No description available.

No description available.

This thesis examines the role connected devices in the home could play for maintaining and taking care of close relationships of people living apart. Communication tools nowadays offer many different ways of communicating and they are mostly focused on mobile devices. Social presence describes the feeling that humans have when communicating with each other and can be mediated through communication tools in different strengths. The Internet of Things is one rapidly developing branch of contemporary technology and estimates say by 2020 about 200 billion devices will be connected. This research focuses on the possibilities the Internet of Things offers to the notion of social presence in the domestic setting by exploring how we feel interrupted by current devices: Through a Research through Design approach, alternative concepts will be developed to materialize the feeling of social presence.

The Computers are Social Actors (CASA) paradigm was proposed more than two decades ago to understand humans’ interaction with computer technologies. Today, as emerging media technologies including social robots and smartphones become more personal and persuasive, questions of how users respond to them socially, what individual factors leverage the relationship, and what constitutes the social influence of these technologies need to be addressed. As an expansion of the CASA paradigm, the Media are Social Actors (MASA) paradigm was applied in the current dissertation to understand users’ social perception, social attitudes, and social behavior in their interactions with humanoid social robots and smartphones. Two lab experiments with between-subjects factorial design were conducted. A total of 110 participants were asked to interact with a humanoid social robot and a smartphone respectively in a socio-emotional context and a task-oriented context. Four pairs of social cues were compared to understand their influence on users’ anthropomorphism of the technologies. Multivariate analyses and textual analyses were conducted. Results suggested that users developed more trust in the social robot with a human voice than with a synthetic voice. Users also developed more intimacy and more interest in the social robot when the robot was paired with humanlike gestures. However, individual differences such as users’ attitudes toward robots, robot use experiences, and suspension of disbelief affected users’ psychological responses to the social robot. Although users’ responses to the smartphone did not vary based on the language styles and the modalities, factors such as individuals’ intensive smartphone use, mobile use habits, and their source orientation and re-orientation moderated the social influence of the smartphone. The dissertation has theoretical value in expanding the CASA paradigm to social robots and smartphones. It also tests the validity of the propositions of the MASA paradigm. The results can lead to more comprehensive, nuanced, and exciting discoveries of the social implications, ethical implications, and practical guides of using these emerging media technologies in the future. / Media & Communication

Recently, the numbers of Higher Education institutions that are using Web 2.0 technologies and social networking sites are increasing dramatically. These sites offer unique and diverse learning opportunities. There is evidence that a sense of community can be created online and that this community is connected with perceived learning. Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2000) introduced and developed the Community of Inquiry framework as a dynamic process model and a comprehensive framework to guide the research and practice of online learning communities, and to describe and measure elements supporting the development of these communities. This framework consists of three elements - social, teaching and cognitive presence - as well as categories and indicators to define each presence and guide the coding of transcripts. The categories of social presence are affective responses, open communication and group cohesion. The categories of teaching presence are instructional design and organisation, facilitating discourse and direct instruction. Previous studies suggest that a positive social climate on an online learning community is important as it can improve learning experience and cognitive presence. This study aims to explore and understand the nature of Community of Inquiry presences, in particular teaching presence and social presence. The aim of the study is to understand the influence of a different teaching presence on students’ development of social presence. This study provides a more comprehensive picture of developing students’ social presence over changing teaching presence in a social network environment in a Kuwaiti higher education context. In order to achieve the purpose of this study, the following research questions are explored: 1- How does a students’ sense of social presence change with a different teaching presence in the social network environment within a Kuwaiti higher education context? a. Does a students’ sense of social presence (affective responses, open communication and group cohesion) change as a result of a different teaching presence (facilitating discourse - direct instruction) in the social network environment in a Kuwaiti higher education context? b. Why do participants maintain or change their social presence level during the course? 2- How does the use of teaching presence promote the development of students’ social presence in a Kuwaiti higher education context within the social network environment? The study was conducted in the second semester of 2010/2011 at The Education Technology Department - The College of Basic Education - The Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET), within the State of Kuwait. The study was carried out on the Educational Communication module and involved 46 male participants. This study uses the equivalent of mixed methods design to answer research questions. The sequential explanatory strategy is embedded within an applied quasi-experimental approach. Quantitative data is collected and analysed, which is then followed by the collection and analysis of qualitative data. The researcher used a messages analysis and a content analysis approach to reveal the level of social presence in an online community and then develop stimulated recall interview questions. A combination of individual interviews and focus group interviews were used. Garrison et al.’s (2000) social presence coding schemes were developed to make them more suitable in the study context. Quantitative and qualitative data show that there is no significant difference between the effects of facilitating discourse and direct instruction in terms of students’ social presence level. Stimulated recall interviews reveal that most participants cannot distinguish between facilitating discourse and direct instruction. The participants believe that facilitating discourse and direct instruction are similar. The participants’ responses lead the researcher to search for other motives that could promote the development of students’ social presence in the higher education context in the social network environment. The study concludes that there are two factors that could promote the development of students’ social presence. First, instructional design and organisation, such as web design satisfaction, network effect, instructor responsiveness, the nature of the task and awarding degrees. Second, learner-specific matters, such as previous experience, peer influence, friendship, attitude, self-esteem and self-confidence and something I refer to as the Wave Effect.

The expansion of YouTube into the mainstream media and its place as the second most-used website in the world makes it a prime place for health information seeking. However, content can be created and uploaded by anyone and thus, the threat of misinformation on YouTube is high. Medical researchers have established that videos created by health professionals on YouTube promote accurate information whereas videos by non-professionals promote generally inaccurate or misleading information. Yet, videos created by non-professionals have more views and higher relevance rankings on YouTube. To begin to understand this phenomenon, a descriptive study is used to lay a foundation for this area of health communication This study focused on the ostomy community of non-professional content creators on YouTube to. The goal of this study was to thoroughly describe the innate features of the videos using media richness theory, and to describe social support and illness narrative using the framework of social presence theory. The results from the study provide deep description into this particular community of non-professional health influencers and make way for a new line of research in the communication of health information.

Internet has come afar, from connecting computers to connecting people. Since its early days, the use of Internet has evolved tremendously. People use the Internet today in a variety of different ways, including communicating with friends, family, co-workers and performing activities like paying bills and shopping. With the increase in electronic retailing (e-Tailing), attracting and retaining customers has become the most important part of running a successful business. However, the online shopping experience may be viewed as lacking human warmth and sociability as it is more impersonal, anonymous, automated and generally devoid of face-to face interactions. Thus, understanding how to create electronic loyalty (e-Loyalty) by retaining existing customers in online environments is a complex process. To maintain e-Loyalty, e-Tailing sites should provide customized user experience. Men and women have been known to have different perception of online shopping. Women tend to be less satisfied because of lack of human connection in online shopping environment. To date, how social presence (interpreting human warmth and human presence electronically) affects e-Loyalty and adoption of e-Tailing across genders has been relatively underexplored. A research on influence of gender towards social presence features in e-Tailing websites could contribute to our understanding of gender preferences in online environments, allowing researchers to predict and measure differences among user interfaces, and guide the design of customized interfaces customized for gender sensitive e-Tailing websites. In this research, we developed a research model based on extensive literature review. We developed a survey instrument to measure predictability of the model and used t-tests, principal component analysis and linear and multiple regression analysis to analyze and validate the model. We conducted an extensive survey of social presence and user experience design features, and synthesized survey response with the above methodologies using SPSS. The study revealed social presence and user experience factors that positively affect gender experience in development of e-Loyalty. Based on the analysis of survey responses, we conclude that gender plays an important role in determining the state of social presence and user experience for e-Tailing websites to create e-Loyalty among customers.

Genuine Forschungsdesigns zum Thema Social Presence in spielbasierten Lernumgebungen lagen bisher noch nicht im Fokus der Wissenschaft oder entsprechenden Forschungs‐ und Entwicklungsabteilungen der Hersteller von Game-Based-Learning-Software. Die vorhandenen Untersuchungen zu diesem Themenkomplex bezogen sich bislang entweder auf Social Presence in Computerspielen oder auf Social Presence in virtuellen Lernumgebungen, die nicht als Spiel umgesetzt worden sind. Spiel und Lernen wurden also bereits getrennt voneinander auf Social Presence untersucht, aber beide Konzepte empirisch noch nicht hinreichend zusammengebracht. Zukünftige Projekte müssen versuchen, diese Aspekte zu integrieren, um die Bedeutung von Social Presence im Kontext des spielbasierten Lernens valide einordnen zu können. Nachfolgend werden als Einführung zunächst Konzepte und Ergebnisse aus den Bereichen Social Presence im Videospiel und Social Presence beim Lernen vorgestellt, um im Anschluss daran erste Implikationen für die Gestaltung von GBL-Umgebungen abzuleiten.

Computer-gestütztes kollaboratives Lernen ist zunehmend Teil der Lehr- und Lernmethoden der akademischen Ausbildung. Die optimale Unterstützung von Koordination in virtuellen Gruppen ist ein Anliegen von Pädagogen und Lerndesignern. Effektive Kommunikation und bedeutsame Interaktion treten in online Lernumgebungen nicht natürlicherweise auf, sind aber erforderlich für die Koordination in Gruppen. Diese Arbeit exploriert die Komplexität von Lernerfahrungen und Prozessen in computer-basierter Kollaboration und beleuchtet in diesem Zusammenhang zwei Aspekte näher: Koordinationsprozesse in Gruppen und die Erfahrung Sozialer Präsenz. Diese zwei Dimensionen sind besonders wichtig, da sie zwei der größten Problem in computer-gestützten kollaborativem Lernen repräsentieren: Belastungen bedingt durch unnötigen Koordinationsaufwand und fehlendes Gruppengefühl. Im Vergleich zu Präsenzsettings stellt die Koordination in online Gruppen eine Herausforderung dar. Dies birgt das Risiko, dass Gruppenmitglieder nicht mehr nur das Lernziel im Auge haben sondern ihre Aufmerksamkeit auch im gesteigerten Maße auf Gruppenprozesse wie Koordination richten; solche Koordinationsanforderungen können sich schnell zu Kosten entwickeln. Darüber hinaus wird die soziale Dimension in online Umgebungen oft vernachlässigt. Zur Entwicklung eines Zusammengehörigkeits- und Gruppengefühls ist die Erfahrung von Sozialer Präsenz erforderlich. Anhand einer Fallstudie werden Lernprozesse und Erfahrungen von Studenten eines Blended Learning Kurses an einer Pädagogischen Hochschule analysiert. Eine darauf aufbauende quantitative Studie untersucht gezielt die kausalen Beziehungen. Die Koordination und Soziale Präsenz werden anhand von qualitativen und quantitativen Methoden untersucht. Die Analyse findet auf drei Granularitätsebenen statt: auf der Ebene einer einzelnen Perspektive, auf einer Konzeptebene und auf einem Integrierten Level. Diese Vorgehensweise hat einen mehrschichtigen Analysezugang zur Folge. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die eingesetzte Medien, gestellte Aufgaben und auch einzelne Individuen die Gruppenkoordination bestimmen. Jede der drei Faktoren beeinflusst die Koordinationsaktivitäten auf ihre charakteristische Art. Soziale Präsenz bestimmt als Kontextparameter die Erfahrung in online Gruppen; auch sie wird von eingesetzten Medien und den Gruppenmitgliedern beeinflusst. Diese Ergebnisse werden im Detail vorgestellt und ihre Implikationen für kollaboratives Lernen in akademischer Bildung sowie für dessen weitere Forschung, d.h. für Praxis und Forschung, werden herausgearbeitet. / Net-based collaborative learning is increasingly included in the repertoire of teaching and learning methods in higher education. Supporting coordination within distributed learning teams has become a concern for educators and learning designers. While effective communication and meaningful interaction do not occur naturally in online learning, they are essential for group coordination. The aim of the thesis is to explore the complexity of learning experiences and processes in computer-supported collaboration from the perspectives of group coordination processes and social presence. These two dimensions are particularly important because they represent two problems in net-based collaborative learning: coordination costs and a lacking sense of group feeling. Compared to face-to-face settings, coordination demands on groups are greater in online settings. Increased demands present the risk of distracting group members from learning goals; coordination demands rapidly turn into coordination costs. Additionally, social presence is required to establish a sense of group feeling and team culture amongst students. Unfortunately, this sense, supporting the social dimension in online settings, is often missing. This case study-based research analyses the learning processes and experiences of students participating in a blended course in Educational faculties. A subsequent quantitative study further inquired into causal relationships. Students collaborated via various synchronous and asynchronous media: wikis, online chat, etc. Qualitative and quantitative methods were applied, investigating coordination of activities and how social presence was established. Data was analysed at three levels of granularity: single perspective, concept and integrative levels, creating a multi-layered approach. The findings show, tools, tasks and members influence group coordination, each uniquely contributing to coordination activities. Social presence operates as an enabling context parameter, influenced by media and member characteristics. The thesis describes these findings and delineates their implications for collaborative learning practices in higher education and for further research.

Consumers acquire products to enhance their lives, but the happiness from these acquisitions generally decreases with the passage of time. This process of hedonic adaptation plays an integral role in post-acquisition consumer satisfaction, product disposal and replacement behavior, and the "hedonic treadmill" that partially drives the relationship between consumption and happiness. Humans are social animals, however, and we know little about the relationship between the social environment and hedonic adaptation. My dissertation addresses this gap by exploring the moderating role of social presence (Essay 1) and self-concepts (Essay 2) on hedonic adaptation to products. Essay 1 explores how social presence affects hedonic adaptation to products. Research on general happiness has shown that significantly positive life events tend to maintain their positivity for longer periods of time when they involve active social interactions. I examine a more common situation in the domain of product consumption, i.e., the presence of others during consumption, and test whether hedonic adaptation to products is moderated by public contexts. By tracking happiness with products over time, I show that a "social audience" (i.e., the presence of others and the perception that those others notice the consumer) moderates hedonic adaptation through a consumer's inference of the social audience perspective. Inferring that the social audience is admiring one's product slows down adaptation, and inferring that the social audience is negatively viewing one's product accelerates adaptation. Essay 2 explores the role the identity-relevance of a product plays in hedonic adaptation. Extant research illustrates that consumers avoid consuming identity-inconsistent products in order to avoid dissonance arising from product choices conflicting with important self-concepts. I show that dissonance can also arise from consuming identity-consistent products because of the force of hedonic adaptation. I provide evidence that consumers feel uncomfortable experiencing declining happiness with identity-consistent products and thus resist hedonic adaptation to such products in order to resolve the dissonance. / text