Out-of-class communication between teachers and students is essential throughout university engineering courses for in-depth explanations of the concepts covered in class. This study evaluates this aspect throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, a survey that addressed this issue was administered to students at the beginning (March 2020) and at the…

Creating an online learning environment that engages learners beyond the given course period is challenging. Open, participant-driven discussion forums, where participants are provided with greater agency on what to learn, how to learn, and whom to learn with, have a unique potential to help learners engage in learning experiences based on their…

English is widely regarded as a global language, and it has become increasingly important for global communication. As a result, the demand for English language education has been on the rise. In China, a significant number of individuals are engaged in learning the English language. However, many English learners in China encounter challenges…

In this essay, I use autoethnography to investigate the multiple adaptations of the (instructor's) performative body in the classroom, both online and in-person, due to COVID-19. Specifically, attuning to these adaptations makes space for reclamation of the (instructor's) performative body in pedagogical spaces by re-engaging embodied pedagogy.…

The research-to-practice gap describes the well-documented phenomena of researchers and practitioners working in silos, embedded in vastly different contexts. This "cultural divide" has several causes, including ineffective collaboration, inadequate understanding of context, and insufficient dissemination and translation of research.…

In higher education and beyond, the COVID-19 pandemic is considered to have accelerated digitalisation. While this acceleration is usually viewed in the context of the digital transformation that is characterised by its longevity, the permanence of pandemic-driven digitalisation requires investigation. Focusing on appointment procedures for…

Background: Addressing chronic absenteeism is a policy priority, with 36 states and Washington D.C. referencing attendance in ESSA accountability plans (Jordan & Miller, 2017) and a body of research establishing the connections between attendance, achievement, and social development (e.g., Gottfried, 2014; Ginsburg, 2014). The need to find…

Functional communication training (FCT) is an evidence-based practice that can be applied across multiple populations of students. Despite extensive research support for FCT, its use can be impractical or ineffective if utilized with students who are from culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse backgrounds. That is because cultural…

This article applies cultural translation (Kramsch and Hua 2020) and geohistorical frameworks (Braudel 1949; Scott 2018) to analyze the interplay between linguistic, cultural, physical, and ideological proximities and distances in immigrant advocacy and outreach efforts. Data are taken from 'small stories' (Georgakopoulou 2010, 2015) shared by…

This study delves into the intricate challenges surrounding incorporating information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education, particularly in regions characterized by digital exclusion, such as rural areas. By recognizing the potential of ICTs to support and expand student learning opportunities, this research explores the necessity…

Individuals with multiple disabilities are among the most challenging to serve and AAC teams often lack direction in determining effective interventions. The purpose of this scoping review was to summarize the research evidence on AAC interventions for individuals with complex communication needs and simultaneous motor, and visual impairments as…

Purpose: Prior research extensively documented challenges in recognizing verbal and nonverbal emotion among older individuals when compared with younger counterparts. However, the nature of these age-related changes remains unclear. The present study investigated how older and younger adults comprehend four basic emotions (i.e., anger, happiness,…

One important dimension of classroom group dynamics & collaboration is how much each person contributes to the discussion. With the goal of measuring how much each student speaks, we investigate how automatic speaker diarization can be built to handle real-world classroom group discussions. We examine key design considerations such as the…

Paraeducators frequently support children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) but often lack access to effective training opportunities. Similarly, special education teachers are responsible for supervising paraeducators but often lack effective training on AAC and paraeducator supervision. The POWR+ (Prepare the activity and…

Authentic dialogue demands that we respond, interpret and sometimes disagree with others' ideas--a key component of participation in a democratic society. Yet the sharing and uptake of different ideas can be hampered by traditional online platforms which divide students into isolated threads. To tackle this issue, we introduce two novel online…