The Evolution of Telecom Technologies: Current Trends and Near-Future Implications

A project commissioned by The Centre for Cross Border Studies with funding from eirco

The use of social media as a conduit to promote social justice in the Deaf Community, as a cultural and linguistic minority, through the visual language of American Sign Language: A movement against Audism

This research employed a case study approach to understand emerging themes that may be garnered through documenting the lived experiences of online Deaf activists who have used the video feature available through social media outlets, such as YouTube, as a way to overcome the language barrier typically present for linguistic minorities who are leading social movements within an English-speaking, hearing majority. The focus of this study was the members of the Deaf Community that have taken to an online podium in their fight for autonomy and equality. They champion their Deaf identity, their right to agency and autonomy in areas of language, access, education and employment, in what has exploded into the largest social movement in their cultural history. Therefore, two questions were at the center of this research: 1. How has experiencing audism affected the lives of Deaf people? , and 2. How has the use of social media as a platform to fight against audism through natural linguistic expression in American Sign Language impacted that experience? . The growth of individual Deaf identity has created a community action network for the Deaf Community, and access to the technology of videophones and instant access to wireless Internet has brought with it the use of video blogs, or vlogs, within the Deaf Community at explosive rates. The movement from disability to a place of diversity and cultural, ethnic and linguistic minority personhood for the Deaf is a path that is still being forged. Presented in this study is a glimpse into this journey, through a case study of their lived experience

The effectiveness of videoconference-based cognitive-behavioural therapy

The purpose of this research was to expand scientific understanding regarding the use of videoconferencing technology to administer psychological services. The primary study in this thesis is a randomised-controlled trial comparing in-person to videoconference-based Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT). This study is, to the author’s knowledge, the largest clinical trial investigating the effectiveness of CBT via videoconference that has been conducted on an adult population in Australia. Twenty-nine clients were recruited who had a primary DSM-IV diagnosis of anxiety and/or depression. Participants were randomly assigned to receive 12 sessions of either in-person or videoconference-based treatment. Participants in both conditions received treatment at a university clinic in Perth Western Australia.The intervention provided was based on CBT manualised treatments but individualised to suit the unique needs of each client. Primary symptomology and quality of life was measured pre, post and 6-weeks following treatment. Secondary outcome measures included working alliance, credibility of therapy and client satisfaction. Overall, retention in both treatment conditions was similar. Statistical analysis using multi-level linear modelling indicated a significant reduction in client symptoms across time but no significant differences between treatment conditions. There were also no significant differences between conditions on working alliance, credibility of therapy and client satisfaction ratings. The findings of study one suggest that CBT via videoconference can be effectively provided in a real-world clinical practice context.The second study in this thesis is an in-depth case study of a client with severe and complex obsessive-compulsive disorder who received forty sessions of psychotherapy administered through a mix of videoconference and text-chat. Session recordings, transcripts and therapists notes were analysed using thematic analysis to explore how the technology influenced client engagement. The results indicated that the mixture of videoconferencing and text-chat might have facilitated client engagement by helping to reduce interpersonal anxiety, thus allowing the client to continue disclosing and discussing issues that were espoused in shame, guilt and embarrassment. To the author’s knowledge, the methods of engaging the client via combined videoconference and text-chat reported in study two have not been reported in the literature before

The Deaf & Law Enforcement Listening Though Deaf Eyes: A Grounded Theory Approach

This paper examines the perceived and practical schism between deaf society and the police when the deaf attempt to obtain police services. The paper challenges current police culture and operating procedures, which tend to marginalize deaf society and largely ignore the mandates contained in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This qualitative research project is focused upon perceived law enforcement practices and culture through a multi-layered study of police customs, law, policy, and standard operating procedures as experienced, perceived, and reported by deaf individuals. A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to examine the way law enforcement is perceived by the Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and Hard-of-Hearing community. Open-ended interviews were conducted to gather data. The data gathered will be shared in the hopes it will impact the criminal justice system’s approach to deaf individuals, culture, and issues. The data casts a critical light upon the limitations in policing and the lack of attention to historically important legislation

Barriers for telecommunication accessibility and needs assessment of video relay services (VRS): Utilization of VRS for the deaf community

Approximately 28 million deaf and hard-of-hearing people reside in the United States, and a majority of them benefit from Telecommunications Relay Services which is mandated by Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Title IV of ADA was drafted based on the provision for TTY services. As Video Relay Services emerged in 2002, it surpassed TTY relay services because of its efficiency compared to the traditional TTY relay. However, Video Relay Services is a relatively new relay format, and no legal mandates for VRS technologies have been established. Thus, there is a strong need for a better understanding of how VRS are utilized for further policy development. A survey study was conducted among all deaf and hard-of-hearing professionals employed at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in Rochester, New York. Comparative quantitative analysis of whether deaf and hard-of-hearing people are satisfied with either text-based relay services or video relay services to answer the primary research question of this thesis: does VRS provide functionally equivalent telephone access for the deaf

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? Technology Can Reduce Dispute Resolution Costs When Times are Tough and Improve Outcomes

Cost reduction is one of the desirable results frequently attributed to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes. Although it is reasonable to assume that businesses always are interested in saving money, this goal takes on added importance when the economy is struggling. The cost savings inherent in ADR, which already are significant, can be increased substantially through the strategic adoption of technology. Although I generally do not urge caution when it comes to expanding the ways in which we use technology, we nonetheless must recognize not only technology’s potential benefits but also its possible pitfalls. It is relatively easy to identify some of the cost savings that can be achieved through greater reliance on technology. It can be somewhat more difficult, however, to identify the circumstances in which technology can create unanticipated costs. Fortunately, many of those costs can be avoided. This article identifies cost efficiencies that technology can bring to dispute resolution processes and also suggest how potential costs can be minimized or avoided. The article begins by examining the Technology Revolution. The emergence of technology mediated dispute resolution (TMDR) as an efficient and cost-effective means of resolving disputes illustrates the significant impact the Technology Revolution has had in the area of ADR. This article suggests why TMDR has not been embraced more enthusiastically. It then explores how we can use technology to make dispute resolution more effective and efficient and explains why, in light of a rapidly maturing technology savvy generation, we might have little choice but to embrace TMDR. The article next discusses Cybersettle and Smartsettle, two of the established TMDR programs available today. The following section provides additional reasons why the use of TMDR will increase, including the assertion that foreign nations’ decisions to expand TMDR will compel the United States to rely more heavily on TMDR. The article then examines the challenges raised by TMDR. These challenges include power imbalances; the possibility that TMDR software and platforms may exercise greater influence over the dispute resolution process than expected; and questions as to how we can involve artificial intelligence devices, robots, and avatars in our dispute resolution processes. Ideas for integrating artificial intelligence devices into TMDR processes are based upon the manner in which these devices already are being used in the health care industry. The article concludes by examining the dangers and financial costs of relying on avatars and robots, identifies sectors well positioned to use TMDR, and briefly raises the issue of whether we need to regulate TMDR

Transaction Cost Management

All organizations, institutions, business processes, markets and strategies have one aim in common: the reduction of transaction costs. This aim is pursued relentlessly in practice, and has been perceived to bring about drastic changes, especially in the recent global market and the cyber economy. This book analyzes and describes “transactions” as a model, on the basis of which organizations, institutions and business processes can be appropriately shaped. It tracks transaction costs to enable a scientific approach instead of a widely used “state-of-the-art” approach, working to bridge the gap between theory and practice. This open access book analyzes and describes “transactions” as a model..

Design of interactive distance learning equipment.

Distance education focuses on the entitlement of children with limited learning opportunities to schooling experiences that are equivalent to those enjoyed by other students. The means for delivering the curriculum to these learners have been many and varied, but most of these are either unaffordable or deficient in their provision of interactive audio and visual enhancements which are necessary for the pupils' effective understanding of the lesson. The project documented in this report attempts to expand students' access to the curriculum, by providing a cost effective solution to the problems of teaching at a distance. The proposal builds on the cooperative sharing of educational resources within clusters of schools, through which pupils are enabled to study subjects not offered in their own campuses but available in other schools within the cluster. The proposed product employs the concept of a collaborative "electronic blackboard" interface, which allows teachers and remote students to interact with freehand notations on a shared screen. Using audiographics conferencing techniques, remote lessons with live voices and graphic information are transmitted simultaneously to various participating sites. The central focus of the product's design is on the digitiser screen, which accepts handwritten input directly on the display. This provides the user with better eye-hand coordination than was possible in previous systems. The convertibility of the screen from a writing tablet into a computer monitor recognises the students' twin needs for a remote communication device and a computer for other school computing applications. The report covers an extensive analysis of the current status of distance education in Australia, the various technologies used in curriculum delivery, the reactions of users to existing remote learning methods, and the market for distance education and teleconferencing. It documents the various stages of the concept development, and presents the final design in photographs and in line drawings. A study of the commercial viability of the proposal is also included

Technology from the Perspective of Society and Public Interest

The ultimate goals of this study were to determine ways to reconcile technology with public interest and to understand the relationship between what we know and how we feel about technology. To achieve the goals, related literatures were reviewed; the mechanism of technology development was described with empirical data; and human perception of technology was tested with a survey. The duality of technology that implied technological inherencies of technical reason and social meanings was the principle assumption of the study. Neutrality of technology becomes a myth with the presence of social meanings embodied in technology. Given the huge impact of technology on human societies, the absence of neutrality is, in turn, attributed to the necessity for policy. Analyses of eight empirical cases of technology in history based on the method of grounded theory provided core categories of technical progress, economic values, and social inclinations. Upon the core categories and concepts corroborated by the cases, the mechanism of technology development appeared to be a concatenation of the interactions between technical progress and social demand of either economic values or social inclinations. Technology that is pertinent to public interest, in this context, will be possible if a social inclination toward public interest can be built. The state can shape a social inclination of the kind and intervene in the mechanism of technology development. Furthermore, such an intervention could be accelerated by the potency of the collective actions of citizens. If successful, technology will incorporate the social value of public interest and the paradigm of technology will embrace it. Survey responses indicated that the biggest misconception of technology was in the concept of technological knowledge, which especially was supposed to be distinguished from scientific knowledge; technology was perceived to have a distinctive kind of knowledge and to be practical, but still to be a part of science pursuing the knowledge of nature. Technology still seemed to be a mere part of science with more emphasis on practical purpose in everyday life, which was concurred with the term applied science. The respondents agreed on the idea of value-ladeness of technology and, thus, necessity for human control over technology. However, they appeared to have relatively passive attitudes toward technology. The conflict between the necessity for control and the paucity of faith in the ability to control technology by themselves must attribute respondents’ dependency toward experts. The correlation between understanding of technology and will to control technology was statistically significant but weak. The control variables of academic affiliation and department were found to have significant effects on the results