This PhD study is at the intersection of people, place and technology and pioneers innovative development approaches towards interactive social networking systems informed by community, social and urban studies and employs human-centred and participatory design methods. The project delivers a greater understanding of the potential for internet-based systems to support and facilitate social networks of urban residents and the role of those networks to foster neighbourhood identity and social capital. Departing from conventional notions that regard communities as collectives, this study builds upon more contemporary interpretations of community inherent in Castells’ and Wellman’s theories of the network society and networked individualism. The thesis challenges the view that a mere re-appropriation of applications used to support dispersed virtual communities of interest is adequate to meet the place and proximity-based design requirements that community networks in urban neighbourhoods pose. The overarching principal research aim of the study is to propose new ways of conceptualising the roles of social networks of urban residents to better inform the design of new technology facilitating urban neighbourhood developments. Addressing this aim requires a new understanding of the roles of social networks of urban residents. The study sets out to critique the implicit theories underlying technology design in this area and to propose a more appropriate theory based on recent developments in the field and empirical findings from the study. The key research questions are: 1. What theoretical model can better represent social interaction of residents in inner-city apartment buildings? 2. How can relevant research methods be adapted to take the network qualities of social interactions into account? 3. What are the implications of a new understanding of social networks for the design of technology that supports the growth of neighbourhoods? 4. What are the implications of a new understanding of social networks for an urban architecture that supports the growth of neighbourhoods? Within a framework of action research, the study follows a case study approach of three different inner-city residential apartment complexes in Brisbane. Research methods are mostly qualitative and ethnographic and include surveys, focus groups, participant observation and interviews, as well as participatory design. The study delivers innovative outcomes on three levels: 1. Theoretical innovation with an analytical translation of Wellman’s notion of networked individualism and a conceptualisation of the communicative ecology model into the context of system design that supports social networks of residents in inner-city apartment buildings; 2. Methodological innovation with the presentation of Network Action Research, an addition to the action research family which pays particular attention to the network quality of social formations in communities; 3. Empirical innovation with research findings which indicate that the key factors influencing the successful design and uptake of interactive systems to support social networks in urban neighbourhoods. They include the swarming social behaviour of urban dwellers, the dynamics of their existing communicative ecology, and the serendipitous, voluntary and place-based quality of interaction between residents on the basis of choice, like-mindedness, mutual interest and support needs. Findings are presented in three parts to audiences interested in people, technology and place. Drawing on social, urban and computer sciences, this research project delivers insights which will assist efforts to facilitate urban neighbourhood community building with new media and network ICTs. Understanding the issues and challenges as well as opportunities and strengths in forming a local meshwork of social networks will help Australians negotiate the complex web of daily choices, access a greater social safety net, and participate in the socio-cultural and socio-economic life of their city. This in turn will contribute to greater social inclusion, urban sustainability and healthier local economies.

This is an interdiscliplinary qualitative study which uses an exploratory research design and builds on Fariclough's Critical Discourse Analysis methodology to analyze the discourses surrounding an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for livelihood development project in Jamaica, introduced by the United Nations Development Programme - the Jamaica Sustainable Development Networking Programme (JSDNP). The primary objective of this project is to provide the poor in Jamaican communities with access to, and training in ICTs. In this research, I specifically focus on the discourses surrounding the JSDNP Cybercentre Project for a group of microenterprise entrepreneurs in the Jamaican tourism industry to access the epistemological assumptions of this project. From the data collected it was found that at one level, the JSDNP Cybercentre Project encouraged specific ways of acting and organizing congruent with the configurations, processes and structures of corporate firms of industrialized countries, by representing the achievement of livelihood expansion through the use of specific ICTs in a particular way which excluded other discourses. The particular ways of acting and organizing promoted by the Cybercentre encouraged the use of non-indigenous technologies, undervalued indigenous technologies and excluded the indigenization of non-indigenous technologies. These discourses were incompatible with the operational and structural configurations of trans-temporal poor entrepretrepreneurs interviewed and were more favourable to the non-poor and spatio-temporal ones. One of the wider implications of the discourse therefore was that they play a fundamental role in perpetuating entrenched inequalities through the preservation of social practices, along with their associated systems and structures. It was also found that these modalities limited the operational processes of all microenterprise entrepreneurs who were exposed to the Cybercentre Project. These entrepreneurs have limited control over the configuration of non-indigenous technologies; their technological and creative capabilities are restricted; their ability to indigenize non-indigenous technologies impaired; and they are highly dependent on non-indigenous technologies (which themselves have a number of limitations).

In the information era, e-learning is considered as one of the means to increase the global competitiveness of a nation. Before e-learning is largely implemented in education system, it is important to assess the e-learning readiness of a society. However, previous research always focus on measuring the e-learning readiness of commercial organisations and tertiary institutions, leaving a huge research gap on the use and readiness of e-learning in primary and secondary schools. This thesis developed a model for identifying e-learning readiness levels of teachers in Hong Kong schools, with the aim of creating a general model which could be transferred to other countries which are less developed than Hong Kong, yet which all share common Asian cultures. This was a multi-stage research project, incorporating model building and empirical testing of a model based on the existing academic literature, through questionnaire surveys to both in-service and pre-service teachers triangulated by series of in-depth interviews.

Στην παρούσα βιβλιογραφική μελέτη καταγράφονται οι αλλαγές στο περιβάλλον οικονομικό, κοινωνικό και τεχνολογικό, ακολουθούμενες από τις πρόσφατες αλλαγές στις βασικές παραμέτρους της παρουσίας και του ρόλου των πληροφοριακών συστημάτων σε οργανισμούς και επιχειρήσεις. Η παρακολούθηση των αλλαγών στα δυο βασικά συστατικά του θέματος της μελέτης, (Πληροφοριακή τεχνολογία- εφαρμογές & Επιχειρησιακή στρατηγική), έγινε σε δύο επίπεδα. Χρησιμοποιώντας σαν βάση συγγράμματα, άρθρα και απόψεις αποδεκτές στον επιστημονικό και στον επιχειρηματικό χώρο, και εμπλουτίζοντας αυτή με μια επιλογή νέων στοιχείων που έρχονται στα χέρια μας μέσω των εφαρμογών της τεχνολογίας πληροφοριών και αφορούν τις δυνατότητες, την επίδραση και την επιρροή της τεχνολογίας αυτής, στη στρατηγική και τη λειτουργία ενός οργανισμού. Το ζήτημα της ευθυγράμμισης, ενσωμάτωσης ή ολοκλήρωσης των δύο στρατηγικών αναφέρεται στο βαθμό στον οποίο ο οργανισμός λαμβάνει υπόψη και χρησιμοποιεί τις δυνατότητες της πληροφοριακής τεχνολογίας και των εφαρμογών της, από τη φάση του σχεδιασμού της στρατηγικής του μέχρι την καθημερινή του λειτουργία. Τα βιβλιογραφικά ευρήματα αφορούν δημοσιεύσεις των τελευταίων κυρίως χρόνων και δεν είναι αριθμητικά σπουδαία. Κατά συνέπεια, έπρεπε να συμπληρωθούν με συμπεράσματα, σκέψεις και αναλύσεις βασισμένα σε συνεντεύξεις ειδικών, δημοσιεύματα εφημερίδων, στατιστικά στοιχεία κ.α. Η γενική φιλοσοφία στο κείμενο είναι οικονομικό-διοικητική χωρίς αυτό να βαίνει σε βάρος των συμπερασμάτων για την τεχνολογία της πληροφορικής. Προτάσεις για περαιτέρω έρευνα αλλά και πρακτικές συμβουλές για ζητήματα συγγενή με την ενσωμάτωση ΙΤ/Business, τη διαχείριση αλλαγών, τη διάρκεια της ευθυγράμμισης και τα αποτελέσματα της προσφέρονται και προκύπτουν από το κείμενο. / The study “Alignment of technology and business strategy in companies and organizations”, describes the changes in the financial, social and technological environment, followed by the changing role of information systems in the area of business, effectiveness and productivity. The detection of the changing facts in the two critical parts of the subject, (information technology and applications & business strategy) takes place in two different levels; mainly using books and articles with the addition of a wide selection of data and information available through internet surveys, statistics and business executives interviews which refer to the effect and the utility of information and communication technology and its applications in the acts of planning and forming the business strategy and in business in general. This study is characterized as managerial but that does not degrade any of the consumptions about information technology and information systems. Suggestions for research as well as practical advice are offered throughout the text.

[pt] A exponencial perspectiva de aumento do número de idosos saudáveis pode representar um novo mercado para muitas indústrias, tornando cada vez mais relevante compreender as necessidades do idoso na busca pelo envelhecimento ativo, que compreende a otimização das oportunidades de saúde, participação e segurança, acarretando melhorias na qualidade de vida e participação contínua em questões sociais, econômicas e culturais na terceira idade. Pautado no conceito de exclusão digital do idoso, este estudo de natureza qualitativa centrou-se no smartphone para investigar não apenas o seu aspecto utilitário, mas sim compreendê-lo a partir do seu conteúdo simbólico, carregado de significados. A coleta de dados baseou-se em grupo de foco e entrevistas em profundidade com sujeitos a partir de 65 anos e posse de smartphone. Métodos projetivos foram utilizados para atingir temas sensíveis, tendo os dados sido tratados por meio de técnicas de análise de conteúdo. Revelaram-se duas camadas analíticas no estudo: em primeiro lugar, precedentes individuais e sociais da compreensão do smartphone; a seguir, o entendimento dos significados positivos e negativos atribuídos ao objeto. A divisão digital foi reconhecida através do apontamento da rejeição ao smartphone como escudo para camuflar limitações e problemas característicos dos idosos. Por um lado, se valorizou a praticidade oferecida, por outro, foram denunciados rituais prejudiciais às relações sociais e ao senso de coletividade. Essa relação análoga de aproximação e de exclusão social revelou vulnerabilidades de consumo que devem ser mais profundamente investigadas por estudos qualitativos que evitem reducionismos e generalizações. / [en] The exponential prospect of increasing the number of healthy elderly people may represent a new market to many industries, becoming increasingly relevant understanding needs in the search of an active aging, which includes the optimization of opportunities in health, participation and security, resulting in improvements in quality of life and continuous participation in social, economic and cultural issues in the elderly. Lined in the concept of digital exclusion of the elderly, this qualitative research focused on the smartphone, not only for its practical aspect, but also to comprehend it starting from its symbolic content full of meanings. The data collection was based in a focus group and in-depth interviews with subjects from 65 years old who own a smartphone. Projective methods were used to reach sensitive issues, and the data were treated using content analysis techniques. Two analytics layers have emerged in this study: in first place, individual and social precedents of smartphone understanding; then the acknowledge of both positive and negative meanings assigned to the object. The digital divide was recognized by pointing the rejection to the smartphone as a shield to mask the limitations and problems characteristic of the elderly. On one hand, the practicality offered was appreciated, but on the other hand, there were denounced rituals detrimental to social relations and the sense of collectivity. This analogous relation of approximation and social exclusion revealed consumption vulnerabilities that should be deeply analyzed by qualitative researches that avoid reductions and generalizations.

[pt] A educação na modalidade a distância tem sido apontada como uma estratégia eficiente para a formação inicial e continuada de professores para a educação básica. Contudo, a expansão dessa modalidade também vem acompanhada de críticas e preocupações quanto à qualidade dessa formação. Uma das problemáticas principais da EAD reside na mediação pedagógica, em relação à díade aluno–mediador e/ou professor. Nesse sentido, esse trabalho teve como objetivo investigar a concepção dos alunos de um curso de especialização na modalidade a distância sobre a mediação pedagógica, partindo das seguintes questões de estudo: Quais atribuições os alunos delegam à mediação pedagógica? Quais as contribuições da mediação pedagógica para a qualidade da formação dos cursistas? Como as tecnologias da comunicação e informação (TIC) potencializam a mediação pedagógica? A fim de compreender o conceito de mediação, procuramos fazer uma pesquisa desse termo em campos interdisciplinares, relacionando-o com os avanços das TICs na educação a distância. Optamos, metodologicamente, por um estudo de caso do Curso de Especialização Tecnologias em Educação – PUC Rio. Para a produção de dados fizemos um recorte das respostas dos cursistas sobre a mediação pedagógica exercida no decorrer do curso, após aplicação de um questionário. As questões fechadas foram analisadas com a ajuda do programa SPSS, e selecionou-se uma questão aberta que foi trabalhada através da análise de conteúdo, utilizando-se o programa Alceste. Os resultados provenientes das questões fechadas mostraram uma grande aceitabilidade da atuação do mediador pedagógico. Na análise qualitativa, o software Alceste originou quatro classes, sendo posteriormente identificadas como: estratégias pedagógicas de mediação e mediador assistente; mediador tira-dúvidas; motivação ao aluno; formação do mediador pedagógico e influências da mediação na atuação profissional do aluno. As concepções dos cursistas revelaram o reconhecimento e a valorização da mediação como essencial para que o aluno construa o conhecimento esperado no processo de aprendizagem. Ficou evidenciada a complexidade da prática profissional do mediador tendo, inclusive, influência na formação e atuação profissional do cursista. / [en] Distance learning has been identified as an effective strategy for initial and continuing teacher training in the primary and secondary education sector. However, expansion in this field has also been followed by criticisms and concerns about the quality of such training. One of the main issues in distance learning is online tutoring, more specifically learner-tutor and/or learner-teacher interaction. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate learners conception on online tutoring in a distance learning specialization course. Our main research study questions were: What do learners expect from their online tutors? Which contributions does online tutoring offer to the quality of learners training? How can ICT enhance the online tutoring practice? In order to understand the concept of online tutoring, an interdisciplinary research of the term was undertaken, relating it to the advances/development of ICT in distance education. The chosen research method was a case study on the specialization course Tecnologias em Educação – PUC Rio. Data on online tutoring were gathered from the learners responses to a questionnaire. Close-ended questions were analysed with the help of the SPSS software. One open-ended question was selected and analysed through the content analysis method and with the help of the Alceste software. Results originated from the close-ended questions showed high acceptance of the online tutor performance. In the qualitative analysis, Alceste originated four classes, identified as: online tutoring pedagogical strategies and assistant online tutor; question answerer online tutor; motivating the learner; online tutor training and influences of online tutoring on the learners professional practice. Learners opinions demonstrated the recognition and appreciation of online tutoring as an essential part of knowledge building during their learning process. The complexity of online tutoring practice and its influence on the training and professional development of the learner were also demonstrated.

This master's thesis deals with issue of cyberbullying. It reports comprehensive view of the phenomen, whose severity has an increasing tendency, in particular thanks to continuous technical progress and development in the field of information and communication technologies. It characterizes particular tools, describes a specific form the resulting risks, which can develop through using the Internet and other digital media. It deals with the effects of cyberbullying to the psychic of the adolescents and brings a comprehensive view and experiences of children and adolescents with this issue. It focuses on the differences in the perception of cyberbullying by children and adults and on the role of social worker in the process of prevention and solution of cyberbullying.

Avalia as percepções sobre o uso da Assinatura Digital no Tribunal Regional Federal da Quarta Região por parte dos Desembargadores, tendo como base teórica a Teoria dos Sistemas. Descreve a evolução das assinaturas como forma de identidade do indivíduo, desde os selos-cilindros da Mesopotâmia até a Assinatura Digital, baseada na tecnologia de criptografia. Discute as diferenças entre os paradigmas Custodial e Pós-Custodial, necessários para entender as transformações ocorridas com a introdução das Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação na sociedade. Aponta a necessidade de transdisciplinaridade para a elaboração de pesquisas, principalmente entre Informação e Comunicação, por serem bases deste estudo. A partir de entrevistas realizadas com servidores e Desembargadores do Tribunal Regional da Quarta Região, contextualiza as informações coletadas tendo em vista o fenômeno Infocomunicacional, observando aspectos de produção da informação, usos e criação de possibilidades para que aconteça a interação/comunicação. Conclui que, apesar dos usuários verem algumas desvantagens no uso da Assinatura Digital, as vantagens superam em benefícios, proporcionando agilidade no fazer jurídico. / Evaluating the perceptions on the use of Digital Signature in the Federal Regional Court of the Fourth Circuit by Federal Judges, based on the Systems Theory. Describes the evolution of signatures as a form of identity of the individual, since the cylinder-seals of Mesopotamia to the Digital Signature based on encryption technology. Discusses the differences between the Custodial and Post-Custodial paradigms, necessary to understand the changes with the introduction of Information and Communication Technologies in society. Highlights the need for transdisciplinarity to the development of research, especially between Information and Communication, the bases for this study. From interviews with employees and Federal Judges of the Regional Court of the Fourth Circuit, contextualizes the information collected in view of the Infocomunicacional phenomenology, observing aspects of Information production, use and creation of opportunities to happen for the interaction/communication. Concludes that, despite the users see some disadvantages in the use of Digital Signature, the advantages outweigh the benefit, providing the agility to make justice.

In recent years, the information and communication technologies (ICT) have made important contributions to the teaching/learning process. New thoughts and means of interaction are commonly involved student/pupil, pupil/teacher. Today, it has been realized, with access to the Internet, the blog comes being used in schools as an educational orientation, mainly with purpose for greater integration between students and teachers. When it comes to schools, I observed individual authorship, blogs or even collective authorship, as built, for example, for teachers and students. This inevitable connectivity, we will look at how this interface has interfered in the process of teaching/learning in a public school of the city of Maceió/AL. The survey reflects on the relationship between the technology and the training of teacher, combining their practices to the theories studied. The text is divided into two chapters. In the first, we can observe some theoretical aspects ranging from setting up a blog for the realization of research, bypassing productions that had used the blog as an object of study and the methodology used in the research. In the second chapter, we present data collected and the various interpretations concerning the use of the interface in the teaching/learning of the English language, with regard to the study and understanding of the lexicon on the part of students. We also present interviews well in the target language, now in mother tongue and our interpretations and understandings about learning of students using the blog as an interface. The sample is a teacher of the English language and with the 22 students that make up the class. In this perspective, we will evaluate the use of blogs has contributed effectively in the educational process, taking into consideration the wealth of material found in this virtual environment, mainly by the expansion of traditional notions of reading and writing in contemporary social practices. / Nos últimos anos, as Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação (TIC) têm dado importantes contribuições ao processo de ensino/aprendizagem. Novos pensamentos e meios de interação têm comumente envolvido aluno/aluno, aluno/professor. Hoje, tem-se percebido que, com o acesso à Internet, o blog vem sendo utilizado nas escolas como mais uma orientação pedagógica, principalmente com fins para uma maior integração entre alunos e professores. No que tange às escolas, já se observam blogs de autoria individual, ou mesmo de autoria coletiva, como os construídos, por exemplo, por professores e alunos. Nessa inevitável conectividade, analisaremos como essa interface tem interferido no processo de ensino/aprendizagem em uma escola pública da cidade de Maceió/AL. A pesquisa busca refletir acerca da relação entre a tecnologia e a formação crítica do professor, aliando suas práticas às teorias estudadas. O texto está dividido em dois capítulos. No primeiro, podemos observar alguns aspectos teóricos que vão desde a criação de um blog para a realização da pesquisa, perpassando por produções que já haviam utilizado o blog como objeto de estudo e chegaremos à metodologia utilizada na pesquisa. Já no segundo capítulo, apresentamos dados coletados e as várias interpretações em relação ao uso da interface no ensino/aprendizagem de língua inglesa, no tocante ao estudo e à compreensão do léxico por parte dos alunos. Apresentamos também entrevistas realizadas ora na língua alvo, ora na língua materna e nossas interpretações e entendimentos sobre a aprendizagem dos alunos usando o blog como interface. A amostra dá-se com um professor da disciplina de língua inglesa e com os 22 alunos que compõem a turma. Nessa perspectiva, avaliaremos se o uso dos blogs tem contribuído de maneira efetiva no processo educativo, levando em consideração a riqueza de material encontrado nesse ambiente virtual, principalmente pela ampliação de noções tradicionais de leitura e escrita dentro das práticas sociais contemporâneas.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:20:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 68070200630.pdf: 334021 bytes, checksum: e558792e8bd815db3a344eebf837a170 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-12-08T00:00:00Z / A internacionalização é um tema de interesse crescente. O aumento do volume de transações internacionais é acompanhado por um crescente volume de estudos acadêmicos sobre o tema de internacionalização. As teorias desenvolvidas tratam de explicar os critérios analisados pelas empresas para a definição de suas estratégias de internacionalização, a definição de modalidades de entrada e os desafios que as empresas enfrentam em seus movimentos de internacionalização. Estas teorias podem ser aplicadas para o estudo do mercado de integração de sistemas de tecnologia de informação e comunicação (TIC). O mercado de TIC vem apresentando grandes taxas de crescimento e continua com perspectivas de crescimento, sendo que neste contexto, a internacionalização é uma alternativa estratégica importante. A realização de um estudo de caso permitiu a análise dos movimentos de internacionalização de uma empresa brasileira de integração de sistemas de TIC, sob os aspectos de estratégia, modalidade de entrada e desafios de internacionalização. O estudo das teorias e o estudo de caso permitiram a visualização da aplicação das teorias na prática, bem como especificidades que as teorias não cobrem. O desenvolvimento do trabalho pode servir como referência para o aprofundamento das teorias de internacionalização e também como referência para outras empresas do setor para o entendimento do processo. / Internationalization is a subject with increasing interest. The growth in international business volume is followed by a growing number of researches about internationalization. The developed theories try to explain analysis and the criteria considered by companies in its internationalization strategies, entry modes and liability of foreignness. These theories can be applied to study the market of systems integration of information and communication technology solutions (ICT). The ICT market is growing fast and also has positive growth perspectives, and internationalization is an important strategic approach for the companies in that sector. The development of a case study of a Brazilian company of ICT systems integration analyzed strategy, entry modes and liabilities of foreignness. The theoretical review and case study allowed the analysis of application of the theories in real situations and identification of specific issues for the ICT systems integration market. The development of this research may work as a reference for further studies in the subject and for other companies in ICT market for a better understanding of the process.