Social Media Regulation Futures: Learning from International Policy Mixes

There has been a turn worldwide towards social media regulation in the context of concerns about online harms, including those arising from misinformation. Social media regulation largely involves nation-states – or in the case of the European Union, a supra-national regional entity – setting rules and imposing sanctions on global digital platforms, raising issues about consistency in the application of such laws across jurisdictions and competing normative principles that underpin the understanding of social media and its relationship to politics and society. The paper considers the proposal by the Australian Federal government to develop a Combating Misinformation and Disinformation Bill as a case study, noting the relationship such legislation has to the circulation of online misinformation and racist social media content during the Voice referendum of 2023. The paper notes the importance of access to information about international approaches for comparative policy development and developing systemic approaches to such regulation that are not simply reactive, and points to resources being developed to enable such comparative work, such as the International Digital Policy Observatory (“IDPO”)

Prototyping through play : making an urban satellite region hackathon

Behind the “hackathon” process lies the idea of the adoption of our natural sense of play for a more serious purpose. For many—if not most—participants in hackathons who work or study in technology-adjacent fields, a hackathon asks them, ostensibly, to spend approximately 12-24 hours (over one or two days) rushing to complete an urgent project. Often, this involves doing the same tasks they would be doing in their daily work, such as prototyping, programming, or building hardware, but with longer hours and a more intensive pace. Why then would people choose to participate? Alongside its pragmatic values—networking, gaining skills, contributing to projects with an avowedly social purpose, and a certain fraternity of technology enthusiasts—we argue the liminal nature of this work/play space also attracts and binds its adherents

Automated Essay Scoring in Australian Schools: Collective Policymaking - Policy Brief

This policy brief outlines critical issues associated with policy and the use of Automated Essay Scoring (AES) technology in the Australian education system. The brief outlines recommends multi-scalar policy development informed by educators, policymakers, and representatives from educational technology companies engaging in cooperative learning and action

Automated Essay Scoring in Australian Schools: Key Issues and Recommendations White Paper

This white paper outlines critical issues associated with the use of Automated Essay Scoring (AES) technology in the Australian education system. The key insights presented in this paper emerged from a collaborative, multi-stakeholder workshop held in July 2022 that explored an automated essay-scoring trial and generated future possibilities aligned with participant interests and expertise. Drawing on the workshop and our expert understanding of the wider landscape, we propose recommendations that can be adopted by various stakeholders, schools, and educational systems

Third-generation creativity : unfolding a social-ecological imagination

Creativity is not defined by an essence, but by the way it varies and evolves amongst our situated practices. In his book 'Inventing Our Selves', Nikolas Rose (1998) describes the subjectification and spatialisation of human being as "the target of a multiplicity of types of work, more like a latitude and longitude at which different vectors of different speeds intersect" (p. 37). These dynamic and spatial principles can be transferred to a simple paper object- a möbius strip - mesmerising in its fluidity, concaveness and shadow, by the artist Benbennick (2005). Imagine a vivid green strip of paper which has been twisted and joined. At certain points its curvatures touch a flat, cream-grained surface, at others the green hue of its shadows suggest its arc from the plane. Seelig (20 12) articulates a möbius strip framing of innovation to unlock creativity; an interweaving of attitude, knowledge and imagination (the inside), and culture, resources and habitat (the outside).Throughout this article I argue that a möbius strip symbolizes the multidimensionality of our situated practices, an assemblage of movement, with its denotations of presence and connotations of absence. Presence is the current positioning of our practice, the 'longitude'; absence characterises not only the freedom and choice of our practices (the 'latitude'), but also how the favoring of certain practices precludes others

Towards the "digital creativity of action"

This chapter seeks to explore the interrelationship between creativity, technology, and social practices. How we shape and transform our practices in a rapidly changing and intensely complex world requires continual exploration. The ways in which not only creativity—but digital creativity—is contributing to the transformation of these practices is the basis of this argument. Such a conceptualization builds upon an Australian-based empirical study of the ways in which students, academics, and professionals conceptualize creativity. A phenomenographic outcome space, which stemmed from this study, categorized the qualitatively different ways participants conceptualized creativity. A synthesis of these findings with a corresponding interdisciplinary literature review suggest the ways in which social practices interplay with digital technologies—leading to the expansion of digital creativity. Technologies are significantly expanding the ways in which we interact, communicate and learn; how these changes correspond to changes in the ways we conceptualize creativity requires further examination. The novel actions associated with technology are not only expressions of creativity—they compose the “digital creativity of action.” Complexity theory provides a multidimensional lens to analyze the diversity and nuances of how digital creativity is embodied in our social practices. This associates to the multimodal ways in which we now can enact and express our social practices. Also emerging through digital creativity is learning which is life wide; this involves the expanding spectrum of formal and informal learning across both individual and collective spheres. The purpose of this chapter is to explore how digital creativity is transforming our practices; that is, what we know, how we act and who we are becoming. It is this continuum—the interrelationship between the creativity of action and the digital—which is reconfiguring social practices in new and critical ways

Lines of affect and performativity : singing the body electric-politic in qualitative research

Qualitative research data comes in a myriad of forms and permutations. This spectrum of inquiry spans differing assemblages of sensation, creation, and well-being. While affording methodological moments their place, it is suggested that understanding sensation as "affect" and creation as "performativity" can provoke new qualitative research lines to unfold, alongside the politics of well-being. The intent of this article is to explore how continuing to transverse material, social, and temporal practices can spark new disruptions and notions of data. It is argued that further innovating data involves becoming more attuned to the lines and layers of our material, social, and temporal practices. Opening ourselves up to the interplay of sensation, creation, and well-being provides a rich optic for future qualitative methodologies - enabling us to reconfigure the territories of response and responsibility

Gap Filler: Exploring Barriers and Opportunities for Sustaining Local Employment in Two Greater Western Sydney Business Parks - Reflections From the Pilot Study

This pilot project was a preliminary investigation to explore the barriers and opportunities experienced for sustaining local employment within two Greater Western Sydney (GWS) business parks. How these insights could inform neighbourhood renewal initiatives, inclusive innovation and sustainable development were key outcomes. Insights highlighted a range of barriers, bridges and opportunities relating to sustaining local employment

Cross-cultural “distance”, “friction” and “flow” : exploring the experiences of pre-service teachers on international practicum

The focus of this paper is to illustrate Australian regional pre-service teachers' perceptions of an international practicum: their cross-cultural understanding, notions of privilege and teacher/professional identity development. Findings indicate that there were three overlapping dimensions of cross-cultural understanding for pre-service teachers: distance, friction and flow. At times students acknowledged the value of their placement, yet indicated a lack of empathy and engagement with the culture visited. At other times there was clear frustration at the cultural differences, alongside a growth in awareness. The fullest dimension was where pre-service teachers and their students learnt from each other, signalling a sharing towards cross-cultural understanding. Implications of these findings aim to inform how international practicums are designed in the future, as well as signalling directions for further research relating to these border crossings

Platforms, data and children’s rights : introducing a 'networked capability approach'

In this article, we consider the role of digital platforms for producing data and shaping how children’s rights are understood, monitored and advocated for. We present a typology of platforms impacting children’s rights, followed by the introduction of a ‘networked capability approach’. A case study is used to explore the potential of this approach for examining the purpose, practices and repercussions of digital platforms. We argue that to recognize and actualize children’s rights in a digital age, we need new conceptual tools to examine the interplay of platforms, people and places that include and exclude children’s valued ‘doings and beings’