Inside out and outside in: How the COVID-19 pandemic affects self-disclosure on social media

As social distancing and lockdown orders grew more pervasive, individuals increasingly turned to social media for support, entertainment, and connection to others. We posit that global health emergencies - specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic - change how and what individuals self-disclose on social media. We argue that IS research needs to consider how privacy (self-focused) and social (other-focused) calculus have moved some issues outside in (caused by a shift in what is considered socially appropriate) and others inside out (caused by a shift in what information should be shared for the public good). We identify a series of directions for future research that hold potential for furthering our understanding of online self-disclosure and its factors during health emergencies.     

Will COVID-19 be the tipping point for the Intelligent Automation of work? A review of the debate and implications for research

As part of the urgent need to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments, healthcare providers, and businesses have looked to applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to compensate for the unavailability of human workers. This interest has renewed the debate regarding the use of AI for the automation of work, which has been described as Intelligent Automation (IA). A new dimension to this debate is whether COVID-19 will be the catalyst for higher IA adoption levels. This article reviews arguments in favour of COVID-19 increasing the level of IA adoption and possible counter-arguments. Key arguments in favour of increased IA adoption include consumer preferences changing to favour IA, increasing familiarity of IA technologies, and increased business confidence in IA. Counter-arguments include big data availability and reliability limitations, many tasks still favouring human skills over IA, the narrow capabilities of IA technologies, and a high availability of human workers. The article also discusses the implications of this debate for information management research and practice.     

新冠疫情与情报智慧:突发公共卫生事件疾控应急工作情报能力评价

【目的/意义】评价我国突发公共卫生事件疾控应急工作情报能力现状,识别肺炎鏖战中情报能力的问题,对指导现实工作具有重要意义。【方法/过程】本文以新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情为具体问题,推演疾控应急工作情报智慧树模型,设计因应的情报能力评价体系,改进熵权法来测定指标权重及评价结果。通过比较权重的位序与增量来发现疫情任务情报能力的重点,以及情报能力在该问题中和既往工作的差异,利用短板参量分析肺炎鏖战中情报能力的不足。【结果/结论】研究发现:本次任务对情报保障和利用能力具有较高要求,较与以往疾控应急工作,对情报加工和传递能力的需求加剧;情报决策、情报处理与分析、情报劳动者和情报政策成为疾控应急工作情报能力的重要因素;短板问题存在于应急队伍、开展应用性应急课题研究和应急情报管理机制之中,另有待优化问题存在于应急预案、公众引导、应急制度等项目之中。本研究根据上述分析结果对肺炎鏖战中的情报能力治理提出对策建议。     

19世纪下半期俄国城市化历史进程的特点及原因分析

经过长期发展，到19世纪下半期，俄国城市发展表现出了城市职能转变，绝对发展速度加快，但区域发展不平衡，总体发展迟缓的特征。而工业化水平不高、农奴制残余、东正教伦理、特殊地域条件等是影响俄国城市化进程的重要因素。     

新冠肺炎疫情对我国上市港航及船舶制造企业财务状况的影响

为量化新冠肺炎疫情对我国水路运输企业财务状况的影响,本文基于Z score模型对构成水路运输产业链核心的港口、航运、船舶制造三类上市企业财务状况进行评价。通过对比疫情发生前后企业财务状况的变化,明确疫情在不同时期对水路运输企业财务状况的影响,以及对不同类企业带来的异质化影响。研究结果表明,在疫情发生初期我国水路运输业受到短期负面冲击较大,企业经营利润均出现明显下降,其中港口和船舶制造企业财务状况恶化较为显著,而航运企业财务状况受影响较小。随着国内疫情得到有效控制,水路运输业整体经营状况逐渐向好,特别是船舶制造企业得益于船舶订单量的增长,财务状况改善较为明显。港口企业恢复则较为疲软,且不同港口企业间的分化有所加剧。航运企业总体财务状况相对较为稳健。     

The effect of school closures on standardised student test outcomes

The school closures owing to the 2020 COVID-19 crisis resulted in a significant disruption of education provision, leading to fears of learning losses and of an increase in educational inequality. This article evaluates the effects of school closures based on standardised tests in the last year of primary school in the Dutch-speaking Flemish region of Belgium. Using a 6-year panel, we find that students of the 2020 cohort experienced significant learning losses in three out of five tested subjects, with a decrease in school averages of mathematics scores of 0.17 standard deviations and Dutch scores (reading, writing, language) of 0.19 standard deviations as compared to previous cohorts. This finding holds when accounting for school characteristics, standardised tests in Grade 4 and school fixed effects. Given the large observed effect sizes, the effect of school closures appears to be a combination of lost learning progress and learning loss. Moreover, we observe that inequality both within schools and across schools rises by 7% for mathematics and 8% for Dutch. The learning losses are correlated with observed school characteristics, as schools with a more disadvantaged student population experience larger learning losses.     

Supporting emotion regulation in individuals with ASD,ADHD and bipolar disorder through trauma-informed instruction and self-regulation strategies

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, students have endured drastic changes in educational routines. Such disruptions can be especially challenging for students who struggle with executive functioning, self-regulation and emotion regulation, such as students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder. Using a framework of trauma-informed instruction, the authors supported classroom teachers in implementing sensory spaces for students with ASD, ADHD and bipolar disorder. The project included professional development and funding for teachers to develop, procure and offer sensory tools and strategies to assist students in recognising and managing emotions. The authors collected data on the effectiveness of the sensory supports, combining teacher surveys and student behaviour data. Results indicated increased teacher knowledge on trauma-informed instruction and use of sensory supports to promote executive functioning and self-regulation and decreased target behaviours in students based on structured observation and anecdotal teacher feedback.     

Tutoring in (online) higher education: Experimental evidence

Demand for personalized online tutoring in higher education is growing but there is little research on its effectiveness. We conducted an RCT offering remote peer tutoring in micro- and macroeconomics at a German university teaching online due to the Covid-pandemic. Treated students met in small groups, in alternating weeks with and without a more senior student tutor. The treatment improved study behavior and increased contact to other students. Tutored students achieved around 30% more credits and a one grade level better GPA across treated subjects. Our findings suggest that the program reduced outcome inequality. We find no impacts on mental health.     

Inclusive pedagogies in digital post-Covid-19 higher education

The Covid-19 pandemic has not only led to medical conundrums and uncharted scientific territories but has also engendered new educational challenges and opportunities that need to be considered in order to reconceptualise, recalibrate and reconfigure higher education in terms of its inclusive foundations and orientations. While current research has highlighted the role of digital teaching methodologies in creating the ‘new normal’ in higher education in the post-Covid-19 era, the ‘new normal’ must be concomitantly envisaged in terms of the role of higher education in fostering more inclusive e-learning spaces. This article discusses the ways in which the tenets of an inclusive pedagogical discourse can be conceptualized and enacted in virtual learning environments in terms of teaching methodologies, learner-centred content delivery and formative assessment implementation. The pedagogical triptych should be underpinned by an inclusive and equity-based ‘cyberculture’ that constitutes a sine qua non element in developing all students' sense of belonging and learning in higher education.