scholarly journals Information Practices in Contemporary Cosmopolitan Civil Society

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Olsson

What is the nature of information?  What is its role in Contemporary Cosmopolitan Civil Society? What is the basis for the widespread current belief that we live in an ‘information society’? The present article will examine these questions through an examination of the historical origins of established ‘scientized’ views of information in the philosophy of the Enlightenment. It describes how postmodern and poststructuralist critique of such positivist approaches led to profound paradigmatic and methodological shifts in the social and information studies fields in recent decades. It consider how the emergence of social constructivist approaches to information research drawing on discourse analysis, practice theory and ethnographic theories and methodologies has led to a have led researchers to a radically different understanding of central concepts such as: the influence of emergent information and communication technologies on contemporary society; the relationship between knowledge and power, the nature of expertise and authoritative information; a re-thinking of community and consensus; a re-interpretation of notions of space and place in information dissemination, sharing and use and a reconsideration of the role of the researcher. The article illustrates this changing research landscape through reference to the work of scholars in the Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre at the University of Technology, Sydney, published in the Centre’s journal.

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 40-68
Author(s):  
Bronwen Dalton

The social sciences are bedeviled by terminological promiscuity.  Terms and phrases are used at one time in a certain context and later borrowed and applied in different circumstances to somewhat different phenomena. Sometimes different groups of actors or researchers simultaneously use the same term with somewhat different meanings. Such is the use of the term civil society. In this 5th Anniversary of the Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, it is timely to trace the evolution of the idea of civil society to its multiple guises in the present. The paper reviews the term’s 18th and 19th century roots, its recent resurrection and the opposing views of civil society, including views that question its applicability to non-western settings. It then discusses prospects for developing agreed approaches to the study of civil society. To guide our thinking the paper presents a brief overview of different approaches to defining civil society taken by some of the major so-called centres for civil society in Australia and internationally. The paper concludes by reflecting on these definitional challenges as it has played out at one particular cross faculty research centre, the University of Technology, Sydney’s Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1928-1946
Author(s):  
Louise Lutéine Balôck née Ngo Kobhio

The development of information and communication technologies is the cause of constant change in the librarian profession at the university in particular. Indeed, it is the best environment for research. Professionals adapt to the user-generated new needs as information mediators. It is in this sense that the continuing professional development of academic librarians at the University of Yaoundé I lies at the heart of this undertaking. Its implementation requires a regular needs assessment. The study highlights the pedagogical skills needs of the academic librarians. It identifies their strengths as to their qualifications to pass on knowledge about information research to target audiences, and develop skills within the library services. A grid of pedagogical skills needs was submitted to librarians who were able to express their needs. This resulted in interviews with library officials and academic libraries. The results of the study show great awareness of their pedagogical mission. Important initiatives have been taken in this area, but they need to be formalized, using appropriate tools for a greater efficiency. Suggestions are made in order to increase the visibility of academic libraries of the University of Yaoundé I among the faculties or institutions by bringing diverse actors together


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6363
Author(s):  
Johanna Andrea Espinosa-Navarro ◽  
Manuel Vaquero-Abellán ◽  
Alberto-Jesús Perea-Moreno ◽  
Gerardo Pedrós-Pérez ◽  
Pilar Aparicio-Martínez ◽  
...  

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are key to create sustainable higher education institutions (HEIs). Most researchers focused on the students’ perspective, especially during the online teaching caused by COVID-19; however, university teachers are often forgotten, having their opinion missing. This study’s objective was to determine the factors that contribute to the inclusion of ICTs. The research based on a comparative study through an online qualitative survey focused on the inclusion and use of ICTs in two HEIs and two different moments (pre-and post-lockdowns). There were differences regarding country and working experience (p < 0.001), being linked to the ICTs use, evaluation of obstacles, and the role given to ICTs (p < 0.05). The COVID-19 caused modifications of the teachers’ perspectives, including an improvement of the opinion of older teachers regarding the essentialness of ICTs in the teaching process (p < 0.001) and worsening their perception about their ICTs skill (p < 0.05). Additionally, an initial model focused only on the university teachers and their use of ICTs has been proposed. In conclusion, the less experienced university teachers used more ICTs, identified more greatly the problematic factors, and considered more important the ICTs, with the perception of all teachers modified by COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-56
Author(s):  
Bakhytzhan Akhmetov ◽  
◽  
Valery Lakhno ◽  
Asselkhan Adranova ◽  
Baurzhan Kassymbergebayev ◽  
...  

This article discusses the problems of ever-increasing demands on the organization and quality of the educational process on the part of society. Today there are new opportunities for the comprehensive development of students of the XXI century, new, more effective information and communication technologies (ICT), in particular cloud- oriented learning environments (COLE), are developing rapidly. The problems of the development of theoretical and methodological foundations for designing a cloud-oriented educational environment of the university and the justification of the structural scheme of its interaction with the methodological center of the ministry based on the use of cloud technologies are analyzed. It is necessary to introduce such models of the learning environment, which will allow to fully satisfy the demands of teaching staff on the organization and conduct of classes of a new type, the activation of educational activities of students, the formation of digital competence and the comprehensive development of personality. Such opportunities are provided by the use of a cloud-based educational environment of the university.


Author(s):  
Luis Gerardo García-Cruz ◽  
Juan Fidel Cornejo-Álvarez ◽  
Estela Maricela Villalón-De la Isla ◽  
Jorge Daniel Ceballos-Macías

The purpose of this study is to present a diagnosis of the level of development of the informational and digital competencies that the postgraduate students of the University Center of the North (CUNorte) possess. These two variables of Information Literacy are evaluated through a questionnaire organized in five dimensions: capacity, access, evaluation and use of information; and basic notions in the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The results show evidence of some of the competencies acquired by students and graduates of postgraduate courses, however there are opportunities to strengthen their disciplinary development and facilitate their research processes. The answers provided by the students and their consecutive analysis highlight the need to complement the diagnosis using other techniques to assess the knowledge and skills that make up the informational and digital competencies whose development is evaluated. Regarding the contribution of the study, considering the factor analysis of the component matrix rotated in the instrument, it is summarized that it is feasible to develop a diploma that provides the necessary tools to enrich the aforementioned competencies.


Author(s):  
Apolinar Trejo-Cuevas ◽  
Gerardo Parra-Rodríguez ◽  
María Teresa Díaz-Robledo ◽  
Javier Jesús Torres-Yáñez

Objective. Implement a website that allows the outreach of the science of Information and Communication Technologies to the staff of the university community of the UTNG to facilitate digital inclusion, taking advantage of the current infrastructure that the university has, as well as its human capital. Methodology. The adopted development model was a concurrent model: For the Frontend development the spiral model was used, which facilitates its design through the stages of prototyping, analysis and design. On the other hand, for the development of the Backend, the waterfall model was used, given the nature of the project, where the requirements are pre-established and with few changes. The phases of this model are: (Requirements. Survey of requirements, Design. Development of the database and class diagrams, Implementation Coding, Check. Tests, Maintenance. Correct errors in functionality) Contribution. Implementation of project-based learning (PBL) as a motivational teaching strategy in the development of web applications. Use of robust development tools used today by software factories, such as: Java, Spring, HTML5, CSS3, and Apache Maven; all this under a Model View Controller architecture.


Author(s):  
José Ricardo López Espinosa ◽  
Edgar Oswaldo González Bello ◽  
Rocío López González

En este trabajo se analizan las deficiencias y avances que se han generado en el marco del Programa Institucional de Formación Docente de la Universidad de Sonora y su contribución al desarrollo de la enseñanza mediante la capacitación del profesorado sobre el uso de Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación en la enseñanza. Es un estudio de corte cuantitativo en el cual se aplicó un cuestionario a 80 profesores, de distintas disciplinas, quienes han participado en cursos de capacitación que ofrece la institución para el uso de recursos digitales. Los resultados revelan la necesidad de ofrecer capacitaciones acordes a los requerimientos particulares de la planta docente, así como cursos especializados enfocados en instruir cómo emplear pedagógicamente las tecnologías en cada asignatura con el propósito de mejorar el ejercicio docente. También se advierte que la formación ofrecida en la institución poco ha logrado motivar a los profesores para utilizar las tecnologías.Training and use of ICT in higher education: teachers opinionsAbstractThis paper analyzes the deficiencies and progress that has been generated under the Institutional Program of Teacher Training of the University of Sonora and its contribution to the development of teaching through teacher training on the use of Information and Communication Technologies in teaching. It is a descriptive study of quantitative methodology in which questionnaires were applied to 80 teachers from different disciplines who have participated in training courses offered by the institution the use of ICT. The results reveal the need for trainings according to the requirements of teachers, as well as the lack of specialized courses focused on instructing how to use the technologies in each subject for the purpose of improving the teaching performance. It is also noted that the training provided in the institution has not managed to motivate teachers to use the technologies. Recibido: 18 de agosto de 2017Aceptado: 10 de julio de 2018


2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-19
Author(s):  
Iqbal S. Alsaleh ◽  
Shaymaa M. Rashad

Due to the undesirable effects of the gap between citizens to access and use information and communication technologies (ICT), most researchers have been paying much attention to the threat of a digital divide. Unfortunately an amazingly large number of people do not have the abilities to use the ICTs in a proper way and, therefore, cannot draw advantages from its usage. As a result, digital divide is commonly regarded as a potential barrier for participation in the information society. This study measure the digital divide in Saudi Arabia by analyzing the results of a small-scale study conducted at the University KAU, regarding students’ and university members’ perceptions toward the usage of ICT. This analysis measure the digital divide concerning some factors like gender, educational level using a questionnaire. The analysis shows that KAU has no digital divide. Key words: digital divide, information and communications technology, ICT, diffusion of technology, second order effects.


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