Emergence in Nascent Online Communities: An Affordance Perspective

Online communities like Wikipedia have the potential to transform our global society. Despite their growing importance, however, the extant literature has theorized only little about how member contribution behavior in a nascent online community emerges in interaction with the materiality of the technology platform. Studying this is critical for understanding the important early stage evolution of online communities. Without a rich history, the platform’s materiality is almost the only thing that members can use to make sense of the online community. We investigate this question by applying a mixed-method approach to a longitudinal case study of AshokaHub, a nascent global online community of social entrepreneurs. We use an affordance perspective and our findings to date suggest that the materiality of the technology platform plays an important role in the emergence of member contribution behavior in the nascent online community. Moreover, they suggest extensions to the concepts of affordances and imbrication

Developing online teacher communities to support communication and collaboration

Glow, the Scottish arm of the National Grid for Learning (NGfL), was created to connect each of Scotland's 32 local authorities, schools, teachers and pupils, as well as key stakeholders through a secure intranet. Since the official launch of Glow in 2007 it has received a mixed reception amongst the teaching profession and engagement has been variable. This study set out to investigate Glow's use. The initial online survey of teachers' perceptions of Glow, in 2009, indicated that respondents were making little use of Glow. This led to a refocusing ofthe research to investigate a group of teachers who had a history of communicating online, with a view to understanding how teacher communities evolve online. A case study approach was adopted using a variety of methods including e-participant observations of their asynchronous discussion forums, questionnaires and interviews. The research builds on previous work on member Life-Cycle models and online community models in order to describe and analyse this onlineteacher community. Key findings emerged related to the adequacy of existing models of online communities and the evolution of new modes of online interaction. Specifically, member Life-Cycle models designed for open online communities do not fully describe the roles adopted in a closed teacher community. Furthermore, such models are inadequate to fully understand community development where members communicate offline as well as online. For this existing teacher community synchronous discussions appear to be increasing in relevance and popularity in comparison with asynchronous discussions. The implications of this for the next generation of Glow and online teacher communities are particularly relevant suggesting that focused synchronous discussion groups are an area for future research. Keywords: Glow, NGfL, online communication, online collaboration, online communities, teacher communities

Competitive dynamics of lexical innovations in multi-layer networks

We study the introduction of lexical innovations into a community of language users. Lexical innovations, i.e., new terms added to people's vocabulary, play an important role in the process of language evolution. Nowadays, information is spread through a variety of networks, including, among others, online and offline social networks and the World Wide Web. The entire system, comprising networks of different nature, can be represented as a multi-layer network. In this context, lexical innovations diffusion occurs in a peculiar fashion. In particular, a lexical innovation can undergo three different processes: its original meaning is accepted; its meaning can be changed or misunderstood (e.g., when not properly explained), hence more than one meaning can emerge in the population; lastly, in the case of a loan word, it can be translated into the population language (i.e., defining a new lexical innovation or using a synonym) or into a dialect spoken by part of the population. Therefore, lexical innovations cannot be considered simply as information. We develop a model for analyzing this scenario using a multi-layer network comprising a social network and a media network. The latter represents the set of all information systems of a society, e.g., television, the World Wide Web and radio. Furthermore, we identify temporal directed edges between the nodes of these two networks. In particular, at each time step, nodes of the media network can be connected to randomly chosen nodes of the social network and vice versa. In so doing, information spreads through the whole system and people can share a lexical innovation with their neighbors or, in the event they work as reporters, by using media nodes. Lastly, we use the concept of "linguistic sign" to model lexical innovations, showing its fundamental role in the study of these dynamics. Many numerical simulations have been performed.Comment: 23 pages, 19 figures, 1 tabl

The impact of Digital Platforms on Business Models: an empirical investigation on innovative start-ups

Digital platforms have the ability to connect people, organizations and resources with the aim of facilitating the core interactions between businesses and consumers as well as assuring a greater efficiency for the business management. New business concepts, such as innovative start-ups, are therefore created based on innovation, scalability and the relationships within the community around them. The purpose of this work is to deeply understand the evolution of business models brought by innovative and dynamic companies operating through online platforms. In order to achieve the objectives set, an exploratory multiple-case study was designed based on in-depth structured interviews. The aim was to conduct a mixed analysis, in order to rely both on qualitative and quantitative data. The structured interview protocol was therefore designed to collect and then analyse data concerning the company profile and managers’ perspectives on the phenomenon of interest. The interview protocol was submitted in advance and then face-to-face interviews were carried out with the following professional figures: Chief Executive Officer (CEO), General Manager, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Marketing Manager and Developers. Collected data were analysed and processed through the Canvas Business Model in order to clearly outline similarities and differences among the sample. Results can be considered under two viewpoints. On the one hand, this work provides a detailed overview of the companies interviewed, according to the dimensions of: reference market dynamics, type and number of customers, scalability. On the other one, they allow to identify some success patterns regarding key activities, key resources, channel mix strategy, costs management, value proposition, customer segmentation, key partners and the way to obtain revenues. Results from the multiple-case study with 15 Italian start-ups provide interesting insights by comparing the innovative business models developed and highlighting key differences and similarities. verall, the start-ups analyzed, operating in several sectors, showed great growth prospects and the possibility to create value for their customers through innovative products and services offered through digital platforms

The Professional Development of Pre-K Mentor Teachers: Insights from a Face-to-Face and Online Community of Practice

Early childhood classroom mentor teachers are often left with little support and guidance as they assume the role of teacher educators. The purpose of this collective case study was to explore how a community of practice comprised of pre-K mentors and a university program coordinator supported the development of shared and individual understandings about how to effectively supervise preservice teachers. Utilizing key tenets of sociocultural theory, four pre-K mentor teachers from two public schools in the Southeast participated in an online and face-to-face community of practice facilitated by a university program coordinator. The pre-K preservice teachers (n=6) were secondary participants in this study. Across twelve weeks, the evolution of collective and individual knowledge was chronicled through interviews, online discussions, face-to-face exchanges, and classroom observations. Audio-tapes from meetings and interviews were transcribed verbatim. Data analyses involved iterative cycles of coding, moving from open coding to process and pattern coding. Through this process, data displays and conceptual memos were created and informed the analyses. Findings from this qualitative study illustrate how the mentors’ processes of coming to know were developed within a complex web of relationships from which they re-envisioned their roles as pre-K teachers. As the mentors negotiated the meaning of mentoring, they engaged in recursive cycles of reshaping their identities through questioning, hypothesizing, and sharing lived experiences. New identities as educators of both children and adults emerged as they considered the role of mentoring as a tangible object to be closely studied, negotiated, and operationalized. The mentors left this study acknowledging that while mentoring was difficult, complex work, it was worthy work

Research on a Future Senior Housing Model in Wuhan, China

Recently in China, seniors’ health and living conditions after retirement have become the focus of increasing political and social concerns. Due to fertility policies in China since the 1980s, improvements in living conditions have led to longer average lifespan, increasing demand in the country’s senior housing market. This research explores the future development of senior housing for this and the next generation, the evolution of needs after retirement, and possible future solutions for providing an up-to-date senior housing community in Wuhan, China. Through documentary analysis of the current conditions as well as the needs and social concerns of seniors, case studies of successful senior housing projects, interviews with seniors and other generations in Wuhan, and online surveys, this study aims to look for possible future solutions for a sustainable community complex. To meet the need to live in a community that provides comfortable housing, and the desire of seniors to stay close to their family, this proposal seeks a solution that is affordable and suitable. This study aims to analyze the framework of a senior housing model that provides human services as well as physical infrastructure needed by seniors and their families for the well-being and high quality of life for seniors in the future. This analysis is developed based on Wuhan, a typical populous city in northern will China, which potentially has further influence on senior housing in other cities in China

Makerspace Models and Organizational Policies for Technological Inclusion

In the early part of the 21st Century, discourses about the “Creative Economy” rose to prominence resulting in educational, economic, and policy initiatives supporting what became known generically as “makerspaces.” As interdisciplinary sites where arts, technology, design, and entrepreneurship meet, makerspaces were heralded as transformational organizational models for learning and innovation. This dissertation explores the social arrangements opened and foreclosed by makerspaces through ethnographic case studies of how different institutions introduced and adapted makerspace models from 2013-2019. Using a communicative ecology approach (Foth & Hearn, 2007), this study interrogates the structures and practices that shape participant experience of these collaborative media, technology, and design spaces, analyzes the construction of “maker literacies,” and traces the broader evolution of technology access concerns in the U.S. This study thereby contributes to the research literature on social production practices, technological literacy, and technological inequality as well as offering recommendations for similar initiatives. The Maker Movement refers to the early 2000s rise in visibility of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) “making” activities aided by the advent of publications such as Make magazine, online communities such as Instructables, in-person meetups called Maker Faires, and localized communities of practice in makerspaces. Unfortunately, many of the independent makerspaces that were opened during the height of The Maker Movement from 2011-2016 have since closed due to leadership issues, funding shortfalls, and other organizational challenges. As of 2019, libraries, universities, schools, and museums are the most common places to find makerspaces. Rather than a unique phenomenon, makerspaces are conceptualized here as an evolution and re-branding of community access points for social inclusion like that of the community technology centers (CTCs) that arose throughout the U.S. when policy concerns for “digital divides” were at their height. Examining these spaces from a communication perspective as part of a longer history of technology access initiatives reveals how emerging technologies continually reorganize activities and influence priorities for organizations with social inclusion goals. Through in-depth case studies of three makerspaces in Massachusetts with different institutional ties—a community access media center, a public library, and an economic/community development project—this study explores the contributions of makerspaces to local ecologies with special attention to how media and technological literacies are enacted in makerspace initiatives. In particular, the study documents how policies and practices shape participation through questioning the impetus for creating a makerspace and what activities are recognized and valued in these spaces. The study also explores the sustainability of initiatives concerned with media and technological literacies amidst the changing terrain of digital inequality in the U.S. While political and economic transformations in the U.S. continually change access initiative priorities, interrogating discourses related to digital inequality, creativity, and innovation are still important for supporting equitable community development. A fuller understanding of the promises and pitfalls of the makerspace approach will enrich our understanding of social values related to technology and may be used to inform media and technological literacy initiatives