How can a Digital Storytelling workshop help educate, inspire and mobilise young women engaged in a non-profit organisation, in order to assist their peers? This exploratory study investigates whether Digital Storytelling can foster digital literacy, self-awareness and reflection amongst workshop participants, and how young women may be able to support each other and their peers through the act of creating and sharing personal digital stories. Conducted using qualitative and participatory methods, with the theoretical underpinnings of Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory and Social Cognitive Theory, Paulo Freire’s conscientisation and participatory development, this research is conducted in collaboration with female mentors from the sport-based adolescent health organisation, Grassroot Soccer. First, I analyse the women’s interactions and learnings during the Digital Storytelling workshop, where participants create digital stories in a hands-on setting (using the Story Center model). This is done through participant observation and semi-structured interviews with participants following the workshop. Second, I seek to understand how or if young women can re-present themselves in the context of a facilitated Digital Storytelling workshop and challenge gender stereotypes through their own digital stories. This data is collected through a pre-workshop questionnaire, participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and analysis of the digital stories. While this is an exploratory study, I anticipate results in the following areas: (1) cross-pollination of knowledge between workshop participants and facilitators; (2) self-awareness, self-confidence and reflection amongst young women; (3) increase in digital literacy, storytelling and audio/visual skills; and (4) increase in understanding of, or introduction to, digital media and communication, activism and social change.

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 & Gratifications (U&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&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.

Hatbrott är ett problem idag som strider mot allas lika värde och väcker oro bland många i vårt samhälle, samtidigt har kritik riktats mot Sverige för utvecklingen av hatbrott och den utbredda rasismen. Flera förebyggande insatser mot hatbrott har därav i Sverige vidtagits, detta trots brist på forskning kring hatbrott generellt men framförallt förebyggandet av hatbrott. Föreliggande uppsats vill därför skapa en förståelse för hur olika aktörer i Malmö arbetar för att förebygga hatbrott, hur aktörerna tänker kring orsakerna till varför hatbrott begås och eventuella utmaningar i det förebyggande arbetet. För att besvara uppsatsens frågeställningar intervjuas tio personer från olika verksamheter i Malmö utifrån deras roll som en del av det förebyggande arbetet mot hatbrott. Resultatet visar att händelser i omvärlden, bristande kunskap, kultur och historia samt fördomar, ses som möjliga orsaker till varför hatbrott begås. Media och internets påverkan ses som bidragande faktorer till hatbrott. För att förebygga hatbrott betraktas olika former av utbildningsinsatser vara de mest framstående och effektiva, men några få mer direkta insatser nämns också. Ur resultatet framstår det att hela samhället har ett ansvar i det förebyggande arbetet och att alla aktörer måste arbeta gemensamt för ett mer inkluderande samhälle. Det är också viktigt att hantera det aktuella mörkertalet i hatbrottsstatistiken och stärka förtroendet mellan minoriteter och myndigheter. Uppsatsens informanter påpekar också att mer resurser måste läggas på det preventiva arbetet mot hatbrott. Vidare ger uppsatsen förslag på framtida forskning som bör undersöka vilka konkreta insatser de olika aktörerna i samhället ska vidta för att förebygga hatbrott, samt studera ämnet utifrån fler perspektiv. / Hate crime is a problem today that goes against everyone's equal value and arouses concern among many in our society, meanwhile Sweden has been criticized for the development of hate crimes and the widespread racism. Therefore, Sweden has implemented several preventive strategies against hate crimes, despite a lack of research on hate crimes in general and the sizable lack of research regarding prevention of hate crimes. The essay wants to create an understanding of how different actors in Malmö works to prevent hate crimes, what they consider causes hate crimes and possible challenges in the preventive work. To address the inquiries posed by the essay, ten people from different functions in Malmö are interviewed, based on their role as part of the preventive work against hate crimes. The results show that events in the world, lack of knowledge, culture and history, as well as prejudices, are possible reasons why hate crimes are committed. The influence of the media and the internet are seen as contributing factors to hate crimes. To prevent hate crimes, various forms of educational efforts are considered to be the most prominent and effective. Also, a few more direct interventions are mentioned. The result shows that the whole society has a responsibility in the preventive work and actors must work together for a more inclusive society. It is also important to deal with the current darkness in hate crime statistics, and enhancing trust between minority groups and authorities. The essay's informants also highlight that more resources must be put into preventive work against hate crimes. Furthermore, the essay suggests that future research should examine what concrete efforts various societal actors should take to prevent hate crimes. Future research should also approach the subject from different perspectives.

Kooperativt lärande är ett förhållningssätt som blir allt vanligare i de svenska skolorna. Därmed finns ett intresse att undersöka hur lärare bedriver sin undervisning utifrån kooperativt lärande. Studien genomfördes i syfte att bidra med kunskap om hur lärare i grundskolans tidiga år beskriver att de arbetar med kooperativt lärande i matematikundervisningen. För att uppnå studiens syfte användes frågeställningarna kring vilka olika perspektiv som lärarna har på hur undervisningen med fokus på kooperativt lärande kan se ut samt vilka möjligheter och utmaningar det finns med att implementera kooperativt lärande i matematikundervisningen. Studien vilar på den sociokulturella teorin eftersom kooperativt lärande är stark förknippad med denna teoretiska ramverk. Fem semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med verksamma lärare i olika årskurser i lågstadiet och materialet analyserades genom en tematisk metod som bidrog till att finna de olika temaområden. Resultatet har visat att lärarna ser kooperativt lärande som en integrerad del av undervisningen. Vidare visar resultaten på mångfalden av strategier inom kooperativt lärande som särskilt gynnsamma, särskilt inom matematiken. En lustfylld och effektiv inlärningsmiljö samt utveckling av elevernas samarbetsförmåga uppnås genom olika kooperativa strukturer, vilket lärarna betonar som betydelsefullt. Kooperativt lärande hjälper eleverna, enligt lärarna, att befästa matematiska kunskaper samt medför en tidsbesparing för både lärare och elever. Det empiriska materialet har även visat att det finns en bristande fortbildning om kooperativt lärande vilket även påverkar användningen av den. Sammanfattningsvis visar resultatet att kooperativt lärande är effektiv inom olika områden i matematiken såsom uppställning, problemlösning, geometri, längd och mätning samt träning av klockan. / Cooperative learning is an approach that is becoming increasingly common in Swedish schools. Therefore, there is an interest in investigating how teachers conduct their teaching based on cooperative learning approaches. The study was conducted with the aim of contributing knowledge about how teachers in the early years of primary school describe their work with cooperative learning in mathematics education. To achieve the aim of the study, questions were formulated around the different perspectives that teachers have on how instruction focused on cooperative learning can be designed, as well as the opportunities and challenges of implementing cooperative learning in mathematics education. The study is based on sociocultural theory because cooperative learning is strongly associated with this theoretical framework Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers in service across different grades in the lower primary school, and the material was analyzed using a thematic method that helped identify the various theme areas.  The results have shown that teachers see cooperative learning as an integrated part of teaching. Furthermore, the results show the diversity of strategies within cooperative learning that are particularly beneficial, especially in mathematics. A joyful and effective learning environment and the development of students' collaboration skills are achieved through various cooperative structures, which teachers emphasize as significant. Cooperative learning helps students, according to teachers, to consolidate mathematical knowledge and saves time for both teachers and students. The empirical material has also shown a lack of training in cooperative learning, which also affects its use. In summary, the results show that cooperative learning is effective in various areas of mathematics such as arrangement, problem-solving, geometry, length and measurement, and clock training.

In der Netzwerkgesellschaft des 21. Jahrhunderts gilt die kollaborative Verteilung und Nutzung von Information und Wissen als Schlüsselstrategie für den webbasierten Informations- und Wissenstransfer. Durch die technologischen Möglichkeiten werden technische Zugangsbarrieren weitestgehend überwunden und traditionelle Formen der Wissensvermittlung durch moderne webbasierte Lernumgebungen ergänzt. Der Umgang mit kollaborativen Lehr- und Lernszenarien im dynamischen Informations- und Wissenstransfer bildet die Grundlage für den soziokulturellen Fortschritt innerhalb der Bildungsforschung. Der Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit lag auf der strukturellen und relationalen Analyse sozialer Organisationsstrukturen innerhalb von Wissensnetzwerken. Ziel war es, Einflussfaktoren offenzulegen, die sich auf das Innovations- und Distributionspotential von Information und Wissen innerhalb von kollaborativen Wissensnetzwerken auswirken. Es wurden dazu Interaktionsprozesse von Teilnehmern innerhalb von Diskussionsforen am Beispiel der Lernplattform OPAL – dem aktuell populärsten Lernmanagementsystem in der Hochschulbildung Sachsens, Deutschland – untersucht. Unter der Annahme, dass soziale Interaktion besonders im Umgang mit kollaborativen Medien den Bildungsablauf und der Aufbau von Wissensnetzwerken die Lehr- und Lernprozesse beeinflusst, wurden in dieser Arbeit die strukturellen Bedingungen des kollaborativen Wissensnetzwerkes in OPAL exploriert und soziale Rollenkonstrukte relational identifiziert, um die Auswirkungen kollaborativer Aktivitäten auf den Informations- und Wissenstransfer in Wissensnetzwerken zu erklären. Es wurden vornehmlich beziehungsorientierte kommunikationstheoretische Modelle zugrunde gelegt und relationale Forschungsmethoden wie SNA (Social Network Analysis) und DNA (Dynamic Network Analysis) angewandt, um eine Basis für die weiterführende Implementierung sozial vernetzter Lehr- und Lernstrategien in der Bildungsforschung zu schaffen. […] / In the network society of the 21st century, a key strategy for web-based exchange of information and knowledge is their collaborative distribution and use. Technical hurdles of access are mostly being overcome with technological advances and traditional forms of passing on knowledge are being complemented by modern, e-learning environments. Within research into education, the foundation for socio-cultural progress is formed by involvement with collaborative teaching and learning scenarios in a dynamic exchange of information and knowledge. The emphasis of this work lay in the analysis of structures and relationships of social organisations within knowledge networks. The aim was to describe the exchange of information and knowledge in collaborative learning systems and to explore its influence on the potential for innovation and distribution of information and knowledge. A study was undertaken of the interaction of participants in discussion forums as exemplified by the learning platform OPAL – currently the most popular learning management system in secondary school education in Saxony, Germany. On the assumption that social interaction, particularly involving collaborative media, the progress of education and the construction of knowledge networks do influence teaching and learning processes, this work explored the structural conditions of OPAL's collaborative knowledge network and identified relationships between social role constructs in order to explain the effect of collaborative activities on the process of diffusion of information and knowledge in knowledge networks. Primarily the study was based on relationship oriented sociological models and communication theory models, and research methods for relationships, including SNA (Social Network Analysis) and DNA (Dynamic Network Analysis) were applied, so as to create a basis for further implementation of social network teaching and learning strategies in educational research. [...]

Information har idag kommit att bli så viktigt att det av många aktörer kallas för den nya digitala oljan, och med anledning av just detta är information idag en av de främsta tillgångar en organisation kan besitta. För att skydda informationen lägger organisationer massiva summor pengar på tekniska och fysiska åtgärder. Tillsammans med dessa åtgärder utfärdas även interna bestämmelser och riktlinjer för hur IT-system och information får eller inte får hanteras. Trots detta sker både intrång och andra säkerhetsrelaterade incidenter som kan härledas till mänskligt felaktigt beteende, eller den så kallade mänsklig faktorn. I den här uppsatsen har därför författaren gjort en djupdykning i ämnet för att studera vilka samband som kan finnas mellan beteendevetenskapliga teorier och efterlevnad av informationssäkerhet. Med kvalitativa metoder har bland annat litteraturstudier genomförts för att ta reda på vilka teorier som är mest relevanta i sammanhanget. Intervjuer har sedan nyttjats för att bredda författarens uppfattning om vilka faktorer som kan påverka mänskligt beteende. De personer som intervjuats har bland varit yrkesverksamma som säkerhetschefer, säkerhetskyddshandläggare och ledande forskare inom det specifika området.

In der Netzwerkgesellschaft des 21. Jahrhunderts gilt die kollaborative Verteilung und Nutzung von Information und Wissen als Schlüsselstrategie für den webbasierten Informations- und Wissenstransfer. Durch die technologischen Möglichkeiten werden technische Zugangsbarrieren weitestgehend überwunden und traditionelle Formen der Wissensvermittlung durch moderne webbasierte Lernumgebungen ergänzt. Der Umgang mit kollaborativen Lehr- und Lernszenarien im dynamischen Informations- und Wissenstransfer bildet die Grundlage für den soziokulturellen Fortschritt innerhalb der Bildungsforschung. Der Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit lag auf der strukturellen und relationalen Analyse sozialer Organisationsstrukturen innerhalb von Wissensnetzwerken. Ziel war es, Einflussfaktoren offenzulegen, die sich auf das Innovations- und Distributionspotential von Information und Wissen innerhalb von kollaborativen Wissensnetzwerken auswirken. Es wurden dazu Interaktionsprozesse von Teilnehmern innerhalb von Diskussionsforen am Beispiel der Lernplattform OPAL – dem aktuell populärsten Lernmanagementsystem in der Hochschulbildung Sachsens, Deutschland – untersucht. Unter der Annahme, dass soziale Interaktion besonders im Umgang mit kollaborativen Medien den Bildungsablauf und der Aufbau von Wissensnetzwerken die Lehr- und Lernprozesse beeinflusst, wurden in dieser Arbeit die strukturellen Bedingungen des kollaborativen Wissensnetzwerkes in OPAL exploriert und soziale Rollenkonstrukte relational identifiziert, um die Auswirkungen kollaborativer Aktivitäten auf den Informations- und Wissenstransfer in Wissensnetzwerken zu erklären. Es wurden vornehmlich beziehungsorientierte kommunikationstheoretische Modelle zugrunde gelegt und relationale Forschungsmethoden wie SNA (Social Network Analysis) und DNA (Dynamic Network Analysis) angewandt, um eine Basis für die weiterführende Implementierung sozial vernetzter Lehr- und Lernstrategien in der Bildungsforschung zu schaffen. […] / In the network society of the 21st century, a key strategy for web-based exchange of information and knowledge is their collaborative distribution and use. Technical hurdles of access are mostly being overcome with technological advances and traditional forms of passing on knowledge are being complemented by modern, e-learning environments. Within research into education, the foundation for socio-cultural progress is formed by involvement with collaborative teaching and learning scenarios in a dynamic exchange of information and knowledge. The emphasis of this work lay in the analysis of structures and relationships of social organisations within knowledge networks. The aim was to describe the exchange of information and knowledge in collaborative learning systems and to explore its influence on the potential for innovation and distribution of information and knowledge. A study was undertaken of the interaction of participants in discussion forums as exemplified by the learning platform OPAL – currently the most popular learning management system in secondary school education in Saxony, Germany. On the assumption that social interaction, particularly involving collaborative media, the progress of education and the construction of knowledge networks do influence teaching and learning processes, this work explored the structural conditions of OPAL's collaborative knowledge network and identified relationships between social role constructs in order to explain the effect of collaborative activities on the process of diffusion of information and knowledge in knowledge networks. Primarily the study was based on relationship oriented sociological models and communication theory models, and research methods for relationships, including SNA (Social Network Analysis) and DNA (Dynamic Network Analysis) were applied, so as to create a basis for further implementation of social network teaching and learning strategies in educational research. [...]

Text in Afrikaans / Die invloed van die persoonskonstruk, lokus van kontrole, op die akademiese prestasie van leerlinge in die senior sekondere skoolfase is aangespreek. Literatuur bevestig 'n verband tussen lokus van kontrole en akademiese prestasie. Interne kontrole word met hoe akademiese prestasie en verantwoordelikheidsaanvaarding geassosieer. Persoonlikheidskenmerke van intern of ekstern georienteerde leerlinge, die invloed van lokus van kontrole op persoonlike perspektief, selfkonsep en akademiese prestasie toon dat internes hulself as bekwaam, effektief en suksesvol beskou terwyl eksternes meer negatiewe persoonskenmerke beklemtoon. Die CNS-IE en IAR vraelyste is gebruik om algemene- en akademiese lokus van kontrole onderskeidelik te meet. Leerlinge wat akademies volgens vermoe presteer, behaal hoer interne tellings as die wat onderpresteer. Geen een-tot-een verwantskap tussen lokus van kontrole en akademiese prestasie is tydens die empiriese ondersoek gevind nie. Daar is dus ander faktore wat saam met lokus van kontrole die akademiese prestasie van senior sekondere leerlinge beinvloed. / The influence of the personality construct, locus of control, on the academic achievement of pupils in the senior secondary school phase was investigated. Literature confirms a relation between locus of control and academic achievement. Internal control is associated with high academic achievement and acceptance of responsibility. Personality characteristics of internals and externals, the influence of locus of control on personal perspective, self-concept and academic achievement shows that internals view themselves as capable, ef cient and succesful while externals emphasise more negative personality characteristics. The CNS IE and IAR were used to measure general and academic locus of control. Academic achievers obtained higher internal scores than underachievers on both questionnaires. The results of the Empirical research indicate that locus of control is not the sole determinant of academic achievement. Therefore, other factors in conjunction with locus of control influence academic achievement. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Voorligting)

This study aimed to gain insight into the nature and extent of traditional and cyberbullying among Grade Six and Seven learners in four public primary schools in Benoni. Using the Social Learning Theory as a basis for understanding bullying as a learned behaviour (socially learned through the observation of authoritarian parents), a quantitative research method was applied which utilised an online self-report questionnaire to examine the relationship between bullying and the Authoritarian parenting style. Results indicate that 50.4% of learners had been victimised, while 31.6% and 8.8% had engaged in perpetrating traditional and cyberbullying, respectively at least once (N = 279). Further results revealed that the Authoritarian parenting style is significantly related to the perpetration of both types of bullying. These results bring to the fore the reciprocal relationship between both types of bullying, and indicate a need for systemic intervention at the primary school level (involving parents/caregivers). Interventions should therefore not seek to separate types of bullying into discreet problems, but rather focus on their common underlying aspects, including parenting behaviours / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

In this research the use of the Lions-Quest programme “Skills for Adolescence“ at an intermediate secondary school level is examined qualitatively. It is investigated how pupils at a German intermediate secondary school perceive the social skills training and how that training affects the social competencies of the pupils. It is also explored if the pupils can relate their acquired competencies with their values and beliefs. Based on the empirical-theological praxis cycle, the planning, carrying out and the results of thirteen one-to-one interviews and three group interviews are presented. Five types of adolescents can be distinguished in terms of knowing and applying social skills as result of different grounded theory coding strategies: the power-conscious, the autonomous, the ambivalent, the self-confident and the competent. This study wants to contribute to a better evaluation of the implementation of social skills programmes at schools and particularly in religious education. / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)