Reimagining Digital Literacies from a Feminist Perspective in a Postcolonial Context

Although there are many intersecting but also conflicting definitions and understandings of digital literacy, for the most part, the majority allude to critical thinking in some form or another. This article attempts to imagine a conception of digital literacy and practice of teaching digital literacy that considers a different approach to being critical while using digital technology to consume, produce and communicate. The approach builds on the feminist work of Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger and Tarule's (1986) Women's Ways of Knowing. The author will also share from her own teaching experience as a postcolonial scholar teaching Egyptian students at an American liberal arts university

Bloggers and the Blogosphere in Lebanon & Syria: meanings and activities

The use of blogging and its potential effects on society and politics have been widely debated but the meanings and understandings that bloggers themselves hold about the activity have not been sufficiently explored; indeed in Lebanon and Syria they have barely been investigated at all. Through interviews with bloggers, ISPs, Internet café owners and others, as well as informal online participant observation and an online questionnaire, this thesis explores the structural and cultural variables that have allowed Lebanese and Syrian bloggers to understand and use blogs in their own specific ways. The study not only recounts what bloggers say about themselves but investigates the structural variables that surround them, including government and institutional policy, censorship, impediments to Internet access, historical conditions under which blogging emerged, attitudes to the Internet, changing events and new entrants to blogging. By its comparative nature, the project reveals how the meanings that bloggers attach to their blogging activities and to their socialization with other bloggers are situated in the social and historical conditions under which blogging is practiced. The changing meanings blogging acquired for bloggers during the course of this research illustrated its shifting and relational attributes. Thus an unexpectedly complex array of interrelated factors is shown to contribute to the tool acquiring certain meanings and being used in specific ways. The research uncovers differing reasons between Lebanese and Syrian bloggers as to why they blog, what socialisation with other bloggers means to them, and what marks of differentiation such as anonymity and choice of language they use to distinguish the activity of one blogger from another. Both the Lebanese and Syrian bloggers at this point belong to a collective effort of other bloggers in their own countries, but the thesis also shows the meanings of socialisation online and how it is regarded change over time

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SOCIAL NETWORK IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN SAUDI ARABIA: ACTION RESEARCH TO DEVELOP AN E-LEARNING CONCEPTUAL MODEL BASED ON BLOG TOOLS

During the last two decades, there has been great interest in integrating computers and technology in higher education. Currently web tool services for learning have attracted researchers in the field of education technology to integrate eLearning within the learning environment. In particular, the Internet has become an increasingly important and novel feature of the modern learning environment. Amongst the innovations, a certain tool has become extremely popular worldwide. It is known as web 2.0. It is a read/write web. Blogs (web logs) are one its fastest growing features. The researcher investigated the exciting prospect of developing an eLearning environment by utilizing and applying effective blogs. To date there has been little use of blogs as online tools in higher education, especially in Saudi Arabia. This study concerned the disclosure of more understanding of the use of web 2.0 applications in higher education in Saudi universities. The first purpose of this study was to develop an eLearning model for web 2.0. Its second purpose was to examine learners’ perceptions and attitudes toward web 2.0 applications, i.e. blog tools by exploring the relationship between learners’ attitudes toward blog tool instructions and factors identified as potentially influencing these attitudes. This research adopted an approach based on an interpretive philosophical paradigm accompanied by a qualitative methodology coupled with action research methods. Learning theories were considered as a theoretical framework. The learning theories considered was Behaviorism, Cognitive and Constructivism with Bloom’s Taxonomy and Boud’s Model. Data was collected qualitatively and analyzed thematically. Triangulation was conducted upon the outcomes of the questionnaires, interviews, observations and blog content analysis. This research made four main contributions. First, it identified the factors that influenced learner acceptance for the use of blog tools in higher education. Second, it investigated the relationship between learners’ attitudes and their acceptance of the utilization of blog tools within their learning environment. Third, it responded to calls from the literature review to investigate blog utilization by conducting an in-depth investigation that utilized qualitative methodology with action research. Lastly, it provided further insight and a better understanding of blog usage with respect to structured/ unstructured learning environments.Minister of Higher Education, Saudi Arabi

Blogs in Language Learning Enhancing Students’ Writing Skills through Blogs

Unlike receptive skills, such as reading and listening, writing has received relatively little attention in second language learning. The reason for this lack of attention is that reading and listening are assumed to create competence in second language learning since they form the input on which learning is based. Moreover, a number of studies in several English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts have indicated that second language learners consider writing skills as the most difficult skills to master. A number of studies also promote the use of educational technologies in teaching the English language, and blogging, in particular, is considered to be one of the promising educational media that can be used as a genuine tool to teach EFL in a way that enables the learners to use English for authentic and day-to-day life situations. The use of blogging has been shown to enable the students to learn English for real-life situations and purposes which eventually will enhance the EFL learners’ English language competence in general and their writing skills in particular. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to examine the extent to which this new technology can enhance EFL Omani writing. In this study, multiple qualitative methods were used within an interpretivist approach and a case study methodology to gather the required data. Therefore, after choosing the study context and working with foundation students at the Institute of Health in Oman, the following methods were applied. First, an open-ended questionnaire was used to establish baseline perceptions and to select the six students for in-depth examination. Second, a student blog was created and implemented, in which each participant had to write three original essays plus an edited version of each one based on peers’ comments on their work. Subsequently, field notes were applied within the participants’ writing class, and finally, the participants and their teacher were interviewed. The study obtained the following findings. The use of blogging as a new medium in teaching writing skills enabled Omani students to have a new learning experience where several changes occurred: 1. A change in understanding of being a writer, 2. A change in understanding of a text, 3. A changing pedagogy for the writing classroom and 4. A changing classroom culture in the EFL writing classes. This study is characterised by its original design and approach, by its context within the Arab world and its findings are likely to influence teaching L2 writing skills while applying new educational technology. The study offers compelling evidence that blogging facilitates interaction with peers and teachers and that this interaction changes both the understanding and practice of writing

Students’ Exposure to Political News on the Internet and Political Awareness: A Comparison between Germany and Egypt

The recent political events in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Tunisia (2011) have confirmed the key role of social networks (SNSs), as well as online political news in supporting citizens with their self-determination. Furthermore, “changes in the media landscape present new challenges for scholars interested in the relationship between the media and civil society. Additionally, the explosion of the Internet that started in advanced democracies and has spread through much of the globe provides new and unexplored pathways for communication. Moreover, the inclusion of the Internet in the media environment raises new questions for citizens, politicians, researchers, journalists, and government” (Oates, Owen & Gibson, 2006, p. 1). This study looks at the relationships between young people’s exposure to political news on the Internet and their political awareness. It develops and applies an index for political participation composed of several variables measuring political interest, discussion, knowledge, and participation. The survey among students in both countries was administered in Arabic and German, while the master questionnaire was developed in English. The survey was conducted between April and June 2010 in Egypt at Minia University and in Germany at Technical university of Dresden. The sample size was 1000 (500 in each country) students from several departments representing different academic fields: three departments of Engineering, three departments of Humanities and Social Science, and finally three departments of Natural Science. The study’s main research question was: “What is the impact of students’ exposure to political news on the Internet on their political awareness and civic activities?” The researcher started from the hypothesis that heavy use of political news on the Internet is positively related to political awareness. A further research question aimed at gauging the role of intervening variables such as gender and field of study for the relationship between the use of political news on the Internet and the level of political awareness. Results show that there is a positive relationship between using political online news and political awareness. German students’ political awareness for German students was higher than Egypt student’s political awareness (M=63.02, SD=15.65, comparing to M=45.72, SD= 17.65 for Egyptians).:Table of Contents: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II ABSTRACT III TABLE OF CONTENTS IV INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1 POLITICAL COMMUNICATION IN THE LIFE OF YOUNG PEOPLE……………………………………………………………………………...8 1.1 INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL COMMUNICATION 8 1.2. POLITICAL MEDIA USES AND EFFECTS IN THE LIFE OF YOUNG PEOPLE 10 1.3. THE ROLE OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION IN ELECTION CAMPAIGNS 12 1.4. THE LITERATURE UP TO NOW IN THIS AREA 14 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESIS 18 1.5.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 18 1.5.2 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS 18 CHAPTER 2: CHANGING COMMUNICATION ENVIRONMENT THROUGH THE INTERNET AGE ……………..20 2.1 INTRODUCTION 20 2.2 INTERNET HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 20 2.3 STRUCTURE, FEATURES AND PHENOMENA OF THE INTERNET 23 2.3.1 MANY TO MANY COMMUNICATION 23 2.3.2 INTERACTIVITY 34 2.3.3 CREDIBILITY 28 2.4 SOCIAL NETWORK (SNSS) 30 2.4.1 SOCIAL NETWORK; DEFINITION, HISTORY, AND DEVELOPMENT 30 2.4.2 SOCIAL NETWORK (SNSS); USERS, CHARACTERISTICS AND FEATURES 32 2.4. 3 BLOGS 35 2.5 INTERNET USE 38 2.5.1 GENERAL TRENDS 38 2.5.2. SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES AND –INTERNET USE 40 2.6. SOCIAL NETWORK AND POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION IN EGYPT 44 2.7 CONCLUSION 47 CHAPTER 3 POLITICAL AWARENESS AND RELATED CONSTRUCTS……….. 49 3.1 INTRODUCTION 49 3.2 POLITICAL COGNITIONS 50 3.3 POLITICAL INTEREST 51 3.4 POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE 52 3.4.1. MEASURING OF POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE 53 3.4.2 MEDIA USE AND POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE 54 3.5. POLITICAL EFFICACY 56 3.5.1 DEFINITION 56 3.5.2. MEASURINGOF POLITICAL EFFICACY 58 3.6. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION 59 3.6.1. THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIA ON POLITICAL PARTICIPATION 61 3.6.2. MEASURING OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION 62 3.6.3 VOTING 63 3.7. POLITICAL DISCOURSE 66 3.8. POLITICAL AWARENESS 67 3.8.1. CONCLUSION ON THE OPERATIONALIZATION 68 3.8.2. MASS MEDIA AND POLITICAL AWARENESS 70 CHAPTER4: THE POLITICAL AND MEDIA SYSTEMS IN GERMANY AND EGYPT 71 4.1. EGYPTIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM 71 4.2. EGYPTIAN MEDIA SYSTEM 72 4.2.1 HISTORY AND POLITICAL FRAMEWORK 72 4.2.2 THE EGYPTIAN PRESS 75 4.2.3. RADIO AND TV UNION 77 4.2.4 OTHER MEDIA OUTLETS 97 4.3. GERMANY MEDIA SYSTEM AND POLITICAL SYSTEM 81 4.4. GERMANY MEDIA SYSTEM 82 4.4.1 HISTORY AND POLITICAL FRAMEWORK 82 4.4.2 THE GERMANY PRESS 83 4.4.3. RADIO AND TV UNION 84 4.4.4. OTHER MEDIA OUTLETS 85 5.1. CONCLUSION 85 CHAPTER 5: METHODS ………87 5.1. SAMPLE 87 5.2. QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT 88 5.3. FIELDWORK AND DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE 89 5.3.1 DEPENDENT VARIABLES 89 5.3.2. INDEPENDENT VARIABLE (IV’S) 91 5.4. DATA ANALYSIS …92 5.5. VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF MEASURES.. 93 5.5.1 VALIDITY 93 5.5.2 RELIABILITY 94 CHAPTER 6: RESULTS COMPARING EGYPTIAN AND GERMANY UNIVERSITY STUDENT’S ….95 6.1 POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF MEDIA USE 95 6.1.1 POLITICAL FREEDOM 95 6.1.2 TECHNICAL ACCESS TO INTERNET 98 6.1.3 THE DIGITAL DIVIDE 98 6.2. GENERAL MEDIA EXPOSURE 101 6.2.1 TRADITIONAL OR NEW MEDIA PLATFORM? 102 6.2.2 WHERE AND WHEN DO YOUNG PEOPLE USE THE INTERNET? 104 6.3 EXPOSURES TO POLITICAL MEDIA CONTENT 106 6.3.1 ACCESSING POLITICAL INFORMATION ONLINE 107 6.3.2. THE AMOUNT OF ONLINE COVERAGE OF POLITICAL NEWS 109 6.3.3 CONFIDENCE AND ACCURATE PICTURE OF ONLINE POLITICAL NEWS 110 6.4 POLITICAL AWARENESS 111 6.4.1 POLITICAL INTEREST 111 6.4.2 POLITICAL DISCUSSION 113 6.4.3. POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE 113 6.4.4 POLITICAL PARTICIPATION 116 6.5. INTERNET USE AND POLITICAL AWARENESS 119 CHAPTER 7: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION IN LIGHT OF THEORY AND HYPOTHESIS 126 8. RECOMMENDATIONS 129 9. REFERENCES 130 APPENDICES. 145 A/QUESTIONNAIRE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE 145 B/QUESTIONNAIRE IN GERMAN LANGUAGE 155 C/QUESTIONNAIRE IN ARABIC LANGUAGE 166 APPENDIX. D. AGREEMENT LETTER TO APPLY QUESTIONNAIRE IN EGYPT FROM CENTRAL AGENCY FOR PUBLIC MOBILIZATION AND STATISTICS 175 APPENDIX. E. LIST OF TABLES 17

A mixed-methods study of exploring and explaining the impact of the use of educational blogging on Saudi EFL students' writing development

The dominance of technology in many learners’ lives is inescapable and is an opportunity upon which educators could capitalize. Using educational blogging in language teaching, this study aimed to explore and explain the nature impact of the use of educational blogs on EFL students’ writing development. The study used a mixed-methodsdesign to analyse the impact of the educational blogging. The first phase was a quasi-experimental study with an intervention and comparison group, with 90 participants in total (45 in each group). Participants were undertaking an English Language writing course during the Preparatory Year Programme at a higher education institution in Saudi Arabia. The comparison group was taught using traditional teaching methods and the intervention group was taught by using educational blogs both individual and class blogs. Both groups had the same course materials and teaching hours. The sentence variety, syntactic complexity, vocabulary, paragraph organisation and the coherence and cohesion of student pre and post writing tests were measured in order to compare the groups. Mann-Whitney tests were used to investigate whether there was a significant difference. In the second phase, a sequential mixed-methods case study focused on the intervention group was developed to explore and explain the participants’ attitudes towards the use of educational blogs. Attitudes were measured using a closed questionnaire, and then this data was supplemented by open-ended questions, focus group discussion and semi-strucured interviews designed to explain the nature of the impact of the intervention in more detail. This phase also investigated the first blog and last blog entries on the class blog using the same procedure used in investigating the pre and post tests. Statistical findings reveal that the intervention group outperformed the students in the comparison group who were given similar lessons but using traditional methods (pen and 4 paper). Qualitative findings suggest that the use of educational blogging seems to have increased these students’ motivation to practise writing, and that this resulted in more sophisticated and syntactically complex texts after the intervention. The study supports the theory of using educational technology as a pedagogical teaching method in English classes, based on the socio-cultural and cognitive theory of social interactional learning. In so doing, it extends the relation of educational blogging affordances and writing development context, particularly in the context of HE students taking a non-English major, who might be expected to be possibly less motivated or invested in developing their English writing skills than those students who have typically formed the sample for similar previous studies. This study is significant in investigating the pedagogical use of blogging a new context, revealing how educational blogs can be used in a context which traditionally hinders pedagogical approaches which are collaborative or student-centered: one with large class sizes, a tradition of transmission-style teaching and limited opportunities for peer interaction. The findings suggest how and why blogging can be an effective pedagogical approach for supporting writing development in similar context

An Investigation into Student and Teacher Attitudes towards Pedagogical Translation at Benghazi University

This study investigates the attitudes of university lecturers and undergraduate students in regards to translation as a university subject and its role in enhancing students’ English as foreign language at Benghazi University. The study examines the skills and linguistic aspects that lecturers and students believe are developed through pedagogical translation. A student survey was implemented on 400 students to measure their attitudes. In addition, a semi-structured interview was conducted on 6 university lectures. A mixed-methods approach was adopted using both quantitative and qualitative research methods to gain richer data and improve the validity and reliability of the study. The findings of the study revealed that students and their lectures believe that translation has enhanced their English language in general. In addition, they believe that it has specifically developed their reading and writing more than their speaking and listening skills. Lectures and students reveal that pedagogical translation has improved their grammar and language use of vocabulary and collocations. Moreover, they consider that implementing contrastive analysis in pedagogical translation classes has raised students’ awareness of mother tongue interferences. Furthermore, students and their lecturers believe that several linguistic aspects were enhanced, such as cohesion, coherence, genres, registers, language dialects as well as form and meaning. Students and lecturers also believe that their cultural awareness was developed. In conclusion, students and lecturers believe that translation could be an effective tool in learning English as a foreign language. The study contributes to the literature of pedagogical translation and foreign language teaching and learning settings

International News Reporting in the Multidimensional Network: The socio-demographics, professional culture and newswork of foreign correspondents working across Sub-Saharan Africa

Tese apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Doutor em Media DigitaisUma porção significativa do nosso conhecimento quotidiano sobre a África Subsaariana provém do trabalho dos repórteres internacionais. Contudo, e ainda que estes actores desempenhem um papel crítico na comunicação do Outro distante, frequentemente criticado pelos seus défices representacionais, a investigação académica sobre o trabalho dos correspondentes internacionais tem sido consideravelmente negligenciada: encontra-se desactualizada em décadas, carecendo de um exame sistemático das realidades efectivas do jornalismo em África e da evolução do trabalho de Pro-Ams e organizações de media dos cidadãos, suportados por meios digitais ligados em rede. Esta tese tem como objecto a caracterização e análise sociodemográfica destes indivíduos, das suas culturas profissionais e trabalho noticioso. Inspecciona trajectórias de longo curso no jornalismo internacional, combinando-as com desenvolvimentos de curto prazo baseados nas transformações na microelectrónica e digitalização. São delineadas três linhas de inquérito: quem está realmente a reportar em todo o continente, quais são as principais características das culturas ocupacionais e os constrangimentos que impendem sobre as rotinas de produção dos trabalhadores noticiosos. Avaliamos como estão os repórteres internacionais a reposicionar-se num ambiente comunicacional em transformação, como interpretam a sua própria ocupação e o papel dos actores emergentes na esfera mediática transnacional. Simultaneamente, contribuímos com uma investigação exploratória sobre as actividades das organizações de media dos cidadãos. Para cumprir estes objectivos, conduzimos o primeiro questionário online Pan-Africano de que há registo sobre o trabalho dos repórteres internacionais, recolhendo respostas de 124 participantes em 41 países. Estes resultados são complementados através de entrevistas semiestruturadas com 43 jornalistas profissionais, em Nairobi, Dakar e Joanesburgo. Os resultados obtidos desafiam a narrativa que apresenta a reportagem internacional como uma espécie em extinção. Ao invés, suportam uma visão diferenciada entre continuidades localizadas e rupturas localizadas na contemporânea e pós-industrial esfera mediática: a sua sociodemografia expressa uma nova economia da correspondência internacional caracterizada por uma considerável precariedade, particularmente no caso dos trabalhadores independentes (freelance), enquanto a utilização de media digitais ligados em rede conduz o campo a uma confederação de correspondências com múltiplas camadas. O campo não é já um território exclusivo de profissionais e estes têm agora de lidar com a escala sem precedentes de conteúdos gerados pelos utilizadores e reacções directas. Os profissionais despendem uma muito considerável porção de tempo diário na Internet, o que sugere uma mudança de paradigma nas práticas de recolha informativa e, em última análise, na sua cultura epistemológica

Spirit and the letter : trauma, warblogs and the public sphere

Includes bibliographical referencesThis research investigates the personal and political emancipatory potential of digital media, specifically the weblog, and asks the following question: How does individual trauma translate into public space? The research focus is the self-selected, unpaid and civilian bloggers forming the core of the Lebanese blogosphere during the 33-Day War between Israel and Lebanon in July and August 2006. Through the progression of their on-line narratives, I examine how traumatic events can be transformed into a narrative act. Blogging is a particularly apt medium for closing the ‘historical gap’ between an event and its reporting, and can facilitate the reflection and recovery necessary for cohesive individual and social identity after trauma. I conclude that this transformation, from traumatic memory to narrative memory, has social implications in any context in which the democratisation of voice is important. The blogosphere provides an intimate public space for memory work: digital social networking can inspire reciprocal connectedness with others, and blogs can therefore function both as healing platforms for individual survivors of trauma, and as expressions of communal political will. This mediation, through selfselected structures, can only strengthen democratic practice – an idea which resonates particularly in repressive contexts. Analysing the autobiographical records of ordinary people in the public domain requires a psychosocial approach drawn from literary criticism as much as from social sciences. This research therefore utilises aspects of both interpretive and critical approaches such as reader-response theory and constructivism, stemming from an underlying hermeneutic philosophy that promotes an empathic approach as well as the consideration of the influence of cultural and social forces that have been brought to bear in the context. This dialectic is essential for examining the relationship between blogger and reader, where the transmission of a first-person perspective to an engaged hearer-participant forms the key process. Socio-politically, the incorporation of context, complexity and diversity are considered in light of the recent developments in the Arab blogosphere, and the cultural, historical, and literary context of the Lebanese blogs themselves. This research is therefore situated within a qualitative framework, utilising a small but focused sample, and investigating the meanings of lived experiences. Perceived problems of reliability in this imprecise mode of analysis are countered by the fact that qualitative research tends to be exploratory rather than conclusive. This research necessarily concludes with critical social theory. I make recommendations for the further utilisation of the digitality of the medium, both in Lebanon and further afield, based on the urgent need for dialogue in multicultural societies, and the value of civil engagement in the rhetorical public sphere. The innovative potential of electronic public space for restitution after trauma, and the support of alternative narratives, is clear