scholarly journals From field sites to field events

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanja Ahlin ◽  
Fangfang Li
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Transnational Families ◽  
Field Site ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Mobile Ict

The incorporation of various information and communication technologies (ICTs) in ethnographic methods mandates a reconsideration of the understanding and practice of fieldwork. In this article, we explore how the ‘field site’ may be reimagined in today’s highly mobile, ICT-facilitated world. Based on our research among Indian transnational families and young migrant workers from Malaysia, we argue that the field may be conceived as a collection of ‘field events’ that are co-created by ethnographers, their study participants, and ICTs. As ICTs are increasingly intertwined with people’s lives and thereby feature importantly in ethnographic fieldwork, we encourage ethnographers to carefully consider how these devices and platforms actively shape their ethnographic data as well as their relations with study participants.

M-Governance

2014 ◽  
pp. 247-262
Author(s):  
Hilda Moraa ◽  
Anne Salim ◽  
Albert Otieno
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Communication Channels ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Service Levels ◽  
Water Service ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Level Of Satisfaction ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Levels Of Service ◽  
Study Participants

iHub Research conducted a study on 896 citizens to establish whether citizens raise alarm when faced with problems related to water. The study aimed to ascertain the communication channels they use to forward complaints to relevant authorities and the level of satisfaction obtained by the citizens after their complaints have been received. The study found that 68% of the respondents had faced challenges while trying to access their main source of water and were not able to complain to anyone about the problems affecting them due to inexistence of appropriate communication channels. A lack of understanding with regards to whom or where to complain was cited as one of the major reasons as to why most respondents do not complain about the water service levels. Majority of the citizens interviewed use face-to-face communication to raise their water grievances. Levels of satisfaction were found to vary when it comes to rating the action taken on water complaints raised. This study opines that with the emergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) this scenario is poised to change. The study participants revealed that they are motivated to utilise ICTs to air their complaints with regards to their levels of service satisfaction. Emerging ICT applications, especially those accessible on mobile devices, provide a lot of promise for enhancing water service delivery in Kenya because feedback on water/service quality can be received ubiquitously.

Participatory Design and Creativity in Development of Information and Communication Technologies

2011 ◽  
pp. 75-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nette Schultz ◽  
Lene Sørensen ◽  
Dan Saugstrup
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Participatory Design ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Ict Development ◽  
Mobile Ict

This chapter presents and discusses a new design framework for involving users at an early stage in a mobile ICT development project. A user-centered design process, in which participatory design principles are combined with creativity techniques, is used in order to create scenarios as a communication tool between users and system designers. The theoretical basis for the framework is described, leading to a new participatory design and creativity framework. Empirical insight into how the framework has been developed and used in practice is presented based on the experiences and results from a large ICT development project within the ?eld of mobile communication. Finally, the value of applying creativity as part of a participatory design process is discussed.

Floating narratives: transnational families and digital storytelling

2018 ◽  
pp. 201-218
Author(s):  
Catalina Arango Patiño
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Digital Storytelling ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Transnational Families ◽  
Family Storytelling ◽  
Migrant Families ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Technological Affordances

This chapter examines the effects of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on storytelling as a practice of communication among transnational families. It describes three technological affordances that are linked to digital storytelling practices of six Colombian migrant families residing in Montreal, Canada: presence, interactivity, and multimodality. After providing an overview of the methodological approach employed in the research study and the techniques used to collect and analyse the data, the chapter discusses the findings with regard to the views of the participant families about the dynamics of their post-migration storytelling experiences. More specifically, it considers the Colombian families' perspectives about being present during their digital interactions. An important finding is that digital mediation seems to be altering family storytelling. For some families, ICTs catalyse storytelling in situations where presence and multimodality take place; for others, ICTs constrain family storytelling when the illusion of nonmediation is not experienced.

scholarly journals Uses of Digital Tools among the Elderly

Comunicar ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (39) ◽  
pp. 193-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susana Agudo-Prado ◽  
Ángeles Pascual-Sevillana ◽  
Javier Fombona
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Senior Citizens ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Discussion Groups ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Survey Technique ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Study Participants

A «multiage» society needs the design and creation of new areas of learning and communication to manage the digital demands of the elderly. In this article, the relation of the elderly to information and communication technologies (ICT) is approached and two objectives are considered: to discover the technological resources they use and to objectively describe the types of usage that senior citizens make of ICT. To that end, a survey technique is used, with the results validated by means of discussion groups. The study participants consisted of 215 elderly people, all ICT users, and 7 discussion groups of 5 people each. The results indicate that the resources most widely used by the elderly are computers and the Internet, and the type of usage is grouped into 4 categories: education, information, communication and entertainment. There were no significant differences in gender or age although differences were found in the availability of these resources for private use based on the level of education. Una sociedad «multiedades» supone diseñar y crear nuevos espacios de aprendizaje y comunicación, capaces de gestionar la demanda existente por parte de las personas mayores. En este artículo, se aborda la relación de las personas mayores con las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) y para ello se plantean dos objetivos: el primero va dirigido a conocer los recursos tecnológicos que utilizan y el segundo, a describir objetivamente los tipos de uso que estas personas hacen de las TIC. Para ello, se utiliza la técnica de encuesta, cuyos resultados son contrastados mediante grupos de discusión. En el estudio participaron 215 personas mayores usuarias de las TIC y siete grupos de discusión de cinco personas cada uno. Los resultados encontrados indican que los recursos que más utilizan los mayores son, los ordenadores e Internet y el uso que hacen de los mismos se ha agrupado en cuatro grandes categorías: formación, información, comunicación y entretenimiento, no encontrándose diferencias significativas en función del género o de la edad y sí se encontraron diferencias en cuanto a la disponibilidad de dichos recursos para uso particular en función del nivel de estudios.

Trends in Competition among Digital Platforms for Shared Mobility: Insights from a Worldwide Census and Prospects for Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110363
Author(s):  
Virginie Boutueil ◽  
Luc Nemett ◽  
Thomas Quillerier
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Global South ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Shared Mobility ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Global North ◽  
Mobile Ict

Mobility systems in metropolitan areas in both the Global North and the Global South have entered an era of rapid change since the early 2010s under the influence of mobile information and communication technologies (ICTs). Mobile ICT-based shared mobility platforms have been filling some of the gaps in transport supply left by historical modes of transport (i.e., private cars, public transit, and for-hire services). Shared mobility digital platforms are a subcategory of mobility applications that give individual customers direct and full access to one or several shared mobility services. Based on a worldwide systematic census, this paper documents the diversity of services provided by such platforms, then analyzes the trends in geographic distribution and competition among platforms across the world’s metropolises. It proposes a new classification of shared mobility services. Since innovations in shared mobility are also taking a leading place in the Global South, future research avenues in this field are discussed in an effort to break away from the prior focus of the scientific literature on the Global North. The census brings out four original findings. First, the rise of shared mobility digital platforms is a worldwide metropolitan phenomenon transcending the traditional distinction between the Global North and the Global South. Second, emerging countries have become clusters for innovation and competition among platforms. Third, three types of shared mobility digital platforms are identified based on geographic reach (local, regional, or global). Fourth, shared mobility digital platforms providing for-hire services are the most widespread in the world.

The Hospitality Metaphor as a Theoretical Lens for Understanding the ICT Adoption Process

2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 154-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amarolinda Zanela Saccol ◽  
Nicolau Reinhard
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Adoption Process ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Methodological Basis ◽  
Ict Adoption ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Mobile Ict

The Hospitality Metaphor proposed by Ciborra represents an alternative view to the traditional models that describe the process of adopting information and communication technologies (ICT). This Metaphor helps us in considering social, behavioral and existential elements related to the adoption process, offering a critical and dialectical view of it. In this paper, we review the philosophical and methodological basis of this Metaphor and its main statements. We also apply it in analyzing a case of mobile ICT adoption. The application of the Hospitality Metaphor enables a clear understanding of this process as an incremental and open one in which social, existential and ‘mundane’ issues play a major role, and where technology reveals its dubious character, leading to unplanned results.

scholarly journals Understanding Community: thoughts and experiences of young people

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary Yerbury
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Generation X ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Need To Belong ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Beliefs And Values ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Study Participants

This ethnographic study of members of Generation X and Generation Y seeks to explore the ways they understand and experience community. Their comments and stories were gathered through interviews collected towards the end of 2006 and the early part of 2007. These provide richly textured evidence of their need to belong, to maintain everyday relationships and to collaborate with others at the same time as they commodify relationships or share information but not necessarily beliefs and values. Consequences of globalisation such as individualisation, transience in relationships, immediacy in communication, the blurring of boundaries between work and leisure, between public and private and the reliance on information and communication technologies are part of their everyday lives. Some study participants feel dis-embedded from their traditional social relationships and seek to establish new ones, whereas others feel comfortable joking with anonymous others. Their intellectualised constructs of community and descriptions of the lived reality of community find reflections in a range of theoretical constructs in the literature, both reinforcing and shifting scholarly understandings of the concept of community.

scholarly journals Digital Gaming for Nutritional Education: A Survey on Preferences, Motives, and Needs of Children and Adolescents (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Laura Holzmann ◽  
Felicitas Dischl ◽  
Hanna Schäfer ◽  
Georg Groh ◽  
Hans Hauner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Nutrition Knowledge ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Nutritional Information ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Study Participants

BACKGROUND Use of novel information and communication technologies are frequently discussed as promising tools to prevent and treat overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. OBJECTIVE This survey aims to describe the preferences, motives, and needs of children and adolescents regarding nutrition and digital games. METHODS We conducted a survey in 6 secondary schools in the southern region of Germany using a 43-item questionnaire. Questions referred to preferences, motives, and needs of children and adolescents regarding nutrition and digital games. In addition, knowledge regarding nutrition was assessed with 4 questions. We collected self-reported sociodemographic and anthropometric data. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed using SPSS. RESULTS In total, 293 children and adolescents participated in the study, with ages 12-18 years (137 girls, 46.8%), weight 30.0-120.0 (mean 60.2 [SD 13.2]) kg, and height 1.4-2.0 (mean 1.7 [SD 0.1]) m. A total of 5.5% (16/290) correctly answered the 4 questions regarding nutrition knowledge. Study participants acquired digital nutritional information primarily from the internet (166/291, 57.0%) and television (97/291, 33.3%), while school education (161/291, 55.3%) and parents or other adults (209/291, 71.8%) were the most relevant nondigital information sources. Most participants (242/283, 85.5%) reported that they regularly play digital games. More than half (144/236, 61.0%) stated that they play digital games on a daily basis on their smartphones or tablets, and almost 70% (151/282, 66.5%) reported playing digital games for ≤30 minutes without any interruption. One-half of respondents (144/280, 51.4%) also stated that they were interested in receiving information about nutrition while playing digital games. CONCLUSIONS This survey suggests that nutrition knowledge in children and adolescents might be deficient. Most children and adolescents play digital games and express interest in acquiring nutritional information during digital gameplay. A digital game with a focus on sound nutrition could be a potential educational tool for imparting nutrition knowledge and promoting healthier nutrition behaviors in children and adolescents.

Connecting Families?

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Structuration Theory ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Transnational Families ◽  
Family Routines ◽  
Strong Structuration Theory ◽  
Strong Structuration ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Critical Understanding ◽  
Intergenerational Connections

Are information and communication technologies (ICTs) connecting families? And what does this mean in terms of family routines, relationships, norms, work, intimacy and privacy? This book takes a life course and generational perspective covering theory, including posthumanism and strong structuration theory, and methodology, including digital and cross-disciplinary methods. It presents a series of case studies on topics such as intergenerational connections, work–life balance, transnational families, digital storytelling and mobile parenting. It will give students, researchers and practitioners a variety of tools to make sense of how ICTs are used, appropriated and domesticated in family life. These tools allow for an informed and critical understanding of ICTs and family dynamics.

Participatory Design and Creativity in Development of Information and Communication Technologies

2008 ◽  
pp. 656-671
Author(s):  
Nette Schultz ◽  
Lene Sørensen ◽  
Dan Saugstrup
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Participatory Design ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Ict Development ◽  
Mobile Ict

This chapter presents and discusses a new design framework for involving users at an early stage in a mobile ICT development project. A user-centered design process, in which participatory design principles are combined with creativity techniques, is used in order to create scenarios as a communication tool between users and system designers. The theoretical basis for the framework is described, leading to a new participatory design and creativity framework. Empirical insight into how the framework has been developed and used in practice is presented based on the experiences and results from a large ICT development project within the ?eld of mobile communication. Finally, the value of applying creativity as part of a participatory design process is discussed.

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