Exploring personality-targeted UI design in online social participation systems

We present a theoretical foundation and empirical findings demonstrating the effectiveness of personality-targeted design. Much like a medical treatment applied to a person based on his specific genetic profile, we argue that theory-driven, personality-targeted UI design can be more effective than design applied to the entire population. The empirical exploration focused on two settings, two populations and two personality traits: Study 1 shows that users' extroversion level moderates the relationship between the UI cue of audience size and users' contribution. Study 2 demonstrates that the effectiveness of social anchors in encouraging online contributions depends on users' level of emotional stability. Taken together, the findings demonstrate the potential and robustness of the interactionist approach to UI design. The findings contribute to the HCI community, and in particular to designers of social systems, by providing guidelines to targeted design that can increase online participation. Copyright © 2013 ACM

Our Space: Being a Responsible Citizen of the Digital World

Our Space is a set of curricular materials designed to encourage high school students to reflect on the ethical dimensions of their participation in new media environments. Through role-playing activities and reflective exercises, students are asked to consider the ethical responsibilities of other people, and whether and how they behave ethically themselves online. These issues are raised in relation to five core themes that are highly relevant online: identity, privacy, authorship and ownership, credibility, and participation.Our Space was co-developed by The Good Play Project and Project New Media Literacies (established at MIT and now housed at University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism). The Our Space collaboration grew out of a shared interest in fostering ethical thinking and conduct among young people when exercising new media skills

A critical theory and postmodernist approach to the teaching of accounting theory

[Abstract]: This paper outlines my teaching philosophy for the Accounting Theory subject. A Critical Theory and Postmodernist approach is recommended, which makes full use of non-accounting 'tangential material' (Boyce, 2004) and material from popular culture (Kell, 2004; Nilan, 2004). The paper discusses some classroom interactive activities, as well as interview results from interviews conducted with eleven international students and one Australian student at Charles Sturt University. The teaching approach proposed in this paper is to conduct classroom interactive activities which study theories and research results from a range of disciplines in order to illustrate key points that apply equally as much to accounting theories and the accounting research process, e.g. the Positive/Normative dichotomy. Classroom interactive activities are discussed in class using the 'dialogical approach' to education recommended by Freire (1996), Kaidonis (2004), Boyce (2004), and Thomson and Bebbington (2004). Once students gain experience in studying material from outside accounting, the interview results suggest that they are then better motivated (Wynder, 2006) and better equipped to study and evaluate accounting theories

Online help-seeking in communities of practice

Interactive online help systems are considered to be a fruitful supplement to traditional IT helpdesks, which are often overloaded. They often comprise user-generated FAQ collections playing the role of technology-based conceptual artifacts. Two main questions arise: how the conceptual artifacts should be used, and which factors influence their acceptance in a community of practice (CoP). Firstly, this paper offers a theoretical frame and a usage scenario for technology-based conceptual artifacts against the theoretical background of the academic help-seeking and CoP approach. Each of the two approaches is extensively covered by psychological and educational research literature, however their combination is not yet sufficiently investigated. Secondly, the paper proposes a research model explaining the acceptance of conceptual artifacts. The model includes users’ expectations towards the artifact, perceived social influence and users’ roles in the CoP as predictors of artifact use intention and actual usage. A correlational study conducted in an academic software users’ CoP and involving structural equations modeling validates the model, suggesting thus a research line that is worth further pursuing. For educational practice, the study suggests three ways of supporting knowledge sharing in CoPs, i.e. use of technology-based conceptual artifacts, roles and division of labor, and purposeful communication in CoPs

Collaborating on Web 2.0 Technologies: The Best-Fit Model for the Behavioral Intentions of Preservice Teachers

Professional collaborative partnerships among teachers are essential in delivering appropriate services, in an inclusive classroom for students with disabilities. Web 2.0 technologies are new, yet largely unexamined, tools that may be used to facilitate collaborative partnerships. Teacher preparation programs are currently attempting to understand the behavioral intention of preservice teachers on these new technologies. A total of 590 preservice teachers participated in this study and reported their current use, perceived benefits, and behavioral intentions on Web 2.0 technologies. The Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB) was used as a theoretical framework to help guide the study and identify possible behavior intention factors. The collected data was analyzed through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to find a best-fit path model that would lead to the behavioral intention of preservice teachers to use Web 2.0 technologies. This study found that preservice teachers are using Web 2.0 technologies at an increasing rate in their teacher preparation programs. Preservice teachers also reported perceiving peer interaction and sharing resources as the greatest collaborative benefits of these technologies. When the combined factors of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control were identified, preservice teachers intend to collaborate on Web 2.0 technologies as professional teachers. Teacher preparation program faculty should be encouraged to use Web 2.0 technologies in their courses, with the understanding that it will benefit the future collaboration of teachers

The role of social networks in students’ learning experiences

The aim of this research is to investigate the role of social networks in computer science education. The Internet shows great potential for enhancing collaboration between people and the role of social software has become increasingly relevant in recent years. This research focuses on analyzing the role that social networks play in students’ learning experiences. The construction of students’ social networks, the evolution of these networks, and their effects on the students’ learning experience in a university environment are examined

SAUDI STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO SUPPORT LEARNING

The Pew Research Center (2015) reported that 74% of the Internet users use social networking sites worldwide. Studies have provided evidence that social media is promising for increasing collaboration and cooperation in project –based learning. However, few empirical studies investigate the use of social media in educational settings, especially in the Middle East. This study investigates factors and barriers affecting the attitudes toward using social media in one of Saudi Arabia’s universities, King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah, with the intent of understanding when and how social media can best be used to support learning. The hypothesized model was developed through the social learning theories of Bandura and Vygotsky, the Technology Acceptance Model of Davis, and the Diffusion of Innovation model of Rogers. Five hundred ten students (214 male and 296 female) participated in an electronic survey, and its findings reveal the students have positive attitudes (M= 3.99, SD=.76) towards using social media to support learning. The most frequently used tool by students was WhatsApp (M= 4.60, SD=.88), with which students have the highest experience (M= 4.58, SD=.84). Students reported facing two major barriers when utilizing social media which are some of the social media contents are against the students’ religion (M= 4.12, SD= 1.1) and concerns about privacy and security issues related to the usage of social media (M= 3.72, SD=1.19). Only five predictors were significant determinants of attitudes of the students including: perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, subjective norms, experience with Skype, and age. There was a significant relationship between the overall attitudes of the students and their intentions, with r(508)= .67, p=.00. As social media tools continue to attract students’ attention, more research on developing effective instructional methods for using social media to support students’ learning, with consideration of cultural and religious aspects, is needed

A Case Study of New Media Literacies in an English Language Learning Program

This case study was conducted in a four-week winter program of an English language center affiliated to a university that is situated in a city in Ontario. Underpinned by theories on new media literacies, actor-network theory, and curriculum, the thesis examines human and nonhuman actors that enabled and constrained students’ new media literacies practices in the English language learning program. Despite the fact that there are emergent studies on new media literacies, there is scarce literature on human and nonhuman actors that influence students’ new media literacies practices. In this study, sources of data included curricular documents, students’ artifacts, classroom observations of 12 student participants and two instructors, and semi-structured interviews with six student participants. Findings show that students’ new media literacies practices of transmedia navigation, appropriation, judgment, and distributed cognition were enabled in the program whereas the practices of networking, participatory culture, and collective intelligence were constrained to a certain degree. The study also identified human and nonhuman actors that shaped students’ new media literacies practices, such as program design, materiality of classrooms, and individual differences of student participants. This study provides curricular and pedagogical suggestions to English language learning programs in order to enable and expand students’ new media literacies practices and bolster their language learning