Teaching Students How to Frame Human-Computer Interactions Using Instrumentalism, Technological Determinism, and a Quadrant Learning Activity

This paper describes an innovative learning activity for educating students about human-computer interaction. The goal of this learning activity is to familiarize students with the way instrumentalists on the one hand, and technological determinists on the other, conceive of human-technology interaction, and to assess which theory students favor. This paper describes and evaluates the efficacy of this learning activity and presents preliminary data on student responses. It also establishes a framework for understanding how students initially perceive human-technology interaction and how that understanding can be used to personalize and improve their learning. Instrumentalists believe that technology can be understood simply as a tool or neutral instrument that humans use to achieve their own ends. In contrast, technological determinists believe that technology is not fully under human control, that it has some degree of autonomy, and that it has its own ends. Exposing students to these two theories of human-technological interaction provides five benefits: First, the competing theories deepen students’ ability to describe how technology and humans interact. Second, they provide an ethical framework that students can use to describe how technology and humans should interact. Third, they provide students with a vocabulary that they can use to talk about human freedom and how the design of computing technology may constrain or expand that freedom. Fourth, by challenging students to articulate what theory they favor, the learning is personalized. Fifth, because the learning activity challenges students to express their personal beliefs about how humans and technology interact, the learning activity can help instructors develop a clearer understanding of those beliefs and whether they reinforce what Erin Cech has identified as a culture of depoliticization and disengagement in engineering culture.

A Family of Books: The Damascene Shaṭṭīs and Textual Transmission

The article explores continuities between manuscript and print culture by way of an investigation into the book-related practice of three members of the Ḥanbalī al-Shaṭṭī family. By using a diverse set of sources, it presents a view on the turn from manuscript to print during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century that moves beyond technological determinism. By examining authorship, manuscript collections, and print publication, it proposes to include the institution of the family as well as the emerging global market for Arabic manuscripts into research of this medial shift.

Social Utility of Mobile Phone Technology by Undergraduate University Students in Nairobi, Kenya

This study investigated social utility as a gratification factor influencing mobile phone technology use by public university undergraduate students in Nairobi, Kenya. The objective of the study was to examine the influence of social utility on undergraduate university students’ use of mobile phone technology. The study employed media technological determinism theory. Target population was 246,871 undergraduate university students in public universities in Nairobi, Kenya. The study employed quantitative design. Self-administered questionnaires were used as data collection tools. The study utilized purposive sampling to arrive at a sample size of 573 undergraduate students. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and then processed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. Findings revealed that mobile phone technology has become essential in social utility activities among undergraduate university students. The research concluded that the more the need for social utility, the more the need for mobile phone technology use among undergraduate university students. The research recommended that software developers should develop a specific mobile phone software for university students to use for social utility and that another research could be carried among postgraduate students and among private universities to find out other gratification factors that may be influencing mobile phone technology use.

Effects of Social Media on Security-Agenda Setting in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Social Media (SM), its reach, impact, and potential in a globalized world are no longer contested; it has affected people’s lives, regarding its use and misuse. Groups of gangsters, terrorist associations, non-state actors with bad intentions and rebellious including Gaza, Al-Shabaab, routinely utilize social media websites like Facebook, Twitter Instagram, and WhatsApp to disseminate propaganda, recruit and inspire their sympathizers as well as instill fear in the members of the public and claim their terrorist attacks. This study aimed to identify the effects of social media on security agenda setting to introducing new technologies for use by the security agents to enhance and improve security. It was informed by Agenda-setting Theory and Technological determinism to help see how technology has affected human activity and thought. The study was conducted in Nairobi City County on social media users and security agents. The researcher used a descriptive research plan. The validity test was conducted through a pilot study and specialists’ judgment and reliability through test-retest strategy. The data was gathered using semi-organized surveys and analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative information was examined through descriptive statistics which incorporates; frequencies, percentages, mean, standard deviation among others. Qualitative information was be analyzed using themes. The findings show that social media has a significant influence on security agenda setting in Nairobi City County. Different social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and WhatsApp play a significant role in the spread of information and fight against crime in Nairobi County. They help in mobilization, data gathering, and analysis. Their contribution is affirmed by inferential analysis outcome, which shows that both dependent and independent variables are positively and significantly related. The study recommends the DCI’s office, through the ICT ministry, County government, and National government to reduce chances of youth recruitment by criminal organizations via social media by using different platforms, such as Facebook to learn much about gang affiliations and identify whether their comments or pictures shared are meant to attract or convince unsuspecting people. A similar approach can be applied by law enforcers within Nairobi County to reduce cases of youth recruitment through social media by criminal organizations. The government is also recommended to prevent such social media mobilization that spreads false information by enforcing criminal sanctions and hefty penalties for any offenses or suspected spread of information that can trigger insecurity within the scope area.

Actual issues of technological determinism concept in a mirror of cultural critic

Purpose of the Article. The article reveals the fundamental approaches to clarifying the “technology” concept, which is common in cultural, art history, and philosophical literature on this topic. The level of scientific development of the concepts of “technophilia”, “technophobia”, “determinism” is investigated and the influence of technical progress on the formation of art and culture, in general, is clarified. The methodology is based on an integrated approach and relies on general scientific and specific scientific methods: analytical – for considering philosophical, art history, cultural studies literature on the research topic; historical – for tracing the evolution of technology penetration into cultural and artistic practice, conceptual – for analyzing the concept of “technology” and clarifying the main concepts considered. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the fact that for the first time the role of technology in the course of the cultural development of mankind through the prism of a deterministic concept is played. Conclusions. The technology is conditioned by social requirements and introduced for the further development of the cultural development of mankind. This means that the concepts of technological and social determinism, although they are fundamentally different, are reciprocal, inalienable positions. If technology is transformed, the result of the production process changes accordingly. Consequently, technology and culture are not neutral, when technology is applied, it becomes involved in social processes. Knowledge of how to create and improve technologies, as well as how to use them, is socially connected. Any production process that is technologically thought out and organized (in particular, in a mechanical and electronic way) requires less human effort to obtain the desired result than one that requires manual work.

Building GLAMour: Converging practice between Gallery, Library, Archive and Museum entities in New Zealand Memory Institutions

<p>The development of new technology has created a catalyst for escalating amounts of integrative practice between cultural heritage institutions such as galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAMs). While discussion centres on collaborative or convergent practice in a digital milieu, there is minimal critical analysis of integrative models of operation in our physical GLAM environments. The increasing development of buildings designed to house collectively our galleries, libraries, archives and museums creates challenges and opportunities for the participating entities. Resource rationalisation, tourism ventures, community engagement and technological determinism are often the embedded drivers for the expansion of these new institutional forms. While the development of these institutions increases, there is a dearth of research considering the implications of these models on the participating entities. How do the gallery, library, archive and museum domains transcend institutional silos to build GLAMour? Through a theoretical framework of organisational symbolism, this interdisciplinary research explores the agency afforded to socio-cultural constructs in challenging the epistemological distinctions drawn between GLAM entities in a physical operating environment. By examining the symbolic points of intersection and integration in integrated memory institutions, this thesis addresses how the participating entities negotiate knowledge across GLAM domain boundaries to build and maintain a 'culture of convergence'. Data analysed from three New Zealand case studies shows how areas of intersection and integration manifest in the collections, identity, organisational infrastructure and institutional architecture of these models. These areas of intersection and integration recursively support and negate the development of a convergent GLAM culture. The depth of integration in the cases studied varied widely over the institutions‘ life cycle. Issues relating to differences in back of house functions, preservation management for individual collection formats, the use and appropriation of space, as well as entity worldviews also heavily influenced the development of a convergent culture. This thesis argues that in building GLAMour there is a tipping point, which, when reached, falls beyond the advantages of cohesiveness and collective representation to a point where integrity and scholarship are impeded. Moreover, integration works best as a layered concept, with the levels and types of integration being dependent upon, and responsive to, each unique operating environment. In theorising the data drawn from the cases, maintaining the integrity of the individual GLAM paradigms whilst looking for opportunities to build integrative layers on top of core GLAM functions has emerged as a constructive approach to the development of future joined-up models of operation. This thesis concludes that the theorised pathways towards convergence between the GLAM domains are not definitive, but rather are a fluid and dynamic process. This is a process that adapts over space/time and is recursively reflected in, and influenced by, the architecture, people, programming, services and unique integrative ethos present in individually integrated memory institutions.</p>

Building GLAMour: Converging practice between Gallery, Library, Archive and Museum entities in New Zealand Memory Institutions

<p>The development of new technology has created a catalyst for escalating amounts of integrative practice between cultural heritage institutions such as galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAMs). While discussion centres on collaborative or convergent practice in a digital milieu, there is minimal critical analysis of integrative models of operation in our physical GLAM environments. The increasing development of buildings designed to house collectively our galleries, libraries, archives and museums creates challenges and opportunities for the participating entities. Resource rationalisation, tourism ventures, community engagement and technological determinism are often the embedded drivers for the expansion of these new institutional forms. While the development of these institutions increases, there is a dearth of research considering the implications of these models on the participating entities. How do the gallery, library, archive and museum domains transcend institutional silos to build GLAMour? Through a theoretical framework of organisational symbolism, this interdisciplinary research explores the agency afforded to socio-cultural constructs in challenging the epistemological distinctions drawn between GLAM entities in a physical operating environment. By examining the symbolic points of intersection and integration in integrated memory institutions, this thesis addresses how the participating entities negotiate knowledge across GLAM domain boundaries to build and maintain a 'culture of convergence'. Data analysed from three New Zealand case studies shows how areas of intersection and integration manifest in the collections, identity, organisational infrastructure and institutional architecture of these models. These areas of intersection and integration recursively support and negate the development of a convergent GLAM culture. The depth of integration in the cases studied varied widely over the institutions‘ life cycle. Issues relating to differences in back of house functions, preservation management for individual collection formats, the use and appropriation of space, as well as entity worldviews also heavily influenced the development of a convergent culture. This thesis argues that in building GLAMour there is a tipping point, which, when reached, falls beyond the advantages of cohesiveness and collective representation to a point where integrity and scholarship are impeded. Moreover, integration works best as a layered concept, with the levels and types of integration being dependent upon, and responsive to, each unique operating environment. In theorising the data drawn from the cases, maintaining the integrity of the individual GLAM paradigms whilst looking for opportunities to build integrative layers on top of core GLAM functions has emerged as a constructive approach to the development of future joined-up models of operation. This thesis concludes that the theorised pathways towards convergence between the GLAM domains are not definitive, but rather are a fluid and dynamic process. This is a process that adapts over space/time and is recursively reflected in, and influenced by, the architecture, people, programming, services and unique integrative ethos present in individually integrated memory institutions.</p>

Tradition Changes in the Khataman al-Qur'an in Kediri Region

The Covid-19 pandemic spreading in Indonesia has changed all aspects of social life. One of them is in the aspect of changing the culture of the Khataman al-Qur’an tradition in the Kediri Region. This study aims to describe the change in the Khataman al-Qur’an tradition in the Kediri Region. The research method used is the type of qualitative research with a phenomenological approach, while the analytical knife uses the theory of technological determinism. The results of the study state that changes in the implementation of Khataman al-Qur’an through WhatsApp Groups have positive and negative impacts. The positive impact is that it is easy to communicate for worship and maintain consistent motivation in reading the Qur'an. While the negative impact in the aspect of social solidarity such as the lack of emotional bonds and non-verbal cues between fellow members in the group. It is different from the dynamics of the implementation of the Khataman al-Qur’an which was previously held at a certain moment, but for now, it can be held at any time and become a daily habit of the community. In addition, there was a change in the implementation which was initially carried out with the custom of gatherings, and banquets serving food, while the presence of a pandemic changed the implementation of Khataman al-Qur’an through WhatsApp Groups.