Studying web 2.0 interactivity: a research framework and two case studies

With more than one third of the world’s population being online, the Internet has increasingly become part of modern living, giving rise to popular literature that often takes a teleological and celebratory perspective, heralding the Internet and Web 2.0 specifically, as an enabler of participation, democracy, and interactivity. However, one should not take these technological affordances of Web 2.0 for granted. This article applies an interaction framework to the analysis of two Web 2.0 websites viewed as spaces where interaction goes beyond the mere consultation and selection of content, i.e., as spaces supporting the (co)creation of content and value. The authors’ approach to interactivity seeks to describe websites in objective, structural terms as spaces of user, document, and website affordances. The framework also makes it possible to talk about the websites in subjective, functional terms, considering them as spaces of perceived inter-action, intra-action and outer-action affordances. Analysis finds that both websites provide numerous user, document, and website affordances that can serve as inter-action or social affordances

Supporting Global Software Development with Web 2.0 Technologies - Insights from and Empirical Study

The paper at hand presents findings of a survey- and case study based investigation of using innovative Web2.0 technologies in the software development process of global companies. While the empirical study shows that adoption rates are already quite high, the satisfaction with using Web2.0 technologies and the resulting success highly depend on the adoption speed as well as on the mastery of special operating capabilities within the local IT and product development departments. In addition to these quantitative and survey-based findings, 3 case examples shed light on specific application scenarios of Web2.0 applications in different industries. Besides the exemplary illustration of where these innovative web technologies can support global software development processes, economic and strategic benefits of introducing them are highlighted

The Adoption of and Satisfaction with Web2.0 Based Collaboration and Knowledge Management Technologies in Global Software Development – Insights from an Empirical Study

The paper at hand presents findings of a survey- and case study based investigation of using innovative Web2.0 collaboration and knowledge management technologies in the software development process of global companies. While the empirical study shows that adoption rates are already considerably high, the satisfaction with using Web2.0 technologies and the resulting success highly depend on the adoption speed as well as on the mastery of special operating capabilities within the local IT and product development departments. In addition to these quantitative and survey-based findings, 3 case examples shed light on specific application scenarios of Web2.0 collaboration and knowledge management applications in different industries. Besides the exemplary illustration of where these innovative web technologies can support global software development processes, economic and strategic benefits of introducing them are highlighted

Social media, interactive tools that change business model dynamics

The aim of this research is two-folded. On the one hand, it attempts to assist employers of Catalan micro-retailers in designing, implementing and developing their Social Media strategy as a complementary channel of communication. On the other hand, it attempts to contribute to the research community with a better understanding on both which building block of the micro-retailer¿s Business Model is more influenced by the customer level of interaction by means of the Social Media and how a transformation can be observed in the micro-retailers¿ Business Models as a result of the Social Media implementation. The research question to be answered in this paper is how the transformation of the activity system of the micro-retailers¿ Business Model would allow the emergence of a Participatory Business Model by means of Social Media. To carry out this research the Participatory Action Research methodology was used, whose contribution has two results: the one is more practitioner oriented and the other is more academic. The incipient results of the research showed a scarce transformation of Catalan microretailer¿s business model as a consequence of the implementation of social media. However, it is significant enough to be considered as more than just a simple adoption of an alternative channel of communication. One of the main contributions is related to how customer influences the activity system of the micro-retailer¿s business model beyond four levels of customer interaction (communication, interaction, participation and collaboration) by means of social media. On the one hand, the activity system of a business model is referred to the eight building blocks of Osterwalder, Pigneur and Tucci (2005) research that includes customer segment, customer relationship, distribution channel, capabilities, partner, value configuration, value proposition, profit and cost. On the other hand, the four defined levels of customer interaction are based on the literature of group collaboration systems. The results showed that not all the building blocks forming the business model are influenced by consumer interaction. The only building blocks influenced by an initial communication level in the current social media strategy implementation stage of our sample (five micro-retailers) are the following: customer segment, customer relationship, distribution channel, value proposition and cost. This incipient stage of transformation can be justified by a lack of effort made due to the small size of the business and a lack of team working inside the companies, easily adapting to changes. It can also be justified by the fact it was carried out by the micro-retailers only during a short period of time (14 month). Another contribution of the paper shows that Social Media transformation drives a BM innovation according to the following mediator elements: (1) the dynamic capabilities, (2) the ability of learning, (3) the dedicated effort, (4) the implementation time and (5) the level of customer participation

3D-LIVE : live interactions through 3D visual environments

This paper explores Future Internet (FI) 3D-Media technologies and Internet of Things (IoT) in real and virtual environments in order to sense and experiment Real-Time interaction within live situations. The combination of FI testbeds and Living Labs (LL) would enable both researchers and users to explore capacities to enter the 3D Tele-Immersive (TI) application market and to establish new requirements for FI technology and infrastructure. It is expected that combining both FI technology pull and TI market pull would promote and accelerate the creation and adoption, by user communities such as sport practitioners, of innovative TI Services within sport events

Utilising Web 2.0 Technologies in an Australian Higher Educational Setting: A Case Study of Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia

On a national (Australia) scale, there is limited rigorous research investigating and comparing the types of Web 2.0 (Social Media) technologies Australian university students and their lecturers are interacting with and using to communicate, collaborate, deliver, and retrieve course content. This is surprising, given that academic institutions charged with equipping graduates to compete in today’s knowledge economy, the potential for utilising Web 2.0 tools for learning and teaching is great. From such an identified research gap, this study sought to determine the level and type of Web 2.0 applications from Australian university students and their lecturers use throughout the higher education landscape for heightening pedagogical practices, knowledge management, and course delivery. Given that technology, pedagogy, knowledge management and social capital are becoming increasingly entwined, further empirical research associated with the usage of Web 2.0 within higher education is warranted. Keywords:Web 2.0, Social Media, Higher Education, Social Capital, Knowledge Management, Pedagog

Cloudworks: Social networking for learning design

Can we apply the best of Web 2.0 principles to an educational context? More specifically can we use this as a means of shifting teaching practice to a culture of sharing learning ideas and designs? This paper describes a new social networking site, Cloudworks, which aims to provide a mechanism for sharing, discussing and finding learning and teaching ideas and designs. We describe the development of the site and the key associated concepts, 'clouds' and 'cloudscapes'. We provide a summary of recent activities and plans for the future. We conclude by describing the underpinning theoretical perspectives we have drawn on in the development of the site and in particular the notion of 'social objects' in social networking and a framework for 'sociality' for transforming user practice online