This project explores the nebulizing effect of digital technologies on their analogue counterparts, and their cultural and social repercussions as depicted in early twenty-first-century novels. The thesis finds five central concerns of digital culture, areas in which the structures and codes of the culture have had to be recalibrated to such a degree to accommodate virtuality, and examines them through the works of a novelist with a fascination for, or resistance to this change. The thesis identifies an irreversible shift in the mental apparatus caused by digital technologies that work on narrativizing powers such as memory, interpretation, and perception, that finds expression in fiction. Chapter 1 reads Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Keep as responses to the phenomena of geomapping, networking and communications in the age of global reach. Chapter 2 uses Tom McCarthy's novels C, Remainder, and Satin Island to illustrate the distorting effects of digitality on time. Chapter 3 brings to focus the more recent work of J. M. Coetzee, Summertime, Elizabeth Costello, and Diary of a Bad Year, that engages with digitality and a cultural landscape increasing reliant on distancing technologies. Chapter 4 examines the recording and surveilling technologies at the heart of Ali Smith's twentyfirst- century novels How to Be Both, Autumn and The Accidental. Chapter 5 reads Dave Eggers' The Circle as a critique of corporate digital culture, and examines the role of taste in articulating personal freedom. The conclusion analyses a current crisis point in the digital project, and gestures towards the future of technology in the contemporary novel, speculating on what elements discussed in the thesis might endure and shape fictional narrative as the age of digitality progresses.

This thesis presents a complete hardware and software system to support the learning process associated with the Great Highland Bagpipe (GHB). A digital bagpipe chanter interface has been developed to enable accurate measurement of the player's nger movements and bag pressure technique, allowing detailed performance data to be captured and analysed using the software components of the system. To address the challenge of learning the diverse array of ornamentation techniques that are a central aspect of Highland piping, a novel algorithm is presented for the recognition and evaluation of a wide range of embellishments performed using the digital chanter. This allows feedback on the player's execution of the ornaments to be generated. The ornament detection facility is also shown to be e ective for automatic transcription of bagpipe notation, and for performance scoring against a ground truth recording in a game interface, Bagpipe Hero. A graphical user interface (GUI) program provides facilities for visualisation, playback and comparison of multiple performances, and for automatic detection and description of piping-speci c ngering and ornamentation errors. The development of the GUI was informed by feedback from expert pipers and a small-scale user study with students. The complete system was tested in a series of studies examining both lesson and solo practice situations. A detailed analysis of these sessions was conducted, and a range of usage patterns was observed in terms of how the system contributed to the di erent learning environments. This work is an example of a digital interface designed to connect to a long established and highly formalised musical style. Through careful consideration of the speci c challenges faced in teaching and learning the bagpipes, this thesis demonstrates how digital technologies can provide a meaningful contribution to even the most conservative cultural traditions.

This phenomenological study explores the digitally-mediated literacy practices of a group of students who have been unsuccessful with the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test. More specifically, this study documents the out-of-school online literacy practices that are attractive to students who have failed to achieve dominant school literacy and explores the conditions that drive them. These practices are recognized as socially situated. Interviews were conducted at a Toronto school with 3 grade twelve students enrolled in the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course, an alternative method to fulfil the provincially mandated literacy graduation requirement. Three findings emerged: a) participants’ desire for “real” texts, defined as those that reflect their understanding of the world and connect them to the lives of others, b) the high value placed on visual and verbal semiotic resources and c) participants felt empowered by their online literacy practices but regarded in-school literacy as a site of resistance.

This phenomenological study explores the digitally-mediated literacy practices of a group of students who have been unsuccessful with the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test. More specifically, this study documents the out-of-school online literacy practices that are attractive to students who have failed to achieve dominant school literacy and explores the conditions that drive them. These practices are recognized as socially situated. Interviews were conducted at a Toronto school with 3 grade twelve students enrolled in the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course, an alternative method to fulfil the provincially mandated literacy graduation requirement. Three findings emerged: a) participants’ desire for “real” texts, defined as those that reflect their understanding of the world and connect them to the lives of others, b) the high value placed on visual and verbal semiotic resources and c) participants felt empowered by their online literacy practices but regarded in-school literacy as a site of resistance.

This dissertation discusses a current niche in sociological literature: technology and interaction rituals in elementary schools. In particular, it examines the relationship between classroom interactions and the increasing available new forms of technologies (i.e. iPads, robotics kits, Smart boards) that are finding their way into schools. In doing so, I consider what new interactions and digital tools might mean for student engagement in what has now become known as the “21st century classroom”. Two pivotal sociological theories are utilized in this project: 1) Collins (2004) interaction ritual (IR) theory and 2) Bourdieu’s (1974; 1986) concept of cultural capital. Both are valuable in understanding how the introduction of digital tools in mainstream schools can influence or change interactions between and among students and teachers in classrooms, how they may impact student engagement gaps. Traditionally speaking, schools have long valued and rewarded certain types of interactions—student obedience alongside teacher authority, an orderly and compliant classroom, emphasis on more traditional teaching and so forth. Student engagement was not necessarily a point of interest, as was having a systematic classroom. However, perhaps technology is beginning to change those valuations, and create new types of classroom interactions that are unique to the 21st century—classrooms that have a more student-centered pedagogy, whereby teachers work in tandem with students to engross them in the learning process, and where student engagement is more much valued. If this is true, this may be a sign of some new emerging types of IRs that are beginning to surface in the presence of technology. Collins' (2004) theory of IR focuses on the emotional input and feedback of individuals that transpire in interactions among actors, which in the case of classrooms, consist of teachers and students. The theory holds that interactions produce or deplete “emotional energy” of participants depending on many key factors (physical co-presence, exclusivity of group, mutual focus/mood, bodily synchronization). A successful ritual is one in which participants have a mutual focus on a particular “symbol” or “emblem” unique to that group. Through this research, I propose that technology can serve as that “emblem” to group membership, and as a result, can facilitate new kinds of IR. “Cultural capital”, in comparison, is usually considered to be a collection of symbolic elements such as skills, tastes, clothing, materials, credentials and so on that one acquires by being a member of a particular social class. In education, cultural capital can refer to having valued sets of skills and knowledge that are aligned with school rewards. Traditionally, this usually meant a middle-upper class advantage in schooling, as students of more affluent families were able to learn valued kinds of skill sets to help them achieve better in school. However, with the advent of new technologies, I question whether notions of cultural capital have changed as a result, and whether possessing a digital skillset is in and of itself, a new type of valued capital. Can new technologies produce more equalizing experiences for students of varying SES backgrounds? To explore the possibility of digital tools in classrooms creating new sets of rituals with new kinds of valued cultural capital, this study adopts a qualitative methodology, consisting of elementary classroom observations, interviews, and focus groups with teachers and students in ten school boards across Ontario, Canada. My research discusses three integrated themes. I begin by asking first, how have technologies transformed the ways in which students and teachers interact with, and amongst each other? By providing a new medium for both teacher pedagogy and student learning, this has major implications for classroom engagement. Secondly, I explore the possibility that one unintended consequence of using digital resources (compared to more traditional print media), has been a reduction in home-based inequalities, and a more “even playing field” for students of varying SES. With the ease, accessibility, and affordability of technology today, students in vary capacities are exposed to new valued skillsets. Lastly, I consider how technology can be a type of “leveler” for different kinds of students, which can allow them to participate and facilitate new types of ritual inclusions. I focus both on gendered interactions and exchanges between students with special needs as examples. The exploration of these three themes guides my research on the use of educational technologies across classrooms. These have important implications for sociologists, educational researchers, and policy-makers alike. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This dissertation is comprised of three manuscripts that coalesce around the topics of Dewey, Disability, and Democratic Education. Each manuscript is formatted for publication and the dissertation itself is prefaced by information that explains my background and how it connects to my current research. As such, the work contained in this dissertation is a product of my experiences as a social studies teacher, special educator, and administrator. Henceforth, my work focuses on Dewey, Disability, and Democratic Education. My research interests culminate in a three-article dissertation. The first paper is entitled, "Using Dewey to Problematize the Notion of Disability in Public Education." A version of this paper is currently under review for publication. In this paper I situate Dewey's theoretical underpinnings in the conversation around special education. Previous scholars of Dewey and disability have examined the ways in which his work speaks to educational growth and educational opportunity; my work adds to this body of research. However, my work is unique in that not only do I discuss pluralistic, communicative, participatory democracy as it pertains to students with disabilities, I also examine how Deweyan democracy can take shape, specifically within the context of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meeting. I conclude by arguing that Deweyan democracy is not only ideal, but realistic, attainable, and necessary, especially in the lives of students with disabilities. In my second paper, I use the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) dataset in a paper entitled, "Can We Meet Our Mission? Examining the Professional Development of Social Studies Teachers to Support Students with Disabilities and Emergent Bilingual Learners." A version of this paper has been accepted for publication in The Journal of Social Studies Research. In this work, I first examine the social studies scholarship looking at students with disabilities and emergent bilingual learners, as well as research about the nature of professional development within the social studies. I then analyze the number of students with disabilities and emergent bilingual learners that we support in the social studies to provide a portrait of the field. Next, I examine the extent to which social studies teachers receive professional development to support those student groups, as well as the extent to which the social studies teachers found the professional development to be useful. My findings indicate that social studies teachers do not receive substantial professional development to support the learning of all students, as evidenced by the limited amount of professional development received focusing on students with disabilities and emergent bilingual learners. In my third paper, I build on previous research examining the possibilities and benefits of participating in informal learning spaces such as Twitter in a paper entitled, "'So I Feel Like We Were Theoretical, Whereas They Actually Do It': Navigating Twitter Chats For Teacher Education." A version of this paper is also under review for publication. In this paper, specifically, I examine the experiences and perceptions of pre-service social studies teachers who particip¬¬¬¬ated in a discipline specific Twitter chat known as #sschat. My findings indicate that pre-service teachers found value in the chat when they were able to share resources with practicing teachers and build professional learning networks. However, there were instances when the pre-service teachers felt like they contributed little because they did not have direct experience with teaching. Additionally, the pre-service teachers expressed dissatisfaction with using Twitter as a platform for professional chats. However, I still contend and conclude that the utility of such chats outweighs the negatives. Therefore, this study sheds light on the potentiality and necessity of utilizing Twitter chats as a space to provide ongoing and systematic support to pre-service teachers to help not only them, but the field of social studies education move forward. These papers when considered together form a foundation of scholarship and further inquiry focused on Dewey, Disability, and Democratic Education, on which I plan to build in the years to come. / Doctor of Philosophy / When I completed my undergraduate social studies teaching program, the job market appeared bleak in the coalfields of southwest Virginia. Coal, no longer king, had driven the economy for years. With its decline, my community barely managed to survive. My advisor at the time, honest and plain-spoken, told me that unless I obtained a license in special education, I would most likely not obtain a teaching job. Unlike many other areas of the country, in my hometown unless you could do other things like coach or drive a bus, a license to teach social studies was of little value. There was not much money and a new hire had to be willing to do many different jobs to prove his or her worth. Luckily, I had gotten my Commercial Driver License (CDLs) through a training program offered by the county school board, and I was consequently able to obtain a position, although not as a social studies teacher. I started my career in education as a special educator and substitute school bus driver. In this position I worked in an alternative education setting and taught vocational skills to secondary students with significant disabilities (in the institutional meaning of the word). From the start of my career, I aspired to become an administrator, so I enrolled in and completed a degree in Administration and Supervision. As I was working on that degree, I moved to the general education high school level, where I held a position teaching social studies and special education in an inclusive setting. Shortly thereafter, I obtained a job as an assistant principal. The part I enjoyed most about this position was working with and thinking about how to help teachers become better at their craft. At this point is when I decided to pursue a PhD in social studies education, so I could develop my interest into a body of research and eventually a career. Two years into my PhD program I was still grappling with who I was as a scholar. As I familiarized myself with social studies scholarship, I discovered that in my first position as an alternative education special educator, I was essentially preparing my students for the responsibilities of citizenship, which is the mission of the field of social studies (NCSS, 2013). Nevertheless, it was not until I started reading the work of John Dewey that I truly realized the complexity of what I experienced when I taught in the alternative education setting. That position allowed me to examine an element that I otherwise, would not have had the privilege to see; the complexity and intellect required for physical labor (Rose, 2004) and the inter-workings of true, vibrant, Deweyan democracy. Dewey’s work sparked a new interest in me and I started developing a deep-seated curiosity about how his theoretical underpinnings related to disability and democratic education. My interest in disability then caused me to ask other questions about social studies in relation to special education, which made me reflect on my prior experiences as a social studies educator. Although I had a license in special education, there were many instances in which I felt unprepared and unsupported in addressing the needs of all students in my classes which included general education students, students with disabilities (SWDs), and emergent bilingual learners (EBLs). I began to wonder if my feelings of unpreparedness and lack of support were in isolation. As I parsed the literature, I found that there was not a significant amount of research focused specifically on the extent to which social studies teachers felt they were prepared and supported to address the needs of all learners in their classroom. Additionally, my experience in both public education and teacher education gave me insight to realize that school systems do not have funding to provide specialized professional development and similarly, teacher education is under financial constraints as well. Therefore, I began examining what informal spaces such as Twitter offer educators in terms of professional support and development. My interests and curiosity fueled my scholarly work and eventually culminated into three distinct, but interconnected manuscripts. The three manuscripts that follow coalesce around my interests in Dewey, Disability, and Democratic Education.

No / Digitalization is transforming the way of doing business, and the construction industry is experiencing its fair share. It has necessitated the influx and growth of digital technologies application on construction projects and, to a larger extent, construction firms. In as much as this is a great initiative, early adopters in construction are still exploring, experimenting, and exploiting the potential of these digital transformations in their projects. There appears to be a gap in the digital capabilities needed in the construction life cycle and how these should be developed. A systematic review approach was used to identify digital technologies used in the construction industry. Literature on organization and digital capabilities was used to identify these capabilities and supported with examples from the UK and Australia to explain the capabilities. A case was made for how developing countries can develop digital capabilities in the construction industry from geographical distribution analysis from the systematic review and inference from the identified capabilities and the enabling approaches. Three main digital capabilities (digital mindset, digital infrastructure/investment and digital skillset) with sub-capabilities and two main approaches (firm and external) to developing these capabilities are discussed in this chapter. By implication, these capabilities are also useful in the construction industry in developing countries

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Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-11-27T11:18:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Werley Carlos de Oliveira.pdf: 3884087 bytes, checksum: dc188d7c0e3e5afd870785790375404d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-27T11:18:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Werley Carlos de Oliveira.pdf: 3884087 bytes, checksum: dc188d7c0e3e5afd870785790375404d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-09-27 / This work, carried out in the period from 2014 to 2018, reports the experience of an investigation with the research-action approach, since the methodological procedures were part of the path taken in the practice of the researcher's professional practice. In this way, it assumed the central perspective for the development of the proposed research. The study sought to map emerging aspects of the formative experience of the employees of the Social Service of Commerce of São Paulo - Sesc SP, in order to understand how the incorporation of Digital Technologies of Communication and Information in institutional education takes place. To substantiate the research, an analytical and reflective view was built from the scholars on education and culture, corporate education, human resources and the respective results in educational actions. It was used mainly the Complexity Theory of the authors Edgar Morin, Fritjof Capra, Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, in order to analyze the viability of the concept of learning tracks in the virtual environment of Sesc SP, for the development of professional competences. The research considers that the educational actions should be developed for a specific audience, so it was delimited to the staff of the Institution, correlating them with the age groups within the context of generations and their respective areas of activity. The findings clarified that the use of digital educational technologies unveiled a new training dynamic, in which a collaborative model began to enrich the teaching and learning process. The management of institutional knowledge with emphasis on the learning process directed to the student began to replace the old educational model practiced that had the teacher as a center. New learning indicators and processes could be drawn up and defined based on this research / Este trabalho, realizado no período de 2014 a 2018, relata a experiência de uma investigação com a abordagem pesquisa-ação, uma vez que os procedimentos metodológicos fizeram parte do caminho percorrido na praxe de atuação profissional do pesquisador. Dessa maneira, assumiu a perspectiva central para o desenvolvimento da investigação proposta. O estudo procurou mapear os aspectos emergentes da vivência formativa dos funcionários do Serviço Social do Comércio de São Paulo – Sesc SP, com o objetivo de entender como se dá a incorporação das Tecnologias Digitais de Informação e Comunicação na educação institucional. Para fundamentar a investigação, foi construído um olhar analítico e reflexivo a partir dos estudiosos sobre educação e cultura, educação corporativa, recursos humanos e os respectivos resultados em ações educacionais. Foi utilizada, principalmente, a Teoria da Complexidade dos autores Edgar Morin, Fritjof Capra, Humberto Maturana e Francisco Varela, a fim de analisar a viabilidade do conceito de trilha de aprendizagem no ambiente virtual do Sesc SP, para o desenvolvimento de competências profissionais. A pesquisa considera que as ações educacionais devem ser desenvolvidas para um público específico, e por esse motivo foi delimitada ao quadro de funcionários da instituição, correlacionando-os com as faixas etárias dentro do contexto de gerações e as suas respectivas áreas de atuação. As descobertas esclareceram que o uso das tecnologias digitais educacionais desvelou uma nova dinâmica de formação, na qual um modelo colaborativo passa a enriquecer o processo de ensino e aprendizagem. A gestão do conhecimento institucional com ênfase no processo de aprendizagem direcionado para o aluno passou a substituir o antigo modelo educacional praticado que tinha o professor como centro. Novos indicadores de aprendizagem e processos podem ser elaborados e definidos com base nessa pesquisa

Devido às transformações que o ensino atravessa, o surgimento de novas tecnologias digitais utilizadas no ensino e diante da falta de motivação por parte dos alunos no aprendizado da matemática e da física, essa pesquisa foi concebida com o objetivo de verificar, as potencialidades do uso do software Geogebra no ensino interdisciplinar, através de atividades simuladas no Geogebra para resolução de problemas em óptica geométrica. / Due to new technologies introduced in teaching and a lack of motivation among students to learn mathematics and physics, inspired this research to verify the potential of Geogebra software in interdisciplinary learning through activities simulated in Geogebra to solve problems on/about geometrical optics.