Mediating boundaries between knowledge and knowing: ICT and R4D praxis

Research for development (R4D) praxis (theory-informed practical action) can be underpinned by the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) which, it is claimed, provide opportunities for knowledge working and sharing. Such a framing implicitly or explicitly constructs a boundary around knowledge as reified, or commodified – or at least able to be stabilized for a period of time (first order knowledge). In contrast ‘third-generation knowledge’ emphasizes the social nature of learning and knowledge-making; this reframes knowledge as a negotiated social practice, thus constructing a different system boundary. This paper offers critical reflections on the use of a wiki as a data repository and mediating technical platform as part of innovating in R4D praxis. A sustainable social learning process was sought that fostered an emergent community of practice among biophysical and social researchers acting for the first time as R4D co-researchers. Over time the technologically mediated element of the learning system was judged to have failed. This inquiry asks: How can learning system design cultivate learning opportunities and respond to learning challenges in an online environment to support R4D practice? Confining critical reflection to the online learning experience alone ignores the wider context in which knowledge work took place; therefore the institutional setting is also considered

Embodying Tao in the ‘Restorative University’

This paper proposes a new generative metaphor, the ‘Restorative University’ which embodies an associated Taoist human–nature narrative. It aims to counter what is contextualized here as the bio-cultural disconnection of universities despite their espoused commitment to sustainability. This conceptual research draws on multiple disciplines such as environmental psychology alongside Taoist philosophy to open up a reflexive dialogue between multiple organizational actors. Moreover, to understand the potential transdisciplinary implications of a particular Tian Tao-inspired narrative, the metaphor of the ‘Restorative University’ is critically reflected upon, using illustrative examples of the University in a Garden, in Malaysia and the Schumacher College, in the UK. For universities committed to sustainability, the paper highlights the significance of collective emotional and aesthetic sensibility and agency (embodying Wu Wei), alongside a grounded, local, bio-cultural sensibility (embodying P’u) within the potential enactment of the Restorative University

Conceptual Metaphors: a review with implications for human understandings and systems practice

We provide an overview of metaphor theory and explore implications for systems practice by building on claims that metaphors are central to our ways of understanding. As stakeholders will have different understandings, each metaphor will reveal and conceal different aspects of their understandings. These differences need to be accommodated within systems practice. Our contribution in this paper is to show how metaphors can explain, appreciate and create different understandings. Further, new understandings can emerge from considering different metaphors

From generative fit to generative capacity: exploring an emerging dimension of information systems fit and task performance

Information systems research has been concerned with improving task-related performance. The concept of fit is often used to explain how system design results in better performance and overall value. So far, the literature focuses mainly on performance evaluation criteria that are based on measures of task efficiency, accuracy, or productivity. However, nowadays, productivity gain is no longer the single evaluation criterion. In many instances, computer systems are expected to enhance our creativity, reveal opportunities and open new vistas of uncharted frontiers. To address this void, we introduce the concept of generativity and develop two corresponding design considerations-- generative capacity that refers to one’s creativity, ingenuity and mental dexterity, and generative fit that refers to the extent to which an IT artifact is conducive to evoking and enhancing that generative capacity. We offer an extended view of the concept of fit and realign the prevailing approaches to humancomputer interaction design with current leading-edge applications and users\u27 expectations. Our findings guide systems designers who aim to enhance creative work, unstructured syntheses, serendipitous discoveries, and any other form of computer-aided tasks that involve unexplored outcomes, expect fresh configurations or aim to enhance our ability to boldly go where no one has gone before. In this paper, we explore the notion of generativity, review its theoretical background in the context of the social sciences, and argue that it should be included in the evaluation of task-related performance. Then, we briefly explore the role of fit in IS research, position “generative fit” in that context, explain its role and impact on performance, and provide key design considerations that enhance generative fit. Finally, we demonstrate our thesis with an illustrative case of good generative fit, and conclude with ideas for further research and final thoughts

Virtual workplaces : when metaphors breakdown

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1998.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-81).Our model of work is shaped by the places we choose to work and the tools we choose to work with. As we introduce new technologies and build new environments our model is changing. Today's virtual workplaces are grounded in models of work that have been reformed from our experiences using current technology in physical workspace. However we are discovering opportunities and possibilities for work in collaborative, virtual environments that question physical models. Emerging patterns of distributed collaboration in persistent virtual environments are changing the way we work in time and space, recasting our notion of workplace. Virtual workplaces are interpreted and experienced through metaphors that describe a space of potential for work occurrences. Through the lens of metaphors, this research focuses on breakdowns between collaborative work and the environment in which work occurs. If what we understand and predict is based on what we already know, then by examining the breakdowns between design and use of collaborative environments we can illuminate the space of possibilities for collaborative work.by Thomas W.I. Gallemore.M.S

The Use of Complex Adaptive Systems as a Generative Metaphor in an Action Research Study of an Organisation

Understanding the dynamic behaviour of organisations is challenging and this study uses a model of complex adaptive systems as a generative metaphor to address this challenge. The research question addressed is: How might a conceptual model of complex adaptive systems be used to assist in understanding the dynamic nature of organisations? Using an action research methodology, 6 Ai r Force internal management consulting teams were exposed to overlapping attributes of complex adaptive systems. The study shows that participants found the attributes valuable in understanding the dynamic nature of organisations; however they did present challenges for understanding. Despite being challenging to understand, using complex adaptive systems to understand organisations, particularly as dynamic systems, is of value

Design Ltd.: Renovated Myths for the Development of Socially Embedded Technologies

This paper argues that traditional and mainstream mythologies, which have been continually told within the Information Technology domain among designers and advocators of conceptual modelling since the 1960s in different fields of computing sciences, could now be renovated or substituted in the mould of more recent discourses about performativity, complexity and end-user creativity that have been constructed across different fields in the meanwhile. In the paper, it is submitted that these discourses could motivate IT professionals in undertaking alternative approaches toward the co-construction of socio-technical systems, i.e., social settings where humans cooperate to reach common goals by means of mediating computational tools. The authors advocate further discussion about and consolidation of some concepts in design research, design practice and more generally Information Technology (IT) development, like those of: task-artifact entanglement, universatility (sic) of End-User Development (EUD) environments, bricolant/bricoleur end-user, logic of bricolage, maieuta-designers (sic), and laissez-faire method to socio-technical construction. Points backing these and similar concepts are made to promote further discussion on the need to rethink the main assumptions underlying IT design and development some fifty years later the coming of age of software and modern IT in the organizational domain.Comment: This is the peer-unreviewed of a manuscript that is to appear in D. Randall, K. Schmidt, & V. Wulf (Eds.), Designing Socially Embedded Technologies: A European Challenge (2013, forthcoming) with the title "Building Socially Embedded Technologies: Implications on Design" within an EUSSET editorial initiative (www.eusset.eu/