The Role of Virtual Communities in the Customization of e-Services

2013 ◽  
pp. 116-132
Author(s):  
Bill Karakostas ◽  
Dimitris K. Kardaras ◽  
Adéla Zichová
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Service Customization

Virtual communities are groups of people with similar interests who meet online and together act as a learning environment, place for social support, or as bodies for influencing public opinion. In this paper, the authors identify characteristics of a virtual community that influence its members to customize e- services provided to or received by the virtual community. The authors propose a theoretical framework of factors influencing service customization in a virtual community that has been validated with two case studies conducted in health-focused virtual communities. The findings confirm that the quality of the learning environment, social support, and the virtual community’s ability to influence public opinion, positively contribute to the perceived usefulness and active participation in the community by its members. In turn, these factors were found to have a positive influence on customization of e-services by the members, based on the community’s suggestion. The research also suggests several areas of focus to enhance e-service customization through virtual communities.

The Role of Virtual Communities in the Customization of e-Services

2011 ◽  
pp. 655-670
Author(s):  
Bill Karakostas ◽  
Dimitris Kardaras ◽  
Adéla Zichová
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Service Customization

Virtual communities are groups of people with similar interests who meet online and together act as a learning environment, place for social support, or as bodies for influencing public opinion. In this paper, the authors identify characteristics of a virtual community that influence its members to customize e- services provided to or received by the virtual community. The authors propose a theoretical framework of factors influencing service customization in a virtual community that has been validated with two case studies conducted in health-focused virtual communities. The findings confirm that the quality of the learning environment, social support, and the virtual community’s ability to influence public opinion, positively contribute to the perceived usefulness and active participation in the community by its members. In turn, these factors were found to have a positive influence on customization of e-services by the members, based on the community’s suggestion. The research also suggests several areas of focus to enhance e-service customization through virtual communities.

The Role of Virtual Communities in the Customization of e-Services

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Karakostas ◽  
Dimitris Kardaras ◽  
Adéla Zichová
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Service Customization

Virtual communities are groups of people with similar interests who meet online and together act as a learning environment, place for social support, or as bodies for influencing public opinion. In this paper, the authors identify characteristics of a virtual community that influence its members to customize e- services provided to or received by the virtual community. The authors propose a theoretical framework of factors influencing service customization in a virtual community that has been validated with two case studies conducted in health-focused virtual communities. The findings confirm that the quality of the learning environment, social support, and the virtual community’s ability to influence public opinion, positively contribute to the perceived usefulness and active participation in the community by its members. In turn, these factors were found to have a positive influence on customization of e-services by the members, based on the community’s suggestion. The research also suggests several areas of focus to enhance e-service customization through virtual communities.

Increasing Research Students' Engagement through Virtual Communities

2015 ◽  
pp. 50-75
Author(s):  
Maria Limniou ◽  
Clare Holdcroft ◽  
Paul S. Holmes
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Virtual Learning Environment ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
Research Students ◽  
Geographical Space

This chapter describes important issues regarding research students' participation in a virtual community. Within a virtual community, university staff can communicate with research students without geographical/space constraints, and research students can exchange views, materials, and experience with their peers and/or academics in a flexible learning environment. Students' participation in virtual communities is mainly based on socio-emotional and informational motivations. Initially, this chapter describes the conditions of research in a traditional environment and the role of students and academics in it, along with the role of pedagogical and psychological aspects in virtual communities. Examples from a university virtual community developed in a Virtual Learning Environment and a Facebook™ closed group are presented. Apart from discussion forums, blended learning activities also increase students' engagement in virtual communities. Technical issues and difficulties based on different learning environments and university members' experience and familiarity with technology are highlighted and discussed.

Increasing Research Students' Engagement through Virtual Communities

2016 ◽  
pp. 1173-1198
Author(s):  
Maria Limniou ◽  
Clare Holdcroft ◽  
Paul S. Holmes
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Virtual Learning Environment ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
Research Students ◽  
Geographical Space

This chapter describes important issues regarding research students' participation in a virtual community. Within a virtual community, university staff can communicate with research students without geographical/space constraints, and research students can exchange views, materials, and experience with their peers and/or academics in a flexible learning environment. Students' participation in virtual communities is mainly based on socio-emotional and informational motivations. Initially, this chapter describes the conditions of research in a traditional environment and the role of students and academics in it, along with the role of pedagogical and psychological aspects in virtual communities. Examples from a university virtual community developed in a Virtual Learning Environment and a Facebook™ closed group are presented. Apart from discussion forums, blended learning activities also increase students' engagement in virtual communities. Technical issues and difficulties based on different learning environments and university members' experience and familiarity with technology are highlighted and discussed.

scholarly journals Role of Virtual Communities in Improving the Quality of Blogs and Bloggers’ Presence

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 305
Author(s):  
Drina Intyaswati ◽  
Ratu Laura MBP
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Information Dissemination ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Group Communication ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
The One

The existence of blogger as a writer would be better with its membership in a virtual community because many more people can access his writing. This paper looks at the role of virtual communities in the existence of bloggers and how far bloggers can improve their presence through their writing. It will also show the communication patterns used to create an environment to bring out better creativity from the bloggers. This study involves a content analysis of the postings at emak2blogger.com website, and interviews with bloggers from Kumpulan Emak Blogger (KEB). The results show that of the quality of blogging and the blog traffic had increased through their web links to KEB. Communication contained in community KEB is group communication, the one in which a few people interacted in the same destination (on the blog) and information dissemination occurred with simultaneous distribution patterns. Other members of KEB also communicated intensively through interpersonal communication.

Increasing Research Students' Engagement through Virtual Communities

2015 ◽  
pp. 407-431
Author(s):  
Maria Limniou ◽  
Clare Holdcroft ◽  
Paul S. Holmes
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Virtual Learning Environment ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
Research Students ◽  
Geographical Space

This chapter describes important issues regarding research students' participation in a virtual community. Within a virtual community, university staff can communicate with research students without geographical/space constraints, and research students can exchange views, materials, and experience with their peers and/or academics in a flexible learning environment. Students' participation in virtual communities is mainly based on socio-emotional and informational motivations. Initially, this chapter describes the conditions of research in a traditional environment and the role of students and academics in it, along with the role of pedagogical and psychological aspects in virtual communities. Examples from a university virtual community developed in a Virtual Learning Environment and a Facebook™ closed group are presented. Apart from discussion forums, blended learning activities also increase students' engagement in virtual communities. Technical issues and difficulties based on different learning environments and university members' experience and familiarity with technology are highlighted and discussed.

scholarly journals Teacher Standards and Professionalism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Pauline Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Teacher Professionalism ◽  
Policy Makers

<p>The focus of this research is teacher professionalism in New Zealand and the possible role of the ‘Standards for the Teaching Profession’ that were released in 2017, in strengthening the quality of teaching. Evidence suggests that the quality of teachers’ work is an important factor in students’ success. So, a challenge for education policy-makers is to create a system that encourages and enables teachers to be high quality and motivated to keep improving. The literature suggests a strategy to enable this is to encourage a mature profession, where teachers take collective responsibility for improvement. Standards for teachers can be a positive influence on improving teacher practice when their use is balanced between regulatory and development functions, so that they are a catalyst for professional development. This research involved 45 teachers in English Medium settings participating in sector specific focus groups for early childhood, primary school and secondary school teachers, a review of policy documents and secondary data from Education Council workshops. The analysis suggests that aspects of organisational professionalism influence the environment, although most teachers did not consciously align themselves to this discourse. There appeared to be some differences between sectors, with those in early childhood aligning more closely to their organisation than other teachers and feeling like they were not accepted as a legitimate part of the teaching profession. Although teachers were generally positive about the new standards, few teachers considered using them for reflection or professional conversations outside of formal appraisal. The aspiration presented in literature of a mature profession that works collaboratively with a mix of stakeholders to combine expertise, ask tough questions to create solutions and grows professional knowledge was not apparent, however teachers identified opportunities to shift the profession towards this discourse.</p>

Burden, quality of life, anxiety, and depressive symptoms among caregivers of hemodialysis patients: The role of social support

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
pp. 397-407
Author(s):  
Madihah Shukri ◽  
Mohd Azman Mustofai ◽  
Md Aris Safree Md Yasin ◽  
Tuan Sharipah Tuan Hadi
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Hemodialysis Patients ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Caregiving Burden ◽  
Low Levels

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine how burden and quality of life predict anxiety and depressive symptoms among caregivers of hemodialysis patients. Social support was included in the model as a proposed moderator in the above relationships. Methods This cross-sectional study involved 340 caregivers of chronic kidney patients undergoing hemodialysis. The setting was in Terengganu, Malaysia. The caregivers completed the measures of caregiving burden, quality of life, social support, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Results About 28.8% and 52.4% of caregivers showed clinically moderate levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively. Furthermore, 35.9% and 3.8% of them showed clinically high levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively. Analyses showed that general quality of life was a significant predictor of both anxiety and depressive symptoms. Burden and psychological domains of quality of life significantly predicted anxiety. In addition, a lack of social support was a determinant of depressive symptoms. Evidence suggested that social support moderated the burden–anxiety relationship. Specifically, caregivers with low levels of social support showed more elevated levels of anxiety symptoms when their burden was higher. Conclusion There is an urgent need for early detection to initiate prompt treatment in this population. The study provides some important insights into offering comprehensive intervention to help caregivers cope more effectively through the provision of sufficient social support to buffer the effects of caregiving burden and improve mental health.

Exploring Active Participation in Virtual Communities and the Role of Community Benefits: An Empirical Study of University Students in India

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 515-528
Author(s):  
Anupama Vohra ◽  
Neha Bhardwaj
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Active Participation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Bootstrap Analysis ◽  
Community Benefits ◽  
Hedonic Benefits

User-generated content (UGC) forms an indispensable part of virtual community (VC) based on marketing. It not only makes the community information-rich, but is also instrumental in generating more interactions on the community platform, involving more number of members, both actively and passively. With this backdrop, the present study aims to explore active participation (AP) of members in a VC, which leads to the creation of UGC for the community. Social media (SM) use being context dependent, the main objective of this article is to study the role of VC benefits in inducing AP among users in the Indian context. The mediating role of member’s satisfaction with the community in the above relationship is also explored. The proposed model is tested on a convenience sample of 170 SM users using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicate that of the three benefit categories, selected, social and hedonic benefits, play an important role in inducing AP among community members. A bootstrap analysis is performed to check for mediation, wherein satisfaction is found to partially mediate the relationship between social benefits and AP, and indirect mediation is established between hedonic benefits and AP. The study offers useful insights to community managers, so as to strategically design their community content creating satisfied users and inducing AP.

Building Virtual Communities Through a De-Marginalized View of Knowledge Networking

2006 ◽  
pp. 278-299
Author(s):  
Kam H. Vat
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Learning And Change

The chapter investigates an actionable context of knowledge networking, from the perspective of sustainable development which should accommodate the building of communities in cyberspace so much exemplified in today’s Internet and World Wide Web. The premise of this exploration is that members, or participants, in any community are engaged in learning that is critical to the survival and reproduction of that community. Through community participation, learners find and acquire models and have the opportunity themselves to become models and apprentices of others. This investigation provides a basis for thinking about the possibilities of a virtual community and the dynamics of its construction across a variety of computer-based contexts. The design and refinement of technology as the conduit for extending and enhancing the possibilities of virtual community building is an essential issue, but the role of the individuals as participants in such a community is as important. The idea of sustainable knowledge networking is to bring about continual learning and change for the community in need. The emergent challenge of such a mission is to de-marginalize many of the non-technical issues of building virtual communities for knowledge transfer and learning. The chapter concludes by reiterating the challenge of expositing what it means to create an appropriate context of knowledge networking through which purposeful actions can be supported with the elaboration of suitable information technologies.

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