title: The Impacts of Social Media and Electronic Mediating: Improving Educational Outcomes for Saudi Women within an Electronic Social Networking Environment

authors: Alkahtani, Norah

subjects: Social Networking

abstract: This dissertation reports on a study about the effects of social media, such as social networks used by female university students in the context of a gender segregated system in Saudi Arabia. 

The result clearly reflects that social media has a positive effect on the collaborations of students, as they are able to keep their cultural and religious values without physically intermingling with the opposite sex, which is a requirement of religion and culture.

This research was carried out through two stages. The first stage was an exploratory study carried out for post graduate Saudi students at The University of Waikato. Students from both genders were granted scholarships from the King of Saudi Arabia, “King Abdullah”. They have had the experience of studying within two different cultures, in Saudi Arabia and New Zealand. They have had good experiences within the mixed gender environment at The University of Waikato.  

The second stage was action research, to diagnose the importance of social networks in the education system for Saudi females at Saudi universities. The segregation between genders in Saudi Arabia is a big issue at universities but with the appearance of social networks such as Facebook genders can interact easily without being physically in the same place. 

The action research took place through three cycles at three different universities; King Saud University and Imam University, which are public universities and the last cycle in private Universities, in Riyadh. 

The results collecting data revealed that electronic social networks could help promote collaboration between both genders in Saudi Arabia. Both genders felt more comfortable dealing with the opposite gender under the umbrella of education without harming their culture or religion.

text: The Impacts of Social Media and Electronic Mediating: Improving Educational Outcomes for Saudi Women within an Electronic Social Networking Environment This dissertation reports on a study about the effects of social media, such as social networks used by female university students in the context of a gender segregated system in Saudi Arabia. 

The result clearly reflects that social media has a positive effect on the collaborations of students, as they are able to keep their cultural and religious values without physically intermingling with the opposite sex, which is a requirement of religion and culture.

This research was carried out through two stages. The first stage was an exploratory study carried out for post graduate Saudi students at The University of Waikato. Students from both genders were granted scholarships from the King of Saudi Arabia, “King Abdullah”. They have had the experience of studying within two different cultures, in Saudi Arabia and New Zealand. They have had good experiences within the mixed gender environment at The University of Waikato.  

The second stage was action research, to diagnose the importance of social networks in the education system for Saudi females at Saudi universities. The segregation between genders in Saudi Arabia is a big issue at universities but with the appearance of social networks such as Facebook genders can interact easily without being physically in the same place. 

The action research took place through three cycles at three different universities; King Saud University and Imam University, which are public universities and the last cycle in private Universities, in Riyadh. 

The results collecting data revealed that electronic social networks could help promote collaboration between both genders in Saudi Arabia. Both genders felt more comfortable dealing with the opposite gender under the umbrella of education without harming their culture or religion.

year: 2012

title: That's 'é' not 'þ' '?' or '☐': a user-driven context-aware approach to erroneous metadata in digital libraries

authors: Bainbridge, David

subjects: computer science

abstract: In this paper we present a novel system for user-driven integration of name variants when interacting with web-based information systems. The growth and diversity of online information means that many users experience disambiguation and collocation errors in their information searching. We approach these issues via a client-side JavaScript browser extension that can reorganise web content and also integrate remote data sources. The system is illustrated through three worked examples using existing digital libraries.

text: That's 'é' not 'þ' '?' or '☐': a user-driven context-aware approach to erroneous metadata in digital libraries In this paper we present a novel system for user-driven integration of name variants when interacting with web-based information systems. The growth and diversity of online information means that many users experience disambiguation and collocation errors in their information searching. We approach these issues via a client-side JavaScript browser extension that can reorganise web content and also integrate remote data sources. The system is illustrated through three worked examples using existing digital libraries.

year: 2011

title: Weaving kaupapa Māori and e-Learning

authors: Neal, Terry

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: This paper describes the creation and design of an online professional development course that aims to help educators in New Zealand to weave kaupapa Māori and e-Learning approaches together. The team sought to model weaving of kaupapa Māori and e-Learning approaches in how they worked together and the educational design for the material. The authors propose that educators with these skills are crucial if we are to effectively meet the needs of Māori learners, more than that, of all New Zealand learners, in the 21st century.

text: Weaving kaupapa Māori and e-Learning This paper describes the creation and design of an online professional development course that aims to help educators in New Zealand to weave kaupapa Māori and e-Learning approaches together. The team sought to model weaving of kaupapa Māori and e-Learning approaches in how they worked together and the educational design for the material. The authors propose that educators with these skills are crucial if we are to effectively meet the needs of Māori learners, more than that, of all New Zealand learners, in the 21st century.

year: 2006-09