Developing a Framework for Conceptualizing Affordances of Technology in Education

The term affordance has been defined and interpreted diversely in different domains over decades. However, little attention has been paid to the definition of affordances in the domain of education. With the increasing application of various technologies in education, the conceptualization of educational affordances of technology is essential to fully explore the educational potential of technology and better understand how learning could be supported with the affordances of technology. This paper compares the existing literature concerning affordance theories and defines affordances in the domain of education. A framework for conceptualizing educational affordances of technology has been articulated based on the literature to interpret the notion from three aspects: technology, user, and environment. The framework would not only help practitioners to understand the certain capability of technology to provide an effective mediating tool for educational activities but also assist researchers to study the educational affordances of technology from new dimensions

Dynamics of Affordances and Implications for Design

Affordance is an important concept in HCI. There are various interpretations of affordances but it has been difficult to use this concept for design purposes. Often the treatment of affordances in the current HCI literature has been as a one-to-one relationship between a user and an artefact. According to our views, affordance is a dynamic, always emerging relationship between a human and his environment. We believe that the social and cultural contexts within which an artefact is situated affect the way in which the artefact is used. Using a Structuration Theory approach, we argue that affordances need also be treated at a much broader level, encompassing social and cultural aspects. We suggest that affordances should be seen at three levels: single user, organizational (or work group) and societal. Focusing on the organizational level affordances, we provide details of several important factors that affect the emergence of affordances

A Guiding Framework for Developing Theories Investigating the Design Drivers of IT Use and Value

Understanding the benefits individuals derive from information systems (IS) is a long-standing theoretical and practical issue. To address it, a recommended approach is to investigate how individuals use these systems to better achieve their goals. Such an approach can be implemented via focusing on the distinctive object of study of our field, i.e., the information technology (IT) artifact.Hence, this paper is motivated by the lack of existing guidance on how to theorize about IS use when the research intent is to better specify the role of IT artifact design criteria. We provide assistance to scholars in identifying and relating key constructs based on which design-focused system use theories can be developed. To do so, we build on key assumptions and ideas from the Philosophy of Technology about the nature, the use, and the design of technical artifacts. These suggest that a better understanding of the design-related factors involved in the study of IT use and effects can be gained by studying (i) whether designers create IT artifacts that have the potential to support users\u27 goal-oriented actions, and (ii) whether users can exploit these IT artifacts in a way that enables them to reach their goals. Following on these ideas, the paper specifies the key building blocks that could be used by scholars when developing theories explaining the effects derived from using a given class of information systems. It also identifies the key gaps preventing the achievement of users\u27 goals that arise from both (i) the design of IT artifacts for goal-oriented tasks and (ii) the enactment of these artifacts by individuals. Finally, it proposes a series of steps to help researchers theorize about the influence of design-related aspects involved in IT use and IT value

Leveraging Health Behavior and Communication Theories to Support Adolescent and Young Adults: Conceptualizing Social Media Wellness in Relation to Disordered Eating

Social media platforms like Instagram serve as an important mechanism for transmitting social information and influence. However, the nature and use of these platforms are known to perpetuate eating disorders (EDs) or further disorder eating symptoms. This concept paper proposes merging health behavior and communication theory to create a comprehensive and applicable framework for remediating pro-eating disorder social media content among people who have eating disorders. To this end, the Social Media Wellness Model, which is adapted from the Health Belief Model, the Uses and Gratifications approach, the MAIN model of media affordances, and media literacy training, is proposed. This paper shows how theoretical model components can be mapped back to behaviors typified by individuals with EDs, or those predisposed to developing EDs. Subsequently, we propose a training intervention to highlight salient literacy cues, and outline next steps for testing and developing this model with the ongoing support of a community advisory board (CAB). Creating a CAB with individuals who have lived experience of an ED or disordered eating, and who use social media, will be vital to testing the applicability of this conceptual Social Media Wellness Model for ED recovery

Not all the bots are created equal:the Ordering Turing Test for the labelling of bots in MMORPGs

This article contributes to the research on bots in Social Media. It takes as its starting point an emerging perspective which proposes that we should abandon the investigation of the Turing Test and the functional aspects of bots in favor of studying the authentic and cooperative relationship between humans and bots. Contrary to this view, this article argues that Turing Tests are one of the ways in which authentic relationships between humans and bots take place. To understand this, this article introduces the concept of Ordering Turing Tests: these are sort of Turing Tests proposed by social actors for purposes of achieving social order when bots produce deviant behavior. An Ordering Turing Test is method for labeling deviance, whereby social actors can use this test to tell apart rule-abiding humans and rule-breaking bots. Using examples from Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, this article illustrates how Ordering Turing Tests are proposed and justified by players and service providers. Data for the research comes from scientific literature on Machine Learning proposed for the identification of bots and from game forums and other player produced paratexts from the case study of the game Runescape

The Digital Architectures of Social Media: Comparing Political Campaigning on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat in the 2016 U.S. Election

The present study argues that political communication on social media is mediated by a platform's digital architecture, defined as the technical protocols that enable, constrain, and shape user behavior in a virtual space. A framework for understanding digital architectures is introduced, and four platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat) are compared along the typology. Using the 2016 US election as a case, interviews with three Republican digital strategists are combined with social media data to qualify the studyies theoretical claim that a platform's network structure, functionality, algorithmic filtering, and datafication model affect political campaign strategy on social media

The MAIN Model: A Heuristic Approach to Understanding Technology Effects on Credibility

Part of the Volume on Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility Historically, credibility assessments assume a relatively explicit, effortful evaluation of message source and content, but this chapter argues that four technological features -- modality, agency, interactivity, and navigability -- can profoundly influence credibility judgments that are made more subtly and automatically while accessing information. Based on research evidence that suggests today's youth pay more attention to these technological aspects than to source and content aspects, this chapter examines the ways in which they may shape credibility perceptions during digital media use. These features are conceptualized as "affordances" (or action possibilities) that suggest certain functions and/or transmit certain cues that trigger cognitive heuristics (or mental shortcuts) leading people to their impressions of the quality and credibility of the underlying information

How Affordances of Immersive Visualization Systems Affect Learning Outcomes through Aesthetic Experience

Virtual reality has received attention as an environment for learning, yet little is known about the effectiveness of bringing the immersive visualization systems into the university classrooms. Building upon prior literature on immersive technology and the theory of affordance, we develop a model investigating how the features afforded by an immersive visualization system escalate users’ engagement, which in turn increases their learning outcomes. We will test the model with undergraduate students who have experienced with an immersive visualization system in the classroom setting. We believe that our work will enrich the existing literature on virtual reality in education and provide insight into the design of immersive representations and the structure of immersive learning paradigm

Technology Affordances and IT Identity

The study attempts to understand the impact of technology affordances on identifying the self with technology (IT identity). Furthermore, it seeks to understand the role of experiences in mediating the relationship between technology affordances and IT identity. To answer our research questions, we will conduct a cross-sectional survey

“No powers, man!”: A student perspective on designing university smart building interactions

Smart buildings offer an opportunity for better performance and enhanced experience by contextualising services and interactions to the needs and practices of occupants. Yet, this vision is limited by established approaches to building management, delivered top-down through professional facilities management teams, opening up an interaction-gap between occupants and the spaces they inhabit. To address the challenge of how smart buildings might be more inclusively managed, we present the results of a qualitative study with student occupants of a smart building, with design workshops including building walks and speculative futuring. We develop new understandings of how student occupants conceptualise and evaluate spaces as they experience them, and of how building management practices might evolve with new sociotechnical systems that better leverage occupant agency. Our findings point to important directions for HCI research in this nascent area, including the need for HBI (Human-Building Interaction) design to challenge entrenched roles in building management