Taghreed Mohammad Alqudsi and Reem Murdhi Alkhaledi
– The purpose of this paper is to add to the knowledge about how to design websites that are stress-free, easy to navigate and relevant to children’s learning needs.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to add to the knowledge about how to design websites that are stress-free, easy to navigate and relevant to children’s learning needs.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper involves an observational study that reports the results of website usability among sixth-grade students in a private foreign school in Kuwait. The observation pertained to search performance, usability and navigation to find the needed information using the WebPath Express database.
Findings
Most of the children navigated and searched the system without much prompting; they found the search box easily, as it was positioned at the top-centre of the page, and without keywords. Of the eight students, none used the narrow-down search option; they commonly performed searches using phrases, and consistency and simplicity aided the search process. Some gender differences were found. The boys got side-tracked easily and took a longer time to find the information they sought than the girls. User behaviour, generally, was influenced by the interface design.
Research limitations/implications
Research about usability with different grade levels, with different languages and between genders needs to be conducted to provide more definitive conclusions. Sample size in observations can bring to light details that large samples cannot. The goal in observation is not statistical significance but small things that observations can bring to light.
Practical implications
Web designers need to take into consideration the research results in the areas of user interaction with computers and software. In designing educational tools for the young, several elements that research in general, including this one, emphasizes have to do with the location of search boxes, navigation interface and design elements, all of which can aid the learning process while providing a rewarding and fruitful educational experience.
Originality/value
These findings shed light on implications for cooperation between librarians and teachers and on design elements for sites tailored to school children.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the phenomenon of debt culture in the conventional financial systems and then to compare the existing or emerging trends in the Islamic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the phenomenon of debt culture in the conventional financial systems and then to compare the existing or emerging trends in the Islamic finance industry. It provides critical insight into why economic policies that are delinked from some fundamental wisdom about sustainable lifestyle might be increasingly less effective.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper identifies various areas of impact of the debt culture and provides qualitative analysis based on relevant data.
Findings
The data presented in the paper shows that the Islamic finance industry is clearly biased in favor of debt-creating modes, which is expected to lead to promoting the same kind of debt culture as experienced in the conventional financial system.
Research limitations/implications
Finding comprehensive and current data for Islamic financial institutions is a challenging task. The IFIs are not as transparent as their conventional counterparts in sharing relevant data and information.
Practical implications
The paper highlights and analyzes a problem – i.e., the debt culture. Dealing with this problem would be indispensable in the long run for any credible as well as sustainable solutions to contemporary crisis.
Social implications
Debt culture is more than an economic phenomena. The paper identifies/analyzes several areas, including consumption explosion, speculation, ethics, that are related to debt culture.
Originality/value
This is probably the first research paper that looks into the issue of debt culture in the context of Islamic finance. The contemporary, ongoing global crisis underscores the kind of conventional problems that Islamic finance needs to avoid.
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Allam Hamdan, Reem Hamdan, Mohammed Anasweh and Ruaa Omar Binsaddig
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Noela Michael, Charlotte Wien and Yvette Reisinger
The purpose of this study is to examine the escape motivations of the emerging market and provide suggestions for Australia’s promotion. This study adopts the push and pull…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the escape motivations of the emerging market and provide suggestions for Australia’s promotion. This study adopts the push and pull framework to identify travel motivations of Emirati nationals to Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a series of focus groups and in-depth interviews to understand the escape motivations that encourage Emiratis to leave their home country and travel to Australia for a holiday.
Findings
The results indicate that Emiratis are motivated to travel to Australia by three escape factors: physical, interpersonal and fun. The internal motivations that encourage Emiratis to escape their home country are inseparable from Australia’s external attributes that attract the Emiratis to the country.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the theory of tourist motivation by supporting it in the culturally different Muslim/Arab context, which has not been explored before. The authors argue that it is not so much what Australia offers and what escape needs the Emiratis can fulfil in Australia, but rather that Australia serves the Emiratis well and meets their escape needs.
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Jeffrey Braithwaite, Kristiana Ludlow, Kate Churruca, Wendy James, Jessica Herkes, Elise McPherson, Louise A. Ellis and Janet C. Long
Much work about health reform and systems improvement in healthcare looks at shortcomings and universal problems facing health systems, but rarely are accomplishments dissected…
Abstract
Purpose
Much work about health reform and systems improvement in healthcare looks at shortcomings and universal problems facing health systems, but rarely are accomplishments dissected and analyzed internationally. The purpose of this paper is to address this knowledge gap by examining the lessons learned from health system reform and improvement efforts in 60 countries.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 60 low-, middle- and high-income countries provided a case study of successful health reform, which was gathered into a compendium as a recently published book. Here, the extensive source material was re-examined through inductive content analysis to derive broad themes of systems change internationally.
Findings
Nine themes were identified: improving policy, coverage and governance; enhancing the quality of care; keeping patients safe; regulating standards and accreditation; organizing care at the macro-level; organizing care at the meso- and micro-level; developing workforces and resources; harnessing technology and IT; and making collaboratives and partnerships work.
Practical implications
These themes provide a model of what constitutes successful systems change across a wide sample of health systems, offering a store of knowledge about how reformers and improvement initiators achieve their goals.
Originality/value
Few comparative international studies of health systems include a sufficiently wide selection of low-, middle- and high-income countries in their analysis. This paper provides a more balanced approach to consider where achievements are being made across healthcare, and what we can do to replicate and spread successful examples of systems change internationally.
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Tala Abuhussein and Sima Magatef
This research considers the role of social media platforms and their impact on individuals' eudaimonic well-being, and aims to help develop a social marketing programme in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This research considers the role of social media platforms and their impact on individuals' eudaimonic well-being, and aims to help develop a social marketing programme in the future that would enable students in Jordanian universities to flourish, by focussing on their social media drivers and overcoming their challenges in an attempt to improve their psychological well-being (PWB).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used qualitative research examining lived experiences and behaviours around social media use. The authors conducted 39 semi-structured interviews with students at various universities across Jordan, alongside an online survey with open-ended questions, which were based on six PWB dimensions: environmental mastery, personal growth, purpose in life, self-acceptance, autonomy and positive relationships with others.
Findings
Social media use and advertising were found to positively impact students' self-acceptance and relationships with others but to negatively impact their autonomy. They were found to have different impacts on students' sense of purpose in life and personal growth, depending on the content shared on their platforms.
Originality/value
The ethical debate surrounding social media amongst students indicates that such social marketing programmes might stimulate individuals' sense of control over their environment, encourage openness to new experiences, and give their lives a beneficial direction. The study makes recommendations for the creation of an evidence-based social marketing programme that is extrinsically focussed on increasing resilience, creating an audience persona and building awareness of PWB.