‘Probing with the prototype’:using a prototype e-participation platform as a digital cultural probe to investigate youth engagement with the environment

This study describes how we used a prototype e-participation plat-form as a digital cultural probe to investigate youth motivation and engagement strategies. This is a novel way of considering digital cultural probes which can contribute to the better creation of e-participation platforms. This probe has been conducted as part of the research project STEP which aims at creating an e-participation platform to engage young European Citizens in environmental decision making. Our probe technique has given an insight into the environ-mental issues concerning young people across Europe as well as possible strat-egies for encouraging participation. How the e-participation platform can be utilised to support youth engagement through opportunities for social interac-tion and leadership is discussed. This study leads to a better understanding of how young people can co-operate with each other to provide collective intelli-gence and how this knowledge could contribute to effective e-participation of young people

Impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on construction projects

The changing face of construction projects has resulted in a movement towards the use of technology as a primary means of communication. The consequences of this rise in the use of information and communication technology (ICT) is a loss of interpersonal communication skills. A number of resulting issues within the human – electronic and human – human interfaces are identified in an attempt to define the efficiency of communication in projects. The research shows how ICT effects the social environment of construction project teams and the project outcome. The study seeks to confirm the need for further work in order to develop new forms of communication protocols and behaviour. An initial literature review was undertaken to develop a theoretical review of the impacts of ICT on construction project teams. This review identified a number of issues that were then tested in the field through an observation and two verification interviews. The research confirms the existence of tensions and conflicts in the human – electronic and human - human communication interfaces within the studies environment. It is proposed that the increasing use of ICT occur at the expense of soft system communication. The principal impact of this is a form of ‘human distraction’ which adversely affects the performance of project teams. There is limited theory exploring these issues that suggests the problems identified are not well understood and consequently indicates a gap in knowledge

The PASS Effect How Peer Assisted Study Sessions Contribute to a Computing Community

Computing at UCLan introduced Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) across all their courses in 2016, a scheme which has been identified as 'Best Practice' by the British Computer Society. Pairs of higher-year students (PASS Leaders) facilitate a group of lower year students to discuss and resolve problems during informal weekly sessions which are, in addition to the normal teaching events, scheduled sympathetically with the students' timetables. The sessions offer students extra support, tailored to their needs by identifying topics that they would like to explore further. The PASS Leaders facilitate group discussions or exercises designed to enhance the students' understanding of those topics in engaging and fun sessions. The participants benefit by having a greater understanding of the topics, enhancing their friendship with their peers and Leaders, providing a wider informal support network. Moreover, because of discussions with higher year students, attendees have a greater understanding of what their course is about and where topics fit into the wider context of their degree. There is a weekly debrief of PASS Leaders with a member of staff (PASS Supervisor) to discuss issues raised and offer ongoing support to the PASS Leaders. Troublesome topics are reported to the teaching team, so they can be addressed for future classes. The PASS Leaders benefit as much from the scheme as the students they support. Leaders say that participating in PASS has increased their confidence and has improved their organisational and interpersonal skills, amongst other things. Revisiting topics from previous years can also enhance their understanding of the material. From an academic perspective, the scheme is working well, embedding into the culture of student life. It has fostered the creation of a community across all courses and years, which increases inclusivity and brings a greater sense of belonging to our student body

Is change on the horizon for Maori and Pacifica female high school students when it comes to ICT?

This paper explores some of the factors that discourage the participation of Māori and Pacific girls in ICT in New Zealand. Despite many ICT job opportunities, there has been a steady decrease in the percentage of girls, especial Māori and Pacific girls entering into ICT study, and pursuing ICT careers. This study used a modified version of the conceptual framework designed by Bernhardt (2014) based on the 'STEMcell' model. The STEMcell framework was used to explores the factors that discourage participation in ICT through such concepts as cultural, social, structural and social IT that contribute to the likelihood of student’s career choice in ICT. An online questionnaire gathered data from year 11 students studying at high schools within Wellington, New Zealand. The findings indicated that Pacific girl’s more than Māori girls reported that their family members were seen as role models, which could impact on their future career choices. The statistical results also show that stereotypes are still alive in both Māori and Pacific year 11 student’s perceptions and that both Pacific and Māori girls from year 11 are unlikely to follow a career in ICT. Currently, the number of Māori and Pacific girls enrolling in ICT subjects at secondary school is still substantially below that for boys and, until changes are made, Māori and Pacific girls going into the industry will be in the minority

Designing digital workplaces for employee engagement: Practical guidelines from a systematic literature review

Technological advancements have enabled a new perspective on the future of work, by bringing about job creation, job destruction, and different ways of work. In the meantime, new generations are becoming the majority of the global workforce. In this context, we performed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to understand how employees experience the digital workplace. We focused on generations Y (Millennials) and Z. We identified the need for the companies to consider process, people, and technology to provide a workplace where employees can perform their jobs seamlessly wherever they are. The SLR also provided the necessary input to propose a systematization of a set of guidelines across four phases to support organizations in the implementation of an engaging digital workplace

A best practice for gamification in large companies: An extensive study focusing inter-generational acceptance

Gamification is increasingly successful in the field of education and health. However, beyond call-centers and applications in human resources, its utilization within companies remains limited. In this paper, we examine the acceptance of gamification in a large company (with over 17,000 employees) across three generations, namely X, Y, and Z. Furthermore, we investigate which gamification elements are suited for business contexts, such as the dissemination of company principles and facts, or the organization of work tasks. To this end, we conducted focus group discussions, developed the prototype of a gamified company app, and performed a large-scale evaluation with 367 company employees. The results reveal statistically significant intergenerational disparities in the acceptance of gamification: younger employees, especially those belonging to Generation Z, enjoy gamification more than older employees and are most likely to engage with a gamified app in the workplace. The results further show a nuanced range of preferences regarding gamification elements: avatars are popular among all generations, badges are predominantly appreciated by Generations Z and Y, while leaderboards are solely liked by Generation Z. Drawing upon these insights, we provide recommendations for future gamification projects within business contexts. We hope that the results of our study regarding the preferences of the gamification elements and understanding generational differences in acceptance and usage of gamification will help to create more engaging and effective apps, especially within the corporate landscape

Civic Identities, Online Technologies: From Designing Civics Curriculum to Supporting Civic Experiences

Part of the Volume on Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth.Youth today are often criticized for their lack of civic participation and involvement in political life. Technology has been blamed, amongst many other causes, for fostering social isolation and youth's retreat into a private world disconnected from their communities. However, current research is beginning to indicate that these might be inaccurate perceptions. The Internet has provided new opportunities to create communities that extend beyond geographic boundaries, to engage in civic and volunteering activities across local and national frontiers, to learn about political life, and to experience the challenges of democratic participation. How do we leverage youth's interest in new technologies by developing technology-based educational programs to promote civic engagement? This chapter explores this question by proposing socio-technical design elements to be considered when developing technology-rich experiences. It presents a typology to guide the design of Internet-based interventions, taking into account both the affordances of the technology and the educational approach to the use of the technology. It also presents a pilot experience in a northeastern university that offered a pre-orientation program in which incoming freshman designed a three-dimensional virtual campus of the future and developed new policies and programs to strengthen the relationship between college campus and neighbor communities

Facilitating collective action and enhancing local knowledge: a herbal medicine case study in Talaandig communities, Philippines

"The indigenous people of Talaanding in Basac village, Bukidnon, the Philippines, had to deal with a high occurrence of disease and a high number of malnourished children in their village. This situation was due to the inability of the local health clinic to provide adequate health service and medicine to the community. Using an approach that promotes social learning and collective action, a CIFOR Adaptive Collaborative Management (ACM) research team facilitated a group of women, mostly the village health workers, in addressing their local health problems by using their local knowledge of medicinal plants and herbal medicines. This paper describes the ACM concept and the social learning processes that the women went through in identifying their health-related problems in the village, devising strategies to deal with those problems, monitoring the outcomes of their action, and improving their subsequent strategies. This paper also shows that the ACM processes promoted not only collective action and social learning among the women, but also helps to revive local knowledge of herbal medicines and conserve genetic resources in the area. The sustainability of the women's efforts will depend on their ability to mobilize more community members to manage the established herb gardens, to enforce rules so that the costs and benefits of the gardens can be shared more equally, to link-up with local government and other stakeholders, and to continuously learn and adapt their management strategies." Author's AbstractSocial learning, Indigenous knowledge, Medicinal plants, Adaptive collaborative management, Gender,

Technology and Caregiving: Emerging Interventions and Directions for Research.

An array of technology-based interventions has increasingly become available to support family caregivers, primarily focusing on health and well-being, social isolation, financial, and psychological support. More recently the emergence of new technologies such as mobile and cloud, robotics, connected sensors, virtual/augmented/mixed reality, voice, and the evermore ubiquitous tools supported by advanced data analytics, coupled with the integration of multiple technologies through platform solutions, have opened a new era of technology-enabled interventions that can empower and support family caregivers. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for identifying and addressing the challenges that may need to be overcome to effectively apply technology-enabled solutions for family caregivers. The paper identifies a number of challenges that either moderate or mediate the full use of technologies for the benefit of caregivers. The challenges include issues related to equity, inclusion, and access; ethical concerns related to privacy and security; political and regulatory factors affecting interoperability and lack of standards; inclusive/human-centric design and issues; and inherent economic and distribution channel difficulties. The paper concludes with a summary of research questions and issues that form a framework for global research priorities

Influencer marketing : the impact of the number of followers on influencer’s likability for young Instagram users

Understanding how customers respond to influencer marketing has become a priority for companies, since the impact of digital marketing in today’s world is undeniable. The main goal of this research is to study how young Instagram users perceive the number of followers and followees of an influencer in terms of his/her overall likability and, if the influencer’s ascribed opinion leadership works as a mediator of this relationship. In order to do so, we administered a questionnaire to young Instagram users between 18 and 34 years old, since 65% of Instagram users belong to this age group. Specifically, we created two fictitious influencers Instagram accounts, one female and one male, and manipulated the number of followers and followees. The responses of 672 people were analyzed with SPSS and AMOS, all of which Portuguese Instagram users (370 women and 301 men). The results show that the number of followers negatively affects influencer’s likability, even though this relation does not exist when the influencer’s ascribed opinion leadership is not controlled. In addition, we found that the number of people followed by the influencer is also an important variable to take into consideration: if it is low, the influencer’s likability is negatively affected by the number of followers, but, if it is high, this negative effect does not occur. Evidence that women are more influenced by Instagram’ influencers than men was also found. On the whole, this study sheds light into the characteristics that an Instagram influencer must have in order to increase his/her likability, as well as on how consumers demographic features and Instagram usage might affect their response to influencer marketing. An important contribution of this research is linked with the finding that micro-influencers (number of followers below 100K) seem to be more likable and, thus, more attractive for companies and marketing agencies.Compreender de que forma é que os consumidores respondem ao influencer marketing tornou-se uma prioridade para as empresas, dado o inegável impacto que o marketing digital tem nos dias de hoje. Neste trabalho, o principal objetivo consiste em estudar como é que o número de seguidores e de contas seguidas por um influenciador no Instagram afeta a propensão dos jovens utilizadores para apreciarem os mesmos. Além disso, pretendeu-se compreender se a atribuição de poder de opinião a um influenciar medeia a relação previamente descrita. Neste sentido, recolheram-se dados através de um questionário, direcionado aos utilizadores jovens do Instagram com idades entre os 18 e 34 anos, uma vez que estes representam 65% dos utilizadores desta plataforma. Especificamente, criaram-se duas contas fictícias de influenciadores no Instagram, uma relativa a um influenciador masculino e outra a um feminino, tendo-se manipulado o número de seguidores e de contas seguidas pelos mesmos. As respostas de 672 pessoas, todas elas de nacionalidade portuguesa e utilizadoras do Instagram, foram analisadas através do SPSS e do AMOS (370 mulheres e 301 homens). Os resultados mostram que o número de seguidores afeta negativamente a propensão dos consumidores para gostarem dos influenciadores, apesar desta relação não se verificar quando o poder de opinião atribuído ao influenciador não é controlado. Adicionalmente, este estudo demonstrou que o número de pessoas seguidas pelos influenciadores é também uma variável importante a ter em conta: se este for baixo, a propensão dos consumidores para gostarem de um influenciador é negativamente afetada pelo número de seguidores do mesmo; pelo contrário, se for elevado, esta relação não existe. Importa ainda destacar que as mulheres são mais influenciadas por influenciadores do Instagram do que os homens. No global, foram retiradas conclusões úteis acerca das caraterísticas que um influenciador do Instagram deve ter, de forma a aumentar a propensão dos seus seguidores para o apreciarem. Ao mesmo tempo, estudou-se como é que as características demográficas dos consumidores e a sua utilização do Instagram influenciam a sua resposta ao influencer marketing. Uma concussão importante desta investigação prende-se com a constatação de que os micro influenciadores (com menos de 100m seguidores) tendem a ser mais apreciados e, assim, mais atrativos para empresas e agências de marketing