Current research has established the importance of establishing individual trust in global virtual teams to achieve project success. Global virtual teams (GVTs) emerged as a result of the growth of multi-national corporations (MNCs) conducting business operations in more than one country. This research explores eliminating the need to establish individual trust among the members of short-lived global virtual teams and suggests an institutional trust in the project’s processes can suffice. Beginning with an exploration of various aspects of trust, it draws from the current literature on individual and institutional trust in the real and virtual worlds. The data were gathered using two versions of an online survey administered to global virtual teams working for Infosys®, Inc., a global leader in technology services and consulting. The analysis was limited to small, short-lived Information Technology (IT) virtual teams of four to six members. Survey responses were received from 273 managers and 195 virtual team members. The results found support for institutional trust in the process, established through the team members’ favorable perception of their project’s online processes, as having a significant effect on supporting both individual trust among the team members, as well as ensuring project success. The paper concludes with potential costs and benefits to multi-national companies in their management and training of virtual teams. Finally, I provide suggestions for further research into the elimination of trust building exercises for short-lived virtual teams, as well as implications of these results for academicians and practitioners. Key words: trust, trustworthiness, reliance, process knowledge, multi-national Companies (MNCs), global virtual teams, computer-mediated environments / Business Administration/Strategic Management

This study examined an innovative, project-based curriculum in a freshman biology laboratory by focusing on how students developed their conceptual understanding of a biological species. A model for learning was posed based on learners working in small groups. This model linked a sociocultural approach to teaching and learning to conceptual change theory. Qualitative research methods were employed to collect a variety of data. Documentation of this innovative curriculum is provided. This investigative curriculum incorporated the research practices that scientists use. A wide range of dynamic interactions with students actively investigating problems and sharing both their findings and thoughts during this time occurred. This essentially modeled the authentic practices of scientists. A direct comparison was made with this learning environment and the model for learning. Peer tutoring, cooperative learning, and most importantly, peer collaboration were observed when students grappled with difficult problems for which there was no single right answer. Teachers served as guides in learning, shifting responsibility to the students. Analysis of student writing revealed richer, more complex definitions of species after the experience of the laboratory project. Several of the students used knowledge gained directly from their experiences during the laboratory project to help elaborate their definitions. The electronic discussions showed a range of social interactions and interactivity. High quality discussions were found to be rich in scientific thought, engaging discussants by offering information, questioning, and actively hypothesizing. Mediating and facilitating discussions by the participants was found to be an important factor in their success. Groups exhibiting high quality discussions also had a lower response time than other groups, indicating that more substantive dialogues which are rich in thought proceed at a slower pace. Significantly, an important connection has been made between the socio-cultural approach to learning and conceptual change theory. A closer examination of how small groups of learners develop conceptual understanding is needed. This approach also needs to be extended into other settings where reform in science education is taking place. / Ph. D.

Thesis (MEdPsych (Educational Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) refers to any form of communication that can only be achieved through the use of a computer. This includes such diverse means as e-mail, MXit, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Many of these forms of communication have become extremely popular within the past few years. Research internationally has shown that adolescents rapidly adopt new technologies, but there is very little research on how this process is impacting South African adolescents. This leaves parents, educators and academics without adequate information about the advantages and dangers of adolescent CMC use. The aim of the study was to investigate the views of adolescents around the topic of CMC. The central research question related to adolescents‟ views of the impact of CMC on their lives. Sub questions related to the reasons behind the popularity of CMC, the advantages of CMC use, the effect of CMC use on language, schoolwork and relationships, the dangers of using CMC and the use of CMC for bullying. The study was of qualitative design and was guided by a constructivist theoretical framework. A qualitative design was chosen because it was felt that qualitative methodology is most suited to investigating the subjective experiences of participants, and thus answering the research questions. Two focus groups participated and three semi-structured interviews were conducted with grade 11 learners from a Cape Town private school. Focus groups were used because this was felt to be an effective means to gather the opinions of multiple participants at once. Individual interviews were used as a means to supplement the focus groups and thus increase the trustworthiness of the study. A semi-structured approach was chosen for the interviews because this allowed the researcher to probe specific areas of interest and thus gather further data on these areas. The focus groups and interviews were audio recorded and the recordings transcribed. Content analysis was performed on the transcriptions. After several rounds of coding, the codes that occurred most often within and across the focus groups and interviews formed the basis for thematic analysis. Several central themes around CMC use emerged from this analysis. The most central of these related to the importance the participants placed on ease of use, and the speed at which CMC can satisfy their desires. Further issues related to how CMC can have both positive and negative effects on relationships and the various dangers of CMC use. Something that recurred throughout the analysis was the idea that a CMC can, in a sense, form a semi-permeable barrier between users. These barriers allow a user to control their communications with others, typically allowing users to express whatever they wish to express while restricting possible negative effects of their communication. A model of adolescent CMC use was created that was based on these findings. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Rekenaar-bemiddelde kommunikasie (Computer-Mediated Communication of CMC) verwys na enige vorm van kommunikasie wat slegs met behulp van rekenaargebruik kan plaasvind. Dit omvat „n verskeidenheid metodes soos e-pos, MXit, Facebook, MySpace en Twitter. Vele sulke kommunikasiemiddele het oor die afgelope aantal jare uiters gewild geraak. Navorsing op internasionale vlak het getoon dat nuwe tegnologie snel deur adolessente aangeneem word, maar weinig navorsing is nog onderneem oor hoedanige impak hierdie proses op Suid-Afrikaanse adolessente het. Dit beteken dat ouers, opvoeders en akademici onvoldoende inligting oor die voordele en gevare van adolessente se gebruik van rekenaar-bemiddelde kommunikasie het. Die doel van die studie was om die uitkyk van adolessente in verband met die gebruik van rekenaar-bemiddelde kommunikasie te ondersoek. Die sentrale navorsingsvraagstuk het verband gehou met adolessente se opinies oor die impak van rekenaar-bemiddelde kommunikasie op hul lewens. Ondergeskikte vrae het verband gehou met redes vir die gewildheid van rekenaar-bemiddelde kommunikasie, die voordele van die gebruik daarvan, die effek van rekenaar-bemiddelde kommunikasie op taalgebruik, skoolwerk en verhoudings, die gevare van die gebruik van rekenaar-bemiddelde kommunikasie en die gebruik daarvan om ander te treiter. Die studie het van „n kwalitatiewe ontwerp gebruik gemaak en het binne „n konstruktiwistiese teoretiese raamwerk plaasgevind. Die kwalitatiewe ontwerp is gekies omdat die kwalitatiewe metodologie as die mees geskikte metodologie vir die ondersoek van subjektiewe ervarings van deelnemers, en dus vir die beantwoording van die navorsingsvrae, beskou is. Twee fokusgroepe het aan die ondersoek deelgeneem en drie semigestruktureerde onderhoude is met graad 11 leerders van „n private skool in Kaapstad gevoer. Fokusgroepe is gebruik omdat dit as „n doeltreffende metode vir die onmiddellike verkryging van die menings van „n verskeidenheid deelnemers beskou is. Indiwiduele onderhoude is gevoer om die fokusgroepe aan te vul en die betroubaarheid van die studie te verhoog. „n Semi-gestruktureerde benadering is vir die onderhoude gekies omdat dit die navorser in staat gestel het om areas van spesifieke belang meer deurdringend te ondersoek en daardeur verdere inligting oor hierdie areas in te samel. Die fokusgroepe en onderhoude is op band opgeneem en die opnames is getranskribeer. Inhoudsontleding van die transkripsies is uitgevoer. Na verskeie rondtes kodering, is die kodes wat met die grootste reëlmaat binne en oor die fokusgroepe en onderhoude heen voorgekom het, as basis vir tematiese ontleding gebruik. Verskeie sentrale temas rondom die gebruik van rekenaar-bemiddelde kommunikasie het uit hierdie ontleding na vore gekom. Die mees sentrale hiervan het verband gehou met die belangrikheid van gebruiksgemak vir deelnemers en die snelheid waarmee rekenaar-bemiddelde kommunikasie verlangens tevrede stel. Verdere kwessies het verband gehou met hoe rekenaar-bemiddelde kommunikasie „n positiewe sowel as „n negatiewe effek op verhoudings kan hê en met die onderskeie gevare van die gebruik van rekenaar-bemiddelde kommunikasie. „n Idee wat by herhaling gedurende die ontleding na vore getree het, was dat rekenaar-bemiddelde kommunikasie op „n manier „n semi-deurdringbare versperring tussen gebruikers daarvan vorm. Hierdie versperring laat die gebruiker toe om beheer oor kommunikasie met ander uit te oefen; dit laat tipies toe dat gebruikers uitdrukking gee aan enigiets wat hulle wil oordra terwyl dit terselfdertyd moontlik is om „n moontlike negatiewe uitwerking van die kommunikasie te bekamp. „n Model van adolessente se gebruik van rekenaar-bemiddelde kommunikasie is op die grondslag van hierdie bevindings gesk

Although a substantial body of research exists on gender differences in Computer Mediated Communication, relatively little empirical attention has been directed toward the special case of CMC - Instant Messenger (IM) and the area of self-disclosure. This study analyzes gender differences and relationships in self-disclosure in the away message of MSN of 329 male and female Taiwanese university students. Applying the five subscales of self-disclosure by Wheeless and Grotz (Wheeless, 1978; Wheeless & Grotz, 1976) and the six topic areas of self-disclosure by Jourard and Lasakow (1958) revealed the following results: Findings show that males and females often do not show the gender differences anymore, which were previously found in face-to-face communication on certain aspects of self-disclosure e.g. frequency, depth, breadth, honesty or accuracy and valence of self-disclosure. However, findings pointing out the different motives and the use of self-disclosure on IM are similar to face-to-face communication, such as females prefer discussing their “personality” while male MSN users prefer “work or studies” especially the more buddies they have. Also males disclose with awareness and intention suggesting the make use of selective self-presentation (Walther, 1996) for rather males than females. Female MSN users write more impulsively in their away message, however they are found to be more selective than males in to whom they chose to disclose or not by blocking buddies. The number of buddies on the buddy list seems to have hardly any effect on males’ and females’ self-disclosure. The gender of buddies on the buddy list as a moderating factor showed that males feel more comfortable (honest and less understated) when disclosing to females. Extra findings include that for both gender self-disclosures on IM is not less honest and not exaggerated, rather understated. Previous findings in face-to-face communication on preferred topics of self-disclosure of both genders of Asian background were confirmed on IM. On IM, self-disclosure by males and females seem to be free of the importance of the degree of social distance within Chinese society as hardly any primary groups and secondary groups but almost only mixed groups of buddies on buddy lists were found.

This study explored how course instructional format (i.e., online, face-to-face, or hybrid) is related to the frequency and duration of out-of-class communication (OCC) between college instructors and students, to student motives for communicating with teachers, and to perceived teacher approachability for conversation outside of class. Though differences in frequency of and student motives for engaging in OCC were not significant, students enrolled in face-to-face courses reported significantly more ongoing/durative OCC with their instructors compared to students enrolled other course types (i.e., online or hybrid). Students in fully online courses reported instructors to seem less receptive to but also less discouraging of OCC than students in face-to-face or hybrid courses. Overall, this study offers a sense of how students who seek informal interaction with instructors beyond the classroom are faring amid the increased reliance on web-based learning environments in higher education.

As mobile phones become increasingly ubiquitous in today’s world, academic and public audiences alike are curious about the interaction between mobile technologies and social norms. To investigate this phenomenon, I examined how individuals use technology to actively manage their communication behaviors. Through a three-month research project on usage patterns of Burner, a mobile application, this thesis explores the relationships among technology, culture, and privacy. Burner is a service that equips individuals with the means to create, maintain, and/or dissolve social ties by providing temporary, disposable numbers to customers. The application offers a way to communicate without relying on a user’s personal phone number. In other words, Burner acts as a “privacy layer” for mobile phones. It also provides a valuable platform to examine how customers use the application as a strategy for communication management. This thesis represents a marriage of practice and theory: (1) As an applied enterprise, the project was constructed as a customer needs assessment intending to examine how the service was situated in the lives of its users. The findings have successfully been applied to my client’s company strategy and have led to a more informed customer approach. (2) As an academic endeavor, this research contributes to existing scholarship in anthropology, computer-mediated communication, privacy, and design. The results provide rich fodder for discussions about the impact of mobile communication and services.

The purpose of this study was to investigate a class-to-class online English-Portuguese "Teletandem” program that was conceived, negotiated, and implemented cross-collaboratively between the foreign language instructors and language resource center (LRC) staff at two large state universities—one in the United States and the other in Brazil. Ten English language students in Brazil were paired with 10 Portuguese language students in the U.S. for a 10-week Skype®-based tandem language exchange (TLE) project that was jointly delivered online across an international university partnership. A qualitative case study design was used to examine the attitudes, perceptions, views, and behaviors of the teachers, students, and LRC staff who participated in the project. The objective of the study was to shed light on the factors that facilitated and hindered teletandem design, implementation and sustainability. Participant feedback was interpreted and contextualized by the researcher to provide rich descriptions of how Teletandem was optimized and how it impacted student learning. The findings suggest that Teletandem is an innovative, low-cost, high-impact language learning activity with vast pedagogical implications. As a lab supplement to traditional instruction, it enabled students at both sites to accelerate L2 development through authentic immersion and practice while making social connections with native speakers abroad. In addition, the results showed that—for many students—Teletandem heightened intercultural awareness, boosted confidence in the L2, and strengthened fluency skills while rendering a transformational learning experience.

Lenka Šimáková Způsoby a motivace užívání sociálních sítí Facebook a Nyx a identita jejich uživatelů: Kvalitativní komparativní studie Mediální studia, IKSŽ, FSV UK, 2012 Abstract The key goal of this thesis is to find correlations between motivation and usage of social network(ing) sites and how they influence self-presentation of the users as a process of defining their own identity. A qualitative method of semi-structured interviews with five active users of both researched sites was used to describe the impact of the social and technological environment on the way they present themselves towards others. I therefore focus mainly on the social identity of the users: why and how they interact, how they perceive the sites and their role within their groups and how it influences their administration of their personal profiles. I also focus on other relevant subjects of within-line social communication: I describe various aspects of computer mediated communication, user perception of public and private sphere on-line and other issues such as group dynamics or users' approach to the social network(ing) sites as tools for managing their social capital. The resulting set of hypothesis is based on my analysis of the conducted interviews. This thesis brings an insight into user reflection of researched platforms,...

[pt] A educação a distância mediada pelo computador proporciona variadas formas de interação. Os cursos oferecidos nesta modalidade diferem tanto conceitual quanto metodologicamente no que concerne sua elaboração, implementação e aperfeiçoamento. Porém, aparentemente, tais questões não são o calcanhar-de-aquiles da EaD, posto que muito tem sido estudado e debatido sobre o processo de aprender a aprender, o desenvolvimento da autonomia do aluno, o trabalho colaborativo e o papel do professor neste novo ambiente. A transformação realmente significativa após a inserção das tecnologias da comunicação e da informação no cenário educacional se deu na forma de se comunicar e de interagir, posto que foi a crescente facilidade de acesso à Internet, juntamente com o desenvolvimento de aplicativos e diferentes ambientes de aprendizado online, o que possibilitou novas e diversificadas formas de interação, ampliando o leque de possibilidades de comunicação. Portanto, é a partir de questionamentos acerca de como os processos interacionais ocorrem no ambiente institucional online e como as pessoas, no caso desta pesquisa, os alunos, negociam significados e constituem suas posições sociais é que trarão uma nova perspectiva de entendimento da aprendizagem mediada pelo computador. Assim, tendo como suporte metodológico as questões de face e do manejo da impressão de Goffman, aliados aos pressupostos da sociolinguística interacional, como as pistas de contextualização e o footing dos interagentes, é que procedo às análises do conteúdo dos e-mails trocados entre alunos e mediadora, levando em consideração que as interações devem ser compreendidas dentro das limitações impostas pela tecnologia. Assim sendo, esta pesquisa objetivou, através de dois tipos distintos de análise, uma formal e outra discursiva, contribuir para um entendimento mais abrangente da utilização do e-mail tanto como um meio que possibilita atestar a dinamicidade das interações quanto compreender como questões relacionadas à face emergem e podem exercer um papel crucial no ensino-aprendizagem a distância. / [en] Distance education mediated by computers provides several forms of interaction. The courses offered in this modality differ both conceptually and methodologically in what regards its design, implementation and improvement. However, apparently, these issues are not the Achilles heel of DE, since much has been studied and debated about the process of learning how to learn, the development of learner’s autonomy, collaborative work and the teachers’ role in this new environment. The technology available for studying online kind of imposed this paradigm shift in teaching and learning at a distance, since it would not be viable to adapt the traditional model of knowledge transmission to a type of education that privilege autonomy and collaboration. However, the actual meaningful change after the introduction of the information and communication technologies in the educational scenario occurred in the way people interact, since it was the increasing ease of Internet access, along with the development of different applications and online learning environments that allowed new and diverse forms of interaction, expanding the range of communication possibilities. Therefore, it is based on questionings about how the interactional processes occur in institutional environments online and how people, in the case of this research, the students, negotiate meanings and constitute their social positions that a new perspective to the understanding of computer mediated learning will arise. Thus, based on Goffman’s concepts of facework and impression management, along with those of interactional sociolinguistics, as for example, the contextualization cues and the footing of the interactors, I proceed to the analysis of the content of the e-mails exchanged between the students and the mediator, taking into account that such interactions must be understood within the limitations imposed by technology. Therefore, through two different types of analysis, a formal and a discursive one, this study aimed at contributing to a broader understanding of the use of the e-mail not only as a way that provides the possibility to attest the dynamics of the interactions throughout a course but also as a means to understand how issues related to face emerge and may play a crucial role in distance teaching and learning.

Este estudo propõe-se a investigar a contribuição que práticas de interação verbal oral realizadas no contexto de uma formação online podem trazer para o aperfeiçoamento da expressão oral do estudante de francês língua estrangeira. Apoiado na metodologia da pesquisa-ação, o projeto Cefradis (Cours Pilote de Français Avancé à Distance) foi desenvolvido em 2010 junto a um grupo de estudantes do 3º ano de Letras da Universidade de São Paulo. A arquitetura de base do projeto consistiu em alternar produções orais individuais com interações online, bem como o feedback fornecido aos estudantes como forma de comentar aspectos qualitativos de sua produção textual oral. A conversação online sobre temas da atualidade apresentados desde o ponto de vista de locutores francófonos propiciou aos estudantes um uso real do francês falado em atividades comunicativas que não são habitualmente vivenciadas no cotidiano de sua formação universitária. Todas essas práticas didáticas foram possibilitadas por recursos tecnológicos de comunicação mediada por computador, de edição de áudio, registro, armazenamento e compartilhamento do material textual produzido ao longo do projeto. Destaca-se, portanto, a contribuição da mediação tecnológica para o desenvolvimento do processo de ensino e aprendizagem. No entanto, os discursos dos estudantes revelam o papel preponderante que a interação e a mediação humanas exerceram durante este processo, tanto para o fortalecimento de seus recursos pessoais de expressão oral quanto para o despertar de uma consciência linguística sobre seu modo de falar na língua estrangeira. / This study investigates how oral interaction practices carried out online, via the Cefradis Project, contribute to helping learners of French as a foreign language improve their verbal expression. Grounded in action-research methodology, the CefradisProject (Cours Pilote de Français Avancé à Distance) was developed in 2010 with a group of undergraduate students in their third year of Language and Literature at the University of São Paulo. The framework of the project consisted in alternating individual oral production activities with online interactions and incorporated giving feedback to participants to comment on qualitative aspects of their production of oral text. Scheduled online conversations about current events presented from points of view held by French-speaking people engaged the students in authentic use of spoken French in communicative activities not usually experienced by them in their daily university lives. Teaching practices such as these were made possible through the use of technological resources of computer-mediated communication, audio editing, data recording, and the storing and sharing of text material produced throughout the project. The significant role of technological mediation in the development of the teachinglearning process is therefore explored in this study. However, the feedback of participants reveals the predominant role that human interaction and human mediation play in this process, not only in the strengthening of the learners´ personal resources for verbal expression but also in the awakening of their linguistic awareness of their own ways of speaking in French.