Book Review: Handbook of Open, Distance, and Digital Education

Zawacki-Richter, O., & Jung, I. (Eds.). (2023). Handbook of Open, Distance and Digital Education. Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2080-

Mapping the Dropout Phenomenon for the New Digital Context

Open, distance, and digital education (ODDE) has a long history concerning dropout. With the new reality of the digital age, the terminologies and concepts that have been long adopted are inevitably subject to change. To understand dropout in the digital transformation, it is important to take an evidence-based approach and examine the literature. Therefore, this study applies the steps of a systematic literature review to retrieve relevant articles on dropout since 2010 and conducts a content analysis via text mining. The results indicate that student dropout and retention declined in publication during the pandemic despite remaining one of the critical issues in higher education. The main concepts indicate that most of the dropout studies focus on comparisons between face-to-face and online modalities; the learning environment and engagement; and support and motivation

The state of the art in blended learning research in a time of the Covid-19 pandemic: Coronavirus diaries in the educational realm

The Covid-19 pandemic was a crisis on a global scale, and it impacted not only our lives but also our understanding of the educational landscape. There were many waves of the pandemic at varying levels and as these waves hit our globe, the way we live and see the world has been changing. Consequently, we entered a time which was called the new normal which required being flexible, resilient, and adaptive. The educational landscape has also been challenged by the waves of the pandemic. The onsite (face-to-face) learning was replaced by online distance learning which was attributed as emergency remote teaching and learning in many cases. As the new normal forced us to change our traditional notions and practices, many higher education institutions adopted blended learning to benefit from opportunities of both modalities, that is, onsite and online learning. In this regard, this study implements a systematic approach to examine papers published in the first two years of the pandemic on blended learning. For this purpose, the study adopts social network analysis and text mining to examine a total of 104 peer-reviewed publications. The initial findings identified four broad themes. Accordingly, these are (1) diversity and confusion in the blended learning terminology, (2) Learning experiences and effectiveness of blended learning practices, (3) technology-dominated and online-mediated blended learning approaches, and (4) blended learning for applied and practical courses. The paper discusses these themes, provides suggestions, and explains implications for future research directions

DRD-UNet, a UNet-like architecture for multi-class breast cancer semantic segmentation

Staining of histological slides with Hematoxylin and Eosin is widely used in clinical and laboratory settings as these dyes reveal nuclear structures as well as cytoplasm and collagen. For cancer diagnosis, these slides are used to recognize tissues and morphological changes. Tissue semantic segmentation is therefore important and at the same time a challenging and time-consuming task. This paper describes a UNet-like deep learning architecture called DRD-UNet, which adds a novel processing block called DRD (Dilation, Residual, and Dense block) to a UNet architecture. DRD is formed by the combination of dilated convolutions (D), residual connections (R), and dense layers (D). DRD-UNet was applied to the multi-class (tumor, stroma, inflammatory, necrosis, and other) semantic segmentation of histological images from breast cancer samples stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin. The histological images were released through the Breast Cancer Semantic Segmentation (BCSS) Challenge. DRD-UNet outperformed the original UNet architecture and 15 other UNet-based architectures on the segmentation of 12,930 image patches extracted from regions of interest that ranged in size between 1036×1222 to 6813×7360 pixels. DRD-UNet obtained the best performance as measured with Jaccard similarity index, Dice coefficient, in a per-class comparison and accuracy for overall segmentation

Discourses of Distance Education and COVID-19 in South Korean News between 2019 and 2021: A Topic Modeling Analysis

This paper aims to identify dominant discourses of distance education that emerged in Korean society before, during, and after the COVID-19 outbreak in January 2019. To achieve the aim, the authors have conducted a Topic Modeling analysis of 8,865 news articles published by 54 South Korean media outlets between 2019 and 2021. As a result, five key topics and the top 10 keywords associated with each topic have been identified for 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively—15 topics and 150 keywords in total for the three years. There have been meaningful shifts not only in the quantity of news articles published each year but also in the quality of conversations presented in those articles on distance education. This article carefully analysed and reflected both continuity and discontinuity of distance education discourses in Korean society. Based on the results, we have drawn four discussion points: a) the normality of DE discourses, b) the historicity of DE discourses, c) the maturity of DE discourses, and d) the partiality of DE discourses. Despite the specific cultural context from which the four points were drawn, the discussions offer valuable insights applicable to different cultural contexts

Thermocapillary pumping of discrete drops in microfabricated analysis devices

A nonmechanical pumping mechanism, thermocapillary pumping (TCP), is described for moving nanoliter- and picoliter-sized drops of liquid within microfabricated flow channels. In TCP, one end of a single drop is heated to create a surface tension difference between the ends of the drop. The induced surface tension difference causes a capillary pressure difference between the two drop ends and results in drop motion. TCP velocities of up to 20 mm/min were measured for several liquids at temperature differences between 10 and 70°C. An expression developed for TCP velocity yields predictions that agree with experimental velocities within corresponding uncertainty limits. Several techniques for assisting TCP are also suggested when contact angle hysteresis, the major factor limiting TCP velocities, is too large. These techniques include using surface treatments to reduce the contact angle hysteresis, converging channels to offset hysteresis, or an applied pressure to assist in movement.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34237/1/690450215_ftp.pd

TA : Rancang Bangun Toko Online Sentra UKM Merr Surabaya

Sentra UKM MERR Surabaya adalah sebuah ikon simbolik untuk Usaha Kecil Menengah (UKM) yang dibangun di Surabaya. Permasalahan yang ada pada Sentra UKM MERR Surabaya beberapa diantaranya adalah pencatatan stok produk yang masih menggunakan kartu stok sehingga sering terjadi kesalahan serta transaksi penjualan seperti misalnya rekap data ukm, rekap data produk, rekap data pelanggan, laporan penjualan, laporan UKM terlaris, laporan barang terlaris, dan laporan mutasi stok yang tidak berjalan dengan baik. Selain itu promosi juga masih sangat kurang, terbukti dengan jumlah pengunjung setiap bulan yang kurang lebih hanya 50 orang saja. Solusi yang diberikan adalah membangun Toko Online Sentra UKM MERR Surabaya yang dapat mengelola transaksi penjualan, pencatatan stok dan membantu promosi produk Sentra UKM MERR Surabaya. Selain itu, memudahkan komunikasi antara Sentra UKM MERR Surabaya, UKM dan pelanggan. Toko online yang dibangun dapat membantu administrasi untuk melihat dan memantau produk yang dijual tanpa kartu stok, selain itu aplikasi juga menghasilkan laporan penjualan, UKM terlaris, barang terlaris, mutasi stok, rekap data produk, rekap data pelanggan dan rekap data UKM. Aplikasi ini mempermudah komunikasi antara Sentra UKM MERR Surabaya, UKM dan pelanggan dan dapat memberikan promosi terbaru toko online. Berdasarkan hasil evaluasi pengguna diperoleh nilai 67,5% menyatakan sangat baik dan 32,5% menyatakan baik

Protectıve Role Of Vıtamıns C And E On Bendıocarb-Induced Lung Toxıcıty In Rats

Bendiocarb, hücrelerde oksitatif stres ürettiği bilinen bir karbamatlı insektisittir. Bu çalışmada vitamin C (100 mg/kg), vitamin E (100 mg/kg), vitamin C (100 mg/kg) + vitamin E (100 mg/kg), Bendiocarb (0,8 mg/kg), Bendiocarb+vitamin C, Bendiocarb + vitamin E, Bendiocarb+vitamin C ve E, 28 gün boyunca gavaj yoluyla ratlara verildi. Dördüncü haftanın sonunda akciğer dokusunda malondialdehit (MDA) seviyeleri, antioksidan enzim aktiviteleri [superoksit dismutaz (SOD), katalaz (CAT), gluatyon peroksidaz (GPx), glutatyon S transferaz (GST)] ve histopatolojik değişiklikler araştırıldı. Kontrol grubu ile Bendiocarb muameleli grup karşılaştırıldığında, antioksidan enzim aktivitelerinde istatiksel olarak bir azalma meydana gelirken, MDA seviyelerinde bir artış meydana gelmiştir. Bendiocarb+vitamin C, Bendiocarb+vitamin E ve Bendiocarb+vitamin C+E uygulanan gruplar, Bendiocarb verilen grupla karşılaştırıldığında ise antioksidan enzim seviyelerinde artış, MDA seviyesinde ise istatiksel olarak anlamlı bir azalma gözlenmiştir. Işık mikroskobundaki incelemeler, Bendiocarbın, sıçanların akciğer dokularında çeşitli histopatolojik değişikliklere neden olduğunu ortaya koydu. Vitamin ve Bendiocarbın birlikte uygulandığı gruplarda patolojik bulgularda azalma gözlendi.Bendiocarb is a carbamate insecticide known to produce oxidative stress in cells. It contains vitamin C (100 mg / kg), vitamin E (100 mg / kg), vitamin C (100 mg / kg) + vitamin E (100 mg / kg), Bendiocarb (0.8 mg / kg), Bendiocarb + C vitamin B, Bendiocarb + vitamin E, Bendiocarb + vitamin C and E were given to rats by gavage for 28 days. At the end of the fourth week, malondialdehyde (MDA) in lung tissue attracted the profile of the antioxidant enzyme activities [superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), gluate peroxidase (GPx), glutathione S transferase (GST)] and histopathoxin. The control group and Bendiocarb treated group rooms, antioxidant enzyme activities as a requirement of our presence there, MDA levels in urban areas. Bendiocarb + vitamin C, Bendiocarb + vitamin E and Bendiocarb + vitamin C + E group and group with Bendiocarb group showed a statistically significant increase. Studies in the light microscope have already caused various histopathological manifestations in the lung tissues of Bendiocarb treated rats. A few pathological findings were observed in the groups where vitamin and Bendiocarb were administered togethe

Yalnız bireylerde kişilerarası iletişim ihtiyaçlarının sosyal etkileşimler ve kendini açma bağlamında incelenmesi

Sosyal bir varlık olarak insanoğlu doğuştan gelen bir aidiyet ihtiyacıyla hareket eder ve bu nedenle anlamlı sosyal ilişkiler geliştirmek ve sürdürmek için motive olur. Dolayısıyla, birey aidiyet eksikliğini hissettiğinde psikolojik sağlığı güçlü bir şek

Mapping the Dropout Phenomenon in ODDE

This research was conducted to map the dropout phenomenon in ODDE