scholarly journals Early adopters: Playing new literacies and pretending new technologies in print-centric classrooms

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen E. Wohlwend

In this article, semiotic analysis of children's practices and designs with video game conventions considers how children use play and drawing as spatializing literacies that make room to import imagined technologies and user identities. Microanalysis of video data of classroom interactions collected during a three year ethnographic study of children's literacy play in kindergarten and primary classrooms reveals how the leading edge of technology use in print-centric classrooms is pretended into being by five-, six-, and seven-year-old `early adopters' — a marketing term for first wave consumers who avidly buy and explore newly-released technology products.`Early adopters' signals two simultaneous identities for young technology users: (1) as developing learners of new literacies and technologies; and, (2) as curious explorers who willingly play with new media. Children transformed paper and pencil resources into artifacts for enacting cell phone conversations and animating video games, using new technologies and the collaborative nature of new literacies to perform literate identities and to strengthen the cohesiveness of play groups.

First Monday ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hector Postigo

Modding is an important characteristic of participatory culture in video games. Studies have shown that PC game modders mod for a host of reasons not least of which as a means of developing the skills and portfolio needed to get a job in the video game industry. Modding culture can be thought of as a point of articulation between the industry and participatory cultural practices. Modding culture is not only concerned with accessing the game industry however, but also puts a high premium on modding for fun or out of love for a particular community or game. Because it effectively straddles market and non-market interests it is important to study how modders negotiate the two sides of modding, which has been at the leading edge of the participatory turn in media consumption and production. This article undertakes an evaluation of modding discourses, first through an evaluation of surveys taken by moderators of modding discussion forums and secondly through an evaluation of discussions regarding technologies used by modders. The article sheds light on the complex ways in which modders' understand the practice of modding. It is framed broadly within political economic theories that have attempted to map modding in post-industrial logics and within theories that have understood it as a participatory culture. Ultimately this paper discusses other participatory practices, drawing parallels with modding and venturing some observations about user participation in the new media environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 369-382
Author(s):  
Barbara Kita

In the French avant-garde artist’s and new technology experimentalist’s rich output, one may find interesting references to popular culture, though the latter is not usually commensurate with niche, experimental works. Marker was not always an active author of such pop cultural experiences but even his famous photo-novel created in the 1960s — Jetty was adapted into a science-fiction film 12 Monkeys (1995) by Terry Gilliam. Moreover, Marker — an artist constantly searching for new forms of expression — was often inspired by technical novelties and new media were used in his works — evolving from documentaries-essays, through experimental short videos (Zapping Zone, 1985–1994) to an interactive CD Rom, Immemory (1997), which attracted new audiences. Being fascinated with technological possibilities, Marker effectively made use of new technologies while adapting a video game (Level 5, 1996) or entering virtual reality (Guillaume’s blog from Egypt, starting from 2007) and, at the same time, entering the sphere of pop-cultural practices.


Author(s):  
Seth W. Whiting ◽  
Rani A. Hoff

Advancements in technologies and their mass-scale adoption throughout the United States create rapid changes in how people interact with the environment and each other and how they live and work. As technologies become commonplace in society through increased availability and affordability, several problems may emerge, including disparate use among groups, which creates divides in attainment of the beneficial aspects of a technology’s use and coinciding mental health issues. This chapter briefly overviews new technologies and associated emerging applications in information communication technologies, social media networks, video games and massively multiplayer online role-playing games, and online gambling, then examines the prevalence of use among the general population and its subgroups and further discusses potential links between mental health issues associated with each technology and implications of overuse.


2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 545-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen V. Milner ◽  
Sondre Ulvund Solstad

ABSTRACTDo world politics affect the adoption of new technology? States overwhelmingly rely on technology invented abroad, and their differential intensity of technology use accounts for many of their differences in economic development. Much of the literature on technology adoption focuses on domestic conditions. The authors argue instead that the structure of the international system is critical because it affects the level of competition among states, which in turn affects leaders’ willingness to enact policies that speed technology adoption. Countries adopt new technology as they seek to avoid being vulnerable to attack or coercion by other countries. By systematically examining states’ adoption of technology over the past two hundred years, the authors find that countries adopt new technologies faster when the international system is less concentrated, that changes in systemic concentration have a temporally causal effect on technology adoption, and that government policies to promote technology adoption are related to concerns about rising international competition. A competitive international system is an important incentive for technological change and may underlie global technology waves.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Francis Schneider

Abstract Objective – The objective of this study was to survey American public libraries about their collection and use of graphic novels and compare their use to similar data collected about video games. Methods – Public libraries were identified and contacted electronically for participation through an open US government database of public library systems. The libraries contacted were asked to participate voluntarily. Results – The results indicated that both graphic novels and video games have become a common part of library collections, and both media can have high levels of impact on circulation. Results indicated that while almost all libraries surveyed had some graphic novels in their collections, those serving larger populations were much more likely to use graphic novels in patron outreach. Similarly, video game collection was also more commonly found in libraries serving larger populations. Results also showed that young readers were the primary users of graphic novels. Conclusion – Responses provided a clear indicator that graphic novels are a near-ubiquitous part of public libraries today. The results on readership bolster the concept of graphic novels as a gateway to adult literacy. The results also highlight differences between larger and smaller libraries in terms of resource allocations towards new media. The patron demographics associated with comics show that library cooperation could be a potential marketing tool for comic book companies.


ReCALL ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gráinne Conole

AbstractWhat does learning in today's technology-enhanced environment mean? Is learning as an activity fundamentally changing as a result of the opportunities offered by new technologies and tools? How are the new communicative channels and increased social dimensions possible through Web 2.0 technologies impacting on the way students work and learn? And what does this mean for the role of teachers and institutions in terms of how they support students? This paper considers these questions and reports on findings from current research evaluating how students are actually using technologies and what this research tells us about the ways in which patterns of learning might be changing. It will consider the implications for individual teachers (in terms of designing and supporting learning activities for students) and institutions in terms of the impact on policy and the associated infrastructure needed to provide an appropriate environment that maximises the potential offered by new technologies.


Complexity ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Mosquera ◽  
Emma Juaneda-Ayensa ◽  
Cristina Olarte-Pascual ◽  
Jorge Pelegrín-Borondo

The in-store use of smartphones is revolutionizing the customer journey and has the potential to become an important driver in the omnichannel context. This paper aims at identifying the key factors that influence customers’ intentions to use smartphones in-store and their actual behavior and to test the moderating effect of age, differentiating between millennials and nonmillennials, as millennials are considered digital natives and early adopters of new technologies. We applied the UTAUT2 model to a sample of 1043 Spanish customers, tested it using structural equations, and performed a multigroup analysis to compare the results between the two groups. The results show that the model explains both the behavioral intention to use a smartphone in a brick-and-mortar store and use behavior. The UTAUT2 predictors found to be most important were habit, performance expectancy, and hedonic motivation. However, the study shows that the only difference between millennials and nonmillennials with regard to the use of smartphones in-store is the effects of behavioral intention and habit on use behavior. The study adds to the existing knowledge by providing evidence in support of the validity of UTAUT2 as an appropriate theoretical basis to explain effectively behavioral intention, specifically the in-store use of smartphones.


Organization ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 783-801
Author(s):  
Sophie Hales ◽  
Kathleen Riach ◽  
Melissa Tyler

This article is based on a semiotic analysis of corporate websites in the lap dancing industry. Forming part of a larger ethnographic study of the UK lap dancing industry, it focuses on how the exchange relationship between dancers and customers is shaped by the industry’s online presence. Methodologically, it draws on Hancock’s semiotic approach to the analysis of organizational artefacts and Brewis’s writing on the importance of understanding how sex work is constructed and perceived. The article shows the importance of corporate websites as virtual spaces that landscape customer expectations of the exchange relationship emphasizing how these expectations perpetuate, on the one hand, a very prescriptive range of body images shaping the performance and consumption of lap dancing work, and on the other, an ambiguous suggestion of open-ended possibility. The article argues that, in combination, this landscaping of prescription and possibility constitutes a powerful organization of anticipation underpinning perceptions of reasonable entitlement within the lap dancing exchange relationship considering how this impacts upon the dancers’ experiences of this relationship. The analysis highlights both the importance of virtual corporate spaces in landscaping interactive service exchanges, as well as the intensification that results from the ambiguity encoded within these spaces, requiring service providers to reconcile anticipation and experience, prescription and possibility, within the exchange relationship.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Géza Kogler ◽  
Christopher Hovorka

This position paper outlines the important role of academia in shaping the orthotics and prosthetics (O&P) profession and preparing for its future. In the United States, most healthcare professions including O&P are under intense pressure to provide cost effective treatments and quantifiable health outcomes. Pivotal changes are needed in the way O&P services are provided to remain competitive. This will require the integration of new technologies and data driven processes that have the potential to streamline workflows, reduce errors and inform new methods of clinical care and device manufacturing. Academia can lead this change, starting with a restructuring in academic program curricula that will enable the next generation of professionals to cope with multiple demands such as the provision of services for an increasing number of patients by a relatively small workforce of certified practitioners delivering these services at a reduced cost, with the expectation of significant, meaningful, and measurable value. Key curricular changes will require replacing traditional labor-intensive and inefficient fabrication methods with the integration of newer technologies (i.e., digital shape capture, digital modeling/rectification and additive manufacturing). Improving manufacturing efficiencies will allow greater curricular emphasis on clinical training and education – an area that has traditionally been underemphasized. Providing more curricular emphasis on holistic patient care approaches that utilize systematic and evidence-based methods in patient assessment, treatment planning, dosage of O&P technology use, and measurement of patient outcomes is imminent. Strengthening O&P professionals’ clinical decision-making skills and decreasing labor-intensive technical fabrication aspects of the curriculum will be critical in moving toward a digital and technology-centric practice model that will enable future practitioners to adapt and survive. Article PDF Link: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/cpoj/article/view/36673/28349 How To Cite: Kogler GF, Hovorka CF. Academia’s role to drive change in the orthotics and prosthetics profession. Canadian Prosthetics & Orthotics Journal. 2021; Volume 4, Issue 2, No.21. https://doi.org/10.33137/cpoj.v4i2.36673 Corresponding Author: Géza F. KoglerOrthotics and Prosthetics Unit, Kennesaw State University.E-Mail: [email protected] ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0212-5520


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