CHORUS Deliverable 2.2: Second report - identification of multi-disciplinary key issues for gap analysis toward EU multimedia search engines roadmap

After addressing the state-of-the-art during the first year of Chorus and establishing the existing landscape in multimedia search engines, we have identified and analyzed gaps within European research effort during our second year. In this period we focused on three directions, notably technological issues, user-centred issues and use-cases and socio- economic and legal aspects. These were assessed by two central studies: firstly, a concerted vision of functional breakdown of generic multimedia search engine, and secondly, a representative use-cases descriptions with the related discussion on requirement for technological challenges. Both studies have been carried out in cooperation and consultation with the community at large through EC concertation meetings (multimedia search engines cluster), several meetings with our Think-Tank, presentations in international conferences, and surveys addressed to EU projects coordinators as well as National initiatives coordinators. Based on the obtained feedback we identified two types of gaps, namely core technological gaps that involve research challenges, and “enablers”, which are not necessarily technical research challenges, but have impact on innovation progress. New socio-economic trends are presented as well as emerging legal challenges

Imageries of corporate social responsibility: Visual recontextualization and field-level meaning

In this paper, we explore how corporations use visual artifacts to translate and recontextualize a globally theorized managerial concept (CSR) into a local setting (Austria). In our analysis of the field-level visual discourse, we analyze over 1,600 images in stand-alone CSR reports of publicly traded corporations. We borrow from framing analysis and structural linguistics to show how the meaning structure underlying a multifaceted construct like CSR is constituted by no more than a relatively small number of fundamental dimensions and rhetorical standpoints (topoi). We introduce the concept of imageries-of-practice to embrace the critical role that shared visual language plays in the construction of meaning and the emergence of field-level logics. In particular, we argue that imageries-of-practice, compared to verbal vocabularies, are just as well equipped to link locally resonating symbolic representations and globally diffusing practices, thus expressing both the material and ideational dimension of institutional logics in processes of translation. We find that visual rhetoric used in the Austrian discourse emphasizes the qualities of CSR as a bridging concept, and facilitates the mediation of inconsistencies in several ways: By translating abstract global ideas into concrete local knowledge, imageries-of-practice aid in mediating spatial oppositions; by linking the past, present, and future, they bridge time; by mediating between different institutional spheres and their divergent logics, they appease ideational oppositions and reduce institutional complexity; and, finally, by connecting questionable claims with representations of authenticity, they aid in overcoming credibility gaps

Context based learning: a survey of contextual indicators for personalized and adaptive learning recommendations. A pedagogical and technical perspective

Learning personalization has proven its effectiveness in enhancing learner performance. Therefore, modern digital learning platforms have been increasingly depending on recommendation systems to offer learners personalized suggestions of learning materials. Learners can utilize those recommendations to acquire certain skills for the labor market or for their formal education. Personalization can be based on several factors, such as personal preference, social connections or learning context. In an educational environment, the learning context plays an important role in generating sound recommendations, which not only fulfill the preferences of the learner, but also correspond to the pedagogical goals of the learning process. This is because a learning context describes the actual situation of the learner at the moment of requesting a learning recommendation. It provides information about the learner current state of knowledge, goal orientation, motivation, needs, available time, and other factors that reflect their status and may influence how learning recommendations are perceived and utilized. Context aware recommender systems have the potential to reflect the logic that a learning expert may follow in recommending materials to students with respect to their status and needs. In this paper, we review the state-of-the-art approaches for defining a user learning-context. We provide an overview of the definitions available, as well as the different factors that are considered when defining a context. Moreover, we further investigate the links between those factors and their pedagogical foundations in learning theories. We aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of contextualized learning from both pedagogical and technical points of view. By combining those two viewpoints, we aim to bridge a gap between both domains, in terms of contextualizing learning recommendations

Gender boundary negotiation within the U.S. immigrant/refugee resettlement : how transnational bridge-building matters.

For the past several decades, social research about U.S. immigrant and refugee resettlement has focused on some of the ways federal and non-governmental organizations help immigrants and refugees integrate into mainstream society. Little research, if any, has explored how giving voice to immigrants and refugees is done in bridging transnational gaps and strengths in the process of their adjustment to the host country. This dissertation is grounded within transnational theory (Avenarius 2012, Levitt 2011, Peteet 1997) that argues that immigrants and refugees bring their experiences and cultures from their home countries, time in refugee camps, and other often traumatic experiences with them to the host country and a new culture. The study focuses on an organization solely funded by private donations and located in a Midwestern medium size city of the United States. The model is to encourage immigrant and refugee parents, predominantly women enrolling in Welcome Home[1] programs, to set up and work toward their own goals. The Welcome Home Program offers parents from diverse cultural backgrounds a new social space characterized by on-demand family coaching. At the same time, the program offers opportunities to parents to learn financial literacy. The program also replicates the national literacy model that puts emphasis on parent-child interactions in promoting children’s academic development. The social context thus created functions primarily as an opportunity for family units to think about themselves as active players in the process of their adjustment to the United States. This research explores constant gender negotiations immigrant and refugee women and men engage in and how they accommodate new expectations and opportunities with their experiences in refugee camps and their socialization in their home countries. [1] This is a pseudonym for the agency to protect their confidentiality

Biblical interpretation and the shaping of religious worlds: a study of Bible study for critical contextualization

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1487/thumbnail.jp

Managerial interventions in multicultural virtual teams: A review and synthesis of the literature

Teams distributed across cultural, geographic and temporal boundaries, also known as multi-cultural virtual teams (MVTs), have been prevalent in international organizations. To provide guidance for MVT managers and support accumulation of prior experience, we establish a management model based on the extended adaptive structuration theory (EAST) and verify the model with 55 empirical studies from leading publications in related fields. The findings contribute a comprehensive set of empirically verified managerial intervention in MVTs and suggest that managers can improve MVT outcomes through manipulating five sets of struc-tural characteristics (i.e., organization, team, individual, technology and task) before and dur-ing the task process. Based on the findings, we generate a holistic view of managerial inter-vention, which explains the mechanisms of managerial intervention in MVTs

The Role of Linguistics Studies on the Political Debate

The paper is to find out the linguistics role contribution towards the political debate event at the election party. The presidential debate\u27s primary purpose is to sponsor and produce debates for the United States presidential and vice-presidential candidates and to undertake research and educational activities relating to the debates. A leaders\u27 debate or presidential debate is a public debate held during a general election campaign, where the candidates expose their political opinions and public policy proposals, and criticism of them, to potential voters. They are normally broadcast live on radio, television and the internet. Increasing learners\u27 confidence, poise, and self-esteem. Providing an engaging, active, learner-centered activity. Improving rigorous higher-order and critical thinking skills. Enhancing the ability to structure and organize thoughts

Leveraging Social Media and Web of Data for Crisis Response Coordination

There is an ever increasing number of users in social media (1B+ Facebook users, 500M+ Twitter users) and ubiquitous mobile access (6B+ mobile phone subscribers) who share their observations and opinions. In addition, the Web of Data and existing knowledge bases keep on growing at a rapid pace. In this scenario, we have unprecedented opportunities to improve crisis response by extracting social signals, creating spatio-temporal mappings, performing analytics on social and Web of Data, and supporting a variety of applications. Such applications can help provide situational awareness during an emergency, improve preparedness, and assist during the rebuilding/recovery phase of a disaster. Data mining can provide valuable insights to support emergency responders and other stakeholders during crisis. However, there are a number of challenges and existing computing technology may not work in all cases. Therefore, our objective here is to present the characterization of such data mining tasks, and challenges that need further research attention

Contextualizing Entrepreneurship Theory

As the breadth and empirical diversity of entrepreneurship research have increased rapidly during the last decade, the quest to find a "one-size-fits-all" general theory of entrepreneurship has given way to a growing appreciation for the importance of contexts. This promises to improve both the practical relevance and the theoretical rigor of research in this field. Entrepreneurship means different things to different people at different times and in different places and both its causes and its consequences likewise vary. For example, for some people entrepreneurship can be a glorious path to emancipation, while for others it can represent the yoke tethering them to the burdens of overwork and drudgery. For some communities it can drive renaissance and vibrancy while for others it allows only bare survival. In this book, we assess and attempt to push forward contemporary conceptualizations of contexts that matter for entrepreneurship, pointing in particular to opportunities generating new insights by attending to contexts in novel or underexplored ways. This book shows that the ongoing contextualization of entrepreneurship research should not simply generate a proliferation of unique theories – one for every context – but can instead result in better theory construction, testing and understanding of boundary conditions, thereby leading us to richer and more profound understanding of entrepreneurship across its many forms. Contextualizing Entrepreneurship Theory will critically review the current debate and existing literature on contexts and entrepreneurship and use this to synthesize new theoretical and methodological frameworks that point to important directions for future research

Contextualizing Entrepreneurship Theory

As the breadth and empirical diversity of entrepreneurship research have increased rapidly during the last decade, the quest to find a "one-size-fits-all" general theory of entrepreneurship has given way to a growing appreciation for the importance of contexts. This promises to improve both the practical relevance and the theoretical rigor of research in this field. Entrepreneurship means different things to different people at different times and in different places and both its causes and its consequences likewise vary. For example, for some people entrepreneurship can be a glorious path to emancipation, while for others it can represent the yoke tethering them to the burdens of overwork and drudgery. For some communities it can drive renaissance and vibrancy while for others it allows only bare survival. In this book, we assess and attempt to push forward contemporary conceptualizations of contexts that matter for entrepreneurship, pointing in particular to opportunities generating new insights by attending to contexts in novel or underexplored ways. This book shows that the ongoing contextualization of entrepreneurship research should not simply generate a proliferation of unique theories – one for every context – but can instead result in better theory construction, testing and understanding of boundary conditions, thereby leading us to richer and more profound understanding of entrepreneurship across its many forms. Contextualizing Entrepreneurship Theory will critically review the current debate and existing literature on contexts and entrepreneurship and use this to synthesize new theoretical and methodological frameworks that point to important directions for future research