Analysing the factors that influence tag choice based on semiotic analysis and activity theory

Social tagging has become very popular around the Internet as well as in research. The main idea behind tagging is to allow users to provide metadata to the web content from their perspective to facilitate categorization and retrieval. There are many factors that influence users' tag choice. Many studies have been conducted to reveal these factors by analysing tagging data. This paper uses two theories to identify these factors, namely the semiotics theory and activity theory. The former treats tags as signs and the latter treats tagging as an activity. The paper uses both theories to analyse tagging behaviour by explaining all aspects of a tagging system, including tags, tagging system components and the tagging activity. The theoretical analysis produced a framework that was used to identify a number of factors. These factors can be considered as categories that can be consulted to redirect user tagging choice in order to support particular tagging behaviour, such as cross-lingual tagging

The Use of Online Social Networking for Higher Education from An Activity Theory Perspective

Social technologies including blogs, wikis, social bookmarking sites, photo sharing, video sharing and social networking sites (SNS) have been widely used to facilitate online social networking (OSN). We define OSN as a range of activities enabled by online social technologies and operationalised by a group of people. OSN is widely popular for non-educational purposes among students. However, OSN also has the potential to be appropriated and repurposed to support teaching and learning delivery in a formal learning environment. Despite the availability of implementation cases and trials, detailed studies on why and how lecturers and students appropriate and repurpose social technologies for OSN in education are still lacking. In addition, these understandings are seldom guided by any theoretical frameworks. This paper suggests the use of Activity Theory as the theoretical lens in investigating the use of OSN in higher education. A conceptual model of how social technologies can be appropriated and repurposed guided by the theoretical understandings is proposed and discussed

Exploring master’s students’ experiences of using digital technologies in research.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Digital technologies are used by people in order to attend to 21st century living, which often involves digitalised practices. These digitalised practices are driven by the need to meet the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technology innovation, demanding the growing use of digital technologies for various activities. As a result of the 4IR movement, institutions of higher learning use digital technologies for teaching, learning, and research purposes, to fulfil educational objectives. Particularly for postgraduate studies, students use digital technologies to access published research, generate empirical data, write their dissertations and communicate with their supervisors and other stakeholders involved in their research studies. Literature reviewed in this study indicated that students experience the use of digital technologies in specific ways informed by various socialisation and professionalisation processes. This study explored master’s students’ experiences of using digital technologies as informed by their personal research needs; thus, producing a unique personalisation experience which has been found to be missing in literature discussion. Guided by the philosophical pragmatic paradigm, this doctoral study used a qualitative case study to explore master’s students’ experiences of using digital technologies for research purposes. Data were generated using four research methods, including reflective journals, semi-structured interviews, focus-group discussions, and digital observations. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to select fourteen participants who were part of the study, and who aided in generating thick and authentic data used to answer the research questions. Three key research questions were formulated for this study mainly: What are master’s students’ experiences of using digital technologies? (descriptive); How do master’s students apply their experiences of using digital technologies in research? (operational); and Why do master’s students experience digital technologies in particular ways? (philosophical/theoretical). The data produced were analysed and interpreted using inductive (thematic) analysis, in combination with deductive analysis (using the Persona-Tech analytical framework proposed in this study). The Persona-Tech analytical framework was conceptualised using selected concepts from CHAT and UTAUT theories, in order to better understand students’ experiences of using digital technologies in research. The findings of this study indicated that participants experienced the use of digital technologies both in positive and negative ways, influenced by various factors such as socialisation, professionalisation and personalisation. These influences further shaped how the students conducted their master's research using different digital resources on a mandatory and voluntary basis. Furthermore, the findings suggested that master's students used their socialisation and professionalisation experiences to solve problems and better understand the use of digital technologies in their studies, resulting in a unique personalisation experience informed by their study needs. The study recommends five propositions that could aid in students achieving quality personalisation experience with regards to using digital technologies effectively for their studies. These five propositions include students reflecting on their experience with digital technologies and finding ways to improve their experience; forming collaborations with other stakeholders and seeking ways to tackle challenges experienced with digital technologies; having patience and enduring through a challenging experience; seeking guidance, support and information where deemed necessary and being self-aware of one’s digital strengths and weaknesses

A comparative investigation of the use of digital technologies to facilitate school collaboration within the framework of the eTwinning programme

This thesis looks at how digital technologies can create opportunities for online collaboration across schools within the framework of the eTwinning programme, an EU initiative that seeks to promote web-based learning and collaboration between schools across Europe. A socio-technical approach was employed, focusing on the role of social context in shaping the technology use surrounding the eTwinning activities. This 'social shaping of technology' approach allowed exploration of the range of social actors and factors that influence the implementation of digital technologies for school collaboration at micro, meso and macro levels of analysis. \ud Through a comparative, qualitative case study of four different eTwinning projects in the UK and Greece, this thesis investigates how digital technologies such as wikis, blogs and discussion forums were used as online collaborative environments. Data collection took place during the course of the academic year 2009-2010, consisting of semi-structured individual and group interviews alongside classroom observations and online documentary analysis.\ud The findings suggest that students' and teachers' use of digital technologies and, in particular web 2.0 tools, was influenced by a range of social issues relating to the wider school context. As such the tools per se did not lead to noticeable changes in practice - especially regarding collaborative activity. Specifically, all four case study projects were bounded by wider settings and factors such as time, resourcing, assessment regimes and 'fit' with curriculum. This thesis argues that amidst the enthusiasm that surrounds digital technologies in education, there is a pressing need for more critical consideration of the socially and institutionally shaped realities of use. The thesis concludes with a range of suggestions for the future improvement of such web-based collaborative initiatives. \u