OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Models and Theories in Human-Computer Interaction/Easy to Collaborate but Difficult to Coordinate
## WikiBook: Easy to Collaborate but Difficult to Coordinate

In the field of HCI, computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) is concerned with using technology to help a group of people interact and work towards a goal effectively. The WikiBook platform allows a collaborative group experience, but there are still obstacles that reduce transparency and deter true interactions.
In the reading from the Carroll textbook, he notes that distributed groups are usually not as effective as groups that work in the same location. One of the obstacles in working from geographically different locations is the difficulty in coordinating efforts. For example, more than one student has written about CSCW in relation to the WikiBook platform, but reading from one section to the next may not flow like a normal book would. Although this wasn’t part of the assignment, we all may have written a more well-rounded analysis of CSCW and WikiBooks if we had coordinated our topics—a task made more difficult in a distributed group.
Another area that suffers in distributed groups is motivation. Although seeing others’ WikiBook posts provides some motivation through social pressure, it still lacks the benefits of a synergistic experience. However, this is slightly outweighed with the lack of production blocking and the pool of ideas collected through the nominal, distributed group format. It is possible to collaborate and create a WikiBook from different geographic locations, but there are still factors that negatively impact transparency.
# Models and Theories in Human-Computer Interaction/Diffusion of Innovations theory too simplistic?

As a descriptive model, I find the theory of Diffusion of Innovations to bee too simplistic. It's not hard to see why that may be. After all, they are trying to model a very complex sociological and psychological process. More specifically, one area I find too simplistic is the adopter categories. The model defines the Late Majority as having a high degree of skepticism and having little financial liquidity. This may be mostly true, but I know it wasn't true in a recent purchase of technology I made. I recently purchased a Playstation 4 (PS4). It's been out since November of 2013. Why did I wait to purchase the latest console? Not because I was skeptical of the technology; nor was it because I didn't have the money. I waited because I had purchased games for the last generation console, and didn't want my spent money to be wasted. Bottom line: it was not skepticism nor a lack of funds that caused me not to adopt the technology.
Also, the decision stage of the adoption process is rather vague. In general, it says an individual weights the pros and cons of the innovation and makes a decision on whether to adopt or reject the technology. The model places emphasis on information being communicated by early adopters to later adopters, but says little about why an individual makes a decision to adopt or reject, other than the vague notion of pros and cons. I think this is where something like the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) could be useful to fill the gap.
# Models and Theories in Human-Computer Interaction/Digitizing the World Around Us
### Digitizing the World Around Us – Brian Buehler
#### Nyquist

All sound consists of frequencies caused by vibrations in the world around us. A young, healthy human ear can hear in the range of 20Hz to 20kHz and thanks to Nyquist we can electronically record these analog signals into something that can be reproduced later for us to hear. According to Nyquist, for any given frequency, you only need 2 times the bandwidth of that frequency to digitally represent it accurately. Right now, computers are dumb, and they have no idea what analog signal is being pumped into them to record. If you have less than 2 times the bandwidth, the sound will not be accurately recorded. The sampling rates of fairly common sound cards are 44kHz, and some even are at 96kHz. The 44kHz sampling rate can accurately determine analog signals up to 22kHz. A 22kHz signal sampled at 44kHz would look very jagged if looked at on an oscilloscope, and would not sound like a true 22kHz analog signal without some sort of filtering. But this card can still reasonably reproduce all sounds in the range of human hearing. This being said, the more samples per second, the better. Two times the bandwidth of the signal is just the minimum rate stated by this theory. A sound engineer could likely determine the difference in a signal recorded at the Nyquist rate, or something higher.

#### Shannon

Shannon's theory relates to Nyquist in the sense of being able to accurately determine a signal from noise is pertinent to being able to record it without error. The signal desired needs to be higher than the noise around it, otherwise it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to find it. This is very important for signals traveling through the air like WIFI, and digital TV. In order for our devices to have good connectivity to the local WIFI, the wireless card needs to be able to determine the wireless signal from all other signals traveling through the air. A poor signal to noise ratio (SNR) would result in bit errors and spotty connections to the network or Internet. A good SNR is required for digital TV as well. I'm sure everyone has seen a TV “block up” and look funny. This happens when the SNR dips below the minimum acceptable level to reproduce the transmitted signal error free.
The fruits of Shannon's and Nyquist's theories are very pertinent in the world today but are more behind the scenes than other theories of systems, but that doesn't make either any less important.
# Models and Theories in Human-Computer Interaction/Distributed Cognition and a Macro Focus

Distributed Cognition and a Macro Focus
WikiBook offers collaboration to a large network of people. Because geographic location is not relevant, WikiBook allows more interaction between individuals than if on a face-to-fact context. While you might be unable to read emotions in the writing (for example nonverbal communications like eye rolls or heavy sighs to indicate some form of disagreement or negative emotion) you are able to express a point of view. Also, the WikiBook offers a history ‘tab’ or portion so you know who is contributing what. This does result in more work on the use than face-to-face communication which makes transparency slightly harder. However, it does allow for record keeping on the development of the WikiBook. As seen earlier in the semester, this could be useful if unfortunate mistakes are made and allows for corrections to be made more effectively. The macro focus of distributed cognition can been seen in how collaborators in the WikiBook are connected to more than just a specific document. For example, this WikiBook submission is in Chapter 6 under Distributed Cognition and CSCW. But it branches further back under Models and Theories in Human Computer Interaction under the subject of Computer Science and under the category of Computing. The input and output ranges are far greater in this context than in a face-to-face setting. An example of a generic face-to-face setting would be a family gathering or gathering of a subcommittee at a conference. You have a limited number of people who plan and actually attend the gathering and then have a finite amount of time in this setting to discuss what they would like addressed. There are also interpersonal issues that may occur that detract from the meeting getting everything done it was meant to do. Even with more information available to us at the ready because of technology, meetings such as these will not have the same background data as readily available in any given gathering scenario that the WikiBook does. Family gatherings might have a cathartic release but not the same quality of output that a subcommittee of a technical conference. WikiBook maintains the same connection to background data as the user labels it with.
# Models and Theories in Human-Computer Interaction/Doubting double-exponential growth rate

In his article "The Law of Accelerating returns" Ray Kurtzweil argues that double-exponential rate of technology progress will bring into developing new methods of processing data through mechanical and organic matter, operating in the fields of AI, biotechnology and nanotechnology. This development will bring into interdependency of human and machine, resulting into post-human, a state where humans and machines will converge.
Kurtzweil’s theory relies on objective measurements and logical implications of double-exponential technology growth, he assumes endless positive feedback in the cybernetic system of technology development, which put the entire system out of control of humans. However, he ignores environmental feedback, which can change the course of technological progress or slow down the process. Technologies exist in political, cultural and social context. On the way to post-human epoch, humans will be required to address philosophical and ethical issues of what it means to be human. Fields ranging from sociology to geography will need to address implications of extending human body beyond physical limits and existence of consciousness beyond biological brain.
Political climate, ethical positions, economy needs and public interests largely affect development and adoption process of technology. There are numerous examples of such a change in course, when technology was available but has not been practiced. Various projects, such as human cloning, nuclear weapons development, sending humans to space has not made progress in recent years because ethical concerns, political agreements and lack of funding.
# Models and Theories in Human-Computer Interaction/Diffusion of Innovation – Knowledge base adoption
## Diffusion of Innovation – Knowledge base adoption (Karen Darko)

The Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory proposes that diffusion is the process by which an innovation spreads via certain communications channels over time among the members of a social system (Rogers, 2004). Our readings and my personal experience lead me to believe that this theory is very useful in understanding how new ideas and technologies are adopted. My personal experience relates to my organization’s decision to create a knowledge base (KB) to help our customers answer questions about how to use our products.
For many years, the Technical Communications (TC) organization that I am part of has helped customers learn to use our products by providing them with documents (PDF or HTML) posted to our company’s web site. This has been effective, but today’s technology users want short articles that answer their questions quickly. The TC social system has been evaluating this new KB approach for about a year and a half. Initially there was much resistance to this idea; it was perceived as “uncertain and somewhat risky,” to paraphrase Roger’s words (2004). TC strategists feared that users needed topics organized in a traditional book structure to learn about products, and that serving up short, individual topics would be confusing. However, as a couple of TC organizations have adopted the KB approach, this resistance has faded and been replace with acceptance and adoption.
This experience mirrors the DOI theory, especially with respect to the influential “early adopter” sources/channels that gave my TC organization confidence to implement a KB approach. The company I work for is large and has many TC organizations. I believe that within my company, we beginning to see rapid adoption of this solution; we are approaching the “fat” part of the S-shaped curve.
Work Cited
Rogers, E. M. (2004) A Prospective and Retrospective Look at the Diffusion Model. Journal of Health Communication, Volume 9:13-19
# Models and Theories in Human-Computer Interaction/Diffusion of Innovations and Technology

EM Rogers first wrote about the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory in the early 1960s. Since then, it has been used in studies across numerous fields including, but not limited to, agriculture, healthcare and technology. DOI itself revolves around the study of the spread of ideas or products with the ultimate goal being complete saturation of a specific market.
One can easily look at the introduction and adoption of types of technology and find examples of successful diffusion. Both the television and the mobile phone would fit into this category. In the infancy of both products, there were small numbers of innovators willing to the take the risk and purchase the product. Slowly, through a combination of lower costs and societal expectation leading to high demand, most homes in developed countries have at least one television and most adults (and many pre-teens and teenagers) have at least a basic cell phone.
Oftentimes it is easier to study the diffusion of a type of product (like a cellphone) rather than a specific implementation of a product (like Android phones or iPhones). A major reason behind this is that to succeed in diffusion, saturation is the end-game. Because different implementations that meet the same need can co-exist profitably, it would be illogical to try and apply DOI theory to every new technology. Ultimately Android phones, iPhones and Windows phones are all failures in terms of diffusion. But they are by no means market failures.
This is not to say that there are no diffusion successes to be found in implementation. Data storage formats, specifically those for video, contain two good examples. In the cases of BetaMax versus VHS and then HD DVD versus Blu-ray, the winners were adopted to the point where the loser went extinct. While many people will say that Blu-ray is indeed superior to HD DVD, it is still questionable whether VHS was better than BetaMax. For that reason, the quality of the product itself only plays a small part in the end result. Rather, a combination of fiscal and social reasons resulted in VCRs playing VHS tapes in many homes and Blu-ray players coming standard on both the PS4 and Xbox One.
# Models and Theories in Human-Computer Interaction/Diffusion of Innovations and the Adoption of Smartphones

The Diffusion of Technology theory seeks to explain why innovations are adopted by the population majority. There are 3 components of variable classification, the characteristics of innovations, characteristics of innovators and environmental context. E. M Rogers also defined 5 qualities that is believed to influence the rate of adoption: Relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. Relative advantage and complexity are quite similar to the theories of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).
The rate of adoption of smartphone users could be described easily by the Diffusion of Technology theory. When smartphones were released, current cellular phone users had a product that, in most part, met their needs. The smartphone product was introducing new features that had not been available. Users may not have had an immediate need to switch and were left wondering if they would actually use the new features and if it was worth the cost. However, they were able to observe the usage and satisfaction among early adopters, which may influence their decision to switch.
The advertisements created by smartphone companies (i.e apple, samsung, etc) display a desirable image of the advantages of smartphones over their predecessors. There was/is a social pressure at times to switch to a smartphone, as many users refer to this as “upgrading”. I often remember hearing comments from peers, such as, “Wow, you still have a flip phone, why haven’t you upgraded?”. And even now, I will hear people make comments like “You need to get out of the dark ages.”, to standard cellular phone users.
Based on a Gallup poll in December of 2013 of 1031 national individuals, 65% had a smart phone and 42% had a standard cellular phone. This is would indicate that we are still in the “late majority” of adopters in Everett Rogers' 'Category of Adopters' bell curve.
References:
Rogers, E. M. 2003. Diffusion of Innovations, 5th ed., New York, NY: Free Press.
Americans' Tech Tastes Change With Times. (n.d.). Retrieved June 11, 2015, from http://www.gallup.com/poll/166745/americans-tech-tastes-change-times.aspx
Nickerson, R., Austreich, M., & Eng, J. (2014). Mobile Technology and Smartphone Apps: A Diffusion of Innovations Analysis. Retrieved June 11, 2015, from http://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=amcis2014
# Models and Theories in Human-Computer Interaction/DoI for You and I
### DoI for You and I (Daniel Pardock)

Although I am a supporter of and wrote a previous post regarding TAM, I cannot discount the idea of Diffusion of Innovation. This idea takes on several concepts from Marketing (early knowers, early adopters, and change agents) and feeds into an idea of superiority based on early knowledge, the ability to change the minds of the public, and be a trendsetter. One example of Diffusion of Innovation comes from a presentation I did in an earlier MBA class regarding a seed company. The company has been around since 1926, and we learned that its leaders have realized they have only one time per year to ‘sell’ their product: farmers buy their seed once a year, resulting in only 89 times to convince the buyers that their product is the best. Looking back on our research, I realize our presentation followed Diffusion of Innovation almost word-for-word:
Innovation Seeds, at the time, were nothing special. There were no chemicals added or strains spliced together. However, when this particular company began making strains that were more resistant to pesticides, farmers started to take notice.
Adopters The company felt it was in its best interests to start reaching out to farmers and show them the benefits of its new products. By offering discounted (even free) product to farmers looking for the latest and greatest means of increasing production, the company was able to get its message out to people who were going to make sure the locals learned of its benefits.
Communication Channels This particular company knew that farmers talk. They talk at the co-op, at church, at the gas station. They share both the good news and the bad news, and word began to spread that the adopters were seeing a change for the better in their yields.
Time As discussed earlier, the company knew it could only reach its customers once a year. By investing millions of dollars in promoting its product, it made a long-term, expensive investment that had to pay off in order for the firm to remain profitable. The company was counting on word getting out and slowly (but surely) gaining traction within the local community.
Social System With the combination of carefully selecting early adopters, communication amongst the farmers, and a skilled marketing campaign, the seed company was able to gain enough ground to make its product profitable. The company knew how best to reach its customers, that certain farmers were seen as trusted advisers, and, in turn, that what they said was to be trusted.
By following the idea of Diffusion of Information, the company lit a fuse and let it slowly ignite a revolution in farming: pesticide-resistant crops. The company continues today to market its products to its trusted customers who they know will be walking, talking commercials.
# Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Grim
## Overview

The Grim, an omen of imminent death, has the appearance of an extremely large black dog. Being spectral, it is visible only to the person whose death is imminent.

## Extended Description

At a number of points in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry sees a large black dog; the first two times he sees it, he almost immediately narrowly escapes being killed: the first time, he is almost run over by the Knight Bus; the second time, debilitated by Dementors, he falls fifty feet from his broom; in neither case does anyone else see the dog, and at a second look it has vanished. In between, he has found, at Flourish and Blotts, a book of death omens with a picture on the cover that matches his recollection of the dog, and Professor Trelawney has read his tea leaves in Divination class and seen a Grim there. Later, Professor Trelawney apparently sees a Grim in Harry's crystal ball as well.
Taken all together, this leads Harry to rather believe in omens. However, he does see the big black dog again just before the Quidditch match with Slytherin, and that time it appears that Crookshanks can see him, so he begins to wonder if perhaps the dog is merely a dog, rather than an omen.

## Questions

Study questions are meant to be left for each student to answer; please don't answer them here.
* Do you believe in omens such as the grim?
* How superstitious is the Wizarding World?
# Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Glumbumble
## Extended Description

A furry insect.

## Questions

Study questions are meant to be left for each student to answer; please don't answer them here.
# Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Gnome
## Overview

The Gnome is a common garden pest found throughout North America and northern Europe. Its body is out of proportion, its head is too big, it has sharp claws and bony feet. It grows up to about 12 inches tall.

## Extended Description

The most popular form of removing a gnome from a garden is to pick it up, spin it around until it is dizzy, and then throw it over a garden wall. According to Gilderoy Lockhart, this causes the gnome to become disoriented and he cannot find his way back; however, it appears that their disorientation is only temporary, as Harry sees the Weasley's gnomes making their way back to the garden only hours after using this technique to remove them.
At the wedding in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Luna Lovegood is very pleased that a Weasley gnome bit her finger. Her father, Xenophilius, explains that gnome saliva has many beneficial properties. This is doubtful as the Lovegoods hold many peculiar beliefs about magical creatures.
It may be possible to teach a gnome to speak English, as Ron says at one point that their gnomes "do know quite a lot of excellent swear words," going on to speculate that Fred and George taught them those.

## Analysis

The appearance in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets could be seen as a first intimation that Gilderoy Lockhart is not the wizard he claims to be. The technique for eliminating garden gnomes comes straight out of Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Garden Pests, and appears to be effective, as the gnomes, once dug out of the garden and flung into the neighbouring field, march away in the wrong direction. But by sunset the same day, when Harry looks out of Ron's window, the gnomes are already sneaking back into the garden.
Having created the gnomes and infested the Weasley's garden with them, the author perforce must make them reappear in the Weasley's garden whenever we see it. To that end, Crookshanks the cat chases one into a boot in one scene, and one is charmed to be the angel on top of the Weasley's Christmas tree in another scene.

## Questions

Study questions are meant to be left for each student to answer; please don't answer them here.
# Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Gobbledegook
## Overview

Gobbledegook is the language used by goblins to talk amongst themselves.

## Questions

Study questions are meant to be left for each student to answer; please don't answer them here.