71 research outputs found
What's wrong with web2.0?: the challenges facing library staff & students in realising the potential of social media & networking
Web2.0 tools (blogs, social bookmarking, feeds, Twitter etc) offer great potential for both libraries and learners and yet usage for academic purposes remains relatively low. This presentation contrasts the possibilities with the reality and looks at some of the challenges that need to be overcome for the wider adoption of these tools. In particular the talk will focus on the need for appropriate staff development for Library staff and will report on digital literacy sessions run by the presenter and his colleagues
Dialogues in cybernetics: a model for understanding critical thinking construction in the digital age
This thesis study examines the Critical Thinking construction from students while using the digital technologies for web-based activities at school. At the end, we propose a model that explains Critical Thinking based on the Science of Cybernetics.
Critical learning opportunities within schools are needed urgently. Critical thinkers will be adaptable to technologies and therefore will present essential qualities for the Digital Age. The scientific literature is full of arguments to support this approach, however, apart from some studies that propose a linear model for this matter, not much has been proposed concerning a complex model for Critical Thinking in the Digital Age.
To this end, the research question is as follows: How is the critical thinking process fostered at the Cognition Level in the Digital Age? This is addressed by considering the process of critical thinking as an open system, according to principles of Cybernetics.
Data for the study was collected twice. The initial Pilot Study revealed unexpected phenomena which current theories in Education could not explain. In the Main Study, a Cybernetic approach was used preserving identical research techniques and data analysis instruments from the initial study. Both studies used a Research Protocol Activity executed by participants and, after that, a clinical interview. Data were analysed and a Cybernetic Model for Critical Thinking proposed, applying the principles of Entropy and of Selective Retention, to explain how critical thinking is built in the Cognitive level. The Model has been built from the exploratory Pilot Study and the Main Theoretical Study.
This thesis presents the background of Critical Thinking, with a theory and concepts that will help to stimulate critical thoughts, suggesting the path that must be taken to stimulate and develop critical thinking in students. This work has a significant contribution to the existing critical thinking literature, proposing a holistic approach that includes Cybernetics and Cognition. The developed concepts of “Entropy”, “Deterrence”, and the Model itself can help assessing learning and cognition in another dimension. We proposed the concept of Entropy to critical thinking (see Chapter 5) fostered from a large literature review that involved Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Cybernetics. The concept will be helpful to researchers who want to dedicate their project to cognitive phenomena, or to Human-machine interaction. Similarly, the concept of Deterrence can equally be used for areas where cognition, education society and Cybernetics can be helpful.
However, further work is needed to extend this study for other populations, such as adults and university undergraduates. By validating the model in such populations, it could be successfully applied to foster critical thinking in most human beings, while involving digital technologies
The Use of Technology for EFL Classes in a Brazilian School: Consolidating Education 3.0
It is undeniable that digital technologies have helped in the creation of a new way of sharing knowledge. This is particularly pertinent in the area of English language education if seen as a way of enhancing connectivity and empowering individuals to promote positive changes in society. Bearing in mind that educational institutions worldwide have gradually incorporated successful innovative practices into their teaching lessons, the present paper aims to address the topic of Education 3.0 and the use of technological tools for EFL classes in a school in the south of Brazil. It reports how technology has been incorporated into the classroom to achieve interdisciplinary practices and discuss whether it has contributed to students’ learning and linguistic competence. Regarding applicability, the paper brings some examples of technological tools and current existing projects, using different types of technologies, such as Osmo, smartphones, QR codes, apps and the like. Regarding evaluation of language improvement, it seems that these technological tools have mainly fostered students’ listening and speaking abilities, which can be seen through positive students’ results obtained through Oxford placement tests. Some considerations about the limitations of this study are also made for further improvements
Literacy for digital futures : Mind, body, text
The unprecedented rate of global, technological, and societal change calls for a radical, new understanding of literacy. This book offers a nuanced framework for making sense of literacy by addressing knowledge as contextualised, embodied, multimodal, and digitally mediated.
In today’s world of technological breakthroughs, social shifts, and rapid changes to the educational landscape, literacy can no longer be understood through established curriculum and static text structures. To prepare teachers, scholars, and researchers for the digital future, the book is organised around three themes – Mind and Materiality; Body and Senses; and Texts and Digital Semiotics – to shape readers’ understanding of literacy. Opening up new interdisciplinary themes, Mills, Unsworth, and Scholes confront emerging issues for next-generation digital literacy practices. The volume helps new and established researchers rethink dynamic changes in the materiality of texts and their implications for the mind and body, and features recommendations for educational and professional practice
New media and civil society : a study of Native Customary Rights (NCR) Land and Community-based Organisations (CBOs) in Sarawak, Malaysia
Civil society generally refers to a sphere where individuals exercise their freedom and rights through voluntary, independent associations. Spurred by world political events, the discourse of civil society shifted to a democratising mission against the tyranny of the state. It was also during the 1980s in Malaysia, middle-class non-governmental organisations (NGOs) blossomed and advocated for human rights issues such as feminism, labour and environment. In the late 1990s, the Internet was hailed as the platform to widen the public sphere in the oppressive environment of media in Malaysia, especially its broadcasting industry. The following two decades witnessed how websites, blogs and social media became the staple platform to influence public opinion especially before general elections.This thesis explores the relationship between civil society and new media using the study of native customary rights (NCR) land community-based organisations (CBOs) in Sarawak, Malaysia. Sarawak, the largest state of the Bornean Island, formed the Federation of Malaysia with Sabah in 1963 bound by an agreement that secured their oil royalty and native status as Bumiputra (prince of the soil). Sarawak is rich with natural resources, flora, fauna and cultural heritage with over 27 ethnic groups residing on the land. However, over the years, Sarawak lost much of its assets due to illegal deforestation and native land grabbing. Since the 1970s, environmental groups and activists have fought hard to reinstate the definition of NCR against state-given provisional leases (PLs) awarded to logging and palm oil manufacturing companies.This research uses the analytical framework from Italian social theorist Antonio Gramsci’s notion of civil society to understand the potential of new media in expanding the NCR land advocacy in Sarawak. Gramsci sees civil society as an arena of struggles between ruling and ruled classes to achieve hegemony, referring to cultural domination by shaping consent. To Gramsci, this consensus has to be constantly maintained through superstructural institutions such as religion, education, media and tourism. Therefore, civil society is the complex sphere where the state exerts its authority without having to resort to military forces, unless the hegemony is broken. The current state of literature suggests that the contribution of new media to Malaysian political changes is more to do with instantaneous online activities and rarely related to ongoing organising processes. Academic research studies about native customary land in Sarawak are largely technical, focused on geological mapping and land laws. By taking on the Gramscian framework, this thesis rejects the liberal paradigm that defines civil society as an autonomous sphere that unanimously aims for the common good, participated in by rational individuals. There is more to explore beyond the celebratory claims of freedom brought about by NGOs and new media. Characterising civil society as a complex arena of conflicting interests and actors is a more realistic way to understand the CBOs’ empowerment efforts related to Sarawakian subalterns and their interests. Interviews with the CBOs personnel and web-based analysis of their online platforms showed deep-seated distrust not only toward the state and new communication technologies, but among NGOs, indigenous ethnic groups, and churches. The Gramscian civil society framework allows the research to synthesise the potentials of new media in the CBOs’ organising activities as separate yet interrelated entities against the background of the lower status of Sarawak indigenous people. The research further contributes insights into the sturdy trenches of civil society that protect the state – officially sanctioned media systems, education, religion and national identities. By way of conclusion, the research suggests that the CBOs should consolidate their advocacy and venture into the site of hegemony to establish and normalise their cultural image
Intelligence, Creativity and Fantasy
UID/HIS/04666/2019
This is the 2nd volume of PHI series, published by CRC Press, the 4th published by CRC Press and the 5th volume of PHI proceedings.The texts presented in Proportion Harmonies and Identities (PHI) - INTELLIGENCE, CREATIVITY AND FANTASY were compiled with the intent to establish a multidisciplinary platform for the presentation, interaction and dissemination of research. The aim is also to foster the awareness and discussion on the topics of Harmony and Proportion with a focus on different visions relevant to Architecture, Arts and Humanities, Design, Engineering, Social and Natural Sciences, and their importance and benefits for the sense of both individual and community identity. The idea of modernity has been a significant motor for development since the Western Early Modern Age. Its theoretical and practical foundations have become the working tools of scientists, philosophers, and artists, who seek strategies and policies to accelerate the development process in different contexts.authorsversionpublishe
Employees on social media: A multi-spokespeople model of CSR communication
Increasing societal and stakeholder expectations, along with easy access to information through social media, means corporations are asked for more information. The traditional approach to CSR communication, with corporations controlling what and how much to share with stakeholders has been restructured by social media, with stakeholders taking control. As legitimacy on social media is created through the positive and negative judgements of stakeholders, corporations must plan how to meet stakeholder demands for information effectively and legitimately, and this includes choosing appropriate spokespeople. Corporations in India have now turned towards their employees as CSR spokespeople. By encouraging employee activity on social media, these corporations are attempting to meet stakeholder demands and generate legitimacy through spokespeople whom stakeholders perceive as equals. This article examines that strategy and discusses its viability of using employees as spokespeople for CSR communication and engagement with stakeholder
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