 17502921], the University Research Committee of the University of Hong Kong [Grant 201905159007], and the Ministry of Education of Singapore [Grants 2018-T1-002-097 and MOE2017-T2-1-127]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.1155. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Picture fuzzy aggregation operators are the standard mathematical tools for the combination of several inputs with respect to attributes into one unique output. The Choquet integral operator has been proven more ideal than traditional aggregation operators in the modelling of interaction phenomena among the attributes in decision-making problems. Firstly, we propose the Choquet integral picture fuzzy Einstein geometric aggregation operator and Choquet integral picture fuzzy Einstein ordered geometric aggregation operator with certain properties of these operators being established. We validate the functioning of the operators with illustrative examples. The proposed operators clearly capture the comprehensive correlative relationships of attributes in a simpler manner. Furthermore, the algorithm for a multi attribute decision-making problem based on proposed operators is given. The application of the proposed operators was explored to deal with the selection of the best mobile apps for online education. Finally, comparisons are conducted to illustrate the discussion and advantages of the proposed operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Effective and scalable solutions to support management of Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) at a distance are a priority for health systems worldwide. The use of personalised care planning has been shown to be effective at improving the health outcomes and the experience of care amongst people with T2D and other long-term health conditions. Here we describe a specific example of such an intervention. Methods: The sample comprised 197 participants with T2D randomised to either the active intervention group with digital health planning (App + usual care), with 115 participants, or the control group (usual care), with 82 participants. We analysed data in relation to changes in body mass index (BMI) and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) over a 6-month follow-up period. We also analysed responses to questionnaires sent out and held interviews with participants that were in the active treatment group and therefore had a care plan created and access to an app. Results: The active treatment group had significant reductions in HbA1c (p < 0.01) and BMI (p < 0.037) vs the control group (no significant change). The average percentage change in HbA1c for the treatment group over 6 months was − 7.4% (± SE 1.4%), compared with 1.8% (± SE 2.1%) for the control group. The average percentage change in BMI for the treatment group was − 0.7% (± SE 0.4%) and it was − 0.2% (± SE 0.5%) for the control group. A higher percentage of the active treatment group reduced their HbA1c and BMI than the control group. For HbA1c, 72.4% of the active treatment group reduced their HbA1c, compared to 41.5% of the control group. For BMI, 52.7% of the active treatment group experienced a reduction, compared to 42.9% for the control group. Self-measured quality of life (QoL) improved for patients in the active treatment group, shown by an increase in their pre-trial to post-trial EQ-5D-5L rating by an average of 0.0464 (± SE 0.0625), compared to a decrease of 0.0086 (± SE 0.0530) for the control group. The average EQ VAS score also increased pre- to post-trial for the active treatment group, on average by 8.2%, whereas it decreased by an average of − 2.8% for the control group. Conclusion: These findings point to how the provision of personalised plans of care, support and education linked to a mobile app, can result in HbA1c and BMI reduction for many individuals with T2D. The use of a patient management app as well as a personalised care plan also led to an improvement in patient self-rated QoL and engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: This paper provides a general review related to a wider project, aimed at developing a mobile game-based app on Education for Sustainable Development within a smart learning city environment. It aims to address guidelines for a new action-oriented transformative pedagogy that is essential for the development of key competencies for sustainable development based on literature review and on the exploration of a previously created mobile game-based app – the EduPARK app. Design/methodology/approach: This work gives continuity to the developed work, through a qualitative interpretive methodology of case study. Its main objective is to analyze the opinion of Higher Education students, who have experienced the EduPARK app, in what concerns the impact of the educational strategy into: (1) learning value, (2) authentic learning, (3) lifelong learning, and (4) conservation and sustainable habits. Data collection instruments involve students' reflections triangulated to a questionnaire. Findings: The study finds that the potential for promoting conservation and sustainable habits is widely recognized by app users, although they mention that this aspect can be further explored. This legitimates the relevance of the new mission – EduCITY, which focuses on enhancing sustainability key skills of citizens who participate in extension game-based activities on strategic paths in the city. Originality/value: This paper comprises a set of guidelines and best practices for educational stakeholders and decision makers in order to enhance a wider integration of this outdoor mobile innovative approach in education, promoting smart and sustainable attitudes of citizens within the cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile technologies are promising tools to scaffold teaching practice. In this study, we developed and tested a mobile app for teacher education. This mobile portfolio enables multimedia-based note-taking, reflection, and discussion with peers and mentors. We conducted two studies to explore the effect of design variants and use scenarios on the app's acceptance. In the first study with N = 83 pre-service primary school teachers, technology acceptance was higher for those using the app with multimedia note-taking functionality than for those using the same app with this functionality disabled. In the second study with N = 81 pre-service teachers, those using the app together with their mentor teachers reported levels of technology acceptance similar to those who used the app exclusively among themselves. In consequence, a mobile portfolio app would be met with higher acceptance if it builds reflection upon multimedia note-taking both with and without the inclusion of mentors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate pronunciation is a crucial aspect of language learning as it directly impacts learners' ability to effectively communicate and be understood. A number of applications for Android and iOS are provided to help the users to improve their English pronunciation. This paper reviews research articles discussing one of the existing applications, ELSA Speak. This application is designed to assist language learners in improving their pronunciation by utilizing its advanced speech recognition technology to provide real-time feedback. This paper then discuss how the application was implemented in Indonesian context. The findings show that ELSA Speak can significantly improve students' pronunciation with the help of its advanced technology. The findings also suggest that the use of ELSA Speak affects students' learning motivation positively. Previous studies recommend the use of ELSA Speak in pronunciation classes. However, students' readiness to use the application must be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Psychology, Society & Education is the property of Psychology, Society & Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Technology & Education / Revista de Tecnología & Educación is the property of ECORFAN-Mexico S.C. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Technology & Education / Revista de Tecnología & Educación is the property of ECORFAN-Mexico S.C. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

One of the potential ways of making students active and increasing their motivation to learn in web-based learning systems is to present the content to the students in interactive ways. However, student and content interactions in today's web-based learning environments are still limited to traditional interaction methods presented in the web interface. Research indicates effective student-content interactions in a web-based learning system strongly enhance meaningful learning. Especially during the pandemic period, it has been observed that online learning content is insufficient for reasons such as supporting self-learning and not allowing experimental applications. Many studies during this period reveal that poor student interaction with learning content negatively affects student participation and learning. In light of advances in technology, it is important to ensure that the learning content is delivered to the student in more effective ways and that the student interacts with this content in the context of self-controlled learning. In addition, there is a need for learning environments with new technologies that enable them to do the practical activities that need to be done in the classroom in their working environment. In this context, a new web-based learning approach was presented by using the web and innovative mobile applications together, increasing the interaction between the student and the learning content, improving the self-controlled learning skills of the students, and making the applied learning content in their working environment. In this study, a web-based learning system (ARGEBILIM) supported by Augmented Reality and simulation-based mobile applications was introduced. In the study, information about the features of ARGEBILIM was presented and discussed in the context of pedagogical approaches that shed light on its development. The teaching potential of the system was evaluated, and the elements related to the interaction of students, teachers, and learning content were defined. In addition, the factors affecting students' use of this system and the improvements that should be made in these matters are presented and the potential benefits of the system are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows gaps in knowledge of the tangible heritage sites that exist in Jamaican communities. In order to address these knowledge gaps, a Geographical Information System-based heritage education mobile application (app) has been developed. The aim of this research is twofold, seeking to determine: 1) if there is a demand for a heritage education mobile application (app) centred on tangible heritage sites in Jamaica, and 2) the ease of use of the prototype heritage education mobile app. The two research questions that guided the research were, 'Is there a demand for a G.I.S-based heritage education mobile application in Jamaica?' and 'Do the current features of the heritage education app provide ease of use to the potential user?' Based on the Buff Bay Valley of western Portland, Jamaica, a prototype app was developed and tested among attendees at the Research Technology and Innovation Day of the University of Technology, Jamaica, in March 2018. These attendees provided data on demand for such an app, the ease of use and quality of the information in the app and areas for its improvement. Results showed a desire for mobile apps to educate Jamaicans about their tangible heritage and that the design is user-friendly, although it can be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good coordination among school staff and families leads to increased learning quality and academic success for students with special education needs and disabilities (SEND). This pilot study aims to investigate the use of mobile technology for the coordination of therapy and learning for students with SEND. This study first follows a participatory design methodology to identify the key design principles required to inform the design of a coordination mobile app for special education. Then, a mobile app (IEP-Connect) is designed and implemented with the aim of facilitating information sharing between different parties involved in the intervention of students with SEND. The proposed app uses the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) as the focal point of coordination. The evaluation of the app focused on students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as their learning requires sharing information from different distributed sources. Results from the usability study revealed that the app has "good" usability and that participants were satisfied with the use of the app for recording and sharing IEP information. The results of this study provide an understanding of the ways in which a coordination app for special education could be made easy and rewarding to use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the description to examine the results of a new study and create the technique and also demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique. In this ever-changing world, students are increasingly encouraged to use mobile phones primarily to learn for educational purposes. The learning process is continuous and the goal has now been achieved. It has been replaced by online learning. Due to mobile phones as well as the many feature-oriented applications, students can study at their own place and use the application to spend their time understanding, because everything is accessible with a single click. To carry on the study we applied mobile applications for online education system. Now, because the traditional method is taken into consideration, it is normal to carry a bag full of books and copies and immerse yourself in the tradition of learning to write. However, it has been found that not all students learn when he takes notes. Therefore, we must make sure that the student focuses only on one thing at a time. To continue the research, we apply the N-cubic structure to q-rung orthopair fuzzy sets in multi-attribute group decision-making problems. This structure solves the problems of multi-attribute group decision-making techniques more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently in Latin America hearing impairment is one of the main problems of society, especially in Peru, where there is a large percentage of hearing-impaired children without receiving some kind of adequate and viable education for their growth, being the main reason the little support by the government and the lack of technological tools to support inclusive education. For this reason, the present research work is generated, which has as main motive to support and help the benefit of educational inclusion and even better technological development for fundamental problems in society, especially those that affect the educational life. Therefore, the development of a mobile application aimed at educational inclusion for students, whether or not they are hearing impaired, was proposed. Therefore, a form was applied to 40 people, including parents of hearingimpaired students and teachers, in order to collect main requirements. In addition, the cascade methodology was used, being the most appropriate for the development of the mobile application, providing agility of development by having clear and precise requirements. Finally, it was concluded that the mobile application will generate different adequate and viable benefits for an inclusive educational environment for students with hearing impairment, through the development of a form established and directed to 50 people, among them the 40 people of the first form and 10 people specialized in the development and design of mobile applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the popularity of mobile devices, people are increasingly trying to learn a second language (L2) using mobile applications (apps). The current study examined language learners' perceptions of the usefulness and ease of use of mobile learning apps in relation to language learning flow and satisfaction. University students who were learning Chinese as second language (CSL; n = 183) or learning English as second language (ESL; n = 481) completed scales assessing their perceptions of the apps' usefulness (PU) and ease of use (PEOU), L2 learning flow, and L2 learning satisfaction. Latent profile analysis was used to identify latent groups within CSL learners and within ESL learners, according to their mobile apps perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use scores. The results showed that: (1) a 3-class solution consisting of a low (least positive) perception group, a medium perception group, and a high perception group was supported in both samples of language learners; (2) in the ESL sample, positive perceptions appeared to have a linear relationship with learning flow and satisfaction; in the CSL sample, this linear relationship was seen for satisfaction but not learning flow. The results of regression analysis validated the moderating role type of language learning plays in the link between PU/PEOU and learning flow and satisfaction with stronger links in ESL learners as compared to CSL learners. Suggestions for further research on app-based L2 learning are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital learning environments have been gaining prominence during the last few years. In particular, the rising usage of mobile devices, including smartphones and tabs, has invited researchers to design and develop learning applications and games for such platforms. Mobile applications and games have been developed for learning languages like many other domains. However, most of these games are fun-based and lack a holistic design and development approach. Therefore, as a principal contribution, this research presents a theoretical model for designing language learning games in a cultural context. The proposed model combines the elements of sociocultural theory with the concepts and elements of gamification, keeping in view the requirements and educational settings, including level and mode of education, etc., to ensure the effectiveness and usability of the developed game. Subsequently, based on the proposed model, a Language Learning Game (LLG) has been designed and developed through a systematic process that involves game design, low-fidelity, and high-fidelity prototyping and its validation. The LLG has been evaluated comprehensively at different stages by incorporating standard methods. Whereby this research augments the existing set of heuristics by proposing a number of specialized heuristics for the evaluation of serious games to gauge their conformance to the cultural context. The evaluation results show that the game has overall usability scores of 90%. While the quasi-experiment-based pre-test and post-test have been conducted, the results reveal that the results obtained by LLG are statistically significantly better than adopted mobile application and traditional group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the adoption and implementation of a new mobile communication application (app) among a sample of 132 New York City public schools. The app provides a platform for sharing general announcements and news, as well as engaging in personalized two-way communication with individual parents. We provide participating schools with free access to the app and randomize schools to receive intensive support (training, guidance, monitoring, and encouragement) for maximizing the efficacy of the app. Although user supports led to higher levels of communication within the app in the treatment year, overall usage remained low and declined in the following year when treatment schools no longer received intensive supports. We find few subsequent effects on perceptions of communication quality or student outcomes. We leverage rich internal user data to explore how take-up and usage patterns varied across staff and school characteristics. These analyses help to identify early adopters and reluctant users, revealing both opportunities and obstacles to engaging parents through new communication technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand for online educational tools has risen steadily as technological innovations have evolved over the past several decades. Websites were the first platform to be introduced, and eventually used for online schooling, soon after the advent of the World Wide Web. Access to information and updated content in a short period of time on a wide-screen device such as a computer made websites popular early in their development. With the technological revolution of smart phones, mobile applications have been developed on various operating systems and, through this progress, a new form of educational platform was initiated. The portable features of mobile applications represent a pioneer era of educational tools for medical professionals. Online communications have transformed into social media over the last decade and have since been adopted by much of the world. All three of these educational platforms have created a significant impact on medical education communities, specifically in radiology. We describe the relative strengths of each platform and illustrate how our experience over more than two decades guides our recommendations. • Demand for online educational tools has risen as technological innovations have evolved over the past several decades. • Websites, mobile apps, and social media have greatly influenced medical education communities, specifically in radiology. • Using two or three platforms can be a dynamic approach to expand outreach if educators have access to appropriate resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, various E-learning Apps have been compared and analysed by two distance measures and formulate their comparison with limited number of students and factors with the scope of their extension. Hamming Distance and Euclidean Distance are two distance measures used in this paper. Moreover, the variables considered for this purpose follows the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Set (IFS) theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a semi-structured survey of mobile journalists (N = 433), the study investigated mobile journalists' learning needs and learner experiences related to their digital skills development with smartphones. Results indicate that not only novice journalism students but also experienced educators, professionals, or mass communication and media workers had a high level of demands on developing specific digital skills, especially skills with smartphones, such as writing better headlines and stories for mobile audiences, shooting and editing 360° videos, and programming skills such as HTML. Recommendations are made for future research that mobile journalists indicated mobile microlearning is a promising approach to support their just-in-time learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major national project, commissioned by Health Education England and delivered by the Social Care Institute for Excellence, in partnership with the British Association of Social Workers is currently studying digital capabilities across the social work profession. The project aims to chart the existing landscape and produce ethical guidance, together with a set of digital capabilities, which will map to existing frameworks. The initial Stakeholders' Report, has important implications for social work education at all levels, as well as emphasizing relationship and co-production as crucial values for digital design and delivery. This article responds to the initial outputs of this project, by describing the design and delivery of a mobile app created within a UK University Social Work Department, using a co-production model. The completed mobile app is cited as a key example within the Digital Capabilities for Social Work initial Stakeholder Report, which also emphasizes the values which underpinned the app creation. The article is linked to a previous paper, describing original app development within social work education and forms part of a rapidly growing body of work, which attempts to address issues highlighted within the national Digital Capabilities project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated factors that influenced university students' intentions to use smart applications in flipped learning (FL) in Thailand flipped classrooms (FC) by extending the technology acceptance model (TAM) as the research model. Eight variables including relative advantage (ADV), peer influence (PI), school support (SS), reputation (REPU), innovativeness (INNO), facilitating conditions (FC), computer self-efficacy (CSE), and technological complexity (TC) were incorporated into the TAM to examine the relationships among these variables. Data were collected from 1339 students at 30 universities in Thailand using a self-report questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The proposed model was found to have a good fit. The results of this study contributed to existing technology acceptance theories through indicating findings that are both consistent and inconsistent with previous studies. This study contributed to the understanding of FC/FL in Thai context. It could also inform national and school policymakers and educators of what university students think in terms of technological innovations used in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]