Sonic souvenirs: exploring the paradoxes of recorded sound for family remembering

Many studies have explored social processes and technologies associated with sharing photos. In contrast, we explore the role of sound as a medium for social reminiscing. We involved 10 families in recording 'sonic souvenirs' of their holidays. They shared and discussed their collections on their return. We compared these sounds with their photo taking activities and reminiscences. Both sounds and pictures triggered active collaborative reminiscing, and attempts to capture iconic representations of events. However sounds differed from photos in that they were more varied, familial and creative. Further, they often expressed the negative or mundane in order to be 'true to life', and were harder to interpret than photos. Finally we saw little use of pure explanatory narrative. We reflect on the relations between sound and family memory and propose new designs on the basis of our findings, to better support the sharing and manipulation of social sounds

FM radio: family interplay with sonic mementos

Digital mementos are increasingly problematic, as people acquire large amounts of digital belongings that are hard to access and often forgotten. Based on fieldwork with 10 families, we designed a new type of embodied digital memento, the FM Radio. It allows families to access and play sonic mementos of their previous holidays. We describe our underlying design motivation where recordings are presented as a series of channels on an old fashioned radio. User feedback suggests that the device met our design goals: being playful and intriguing, easy to use and social. It facilitated family interaction, and allowed ready access to mementos, thus sharing many of the properties of physical mementos that we intended to trigger

The Internet as a Diversion

Presents survey findings on the extent to which people who use online sources of economic and financial information also use the Internet to take their minds off of the recession. Analyzes data by online activity, age, gender, and financial situation

Practitioners as innovators: Emergent practice in personal mobile teaching, learning, work and leisure

Mobile devices have become commonplace tools, yet little is known about how individuals use them in their teaching, learning, work, and leisure. We report on an investigation into personal mobile device use by students and alumni from the global master's degree in online and distance education offered by the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University (UK). The study identified various types of activity undertaken, and focused on emerging issues in relation to innovative practices. Participants described their uses of four types of device, the frequency of specific uses, and their views on the attractions and disadvantages of mobile learning. The chapter is intended to inform those who are interested in the potential of mobile learning, designing learning for a specific type of device, or who own a mobile device and are simply looking to make better use of it in the future

Phonetic Imitation of Vowel Duration in L2 Speech

This paper reports the results of a pilot study concerned with phonetic imitation in the speech of Polish learners of English. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether native speakers of Polish imitate the length of English vowels and to determine whether the extent of phonetic imitation may be influenced by the model talker being a native or a non-native speaker of English. The participants were asked to perform an auditory naming task in which they indentified objects and actions presented on a set of photos twice, with and without the imitation task. The imitation task was further sub-divided depending on the model talker being a native or non-native speaker of English (a native Southern British English speaker and a native Polish speaker fluent in English). As the aim was to investigate the variability in durational characteristics of English vowels, the series of front vowels /æ e ɪ iː/ were analysed in the shortening and lengthening b_t vs. b_d contexts. The results of the study show that the participants imitated the length of the investigated vowels as a result of exposure to the two model talkers. The data suggest that the degree of imitation was mediated both by linguistic and social factors and that the direction of convergence might have been affected by the participants’ attitude toward L2 pronunciation

Immigrant Student Identities in Literacy Spaces

The United States has a long history of marginalizing immigrant populations. Anti-immigration laws and ideologies have not only marginalized immigrant populations, but they have shaped the American educational system. Language policies, curricula, and standardized tests threaten the erasure of immigrant students’ languages, cultures, and identities while favoring and privileging white middle-class ways of learning. This is particularly true for immigrants of color. This backgrounder discusses immigrant identities in school spaces. Specifically, I provide an overview of how immigrant students’ identities are constructed in literacy classrooms through literacy practices.Educatio