How to go virtual as efficiently and painlessly as possible

We need to be social, select the right technologies, accept alternative leadership styles, and create new work-life boundaries, writes Petros Chamakioti

Digi-housekeeping: a new form of digital labour?

Event synopsis: The theme for the WORK2015 Conference, New Meanings of Work sought its justification not only from the changes in work itself but from the global shifts both in the divisions and in the contents of the work. The ongoing turbulences of the post-recession economies at the global, regional and national levels shake also the work and its meanings. The on-going economic and societal changes are connected to forms and boundaries of work and to modes of working and ways of living that are yet to thoroughly mapped and explored. The recent transformations touch the very definition of what is work and call for rigorous explorations and new analyses

Transitions across work-life boundaries in a connected world: the case of social entrepreneurs

Information and communication technologies (ICTs), including mobile technologies, have significant implications for the management of work-life balance (WLB) (e.g. Perrons, 2003) and thus for sustainable work practices within organizations and society at large. Boundary theory (Clark, 2000) argues that individuals maintain boundaries between role identities (e.g. parent, worker) within different social domains (e.g. family, work), and that they regularly have to transition between these domains. WLB may reflect the effectiveness of this transitioning. ICTs have significant implications for the management of these boundaries, particularly as they open up new areas for interaction through mobility and through the potential provision of a variety of easily available connections. In this paper, we report on the findings of 15 social entrepreneurs’ video and interview data. In particular, we explore and advance understanding of the individual experience of switching between roles and domains in relation to ICT use and connectivity

Exploring boundaries in the hybrid environment

Event synopsis: The theme for the WORK2015 Conference, New Meanings of Work sought its justification not only from the changes in work itself but from the global shifts both in the divisions and in the contents of the work. The ongoing turbulences of the post-recession economies at the global, regional and national levels shake also the work and its meanings. The on-going economic and societal changes are connected to forms and boundaries of work and to modes of working and ways of living that are yet to thoroughly mapped and explored. The recent transformations touch the very definition of what is work and call for rigorous explorations and new analyses

Members' commitment in online health communities: the case of MedicineAfrica

Online communities have gained multidisciplinary attention in both the academic and practitioner literature. Some of this literature has taken a focus on online communities in the healthcare context (aka online health communities), with recent studies highlighting their potential to contribute to social value creation, for example by reducing the divide between regional and other health disparities. In this research-in-progress paper, we present a case study we conducted with MedicineAfrica; an online health community with the aim of improving healthcare education in countries with fragile healthcare systems. Based on interviews, online observations, and documentary analysis, our study explores: (a) the factors that enhance volunteer-members’ commitment to the online community, resulting in them staying longer than they initially expected; and (b) the impact of members’ commitment on the roles they undertake on the online platform. It is found that, with increased commitment, members of online health communities tend to undertake not just more roles but roles with leading responsibilities as well as take on initiatives for new online activities. We discuss our preliminary analysis so far, which is followed by the study’s implications and further research

Generating Social Value through Online Communities: The Case of MedicineAfrica

Online communities have seen exponential growth over the last few years, and have thus attracted cross-disciplinary scholarly and practitioner attention. We extend literature on online communities by presenting them as social value creation entities. We use the case of MedicineAfrica—an online healthcare initiative that promotes knowledge sharing and learning to poorly resourced countries. Our approach is qualitative and draws primarily on interviews with different projects and groups of participants involved in MedicineAfrica. So far, our preliminary analysis begins to explain what social value creation means for the different stakeholders involved in MedicineAfrica. Thus, understanding the motives of the voluntary members is important for the sustainability of these communities. We also find that social value is created through the emergence of human and social capital which substantially benefits both those in the remote and fragile areas, as well as those giving up their time to share their knowledge and expertise

Learning in Modern Virtual Environments: The Case of Massive Open Online Courses(MOOC)

Virtual environments (VEs) have gained noteworthy popularity in our societies and contribute to significant changes in the way in which we live, work, and learn. The literature on virtuality recognizes that VEs – be they virtual social networks, virtual teams, etc. – are known for their unique characteristics: e.g. geographical and temporal dispersion, computer mediation, global character and increased member heterogeneity, among others. These characteristics exert noteworthy influence on how individuals perform (e.g. Nunamaker Jr et al. 2009), express their creativity (e.g. Chamakiotis et al. 2013) and learn (e.g. Schaefer and Erskine 2012). In fact, over the last decade or so, there has been an overwhelming, cross-disciplinary interest in the topic of virtual teams from the fields of information systems, management and engineering. What, however, this literature has neglected to consider is a recent, yet increasingly popular, type of VE in which individuals from across the world come together virtually to enhance their knowledge around a chosen topic by enrolling in, what is known as, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Enabled by virtuality and information and communication technologies (ICTs), MOOCs provide unparalleled opportunities for learning, breaking geo-temporal boundaries and allowing learners to capitalize on the strengths of a particular university offering a MOOC in an area of expertise that would otherwise be inaccessible. Adding to these is the advantage of flexibility in terms of the learning format and that of being able to learn at low or no cost, which is not the case with traditional or other online learning environments (Pappano 2012). However, we ask, is this without problems or does is create challenges for both educators and learners? Our rationale for this study is that despite the popularity of these VEs, it has been posited that a surprisingly large number of individuals drop out of MOOCs, failing to complete them (e.g. Pursel et al. 2016). Thus, a number of interesting, unexplored questions emerge. For example, how is learning performed in a VE in which learners come together with ‘online strangers’ to collectively and individually enhance their learning on a particular topic? How does curiosity – which is what might have driven those individuals to embark on a MOOC in the first place – influence learning in VEs? How can this curiosity be sustained throughout the duration of a MOOC? And what is the role played by the leader, instructor, or facilitator for learners’ engagement in these environments? Here, we are interested in shedding light on these questions by focusing on a specific MOOC on ‘Creativity, Innovation and Change’ organized and offered by the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) in the USA. Our study, which is still at its planning stage, is likely to adopt a mixed methods approach, comprising (a) a qualitative component (drawing on interviews, text-based fora and discussions) aiming to help us gain some understanding of our research questions; and subsequently, (b) a quantitative component (drawing on clickstream data, quiz data, assignment submissions) with the aim of generating results that will be generalizable beyond the context of the studied MOOC. Our study is expected to bring value to scholars and practitioners from the information systems, management, engineering, and education communities through the insights it will provide about globally distributed collaboration, which is increasingly common in high-tech companies, for example. At the conference, we will present the theoretical foundations of our study and we will seek feedback on our thoughts on the methodological approach and expected contributions of our study

The Shifting Role of Social Media throughout Refugee Journeys

Given an emerging literature within the Information Systems (IS) field in the role of technology in social (in)justice and forced migration, in this research-in-progress paper we present preliminary findings from a longitudinal study with Syrian refugees (2018–present), which aims to understand the role of technology in refugees’ journeys from departure to destination. Our findings are articulated across three phases: in Phase 1, involving interviews with refugees sheltered in Greece, we found that social media played an important role during early stages of refugee journeys, mainly for information purposes. In Phase 2, drawing on social media data, we discovered a range of uses of social media within the refugee community, surfacing a hidden and largely unrecognised ‘hybrid community’—in-person and virtual—of refugees. In Phase 3, which is currently being developed, the concept of a ‘hybrid community’ is being explored in relation to diverse patterns of technology use by refugees. Our analysis reveals three stages of social media use related to hybrid communities—pre-departure, while on the move, and post-arrival—showing that hybrid communities take a different form over time as per the different uses of social media at different stages

Social Media and Forced Migration: The Emergence of a Hybrid Community

Given an emerging interest in the role of technology in social (in)justice and forced migration, we present preliminary findings from our three-phase study with Syrian refugees, whose aim has been to unpack the role played by social media in migrants’ journeys from their country of departure to their country of destination. Drawing on a range of complementary datasets, we discover that social media play different roles at different stages of refugees’ journeys (pre-departure, while on the move, and post-arrival), ultimately giving rise to a unique configuration which we term a “hybrid community”. These communities are hybrid because their members interact online in Stages 1 and 2, and then both online and face-to-face in Stage 3. With Phase 3 of our study, we hope to explore what these hybrid communities look like, by conducting reflective interviews with refugees who are settled and may be able to offer new insights that could complement our existing dataset