“(D’Elia et al., 2002). … The study concluded that Internet use exists as a complement to and not a substitute for library use. Using the Internet for a variety [...]]]> Aabø, S. (2005). The role and value of public libraries in the age of digital technologies. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 37(4), 205–211. doi:10.1177/0961000605057855

“(D’Elia et al., 2002). … The study concluded that Internet use exists as a complement to and not a substitute for library use. Using the Internet for a variety of purposes did not appear to have affected the reasons why people use the library.” (p 206)

“The public library was ranked higher on accuracy (information from the library is trusted to be accurate), ease of use, free of charge, helpful assistance from librarians and because privacy was protected.” (p 206)

“Finnish Library Act … Emphasis is on availability and quality. …” (p 206)

“This Library Act can be viewed from three perspectives, those of citizens, libraries and communities: 1. citizens – by demonstrating their fundamental, democratic right to have access to information, regardless of media form, and by demonstrating the citizens’ opportunities for personal and civic development; 2. libraries – by demonstrating their role and tasks in ensuring the citizens their rights; 3. communities – by the development of a civic information society.” (p 206-207)

“… movement from measuring outputs (such as figures of books borrowed or library visits) towards investigation of the outcomes (that is, consequences of use) of public library services.” (p 207)

“The ability to access, adapt and create new knowledge using information and communication technology is critical to social inclusion today (Warschauer, 2003: 9) and a vital prerequisite for democratic participation.” (p 208)

“Citizenship implies a feeling of community with the polity in question, be it a municipality, a region or a nation. Experiencing community, in turn, is dependent upon a degree of shared identity, in other words, of having something in common.” (p 208)

“… when using the library, the person is not a client, not a consumer – but a citizen.” (p 209)

“The economic value of Norwegian public libraries has been recently estimated by research using the contingent valuation method …” (p 209-210)

“The purpose of public libraries is still to further democracy, equality and social justice, increase access to information, disseminate culture and knowledge, contribute to a meaningful and informative leisure time, and act as a communal institution and a social meeting place.” (p 210)

Notable references

D’Elia, G., Jorgensen, C., Woelfel, J. and Rodger, E.J. (2002) ‘The Impact of the Internet on Public Library Use: An Analysis of the Current Consumer Market for Library and Internet Services’, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 53 (10): 802–20.

“Study 3 demonstrated a causal relationship: Reminders of atheist prevalence reduced explicit distrust of atheists.” (p 543)

“For more than 50 years, researchers have recognized a positive prejudice-outgroup size relationship: Prejudice increases against groups [...]]]> Gervais, W. M. (2011). Finding the faithless: Perceived atheist prevalence reduces anti-atheist prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(4), 543–556.

“Study 3 demonstrated a causal relationship: Reminders of atheist prevalence reduced explicit distrust of atheists.” (p 543)

“For more than 50 years, researchers have recognized a positive prejudice-outgroup size relationship: Prejudice increases against groups that have more members. … different types of prejudice might therefore be differentially affected by contextual factors such as relative outgroup size.” (p 543)

“… nonbelievers constitute the fourth largest religious group in the world, trailing only Christians, Muslims, and Hindus (Zuckerman, 2007).” (p 543)

“… recent social psychological research reveals that different outgroups are perceived to pose categorically and functionally distinct types of threats, leading to different cognitive and affective outcomes.” (p 544)

“In particular, religious people use the religious beliefs of others as heuristic cues of trustworthiness, equating religiosity with moral standing.” (p 545)

“… nearly half of Americans believe that moral living is impossible without belief in God (Pew Research Center, 2002).” (p 545)

“… collective inconspicuousness of atheists … One would expect that such an untrustworthy group would be readily apparent, as their widespread immorality would leave obvious effects. … it is possible that knowledge that atheists are both inconspicuous and numerous could force a reappraisal of the incompatible view that they are untrustworthy.” (p 545)

“… substantial anti-atheist prejudice has been demonstrated both in the United States and in Canada.” (p 545)

“… church attendance is an independent predictor of other forms of religious conflict and intolerance.” (p 546)

“… individualism/collectivism at the country level, which is perhaps the most widely studied dimension of cultural differences.” (p 546)

[Note use of Wave 4 of World Values Survey (WVS), www.worldvalues survey.org. (p 546)]

“Individualism/collectivism scores were taken from Hofstede’s website (www.geert-hofstede.com).” (p 546)

“HDI [United Nations Human Development Index] significantly predicted anti-atheist prejudice, controlling for atheist prevalence, β = –.53, t = 4.71, p < .001.” (p 546)

“Atheist prevalence was negatively related to anti-atheist prejudice among believers.” (p 547)

“Atheists may be common or rare, but what matters psychologically is whether people perceive atheists to be common or rare. This study investigated the relationship between perceived atheist prevalence and anti-atheist prejudice. In addition, this study controlled belief in God and belief in a dangerous world (BDW), two factors known to contribute to specific anti-atheist prejudice and prejudice in general, respectively.” (p 547)

“Imagined contact makes people feel generally more positively toward various outgroups (e.g., Turner & Crisp, 2010; Turner, Crisp, & Lambert, 2007).” (p 548)

“Information that atheists are actually quite common, both worldwide and in the immediate environment, reduced distrust of atheists.” (p 549)

“Overt, explicitly expressed prejudice often diverges from more subtle or implicit measures of prejudice. Although it is presently unknown whether or not there is as much stigma attached to overt expressions of anti-atheist prejudice as there is attached to overt racism or homophobia, …” (p 550)

“… across 54 countries representing most of the world’s population, anti-atheist prejudice among believers was reduced where atheists are common, even after controlling for numerous important individual and international differences (Study 1). Second, in a university sample, anti-atheist prejudice was reduced among participants who thought that atheists were more common (Study 2). Third, information about high atheist prevalence reduced explicit distrust of atheists but did not affect perceptions of contact with atheists or a general attitudinal measure of prejudice (Study 3). Finally, atheist prevalence information reduced implicit atheist distrust (Study 4). Perceived atheist prevalence reduced anti-atheist prejudice.” (p 551)

“Because prejudice against various groups derives from the diverse threats that the groups are seen to pose, different prejudices might have differing relationships to a wide range of contextual factors, including relative outgroup size.” (p 552)

“At the very least the present effects appear analogous to con- tact effects, and more research on the distinction—and possible relationship—between perceived prevalence and intergroup contact is needed.” (p 552)

Notable references

Gervais, W. M., Shariff, A. F., & Norenzayan, A. (2010). Do you believe in atheists? Trust and anti-atheist prejudice. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Zuckerman, P. (2007). Atheism: Contemporary numbers and pat- terns. In M. Martin (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to atheism (pp. 47-65). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

“A simple way to assist development in a country such as Laos is to help local educators and librarians introduce information literacy into [...]]]>

Dorner, D. G., & Gorman, G. E. (2011). Contextual Factors Affecting Learning in Laos and the Implications for Information Literacy Education. Information Research: An International Electronic Journal, 16(2). Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ935871

“A simple way to assist development in a country such as Laos is to help local educators and librarians introduce information literacy into the education system. We maintain that for interventions of this type to be successful, advisors coming from developed countries must understand the impact of local culture on learning in general and information literacy in particular.” (¶ 10)

“… information literacy is ‘a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognise when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the needed information’ (ACRL 2000).” (¶ 12)

“It does not question the basic assumptions about information, and how it becomes knowledge, assuming the latter to be something external that can be tracked down and captured. (Dorner and Gorman 2006: 284)” (¶ 15)

“… Dorner and Gorman (2006) employed Geert Hofstede’s dimensions of culture as a means of understanding how cultures differ and how those differences must be considered in information literacy education programme development and delivery in the context of Asian developing countries.” (¶ 33)

“It thus appears that one of the effects of the externally-provided educational resources from developed countries (whatever their motives), provided in the form of educational resources for Lao schools, is a mixture of the languages used for teaching and learning, which often leads to student comprehension problems and, no doubt, materials that may not relate to the real life experiences of the students.” (¶ 54)

[Using existing Hofstede scores directly rather than assessing the selected group. The discussion uses the observations as examples of the Hofstede dimensions and scores; a tenuous link, confirmation bias? --oki (¶ 61-62, fig 2)]

“In the educational setting power distance affects, for example, teacher-student relationships and teacher- teacher relationships.” (¶ 64)

“… some teachers may be reluctant to change because in their view student-centred teaching will reduce student respect for the teacher. This issue is a reflection of the tension that arises when there is a change in a society of a cultural dimension.” (¶ 76)

“The first part of our definition of information literacy focuses on the ability of individuals or groups to be aware of the social, economic and political factors affecting the creation, communication, and control of information and how these factors relate to knowledge construction.” (¶ 117)

“Indigenous knowledge might also be the only information source about Lao traditional culture, including its language, music, religion and morality, its handicrafts and arts, and its agriculture and environmental management.” (¶ 119)

“Information literacy programme developers must therefore have knowledge of the range of information resources available to the local people, resources that in one context might be for university students and available on the Internet, but in another context might be for rural secondary school students and available only through oral sources. The developers must also be aware of any cultural issues that might arise when individuals are asked to think critically in their evaluation of information resources.” (¶ 121)

“Anyone involved in providing assistance to Lao teachers and librarians must be aware of the contextual factors that may affect how individuals construct knowledge from the acquired information.” (¶ 122)

“We now refer back to Hofstede’s dimensions of culture to provide examples of issues that require consideration in the design of information literacy programmes.” (¶ 123)

“Individuals involved in information literacy programme development must be aware that a higher level of critical thinking could increase individualism, decrease power distance, and erode the strength of traditional Lao culture among the youth of the country, raising tension between young people and their elders.” (¶ 125)

“… for an information literacy education programme to be successful in Laos, it cannot simply adopt what has been implemented in other countries. … must take into consideration and use indigenous culture and knowledge, indigenous teaching and learning methods, indigenous contexts for genuine learning.” (fig 4)

Notable references

Association of College and Research Libraries. (2000). Information literacy competency standards for higher education. Retrieved 22 July, 2010 from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.cfm (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.Webcitation.org/5rpower distancecFDC5)

Dorner, D.G. & Gorman, G.E. (2006). Information literacy education in Asian developing countries: cultural factors affecting curriculum development and programme delivery. IFLA Journal, 32(4), 281-293

Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

“… there are more than half a billion atheists in the world (defined as people who do not believe in God; Zuckerman, 2007) …” [...]]]> Gervais, W. M., Shariff, A. F., & Norenzayan, A. (2011). Do you believe in atheists? Distrust is central to anti-atheist prejudice. Journal of personality and social psychology, 101(6), 1189.

“… there are more than half a billion atheists in the world (defined as people who do not believe in God; Zuckerman, 2007) …” (p 1189)

“By definition, a cooperative group produces benefits to a group but requires the costly investment from numerous individuals. However, it is possible for some individuals to collect the benefits provided by the group without actually contributing their own time or effort. These selfish freeriders can outcompete other members within their group by extracting benefits from the group without paying any associated costs. Within a group, defection is advantageous to the individual, even as it becomes profoundly costly to the overall performance and stability of the group (e.g., Sober & Wilson, 1998).” (p 1190)

“… religious beliefs … outsourcing social monitoring and punishment to supernatural agents not bound to the costs of monitoring and punishment.” (p 1190)

“… conjunction fallacy (Tversky & Kahnemann, 1983) …” (p 1192)

“Study 1 demonstrated explicit distrust of atheists, but it is possible that, instead of being representative of personal feelings, participants’ explicit responses may have instead reflected cultural norms determining which groups are fair game for criticism and which should be insulated.” (p 1194)

“… whereas religious people strongly distrust atheists, atheists neither trust nor distrust atheists, relative to people in general.” (p 1194)

“Bootstrapping analysis revealed that data were consistent with supernatural monitor- ing concerns fully and significantly mediating the relationship between belief in God and conjunction errors (95% CI of the indirect effect = .07, 1.84). … cannot establish causal relationships …” (p 1198)

“… data were consistent with the hypothesis that supernatural monitoring concerns mediate the relationship between belief in God and atheist distrust.” (p 1198)

“… Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998).” (p 1198)

“Authoritarianism was assessed with the 30-item Right Wing Authoritarianism scale (α= .94; Altemeyer, 1988).” (p 1199)

“In studies where religious primes increase prosocial tendencies and honesty, typically the effect of self-reported religiosity is null, at least in modern Western societies. Finally, there are multiple motivations for prosocial behavior; although religious belief appears to be one such source of prosociality under some contexts, it is far from the only source available, and it is exceedingly likely that most atheists act morally, albeit for nonreligious reasons (e.g., Beit-Hallahmi, 2010).” (p 1203)

“Religion appears to be a ‘social glue’ in the world, yet the least religious countries are actually among the most cooperative and peaceful on the planet (e.g., Zuckerman, 2008). … it is important to recognize that religious prosociality is primarily a theoretical framework for explaining the types of beliefs that can act as motivators of human cooperation in the absence of large-scale institutions for promoting prosociality.” (p 1203)

“Laboratory investigations converge with this notion, as priming secular justice concepts (e.g., civic, jury) is as effective as reminders of a watchful God for promoting prosocial behavior (Shariff & Norenzayan, 2007), and both governments and gods appear to serve largely interchangeable psychological functions (e.g., Kay, Shepherd, Blatz, Chua, & Galinsky, 2010).” (p 1203)

Notable references

Altemeyer, B. (1988). Enemies of freedom: Understanding right-wing authoritarianism. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Beit-Hallahmi, B. (2010). Morality and immorality among the irreligious. In P. Zuckerman (Ed.), Atheism and secularity (pp. 113–148). Westport, CT: Greenwood.

Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. L. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The implicit association test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1464–1480. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1464

Sober, E., & Wilson, D. S. (1998). Unto others: The evolution and psychology of unselfish behavior. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1983). Extension versus intuitive reasoning: The conjunction fallacy in probability judgment. Psychological Review, 90, 293–315. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.90.4.293

Zuckerman, P. (2007). Atheism: Contemporary numbers and patterns. In M. Martin (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to atheism (pp. 47–66). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/ CCOL0521842700.004

“All emotional intelligence abilities involve some degree of skill in the affective domain …” (p 1)

“Emotional intelligence, at the most general level, refers to the abilities to recognize and regulate emotions in ourselves and in others.” (p 2)

“In the field of psychology the [...]]]> Goleman, D. (2000). Emotional intelligence: Issues in paradigm building.

“All emotional intelligence abilities involve some degree of skill in the affective domain …” (p 1)

“Emotional intelligence, at the most general level, refers to the abilities to recognize and regulate emotions in ourselves and in others.” (p 2)

“In the field of psychology the roots of EI theory go back at least to the beginnings of the intelligence testing movement. …  It is an ability that ‘shows itself abundantly in the nursery, on the playground, in barracks and factories and salesrooms, but it eludes the formal standardized conditions of the testing laboratory’ [E. L. Thorndike, 1920, p. 231].” (p 3)

“… three different areas … The first area … individual’s attitude toward society and its various components: politics, economics, and values such as honesty. The second involved social knowledge … ‘information about society.’ … The third form of social intelligence was an individual’s degree of social adjustment …” (p 3)

“… Thorndike and Stern … ‘It may be that social intelligence is a complex of several different abilities, or a complex of an enormous number of specific social habits and attitudes.’” (p 3)

“Bar-On (2000a) now defines EI in terms of an array of emotional and social knowledge and abilities … This array includes (1) the ability to be aware of, to understand, and to express oneself; (2) the ability to be aware of, to understand, and to relate to others; (3) the ability to deal with strong emotions and control one’s impulses; and (4) the ability to adapt …” (p 4)

“Salovey and Mayer’s original model (1990) identified emotional intelligence as the ‘ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action’ (p. 189). … Salovey and Mayer evolved a model with a cognitive emphasis. It focused on specific mental aptitudes for recognizing and marshalling emotions … ” (p 4)

“… current model … (Mayer & Salovey, 1997) … first tier of this “mental ability model” is the complex of skills that allow an individual to perceive, appraise, and express emotions. … The second tier abilities involve using emotions to facilitate and prioritize thinking … In the third tier are skills such as labeling and distinguishing between emotions … understanding complex mixtures of feelings … and formulating rules about feelings … The fourth tier of the model is the general ability to marshal the emotions …” (p 4-5)

“The emotional skill category included abilities like Resilience, Influence, Assertiveness, Integrity, and Leadership. The IQ domain was not assessed by intelligence test scores but by competencies used as surrogate measures, such as Analysis, Judgment, Planning, Creativity, and Risk-Taking. MQ included Supervision, Oral Communication, Business Sense, Self-Management, and Initiative and Independence.” (p 10)

“David Kolb’s interest lay in exploring the processes associated with making sense of concrete experiences – and the different styles of learning that may be involved. In this he makes explicit use of [...]]]> Smith, M. K. (1996). David A. Kolb on experiential learning. The encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved January 31, 2009, from http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-explrn.htm

“David Kolb’s interest lay in exploring the processes associated with making sense of concrete experiences – and the different styles of learning that may be involved. In this he makes explicit use of the work of Piaget, Dewey and Lewin.” (¶ 9)

“David Kolb and Roger Fry (1975: 35-6) argue that effective learning entails the possession of four different abilities (as indicated on each pole of their model): concrete experience abilities, reflective observation abilities, abstract conceptualization abilities and active experimentation abilities. Few us can approach the ‘ideal’ in this respect and tend, they suggest, to develop a strength in, or orientation to, in one of the poles of each dimension. As a result they developed a learning style inventory (Kolb 1976) which was designed to place people on a line between concrete experience and abstract conceptualization; and active experimentation and reflective observation. Using this Kolb and Fry proceeded to identify four basic learning styles.” (¶ 17)

Kolb and Fry on learning styles (Tennant 1996) … (¶ 18)

Converger
Learning characteristic: Abstract conceptualization + active experimentation
Description: strong in practical application of ideas; can focus on hypo-deductive reasoning on specific problems; unemotional; has narrow interests

Diverger
Learning characteristic: Concrete experience + reflective observation
Description: strong in imaginative ability; good at generating ideas and seeing things from different perspectives; interested in people; broad cultural interests

Assimilator
Learning characteristic: Abstract conceptualization + reflective observation
Description: strong ability to create theoretical models; excels in inductive reasoning; concerned with abstract concepts rather than people

Accommodator
Learning characteristic: Concrete experience + active experimentation
Description: greatest strength is doing things; more of a risk taker; performs well when required to react to immediate circumstances; solves problems intuitively

“The model takes very little account of different cultural experiences/ conditions (Anderson 1988). The Inventory has also been used within a fairly limited range of cultures (an important consideration if we approach learning as situated i.e. affected by environments). As Anderson (1988, cited in Tennant 1996) highlights, there is a need to take account of differences in cognitive and communication styles that are culturally-based. Here we need to attend to different models of selfhood – and the extent to which these may differ from the ‘western’ assumptions that underpin the Kolb and Fry model.” (¶ 23)

“The relationship of learning processes to knowledge is problematic. … contrast this position with Paulo Freire.” (¶ 26)

“‘the model provides an excellent framework for planning teaching and learning activities and it can be usefully employed as a guide for understanding learning difficulties, vocational counselling, academic advising and so on’.” (¶ 27)

“Some people call this rediscovery cooperative learning. Others call it collaborative learning. Is there really any difference between the two? If so, what is it, and does it matter?” (p 12)

“By reacculturation I mean renegotiating membership in groups [...]]]> Bruffee, K. A. (1995). Sharing our toys: Cooperative learning versus collaborative learning. Change, 27(1), 12–18.

“Some people call this rediscovery cooperative learning. Others call it collaborative learning. Is there really any difference between the two? If so, what is it, and does it matter?” (p 12)

“By reacculturation I mean renegotiating membership in groups or cultures we already belong to and becoming members as well of other groups or cultures.” (p 14)

“… reacculturation … It is complex, painful, and, in most cases, forever incomplete. It involves modifying or renegotiating our participation in the language, values, knowledge, and mores of the communities we come from, as well as becoming fluent in those same elements of the communities we are trying to join.” (p 14)

“We can now state this same case positively in a way that includes, but goes somewhat beyond, Dewey’s doctrine that ‘school is primarily a social institution’ and that experience is education. We can now identify the particular experience that educates: constructive conversation. Students learn by joining transition communities in which people construct knowledge as they talk together and reach consensus. What teachers do is set up conditions in which students can learn. And one of the most important ways teachers do that is by organizing students into transition communities for reacculturative conversation.” (p 14)

“College and university students too may openly acknowledge their teachers’ authority, and by resisting it tacitly acknowledge it. But what college and university students should not do is take their teachers’ authority and the authority of what they teach for granted. … Teaching students to come to terms with doubt is the second way that college and university education is nonfoundational.” (p 15)

“What students do first in collaborative learning is construct knowledge socially in small groups. Then they test socially the knowledge they have constructed, first in the larger community of the class as a whole and then in the much larger professional community represented in the classroom by the teacher. This nesting of smaller knowledge communities within increasingly larger ones both constructs the authority of knowledge and is the principal tool for evaluating, confirming, and, when necessary, revoking that authority.” (p 17)

“Information poverty isdefined as that situation in which individuals and communities, within a given context, do not have the requisite skills, abilities or material means to obtain efficient access to information, [...]]]> Britz, J. J. (2004). To Know or Not to Know: A Moral Reflection on Information Poverty. Journal of Information Science, 30(3), 192–204. doi:10.1177/0165551504044666

“Information poverty isdefined as that situation in which individuals and communities, within a given context, do not have the requisite skills, abilities or material means to obtain efficient access to information, interpret it and apply it appropriately. … It is argued in this article that information poverty is a serious moral concern and a matter of social justice and as such should be on the world’s moral agenda of social responsibility.” (p 192)

“It has further exacerbated the gap between the rich and poor countries, leading to the coining of the terms information-rich and information-poor countries and the ‘digital divide’.” (p 192)

“… information poverty is not restricted or limited to a technology/digital divide only. … It is a much more complex phenomenon including issues such as cultural and language diversity, levels of education and the ability/ inability to access and benefit from information.” (p 192)

“… Thus Burgelman et al. [15] remark that the divide between information-rich and information-poor communities is more than just digital but also relates to the affordability, availability and suitability of the information itself.” (p 194)

“In a recent document, Education in and for the Information Society (2003), UNESCO prefers to use and promote the notion of ‘knowledge societies’ rather than ‘information societies’ thereby emphasizing the importance of education in the information era.” (p 194)

“Certain information products and services that were normally considered a collective good have in many cases been commoditized with an associated economic value protected by international intellectual property regimes …” (p 195)

“… one person, within a specific context, can be information-rich and will be able to assign appropriate meaning to information. Another person in the same context might be information-poor due to an inability to assign appropriate meaning to the information within the same context. … insiders and outsiders. Insiders share a communal culture, knowledge base, and set of symbols. Such social networks and the social capital they confer on their members are powerful information resources within a given society. The so-called outsiders are excluded from this social network and are therefore considered information-poor in this particular context.” (p 196)

“… the use of ICTs, with their own language, plus English as the dominant language of interaction, creates a new international standard for economic activities.” (p 196)

“This lack of self-appropriation lies deeper than just ‘pressing the right buttons’. By nature, it is a lack of a hermeneutic process within which the language of ICT must be understood in order to obtain contextual functionality. This lack of understanding often leads to a form of social exclusion. Thus Robins and Webster correctly remark that ‘…new technology is a mystery, and it remains a mystery even when its technical functions are explained in simplified terms, because its genesis – its social history – is ignored.’ … [30, p. 74]” (p 197)

“The fact that globalized capitalism is an information- driven model implies that the right of access to essential information is more than a basic necessity, but must be regarded as one of the most important rights in the information era. It is a fundamental and necessary pre-condition for personal development and socio-economic and political participation [32].” (p 197)

“… are also denied the opportunity to let their voices be heard and to express their opinions.” (p 197)

“… mass media … cultural imperialism … Baudrillard [38] … in addition, the extent of the distribution of this information contributes to a form of cultural expansionism at the expense of indigenous cultures.” (p 197-198)

“… emphasizes the duty of knowledge creators to make a positive contribution to society as a whole. In the words of Pope Pius XI, ‘It is the very essence of social justice to demand from each individual [and one can add knowledge creator] all that is necessary for the common good’ [44, p. 43].” (p 200)

“An example of contributive justice is the obligation on members of society to share their knowledge to the benefit of society. By the same token, society has a responsibility to create an environment that is conducive for individuals to be able to do research and produce information products that can be to the advantage of society.” (p 200)

“… Barbour states: ‘… inequality is justified, in short, only if it helps to correct some other form of inequality or if it is essential for the good of all’ [48, p. 36].” (p 200)

“… i.e. the medium in which the information is presented must not be contextually unfamiliar to the receivers thereof. Thus the designers of human-computer interfaces must contextualize these designs to ensure familiarity to users.” (p 201)

“… communities must also have the right to communicate, to share their views and to learn from others.” (p 202)

“… it is argued that governments have an obligation to create a media environment that is independent and of a diverse nature, guaranteeing the right of the public to receive information from a variety of sources and to maintain an open public sphere.” (p 202)

Notable references

[17] C. Guttman, Education in and for the Information Society. (UNESCO Publication for the World Summit on the Information Society, Geneva, Switzerland, 2003) 1-82.

[30] K. Robins and F. Webster, Times of Technoculture. From the Information Society to the Virtual Life (Routledge, London, 1999).

[32] J. Habermas, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (MIT Press, Cambridge, 1989).

[38] J. Baudrillard, Simulations (Semiotext, New York, 1993).

“… (thematic content analysis) … An identified benefit was a sense of community. … honed participants’ reflective thinking.” (p 259)

“The focus group discussion revealed that supportive posts were highly valued, [...]]]> Wright, N. (2010). Twittering in teacher education: Reflecting on practicum experiences. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 25(3), 259–265. doi:10.1080/02680513.2010.512102

“… (thematic content analysis) … An identified benefit was a sense of community. … honed participants’ reflective thinking.” (p 259)

“The focus group discussion revealed that supportive posts were highly valued, reducing participants’ feelings of isolation and emotional overload.” (p 262)

“… participants agreed that they were forced to think very deeply about what to convey in their 140 characters.” (p 262)

“… The ability to use colloquial and text message conventions meant that tweets reflected not only ideas, but also mood. Tweets exhibited turn-taking cues, and punctuation reflected and acknowledged both emotions and social interaction (Borau, Ullrich, Feng, & Shen, 2009).” (p 263)

“Twitter chronologically logged participants’ reflective thinking during a school practicum, reduced isolation and supported a sense of community.” (p 263)

“And while they found the 140-character limit initially restricted their ability to explain ideas, it focused their thinking to reflect purposefully on their experiences.” (p 263)

“This study sought to identify the relationships between cultural factors, e-learning design, and learning success. It probed the cultures of respondents, their perceptions of the usability characteristics of e-learning tools, and their subjective [...]]]> Kinasevych, O. (2011, December 30). Considering culture in e-learning environments and post-secondary learning success. Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

Abstract

“This study sought to identify the relationships between cultural factors, e-learning design, and learning success. It probed the cultures of respondents, their perceptions of the usability characteristics of e-learning tools, and their subjective assessments of their learning. The study aimed to identify correlations between culture and perceptions of usability, as well as between these perceptions and learning success. An extensive literature review identified appropriate cultural definitions, usability heuristics, education theory, and applicable research models.
“Participants were 40 students at two Canadian colleges who had been enrolled in online instruction. Their exposure to online learning tools was crucial to the study. A single online survey instrument was used to collect subjective data from the participants. The survey instrument made use of questions based on the work of Hofstede (2001), questions regarding e- learning usability, questions regarding subjective learning success, and questions about demographics. Methodology is described in detail.
“Response data were tested for potential correlations. Inferential statistics were used to identify whether the data may generalize to the larger population. Although some significant observations were made, the findings were not conclusive. Recommendations include additional study of cultural factors in e-learning.”

Update

This paper has been catalogued in the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) database. Its ERIC entry includes a link to full-text PDF. The link to this entry is: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED529662

This item has been filed with the following descriptors:

•     Foreign Countries
•     Cultural Influences
•     Electronic Learning
•     Online Courses
•     Correlation
•     Usability
•     College Students
•     Instructional Design
•     Instructional Effectiveness
•     Student Attitudes
•     College Instruction
•     Student Surveys
•     Student Characteristics
•     Data Analysis
•     Web Based Instruction