Early adoption of mobile devices : a social network perspective

As mobile devices have become the personal information-processing interface of choice, many individuals seem to swiftly follow fashion. Yet, the literature is silent on how early adopters of mobile devices overcome uncertainties related to shifts in technology. Based on purposive sampling, this paper presents detailed insights into why and how five closely related individuals made the decision to adopt the iPhone before it was available through traditional supply chains. Focusing on the role played by social networks, we analyze how adoption threshold, opinion leaders, social contagion, and social learning shaped adoption behaviors and outcomes. The analyses confirm that network structures impacted the early decision to accept the iPhone; they show that when facing uncertainty, adoption decisions emerged as a combined result of individual adoption reflections and major influences from the social network as well as behaviors observed within the network; and, they reveal interesting behaviors that differed from expectations. In conclusion, we discuss implications for both theory and practice.

Mixed-age grouping in early childhood – creating the outdoor learning environment

Children attending centre-based early childhood care and education programmesacross Australia are most likely to be grouped according to age anddevelopment. While multi- or mixed-age grouping has been seen to havepositive benefits on young children’s learning and pro-social behaviours, thisapproach is not usually adopted in the organisation of children’s grouping inmost long day care settings across the county. This paper reports on a case studywhich explored one urban children’s setting where the outdoor learning spacehas been specifically designed to enable a mixed-age approach for children. Thefindings suggest that while the educators see many benefits across the age groupsin engaging in this approach, there is still a preference to segregate the veryyoung children arising from concerns for their safety. The study also found thatplanning for learning especially in regards pro-social learning with the olderchildren has been problematic

Locus de controle e comparação social na atribuição de causalidade por crianças

o presente estudo constituiu-se na primeira tentativa de aproximação das teorias de comparação social de Festinger (1954) e de aprendizagem social de Rotter (1966), também, o primeiro estudo conhecido no Brasil investigando locus de controle e comparação social com crianças. O objetivo do trabalho foi testar as hipóteses de que: (a) o locus de controle dos sujeitos, a oportunidade de comparaçao social e o resultado de desempenho (sucesso e fracasso) afetam a atribuição de causalidade ao desempenho de uma tarefa; e (b) sujeitos de locus de controle interno, quer tenham sido bem ou mal sucedidos na tarefa experimental, têm expectativas futuras mais semelhantes a seu próprio desempenho do que ao desempenho do grupo, enquanto que sujeitos de locus de controle externo, quer tenham sido bem ou mal sucedidos na tarefa experimental, têm expectativas mais semelhantes ao desempenho do grupo de pares do que ao seu próprio desempenho. As conclusões deste estudo foram: (a) a atribuição de causalidade, de acordo com a formulação de Rotter (1966), aplica-se também a brasileiros, especialmente a crianças brasileiras; (b) no desempenho bem-sucedido internos e externos não se diferenciam na assunção do crédito pessoal pelo sucesso; (c) a comparação social funciona para internos como ratificadora na situação de sucesso e modificadora na situação de fracasso do locus de controle do sujeito, e o inverso se , dá com os externos; (d) é válida a aproximação entre os construtos de locus de controle e comparação social; e (e) na previsão de resultados futuros, o papel da comparação social é de ratificacão do locus de controle.

Avaliação de Impacto em projetos sociais do terceiro setor: uma contribuição da teoria de policy learning

Esta pesquisa analisará o aprendizado em organizações do terceiro setor a partir de dois eixos principais: 1) Aprendizado através de análises empíricas (Avaliação de Impacto) - Pretende-se entender as principais recomendações para o terceiro setor em relação a Avaliação de Impacto e qual o cenário atual dessas práticas no contexto brasileiro. Para isso, foram entrevistadas 50 instituições que fazem parte de uma rede de organizações na área de educação, para entender como a avaliação vem sendo aplicada; 2) Aprendizado através da dimensão de Policy Learning: Social Learning e Instrumental Learning – Estabelecimento de conexão de teorias de aprendizado em políticas públicas com as instituições do terceiro setor e análise de possibilidades de aprendizado através de outras experiências e boas práticas.

E-Learning praktisch erlebbar machen

Dieser Projektbericht beschreibt eine Lehrveranstaltung, die den Studierenden in der Theorie genau das vermittelte, was sie direkt in der Praxis erfahren konnten: E-Learning. Die enge Koppelung von Wissensvermittlung und praktischer Umsetzung setzte auf ein ungewöhnliches Modell der Lernzeitorganisation. Von den Lernenden wie vom Lehrenden verlangte das Blended-Learning-Seminar die Bereitschaft, das übliche Selbstverständnis in Lehr-Lern-Kontexten an Hochschulen zu überdenken. Dieser Bericht stellt die inhaltliche und strukturelle Ausgangssituation dar, beschreibt die Organisation der Veranstaltung sowie die eingesetzten Methoden und Mittel und reflektiert die Lernerfolge.

(Lifelong) learning in your pocket?

Der Beitrag fokussiert die Entwicklung, den Einsatz und die Nutzung von innovativen Technologien zur Unterstützung von Bildungsszenarien in Schule, Hochschule und Weiterbildung. Ausgehend von den verschiedenen Phasen des Corporate Learning, Social Learning, Mobile Learning und Intelligent Learning wird in einem ersten Abschnitt das Nutzungsverhalten von Technologien durch Kinder, Jugendliche und (junge) Erwachsene in Schule, Studium und Lehre betrachtet. Es folgt die Darstellung technologischer Entwicklungen auf Basis des Technology Life Cycle und die Konsequenzen von unterschiedlichen Entwicklungszuständen und Reifegraden von Technologien wie Content Learning Management, sozialen Netzwerken, mobilen Endgeräten, multidimensionalen und -modalen Räumen bis hin zu Anwendungen augmentierter Realität und des Internets der Dinge, Dienste und Daten für den Einsatz und die Nutzung in Bildungsszenarien. Nach der Darstellung von Anforderungen an digitale Technologien hinsichtlich Inhalte, Didaktik und Methodik wie etwa hinsichtlich der Erstellung von Inhalten, deren Wiederverwendung, Digitalisierung und Auffindbarkeit sowie Standards werden methodische Hinweise zur Nutzung digitaler Technologien zur Interaktion von Lernenden, von Lehrenden, sozialer Interaktion, kollaborativem Autorieren, Kommentierung, Evaluation und Begutachtung gegeben. Abschließend werden - differenziert für Schule und Hochschule - Erkenntnisse zu Rahmenbedingungen, Einflussgrößen, hemmenden und fördernden Faktoren sowie Herausförderungen bei der Einführung und nachhaltigen Implementation digitaler Technologien im schulischen Unterricht, in Lehre, Studium und Weiterbildung im Überblick zusammengefasst.

Social capacity building in rural Aymara women organizations in Puno, Peru.

Social capacity building has been considered in the last decades an important element of rural development projects, as it helps organizations and communities to better use their resources, design and manage projects locally and improve their living standards. Social capacity building has been related to the development of certain skills and to the concept of leadership development. Social capacity building and leadership development under a social learning approach have guided a rural development project with an Aymara women organization in Puno, Peru, where around 400 women artisans are trying to develop a business organization to improve their lives and their communities. Qualitative and quantitative methodologies have been applied to assess improvements in capacities and leadership. Results show that the technical aspects are the first to be developed but that group process skills and contextual skills take longer and are crucial to the success of the projects.

Evaluation of hybrid and distance education learning environments in Spain

This article describes the adaptation and validation of the Distance Education Learning Environments Survey (DELES) for use in investigating the qualities found in distance and hybrid education psycho-social learning environments in Spain. As Europe moves toward post-secondary student mobility, equanimity in access to higher education, and more standardised degree programs across the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) the need for a high quality method for continually assessing the excellence of distance and hybrid learning environments has arisen. This study outlines how the English language DELES was adapted into the new Spanish-Distance Education Learning Environments Survey (S-DELES) for use with a Bachelor of Psychology and Criminology degree program offering both distance and hybrid education classes. We present the relationships between psycho-social learning environment perceptions and those of student affect. We also present the asynchronous aspects of the environment, scale means, and a comparison between the perceptions of distance education students and their hybrid education counterparts that inform the university about the baseline health of the information and communication technologies (ICT) environment within which the study was conducted.

Television and social behavior; reports and papers.

Includes bibliographies

RESEARCHING SITUATED LEARNING AS THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRACTICE FOR COLLEGE ACCESS PRACTITIONERS: A CASE STUDY OF THE COLLEGE ASSISTANCE MIGRANT PROGRAM

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-03

Deschooling society? A lifelong learning network for sustainable communities, urban regeneration and environmental technologies

The complexity and multifaceted nature of sustainable lifelong learning can be effectively addressed by a broad network of providers working co-operatively and collaboratively. Such a network involving the third, public and private sector bodies must realise the full potential of accredited flexible and blended formal learning, contextual opportunities offered by enablers of informal and non formal learning and the affordances derived from the various loose and open spaces that can make social learning effective. Such a conception informs the new Lifelong Learning Network Consortium on Sustainable Communities, Urban Regeneration and Environmental Technologies established and led by the Lifelong Learning Centre at Aston University. This paper offers a radical, reflective and political evaluation of its first year in development arguing that networked learning of this type could prefigure a new model for lifelong learning and sustainable education that renders the city itself a creative medium for transformative learning and sustainability.

Experiential learning:inspiring the business leaders of tomorrow

Purpose: The complex challenges of sustainable development and the need to embed these issues effectively into the education of future business leaders has never been more urgent. The purpose of this paper is to discuss different approaches taken by two UK signatories to the UN Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME). Design/methodology/approach: The two approaches examined are: MSc Entrepreneurship students opting for placements with social enterprises; and MBA students undertaking workshops using "live" case studies. A content analysis of the experiences of students from their written reflective narratives is presented. This is supplemented by reflections of the facilitators and tutors. Findings: The analysis reveals that the opportunity to work with social entrepreneurs and/or "responsible" business professionals provides the business students with inspirational role models and positive social learning opportunities. Research limitations/implications: This paper suggests that experiential learning is an effective way of integrating ethics, responsibility and sustainability into the curriculum but the research draws on the experience of two schools. Further research is important to explore these findings in other contexts. Practical implications: The authors argue that direct exposure to a business culture (and/or behaviour) that is predicated upon ethical/social responsibility and sustainability is an effective means to embed these values in the curriculum. Originality/value: This paper contributes by drawing on social psychological research related to behaviour change to examine how experiential learning on traditional Business Masters programmes can provide students with the knowledge, motivation and skills to contribute positively to society, in a way that more traditional pedagogies cannot. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Dynamic learning as entrepreneurial action in the context of open innovation:an instrumental case from a communities-of-practice perspective

Recent scholarly discussion on open innovation put forward the notion that an organisation's ability to internalise external knowledge and learn from various sources in undertaking new product development is crucial to its competitive performance. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to how growth-oriented small firms identify and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities (i.e. take entrepreneurial action) related to such development, in an open innovation context, from a social learning perspective. This chapter, based on an instrumental case-firm, demonstrates analytically how learning as entrepreneurial action takes place, drawing on situated learning theory. It is argued that such learning is dynamic in nature and is founded on specific organising principles that foster both inter- and intracommunal learning. © 2012, IGI Global.

Community social innovation: a view of experiences of housing occupation from the Social Work perspective

This work aims to reflect on the concept of social innovation, questioning its explanatory capacity for the discipline of social work. For this purpose, certain on-going debates with regard to this concept are examined and certain minimum dimensions are offered to enable an analysis of the social innovation strategies that certain affected groups implement to meet social needs. The approach is to construct «glasses» that permit an analytical engagement with new realities and with the strategies used by certain social groups to resolve situations of severe vulnerability. Finally, a case study is presented: a strategic group known as the Corrala Utopía that seeks to respond to severe housing problems and is developing in the city of Seville. The article highlights the elements of community social innovation emerging from the experience studied.

Recommending peers for learning: Matching on dissimilarity in interpretations to provoke breakdown

People recommenders are a widespread feature of social networking sites and educational social learning platforms alike. However, when these systems are used to extend learners’ Personal Learning Networks, they often fall short of providing recommendations of learning value to their users. This paper proposes a design of a people recommender based on content-based user profiles, and a matching method based on dissimilarity therein. It presents the results of an experiment conducted with curators of the content curation site Scoop.it!, where curators rated personalized recommendations for contacts. The study showed that matching dissimilarity of interpretations of shared interests is more successful in providing positive experiences of breakdown for the curator than is matching on similarity. The main conclusion of this paper is that people recommenders should aim to trigger constructive experiences of breakdown for their users, as the prospect and potential of such experiences encourage learners to connect to their recommended peers.