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In recent years, we have witnessed a faster pace of implementation of digital resources in schools, not least due to the covid-19 pandemic. Digital education tools are today considered a main component of schools and are seen as a hygiene factor. In 2017, the Swedish government introduced a national strategy to further digitalise the Swedish schools for that reason. It is believed that it is a matter of equality, that all students deserve a sufficient level of digital competence to improve their learning capabilities. Based on factors linked to active learning and interaction, the purpose of the study is to investigate educators’ experiences of digital teaching in primary schools and how it affects their work. To answer the study’s questions, semi-structured interviews have been conducted with educators who work at schools. The results show that the educators have a positive outlook regarding the use of digital resources and that is makes it easier for educators while at the same time providing students with resources for increased learning. There was thus no talk of a return, but there was criticism around the scope, evaluation, support networks, interaction and interoperability of these tools. However, the theoretical framework shows that there are forces at work that have identified the same problems and are working actively to address these matters. / Under de senaste åren har vi fått bevittna en ännu snabbare takt av implementering av digitala resurser på skolverksamheter, inte minst på grund av covid-19 pandemin. Digitala verktyg anses idag vara en huvudkomponent i skolverksamheter och ses som en hygienfaktor. År 2017 införde regeringen en nationell strategi för att digitalisera alla skolverksamheter av den anledningen. Man menar att det faktiskt är en fråga om jämställdhet, att alla elever ska få besitta en tillräcklig digital kompetens för att kunna ökas in inlärning. Utifrån faktorer kopplade till en aktiv kunskapsproduktion och interaktionsmöjligheter, är studiens syfte att undersöka pedagogers upplevelser av digitalundervisning främst på grundskolan och hur det påverkar deras arbete. För att besvara studiens frågeställningar har det genomförts semistrukturerade intervjuer med pedagoger som arbetar på skolverksamheter. Resultaten visar att pedagogerna har en positiv utgångspunkt gällande digitala resurser och att det underlättar för pedagoger samtidigt som det tillför eleverna med resurser för en ökad inlärning. Det talades alltså inte om en tillbakagång men man förde kritik mot omfattningen, utvärderingen, stödnätverket, interaktiviteten och interoperabiliteten kring dessa verktyg. Det teoretiska ramverket påvisar dock att det finns en mängd olika aktörer som i nuläget arbetar med att lösa de problem som identifierats av respondenterna.

This master thesis aims to identify the production processes within the contemporary creative industries, and in particular one field of culture and media production called transmedia. This thesis focuses on one particular aspect of transmedia – interactivity and participation. The questions that are investigated are: How does transmedia producers use interactivity? Does transmedia and interactivity change the production conditions for producers, and if so, how and why? The aim of this thesis is to get an understanding of the working conditions within the context of transmedia for producers and in extension for the consumers. Through this, the intention is also to create a better understanding of the role of transmedia within the contemporary creative industries.The methods used to examine this are based on qualitative research interviews with six transmedia producers and participatory observations of the documentary film project Ghost Rockets. By using a theoretical framework based on interactivity, participation, Marxist theories and Critical Theory this thesis comes to the conclusion that transmedia producers strive for interactivity but that full interactivity rarely is achieved. The use ofinteractivity and transmedia also leads to changing working conditions for both producers and consumers. These changes include a blurring of the roles of producers and consumers and that both producers and consumers are working for free.

The study of blogs up to this point has primarily, though not exclusively, covered "A-list" and political or campaign blogs. Large filter blogs have not yet been the focus of communication research and offer an exciting new area of scholarship in online communication. This study examined if and how the environmental blog, TreeHugger, works to engage and maintain the online environmental community by potentially acting an online environmental public sphere and interacting with users who make up the community. Through a content analysis of two constructed weeks of blog posts (N=336) and their comments (N=1342) from the first half of 2008, this study examined the discussion of issues, use of interactive feature, and presence of the metacommunication frame in both groups. Results showed significant influence of topic and tone in the blog posts on the subsequent user comments. They also showed how commenters' discussion can operate quite independently as well. In particular, comments were found to have a negative valence significantly more than the posts. Also, the focus of external metacommunication frames in each differed significantly, with posts referencing other mass media more often. Overall, this thesis concludes that writers for blogs like TreeHugger have limited influence on the discussion in the comments. Greater understanding of that influence could help bloggers engage readers better and promote active dialogue. / Master of Arts

A number of significant challenges confront effective communication in partially distributed conceptual design teams (PDCDTs), mainly due to the ill-defined and open nature of conceptual design tasks and their associated solution spaces. In contrast to co-located team members who interact face-to-face, communication difficulties among PDCDTs can intensify as a result of the physical separation of team members and their heavy reliance on communication technologies to achieve desired outcomes. Despite advances in these technologies, the ability to convey contextual and paralinguistic cues is still more limited between distant partners in comparison to face-to-face interactions. Thus, team members often experience challenges in establishing and maintaining shared understanding. In addition, partially distributed teams are more vulnerable to in-group dynamics than fully distributed or fully co-located teams. There have been substantial theoretical advances in the field of computer-mediated communication (CMC) that seek to address these challenges. Although CMC theories are hypothetically convincing and generally accepted, actual empirical findings are to some extent either unconvincing or contradictory. Moreover, questions remain about whether CMC theories can hold up in the context of non-equivalent communication technologies. The proliferation of various communication devices (e.g., smart phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops)–not to mention the growing corporate use of fully immersive telepresence technologies–means that a variety of combinations of communication devices can be used. To date, however, the majority of CMC studies have focused on the use of equivalent communication technologies (e.g., laptop to laptop). Given these practical challenges and research gaps, the overall objective of this study was to investigate how to improve shared understanding in PDCDTs. The study encompassed four distinct research threads. Study 1 conceptualized shared understanding in PDCDTs. From Study 1, factors associated with shared understanding were identified, and an input-process-output (IPO) model of shared understanding was developed. Study 2 examined the intra- and inter-sub-group communication patterns among PDCDTs. From Study 2, three different analytical approaches for exploring communication patterns were used to elucidate valuable insights into how interactions within and across sub-groups change with design tasks, as well as how individual roles and interpersonal dynamics affect those interactions. Study 3 utilized the outcomes from Study 1 (IPO model of shared understanding) to develop and validate an instrument to measure shared understanding. Lastly, Study 4 examined how different combinations of non-equivalent communication technologies impacted shared understanding in PDCDTs by using the shared understanding instrument developed from Study 3. Specifically, four types of communication technology conditions were utilized: (1) telepresence to telepresence (two different sizes), (2) telepresence to laptops, (3) telepresence to mobile devices, and (4) laptops to mobile devices. The findings revealed significant impacts of communication technologies on co-located and distant shared understanding, as well as differences between co-located and distant shared understanding for each communication technology condition. In addition, the impacts of shared understanding on different communication technology user groups were identified. Based on these findings, a number of communication technology recommendations, as well as managerial intervention strategies to operate successful PDCDTs, were developed. / Ph. D.

An Interactive Course Organizer (ICO) is an artifact that contains text and visual representation of a traditional course syllabus, it integrates visual elements, such as timelines, drawings, charts, graphs, maps, or pictures to show the sequencing and organization of major course topics while offering the user an actively controlled progression of the amount of course information covered. The goal of this research was to develop a theoretically- and empirically- grounded guidelines to design and develop of ICOs. It is anticipated that these guidelines can assist course developers and instructional designers in designing ICOs. This study employed a design and developmental research methodology with four phases: analysis, design, development and validation. Findings from literature review investigations in course syllabi, instructional message design, visual literacy, and interactivity theories and research as well as expert review informed the building of the guidelines. / Doctor of Philosophy / Interactive Course Organizer (ICO) is a tool that acts as a course syllabus. It combines both text and visual representation of a traditional course syllabus, and integrates visual elements, such as timelines, drawings, charts, graphs, maps, or pictures to help learners visually see the interrelationships between different parts of the course and how they all fit together. Its purpose is to provide visuals to assist learners in seeing the course and how it is organized "big picture". And by adding the interactivity feature, learners will navigate, access, and view the course content. It is a course framework to help students understand what it is they will be learning in the course. This research aimed to develop a theoretically- and empirically- grounded guidelines to design and develop of ICOs. It is anticipated that these guidelines can assist course developers and instructional designers in designing ICOs. This study employed a design and developmental research methodology with four phases: analysis, design, development and validation. Findings from literature review investigations in course syllabi, instructional message design, visual literacy, and interactivity theories and research as well as expert review informed the building of the guidelines.

The rise of conversational generative AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini is revolutionizing online interactions. Previous research has identified five categories of uses and gratifications (U&G) for users engaging with these chatbots: information seeking, task efficiency, social interaction, entertainment, and personalization. Despite the wide range of use cases, most chatbots provide one-size-fits-all text-based interactions, neglecting user preferences. Recent advancements are progressively introducing interactive features that empower users to control their interactions, such as choosing a preferred conversational style. However, despite these improvements in the industry, the interactivity in gen AI chatbots remains underexplored. This thesis serves as a user-centric foundational study of user engagement with gen AI chatbots by understanding users’ context of use across the five U&G dimensions, analyzing the limitations of text-based interactions, and proposing practical suggestions for desired interactive features.