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Social media provides African youths an alternative platform for, inter alia, engaging and reconstructing taboo subjects, including harmful myths and stereotypes. They exploit the medium to refuse misconceptions and re-make perceptions of their lived experiences. With the increasing availability of web 2.0 channels to Africans, youths have taken up these spaces to express their talents. Recently, a new generation of young women has leveraged TikTok to circulate performances that spark multi-continental conversations, pushing back negative/unfounded narratives of Africans propounded by non-Africans. The study examines this form of online refusal, focusing on the dramatic aspects of such TikTok videos. Specifically, one such woman, Charity Ekezie of Nigerian descent, produces hilarious TikTok skits owning up non-Africans’ primordial view of Africa as a continent lacking internet access, running water, and other basic infrastructure. Through analyses of selected TikTok gigs produced by the young woman, I argue that her content deploys humor to reject typecast narratives pigeonholing Africans to barbarity. Although Ekezie playfully embodies these negative conceptions of the continent, the undercurrents of her acts counteract these self-identifications. I read them as acts of refusal that dismantle deleterious notions of Africa, foreground the naivety of accusers, and make them the butt of laughter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the adoption of web tools by Greek legacy media organizations from a historical perspective, covering the period from the 1990s to 2023. The study employs a mixed-method approach, including a literature review, content analysis of websites, and survey of social media and application use in two time-points. The results reveal that Greek legacy media have embraced web 2.0 technologies, such as tags, live broadcasting, and on-demand content. However, the study also identifies some areas for improvement, including the need to create more interactive public discussion environments and explore new technologies such as podcasting and new platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses the gap in the literature in terms of the lack of guidelines for organisations that would like to use social media to facilitate organisational learning (OL). This study presents an overarching conceptual theoretical framework that can assist organisations in integrating social media and OL. The framework helped explore at what level and what type of OL occurred from employees’ use of social media in organisations. The study used the interpretive research philosophy/paradigm, inductive approach and case studies to determine how employees use Web 2.0 tools in organisations and how that use leads to OL. The data were collected using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with three different companies and seven industry experts. The research findings were used to develop a conceptual theoretical framework with key concepts that explain how the use of social media could facilitate OL. The conceptual theoretical framework was tested and reviewed by experts. This resulted in a significant contribution to existing theory by offering guidelines on how organisations could use social media to facilitate effective OL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractRecent studies suggest that immunological and inflammatory responses in cardiovascular disorders, such as hypertension, myocardial infarction, ischemia injury, heart failure, arrhythmias, and atherosclerosis, may be affected by changes in the adenosine system. Pharmacological modulation of adenosine occurs through its receptor subtypes. In numerous preclinical studies, the activation of adenosine receptor 2A (A2AR) or the blockade of adenosine receptor 2B (A2BR) has shown promising results against cardiovascular diseases. This in silico study aimed to identify potential natural compounds that can activate A2AR or block A2BR without causing toxicity. Natural compounds were screened using COlleCtion of Open Natural ProdUcTs (COCONUT) or Natural Product Activity and Species Source Database (NPASS) databases to find agonists for A2AR or an antagonists/inverse agonists for A2BR. These compounds were then pre-filtered based on their toxicity profiles. The remaining compounds were subjected to molecular docking against A2AR and A2BR followed by molecular dynamics simulations were conducted. Finally, selected compounds’ ADMET properties were determined using ADMETlab 2.0 web tool. Ultimately, one novel natural compound with potential agonistic activity (COCONUT IDs: CNP0450901) for A2AR and one antagonist/inverse agonist (rauwolscine) for A2BR were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Gazi University Journal of Gazi Educational Faculty (GUJGEF) is the property of Gazi University Journal of Gazi Educational Faculty (GUJGEF) 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 an era of swift technical advancement, the confluence of digital technology, security, and the digital economy bears substantial implications. This research aims to investigate the complex interplay among patient rights, genetic testing, and cloud computing, with a particular emphasis on the legal contexts that govern these fields. Individuals must possess the ability to properly interact with health-related information and understand the economic components of digital platforms. Genetic testing and cloud computing are two areas where these literacies overlap, presenting distinct difficulties and opportunities. Legal considerations cover a wide range of issues, from data privacy and security to regulatory compliance and intellectual property rights. There are also implications for long-term economic growth, particularly in the area of health and well-being. A special economic zone exists at the Hainan Free Trade Port. In addition, this research explores how digital technologies may improve healthcare while considering the security precautions and ethical issues that must be taken to promote sustainable development through genetic testing. It also looks at how genetic data can be used to provide individualized economic outcomes and the roles that artificial intelligence and privacy play in these intertwined domains. The emergence of Web 2.0 has brought about a significant transformation in the digital realm, enabling individuals, businesses, and communities to leverage cutting-edge technologies for benefits in the social, economic, and environmental spheres, and advance sustainable progress. This study examines the opportunities and challenges presented and offers insights into the development of strong legal frameworks and moral standards, as well as the responsible application of these innovations for the benefit of society as a whole. This research will highlight how crucial it is to foster a more sustainable future through digital inclusivity, cooperative problem-solving, data-driven decision-making, and worldwide sustainable practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Social commerce (SC) is a new genre in electronic commerce (e-commerce) that has great potential. This study proposes a new research framework to address deficiencies in existing social commerce research frameworks (e.g. the information model). Design/methodology/approach: In the era of Industrial Revolution 4.0 technologies and new social commerce (s-commerce) models, the authors believe that there is an immediate need for a new research framework. The authors analysed the progress of the s-commerce paradigm between 2003 and 2023 by applying longitudinal science mapping. The authors then developed a research framework based on the themes in the strategic diagrams and evolution map. Findings: From 2003 to 2010, studies on s-commerce mainly focused on social networking sites, virtual communities, social shopping and analytic approaches. From 2011 to 2015, it shifted to s-commerce, consumer behaviour, Web 2.0, artificial intelligence, social technologies, online shopping, user studies, data gathering methods, applications, service-based social commerce constructs, e-commerce and cognitive factors. Social commerce remained the primary research paradigm from 2017 to 2023. Practical implications: The SC framework may be analogous to popular research frameworks such as technology-organisation-environment (T-O-E) and stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R). Based on this SC framework, researchers may gain a better understanding by determining the factors of the social, commercial, technological and behavioural dimensions. Originality/value: The authors redefined s-commerce and developed an SC framework. Practical guidelines for the SC framework and an exemplary research model are presented. Overall, this study offers a new research agenda for the extant understanding of s-commerce, with the SC framework as the next frontier of the theoretical advancements and applications of s-commerce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web 2.0 technologies have a great deal to offer while providing information services and can be used as a platform to increase the discoverability of digital collections, engage library patrons in library activities, and create online services that promote collaboration, cooperation, communication, and information sharing among public libraries at various levels in a country. The present study focuses on ICT-enabled information services provided by connemara public library and district central public libraries in Tamil Nadu, India. The study also tries to identify the extent to which Web 2.0 tools are used in public libraries to provide information services. A survey method using a questionnaire was adopted to collect data from connemara public library and selected district central public libraries of Tamil Nadu. Findings of the study show that connemara public library and district central libraries in Tamil Nadu are providing ICT-enabled information services but only a minority of these libraries are using Web 2.0 tools for the same. Analysis found that a minority of district central libraries in Tamil Nadu are using WhatsApp (28.57 %), Facebook (23.81 %), YouTube (14.29 %), Blog (9.52 %), Twitter (9.52 %) and Mobile Apps (4.76 %) to provide information services. Analysis shows that district central public libraries are using Web 2.0 to provide only very basic information to the users. Librarians are not exploiting the full potential of Web 2.0 tools in providing information services. This paper will be helpful for library professionals working in public library systems to implement ICT-enabled information services in general and Web 2.0 in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the evolution of artists' interaction with the audience in the context of media culture, linked to the updates of communication mechanisms on the Internet, from the static Web 1.0 to the interactive Web 3.0. The aim of the article is to show the connections between the changes in authorship models and mechanisms of interaction with the audience in artistic practice and the evolutionary development of web technologies. The transformation of contemporary artistic forms is the result of the active influence of digital technologies and the associated collapse of the existing hierarchy between author, performer and audience. The study discusses the strengthening of the interactive component in artistic practices, parallel to the development of Internet technologies from Web 1.0 to the semantic Web 3.0 and analyzes the overlapping of these processes and their mutual influence in the context of post humanist perspectives. It was found that artistic collaborations through collective authorship are a characteristic model of authorship for this phase of Internet development. It was noted that the evolution from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 opens new possibilities for the creation of multisensory experiences, thanks to the use of VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) technologies, which are actively used by artists in artistic practices and works, for example in operas or concerts. In addition, the active development and integration of artificial intelligence technologies in artistic practices has been identified. By analyzing musical projects of different genres and forms, the transformative influence of web culture on contemporary artistic practices becomes clear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Retail investors are prone to be affected by information dissemination in social media with the rapid development of Web 2.0. The purpose of this study is to recognize the factors that may impact users' retweet behavior, namely information dissemination in the online financial community, through machine learning techniques. Design/methodology/approach: This paper crawled data from the Chinese online financial community (Xueqiu.com) and extracted author-related, content-related, situation-related, stock-related and stock market-related features from the dataset. The best information dissemination prediction model based on these features was determined by evaluating five classifiers with various performance metrics, and the predictability of different feature groups was tested. Findings: Five prevalent classifiers were evaluated with various performance metrics and the random forest classifier was proven to be the best retweet prediction model in the authors' experiments. Moreover, the predictability of author-related, content-related and market-related features was illustrated to be relatively better than that of the other two feature groups. Several particularly important features, such as the author's followers and the rise and fall of the stock index, were recognized in this paper at last. Originality/value: This study contributes to in-depth research on information dissemination in the financial domain. The findings of this study have important practical implications for government regulators to supervise public opinion in the financial market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Theoretical Educational Science / Kuramsal Eğitimbilim Dergisi is the property of Afyon Kocatepe University, Faculty of 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.)

This article aims to demonstrate the existence of processes of constructing discursive authority in the social (or participative) web. To accomplish this, we will first provide a theoretical overview of the concept of authority, which will enable us to distinguish between its defining elements and its situational manifestations. Then, we will examine three non-exhaustive but prototypical examples of communication on collaborative web platforms to show how certain linguistic-discursive and technological characteristics of these environments facilitate the creation of a discourse marked by trust and, as a result, authoritative for different user communities. Our analyses will start from an examination of internet memes, where both certain dissemination logics and technoenunciative characteristics reveal the persistence of discourse authorization mechanisms that lie somewhere between technological parameters and enunciative postures. Then, we will illustrate the strategies used by users, who can be regarded as scientific "influencers" on Twitter, to establish their legitimacy and online credibility. Finally, we will look at a collaborative creative writing project on Twitter ("Bowary") to explore the relationships between the notion of authority and this new form of shared authorship online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational. BACKGROUND: The use of social media by providers can enhance patient education, complement offline information, facilitate patient support, stimulate brand building, and strengthen the organizations market position. Risks of social media include, but are not limited to, a lack of quality, reliability, misrepresentation of credentials, influence of hidden and overt conflicts of interest, content that may jeopardize patient privacy, HIPAA regulations, and physicians credentials and licensure. Physicians use of social media may also expose him/her to lawsuits if providing specific medical advice on media platforms. OBJECTIVE: To document the social media presence of a broad cohort of spine surgeons, and to discuss the benefits and risks of a social media presence. METHODS: Cross-sectional observational of 325 Spine Surgeons from 76 institutions across the US. Description statistic and Pearsons correlation were used to investigate the relationships between the variables. RESULTS: Out of the 325 surgeons, 96% were male with an average age of 51.5 ± 10.7 years and 14.1 ± 9.6 years of experience. The frequency of social media use included 57.2% of surgeons had professional LinkedIn, 17.8% had professional Facebook, and less than 16% had other social media platforms. When combining all platforms together, 64.6% of all surgeons had at least one professional social media platform. 64.0% of these surgeons had no social media activity in the past 90 days, while 19.4% and 10.9% were active once and twice a month, respectively. Surgeon age (P = 0.004), years in practice (P < 0.001), and practice type (P < 0.001) were strongly correlated with social media activity. CONCLUSIONS: Given the scarcity of research on this topic and the novelty of the platforms, social media and online services continue to be utilized at a low level by spine surgeons. Issues regarding the risks of privacy issues with social media users continue to be a concern among medical professionals adopting this technology. This can largely be mitigated with the combination of physician education and informed consent from patients. The ability to connect with patients directly, and provide access to high-quality education and information will be of considerable benefit to our field well into the future.

Universities increasingly leverage social media platforms, especially Twitter, for news dissemination, audience engagement, and feedback collection. King Faisal University (KFU) is dedicated to enhancing its institutional identity (ID), grounded in environmental sustainability and food security, encompassing nine critical areas. This study aims to assess the impact of KFU's Twitter interactions on public awareness of its institutional identity using systematic analysis and machine learning (ML) methods. The objectives are to: (1) Determine the influence of KFU's Twitter presence on ID awareness; (2) create a dedicated dataset for real-time public interaction analysis with KFU's Twitter content; (3) investigate Twitter's role in promoting KFU's institutional identity across 9-ID domains and its changing impact over time; (4) utilize k-means clustering and sentiment analysis (TFIDF and Word2vec) to classify data and assess similarities among the identity domains; and (5) apply the categorization method to process and categorize tweets, facilitating the assessment of word meanings and similarities of the 9-ID domains. The study also employs four ML models, including Logistic Regression (LR) and Support Vector Machine (SVM), with the Random Forest (RF) model combined with Word2vec achieving the highest accuracy of 100%. The findings underscore the value of KFU's Twitter data analysis in deepening the understanding of its ID and guiding the development of effective communication strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the knowledge society, digital environments have become an integral part of students' daily lives. Therefore, it is crucial to utilize web 2.0 in the teaching and learning process. In this educational experience, the integration of digital resources from the social web was explored as part of learning a specific academic topic in the classroom. The responsible individuals for designing, producing, and publishing these resources were Biochemistry and Pharmacy students in their fourth semester at an Ecuadorian university. As a result of this project, nine digital resources were created, with those related to social media being the most prominent. Additionally, positive and high ratings were obtained from the students, indicating their willingness to embrace the integration of digital resources in the social web. These findings provide practical guidelines and relevant considerations for enhancing education through the use of the social web, thereby benefiting the learning process of university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All over the world, Web 2.0 technologies, which teachers are interested in, have been applied in various ways, yielding successful results. In 2013, Greg Kulowiec and Donna Young introduced the concept of "App Smashing" to combine multiple applications to create a single product. This concept was quickly adopted by teachers globally and became popular in the entire education world. While educators have used tools for tasks such as making posters, creating videos, and writing stories, App Smashing allows the use of multiple Web 2.0 tools to create a single product. Students can work in groups or individually, and most importantly, they can use technologies that align with their interests. This approach gives students the opportunity to choose, control, and take ownership of their learning processes. They can showcase their products in their schools and classrooms, and even share and obtain copyrights for their voiced stories. The role of the teacher in App Smashing is to guide students through the problem-solving steps. Families are also part of this practice, as students can continue their studies at home using the secure internet provided by their families. School administrations need to provide the necessary support to teachers who wish to implement this practice. When necessary, the school's information technology classroom should be designed to facilitate student use under the teacher's supervision. Continued internet support for students in areas with poor internet infrastructure, as seen during the pandemic, will make it easier for learners to use platforms like EBA and Web 2.0 tools. Access to the internet and technology is not only an issue for K-12 students but also for university students. Universities must ensure ease of access to information technologies for their students. App Smashing is not a practice that can be carried out solely by the teacher; it involves collaboration between teachers, students, parents, and school administrations at both the K-12 and higher education levels. The aim of this study is to clarify the concept of App Smashing, which allows the use of multiple Web 2.0 tools, and to contribute to the literature by examining its use in religious education. This qualitative study employs the document analysis method, reviewing print and internet sources to identify Web 2.0 tools suitable for App Smashing. Sample App Smashing plan designs for religious education are included. The conclusion analyzes and interprets the use of App Smashing in religious education. In-service training activities should be organized for both higher education institutions and the Ministry of National Education to introduce the concept of App Smashing to teachers. The development of native and national software for education, similar to advancements in the defense industry, is also recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the presentation of the media system as not only a platform enabling mass social interaction but also spreading hate-speech regarding promoting the superiority of one's group (such as ethnicity, nationality, values or other). The article focuses on the topic of spreading ethnic stereotypes (e.g. those related to Jewish ethnicity). Attention is also focused on the issue of the credibility of such media content and its creators. The authors use a theoretical base to clarify several innovative possibilities brought not only technologically, but also culturally reformed "new digital age", the so-called Web 2.0, or Web 3.0. in Central European context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research is to reveal the learning autonomy behaviors of students learning Turkish through distance education and to examine these behaviors in terms of some variables. Survey research model, one of the quantitative research methods, was preferred in the study. The sample of the study consisted of 143 students learning Turkish as a foreign language. The data obtained was analyzed in the program called SPSS. As a result of the study, it was observed that the majority of the students who learned Turkish through distance education tried to attend classes regularly, the students showed a high level of autonomous behavior in completing homework and assigned tasks, and the students did not behave autonomously compared to the instructors in solving the problems they encountered in distance education, but they behaved sufficiently autonomously according to themselves. Students stated that they exhibited a sufficient level of autonomous behavior during the entire distance Turkish learning process. However, the level of use of Web 2.0 tools and camera participation in lessons during the distance learning Turkish process was found to be low. In addition, in the analysis of the data, it was found that women behaved more autonomously than men in the sub-dimensions of participation in the lesson and following the lesson regularly, interaction and self-evaluation in distance education, there was no relationship between the age of the students and their autonomous behavior, and a relationship was found between the education levels of the students and their participation in the lesson and their regular follow-up of the lesson has been detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Media & Culture / Medya ve Kültür is the property of Medya ve Kultur 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 aim of this paper is to shape the identity of digital video advertising in the new digital media landscape, focusing on whether and to what extent popular digital ads on social media are differentiated from traditional television ads in the context of the convergence of traditional and new electronic media. Content analysis was preferred for the study of popular advertising content in social media. In this respect, the differentiation of digital video advertising from its television counterpart is examined in terms of the properties and effects of the transmission medium itself on the advertising content and of the features of the digital advertising content itself. Out of the findings emerged that digital video advertising is still in a phase of adaptation/transition, consisting of only a potential breakthrough in the contemporary media environment, since it has not yet exhausted the possibilities offered by the internet and Web 2.0. Currently, digital advertising only partially incorporates and exploits the advantages of enriched, multimedia, interactive, and personalized content, characteristics that would potentially differentiate it to a greater extent from advertising shown in traditional media, especially television. [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.)

Copyright of Relaciones Internacionales (1699-3950) is the property of Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, International Relations Studies Group (GERI) Law Faculty 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 integration of technology in the classroom has become increasingly important and it caused the aspects in which students learn today. In today's digital age, incorporating Web 2.0 tools into lessons in the classroom has become increasingly important. Nonetheless, the level of self-efficacy among teachers, which reflects their confidence in utilizing these tools, plays a critical impact in deciding how much integration they receive. The goal of this action plan is to equip teachers with the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources to effectively integrate Web 2.0 tools into their teaching, leading to enhanced student engagement and improved learning outcomes. This study used a quantitative approach to survey questionnaires with analysis and descriptive statistics in gathering information for secondary school teachers in the West 2 District of Iligan City. Findings revealed that teachers agreed on being confident to use Web 2.0 tools in teaching, but the integration of these tools is low and could be further enhanced. Concerning with the rare use of Web 2.0 tools in classroom instructions indicates that several factors were involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this article is to analyse how Spanish companies specialised in fact-checking use a format such as the podcast to achieve their objectives. The sample consists of two podcasts produced by two of these companies, and a total of 254 episodes have been studied through a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis based on content analysis. The results show a great diversity in terms of informative content, narrative rhythm, use of human and audio resources and duration, as well as a homogeneity in terms of their mainly weekly character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Pamukkale University Journal of Education is the property of Pamukkale University Journal of 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.)

This study draws on the practice of digital storytelling (DST) to address the limited use of technology in middle school multilingual classrooms. Through critical and multiliteracy frameworks, DST can help create a more engaging and inclusive learning environment that supports the literacy development of multilingual learners (MLs). After reviewing and synthesizing empirical studies on DST as it applies to the middle school years, we provide a crosswalk focusing on four core areas: content, context, communication and language, and student identity. The crosswalk reveals how DST integrates Web 2.0 technology and promotes language and literacy development among middle school MLs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rise of Web 2.0 platforms such as online social media, people's private information, such as their location, occupation and even family information, is often inadvertently disclosed through online discussions. Therefore, it is important to detect such unwanted privacy disclosures to help alert people affected and the online platform. In this paper, privacy disclosure detection is modeled as a multi-label text classification (MLTC) problem, and a new privacy disclosure detection model is proposed to construct an MLTC classifier for detecting online privacy disclosures. This classifier takes an online post as the input and outputs multiple labels, each reflecting a possible privacy disclosure. The proposed presentation method combines three different sources of information, the input text itself, the label-to-text correlation and the label-to-label correlation. A double-attention mechanism is used to combine the first two sources of information, and a graph convolutional network is employed to extract the third source of information that is then used to help fuse features extracted from the first two sources of information. Our extensive experimental results, obtained on a public dataset of privacy-disclosing posts on Twitter, demonstrated that our proposed privacy disclosure detection method significantly and consistently outperformed other state-of-the-art methods in terms of all key performance indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web 2.0 technologies have had a significant impact on collaborative communication practices in teaching, learning, and professional work environments. In translation studies, computer-supported collaborative translation tasks have mainly been discussed within the project-based learning framework, where research has foregrounded correlations between collaboration and performance. However, trainees' specific uses of collaborative tools, including transcripts of real-time exchanges, have neither been sufficiently investigated nor informed pedagogical strategies and approaches in any tangible way. This study bridges this gap by evaluating trainees' collaborative practices while they translated a text, localized a restaurant menu, and simulated the design and launch of a language service agency. Data was gathered from a questionnaire, in-class presentations, and real-time instant messaging (IM) transcripts. Data analysis of the real-time IM exchanges unveiled considerable trainee communicative practices during collaborative tasks. Furthermore, correlations were established between the volume of instant messages, time of exchange, role played by trainees, and conversation themes with the teams' final assessment performances. This study provided valuable insights into the effectiveness of IM as a collaborative tool in training environments. It also informed our suggested guidelines for properly integrating IM into the translator training curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, social networking, and podcasting have received attention in educational research over the last decade. Blogs enable students to reflect their learning experiences, disseminate ideas, and participate in analytical thinking. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework has been widely used in educational research to understand and enhance online and blended learning platforms. There is insufficient research evidence to demonstrate the impact of educational blogging using the CoI model as a framework. This article explores how blogs can be used to support collaborative learning and how such an interaction upholds CoI through enhancing critical thinking and meaningful learning in the context of higher education (HE). An exploratory sequential mixed-method approach has been followed in this study. A convenience sampling method was employed to choose 75 undergraduate students from Dhaka University for a 24-week blogging project. Every publication on the blog was segmented into meaningful units. Whole texts of posts and comments are extracted from the blog, and the transcripts are analyzed in a qualitative manner considering the CoI framework, more specifically, through the lens of cognitive, social, and teaching presence. In addition, the semi-structured questionnaire is used to collect data from students irrespective of whether blogging expedited students' learning or not. The research findings indicate that cognitive presence, namely, the exploration component, is dominant in blog-based learning activity. Moreover, this research has demonstrated that blogs build reliable virtual connections among students through exchanging ideas and information and by offering opportunities for reflective practice and asynchronous feedback. This study also revealed challenges related to blogging in the context of developing countries, including lack of familiarity with blogs, restricted internet connectivity, limited access to devices, and low levels of social interaction. It is recommended that different stakeholders including policymakers, curriculum developers, and teachers take the initiative to synchronize the utilization of educational blogs with the formal curriculum, guaranteeing that blog activities supplement and improve traditional teaching-learning activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web 2.0 has elevated the possibilities of collaboration to unprecedented levels. Therein lies great potential, as the aptly coined phenomenon "Wisdom of the Crowd" implies. When it comes to controversial topics, however, there is no safety in numbers alone. On the contrary, collaboration among only like‐minded people may even exacerbate biases (e.g., Echo Chambers). Yet, it is human nature to seek out like‐minded others. Consequently, the process of self‐selection is crucial if the heterogeneity of opinions serves as a safeguard against undesirable effects of group processes (e.g., attitude polarization). Accordingly, online environments that invite more heterogeneous (vs. homogeneous) users should produce less biased content. We tested this hypothesis in a field study, comparing articles on the same 20 controversial topics from the online encyclopedias Conservapedia and RationalWiki with Wikipedia (and Britannica serving as a gold standard) and exploring the opinions of discussants in the three online encyclopedias. As expected, articles from Conservapedia and RationalWiki were significantly less balanced than articles from Wikipedia and Britannica. We replicated this finding in a lab study with 257 participants who self‐selected to one of three online wikis (Vegan Love, Nutrition, Meat & Fish) and individually as well as collaboratively wrote an encyclopedia‐like article about "Diets." As expected, Wikis with a specific focus (Vegan Love, Meat & Fish) predominantly attracted authors with a positive attitude toward this focus and, as a consequence, resulted in more biased content than in the Nutrition Wiki. Overall, our results suggest that crowds alone do not guarantee wisdom—self‐selection is a crucial process that needs to be taken into account. We examine the effects of self‐selection on (collaborative) knowledge construction. Our field and lab study suggest that people prefer to contribute to online encyclopedias that match their own opinions (e.g., Conservatives to Conservapedia) which results in biased article contents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the functioning of the cross-media system during wartime by comparing the strategy of two Ukrainian newspaper websites, one attached to the daily Vysoky Zamok, published in Lviv, and the other to the English-language weekly from the capital, the Kyiv Post. For the interpretation of data this study relies on content analysis as well as a combination of comparative and systematizing strategies. Both newspapers, as we have found, are adept at using various communication channels to push their cross-media information production and distribution. This strategy has a lot of advantages for the operator. He can get information from consumers who retain their privacy, and he can induce individual consumers to interact regularly online with media outlets offering the latest blogs, films, photos, commentaries, opinion polls, product rankings, etc. Moreover, the use of multiple media channels by the consumer may result in content being placed and reproduced in a widening circle of platforms and social media chats. Finally, it can be observed that since 2022 each platform has developed its own activity pattern (whereby the frequency of new uploads is the most important indicator of its health). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New teaching and learning practices related to gamified tools in online learning environments have become even more important during the pandemic and will continue to reshape educational processes, including higher education institutions, in the post-pandemic period. In line with this, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of gamification with Web 2.0 tools including Kahoot!, Socrative, Quizizz, and Mentimeter on EFL learners' motivation and academic achievement levels in online learning environments through a quasi-experimental research method and was based on a mixed-method sequential explanatory research design. The participants of the study are 60 freshman learners studying at a state university in Türkiye. The data were obtained through a scale, an Achievement Test, and a semi-structured interview. The quantitative data were analyzed via statistical measures, and the qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis. The findings indicated that the treatment via gamifiedWeb 2.0 tools had a statistically significant difference in favor of the experimental group in terms of the participants' motivation/course interest levels and the experimental group scored higher on the Achievement Test compared to the control group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Novitas-ROYAL is the property of Novitas Royal 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.)