Human Factors in Smart and Connected Communities
Date
2022Metadata
[+] Show full item recordAbstract
The vision of Smart Connected Community (SCC) is to integrate technology to improve economy, safety, education, health and provide equity in the society. Human factor plays a vital role in the SCC in human societal, psychological, physical factors in the technology uses from various aspects. In this research, first, we have studied the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on smart cities through analyses of 311 data of cities and the residents in the United States. We have compared various aspects of municipal governments’ service platforms and citizens’ requests during pre-COVID, the lockdown, and the rest of the pandemic duration. Among multiple observations from the data, we discover the noticeable changes in the digital transformation of citizens’ voices during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also find that various aspects of divides of residents, such as economic, COVID-related health, and demands are closely related to each other. We have built a comprehensive website that dynamically collects 311 data from municipal open data of cities in the United States that other researchers or urban planners can use to understand citizens’ voices better and draw insights.
In the second part, we have discussed the effect of COVID-19 in transition of learning in higher education. Two years ago in Spring 2020, a stay-at-home order was issued in the United States and other countries, due to the Pandemic. The education system has to adopt online classes in the middle of the semester. Not many institutions were prepared at that time. We did survey research at the beginning of the pandemic, more than 300 students in computing and engineering and other departments have participated in that survey [1]. After two years of the pandemic we all understood, online classes
are very crucial to continue the education system. In some departments, it was easy to transform the classes online but in some lab-based departments, it was difficult. We did another two surveys of over 138 students in spring 2021 and over 379 students in spring 2022, to see how the opinion of the students have changed, what difficulties they have faced in the pandemic, what opportunities online education has presented, how students are comfortable with online classes and different online platforms (like, Canvas, Zoom, Proctorio and so on) and any suggestions to improve the online education system.
In the last part, our multi-disciplinary research team has conducted empirical research as part of technology education offered to women-in-transition in the Midwest. In this study, we report results from our interviews with 75 women-in-transition in the Midwest that were conducted to develop a tailored technology education program for the women in the beginning. More than half of the participants in our study are women of color and face precarious housing and financial situations. Then we discuss principles that we adopted in developing our education program for the marginalized women
and participants’ feedback on the program. Our team launched in-person sessions with women-in-reentry at public libraries in February 2020 and had to move the sessions online in March due to COVID-19. Our research-informed educational program is designed primarily to support the women in enhancing their knowledge and comfort with technology and nurturing computational thinking. Our study shows that low self-efficacy and mental health challenges, as well as lack of resources for technology access and use, are some of the major issues that need to be addressed in supporting technology learning among women-in-transition. This research offers scholarly and practical implications for computing education for women-in-transition and other marginalized populations.
Table of Contents
Introduction -- Human factor: residents' voices in SCC, understanding what residents ask cities from 311 calls -- Human factor: learners - teachers in smart education, opportunities and challenges induced by COVID-19 pandemic -- Human factor: under-served people in technology access, informal technology education for women transitioning from incarceration
Degree
Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)