bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Design-oriented stress-strain model for short concrete columns wrapped with FRP sheets
Authors: Diboune Nadia , Berradia Mohammed , Sendjasni Sarra
Published: October 2024

Previous studies have presented models aimed at predicting the axial stress-strain behavior of circular concrete columns wrapped with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). The majority of these models were developed based on normal strength concrete (NSC) with strengths below 50 MPa. Moreover, several of these models relied on a limited experimental database. In this study, a large collection of experimental data was gathered, including 310 concrete columns confined with CFRP wraps. This database comprised test results for unconfined concrete with a compressive strength  ranging from 19.7 to 169.7 MPa, and a height-to-diameter (H/D) ratio of two. From these data, two new expressions were developed to estimate the ultimate compressive strength and the corresponding strain. To model the stress-strain behavior, new relationship was suggested. A comparison between the proposed model and the experimental results revealed good agreement, outperforming several existing models. Additionally, the expressions for ultimate strength and corresponding strain are simple and accurate, making them easy to apply in design. Furthermore, the proposed model demonstrates superior performance compared to other existing models.
Contribution to the numerical modelling analysis of displacements caused by tunnel construction in discontinuous rock masses
Authors: Hamdane Ali , Mellas Mekki , Benghazi Zied , Djellali Adel
Published: October 2024

This paper presents a comprehensive study of the stability conditions of a rock mass surrounding a tunnel, using numerical modelling analysis of displacements induced by the tunnel construction. The case study focuses on the Boukhadra iron ore mine in Algeria. This research employs empirical equations from literature based on geomechanical classifications to provide the most appropriate geotechnical input data for simulation. In addition to those equations, a novel correlation equation relating the rock mass ratio (RMR) and the rock quality index (Q) was developed. This equation gives a high regression coefficient, revealing a strong correlation (R2) of 0.878. It gives a better estimation of the rock mass characteristics: Young’s moduli (E), Poisson’s ratio (υ), cohesion (C), and friction angle (φ), compared to the existing literature-based correlation equations. The estimated parameters were used to pass from a discontinuous to a continuous equivalent medium, making the numerical modelling easier with the finite element method. Compared with intact rock and direct equations, the numerical simulation results based on the new equation fit well with the in-situ observations and provide a more reliable comprehension of rock mass behaviour. The new equation proposed in this paper provides a substantial evaluation of the rock mass parameters needed in the design process of underground structures once used with respect to their acceptable ranges.
Environmental integrity in two areas of the Paragominas stream in the municipality of the same name, Pará, Brazil
Authors: Júnior Antônio Pereira , Morales Gundisalvo Piratoba , Beltrão Norma Ely Santos
Published: October 2024

One of the negative aspects of urbanization is the anthropogenic impacts and environmental conditions that alter the Habitat Integrity Index (HII) in urban water bodies. These facts can be studied and analyzed using the HII. The objective of this research was to generate data on the Paragominas stream from the C. do Sacramento highway and Residencial Selecta, in order to show the real state of these two environmental variables, in these two locations, which had not been available until now. The methodology applied was exploratory, observational, qualitative, and quantitative. The results obtained showed that in Area 1, the Constantino Pereira do Sacramento Highway, anthropogenic impacts (∑total = 55) and environmental conditions (∑total = 46) caused an average change in habitat integrity (∑total = 47.2%). In Area 2, Residencial Selecta, 518 m from PA 125, anthropogenic impacts (∑total = 31) caused changes in environmental conditions (∑total = 29), especially in land use and occupation with vegetation suppression, which significantly altered habitat integrity (∑total = 28.6%). Therefore, it can be concluded that urbanization and the construction of marginal residential areas on water bodies cause changes in the habitat of animals and plants, although it still maintains one of the four environmental services: bathing.
Caracterização epidemiológica de intoxicação exógena no Brasil, Maranhão e Caxias de 2018 – 2022
Authors: Dourado Jonas Souza , Silva Maria Regina Sousa da , Machado Rayane Alves , Gonçalves Jennifer Victória dos Santos , Oliveira Erick Santos de , Vasconcelos Luis Eduardo Araújo Coelho , Machado Rayure Alves , Silva Vitor Emanuel Sousa da , Mesquita Gerardo Vasconcelos , Costa Ana Carla Marques da , Lago Eliana Campêlo , Câmara Joseneide Teixeira
Published: October 2024

Introdução: A intoxicação exógena (IE) se manifesta por sinais e sintomas resultantes da interação com substâncias químicas externas, sejam intencionais ou não, associada a medicamentos, agrotóxicos, drogas ilícitas, raticidas, plantas tóxicas, alimentos, bebidas e cosméticos. Objetivo: Analisar as características epidemiológicas de intoxicação exógena no Brasil, Maranhão e Caxias, durante o período de 2018 a 2022, fazendo uso de dados fornecidos SINAN/DATASUS. Metodologia: Os dados do SINAN foram obtidos por meio do sistema de tabulação TABWIN da plataforma do Departamento de Informática do Sistema Único de Saúde (DATASUS). A população do estudo foi composta de casos notificados de intoxicação exógena, no período de 2018 a 2022, para identificar padrões e tendências na epidemiologia das intoxicações exógenas em Caxias, Maranhão e Brasil. Resultados: A maior incidência ocorreu em 2019, com predominância na faixa etária de 20 a 39 anos e no sexo feminino. A análise da escolaridade revela desafios na coleta de dados, enquanto a diversidade étnica destoa da média nacional, explicada por fatores históricos. A faixa etária mais afetada está associada a fatores como automedicação, tentativas de suicídio e acesso facilitado a medicamentos. Conclusão: Este estudo detalha as características e tendências das intoxicações exógenas, revelando padrões variáveis e destaca a complexidade na gestão dessas condições. A subnotificação limita a análise aprofundada, ressaltando a importância de investimentos contínuos em pesquisa e políticas de saúde adaptativas e informadas.
Integração entre neurociência e inteligência artificial: avanços e aplicações educacionais
Authors: Almeida Nilson Ferreira de , Faria Miguel , Faria Maria do Carmo Carvalho , Santinello Jamile
Published: October 2024

A inteligência artificial (IA) tem revolucionado diversas áreas, incluindo a educação, ao integrar avanços neurocientíficos na criação de tecnologias educacionais inovadoras. Este trabalho explora como os enigmas do cérebro humano têm influenciado o desenvolvimento da IA, com foco em suas aplicações no campo educacional. O objetivo é investigar a aplicação dos princípios neurocientíficos na IA, analisando suas implicações pedagógicas, os desafios e as oportunidades que essas inovações proporcionam. A metodologia adotada envolveu uma revisão bibliográfica abrangente das principais obras e artigos científicos sobre neurociência, inteligência artificial e educação. Foram selecionados textos fundamentais para entender como o conhecimento sobre o cérebro humano tem guiado a criação de sistemas de IA. Além disso, analisaram-se estudos de caso e exemplos práticos de implementação dessas tecnologias em ambientes educacionais. Os principais resultados indicam que a IA inspirada no cérebro humano pode personalizar o aprendizado, tornar as práticas pedagógicas mais eficazes e inclusivas, e melhorar a gestão escolar. Ferramentas como simulações interativas e sistemas de aprendizado adaptativo demonstraram potencial significativo para transformar a experiência educacional. Contudo, a implementação dessas tecnologias exige a formação contínua dos educadores e um diálogo interdisciplinar para garantir que as soluções desenvolvidas sejam pedagogicamente sólidas e eticamente responsáveis. Este trabalho oferece uma análise crítica das possibilidades e desafios da integração entre neurociência, IA e educação, propondo direções futuras para a pesquisa e a prática educativa.
Tecnologia assistiva: bengala eletrônica microcontrolada para navegação de deficientes visuais
Authors: Borges João Victor Fialho , Ávila Nícollas Aguiar , Carr Caroline Nunes , Portal Helian Amaral , Mendes Camila Rodrigues , Mendes Gleisson Amaral
Published: October 2024

Este artigo discute a questão da inclusão social de pessoas com deficiência visual e fornece uma solução otimizada na forma de tecnologia assistiva. Dado que a deficiência visual afeta drasticamente não apenas a mobilidade, mas também a saúde mental do indivíduo, é vital implementar soluções inovadoras para superar esses desafios diários. Assim, o objetivo do estudo é a criação de uma bengala eletrônica que seja ativada por microcontrolador, reconhecendo obstáculos e graus variáveis de deficiência visual para facilitar a locomoção de um deficiente visual de maneira mais fácil e segura. A metodologia envolve o desenvolvimento de um protótipo que detecta obstáculos usando a tecnologia ultrassônica e emite sinais de alerta por meio de iluminação. Os resultados presumíveis incluem a promoção da inclusão social, aumento da independência e viabilidade da bengala eletrônica como uma tecnologia acessível e funcional. O estudo contribuirá para o surgimento de tecnologia assistiva melhorada e a questão da contínua evolução de soluções para garantir a inclusão total e a qualidade de vida de pessoas com deficiência visual.
Generazione Z alla ricerca del futuro: il modello didattico-pedagogico di TikTok Mundi
Authors: Martucci Chiara , Ogliari Elena
Published: October 2024

L’articolo presenta il progetto educativo TikTok Mundi, finanziato dall’Università degli Studi di Milano, concentrandosi sul suo ruolo nel promuovere la cittadinanza digitale tra gli studenti delle scuole superiori e universitari. Il progetto si distingue per l’adozione di un approccio innovativo basato sulla co-progettazione e la collaborazione, finalizzato allo sviluppo di competenze critiche nell’uso dei media digitali e alla promozione di una partecipazione attiva nella produzione di contenuti audiovisivi. L’analisi delle componenti chiave di TikTok Mundi – workshop interattivi, stage formativi ed eventi pubblici – dimostra che queste iniziative hanno offerto agli studenti un’opportunità unica per esplorare e comprendere le dinamiche culturali della digitalizzazione contemporanea. In particolare, l’articolo discute come il progetto abbia valorizzato le identità e i talenti dei partecipanti, favorendo un dialogo costruttivo tra università, comunità locale e istituzioni educative. Infine, l’articolo sottolinea l’importanza cruciale di iniziative come TikTok Mundi nel promuovere una cittadinanza attiva e consapevole, integrando prospettive interdisciplinari nell’educazione del futuro e arricchendo il panorama educativo con un approccio inclusivo e innovativo.
Di sguardi e di parole. Maka: il libro, il film
Authors: Vallorani Nicoletta
Published: October 2024

Di sguardi e di parole. Maka: il libro, il film
Una conversazione con Simone Brioni e Elia Moutamid
(4 ottobre 2023)
di Nicoletta Vallorani
(Università degli Studi di Milano)
Comunità e memoria: il viaggio di Asmarina
Authors: Bonariva Matilde , Boumchita Yasmine
Published: October 2024

Comunità e memoria: il viaggio di Asmarina
Una conversazione con Alan Maglio e Medhin Paolos
(12 ottobre 2023)
di Matilde Bonariva e Yasmine Boumchita
(Università degli Studi di Milano)
INVESTIGATING THE INHERITANCE PATTERNS AND POTENTIAL ASSOCIATIONS OF SELECTED HUMAN MORPHOGENETIC TRAITS
Authors: AHMED MA , ULLAH MA , AROOSA . , FAROOQ A , ALI Q , ABBAS A , REHMAN AU
Published: October 2024

This research analyses the distribution, inheritance patterns, and potential associations between various physical characteristics(Handedness, Hand-clasping, Tongue-rolling, tongue folding and Hitchhiker’s thumb, Mid-phalangeal hair, bent little finger, Cleft chin, Widow’s peak, earlobe attachment & Dimpled cheeks) in students from the Faculty of Agriculture Sciences.  The Chi-square was used of independence to assess inheritance patterns and potential links. The findings reveal interesting patterns: some recessive traits viz; Mid-phalangeal hair, bent little finger, Cleft chin, Widow’s peak, earlobe attachment & Dimpled cheeks were more common than their dominant counterparts. In contrast, dominant features such as handedness, hand-clasping, tongue-rolling, tongue folding, and hitchhiker's thumb were found more frequently. There is also a significant relationship between morphogenetic features (tongue rolling, mid-phalangeal hair, and widow's peak) and gender. This investigation has implications for several disciplines, including human genetics, forensics, and anthropology. Establishing a baseline for this specific population size group allows for future investigation into human variety and the intriguing realm of inheritance.
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION AND CFD SIMULATION OF THE ORIFICE FLOW METER TO MEASURE TWO-PHASE FLOW
Authors: Fadaei M. , Alahmad A. M. , Ranjbar H. , Morovati A. , Hosnani M. , Amiri A. H.
Published: October 2024

In this study, an investigation is conducted to examine various methods for measuring the two-phase flow of water and air. The two-phase flow loop and its equipment, including the orifice flow meter, were designed and manufactured in accordance with relevant standards. By employing the orifice flow meter in the two-phase flow loop and determining the total mass flow rate of the two-phase flow passing through it, the pressure drop of the orifice flow meter was determined for different values of the flow rate and volume fractions of the water and air phases in the two-phase flow. The Reynolds number of the two-phase flow ranged from 700 to 11000, while the air volume fraction ranged from 10% to 45%. We observed that, for the orifice flow meter, the slope of the discharge coefficient variation in relation to the two-phase flow Reynolds number was higher at low Reynolds numbers, where a laminar flow pattern was established. As the two-phase flow Reynolds number increased, the flow pattern transitioned from laminar to plug flow, resulting in a decrease in the slope. The orifice flow meter under two-phase flow conditions was simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with different turbulence models. The results indicated that the k-epsilon RNG turbulence model yielded more accurate results compared to other turbulence models. This study provides a foundation for the measurement of two-phase flows in the oil and gas industries.
THE ROLE OF OIL-IN-WATER EMULSION COMPONENTS ON SANDSTONES PERMEABILITY
Authors: Araújo E. A. , Barros M. V. C. , Deus K. C. O. , Santos A. , Aum P. T. P. , Dantas T. N. C.
Published: October 2024

This work studies the stability of oil-in-water emulsions and proposes a new methodology to evaluate the impact of different emulsion's components (sodium chloride, surfactant, and oil) on permeability decline during the injection into natural rocks. Stable emulsions were obtained by varying surfactant and oil concentrations and stirring speed. Emulsions, proven to be stable for more than 24h, were used in coreflooding tests. First, coreflooding experiments were conducted by injecting brine, which provided a permeability reduction of 7% and 20% in rocks measuring approximately 20mD and 120mD, respectively. Then, a surfactant solution was injected, resulting in a decline in permeability from 17 to 23% in the studied scenarios. Finally, emulsions with 0.05 and 0.01wt% oil concentrations were injected, and permeability was reduced to around 65% of its original value in low permeability rocks. Results show that damage due to oil droplets retention was intensive in the scenarios studied.
Creativity, co-evolution and co-production
Authors: Filinich Renzo , Doherty Christo
Published: October 2024

With the understanding that art and technology continue to experience a (rapidly escalating) historical rapprochement, but also with the understanding that our comprehension of art and technology has tended to be constrained by scientific rigour and calculative thinking by one side, or have tended to change to the extreme from the lyrical: the objective of this article is to provide a reflective look for artists, humanists, scientists and engineers to consider these developments from the broader perspective it deserves, while maintaining a focus on what should be the emerging core of this topic which is the relationship between art, technology and science: the state of the art in mechatronics and computing today is such that we can now begin to speak comfortably of the machine as artist, and we can begin to hope, too, that an aesthetic sensibility on the part of the machine might help generate an intelligent more friendly and responsive machine agency overall. The principle of the inhuman emphasises that the questions of ontology are not questions of being as subject, of being as consciousness, of being as Dasein, of being as body, of being as language, of being as human or of being as power, but of being as being. Finally, the ontological principle hypotheses that all beings are ontologically on an equal footing or that all are to the extent that they make a difference. However, until now not much has been said about “algorithmic entities”. From the above, it is clear that there are still many unanswered questions, for example: How to raise the question of techno-diversity when intellectuals yearn for a general artificial intelligence? We must go back to history to orient ourselves in our current situation with a sense of distance. Will it be possible to find strategies to free ourselves from this apocalyptic end of technological singularity and reopen the question of the creative future in machines in relation to humans?
Pengelolaan Pembelajaran Pendidikan Agama Islam (PAI) Berbasis Ekologis di Sekolah Dasar (SD) Plus Al-Qodiri Jember
Authors: Azis M. Abdul , Rizal Syaiful
Published: October 2024

This research aims to describe the problems that occur to students in educational institutions and efforts to overcome them. The problems of students include the increasingly weakening character or morals of students inside and outside the madrasah, the lack of application of Islamic values by students to their environment, and the lack of contribution of students in broadcasting the Islamic religion in society. The efforts that can be made to overcome this problem are the application of ecologically based educational methods in learning, especially in Islamic religious learning (PAI). PAI learning has a strategic role in implementing environmental awareness values because it must be provided at all levels of education. This research aims to formulate goals and steps in realizing environmental awareness through ecologically based PAI learning management. That is, in conducting research we carry out a descriptive qualitative research method with an intrinsic case study type of research. The results of this research ensure that students can implement Islamic values in protecting the environment by means of Ecologically Based Islamic Education Learning Management. From this description, it is clear that Ecologically Based PAI Learning Management can be a locomotive in increasing students' enthusiasm for learning to carry out activities outside the classroom and inside the classroom.
Analisis Habituasi Ratib Al Haddad dalam Meningkatkan Kecerdasan Emosional dan Spiritual
Authors: Ruzakki Hasan , Zainuddin Zainuddin , Hosaini Hosaini , Heryandi M. Tubi
Published: October 2024

Learners today are often trapped with easy access to all kinds of information they want. In summary, there are many ways and media to support intellectual aspects. But minimal in emotional and spiritual aspects. Whereas the main support in the intellectual is emotional and spiritual, because emotional readiness determines the success of education even in education. Forming emotional and spiritual intelligence through habits takes time and consistent commitment. Positive habits are needed to form both. One of them is the habit of reading Ratib Al Haddad. This type of research is descriptive qualitative research using systematic literature review (SLR) literature sources. The stages in mapping the literature used in this study were identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion. Based on the results of research studies from 2014 to 2022 on articles about Ratib Al Haddad's dhikr, emotional and spiritual intelligence, there is a strong focus on strengthening emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence through habituation of Ratib Al-Haddad, so as to improve students' emotional and spiritual , because the dhikr contains the benefits of remembering Allah SWT and building good emotional character for students, so that they are obedient and obedient to the rules set by the school, especially in the learning process that occurs in class and outside the classroom.
Manifesto Redux
Authors: Bayne Siân , Ross Jen
Published: October 2024

The Manifesto for Teaching Online is a series of short statements first written in 2011 by the Digital Education group at the University of Edinburgh.  It was designed to articulate a position about online education that informs the work of the group and the MSc in Digital Education programme it leads. This position was perhaps best summarised by the first of the manifesto statements: Distance is a positive principle, not a deficit. Online can be the privileged mode.
Such a position was (and to an extent still is) at odds with dominant discourses of digital education that described it either in terms of replication of offline practices, or in terms of inadequacy, where online learning is the ‘second best' option when ‘real' (face-to-face) encounters are not possible or practical. We rejected both of these positions, and the instrumental approaches to online education that tend to accompany them.
The manifesto was initially developed over a period of a year, June 2010-May 2011, and it was further shaped and refined during a series of discussions and events among students and colleagues at the University of Edinburgh. Responses to the document ranged from excitement to discomfort, and when the manifesto was launched in early 2012, it was met with considerable interest. It was intended to stimulate ideas about creative online teaching, and to reimagine some of the orthodoxies and unexamined truisms surrounding the field. Each point was deliberately interpretable, and it was made open so that others could remix and rewrite it. In early 2015, the Digital Education group itself began to revisit and reassemble the manifesto, with new points covering emerging issues such as openness and ‘massiveness' in online education, teacher automation, new research on spatiality and temporality, and digital authorship.
This paper discusses the way the manifesto has changed between 2011 and 2015 to reflect shifts in the field of research. In addressing some of the themes and issues informing the 2015 version, it discusses what we believe to be some of the most pressing critical issues facing practitioners of networked and digital education in the current moment.
Gross National Happiness in the Context of Networked Learning
Authors: Zander Pär-Ola , Choeda  , Penjor Tandin , Kinley
Published: October 2024

Gross National Happiness (GNH) has attained considerable interest as an alternative to the prevalent profit-driven global economy. It is a general prescriptive theory of development, putting happiness at the center rather than economic growth. This theory is originating from Bhutan, but can be applied in any society or area of society; in business, in government, etc. Education is seen as instrumental in implementing a GNH society. With the intent to infuse GNH in the Bhutanese education system all school principals, district education officers, heads of the Royal University of Bhutan (RUB) colleges, and selected academics from RUB colleges were trained to infuse GNH in the country's education system in 2010. How to implement it is a exhilarating challenge, where some educational efforts will be addressed without technology playing a key role, whereas other will utilize networked technologies.
In this paper, we theorize outline what GNH may mean in a networked learning context, and as concretization, how networked learning can support infusion of GNH in education. The unfolding of the possibilities are based on conceptual analysis and existing literature, and illustrated by empirical data from the country where GNH is supposedly most devotedly pursued in Bhutan. For example all developmental activities plans and proposals are screened through GNH lens administered by the GNH Commission before approval for implementation by the agencies and organizations. We structure our finding through three relevant areas of ICT support of GNH; Outcome, message and medium. GNH as outcome concerns learning outcomes, GNH as message is when GNH is included in learning materials and curricula, and GNH as medium regards the learning environment designed according to a certain set of principles.
While all areas are somewhat evocative, we find ICT-support for the medium the most promising for further research in networked learning. GNH consists of a number of domains, which can be seen as describing an environment, such as cultural diversity, conscious time use, and organic learning materials and buildings. This can be built into online and blended learning environments, and be followed by investigations on what kind of learning that unfolds in them. By exploring the three areas, we sketch a possible research program of GNH. We find GNH a promising agenda that deserves further design-based inquiry.
Social presence and impression management
Authors: Kehrwald Benjamin , Oztok Murat
Published: October 2024

This theoretical paper focuses on the concept of impression management to explain how networked learners’ presentations of self as part of the establishment, cultivation and use of productive social learning networks. The arguments in this paper connect social presence, which has long been considered an important element of online learning, with social capital, which has been used more recently to describe the way learners use social networks to support their learning.  These arguments are situated at the intersection of social connectivity, goal-directed learning activity and learner experience.  The broad area of interest is how learners’ goals and intentions affect their activity and behaviour in networked learning environments.  More specifically, we are concerned with how learners’ goals related to study and learning affect their intentional activity toward forming and using the social connections that constitute learning networks.  In this context, impression management is used to describe and explain how learners intentionally construct presentations of self as part of cultivating their social presence in networked learning and how that presentation of self leads to the establishment and development of connections (or ties) with others and the development of a network of productive connections which support learning.  We argue that the constructions of self are not arbitrary; rather, they are seen as intentional efforts by learners to present themselves in ways which are not only socially acceptable, but maximise the extent to which they are views as attractive partners for social learning activity.  Learners read the social environment and act intentionally in response to the social context to present themselves in ways that further their goals of productive networked learning activity.  By expressing themselves in particular ways and forming impressions of others, individuals are able to establish, cultivate and use social connections and then build social networks constituted of those connections.  Those social networks provide learners with the connections they need to generate social capital, that is, to find and use the value (or resources) through connections or relationships that constitute a network. The paper concludes with a the identification of several questions for educators to consider as part of informing their practice of networked learning and supporting goal-directed, technology-mediated social processes and the cultivation of productive learning networks.
Tools for entertainment or learning? Exploring students’ and tutors’ domestication of mobile devices
Authors: Bober Magdalena , Hynes Deirdre , Lau Anshul
Published: October 2024

This paper presents findings from a research project at a school of humanities, languages and social science at a UK university that investigated staff and student attitudes towards and uses of mobile devices (smartphones, tablets and laptops). The study had a dual focus on personal and university-related uses. It applied the domestication of technology approach (Silverstone & Hirsch, 1992) to understand how mobile devices have been appropriated by users in their everyday lives, how they have become part of daily routines and spatial arrangements and what rules are being negotiated around their use. Data in the present study was collected via in-depth interviews with 18 teaching staff and six focus groups with a total of 19 students across different departments in the school. This paper presents findings on device acquisition and ownership, device use and associated meanings, as well as situating devices within daily routines and spaces. In each section, results from the staff and student data are compared. The research identified distinct uses of different devices in terms of university-related and personal uses but also areas of overlapping use. Furthermore, students and tutors associated important symbolic meanings with their devices, had incorporated them into daily routines and spatial arrangements in new ways and attempted to self-regulate use in different situations. While tutors were starting to make use of mobile devices in their teaching practice in innovative and meaningful ways, students had a less well defined understanding of the educational benefits of mobile devices. Institutional policy also played a role in shaping students’ and tutors’ use. Not many empirical studies exist that explore the link between educational and personal, everyday use of mobile devices. It is in this area that this research aims to make a contribution to knowledge. The findings are also of importance to practitioners and educational institutions planning to implement mobile device-based learning.
Academics' experiences of networked professional learning
Authors: Tusting Karin , McCulloch Sharon , Hamilton Mary
Published: October 2024

This paper explores academics' writing practices, focusing on the importance of digital platforms in their processes of collaborative learning. It draws on interview data from the first phase of a research project working closely with academics across different disciplines and institutions to explore their writing practices.  The project is framed within a social practice perspective on literacy, which sees reading and writing as practices developed and maintained through participation in a social context, shaped by aspects of people's purposes, histories and institutional positionings (Barton & Hamilton, 2000; Barton, 2007).
The role of an academic in higher education is diverse, and almost every aspect of this role involves specialised forms of writing and knowledge creation in a very wide range of genres for many different kinds of audiences (Hyland, 2011).  Transformations in the social and institutional structuring of higher education in recent years have changed the nature of the writing demands faced by academics. At the same time, information and communications technologies have proliferated in the higher education setting. As the demands of academic life have changed in recent years, so the writing practices have changed too.  Learning how to engage with these new kinds of genres and practices goes on throughout academics' careers, much of it in an informal way, collaborating with other people on particular projects and learning as they go along.
The paper outlines characteristics of academics' ongoing professional learning, demonstrating the importance of collaborations on specific projects in generating learning in relation to intellectual and disciplinary aspects of writing, writing strategies and structures, and using digital platforms. A very wide range of digital platforms have been identified by these academics, enabling new kinds of collaboration across time and space on writing and research; but challenges around online learning are also identified, particularly the dangers of engaging in learning in public, the pressures of 'always-on'-ness, and the different values systems around publishing in different forums.
Making new connections
Authors: Varga-Atkins Tünde
Published: October 2024

This focus of this preliminary study is located in continuing professional development of university-based teaching practitioners. The study reports on the design of a prototype tool, an interactive visual network diagram. The purpose of the diagram is to enhance the sharing of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) practice between teaching practitioners. It enables them to identify fellow practitioners who use a particular technology in their teaching for problem-solving and sharing TEL practice. Design principles combine two theoretical approaches: Communities of Practice and Social Network Analysis. This paper argues that the complementarity nature (Cummings and van Zee 2005; Wenger, Trayner and de Laat 2011) of the two frameworks can offer good design principles for the prototype diagram to share TEL practice. For a system to identify potential connections made between professionals with the same topic of interest (a particular technology) within a wider domain (teaching practice), concepts from both theories are needed. Such a visual representation would need utilise the concept of nodes and ties from Social Network Analysis, extend domain of interest to represent sub-domains from communities of practice as well as signalling potential connections to be made.
Findings of the preliminary stage of design-based research methodology included the potential usefulness of the prototype to identify peers' help for solving a problem, getting ideas on how people use a particular technology, sharing teaching practice and also practical tips for introducing the technology to students. Procedures to be supported included populating the diagram with data, maintaining the currency of data, user interactions such as viewing the visualisation, selecting relevant nodes/links, contacting selected contacts or downloading/exporting data. Another key feature of the diagram should be to visualise the potential value of future links to be made for the user. Participants also reported challenges of such a visual prototype. Firstly, whether practitioners would actually contact those whom they do not yet know and secondly, how would practitioners become aware of the diagram's existence? The paper concludes with implications to theory and practice, pointing towards the strength of combining two theoretical approaches, Social Network Analysis or Communities of Practice, in exploring the informal sharing of practice in organisations.
Qualitative differences in students’ perceptions of others in a networked learning environment
Authors: Cutajar Maria
Published: October 2024

In networked learning practice the emphasis on human relations for learning beyond engagement with learning materials using information and communication technologies is a significant shift from the prevalent classroom-based lecture which students are used to. In networked learning teachers are assumed to take a less prominent position permitting students to experience learning through active participation in cooperative and collaborative activities with others. This paper proposes a constitutive description for considering human players for learning in the formal networked learning environment hence departing from previous depictions of contrasting views reported in the research literature. Different ways teachers and students are perceived to contribute to networked learning experiencing are understood in distinction and in relation to each other. This portrayal is the research outcome of a phenomenographic investigation which led to a configuration comprised of three qualitatively different ways how students account for the teacher and other students contributing to their learning in a formal networked learning environment. The hierarchically inclusive categories describing this variation have the student perceiving other students as separately persevering with their own studies and the teacher as director of all learning; to the perception of other students as direct contributors through their visible activity and interactivity and the teacher as organiser and guide for students’ learning; to the perception of other students as co-creators for learning and the teacher as convenor coming close to being co-actor. The structural threads drawing these categories together into a single coherent whole are the academic role or active responsibility for learning teachers and other students are perceived to assume which across the structuring continuum are in a relationship of pairwise alignment.These findings project different perceptions as all legitimate and suggest that in deepening awareness teachers and learners gravitate towards becoming teachers and learners for each other. Moreover in this writing is emphasised the constitutive and open nature of phenomenographic description projecting fluidity for thinking about students' perceptions of human others as contributors to NL experiencing. All this emphasises that networked learning provision needs to incorporate a directed effort to accommodate diversity in how students perceive and hence relate to human others for learning when in the formal networked learning setting, building in support to encourage students embracing different perceptions to experiment different learning and teaching roles as networked learning participants.
Experience and networked learning
Authors: Jones Chris
Published: October 2024

This paper reviews the way experience has been understood and the research agendas associated with that understanding in networked learning. In the contemporary context the student 'experience' is part of common discourse and often associated with a consumerist discourse, especially in the UK and US. The widespread use of digital and networked technologies in education has also given rise to a de-centring of the subject and an identification of actors in network settings as hybrids of humans and machines (including software and code in this category) or including machines and objects as actors within a network. With a decentred subject does it still make sense to understand learning in terms of the subject's experience anymore?
This paper explores these debates in the context of current educational discourse and in relation to prior research and theory in networked learning. Experience has a long history associated with phenomenological research and the related but distinct approach of phenomenography. It is related to central issues for education and learning, in particular the place of the individual cognising subject. Experience can be thought of as either the essential distinguishing component of the individual human subject, or experience can be understood as the subjective component of one kind of element in a wider assemblage of humans and machines. In the later understanding of experience in assemblages human experience does not separate the human actor from other actors in a network and they are understood symmetrically.
It is a long standing position that the human sciences have a different relationship to their objects of study than natural sciences because the human sciences can have access to interior accounts from the objects they observe and because human subjects can behave in ways that are not predicable, replicable and which depend on an active construction of experience in the world. For networked learning the position and role of the human subject is a central concern and human-human interaction has always been considered essential. This paper reasserts the need for a proper understanding of experience and explores the place of the human subject in the developing research agendas found in networked learning.
Rehabilitation of People with a Brain Injury Through the Lens of Networked Learning
Authors: Konnerup Ulla , Castro Rojas Maria Dolores , Bygholm Ann
Published: October 2024

This paper will demonstrate how avatar-mediated interactions and learning in networks might lead to identity formation and rehabilitation of language after a brain injury. With references to Vygotsky's notion of the social origins of higher mental functions (1978) and Hutchins claims that cognition is something that is embodied and externally distributed. (Hutchins, 1995), we will discuss identity formation after a brain injury in relation to Networked Learning (NL). The discussion is based on data from the first author's research (Konnerup, 2015) on avatar-mediated rehabilitation of people with aphasia (PWA). Rehabilitation is conceived as a collaborative endeavour, conducted in a social virtual community with peer-to-peer interactions. Central is the comprehension that relearning language is embodied and related to social interactions and renegotiation of identity.Individuals who lose the ability to communicate find it difficult to re-tell their own story and are at risk of being marginalised (Duchan, Linda, Garcia, Lyon, & Simmons-Mackie, 2001; Shadden & Agan, 2004). Although the focus in aphasia intervention has shifted from relearning correct language to a greater emphasis on life participation and regaining feelings of belonging to society and family, there is still a need for concrete suggestions for approaches that provide new contexts within which identity formation can be renegotiated.In recent years, learning via online social networks has been recognised as a means of constructing learning and identities through participative interactions. Additionally, avatar-mediated activities in games, online communities, and E-learning have become a part of everyday play, communication, and learning. As these methods are still in their infancy, reflections on traditional forms of learning, teaching and rehabilitation, are needed. Teachers and/or speech therapists need a deeper understanding of these methods, and to become skilled in practicing technology-mediated teaching. We will discuss the positions that rehabilitation in online communities and NL share; how insights from NL pedagogy can inform the development of rehabilitation; and, conversely, how our finding add perspectives to NL. In doing so, we will introduce the concept of locale framework, and how a specific setting and embodied interactions might trigger autobiographical memory, relearning communication competencies and renegotiation of identity.
Symposium 2: The Social Life of Data Clusters
Authors: Perrotta Carlo
Published: October 2024

This paper draws on Actor-Network Theory to argue that methods used for the classification and measurement of online education are not neutral and objective but are involved in the creation of the educational realities they claim to measure. The paper examines Cluster Analysis (CA) as a ‘performative device’ that, to a significant extent, creates the educational entities it claims to objectively and neutrally represent through the emerging body of knowledge of Learning Analytics (LA). In the conclusion, the paper suggests that those concerned with social justice in educational technology need not limit themselves to denouncing structural inequalities and ideological conflicts. At the opposite end of the ‘critical spectrum’ there is the opportunity to analyse in a more descriptive fashion how hegemonic discourses in education are legitimated through techniques and devices.
Laugh with us, not at us
Authors: Sinclair Christine
Published: October 2024

In keeping with its theme, this paper has a light touch and a serious point. It arose from a concern that networked learning may not be recognisable enough to be parodied. Parody is a pervasive and ubiquitous cultural practice that entails imitation and laughter – features which could perhaps contribute to making networked learning knowable to a wider community. Despite parody’s potential for serious damage, its broadest use supports the recognition, consolidation, development and renewal of a genre or movement. Drawing on Bakhtinian notions of the dialogic and carnival, as well as the light thrown on contemporary discourse through Bakhtin’s literary insights, the paper explores the extent to which networked learning artefacts and practices engage in parody and have been parodied.  A thought experiment to parody a networked learning conference paper led to the current paper’s structure. This attempt to parody highlights the difficulties of departing from conventional academic genres even in a field of study that challenges those genres. The study identifies how themes of genre, intertextuality and multimodality combine in papers and events about networked learning to produce texts and practices that are open to renewal, hacking and augmentation, but without the need for the laughter that comes with parody that might have the same results. In papers and book chapters, although there are lively forms of writing, heavy use of citation is the main source of intertextuality.  Evidence of parody was found in a symposium, including (self) parody of networked learning conference practices, suggesting that we are more likely to find parody during synchronous events than in peer reviewed academic texts.  An almost accidental result of the parodied structure of the paper suggests that networked learning could be developing in a way that parallels Bakhtin’s understanding of the novel, yet without the cultural work that parody has contributed to the novel. This line of reasoning brings into sharper focus one of the key features of this author’s own initial parody of networked learning: its emphasis on boundaries and boundary crossing. It seems that networked learning, like the novel, cannot be parodied as a ‘complete’ form: like the novel it is constantly changing to reflect its contemporary world.