The genesis and development of mobile learning in Europe

In the past two decades, European researchers have conducted many significant mobile learning projects. The chapter explores how these projects have arisen and what each one has contributed, so as to show the driving forces and outcomes of European innovation in mobile learning. The authors identify context as a central construct in European researchers’ conceptualizations of mobile learning and examine theories of learning for the mobile world, based on physical, technological, conceptual, social and temporal mobility. The authors also examine the impacts of mobile learning research on educational practices and the implications for policy. Finally, they suggest future challenges for researchers, developers and policy makers in shaping the future of mobile learning

Creativity support tools: report from a U.S. National Science Foundation sponsored workshop

International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 20(2): pp. 61-77.Creativity support tools is a research topic with high risk but potentially very high payoff. The goal is to develop improved software and user interfaces that empower users to be not only more productive but also more innovative. Potential users include software and other engineers, diverse scientists, product and graphic designers, architects, educators, students, and many others. Enhanced interfaces could enable more effective searching of intellectual resources, improved collaboration among teams, and more rapid discovery processes. These advanced interfaces should also provide potent support in hypothesis formation, speedier evaluation of alternatives, improved understanding through visualization, and better dissemination of results. For creative endeavors that require composition of novel artifacts (e.g., computer programs, scientific papers, engineering diagrams, symphonies, artwork), enhanced interfaces could facilitate exploration of alternatives, prevent unproductive choices, and enable easy backtracking. This U.S. National Science Foundation sponsored workshop brought together 25 research leaders and graduate students to share experiences, identify opportunities, and formulate research challenges. Two key outcomes emerged: (a) encouragement to evaluate creativity support tools through multidimensional in-depth longitudinal case studies and (b) formulation of 12 principles for design of creativity support tools. As Galileo struggled to view Jupiter through his newly built telescope, he adjusted the lenses and saw four twinkling points of light nearby. After recording their positions carefully, Galileo compared them to his drawings from previous nights. His conclusion that Jupiter had four moons circling it was a profound insight with far reaching implications

Imperfect Partnership: Effects of Collaboratories on Scientists from Developing Countries.

In recent years, researchers have hypothesized that a new form of scientific collaboration--the “collaboratory”--holds promises to greatly benefit scientists from developing countries. It is argued that distributed collaborations enabled by various information technologies can allow scientists from developing countries to reach remotely located experts, instruments, and databases that their local institutions cannot afford. However, there have been no empirical studies to prove or disprove this. Prior studies of the impact of information technology on scientific work tend to focus on the correlation between technology use and scientific productivity as measured by publications and citations. This approach ignores the mediating factors affecting the relationship between information technology use and scientific productivity. Adopting a qualitative approach (interviews complemented by field observation), I explore how scientists from developing countries benefit from reaching remotely located resources and participating in communities of practice and networks of practice in the virtual organization of a collaboratory. I also demonstrate how the relation of resource dependency, the nature of collaborative work, geographical distance and cultural differences influence scientists’ participation in collaborataries. These factors affect the ability of scientists from developing countries to access resources of collaboratories, build relationships with other collaboratory members and learn knowledge and practice from their collaborators in the developed world. In addition, I show that collaboratories facilitate technology transfer from scientists from developed countries to those from developing countries. However, scientists from developing countries demonstrate an urgent need to build general competence in performing research. This kind of competence can only be achieved through long-term exposure to the practices of advanced laboratories from the developed world. Collaboratories failed to meet the need because of their project-oriented nature and their funding mechanism.Ph.D.InformationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58369/1/airongl_1.pd

Collaboratory Digital Libraries for Humanities in the Italian context

The study investigates the approach to collaboration in Humanities, within the Italian context, to test the possibility of collaborative digital library for scholars. The research hypothesis is that collaboration can foster innovation and scienti c development: therefore, within Humanities, digital libraries can be the collaborative laboratory for research. Thus, understanding perception of scholars towards collaboration, especially online, and comprehending if wiki systems could be the framework of collaboration were the objectives of the study. A qualitative approach has been adopted, using case study as research method: in-depth, semi-structured interviews to Digital Humanities scholars provide data integrated with interviews with two key informants (one of which is prof. Umberto Eco). The results of the study show that Humanities, within Italian context, do appreciate collaboration and the concept of a collaboratory digital library, though several issues need to be solved. In fact, Humanities are still tied with individual work and collaboration is not easy to pursue, for cultural, technical and political reasons. Great e ort needs to be done at many different levels to eliminate obstacles and facilitate online collaboration for scholars. The study provides a draft model for a collaborative digital library arisen from gathered data

Organization and management of natural resources and environmental research

1998 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.The organization and management of research lacks a unifying theoretical foundation. A post-reformative theory of research management is based on six cornerstones: 1) the research enterprise consists of multiple dimensions and this multiformity is potentially synergistic; 2) knowledge is gained incrementally throughout the research process; 3) research is a form of societal investment possessing both risks and potential gains; 4) research organizations are inherently self-organizing and dynamic; 5) research is increasingly pluralistic and heterogeneous; and 6) research evaluations must focus on processes, outcomes, or overall effectiveness, in terms of both intrascientific and extra scientific contributions. Based on observations of 14 environmental research groups at six environmental research laboratories, group research organizes naturally and informally in environmental research settings primarily because of the interdisciplinary nature of environmental research. Groups were not necessarily identifiable in organizational charts. Often they were spontaneously occurring dyads or clusters of individuals with similar interests or interdependent skills. A formal division and branch structure hinders group research because of fiefdom attitudes of branch chiefs. Epistemological differences exist within research groups and may present obstacles or result in dysfunctional groups. Research groups must spend considerable time on problem definition, problem analysis. Working towards a group goal, and developing a common system of inquiry. Perceived performance did not correlate well with measured performance. If perceived performance is a part of research evaluation, perceptions of performance must be specific as to performance criteria. For the research groups studied, member-perceived publication quality was not well correlated with measured publication quality. Director-perceived performance did not reflect measured performance. Goal congruence between group leaders and members was high in the case of the fourteen research groups. However, communication about expectations and performance broke down between laboratory directors and research groups. The dynamic constellation, an organizational model stressing a flexible, organic, group oriented structure and integrator and boundary-spanner roles, is recommended for natural resource and environmental research organizations. A multidimensional research portfolios suggested as a management approach. Managing research portfolios in a pluralistic and heterogeneous environment involves a large number of essential tensions, but these tensions also become an effective management tool

Information, Development and Social Change Programs in Information Schools

The objective of this report from School of Information masters students is to explore opportunity spaces for dynamic research networks and agendas focused on information, development, and social change. Research networks will include faculty, master's and doctoral students across information schools who will generate new paradigms for meeting social challenges through information science, new design methods for community inquiry, and evaluation methods to measure the effectiveness of these initiatives in affecting social change through mechanisms such as efficiency of resource utilization. Development in the context of this report refers to economic, social, and infrastructure capacity building initiatives in both emerging and developed economies.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91307/1/2009-McLauglinPuckett-ISI_Report_Final.dochttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91307/2/2009-McLauglinPuckett-ISI_Report_Final.pd

The Open Innovation in Science research field: a collaborative conceptualisation approach

Openness and collaboration in scientific research are attracting increasing attention from scholars and practitioners alike. However, a common understanding of these phenomena is hindered by disciplinary boundaries and disconnected research streams. We link dispersed knowledge on Open Innovation, Open Science, and related concepts such as Responsible Research and Innovation by proposing a unifying Open Innovation in Science (OIS) Research Framework. This framework captures the antecedents, contingencies, and consequences of open and collaborative practices along the entire process of generating and disseminating scientific insights and translating them into innovation. Moreover, it elucidates individual-, team-, organisation-, field-, and society‐level factors shaping OIS practices. To conceptualise the framework, we employed a collaborative approach involving 47 scholars from multiple disciplines, highlighting both tensions and commonalities between existing approaches. The OIS Research Framework thus serves as a basis for future research, informs policy discussions, and provides guidance to scientists and practitioners

The Common Transformative Space of Sustainability and Responsibility

This thesis attempts to formally connect the fields of sustainability and responsibility. It considers first the larger context of business sustainability and responsible leadership, and evaluates the value and need for a common transformative space for these fields and what such a space might look like. As such, the thesis investigates the relation between sustainability and responsibility from an organizational and personal development perspective. This developmental perspective emerges from research in the domain of business education and the role of business schools in terms of educating responsible leaders for a sustainable world. The research suggests a concrete approach, the ‘Collaboratory’ for such a common space of transformation and critically evaluates its effectiveness to develop responsible leaders. The key contribution of this thesis lies in the interconnection of two fast evolving fields of research: the development of responsible leadership and business sustainability, providing a model for practitioners and scholars to reflect on and debate the larger forces and dynamics at play. Most research to date has focused on considering personal and organizational transformation separately. On the one hand, research scholars have studied effective learning environments to enable responsible leadership, and on the other hand, we have studied if and how organizations can advance from their current mode of operations to become “truly sustainable”. The thesis contributes a model to describe the interdependency of these two, and proposes the ‘Collaboratory’ as a means to realize this interdependency in practice. Chapter 1 is a new article theorizing the whole argument; subsequent chapters are previously published articles in these inter-connected fields and addressing methods and approaches to connect personal and organization development, drawing from a body of literature that considers the human spirit in large social change; and using the ‘Collaboratory’ as an illustrative and timely example for such methods