Blogging to enhance reflective and collaborative learning

This study explored the educational benefit and value of blogging by postgraduate nursing students registered for Masters in Nursing Education in order to become professional nurse educators. The researcher assumed that blogging could improve collaborative learning among postgraduate students and enhance reflective practice skills. Critical reflection on experiences is envisaged to allow lecturers and students to develop a deeper understanding of themselves. Salmon’s five-stage model of online learning was used as it can provide valuable insight into how blogs can be utilised in online learning. The whole class was trained to set up group blogs by colleagues from the Centre for Innovative Educational and Communication Technologies at the university. Within their blogs they engaged with issues relating to curriculum development, also giving own reflections on these issues. Students were assessed on how well they reflected and commented on specific topics, concepts and principles. The students were initially challenged by this activity and seemed frustrated by low levels of engagement with colleagues within their blogs. The facilitator noticed adequate engagement in two of the three group blogs, where the students exchanged thoughts and ideas and shared experiences. On reflection, they expressed very positive attitudes toward use of blogs as a platform to reflect on their learning and teaching. The blog of the third group of students was dormant, with very limited activity. It is important that facilitators carefully select appropriate technological tools or strategies for teaching and learning, and do not assume that students will be comfortable with the technology even after training and preparation.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Engaging customers and the public profile via social networking and micro-blogging websites

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.Online social networks and micro-blogs are becoming increasingly important to organisationswithin the marketing process enabling business to conduct marketing research, marketingcommunications and customer service. There remains paucity in the body of knowledge as tohow organisations in South Africa are using specific social media technologies to conductsocial media marketing. This research report takes a specific focus on the micro-blogging andsocial networking phenomena and addresses the problem: What are the differences betweenorganisations utilizing social networking and those utilizing micro-blogging, to conductmarket research, marketing communications and deal with customer complaints in SouthAfrica?A review of the literature informed the research study that organisations use a variety of toolsand techniques in researching customers on social media platforms. Micro-blogging andsocial networking services were found to be valid channels for organisations to communicatemarketing information as well as deal with customer complaints due to product/serviceproblems. The study design allowed the collected data to be quantitatively analysedmeasuring independence between organisations using micro-blogging and social networkingservices within the marketing process

Exploring the eco-attitudes and buying behaviour of Facebook users

Eco-friendly consumers’ attitudes are becoming increasingly frequent, recent research indicating that pro-environmental purchase behaviour not only lower costs on the long term, but also enhance business stakeholders’ and consumers’ confidence in high added value products and services. This paper undertakes an interdisciplinary research on how social media (i.e. Facebook) can influence users’ perceptions and buying behaviour related to five categories of ecological products and services (eco-food, eco-tourism, eco-housing, eco-textiles and eco-beauty & cosmetics). This research investigates how ecological products and services could gain popularity and overpass the identified purchasing barriers (e.g. high prices, low awareness, low availability) via superior integration in consumers’ daily experiences with Facebook. The research findings indicate that Facebook represents an effective and innovative environment that could build the necessary links between green attitudes and consumers’ hearts and minds

Harnessing social media to network and share research

This editorial has been written to explore the role of social media in networking and sharing research for medical imaging and radiotherapy technologists/ radiographers

The Curated Chronicles of the American Family: An Ideological Analysis of the Love Taza Blog

Named one of the top ten influencers of parenting by Forbes, Naomi Davis of the family-lifestyle Blog, Love Taza has transformed her family chronicles into a successful Internet business with an extensive following ( Top Influencers of 2017: Parenting ). This thesis examines the content of Love Taza to understand what messages Naomi communicates to her readers and how her readers may be receiving those messages. Using a sample of 600 posts from 2012-2017, a quantitative analysis was conducted to determine the type of content being presented. According to the findings, the majority of the posts included sponsored content and the most common theme was marriage and family. Posts were positive in tone, and most included images of the Davis children. Comparative data was examined between sponsorship and theme, engagement, and inclusion of children’s images. Statistically significant relationships were found between sponsorship and all variables, indicating sponsorships play an integral role in content selection. Expanding on the quantitative data, Stuart Hall’s (1980) method of textual analysis was used to further analyze content. The preferred reading indicates the Davis Family is an ideal reflection of the dominant ideology. The negotiated reading agrees, but considers the influence of capitalism, manifest in the large number of sponsored posts. An oppositional reading acknowledged how corporate sponsorships perpetuate hegemony and surmises that the family portrayed on the blog is not a reflection of reality, but a curated version of the elite’s ideas of perfection. This analysis demonstrates the potential influence of the blogging medium in American society

The use of blogs as a marketing tool in the fashion industry

On the basis of human relations prevails the communication. With the constant evolution of technology, communication reached different dimensions and was extended to multiple platforms such as Web 2.0. Beyond the traditional word-of-mouth communications, nowadays we are facing an enormous affluence and influence of the electronic word-ofmouth. Within the electronic word-of-mouth, in this dissertation the main focus leans on fashion blogs as an important communication tool within social media, with its relevance being justified by the evolution and promising relationship between message sender and message receiver. More specifically, the current study evaluates the commercial value that fashion blogs potentially generate for the brands. Additionally, it is discussed the type of influence and credibility acknowledged by readers with regard to the blogs that they follow. This dissertation includes a literature review chapter that emphasizes theoretical facts already stated about the subject. Additionally, and in order to obtain relevant and conclusive information, was developed a consumer research data collection. The results show that the Portuguese population is not frequently involved with fashion blogs. However, for those who do, there is a strong tendency to give credibility to fashion bloggers, feel influenced in relation to publications and as a consequence, to purchase fashion items that were advertised on blogs.Na base das relações humanas prevalece a comunicação entre indivíduos. Com a constante evolução da tecnologia, também a comunicação conquistou outras dimensões e atingiu múltiplas plataformas como a Web 2.0. Para além da tradicional comunicação boca a boca, deparamo-nos hoje com uma enorme afluência e influência da comunicação boca a boca digital. Nesta dissertação são destacados os blogs de moda como uma relevante plataforma de comunicação dos media sociais, pela sua evolução e promissora relação entre emissor e receptor de mensagens dentro do tema. É também discutido que tipo de credibilidade e influência os leitores depositam num blogger. Como principal foco, analisa-se também o valor comercial que poderá resultar quando marcas do ramo da moda se aliam a blogs de moda na prática de estratégias de marketing integradas. A dissertação inclui um capitulo de revisão literária que realça factos teóricos já proferidos sobre o tema. Adicionalmente, e com o intuito de obter informação relevante e conclusiva, foi desenvolvido uma pesquisa de recolha de dados ao consumidor. Os resultados mostram que a população Portuguesa não está, na sua maioria, envolvida na leitura de blogs de moda de uma forma assídua e continuada. Contudo, para os que o fazem, existe uma forte tendência para depositar credibilidade no blogger de moda, sentir alguma influência em relação às publicações do mesmo e, como tal, proceder a compras de artigos de moda que foram publicitados em blogs

Internet: turning science communication inside-out?

In the four decades since two university computers were first linked to each other over the prototype internet, scientific researchers have been innovators, early adopters and prolific adapters of internet technologies. Electronic mail, file transfer protocol, telnet, Gopher and the World Wide Web were all developed and applied first in research communities. The Web's development for sharing of information in the high-energy physics community unexpectedly heralded the internet's extension into many aspects of commerce, community, entertainment and governance. But despite the rapid proliferation and diversification of both over the past 15 years, the internet in its various forms has scientific communication indelibly inscribed into its fabric, and internet communication is thoroughly integrated into the practice of science. This chapter reviews some effects of the internet's emergence as a principal means of professional scientific communication, and of public communication of science and technology. It notes several paradoxes that characterise these developments, for example the contradictory trends towards easier collaboration across continents, and towards greater fragmentation. It notes the very significant disturbances caused by electronic publishing in the all-important field of scientific journals. It suggests that these and other developments have made more completely porous than before the boundaries between professional and public communication, facilitating public access to previously private spaces, and thus 'turning science communication inside-out'

Enhancing Leaning in the Primary School Through Web 2.0

Web 2.0 tools are now common within K-6 schools, and there is an acknowledged need for more research to evaluate their effectiveness and their relationship to social-constructivist models of teaching and learning. A stronger research base is needed in order to inform teacher reflection on ways of deploying these tools and on their integration into teaching and learning frameworks. This paper contributes to this knowledge base through a detailed presentation of a research project undertaken in one Australian primary school with the aim of examining the effects of the use of two different Web 2.0 tools on the students learnin

Two types of couponers discovered: The Smart Family Shopper and The Game Player

In 2011, 3.5 billion coupons were redeemed, which is up 6.1% from 2010. Even with coupon redemption on the rise, coupon distribution is down, average coupon values are lower, and average usable time before expiration has been shortened. Coupon users, or couponers, are also fighting a bad reputation and stricter store coupon policies. Despite all the issues facing couponers, couponing has become more popular in recent years. Some of this popularity may be due to the thousands of coupon blogs that aide couponers in matching coupons to available deals. Couponers no longer have to search all sale ads and keep up with all available coupons; the blogs are an easy to use resource that does that work for them. This study examines the ways that couponers use coupon blogs. The major finding from the interviews conducted was that couponers fall into two types: The Smart Family Shopper and The Game Player. These two couponing types have some major differences including how often they use blogs, which blogs they use, and what they look for on the blogs. The Smart Family Shopper shops primarily for her immediate family and tries to save approximately 30% on their grocery purchases. She does major shopping trips every ten days to two weeks and usually shops at one or two stores weekly. She uses blogs to assist her in making grocery lists and to determine available coupons. The Game Player shops for her family, friends, and other groups she donates to, with the goal of saving over 50% on grocery shopping. She shops multiple times a week, shopping at multiple stores in a week in order to get all the best available deals. She visits a variety of blogs daily, keeping up with the latest posts on great deals, coupons and freebies. Marketers looking to promote their products using coupons or pairing up with coupon bloggers should recognize the two types of couponers. Depending on their target audience, different tactics should be used to reach each type of couponer