New research literacies for contemporary research into literacy and new media?

The term literacy remains highly contested and debates continue about how literacy might best be researched and to what ends. For some, literacy is simply a matter of acquiring the technical competence which enables people to read and write. Literacy research conducted from this point of view does not usually concern itself with the new media but rather focuses on how people learn to code and decode print text. For others, however, literacy is more complex and involves learning a repertoire of practices for communicating and getting things done in particular social and cultural contexts. Literacy research conducted from this sociocultural point of view accepts that the new media are central to the field because in everyday cultural practice people are using the new media to make meaning, to express themselves and to communicate and work with others. Socio-cultural approaches to literacy research have already provided rich material which has assisted educators to understand literacy practices in everyday use (e.g. Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Barton, Hamilton and Ivanic, 2000) including children’s appropriation of the media in school-based writing (Dyson, 1997). However, the changing semiotic and cultural practices associated with new media and online participation have less frequently been the object of study...

New media pathways : navigating the links between home, school and the workplace

The terms ‘literacy’ and ‘technology’ remain highly contentious within the field of education. What is meant by ‘literacy’ and the methods used to measure it vary quite markedly in educational and historical contexts across the world. Similarly, while there is a shared concern to research the potential impact of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) on patterns of teaching and learning, there are major discrepancies about which aspects and uses of these technologies should be incorporated into formal learning environments and how this can be accomplished. While government policy makers tend to regard ICTs in relation to ideas of ‘smartness’, efficiency, and the ‘knowledge’ (or ‘new’) economy, educators and educational researchers promote them as offering new tools for learning and critical thinking and the development of new literacies and socio-cultural identities. This clearly has ramifications for the ways literacy is taught and conceptualised throughout the years of schooling, K-12. Outside school, meanwhile, students engage with ICTs on another level entirely, as tools for the maintenance of social networks, for leisure, and for learning and participating in the cultures of their peers. Whatever the differences in perspective, it remains the case that a society’s dominant understandings about literacy and technology will have significant implications for the development of school curriculum.

Assembling dynamic repertoires of literate practices : teaching that makes a difference

This chapter considers how teachers can make a difference to the kinds of literacy young people take up. Increasingly, researchers and policy-makers see literacy as an ensemble of socio-cultural situated practices rather than as a unitary skill. Accordingly, the differences in what young people come to do with literacy, in and out of school, confront us more directly. If literacy development involves assembling dynamic repertoires of practices, it is crucial to consider what different groups of children growing up and going to school in different places have access to and make investments in over time; the kinds of literate communities from which some are excluded or included; and how educators make a difference to the kinds of literate trajectories and identities young people put together.

Remixing social media for location sharing on public urban screens

This paper introduces Sapporo World Window (hereafter SWW), an interactive social media mash-up deployed in a newly built urban public underground space utilising ten public displays and urban dwellers’ mobile phones. SWW enables users to share their favourite locations with fellow citizens and visitors through integrating various social media contents to a coherent whole. The system aims to engage citizens in socio-cultural and technological interactions, turning the underground space into a creative and lively social space. We present first insight from an initial user study in a real world setting.

Communication and transformation through collaboration: Rethinking drawing activities in early childhood.

This article is a study of the arts in early childhood as a way of learning, for both children and their teachers. The author suggests that drawing can be a powerful tool for collaborative approaches to pedagogy. When teachers draw with children, pathways of communication can be opened, and the collaborative exercise can trigger processes of transformation for both adult and child. In order to present challenges to more traditional, hands-off pedagogical practices in arts education, this article is an account of reflexive arts pedagogies, and how they can work to improve communication and understandings between adults and children. Within the educational contexts of Australian preschooling and primary schooling, the author examines the process of collaborative drawing, and how this can enable a process of transformation. Her analysis, and the accompanying examples of reflexive practices, combine complementary lenses, socio-cultural and postmodern, that she sees as working in harmony to produce new possibilities, in arts education in particular, and, more broadly, in early childhood education.

Investigating and theorizing discourse during analogy writing in chemistry

Explanations of the role of analogies in learning science at a cognitive level are made in terms of creating bridges between new information and students’ prior knowledge. In this empirical study of learning with analogies in an 11th grade chemistry class, we explore an alternative explanation at the "social" level where analogy shapes classroom discourse. Students in the study developed analogies within small groups and with their teacher. These classroom interactions were monitored to identify changes in discourse that took place through these activities. Beginning from socio-cultural perspectives and hybridity, we investigated classroom discourse during analogical activities. From our analyses, we theorized a merged discourse that explains how the analog discourse becomes intertwined with the target discourse generating a transitional state where meanings, signs, symbols, and practices are in flux. Three categories were developed that capture how students intertwined the analog and target discourses—merged words, merged utterances/sentences, and merged practices.

Combating computer crime : an international perspective

Given the serious nature of computer crime, and its global nature and implications, it is clear that there is a crucial need for a common understanding of such criminal activity internationally in order to deal with it effectively. Research into the extent to which legislation, international initiatives, and policy and procedures to combat and investigate computer crime are consistent globally is therefore of enormous importance. The challenge is to study, analyse, and compare the policies and practices of combating computer crime under different jurisdictions in order to identify the extent to which they are consistent with each other and with international guidelines; and the extent of their successes and limitations. The purpose ultimately is to identify areas where improvements are needed and what those improvements should be. This thesis examines approaches used for combating computer crime, including money laundering, in Australia, the UAE, the UK and the USA, four countries which represent a spectrum of economic development and culture. It does so in the context of the guidelines of international organizations such as the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). In the case of the UAE, we examine also the cultural influences which differentiate it from the other three countries and which has necessarily been a factor in shaping its approaches for countering money laundering in particular. The thesis concludes that because of the transnational nature of computer crime there is a need internationally for further harmonisation of approaches for combating computer crime. The specific contributions of the thesis are as follows: „h Developing a new unified comprehensive taxonomy of computer crime based upon the dual characteristics of the role of the computer and the contextual nature of the crime „h Revealing differences in computer crime legislation in Australia, the UAE, the UK and the USA, and how they correspond to the CoE Convention on Cybercrime and identifying a new framework to develop harmonised computer crime or cybercrime legislation globally „h Identifying some important issues that continue to create problems for law enforcement agencies such as insufficient resources, coping internationally with computer crime legislation that differs between countries, having comprehensive documented procedures and guidelines for combating computer crime, and reporting and recording of computer crime offences as distinct from other forms of crime „h Completing the most comprehensive study currently available regarding the extent of money laundered in four such developed or fast developing countries „h Identifying that the UK and the USA are the most advanced with regard to anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems among the four countries based on compliance with the FATF recommendations. In addition, the thesis has identified that local factors have affected how the UAE has implemented its financial and AML/CFT systems and reveals that such local and cultural factors should be taken into account when implementing or evaluating any country¡¦s AML/CFT system.

Building support for learning within a Doctor of Education programme

Professional doctorates were introduced in the 1990s for practitioners to research ‘real-world’ problems relevant to their respective workplace communities and contexts. An array of difficulties faces professional doctoral students as they transition from professionals to practitioner researchers. This study sought to understand the learning journey of a cohort of students at an Australian university and to assess whether the cohort approach provided the necessary support for students to reach their scholarly destinations. Throughout the first 18 months of the programme, focus group interviews and surveys were conducted to gauge students’ experiences and to evaluate developments for support within the programme. Utilising a socio-cultural perspective helped identify and explain the importance of shared practice in fostering learning, the development of academic and researcher identities, and the role of communities of practice. Challenges of managing time and overcoming the professional and academe divide were facilitated by the evolving developments of the programme.

Designing for engagement towards healthier lifestyles through food image sharing : the case of I8DAT

This paper introduces the underlying design concepts of I8DAT, a food image sharing application that has been developed as part of a three-year research project – Eat, Cook, Grow: Ubiquitous Technology for Sustainable Food Culture in the City (http://www.urbaninformatics .net/projects/food) – exploring urban food practices to engage people in healthier, more environmentally and socially sustainable eating, cooking, and growing food in their everyday lives. The key aim of the project is to produce actionable knowledge, which is then applied to create and test several accessible, user-centred interactive design solutions that motivate user-engagement through playful and social means rather than authoritative information distribution. Through the design and implementation processes we envisage to integrate these design interventions to create a sustainable food network that is both technical and socio-cultural in nature (technosocial). Our primary research locale is Brisbane, Australia, with additional work carried out in three reference cities with divergent geographic, socio-cultural, and technological backgrounds: Seoul, South Korea, for its global leadership in ubiquitous technology, broadband access, and high population density; Lincoln, UK, for the regional and peri-urban dimension it provides, and Portland, Oregon, US, for its international standing as a hub of the sustainable food movement.

Ambient temperature and morbidity: A review of epidemiological evidence

OBJECTIVE: This paper reviews the epidemiological evidence on the relationship between ambient temperature and morbidity. It assesses the methodological issues in previous studies, and proposes future research directions. DATA SOURCES AND DATA EXTRACTION: We searched the PubMed database for epidemiological studies on ambient temperature and morbidity of non-communicable diseases published in refereed English journals prior to June 2010. 40 relevant studies were identified. Of these, 24 examined the relationship between ambient temperature and morbidity, 15 investigated the short-term effects of heatwave on morbidity, and 1 assessed both temperature and heatwave effects. DATA SYNTHESIS: Descriptive and time-series studies were the two main research designs used to investigate the temperature–morbidity relationship. Measurements of temperature exposure and health outcomes used in these studies differed widely. The majority of studies reported a significant relationship between ambient temperature and total or cause-specific morbidities. However, there were some inconsistencies in the direction and magnitude of non-linear lag effects. The lag effect of hot temperature on morbidity was shorter (several days) compared to that of cold temperature (up to a few weeks). The temperature–morbidity relationship may be confounded and/or modified by socio-demographic factors and air pollution. CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant short-term effect of ambient temperature on total and cause-specific morbidities. However, further research is needed to determine an appropriate temperature measure, consider a diverse range of morbidities, and to use consistent methodology to make different studies more comparable.

An economic evaluation of the Safe Motherhood programme in Guangxi, China

Maternal and infant mortality is a global health issue with a significant social and economic impact. Each year, over half a million women worldwide die due to complications related to pregnancy or childbirth, four million infants die in the first 28 days of life, and eight million infants die in the first year. Ninety-nine percent of maternal and infant deaths are in developing countries. Reducing maternal and infant mortality is among the key international development goals. In China, the national maternal mortality ratio and infant mortality rate were reduced greatly in the past two decades, yet a large discrepancy remains between urban and rural areas. To address this problem, a large-scale Safe Motherhood Programme was initiated in 2000. The programme was implemented in Guangxi in 2003. Interventions in the programme included both demand-side and supply side-interventions focusing on increasing health service use and improving birth outcomes. Little is known about the effects and economic outcomes of the Safe Motherhood Programme in Guangxi, although it has been implemented for seven years. The aim of this research is to estimate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the interventions in the Safe Motherhood Programme in Guangxi, China. The objectives of this research include: 1. To evaluate whether the changes of health service use and birth outcomes are associated with the interventions in the Safe Motherhood Programme. 2. To estimate the cost-effectiveness of the interventions in the Safe Motherhood Programme and quantify the uncertainty surrounding the decision. 3. To assess the expected value of perfect information associated with both the whole decision and individual parameters, and interpret the findings to inform priority setting in further research and policy making in this area. A quasi-experimental study design was used in this research to assess the effectiveness of the programme in increasing health service use and improving birth outcomes. The study subjects were 51 intervention counties and 30 control counties. Data on the health service use, birth outcomes and socio-economic factors from 2001 to 2007 were collected from the programme database and statistical yearbooks. Based on the profile plots of the data, general linear mixed models were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme while controlling for the effects of baseline levels of the response variables, change of socio-economic factors over time and correlations among repeated measurements from the same county. Redundant multicollinear variables were deleted from the mixed model using the results of the multicollinearity diagnoses. For each response variable, the best covariance structure was selected from 15 alternatives according to the fit statistics including Akaike information criterion, Finite-population corrected Akaike information criterion, and Schwarz.s Bayesian information criterion. Residual diagnostics were used to validate the model assumptions. Statistical inferences were made to show the effect of the programme on health service use and birth outcomes. A decision analytic model was developed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the programme, quantify the decision uncertainty, and estimate the expected value of perfect information associated with the decision. The model was used to describe the transitions between health states for women and infants and reflect the change of both costs and health benefits associated with implementing the programme. Result gained from the mixed models and other relevant evidence identified were synthesised appropriately to inform the input parameters of the model. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of the programme were calculated for the two groups of intervention counties over time. Uncertainty surrounding the parameters was dealt with using probabilistic sensitivity analysis, and uncertainty relating to model assumptions was handled using scenario analysis. Finally the expected value of perfect information for both the whole model and individual parameters in the model were estimated to inform priority setting in further research in this area.The annual change rates of the antenatal care rate and the institutionalised delivery rate were improved significantly in the intervention counties after the programme was implemented. Significant improvements were also found in the annual change rates of the maternal mortality ratio, the infant mortality rate, the incidence rate of neonatal tetanus and the mortality rate of neonatal tetanus in the intervention counties after the implementation of the programme. The annual change rate of the neonatal mortality rate was also improved, although the improvement was only close to statistical significance. The influences of the socio-economic factors on the health service use indicators and birth outcomes were identified. The rural income per capita had a significant positive impact on the health service use indicators, and a significant negative impact on the birth outcomes. The number of beds in healthcare institutions per 1,000 population and the number of rural telephone subscribers per 1,000 were found to be positively significantly related to the institutionalised delivery rate. The length of highway per square kilometre negatively influenced the maternal mortality ratio. The percentage of employed persons in the primary industry had a significant negative impact on the institutionalised delivery rate, and a significant positive impact on the infant mortality rate and neonatal mortality rate. The incremental costs of implementing the programme over the existing practice were US $11.1 million from the societal perspective, and US $13.8 million from the perspective of the Ministry of Health. Overall, 28,711 life years were generated by the programme, producing an overall incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of US $386 from the societal perspective, and US $480 from the perspective of the Ministry of Health, both of which were below the threshold willingness-to-pay ratio of US $675. The expected net monetary benefit generated by the programme was US $8.3 million from the societal perspective, and US $5.5 million from the perspective of the Ministry of Health. The overall probability that the programme was cost-effective was 0.93 and 0.89 from the two perspectives, respectively. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of the programme was insensitive to the different estimates of the three parameters relating to the model assumptions. Further research could be conducted to reduce the uncertainty surrounding the decision, in which the upper limit of investment was US $0.6 million from the societal perspective, and US $1.3 million from the perspective of the Ministry of Health. It is also worthwhile to get a more precise estimate of the improvement of infant mortality rate. The population expected value of perfect information for individual parameters associated with this parameter was US $0.99 million from the societal perspective, and US $1.14 million from the perspective of the Ministry of Health. The findings from this study have shown that the interventions in the Safe Motherhood Programme were both effective and cost-effective in increasing health service use and improving birth outcomes in rural areas of Guangxi, China. Therefore, the programme represents a good public health investment and should be adopted and further expanded to an even broader area if possible. This research provides economic evidence to inform efficient decision making in improving maternal and infant health in developing countries.

Knowledge-based urban development processes of an emerging knowledge city : Brisbane, Australia

In the global knowledge economy, to attract and retain knowledge-intensive industries and workers, cities produce various development strategies. Such strategising is an important development mechanism for cities to complete their transformation into knowledge cities. This paper discusses the critical connections between knowledge city foundations and integrated knowledge-based urban development strategies, and scrutinises Brisbane’s strategies in attracting and retaining investment and talent. The paper introduces a knowledge-based urban development assessment framework and uses this framework to provide a clearer understanding of Brisbane’s knowledge-based development processes and knowledge city transformation experience. The assessment framework particularly focuses on examining Brisbane’s four development processes, institutional, economic, socio-cultural and urban development, in detail. The findings reveal that although Brisbane is still in early stages of its transformation into a fully-fledged knowledge city, global orientation and achievements of Brisbane in strategising knowledge-based urban development are noteworthy.

A human capital framework : designed for convergence

The 21" century business environment is dominated by unprecedented change across a broad spectrum of social, economic, technological and cultural factors (Nowotny, Scott & Gibbons 2001). Among these, two broad trends -economic globalisation and rising knowledge intensity (Hart 2006)have come to distinguish organisational life. Under the weight of these transformational influences, the developed world, it seems, has arrived at a transformational moment. The far-reaching effects of the global financial crisis and its shadowy twin: the threat of a double dip recession, continue to exert an unsteadying influence on global and corporate finances. Growth in developed economies has slumped, share prices have declined, the market value of corporations has slipped and unemployment rates, in the vast majority of developed economies, have risen. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth has retreated from the strong growth experienced in the late 1990s to negative growth in 2009 and a sluggish and unsteady recovery in 2010. In response, the reach of Government in terms of its participation in markets has been extended, bringing with it the need to transition to new governance and regulatory arrangements. Ongoing concerns regarding the pace and sustainability of the recovery remains a front-of-mind concern with bailouts, buybacks, borrowings and BP dominating news services: 'We are witnessing the reweaving of the social, political and economic fabric that binds our planet, with long-term consequences that are as or more profound than those of the industrial era' (Tapscott & Williams 2006, p. 59).

Print media portrayals of giving : exploring national ‘cultures of philanthropy’

In their 2010 study drawing on 500 empirical philanthropy studies, Bekkers and Wiepking identified eight consistently significant giving mechanisms. The pilot study reported here extends what is known about one mechanism, values, as a giving driver, in particular considering how national cultural values apply to giving. Personal values are not formed in a vacuum. They are influenced by the wider culture and society: thus values have a socio-cultural dimension. Accordingly, this pilot research draws on media theory and cultural studies work on national ethos to explore how these national cultural values interact with giving. A directed qualitative content analysis has been undertaken to compare US and Australian print media coverage about philanthropy. The two nations share an Anglo–Saxon orientation but differ significantly in national character and philanthropic activity. This study posits that a nation's media coverage about giving will reflect its national cultural ethos. This coverage can also shape personal values, thus implications exist for theory about the antecedents of personal giving values. Wider national values may drive or stifle giving, so this wider view of values as a driver has implications also for philanthropy promotion and fundraising.

Urban food futures : ICTs and opportunities

Food is a vital foundation of all human life. It is essential to a myriad of political, socio-cultural, economic and environmental practices throughout history. However, those practices of food production, consumption, and distribution have the potential to now go through immensely transformative shifts as network technologies become increasingly embedded in every domain of contemporary life. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are one of the key foundations of global functionality and sustenance today and undoubtedly will continue to present new challenges and opportunities for the future. As such, this Symposium will bring together leading scholars across disciplines to address challenges and opportunities at the intersection of food and ICTs in everyday urban environment. In particular, the discussion will revolve around the question: What are the key roles that network technologies play in re-shaping the food systems at micro- to macroscopic level? The symposium will contribute a unique perspective on urban food futures through the lens of network society paradigm where ICTs enable innovations in production, organisation, and communication within society. Some of the topics addressed will include encouraging transparency in food commodity chains; value of cultural understanding and communication in global food sustainability; and technologies to social inclusion; all of which evoke and examine the question surrounding networked individuals as changes catalysts for urban food futures. The event will provide an avenue for new discussions and speculations on key issues surrounding urban food futures in the network era, with a particular focus on bottom-up micro actions that challenge the existing food systems towards a broader sociocultural, political, technological, and environmental transformations. One central area of concern is that current systems of food production, distribution, and consumption do not ensure food security for the future, but rather seriously threaten it. With the recent unprecedented scale of urban growth and rise of middle-class, the problem continues to intensify. This situation requires extensive distribution networks to feed urban residents, and therefore poses significant infrastructural challenges to both the public and private sectors. The symposium will also address the transferability of citizen empowerment that network technologies enable as demonstrated in various significant global political transformations from the bottom-up, such as the recent Egyptian Youth Revolution. Another key theme of the discussion will be the role of ICTs (and the practices that they mediate) in fostering transparency in commodity chains. The symposium will ask what differences these technologies can make on the practices of food consumption and production. After discussions, we will initiate an international network of food-thinkers and actors that will function as a platform for knowledge sharing and collaborations. The participants will be invited to engage in planning for the on-going future development of the network.