In Search for Unity within the Diversity of Information Societies

This final Chapter represents the responsibility, the privilege but also the aspiration of the two editors of this Gunilla Bradley Festschrift. The aspiration here is no less than to identify a key message that emerges out of the contributions in this volume considered as a whole. In other words, the question here is: what do all this research and reasoning say to us? Of course, each reader of this Volume will derive her or his own interpretation and thus also a key message, which we only see as the richness offered by this Festschrift. Therefore, the key message presented here must be regarded only as one possible message that is formed by the two editors’ own predispositions: intellectual, cultural, motivational, and other.

The Ethics Driven Spatial Management in Multiculturalism through ICTs

The new inclusive social dynamics is refocusing the intricacies of formation of social structures. The process of globalization is unifying various cultures leading to the creation of Multiculturalists society. As a corollary to this various ethnic groups are expanding their boundaries to form the larger social structures. The concept of spatial management relates to the management of spaces of various ethno- cultural formations into single social unit. This merging can be facilitated by building up mutual trust and respect for each other, which in turn can be reinforced by communicating with the help of Information and Communication Technologies. Hence the role of ICT in enhancing the process of unification is crucial as it pierces through the tightened boundaries of ethnic groups to develop the newer identities. This unveiled dimension is explored in this article, which focuses on the use of the technology in social reconfiguration.

Some Experiences of E-Learning in the Moodle E-Learning Environment

In this chapter it is argued that blended learning with web-based support by the Moodle e-learning environment based on social constructivist learning theory is an effective tool for teaching and learning ergonomics and human factor issues for future managers. The author has eight years experience of computer based teaching and learning. The author`s own teaching experience of the Moodle e-learning environment for creating and providing courses in Tallinn University of Technology (TUT), in Tallinn School of Economics and Business Administration at TUT, will be presented. According to the questionnaires given to students at the end of each course, the teaching and learning in the Moodle e-learning environment as blended learning is very useful for development of a learning culture and efficiency. The efficiency and motivation for learning are higher than providing traditional methods of learning. New possibilities and dimensions for teaching and learning are opening.

Towards A Combined Model for On-Line and Real Conferences

This chapter presents a combined model for on-line and real conferences. The chapter introduces Web 2.0 and its importance. Then, using Web 2.0 in real and virtual conferences is discussed since Web 2.0 can make a difference is supporting such a conference model. A past on-line event is analysed and evaluated in order to have lessons learned and make recommendations towards this proposal. The combined model approach is presented and detailed in its components and the importance of Web 2.0 elements is discussed.

Touch Screens for the Elderly

The fast aging of many western and eastern societies and their increasing reliance on information technology create a compelling need to reconsider older users’ interactions with computers. Changes in perceptual and motor skill capabilities that often accompany the aging process bring important implications for the design of information input devices. This paper summarizes the results of a laboratory study with different information input device. Three different input devices –– mouse, touch screen and eye-gaze –– were analyzed concerning efficiency, effectiveness and mental workload with respect to the age group of the computer user. The results derived from data of 90 subjects between 20 and 75 years show that regardless of participant’s age group the best performance in terms of short execution time results from touch screen information input. This effect is even more pronounced for the elderly.

Electronic Performance Monitoring, Job Design and Psychological Stress

This study helps establish how electronic performance monitoring may influence employee physical strain levels through job design. It identifies job design variables which differ between monitored and non-monitored employees in the telecommunications industry (using discriminant function analysis). These variables’ relationships to psychological stress outcomes were examined using multiple regression analysis. A group of 704 employees in three job categories (telephone operator {n=228}, customer service representative {n=230}, and clerk {n=246}) responded to a questionnaire survey mailed to their residence. Four hundred thirty-four of the respondents were monitored and 264 were not. The results indicated that the monitored employees had significantly higher levels of reported psychological stress than the non-monitored employees. The discriminant function analysis of job design variables showed that a variety of job design factors discriminated between monitored and non-monitored employees. High levels of workload, few lulls between periods of high workload, high levels of career/future ambiguity, poor relationships with supervisors, as well as low levels of task meaningfulness and completeness were significant predictors of psychological stress outcomes (tension, anxiety, depression and fatigue).

eHealth and Ethics

The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is increasing rapidly in many spheres of contemporary life in Europe. The ethical use of ICT in all areas of its application is of growing importance. This is especially evident in the field of healthcare. The regional, national, and Europe-wide electronic aspects of health services and systems are related fundamentally to these two developments. This chapter explores the relevance of ethics to eHealth generally. It outlines two main contrasting ideas that have influenced ethical thought: Kantian ethics and consequentialism. It investigates the ways in which teaching and practice for ICT professionals and trainees can be enhanced and extended to increase the awareness of ethical issues in eHealth. It takes as examples two technological applications that are in increasing use in the eHealth field: electronic health records and radio frequency identification devices. The chapter ends with a brief discussion and conclusions about how this ethical awareness can be expanded beyond ICT professionals to other stakeholder groups, and to other eHealth technologies or applications.

Information and Communication Technologies for a more Sustainable World

As has been discussed for decades, a reduction of the input of natural resources into industrial production and consumption by a factor of 4-10 is a necessary condition for Sustainable Development. This paper discusses the potential contribution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to such a dematerialization of the industrial societies and introduces a conceptual framework which accounts for positive and negative impacts of ICT on physical flows. This framework addresses three levels: the ICT life cycle itself, life cycles of other products influenced by ICT applications, and patterns of production and consumption. The conclusion is that ICT will only contribute to Sustainable Development if this technology is recognized and used as an enabler of a deep structural change; a transition towards an economic system in which value-creation is mainly based on information processing while keeping the physical properties of material within some limits that ensure that it can be recycled. This structural change will include the transition from a material-property-transfer mode to a service-transfer mode of consumption in areas where this is technically feasible and beneficial in terms of resource productivity. In such a post-industrial society, which may also be called a sustainable information society, open technological standards will play a crucial role, since they allow for complexity reduction while keeping competition alive, thus minimizing the risk of unmastered complexity in new critical infrastructures.

The Community Event Research Method

During the process of designing a community information system for my dissertation study using ethnographic and grounded theory methods in a Latino diasporic community from Paseo Boricua in Chicago, Illinois, between 1999 and 2001, I experienced the efficacy of community events as tools for educating me about the essence that was organizing a community’s way of life. The process of achieving the dissertation goal generated a new method based on the traditions of community informatics (CI) and participatory design (PD). This chapter presents the method—the Community Event Research Method (CERM)—and explores issues in developing and applying it. CERM reasons that community events are knowledge objects which embody social processes, cultural meanings and information needs of a community and that a selected set of community events, which are related in some larger cultural context (in one way or another), can serve as a valuable unit of analysis for systematically uncovering strong and weak voices in a community. The method not only focuses on understanding the community ethos, but also presents alternatives for recasting knowledge into design.

Community Informatics, Civil Society & Capability Approaches Converging to Cope With ‘Bifurcation Challenges’ in Current Societal Development

This chapter maps out various ‘bifurcation challenges’ to societal development, such as, (a) climate change (b) demographic change (c) the increasing urbanisation of society and (d) ‘food security.’ The research encapsulates a basic Human Rights approach to foster the acquirement of the necessary ‘capabilities’ to make informed discriminate choices, with regard to one’s personal development and to one’s community of reference. It further offers a concept of Civil Society of committed individuals, facilitating the discovery of new aspects of their identity, through their commitment to societal development. The three main concepts, in this chapter: 1. The ‘Community Informatics’ Concept, 2. The ‘Civil Society’ Concept and 3. The ‘Capabilities’ Concept, could, with the aid of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), converge, to cope with the current discernable bifurcation challenges to societal development.