Under the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 worldwide, students were forced to switch from face-to-face to online learning. This study reports the experience of Hong Kong students in higher education concerning the challenges they faced, the strategies they used and the support they needed in their online learning during the period. An online questionnaire was used to invite students to answer open-ended questions about these three aspects. 145 students from two higher education institutions completed the questionnaire and their comments were coded using thematic analysis. The study has discovered that socio-economic factors may have presented difficulties to students’ online learning concerning their study environment and access to equipment. Students were emotionally distressed by online learning, particularly by the quality of feedback and clarity of course arrangement, so support for these aspects should be given. Self-regulated learning strategies were found to have been deployed by students to facilitate their learning, in which the use of time management apps and lecture videos highlights the increasing importance of technology to self study. These socio-economic, technological and emotional factors will be further discussed and corresponding suggestions will be made to help teachers and university policy makers examine the conditions that can help improve and promote online learning for higher education students under COVID-19.
Background: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is one of the most technologically advanced and interconnected cities in the world in terms of ownership of internet-enabled mobile devices. mHealth programs that make use of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets to maximise access to health information, have been identified as having great potential for ageing communities for the management of health and social care needs. This paper reports the findings of a two-stage exploratory research project which examined the experiences and perceptions of Hong Kong residents aged over 60 years in relation to mHealth technologies and health literacy.Methods: This study collected data from older Hong Kong residents at a community centre. Data were collected at two stages in July and August 2019. Stage one involved a one-on-one interview at Centre A with each research participant. The self-report surveys included seven questions about mobile phone ownership and a 16-item gerontechnology survey previously used in Hong Kong. Stage two of the data collection involved three discussion groups with the research participants that were run over a 3-week period.Results: (I) Providing health information via digital devices was considered promising and acceptable by most of our participants. (II) Major concerns that impeded the elders' use of digital devices were their lack of the necessary skills to use these gadgets and their loss of memory. (III) Many participants stated their concern that they found it difficult to recall information immediately after being taught. (IV) Most participants had problems in reading because of low literacy levels or some age-related eye-diseases. (V) Video instructions were preferred by participants as audio and visual input is more useful than rather than static written information with heavy reading requirements.Conclusions: Participants were interested in using mHealth technologies. Education and ongoing support in their use is necessary.
Background
The existing literature has predominantly focused on instructor social presence in videos in an asynchronous learning environment and little is known about student social presence on webcam in online learning in the context of COVID‐19.
Objectives
This paper therefore contrasts students' and teachers' perspectives on student social presence on webcam in synchronous online teaching through co‐orientation analysis.
Methods
Data were collected through an online questionnaire with 14 statements that measured participants' perceptions of webcam use in three constructs in social presence (i.e., emotional expression, open communication, and cohesion). 154 students and 36 teachers from two higher education institutions in Hong Kong responded to the questionnaire, and their responses were analysed using the co‐orientation model.
Results and conclusion
Results reveal the perceptual gaps between teachers and students on the use of webcam to promote student social presence by showing how teachers were comparatively more positive about its impacts for learning and consistently overestimated students' preference for it. Through analysing individual constructs/items, this paper argues that using webcams in synchronous online learning could enhance student social presence only to a limited extent in that it may help improve emotional expression and open communication but not cohesion.
Implications
The paper advises against the adoption of a clear‐cut policy that webcams should be either recommended or not recommended for online learning. Instead, teachers should take into account students' perspective to find out the types of activities that are apt for using webcams in online learning, and reflective tasks and oral assessments were amongst the ones considered appropriate by students in the study.
The study aimed to investigate Chinese adults' nutrition label literacy in Hong Kong. It employed a web‐based survey with structured questions. A total of 368 Chinese adults aged 18‐59 participated in the survey and their nutrition label literacy was measured by the Newest Vital Sign (NVS). About two‐thirds (68%) of the participants had limited nutrition literacy skills. Although they were able to identify correctly the calorie and sugar content of food products, 44% and 48% of them had difficulty in determining the consumption of calories and serving food sizes respectively. Another finding from the survey was that those with lower education level and of older age had significantly lower mean nutrition label literacy scores, which indicated that they were at higher risk for food insecurity. The findings showed that the nutrition label literacy level of Hong Kong's general public is quite low. This study can provide insights for nurses and healthcare professionals on how to educate people with lower education level and/or of advanced age to use nutrition labels more effectively and to further nutrition label literacy study and research, particularly in Hong Kong.
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