Teachers Falling off the Cliff Affordances and Constraints of Social Media in School

In a digitalized society our work environment is highly integrated with our home environment making work boundless both in terms of time and space. The digital work environment risks increased stress. Based on a case study in Swedish schools we investigate how teachers experience the use of social media for work-related purposes. We do so by using the Technology Affordance and Constraints Theory to capture the affordances as well as constraints of this use. Findings show that affordances of social media in schools were increased opportunities for learning, transparency and community building. Constraints were distractions from learning, increased isolation, stress and, above all, lack of guidance in how and when to use social media. We end the paper arguing that lack of policies and guidelines governing the use of social media at work is risking an increase in boundary blurring and potentially more stress

The orthologue of the "acatalytic" mammalian ART4 in chicken is an arginine-specific mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human ART4, carrier of the GPI-(glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol) anchored Dombrock blood group antigens, is an apparently inactive member of the mammalian mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase (ART) family named after the enzymatic transfer of a single ADP-ribose moiety from NAD⁺to arginine residues of extracellular target proteins. All known mammalian ART4 orthologues are predicted to lack ART activity because of one or more changes in essential active site residues that make up the R-S-EXE motif. So far, no other function has been detected.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we report the identification and characterisation of ART4 in chicken, which to our knowledge is the first true non-mammalian orthologue of a mammalian ART family member. The chicken <it>ART4 </it>gene has the same physical structure as its mammalian counterparts (three coding exons separated by two introns in phase 0 and phase 1, respectively) and maps to a region of conserved linkage synteny on chromosome 1. Its mRNA encodes a 289 amino acid protein with predicted N-terminal signal peptide and C-terminal GPI-anchor sequences and 47% sequence identity to human ART4. However, in striking contrast to its mammalian orthologues, the chicken protein contains an intact R-S-EXE motif. Upon ectopic expression in C-33A cells, recombinant chicken ART4 localized at the cell surface as a GPI-anchored, highly glycosylated protein, which displayed arginine-specific ART activity (apparent K_mof the recombinant protein for etheno-NAD⁺1.0 ± 0.18 μM).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The avian orthologue of the "acatalytic" mammalian ART4 is a mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase with enzymatic activity comparable to that of other, catalytically active and GPI-anchored members of the mammalian ART family.</p

Enacting Boundaries through Social Technologies : The Dance between Work and Private Life

Social technologies have become ubiquitous. As technology in one shape or form infiltrates all areas of life, naturally there are consequences for individuals and organisations. Consequences arise when organisations implement technologies voluntarily but also when the employees use technologies to connect working life and private life in unforeseen ways. Platforms such as Facebook or Twitter enable boundary blurring and crossing, thus allowing the coming together of different areas of life. The concept of boundary work allows one to explore how people address the many challenges that arise as a result of using social technologies partly for work and partly for private purposes. The qualitative study design, complete with interviews and online observations of Facebook and Twitter, employed in this research helps to explore two research questions. Firstly, how do particular affordances of social technologies affect the blurring of boundaries between work and private life? Secondly, how do employees in non-governmental organisations enact boundaries between work and private life, with and in spite of social technologies? The analysis shows that the particular affordances of social technologies, visibility, persistence and association increase boundary permeability and blending. The concept of boundary work is developed further by distinguishing offline and online boundary work. With the omnipresence of social technologies, it does not suffice purely to use offline boundary work, as people develop a variety of online boundary work tactics, too. The results indicate that challenges for employees are no longer restricted simply to boundaries between work and private life, but they are also expanding into the boundaries between the public and private spheres. As a consequence, this study suggests that many online representations exist, and organisations would gain substantially from understanding the differences between them, in order to better address changing conditions

Enacting Boundaries through Social Technologies : The Dance between Work and Private Life

Social technologies have become ubiquitous. As technology in one shape or form infiltrates all areas of life, naturally there are consequences for individuals and organisations. Consequences arise when organisations implement technologies voluntarily but also when the employees use technologies to connect working life and private life in unforeseen ways. Platforms such as Facebook or Twitter enable boundary blurring and crossing, thus allowing the coming together of different areas of life. The concept of boundary work allows one to explore how people address the many challenges that arise as a result of using social technologies partly for work and partly for private purposes. The qualitative study design, complete with interviews and online observations of Facebook and Twitter, employed in this research helps to explore two research questions. Firstly, how do particular affordances of social technologies affect the blurring of boundaries between work and private life? Secondly, how do employees in non-governmental organisations enact boundaries between work and private life, with and in spite of social technologies? The analysis shows that the particular affordances of social technologies, visibility, persistence and association increase boundary permeability and blending. The concept of boundary work is developed further by distinguishing offline and online boundary work. With the omnipresence of social technologies, it does not suffice purely to use offline boundary work, as people develop a variety of online boundary work tactics, too. The results indicate that challenges for employees are no longer restricted simply to boundaries between work and private life, but they are also expanding into the boundaries between the public and private spheres. As a consequence, this study suggests that many online representations exist, and organisations would gain substantially from understanding the differences between them, in order to better address changing conditions

Is Female Entrepreneurship Only Empowering for Single Women? Evidence from France and Germany

Entrepreneurship has been suggested as an alternative career model for women to gain economic empowerment while maintaining caring obligations. In this study, we investigate how gender and living situation affect entrepreneurs’ engagement in their business, home, well-being and business success in both France and Germany. Data from the European Social Survey were used, which included 470 French and 622 German self-employed people. For the French, women reported more working hours when living alone but there were no gender differences for the other living situations. For the Germans, there were no gender differences when the self-employed person lived alone; for the other living situations, men reported more working hours. Women reported working more household hours than men in both countries. There were no gender differences in life satisfaction for German self-employed people regardless of living situation; for the French, gender differences varied by living situation. Men reported more business success than women in both countries. Results suggest that self-employed people in Germany follow a traditional breadwinner model, whereas in France, self-employed women do more paid and unpaid work at the same time. In sum, entrepreneurship may only be empowering for self-employed women living alone

Challenging masculinity in business education : The case of Maya and Susanna

Business administration as a study choice has been explained via its practicality, high societal status and prestige, and as an opportunity for upwards mobility. Shahzad, Ahmed, and Ghaffar (2013) describe “the nature” of business as a study choice that matches extroversion and dominance. The stories of our participants’ reconstruct the businessperson, broadening it. For them business studies needs to contain the values of equality, work-family balance, permanent responsibility towards current and future generations, and skirts, sweatpants and ponytails as truthful pictures of the businessperson of the future.. The linguistic constructions that challenge business masculinity in these life stories hold the power to modify business education

Boundaryless twitter use : On the affordances of social media

For this study, we followed the director general (DG) of a large Swedish public authority on Twitter. We analyzed the data from Twitter and from interviews in terms of four affordances that distinguish social media from more traditional technologies: visibility, persistence, association and editability. We suggest that to understand social media affordances, it is necessary to consider the medium and the situation it creates and how this increases the range of possible interpretations. Therefore, we propose counterparts to the affordances of visibility, persistence, association and editability, in the form of invisibility, fluidity, dissociation and indeterminacy, to be included in an analysis of social media affordances and, as we argue, the creation of a persona through Twitter communication.This research was funded by Arbetsförmedlingen.</p

Boundaryless Twitter Use : On the Affordances of Social Media

For this study, we followed the director general (DG) of a large Swedish public authority on Twitter. We analyzed the data from Twitter and from interviews in terms of four affordances that distinguish social media from more traditional technologies: visibility, persistence, association and editability. We suggest that to understand social media affordances, it is necessary to consider the medium and the situation it creates and how this increases the range of possible interpretations. Therefore, we propose counterparts to the affordances of visibility, persistence, association and editability, in the form of invisibility, fluidity, dissociation and indeterminacy, to be included in an analysis of social media affordances and, as we argue, the creation of a persona through Twitter communication

Sociala medier i skolan : Styrningslöshet i en värld av styrning

"Det kan krävas en ökad styrning av användningen av sociala medier i skolan"Ledarskap för en hållbar digital arbetsmiljö – Teknik-strategier och arbetslivets gränse