“What are they Thinking?” - Accessing Collective Intelligence in Twitter

In today’s social networks like Twitter and Facebook, each day millions of status updates provide a huge source of information on current sentiments of their users. However, still it is unclear how to structure problems in a way that they can be answered based on social networking activities. Facilitating an exploratory prototype, we tested the direct retrieval of user opinions during the FIFA World Cup 2010 in Twitter. Our findings based on an initial research framework suggest that using social networks can serve as an access point to collective intelligence. However, the experiment also showed weaknesses of the used approach. Therefore we discuss an updated research model based on our results which provides a foundation for future works

Are There Whiter Shades of Pale in Marketing the Ivory Tower? An Examination of Differentiation in Institutional Public Service Announcements through Content Analysis

This study explored the public service announcements (PSAs) produced by institutions of higher education that competed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s 2013-14 postseason football bowl games. Utilizing content analysis and survey results, the researcher examined the level of content distinction between and within institutional groups based on athletic conference, Carnegie classification, total student enrollment, and primary target audience. The researcher also investigated the role the PSAs played in marketing campaigns conducted by the institutions and the additional marketing strategies used in those campaigns. The analysis showed limited distinction between institutional groups and little to no distinction within groups. Further, the study revealed moderate use of marketing campaigns, with a wide range of marketing strategies utilized within them

Expectations eclipsed in foreign language education: learners and educators on an ongoing journey / edited by Hülya Görür-Atabaş, Sharon Turner.

Between June 2-4, 2011 Sabancı University School of Languages welcomed colleagues from 21 different countries to a collaborative exploration of the challenging and inspiring journey of learners and educators in the field of language education.\ud \ud The conference provided an opportunity for all stakeholders to share their views on language education. Colleagues met with world-renowned experts and authors in the fields of education and psychology, faculty and administrators from various universities and institutions, teachers from secondary educational backgrounds and higher education, as well as learners whose voices are often not directly shared but usually reported.\ud \ud The conference name, Eclipsing Expectations, was inspired by two natural phenomena, a solar eclipse directly before the conference, and a lunar eclipse, immediately after. Learners and educators were hereby invited to join a journey to observe, learn and exchange ideas in orde

Meridians: 21:1

As a scholar of Afro-Latinidades, it is a particular pleasure for me to offer Meridians readers this issue devoted to “Black Feminisms in the Caribbean and the United States: Representation, Rebellion, Radicalism, and Reckoning.” This curated conversation about Black feminist liberation strategies, which vary and move across time and place, is aptly illustrated with cover art by Haitian artist Mafalda Nicolas Mondestin, Ann fè on ti pale (The Meeting). Ann fè on ti pale is a Haitian Kreyol expression that means “let’s chat about it” or “we should chat” (pers. comm., August 29, 2021), and, apropos of that invitation, we open the conversation with “Vodou, the Arts, and (Re)Presenting the Divine: A Conversation with Edwidge Danticat,” an especially timely and insightful interview that Kyrah Malika Daniels conducted in January 2020....https://scholarworks.smith.edu/soc_books/1013/thumbnail.jp

Beyond 9/11: developing the concept of cumulative extremism via politics, policies and publicity in the war against Islamic terrorism

This thesis develops the concept of “cumulative extremism” to inform political and academic debates on apportioning responsibility for post-9/11 Islamic terrorism. Since 2006 cumulative extremism has been used to refer to how one form of extremism feeds off and magnifies other forms. The original concept is expanded via interdisciplinary analyses of post-9/11 US counterterrorism policies and the discourse framing social and media responses to those policies, which this thesis argues become performative themselves in influencing the numbers and extent of perceived terror threats. An examination of US political rhetoric, counterterrorism policy-making, and popular media coverage of terrorist incidents indicates how Western state behaviour on counterterrorism is often at odds with international law, human rights, and moral norms. Since 9/11 the US and supporting Western states have been drawn into an open-ended conflict against Islamic terrorism where the question of what might constitute a resolution has become impossible to answer. As well as suspending a previously held moral authority, the resort by the US to policies of so-called enhanced interrogation and targeted assassination programs designed to counter post-9/11 trends in Islamic terrorism risks other dangerous impacts, notably the “blowback” of radicalisation to extremist positions, seeding further terrorist recruitment. Also at issue is the resignation of society to a state of eternal vigilance at the expense of community and personal freedoms. A more complex view of cumulative extremism facilitates increased recognition of how US political rhetoric plays into narratives of terrorism. This thesis proposes that perceptions of insecurity from post-9/11 Islamic terrorism should be reassessed so as to reduce or prevent radicalisation and increase efficiency in addressing terrorism. Case studies assist analyses of debates on how international law and our understandings of what constitutes moral state behaviour adapt to a changing security environment. Through engaging with questions on wilful abnegations of morality, this thesis draws together interdisciplinary research to become part of a global narrative that seeks to represent our human rights and security positions in the 21st century. The distinctive contribution of this thesis is its development of the concept of cumulative extremism to account for wider cultural, social and political factors as shaping the nature and outcomes of extremist interactions

Influences on Islamists : an analysis of radicalisation and terrorism in an Australian context

Terrorism has long existed throughout history. However the Islamist terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 (known as 9/11) in the United States represented a fundamental turning point and a significant change in the terrorism landscape. Since 9/11, terrorism discourse has dominated not only the media, but also a sense of security and safety globally. Over a decade after 9/11, there was another significant shift with the declaration of a caliphate in June 2014 by terrorist organisation, Daesh. The atrocities committed by and in the name of this terrorist group sparked global outrage and horror and have had long lasting impacts around the world. Despite the fact that the conflict originated in the Middle East, the impact was felt domestically with a number of terrorist attacks perpetrated and planned in Australia in the name of an extremist neojihadist ideology. To understand Islamist terrorism in an Australian context, this thesis explores the factors which have influenced the radicalisation of domestic Islamist terrorists who have engaged in terrorist acts. This is achieved having regard to the characteristics of 194 Islamist terrorists from Australia who engaged in a multitude of terrorist acts between 2001 and 2018 (either domestically or overseas), their motives and the role of social and familial networks on their radicalisation and involvement in terrorism. In responding to the central research question – In an Australian context, what has influenced the radicalisation of Islamist terrorists who have engaged in terrorist acts? – this thesis:Doctor of Philosoph

Are political parties' online platforms a participatory tool -through which political participation is practiced- for citizens?: The example of iSYRIZA, an online political platform from Greece

Research about democratic theory in the context of modern societies is always relevant. Especially with the momentum of Information and Communication Technology, that showcases millions of technology users, saves the day during global pandemics and is used as a -traditional or not- tool for political participation. Moreover, the many examples of traditional political institutions experimenting with new technology, or the aspiring projects of political software, used by organisations, are a call to action. With this research we aim at exploring whether citizens perceive online platforms as participatory tools, where they can engage in political practice. In order to do that, we focus to the online platform “iSyriza”, created by the Greek political party SYRIZA, informing this study with literature from the fields of e-democracy, political parties and ICTs and political participation online. Political participation is addressed in the context of Participatory Democracy theory. The questions we pose are whether citizens perceive iSyriza as a participatory tool, if there are characteristics that foster political participation and whether such participation would follow the tradition of participatory democracy. We employ three focus group discussions with the purposive sampling method. Findings suggest that although the platform functions as an informative source, participants do not perceive it as participatory. Future research can expand this by testing a wider audience on the characteristics as they emerged from the data analysis.A condução de pesquisas sobre a teoria democrática no contexto das sociedades modernas mantém intacta a sua relevância, principalmente com a pujança das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TICs), através das quais permanecem ligados milhões de usuários, incluindo em contextos particulares como o de pandemias globais, e utilizadas como ferramentas – tradicionais ou não – de participação política. Além disso, são disso manifesto os muitos exemplos de instituições políticas convencionais experimentando novas tecnologias, ou os projetos mais recentes de software político usado pelas respectivas organizações. Com a presente pesquisa, pretendemos explorar se os cidadãos veem as plataformas online como ferramentas participativas que promovem o envolvimento na prática política. Para isso, focamo-nos na plataforma online “iSyriza”, criada pelo partido político grego SYRIZA, a partir de literatura dos campos da e-democracia, partidos políticos e TICs, e participação política online - esta última abordada no contexto da teoria da Democracia Participativa. Entre as questões que colocamos estão saber se os cidadãos consideram o iSyriza uma ferramenta participativa, se existem características que fomentam a participação política, e se tal envolvimento seria da tradição da democracia participativa. Para tal são abordados três grupos focais, segundo o método de amostragem intencional. Os resultados sugerem que, embora a plataforma funcione como uma fonte informativa, os participantes não a representam como participativa. Pesquisas futuras podem expandir o escopo testando com um público mais amplo as características que surgiram da nossa análise de dados

A Framework for Design Support Development based on the integrated Product Engineering Model iPeM

The overall goal of this thesis is to help design support developers in their efforts to provide reliable, credible and valid design support

Understanding (professional) learning in online and distance work-based university degree courses: an exploratory study - Implications for curriculum design

This research investigated two online, distance, work-based learning (ODWBL) courses to identify how learning takes place in such courses and (related) workplaces, and which factors affect learning. The two courses were the Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (LTHE) and the Postgraduate Certificate in Medical and Health Care Education (MHCE), both taught at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU). The research aimed to identify, what facilitated the knowledge transfer from the course to the workplace, specifically how students learned on an ODWBL course and then applied, used and shared the course knowledge in the workplace. The literature review positioned these two courses within the field of work-based learning, distance and online curriculum models, and teacher development in Higher Education (HE). I analysed how learning takes place in online courses and the workplace informed by Evans et al.’s (2010) recontextualisation framework. The research used a case study methodology and qualitative research (i.e., surveys, interviews, and participant reflections). My research findings which have implications for the design and delivery of ODWBL courses are: • All four types of Evans et al.’s (2010) recontextualisations are interlinked. • Learner engagement patterns and needs vary between different learners and activities which need to be considered in course pedagogic design and facilitation. • While a virtual learning community is important for some learners it should not be the only pedagogic design focus. • The transfer of knowledge from the online course to the workplace can be scaffolded and enhanced through authentic activities and assessments. While learning journeys can be scaffolded, the responsibility for learning success is ultimately the learners. The findings suggest a range of skills and approaches for learners to succeed. Finally, the depth of impact the learner achieves with recontextualising course knowledge in their workplace depends on whether their workplace culture is restrictive or expansive