With a view to attracting more students and offering flexible learning opportunities, online teaching and learning is becoming increasingly wide-spread across the higher education sector. This research reports on the experiences of eight initial teacher education students who studied an outdoor education unit in the online space. Using a descriptive qualitative case study approach, the students were interviewed with a view to exploring their experiences of studying outdoor education in the online space. Students spoke about the ways in which the online teaching space, the role of the field experience and the assessment tasks contributed to, or detracted from, their learning experiences. Our study revealed that with careful design and delivery, the online space was an effective way to deliver a foundational outdoor education unit. This article concludes with a discussion of how these findings sit alongside recent papers that advance our understandings of teaching and learning in outdoor education.

‘I did think it was a bit strange taking outdoor education online’: exploration of initial teacher education students’ online learning experiences in a tertiary outdoor education unit

A review of Industry 4.0 characteristics and challenges, with potential improvements using blockchain technology

As ChatGPT goes viral, generative AI (AIGC, a.k.a AI-generated content) has made headlines everywhere because of its ability to analyze and create text, images, and beyond. With such overwhelming media coverage, it is almost impossible for us to miss the opportunity to glimpse AIGC from a certain angle. In the era of AI transitioning from pure analysis to creation, it is worth noting that ChatGPT, with its most recent language model GPT-4, is just a tool out of numerous AIGC tasks. Impressed by the capability of the ChatGPT, many people are wondering about its limits: can GPT-5 (or other future GPT variants) help ChatGPT unify all AIGC tasks for diversified content creation? Toward answering this question, a comprehensive review of existing AIGC tasks is needed. As such, our work comes to fill this gap promptly by offering a first look at AIGC, ranging from its techniques to applications. Modern generative AI relies on various technical foundations, ranging from model architecture and self-supervised pretraining to generative modeling methods (like GAN and diffusion models). After introducing the fundamental techniques, this work focuses on the technological development of various AIGC tasks based on their output type, including text, images, videos, 3D content, etc., which depicts the full potential of ChatGPT's future. Moreover, we summarize their significant applications in some mainstream industries, such as education and creativity content. Finally, we discuss the challenges currently faced and present an outlook on how generative AI might evolve in the near future.

A Complete Survey on Generative AI (AIGC): Is ChatGPT from GPT-4 to GPT-5 All You Need?

This research explores integrated business modelling, international entrepreneurship and internationalisation business development aspects of digital firms in Nigeria. This combination of perspectives is a new line of research in Nigeria. Specifically, the research examines: 1) the international entrepreneurial characteristics of digital firms; 2) how digital internationalisation patterns emerge; 3) current developments in the digital economy and their influences on the development and internationalisation activities of digital firms in Nigeria; 4) business model characteristics of digital firms, and 5) the challenges faced by digital firms in their internationalisation activities.
Theoretically, the research integrates pertinent ideas from the international entrepreneurship, digital internationalisation, and business model literature, to develop a conceptual framework for the research. The existing models from these fields tend to be oriented towards developing international business and engaging in international markets generally, and so may be not suitable for digital internationalising firms. Building on the conceptual framework, the research therefore developed an integrated business template (IBMT) for Nigerian digital internationalising firms. This is the first research to explore the research objectives to this depth.
The research adopts a qualitative and case study research methodology to explore the associated research questions and objectives. This methodology consists of critical review of key constructs associated with the research, construction of suitable interview questions related to the gaps in knowledge and research objectives. These questions supported the interview of founders and senior of five selected digital internationalising firms in Nigeria. This primary data is complemented by secondary data from related websites. This is the first research to explore the research objectives to this depth.
The main findings from the research are as follows. Nigerian firms use: a hybrid approach which combines online and offline customer engagement strategies; data-driven decision making (big data analytics, for example); multifaceted platforms and third-party internationalisation to localise their offerings; in addition to strategies explored in the literature such as founders’ international experience, international market awareness and orientation.
The research generates new knowledge and understanding about the development and internationalisation of these firms within the Nigerian context related business modelling, international entrepreneurship, and internationalisation research themes. Theoretically, the revised conceptual framework and resulting IBMT will support continuing work in this important area of research. Practically, the IBMT can be applied to other subunits of the selected case study firms, other emerging digital firms in Nigeria and Africa, and across different sectors, since the subunits explored in the thesis are mainly e-commerce and e-platform business lines. Methodologically, the approach adopted in the research can be replicated in the above contexts. The insights from the findings can also support effective government policies towards enhancing the development of digital firms, especially by creating enabling digital economy environment for their growth.

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Integrated Business Modelling for Developing Digital Internationalising Firms in Nigeria

This paper describes the strategies 8 graders used to evaluate the credibility of unfamiliar websites after a curricular intervention. Website topics were somewhat contested, and students could navigate the open web in order to assess the credibility of the sites. Findings reveal that students were more likely to leave the presented webpages and investigate the sources before making a credibility judgment after the curricular intervention. Furthermore, after the intervention students were more likely to prefer a more credible source of information over a less credible source when the two sources were presented. However, few students improved in their ability to assess a single deceptive website, despite applying several of the strategies taught in the intervention. We conclude that strategyand skills-based information literacy instruction holds promise but must be paired with foundational knowledge about how the internet is structured and the kinds of online sources.

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Can middle schoolers learn to read the web like experts? Possibilities and limits of a strategy-based intervention

The purpose of this study is to define Web 3.0 and discuss the underlying technologies, identify new opportunities and highlight potential challenges that are associated with the evolution to Web 3.0 technologies.,A non-empirical study reviewing papers published in accredited research journals, articles and whitepapers and websites was conducted. To add scientific rigour to a literature review, a four-stage approach, as suggested by Sylvester et al. (2011), was used.,The World Wide Web (henceforth referred to as the Web) is recognised as the fastest growing publication medium of all time. To stay competitive, it is crucial to stay up to date with technological trends. The Web matures in its own unique way. From the static informative characteristics of Web 1.0, it progressed into the interactive experience Web 2.0 provides. The next phase of Web evolution, Web 3.0, is already in progress. Web 3.0 entails an integrated Web experience where the machine will be able to understand and catalogue data in a manner similar to humans. This will facilitate a world wide data warehouse where any format of data can be shared and understood by any device over any network. The evolution of the Web will bring forth new opportunities and challenges. Opportunities identified can mainly be characterised as the autonomous integration of data and services which increase the pre-existing capabilities of Web services, as well as the creation of new functionalities. The challenges mainly concern unauthorised access and manipulation of data, autonomous initiation of actions and the development of harmful scripts and languages.,The findings will assist data managers to identify future opportunities while considering negative impacts and understanding the underlying technologies associated with the structure and storage of electronic information. The research will assist anyone in the data and information management industry to identify opportunities and mitigate risk.,Many organisations were caught off guard by the evolution of the Web to Web 2.0. Organisations, and in particular anyone in the data and information management industry, need to be ready and acquire knowledge about the opportunities and challenges arising from Web 3.0 technologies.

Defining Web 3.0: opportunities and challenges

Many organisations consider technology as a significant asset to generate income and control cost. The Web is recognised as the fastest growing publication medium of all time. This mass of unstructured information presents many new opportunities for organisations. The Web acts as an enabler for technological advancement, and has matured in its own unique way. From the static informative characteristics of Web 1.0, it progressed into the interactive experience Web 2.0 provides. The next phase of Web evolution, Web 3.0, is already in progress. Web 3.0 entails an integrated Web experience where the machine will be able to understand and catalogue data in a manner similar to humans. This will facilitate a world wide data warehouse where any format of data can be shared and understood by any device over any network. Organisations need to be ready, and acquire knowledge about the opportunities and risks arising from Web 3.0 technologies. The objective of this study is to investigate the risks an organisation will be exposed to when interacting with Web 3.0 technologies. The study proposes to provide insight into the risks arising from the use of Web 3.0, and to recommend possible safeguards to mitigate these risks to an acceptable level.

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Rikus. Hendrik. Jacobus Bruwer

Papers

Defining Web 3.0: opportunities and challenges

Web 3.0: Governance, Risks and Safeguards