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In my study, I present the mining, collection and analysis of GitHub projects data in an endeavor to understand how the activity and engagement on the different projects has been before and during the Covid-19 pandemic.  Data was collected from 20 repositories via Github API.  I eventually applied some statistical analysis of the data, applied the ANOVA tests measuring the p-values to understand the level of variance pre and during the Covid-19 pandemic.  Open-Source software have been used since long before and my study seeks to explore the magnitude to which Open-Source software participation on different projects has been affected by the different work environments that the users have become accustomed to lately.  Open-Source software has been under study previously by different authors ie on the participation of users etc.  No study has yet been done on the impact a global pandemic has on the engagement on Open-Source platform on different projects, analysing the trends of participation along the project’s life cycle pre and during the covid-19 pandemic.  In these unpredictable, interesting times the study is aimed at highlighting how Open-Source engagement has been behaving by looking at the trends, patterns of engagement, the decrease or increase of activity in certain projects.  From the results I realise trends and patterns in some projects and also interesting insights in the Github OS project lifecycles.  The findings of my study pointed to how participation and engagement on GitHub Open-Source increased During the Pandemic more than During the Pandemic and this is evidenced by 70% of all the 20 repositories I took under investigation. / <p>The presentation was held via Zoom </p>

ABSTRACT Online virtual worlds provide a unique environment for language instruction and learning, yet there are few longitudinal studies that chronicle the workings of existing communities on avatar-based graphical platforms. This study focuses on Cypris Chat, a nonprofit English learning and teaching group within Linden Lab’s Second Life. In this study, I discuss the structure of this community, the factors behind this group’s development from five members in 2008 to 882 in 2016, and the reasons for its appeal as a virtual world language learning group. I also examine the ways in which teaching and learning take place there. Although the study is primarily descriptive and ethnographic, it also makes use of three theoretical frameworks to analyze different aspects of the group. The digital habitats framework of Wenger, White, and Smith (2009) was used to judge Cypris’ efficacy as a working online community. Lim’s (2009) Six Learnings framework was utilized to explore how adequately the group made use of affordances specific to learning opportunities in virtual worlds. Finally, Holzman’s (2010) interpretation of sociocultural learning theory was used to analyze recorded discourse of formal and informal language learning activities. Data were collected through interviews of 21 Cypris staff and members; a majority of participants were adults of Japanese nationality, but members from Europe and the Middle East also participated. Participant observation and my personal experiences with Cypris’ history were also utilized, both to inform the development of interview questions and to determine the long-lasting appeal of the group; observations drew on my eight years experience as resident researcher and volunteer tutor at Cypris. Finally, disparate learning activities, both formal lessons and informal impromptu interactions during extracurricular conversations and games, were recorded, and select incidents were analyzed through discourse analysis. Results suggest that members’ perception of the importance of both formal activities and informal socializing outside of class was crucial to the continued existence of the group. Additionally, they also suggest that the group’s long-lasting appeal is related to the adventurous spirit of key members identified as Internet early adopters. As for teaching and learning within the community, observations indicated that tutors and learners alike took advantage of both traditional instructional methods and the unique affordances of the Second Life environment, both within and outside formal instruction at Cypris. Conclusions suggest that both Wenger et al.’s (2009) digital habitats and Lim’s (2009) Six Learnings frameworks are robust measures of online learning communities, and Holzman’s (2010) interpretation of sociocultural learning theory was shown to be applicable to both exploration of learning through play and informal interactions as well as more structured lessons in online virtual world learning groups like Cypris. This study contributes to the body of research on models of online language education, multimodal learning in virtual worlds, and the potentially revolutionary possibilities and challenges inherent in language learning communities such as Cypris. / Applied Linguistics

The aim of this study is to explore and understand the motivations for belonging to the Facebook community ‘Living Off-Grid in Spain’ and how collaborative media is used for facilitating off-grid living and societal change. Two main theoretical frameworks are used for analyzing the empirical material of this study. The Uses &amp; Gratifications (U&amp;G) theory is applied to identify the uses and motivations for belonging to the community. And the concept of Community of Practice (CoP) is applied for understanding in what ways the community members use collaborative media to support each other in the practice of planning and executing sustainable off-grid living. The methodological approach contains a voluntary sampling of the population and a mixed-strategy survey for collecting both quantitative and qualitative data about the members and their engagement in the community. The study shows that a new U&amp;G typology is needed for defining the motivations for participating in online communities where collaborative learning is a centerpiece. Additional uses such as Learning, Problem-solving, Inspiration, and Mentoring are proposed for further media studies in this field. And the characteristics of CoP serve to identify the importance that shared practices and mutual engagement have for the success of continuous knowledge exchange in online communities, a field that also would gain value from further media studies.

Les systèmes de recommandation (RS) et le pair-à-pair (P2) sont complémentaires pour faciliter le partage de données à grande échelle: RS pour filtrer et personnaliser les requêtes des utilisateurs, et P2P pour construire des systèmes de partage de données décentralisés à grande échelle. Cependant, il reste beaucoup de difficultés pour construire des RS efficaces dans une infrastructure P2P. Dans cette thèse, nous considérons des communautés en ligne à grande échelle, où les utilisateurs notent les contenus qu'ils explorent et gardent dans leur espace de travail local les contenus de qualité pour leurs sujets d'intérêt. Notre objectif est de construire un P2P-RS efficace pour ce contexte. Nous exploitons les sujets d'intérêt des utilisateurs (extraits automatiquement des contenus et de leurs notes) et les données sociales (amitié et confiance) afin de construire et maintenir un overlay P2P social. La thèse traite de plusieurs problèmes. D'abord, nous nous concentrons sur la conception d'un P2P-RS qui passe à l'échelle, appelé P2Prec, en combinant les approches de recommandation par filtrage collaboratif et par filtrage basé sur le contenu. Nous proposons alors de construire et maintenir un overlay P2P dynamique grâce à des protocoles de gossip. Nos résultats d'expérimentation montrent que P2Prec permet d'obtenir un bon rappel avec une charge de requêtes et un trafic réseau acceptables. Ensuite, nous considérons une infrastructure plus complexe afin de construire et maintenir un overlay P2P social, appelé F2Frec, qui exploite les relations sociales entre utilisateurs. Dans cette infrastructure, nous combinons les aspects filtrage par contenu et filtrage basé social, pour obtenir un P2P-RS qui fournit des résultats de qualité et fiables. A l'aide d'une évaluation de performances extensive, nous montrons que F2Frec améliore bien le rappel, ainsi que la confiance dans les résultats avec une surcharge acceptable. Enfin, nus décrivons notre prototype de P2P-RS que nous avons implémenté pour valider notre proposition basée sur P2Prec et F2Frec. / Recommendation systems (RS) and P2P are both complementary in easing large-scale data sharing: RS to filter and personalize users' demands, and P2P to build decentralized large-scale data sharing systems. However, many challenges need to be overcome when building scalable, reliable and efficient RS atop P2P. In this work, we focus on large-scale communities, where users rate the contents they explore, and store in their local workspace high quality content related to their topics of interest. Our goal then is to provide a novel and efficient P2P-RS for this context. We exploit users' topics of interest (automatically extracted from users' contents and ratings) and social data (friendship and trust) as parameters to construct and maintain a social P2P overlay, and generate recommendations. The thesis addresses several related issues. First, we focus on the design of a scalable P2P-RS, called P2Prec, by leveraging collaborative- and content-based filtering recommendation approaches. We then propose the construction and maintenance of a P2P dynamic overlay using different gossip protocols. Our performance experimentation results show that P2Prec has the ability to get good recall with acceptable query processing load and network traffic. Second, we consider a more complex infrastructure in order to build and maintain a social P2P overlay, called F2Frec, which exploits social relationships between users. In this new infrastructure, we leverage content- and social-based filtering, in order to get a scalable P2P-RS that yields high quality and reliable recommendation results. Based on our extensive performance evaluation, we show that F2Frec increases recall, and the trust and confidence of the results with acceptable overhead. Finally, we describe our prototype of P2P-RS, which we developed to validate our proposal based on P2Prec and F2Frec.

Aquesta investigació aplica les eines metodològiques dels Estudis Culturals per investigar el consum televisiu i la seva recepció. El propòsit de la recerca és investigar els contextos comunicatius i processos de resignificació de dos grups de receptors enfrontats pel significat/sentit (social i cultural) de la segona edició del programa televisiu Gran Hermano: d'una banda els fans del programa que es reuneixen a internet i, de l'altra, una associació d'espectadors.D'aquesta manera, l'estudi que presento mostra les característiques i l'evolució que ha experimentat l'estudi de la comunicació des de la recepció, principalment dins l'àmbit anglosaxó. Les aportacions de David Morley o Janice Radway, entre d'altres, plantegen les possibilitats, la potencialitat i, conseqüentment, la necessitat de l'estudi dels processos comunicatius des del consum que realitzen les majories.A partir d'aquí, el consum i la resignificació que els dos grups investigats fan de la segona edició de Gran Hermano, exemplifica clarament com la clausura del significat d'un text es negocia a partir dels sistemes de sentit i modes d'expressió elaborats per grups situats en sectors particulars de l'estructura social. El significat d'un text, així doncs, té a veure amb els codis introduïts, però també amb els codis amb els quals diferents sectors de l'audiència conviuen. El que hi ha en joc és una lluita per la definició de l'espai públic, una pugna sobre les polítiques de representació i sobre els règims de visibilitat, una disputa sobre la impossibilitat/possibilitat de legitimació social de la pròpia experiència cultural. / Esta investigación aplica las herramientas metodológicas de los Estudios Culturales con el objetivo de investigar el consumo televisivo y su recepción. El propósito es investigar los contextos comunicativos y procesos de resignificación de dos grupos de receptores enfrentados por el significado/sentido (social y cultural) de la segunda edición del programa televisivo Gran Hermano: Por un lado, los fans del programa que se reúnen en internet y, de otro, una asociación de teleespectadores. De esta manera, el estudio que presento muestra las características y la evolución que ha experimentado el estudio de la comunicación desde la recepción, principalmente dentro del ámbito anglosajón. Las aportaciones de David Morley o Janice Radway, entre otras, plantean las posibilidades, la potencialidad y, consecuentemente, la necesidad del estudio de los procesos comunicativos desde el consumo que realizan las mayorías. El consumo y la resignificación que los dos grupos investigados hacen de la segunda edición de Gran Hermano ejemplifica claramente como la clausura del significado de un texto se negocia a partir de los sistemas de sentido y modos de expresión elaborados por grupos situados en sectores particulares de la estructura social. El significado de un texto tiene que ver con los códigos introducidos, pero también con los códigos con los cuales diferentes sectores de la audiencia conviven. Lo que hay en juego es una lucha por la definición del espacio público, una pugna sobre las políticas de representación y sobre los regímenes de visibilidad, una disputa sobre la imposibilidad/posibilidad de legitimación social de la propia experiencia cultural. / This work applies the methodological tools of the Cultural Studies for investigating the television consumption and its reception. The purpose of the research is to investigate the communicative contexts and processes of resignification of two groups of audiences confronted by the meaning/sense (social and cultural) of the second edition of Big Brother: on the one hand the fans of the program who meet in internet and, of the other one, an association of viewers.In this way, the study that I present samples the characteristics and the evolution that has experienced the study of the communication from the reception, mainly in the Anglo-Saxon area. The contributions of David Morley or Janice Radway, among others, bring up the possibilities, the potentiality and, consequently, the need of the study of the communicative processes from the consumption that the majorities carry out.The consumption and the resignification that the two investigated groups make of Big Brother exemplifies clearly how the closure of the meaning of a text is negotiated by groups placed in particular sectors of the structure from the systems of meaning|sense and fashions of expression elaborated socially. The meaning of a text has to do with the introduced codes, but also with the codes that different sectors of the audience live with in. There is a fight for the definition of the public space, a fight about the rules of representation and visibility, a dispute about the impossibility/possibility of social legitimise of the cultural experience itself.

GeNeMe steht für Gemeinschaften in Neuen Medien, im englischen Sprachgebrauch als Web-based Communities oder Online Communities bezeichnet. Diese Konfigurationen aus Informationstechnologie und sozialer Gemeinschaft sind gleichermaßen Thema für Anwendung und Forschung. Dabei wird deutlich, dass diese Konfigurationen aus Informationstechnologie und sozialer Gemeinschaft in vielfältigen Kontexten zu beobachten sind. Online Communities sind ohne Softwaretechnologie nicht denkbar - ebenso wenig wie ohne die neue Kultur gemeinschaftlichen Online-Handelns in Wirtschaft, Forschung und Bildung oder in privaten Räumen. Online Communities sind daher Thema mehrerer Fachdisziplinen: Informatik und Wirtschaftswissenschaft, Bildungswissenschaft und natürlich Kommunikationswissenschaft. Auf der GeNeMe trifft Medien- und Softwaretechnologie auf Wirtschaftsinformatik, Sozial- und Erziehungswissenschaft, werden Wissensarchitektur und -kooperation diskutiert. Diese Interdisziplinarität ist Tradition und Stärke der GeNeMe auch im 17. Jahr ihres Bestehens. Die Schwerpunkte des vorliegenden Bandes widmen sich eingangs überblicksartig der Analyse und Exploration von Trends und der Ausdifferenzierung von Forschungsfeldern. In den folgenden Kapiteln stehen dann zum einen die Beobachtung und Analyse von Informations- und Kommunikationshandeln unterschiedlicher Zielgruppen sowie zum anderen praktische Ansätze zur technologisch-didaktischen Gestaltung kollaborativer Systeme im Vordergrund. Nach Beiträgen aus spezifischen Einsatz- bzw. Forschungsfeldern bilden Analysen zu Nutzerverhalten in Business-Netzwerken sowie zu Geschäftsmodellen für MOOCs den Abschluss.

This research examines new systems of information production that are made possible by participatory media. Such systems bring about two critical information literacy needs for the general public: to understand new systems in order to assess their products and to become adept participants in the construction of public information spaces. In this dissertation, I address both of these needs and propose a view of information literacy that situates the information literate as both consumer and producer. First, I examine a popular example of a new publishing system, Wikipedia, and present research that explains how the site is organized and maintained. I then turn my attention to the classroom and describe three iterations of design-based research in which I built new wiki tools to support publication activities and information literacy learning in formal educational contexts. I use the rhetorical notion of genre as an analytic lens for studying the use and impact of these new media in schools. Classroom findings suggest that the affordances of a wiki as an open, transparent publishing medium can support groups of writers in building a shared understanding of genre as they struggle with an unfamiliar rhetorical situation. I also demonstrate how writing on a public wiki for a broad audience was a particularly useful writing experience that brought about opportunities for reflection and learning. These opportunities include transforming the value of citation, creating a need to engage deeply with content, and providing both a need and a foundation for assessing information resources.