title: Connection: how can a teacher help students stay connected?

authors: Williamson, Myra Elsie Jane Bell

subjects: Connection

abstract: This session will discuss the things I tried during 2020 to keep my students connected with each other, with the paper, and with me as their teacher during the transition to online learning and their sudden loss of physical connection on campus. I found that connection is the most important thing to learning - it is more important than transmitting material/information. If students do not feel connected they will not only stop engaging with the material, but their mental health will also suffer, then no learning will be able to take place. Lecturers can do some simple things to help students feel connected. I will use Xorro with my audience (assuming that they have their own device with them) to get them involved from the beginning of the session and to invite them to contribute their thoughts.

text: Connection: how can a teacher help students stay connected? This session will discuss the things I tried during 2020 to keep my students connected with each other, with the paper, and with me as their teacher during the transition to online learning and their sudden loss of physical connection on campus. I found that connection is the most important thing to learning - it is more important than transmitting material/information. If students do not feel connected they will not only stop engaging with the material, but their mental health will also suffer, then no learning will be able to take place. Lecturers can do some simple things to help students feel connected. I will use Xorro with my audience (assuming that they have their own device with them) to get them involved from the beginning of the session and to invite them to contribute their thoughts.

year: 2020

title: Goods not wanted: Older people's narratives of computer use rejection

authors: Weaver, C. Kay

subjects: older people

abstract: In societies where the use of computers is pervasive, individuals who resist using the technology are often studied in order to determine how susceptible their views might be to change. This research takes a different approach, focusing not on the non-use of computers as a problem but as an opportunity to explore how the proponents of such views make sense of computers and computer use and to accord respect for, rather than dismissal of, their views. Underpinned by a narrative sense-making approach, the investigation examines older non-users' discursive performances of rejection and the ways in which they draw on and position themselves in relation to dominant and emerging socio-cultural narratives of technology and the ways in which those performances are circumscribed by particular value systems or choice behaviours. Participants drew on three prominent socio-cultural narratives in making sense of computers and in performing rejection: computers benefit older people; society discriminates against non-users; and don't need computers, don't want computers. These three narratives work together to enable non-users to justify their rejection of computer use. The study makes a contribution to the literature by highlighting dimensions of older people's relationships with computers not previously identified, including an appreciation for the complex and often tension-filled process by which determinations of rejection are made.

text: Goods not wanted: Older people's narratives of computer use rejection In societies where the use of computers is pervasive, individuals who resist using the technology are often studied in order to determine how susceptible their views might be to change. This research takes a different approach, focusing not on the non-use of computers as a problem but as an opportunity to explore how the proponents of such views make sense of computers and computer use and to accord respect for, rather than dismissal of, their views. Underpinned by a narrative sense-making approach, the investigation examines older non-users' discursive performances of rejection and the ways in which they draw on and position themselves in relation to dominant and emerging socio-cultural narratives of technology and the ways in which those performances are circumscribed by particular value systems or choice behaviours. Participants drew on three prominent socio-cultural narratives in making sense of computers and in performing rejection: computers benefit older people; society discriminates against non-users; and don't need computers, don't want computers. These three narratives work together to enable non-users to justify their rejection of computer use. The study makes a contribution to the literature by highlighting dimensions of older people's relationships with computers not previously identified, including an appreciation for the complex and often tension-filled process by which determinations of rejection are made.

year: 2010

title: Volunteering at the edge of chaos: A case study on the self-organising of younger volunteers during the Rena oil spill crisis

authors: Lockwood, Sarah Jane

subjects: volunteer

abstract: This thesis investigates the self-organising of younger volunteers during the 2011 Rena oil spill crisis in Aotearoa/New Zealand. It builds on emerging research that considers the relationships between volunteering and activism and focuses on the ways in which younger volunteers carved out a ‘volunteer-activist’ space for themselves on the edge of the formal crisis responses.  
The research adopts a case study approach and uses an interpretive lens to investigate three research questions: (1) How was volunteering conceptualised by younger volunteers involved in the Rena crisis?; (2) How did the generational dynamics of younger volunteers affect the various organising responses to the Rena event?; and, (3) How was self-organising conceptualised by younger volunteers involved in the Rena crisis?
The data comprised interviews with 53 participants, 38 of whom were classified as younger volunteers (16-29 years of age) and 15 who held positions of authority in the Rena crisis response and who had high levels of engagement with the younger volunteers. By examining the intersections and overlaps of self-organising, younger generations of volunteers, and crisis events through a social constructionist methodology combined with an interpretive lens and reflexive position, the thesis makes several theoretical and practical contributions.
At a theoretical level, the thesis challenges traditional crisis management approaches dominated by command and control, formal, or top down organisational structures and arrangements. The thesis demonstrates how, as active members of society, younger volunteers developed alternate forms of participation to strengthen crisis response. 
Power tensions between younger volunteers and crisis officials were grounded in a deep sense of frustration resulting from negative societal views toward younger generational cohorts and the structural workings of a risk society. By reconciling social and institutional grievances through self-organising, younger volunteers could take advantage of their marginalised position and enact self-reflexive responses in ways that were not readily available to them in everyday life. This sense of empowerment helped younger volunteers navigate the structural uncertainties they faced as they transitioned towards a competitive labour market and also to take greater control of their lives during a crisis.
From an Aotearoa/New Zealand, perspective, the thesis also provides insights into how younger Māori participants made sense of and enacted their ‘volunteer’ experience and how this experience was influenced by culturally embedded principles. Importantly, there appeared to be no generational differences between how younger and older Māori participants made sense of their ‘volunteer’ experience. Both groups were driven by collectivist orientations, which highlights the importance of contextualising culture in volunteer sector research. 
The social constructedness of the media technologies used by participants exposed broader power structures that existed within their generation-specific social worlds. To this end, media multiplexity showed how use of different communication technologies (1) supported the maintenance of relationships between participants and (2) was fundamental to the meaning participants attached to the different forms of technologies. These findings indicate the need to move away from the current literature’s focus on the tools of communication technologies used by younger people during crisis events, towards the meanings that exist behind the use of such technologies as well as the digital relationships fostered among volunteers. 
This thesis contributes to the scholarship on volunteering and activism by showing how self-organising emerged as an alternative form of activist—or activator—approach to volunteer participation within a crisis response. This approach enabled young volunteer-activators to move beyond their perceived sense of marginalisation and avoid those formal organisational forces that limit their sense of freedom and personal development. The result was an alternative crisis response of self-organised volunteering on the edge of chaos.

text: Volunteering at the edge of chaos: A case study on the self-organising of younger volunteers during the Rena oil spill crisis This thesis investigates the self-organising of younger volunteers during the 2011 Rena oil spill crisis in Aotearoa/New Zealand. It builds on emerging research that considers the relationships between volunteering and activism and focuses on the ways in which younger volunteers carved out a ‘volunteer-activist’ space for themselves on the edge of the formal crisis responses.  
The research adopts a case study approach and uses an interpretive lens to investigate three research questions: (1) How was volunteering conceptualised by younger volunteers involved in the Rena crisis?; (2) How did the generational dynamics of younger volunteers affect the various organising responses to the Rena event?; and, (3) How was self-organising conceptualised by younger volunteers involved in the Rena crisis?
The data comprised interviews with 53 participants, 38 of whom were classified as younger volunteers (16-29 years of age) and 15 who held positions of authority in the Rena crisis response and who had high levels of engagement with the younger volunteers. By examining the intersections and overlaps of self-organising, younger generations of volunteers, and crisis events through a social constructionist methodology combined with an interpretive lens and reflexive position, the thesis makes several theoretical and practical contributions.
At a theoretical level, the thesis challenges traditional crisis management approaches dominated by command and control, formal, or top down organisational structures and arrangements. The thesis demonstrates how, as active members of society, younger volunteers developed alternate forms of participation to strengthen crisis response. 
Power tensions between younger volunteers and crisis officials were grounded in a deep sense of frustration resulting from negative societal views toward younger generational cohorts and the structural workings of a risk society. By reconciling social and institutional grievances through self-organising, younger volunteers could take advantage of their marginalised position and enact self-reflexive responses in ways that were not readily available to them in everyday life. This sense of empowerment helped younger volunteers navigate the structural uncertainties they faced as they transitioned towards a competitive labour market and also to take greater control of their lives during a crisis.
From an Aotearoa/New Zealand, perspective, the thesis also provides insights into how younger Māori participants made sense of and enacted their ‘volunteer’ experience and how this experience was influenced by culturally embedded principles. Importantly, there appeared to be no generational differences between how younger and older Māori participants made sense of their ‘volunteer’ experience. Both groups were driven by collectivist orientations, which highlights the importance of contextualising culture in volunteer sector research. 
The social constructedness of the media technologies used by participants exposed broader power structures that existed within their generation-specific social worlds. To this end, media multiplexity showed how use of different communication technologies (1) supported the maintenance of relationships between participants and (2) was fundamental to the meaning participants attached to the different forms of technologies. These findings indicate the need to move away from the current literature’s focus on the tools of communication technologies used by younger people during crisis events, towards the meanings that exist behind the use of such technologies as well as the digital relationships fostered among volunteers. 
This thesis contributes to the scholarship on volunteering and activism by showing how self-organising emerged as an alternative form of activist—or activator—approach to volunteer participation within a crisis response. This approach enabled young volunteer-activators to move beyond their perceived sense of marginalisation and avoid those formal organisational forces that limit their sense of freedom and personal development. The result was an alternative crisis response of self-organised volunteering on the edge of chaos.

year: 2019