Exploring Pre-service Teachers’ Awareness on Using Social Networking Sites: Are they ready for digital citizenship?
Undergraduate students have been widely-adopted Social Networking Sites (SNSs) such as Facebook. Some issues were discussed among users concerning the users’ netiquette. For users like pre-service teachers who may or may not use SNSs for their communication tools in near future, however, there is a need for teacher education institutes to prepare their digital citizenship. This study examined three hundred and seventy seven pre-service teachers of the awareness of SNSs communication behaviors. Quantitative data indicated that the number of network friends was the most significant factors effects to SNSs communication behaviors and awareness. Qualitative data from the open-ended question revealed the need to revise the ED-TECH course for pre-service teachers to have more deep understanding on digital citizenship.
THE USAGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR LEARNING AND TEACHING PURPOSES: AN IMPLEMENTATION OF EXTENDED THEORY OF REASONED ACTION MODEL
The growing popularity of the social networking sites has presented new options for the development of learning and teaching environments to provide informal learning. In this study, the usage of social networking sites for the purpose of learning and teaching has been analyzed using the extended Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) model. A survey has been conducted to analyze the behavior in regard to the acceptance of social media for learning and teaching and the results were systematically analyzed with linear univariate and multivariate regression analysis techniques to apply the path analysis approach. The test results indicated that TRA has significant predictive power regarding the usage of social media for learning and teaching purposes. Among external variables, only PRB showed significant influence on the research model.
Resource Allocation In R&D Departments
AbstractThis paper examines the problem of allocating funds within research and development organizations, where several departments and multiple research areas must be considered. Furthermore, impacts arising from budget shifts must be measured in terms of various factors or criteria that may be qualitative or quantitative. Using a particular research and development organization, Ontario Hydro, as a backdrop, we develop a framework for evaluating budget changes when (a) multiple criteria, (b) multiple opinions, and (c) qualitative factors are involved. A three stage procedure for budget allocation is proposed. In the first stage, management responses regarding the perceived impacts of budget changes are combined to arrive at a consensus. In stage two, the multiple criteria consensus values are used to derive an overall impact rating for each proposed budget shift pertaining to each of a set of research areas. Finally, in stage three an optimal subset of budget shifts is chosen from the set of all possib...