Background: The aim of this study was to examine whether and how people with learning disabilities were being supported to use technologies to keep connected and stay well during the pandemic. Methods: Thirty-eight people in a range of support roles were interviewed about their experiences of trying to support people with learning disabilities to…

In online courses, discussion forums play a key role in enhancing student interaction with peers and instructors. Due to large enrolment sizes, instructors often struggle to respond to students in a timely manner. To address this problem, both traditional machine learning (ML) (e.g., Random Forest) and deep learning (DL) approaches have been…

We compared speech acts and complexity of maternal speech to firstborn dizygotic twin and singleton infants. Nine twins and nine singletons were video-recorded at home in spontaneous face-to-face interactions with their mothers, from the 2nd to the 6th month. Continuous micro-analysis revealed that (a) open-ended questions, direct requests,…

In this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted to determine the views and suggestions of communication faculty academics about how they behaved against digital violence. The data were analyzed qualitatively by inductive technique. According to the results obtained in the research, the majority of the participants stated that they…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between speech perception, speech production, and vocabulary abilities in children with and without speech sound disorders (SSDs), analyzing the data both by group and continuously. Method: Sixty-one Australian English--speaking children aged 48-69 months participated in this…

Learning a foreign language is not only an interesting cognitive process. It is also a means of communication with other peoples and becoming acquainted with their cultures. Therefore, learning a foreign language can contribute to the development of intercultural competence, i.e. the competence to manage new communication conditions and…

This study proposed a robot-assisted digital storytelling approach to reduce hospitalized children's anxiety about intravenous injections and to improve their therapeutic communication and therapeutic engagement. In order to verify the effectiveness of the robot-assisted digital storytelling approach, a randomized controlled study was implemented.…

Social engagement is critical to the personal and social development of children. Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often exhibit low levels of social engagement with peers and adults, with clearly fewer instances of eye contact, initiation, joint attention, and empathy. Given the pivotal role of social engagement, procedures that…

Background: Previous literature pinpointed the limitations of behavioural treatment in helping families of people with intellectual disabilities to transit lifecycle adjustment and suggested the contributions of systemic intervention made to this population. Methods: This study aimed to explore the applicability of structural family therapy to…

Technological advancements and changes in online survey participation pave the way for new data collection methods. Particularly, the increasing smartphone rate in online surveys facilitates a re-consideration of prevailing communication channels to, for instance, naturalize the communication process between researchers and respondents and to…

Public administration faculty commonly use discussion forums in their asynchronous courses to engage students about course content. However, the typical pedagogical approach for online discussions forums is for the professor to post questions and students respond, in writing. In this paper, we suggest public administration classes should consider…

The professionalization of paraprofessionals through training is elemental in providing supports to students with disabilities. Through a systematic review of experimental studies (n = 18), we sought to explore the mechanisms of paraprofessional training programs, and the fidelity of implementation of those programs. For inclusion, studies were…

Research consistently demonstrates that the quality of student-staff interactions matters for positive student outcomes. Some research studies also suggest that identity similarities (homophily) often contribute to meaningful human connections. Yet, the influence of student and staff identities on teaching and learning in higher education is less…

Several, large-scale quantitative studies suggest virtual coaching is an effective professional development strategy capable of producing similar results as face-to-face (F2F) programs. Virtual coaching can also be cost-effective, convenient, and even essential when in-person learning is disrupted. However, existing research offers few…

In this study, we examined interaction behaviors between a small number of participants in two massive open online courses (MOOCs) and an FAQ chatbot, focusing on the participants' native language markers. We used a binary native language marker (non-native English user vs. native English user) to distinguish between two groups in this multiple…