Usage of Online Social Networks in Cultural Adaptation

Online social networks (OSN) have become an important part of every individual’s social support network. This makes OSNs, particularly important to the sojourner who will have to constantly resort to social support sources to cope with the difficulties and psychological stress of cross-cultural adaptation. Nevertheless, the use of OSNs in the context of cultural adaptation is an under explored area. This study draws upon social network theory, adopts a qualitative research approach with multiple case design, to investigate how international students use OSNs to adapt to a new culture. Three themes emerged from our findings. OSNs can be leveraged to 1) enable socialization, 2) facilitate knowledge exchange, and 3) alleviate acculturative stress in adapting to a new culture. We believe our study contributes to the sparse literature on the impact of OSNs on cross-cultural adaptation and serves a foundation for future research in this vital area of OSN usage

Template-driven teacher modelling approach : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Information Science at Massey University, Palmerston North

This thesis describes the Template-driven Teacher Modeling Approach, the initial implementation of the template server and the formative evaluation on the prototype. The initiative of Template-driven teacher modeling is to integrate the template server and intelligent teacher models in Web-based education systems for course authoring. There are a number of key components in the proposed system: user interface, template server and content repository. The Template-Driven Teacher Modeling (TDTM) architecture supports the course authoring by providing higher degree of control over the generation of presentation. The collection of accumulated templates in the template repository for a teacher or a group of teachers are selected as the inputs for the inference mechanism in teacher's model to calculate the best representation of the teaching strategy, and then predict teacher intention when he or she interacts with the system. Moreover, the presentation templates are kept to support the re-use of the on-line content at the level of individual screens with the help of Template Server

The best of both worlds? Online ties and the alternating use of social network sites in the context of migration

While an ever-growing body of research is concerned with user behavior on individual social network sites (SNSs)—mostly Facebook—studies addressing an alternating use of two or more SNS are rare. Here, we investigate the relationship between alternating SNS use and social capital in the context of migration. Alternating SNS use avoids some of the problems associated with large networks located on one site; in particular the management of different social or cultural spheres. Not only does this strategy hold potential for increased social capital, it also provides a particular incentive for migrants faced with the challenge of staying in touch with back home and managing a new social environment. Two survey studies are presented that focus on the relationship between alternating SNS use and online ties in a migrant context involving Indian nationals. Study 1 looked at migration within India, whereas Study 2 compared international with domestic SNS users. In both studies, alternating SNS use added to the prediction of online network size and accounted for differences in network size found for migrant and non-migrant users. Differences were due to the number of peripheral ties, rather than core ties. Findings suggest that alternating SNS use may constitute a compensatory strategy that helps to overcome lower levels of socializing represented through a single SNS

Influence of social networks on communication and culture

Má bakalářská práce je zaměřena na problematiku sociálních sítí a jejich vliv na dnešní společnost. Zabývá se jejich historií od prvotních pokusů až po nejnovější globální sociání sítě. Poté práce vysvětluje základní myšlenku vedoucí k vytvoření sociálních sítí i jejich charakteristické znaky. Dále nastiňuje problémy související se snadnou dostupností a nadměrným využíváním sociálních sítí, které následně ovlivňuje lidskou společnost. Práce se věnuje vlivu sociálních sítí na jazyk, mezilidskou komunikaci a kulturní adaptaci.My bachelor thesis is focused on issues with social networking services and their influence on modern society. It addresses their history from the very first attempts to create a social networking service to the modern global ones. Later the thesis provides an explanation of the creation of a social networking service and its characteristic traits. Furthermore it outlines problems connected with the availability and overuse of social networking services that are subsequently influencing the human society. The thesis also analyzes the influence of social networks on language, interpersonal communication and cultural adaptation.

Intercultural New Media Studies: The Next Frontier in intercultural Communication

New media (ICT\u27s) are transforming communication across cultures. Despite this revolution in cross cultural contact, communication researchers have largely ignored the impact of new media on intercultural communication. This groundbreaking article defines the parameters of a new field of inquiry called Intercultural New Media Studies (INMS), which explores the intersection between ICT\u27s and intercultural communication. Composed of two research areas—(1) new media and intercultural communication theory and (2) culture and new media—INMS investigates new digital theories of intercultural contact as well as refines and expands twentieth-century intercultural communication theories, examining their salience in a digital world. INMS promises to increase our understanding of intercultural communication in a new media age and is the next frontier in intercultural communication

Scenarios for Educational and Game Activities using Internet of Things Data

Raising awareness among young people and changing their behavior and habits concerning energy usage and the environment is key to achieving a sustainable planet. The goal to address the global climate problem requires informing the population on their roles in mitigation actions and adaptation of sustainable behaviors. Addressing climate change and achieve ambitious energy and climate targets requires a change in citizen behavior and consumption practices. IoT sensing and related scenario and practices, which address school children via discovery, gamification, and educational activities, are examined in this paper. Use of seawater sensors in STEM education, that has not previously been addressed, is included in these educational scenaria

The Impact of ICT on Economic Sectors

As the author could not find a reassuring mathematical and statistical method in the literature for studying the effect of information communication technologyon enterprises, the author suggested a new research andanalysis method that he also used to study the Hungarian economic sectors. The question of what factors have an effecton their net income is vital for enterprises. The highest increment of specific Gross Value Added was produced by thefields of ‘Manufacturing’, ‘Electricity, gas and water supply’,‘Transport, storage and communication’ and ‘Financialintermediation’. With the exception of ‘Electricity, gas andwater supply’, the other economic sectors belong to the groupof underdeveloped branches (below 50%).On the other hand, ‘Construction’, ‘Health and social work’and‘Hotels and restaurants’ can be seen as laggards, so theygot into the lower left part of the coordinate system.‘Agriculture, hunting and forestry’ can also be classified as alaggard economic sector, but as the effect of the compoundindicator on the increment of Gross Value Added was lesssignificant, it can be found in the upper left part of thecoordinate system. Drawing a trend line on the points, it can bemade clear that it shows a positive gradient, that is, the higherthe usage of ICT devices, the higher improvement can bedetected in the specific Gross Value Added