2,958 research outputs found

    Studying web 2.0 interactivity: a research framework and two case studies

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    With more than one third of the world’s population being online, the Internet has increasingly become part of modern living, giving rise to popular literature that often takes a teleological and celebratory perspective, heralding the Internet and Web 2.0 specifically, as an enabler of participation, democracy, and interactivity. However, one should not take these technological affordances of Web 2.0 for granted. This article applies an interaction framework to the analysis of two Web 2.0 websites viewed as spaces where interaction goes beyond the mere consultation and selection of content, i.e., as spaces supporting the (co)creation of content and value. The authors’ approach to interactivity seeks to describe websites in objective, structural terms as spaces of user, document, and website affordances. The framework also makes it possible to talk about the websites in subjective, functional terms, considering them as spaces of perceived inter-action, intra-action and outer-action affordances. Analysis finds that both websites provide numerous user, document, and website affordances that can serve as inter-action or social affordances

    A categorisation framework for a feature-level analysis of social network sites

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    Social media (SM) have enabled new forms of communication, interaction, and connectivity that affect individuals on a personal and professional level. But SM is a broad term that encompasses a wide range of technologies with both distinct and shared capabilities. In addition, while there is an agreed-upon definition of these systems, a comprehensive list of features and their affordances does not exist. Hence, this study sought to create a feature-level categorisation framework for analysing the use of social network sites (SNS). This categorisation was undertaken using the concept of affordances, which framed the high-level characteristics as well as distinct SNS features, to better understand the divergence in SNS capabilities and inform the study of different types of SM. The framework was created from an analysis of the literature on SNS affordances and a system investigation into three types of SNS (Facebook, YouTube and Twitter). The comprehensive review was undertaken using two families of SNS affordances (social and content affordances) identified in the literature to categorise and compare the platforms. The study reveals a diverse collection of features which afford behaviour in six areas of activity: profile building, social connectivity, social interactivity, content discovery, content sharing and content aggregation. Finally, the framework provides a basis from which the usage and management of SM within organisations can be more rigorously investigated

    Internet of Things Affordance for Open Educational Resources in a Comprehensive Open Distance E-learning

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    The Internet of Things (IoT) space has dual dimensions of affordance to support open educational resources (OER). The duality of affordance has little or not been well articulated in relation to OER, particularly in a Comprehensive open distance e-learning (CODEL) institution. Such an institution is a mega open distance in South Africa and beyond the continent to accommodate students globally and rely on information and communication technology (ICT) in the provision of tuition. In the CODEL institution, there is a recognizable shift as the institution encourages the appropriation of OER and phasing out the prescription of the prescribed textbooks. The research opted for the qualitative approach to establish the role and the causality of IoT affordance in the appropriation of OER. The technology affordance theory has been used as the main theoretical underpinning for this study. The study found that the CODEL institution is IoT driven when handling OER. Furthermore, IoT affordance for OER suggests two propositions as a contribution: CODEL requires to articulate and realignment of its business enterprise system with IoT-driven infrastructure to accommodate tuition using OER; and the IoT-driven context needs to seek possible solutions to adopt artificial intelligence practices for the advancement of OER. In a recommendation for future research, there is a need to investigate the appropriation of OER through IoT affordance in all South African higher education institutions including the contact or traditional universities

    The pedagogical affordances of e-portfolio in learning how to teach: A systematic review

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    The advances in technology have paved the way for student centred learning environment which allows for higher students’ engagement, active participation, deep meaningful learning, and critical thinking. One of the technology applications which have gained popularity at the beginning of the 1990s is the use of e-portfolio. Studies in many professional fields have shown exceptional findings on the adoption of e-portfolio. Nonetheless, the development of e-portfolio affordances over a period of time has yet to be explored to ascertain its usefulness particularly in the area of teacher education. This article presents the process of systematic literature on the e-portfolio pedagogical affordances in teacher education programs and issues to be addressed for successful implementation. Using the content analysis method, 28 articles which focused on e-portfolio, teacher education, English as a second language, scientific research, and secondary school were reviewed. The findings of the review have mainly shed positive lights on its use in documenting student teachers’ learning experiences particularly on assisting and assessing student teachers learning how to teach. This article implicates the relevance of having a holistic view and understanding of the e-portfolio pedagogical affordances and the need to recognize issues to be addressed prior to its implementation in a teacher education program. With this understanding, the university and teacher education institutions can have a well-defined policy on the adoption of e-portfolio into their teacher education programs.

    Affordance Theory in Social Media Research: Systematic Review and Synthesis of the Literature

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    Social media technologies continue transforming various dimensions of social and organisational life through possibilities they present for goal-oriented actions of diverse users/ user groups. The notion of affordances that explains these possibilities has witnessed popularity among IS scholars to study these technologies. However, since the concept itself has been under ongoing development, its use in studying social media technologies has been focused on identifying technical affordances, perception and actualisations of these affordances, or the social and organisational implications of such affordances. In this research-in-progress paper, we present our attempt to systematically review and synthesise the literature to examine the effects of social media affordances. In addition, we aim to systematically review the existing literature to explore how the concept of affordance has been employed in social media research, to uncover the effects of social media affordances and present a comprehensive framework of these affordances effects and identify areas for future research

    The Pedagogical Affordances of Social Media Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp in Higher Education in Saudi Arabia

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    This study has been conducted to explore the students and teachers’ perception of the pedagogical affordances at the University of Ha’il in Saudi Arabia. Three social media that this study aims to explore its pedagogical affordances are: Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp. The participants in this study might perceive different affordances of each tool based on its own functions and actual use. Therefore, the context of using social media was explored in order to gain a deep understanding of this issue in light of the socio-cultural theory as the theoretical framework of the study. In terms of the research methodology, this study adopted a case study using observation of classroom, observation of the students and teachers’ interaction on the social media, and semi-structured interviews to collect qualitative data. The sample comprised eighteen respondents; three teachers and fifteen students. Each teacher and five students attended different class and used different social media platforms. The study concludes that the pedagogical affordances of the social media are: the social construction of knowledge, reflection, connectivity and collaboration. Furthermore, students and teachers’ social, teaching and cognitive presence shaped their perception of the pedagogical affordances of social media which was, in turn, contribute to their digital identity development and their understanding of agency on social media. Besides, various challenges facing the implementation of social networking sites were also discussed and highlighted

    AFFORDANCE THEORY IN SOCIAL MEDIA RESEARCH: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND SYNTHESIS OF THE LITERATURE

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    Social media technologies continue transforming various dimensions of social and organisational life through possibilities they present for goal-oriented actions of diverse users/ user groups. The notion of affordances that explains these possibilities has witnessed popularity among IS scholars to study these technologies. However, since the concept itself has been under ongoing development, its use in studying social media technologies has been focused on identifying technical affordances, perception and actualisations of these affordances, or the social and organisational implications of such affordances. In this research-in-progress paper, we present our attempt to systematically review and synthesise the literature to examine the effects of social media affordances. In addition, we aim to systematically review the existing literature to explore how the concept of affordance has been employed in social media research, to uncover the effects of social media affordances and present a comprehensive framework of these affordances effects and identify areas for future research

    Case-based analysis in user requirements modelling for knowledge construction

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    Context: Learning can be regarded as knowledge construction in which prior knowledge and experience serve as basis for the learners to expand their knowledge base. Such a process of knowledge construction has to take place continuously in order to enhance the learners’ competence in a competitive working environment. As the information consumers, the individual users demand personalised information provision which meets their own specific purposes, goals, and expectations. Objectives: The current methods in requirements engineering are capable of modelling the common user’s behaviour in the domain of knowledge construction. The users’ requirements can be represented as a case in the defined structure which can be reasoned to enable the requirements analysis. Such analysis needs to be enhanced so that personalised information provision can be tackled and modelled. However, there is a lack of suitable modelling methods to achieve this end. This paper presents a new ontological method for capturing individual user’s requirements and transforming the requirements onto personalised information provision specifications. Hence the right information can be provided to the right user for the right purpose. Method: An experiment was conducted based on the qualitative method. A medium size of group of users participated to validate the method and its techniques, i.e. articulates, maps, configures, and learning content. The results were used as the feedback for the improvement. Result: The research work has produced an ontology model with a set of techniques which support the functions for profiling user’s requirements, reasoning requirements patterns, generating workflow from norms, and formulating information provision specifications. Conclusion: The current requirements engineering approaches provide the methodical capability for developing solutions. Our research outcome, i.e. the ontology model with the techniques, can further enhance the RE approaches for modelling the individual user’s needs and discovering the user’s requirements

    The use of social media by adults with chronic illness: analysing the support mechanisms of four social media platforms

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    Social media technologies are increasingly utilized by patients, leading to development of online social groups where patients share experiences and offer support to their peers on these platforms. Yet, there is limited research investigating actual use of social media platforms by patients with chronic illness. In order to gain an understanding of this growing trend, this study conducts a technology feature analysis of the technology features of four of the most used social media tools to date: Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and YouTube in order to determine how the features and mechanisms available on these tools present the key functionalities of these social media tools. We discover that the Uses and Gratifications Framework can augment the Honey Comb framework to examine the features of social media technologies
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