Blended eLearning Systems in Nigerian Universities:A Context Specific Pedagogical Approach

With the surge in information technology globally, recent efforts in sub-Saharan Africa have sought to decolonise and revitalise the process and practice of using technology for/in education, and specifically the development of context-specific pedagogies. This paper presents an analysis of the perspectives of students, lecturers and education managers regarding the blended approach to the use of technology for teaching, learning and management of educational processes. Using a range of interviews, focus group discussions, and rapid ethnography, we report on conflicting ideas and issues that point to the motive for blending, the sort of tools available and adopted, the teaching processes and learning activities the tools support, and where improvement is needed to drive acceptance and use. Findings indicate the relevance of understanding the complexities of the mundane practices of using technology in postcolonial education

An ethnographic study of the retention of doctors in emergency medicine: materialities, retention work, and strategies

Demand on emergency departments has increased more than staff numbers, contributing to a problem with medical staffing that is politicised and emotive. Research on staff retention is decontextualised and has produced an ever-increasing list of factors of uncertain importance leading to a superficial understanding of retention in healthcare. This study aimed to gain a deep understanding of retention in emergency medicine, elucidate how retention is made possible, and make policy and practice recommendations. I conducted 11 weeks of ethnographic observation in a single emergency department, focusing on contextualised day-to-day practices of emergency physicians of all grades. I interviewed 21 emergency physicians from two emergency departments, ten emergency physicians who had left the profession, and ten individuals holding leadership roles with stakeholder organisations. An ethnomethodological lens allowed me to draw out the day-to-day practices from the data. Reflexive thematic analysis provided structure to the analysis and facilitated incorporating grey literature. The results showed how emergency physicians performed routine work to facilitate their retention. They did this using objects and space, which I called “materialities of retention”, and actions that l labelled “retention work”. Examples of retention work include humour, education, and building communities of practice. Portfolio careers and less than full time working were also employed as retention strategies. Emergency physicians utilised mentors, mostly informally, to navigate their careers and to take steps to facilitate their retention. This thesis has developed novel understandings of the importance of day-to-day objects and practices for retention. Policymakers, managers, and practitioners can enable emergency physicians to make their careers sustainable by facilitating retention work and strategies

Crafting content: the discovery of Minecraft's invisible digital economy

This thesis presents an ethnographic study that aims at explicating the work of creating content in Minecraft. The existing literature paves the way in understanding Minecraft’s community by providing fragments of what players do. However, the game is studied mainly from a ludic perspective or is treated as a resource to explore distinct research agendas, instead of a field of study in itself. As such, particular phenomena that are situated inside Minecraft’s community are lost. The conducted fieldwork discovered the invisible digital economy that is part of this community. More specifically, the chapters to follow elaborate on the actors involved in this economy, covering their roles, responsibilities and goals. Furthermore, the lived work of content production is unpacked by presenting the various work practices members attend to in commissioning, creating, and delivering Minecraft content. It also becomes evident that there is a complex division of labour at play, which is based on a fragmented infrastructure as Minecraft itself does not support the wide range of activities that are necessary for carrying out the work. Essentially, actors bootstrap the market’s infrastructure by appropriating or even creating bespoke systems for conducting the various work practices that are entailed in this business. On top of that, these systems are utilised for articulation work, which is necessary for tracking progress between the geographically dispersed actors, accounting for conducted work and addressing contingent scenarios. The main contribution of this PhD project is the discovery of this digital economy, which evidently plays a significant role in Minecraft’s current form and development. Additionally, prevailing understandings of Minecraft’s ecosystem are re-visited, re-examined, and re-specified, based on the empirical evidence presented in this thesis. Finally, a number of design implications are raised with regard to addressing the game’s lack of CSCW support