Interactive Blog Research Articles

Building dialogue on complex conservation issues in a conference setting.

Dialogue about complex science and society issues is important for contemporary conservation agendas. Conferences provide an appropriate space for such dialogue, but despite its recognized worth, best practices for facilitating active dialogue are still being explored. Face-to-face (FTF) and computer-mediated communication (CMC) are two approaches to facilitating dialogue that have different strengths. We assessed the use of these approaches to create dialogue on cultural perspectives of conservation and biodiversity at a national ecology conference. In particular, we aimed to evaluate their potential to enhance dialogue through their integrated application. We used an interactive blog to generate CMC on participant-sourced issues and to prime subsequent discussion in an FTF conference workshop. The quantity and quality of both CMC and FTF discussion indicated that both approaches were effective in building dialogue. Prior to the conference the blog averaged 126 views per day, and 44 different authors contributed a total of 127 comments. Twenty-five participants subsequently participated in active FTF discussion during a 3-h workshop. Postconference surveys confirmed that CMC had developed participants' thinking and deepened FTF dialogue; 88% indicated specifically that CMC helped facilitate the FTF discussion. A further 83% of respondents concluded that preliminary blog discussion would be useful for facilitating dialogue at future conferences.

Mobile social networks [Guest Editorial

Activities associated with social networks have contributed a significant fraction of Internet traffic in the form of instant messages, shared videos and images, interactive blogs, and so on. With the rapid rise in the use of smartphones and similar devices, such Internet traffic is increasingly in support of mobile social networking. This situation has spurred considerable recent research interest in mobile social networks. Social networks have been studied for decades, although most of the earlier work in this area addressed issues lying outside the scope of technological networks. More recently, social network models that treat relationships as connections to form networks or graphs have emerged in mobile Internet and mobile computing/communications as the foundations of cloud-based applications and services. However, there are still significant technological challenges in the development of the cloud infrastructure and mobile terminal devices, and the purpose of this Feature Topic is to highlight recent advances along this technology trend.

Diablogging about asylum seekers: Building a counter-hegemonic discourse

New technologies provide new forums for the expression and challenging of racism. This article explores the potential of an interactive blog about asylum-seekers to serve as part of the Habermasian ‘public sphere’, facilitating debate between those with opposing views. We offer evidence that pro- and anti-asylum seeker arguments made in blogs construct a binary between those in favour and those against. Arguments are collectively constructed producing relatively coherent discourses, despite being articulated by different individuals. We then explore the ways in which pro-asylum seeker postings utilize strategies which social scientists have identified as effective in challenging racism. As such, the blog is a site where what has come to be called ‘bystander anti-racism’ is being practised, producing a counter-hegemonic discourse. Our evidence suggests that despite arguments to the contrary, blogs are potentially useful sites for the development of communicative consciousness in relation to race issues, particularly the challenging of racism.

Interactive, Asynchronous, Face-to-Face: Does it Really Make a Difference?

With the advent of WEB 2.0, the internet has become participatory and interactive. As a practitioner-researchers, we perceive that business students are citizens of this digital world and are continuously searching for the right tools for the teaching/learning environment. Web 2.0 characteristics support the principles of good teaching and learning– active participation and collaboration. This case study illustrates three different learning environments: face-to-face, virtual learning classrooms, online interactive blogs. A sample was drawn from three different undergraduate business courses. The results show that integrating WEB 2.0 interactive tools seems to be the best. Further research is recommended based on the limitations found.

Nanotechnology teaching material for junior high school chemistry teaching: Design research approach

The aim of this research was to design nanotechnology teaching material that is interesting to the pupils, and brings out the significance of chemistry and technology in society as well as supports the development of scientific literacy. The research was conducted as a design research that included four phases: 1) theoretical problem analysis, 2) design, 3) design outcome and its evaluation, and 4) further development of the outcome. During the theoretical problem analysis, previous research literature was studied and design goals for this research were set. According to previous research, it was noted that students are interested in visualizations of nanotechnology and its applications in everyday life. The designed material was an educational video because the aim was to make it technically usable and easily distributed. The material is being distributed to the users through interactive blog.
 Based on previous research, visualizations of nanotechnology were chosen as the central design theme for the material. The evaluation of the outcome was also based on the same theme. The material was evaluated by a qualitative case study, the data for which was gathered through research interviews. The evaluators were students, aged 16 to 19, from whom information was gathered on how interesting the designed material was and why it was interesting to them. Based on the evaluation, macro-scale visualizations were the most interesting because they helped in conceiving the size scale. Also visualizations of nanotechnological structures and its everyday applications interested the students. Structural visualizations helped in conceiving the structures of materials and everyday visualizations were familiar from their own life, which was considered motivating. Based on this research, it can be noted that nanotechnology is an interesting, interdisciplinary subject, which is well suitable to be integrated into chemistry teaching. The designed material is freely available for everyone online: http://nanoteknologia.blogspot.fi.

A discussion of student research evaluators in ‘student as producer’ activity at the University of Lincoln

During the first months of 2012 a mentoring scheme was introduced at the University of Lincoln in the School of Social Sciences. This scheme brought second-year undergraduate students into first-year students’ research skills seminars to aid them with their studies. This project was led and conducted by a group of third-year undergraduate students, who acted as student research evaluators; they chose to take part because they saw the research as an opportunity to practise key employability skills, to lead a project and to apply methods and knowledge learnt during their three years of study. Focus groups, a World Café event and an interactive blog for the mentors to post on were used to examine the effects of this mentoring scheme for all students involved. This paper is written by two of the student research evaluators. It discusses the methodology adopted and the perceived benefits for all the students involved, and offers suggestions for improvements which may be applied to future mentoring schemes. It examines the findings from the use of an interactive blog, focus groups and World Café event, For a more detailed discussion of the use of the blogs in this project and the data gathered, as well as the impacts on the second-year mentors, see ‘How mentoring can benefit second-year students’ by Burton, Lill and Keen (this issue).

Assessing the effects of interactive blogging on student attitudes towards peer interaction, learning motivation, and academic achievements

AbstractBlogs have been increasingly used to supplement traditional classroom lectures in higher education. This paper explores the use of blogs, and how student attitudes towards online peer interaction and peer learning, as well as motivation to learn from peers, may differ when using the blog comments feature, and when students are encouraged to read and comment on each other's work. We contrast two ways blogs affect learning engagement: (1) solitary blogs as personal digital portfolios for writers; or (2) blogs used interactively to facilitate peer interaction by exposing blogging content and comments to peers. A quasi‐experiment was conducted across two semesters, involving 154 graduate and undergraduate students. The result suggests that interactive blogs, compared with isolated blogs, are associated with positive attitudes towards academic achievement in course subjects and in online peer interaction. Students showed positive motivation to learn from peer work, regardless of whether blogs were interactive or solitary.

“Not letting the words lose themselves;”: The Hans Christian Andersen Jury experience

Jury President Ghaeni shares the behind-the-scenes story of the 2010 Andersen Jury’s process, including identifying criteria, using an interactive blog, considering cultural variables, and weighing the notion of a lasting contribution.

Climatic change: communication changes over this journal’s first ‘century’

Over the century of ‘Climatic Change’ volumes and the 33 years that they span the climate has changed. Here I consider the challenge of interdisciplinary communication to which the first 99 volumes of this journal are dedicated. Have we succeeded and have climatic change researchers shared findings with a broader audience? If this journal has been successful, should the editorial board and publishers now consider new modes of communicating research to a still wider public, say by hiring a communication cartoonist or with an interactive blog?

Health and Medical Blog Content and Its Relationships With Blogger Credentials and Blog Host

People may utilize various sources when searching for health information, including blogs. This study sought to describe the nature of non–personal journal health and medical blog posts and the frequency of interactive blog feature use within these blogs, as well as to understand the quality of content found within health and medical blogs as determined by blogger expertise and blog host. A quantitative content analysis was performed on 398 blog posts from a constructed 1-week sample of posts in WebMD, Yahoo!Health Expert Blogs, and independently hosted blogs. Results show most health and medical blog posts highlighted and provided commentary pertaining to medical issues found in external media such as books, television, Web sites, magazines, and newspapers, whereas only 16% contained actual health or medical information. In addition, distinct differences in patterns of content were evident between credentialed and noncredentialed bloggers, as well as different blog hosts.

Measuring blog engagement: Testing a four-dimensional scale

This study proposed and validated a measurement scale of blog engagement. The researchers explicated the concept of blog engagement as the likelihood and outcomes of interactive blog communication that encompass cognitive, attitudinal and behavioral attachment. Following this definition, a four-dimensional scale was tested. This study suggests that interactive blogs can enhance self-company connection, positive attitudes toward the company and supportive WOM intentions.

The First Quarter-Century: Looking Back, Looking Ahead

From the Editor-In-Chief Health AffairsVol. 26, No. 6: 25 Years In The Health Sphere The First Quarter-Century: Looking Back, Looking AheadJames C. RobinsonPUBLISHED:November/December 2007Free Accesshttps://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.26.6.1523AboutSectionsView PDFPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsDownload Exhibits TOPICSHealth servicesQuality of careMedicare T his issue marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of Health Affairs and challenges us to reflect on where we have been and where we are going. It is also a moment to celebrate the contributions of John Iglehart, who as founding editor has led the journal’s evolution from a slim volume to a broad portfolio of interrelated activities, including the peer-reviewed print and Web-based journal and the interactive blog. For me, this issue creates the moment to start walking the walk as incoming editor-in-chief, with a fiduciary responsibility to maintain the journal’s scholarly integrity and brand reputation while extending into global health and biomedical innovation. To stimulate our collective reflections, we have solicited Perspectives from a selective list of policy analysts and activists, allowing them full freedom to choose their topics and comment on historical trends, contemporary politics, intellectual debates, the role of the journal, and the larger health services research enterprise. Many of these authors are veterans of battles past, of efforts to create universal health insurance or to promote coordinated care or to mainstream mental health. The tone of some contributions is circumspect with respect to what can be expected. One senses a fatigue from so many high hopes unfulfilled, projects not adopted, initiatives never given a fair chance to succeed. Instead of emphasizing what we have not achieved over the past quarter-century, however, I believe that it is important to note some of the deep and positive trends that have developed and from which there is no going back.We have forever left the domain of “third-party reimbursement” in favor of using public and private insurers as active purchasers of services on behalf of their enrollees. No longer do physicians enjoy unquestioned authority to define what is medically necessary and how it must be delivered, by whom, in which context, and for what price. We can dispute the virtue of contemporary initiatives in “pay-for-performance,” but no one suggests a return to “pay-for-nonperformance.” We have moved from the framework of professional dominance to one of measurement and accountability, with quality defined as processes done in accord with the best available evidence and with good risk-adjusted outcomes. We have moved from professional dominance toward a new ideal of shared decision making, after a short detour through consumer-driven health care. Americans can be counted on to do the right thing, after all, once they have tried every alternative. Conservative political objections notwithstanding, the populace continues to shift into governmental insurance programs, as private employers restrict coverage, Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) programs expand, and the baby boomers age into Medicare. Liberal political objections notwithstanding, those public programs rely ever more extensively on private plans to contract with providers, structure benefits for individuals, manage care for chronic illnesses, and identify patterns of over- and underuse.We have made major advances against heart disease and other major scourges of modern epidemiology, greatly reduced tobacco use, and developed a breathtaking array of biopharmaceuticals and medical devices.Last but not least, we continue to develop the infrastructure of health services research, policy analysis, and management training. The universe of peer-reviewed journals, philanthropic foundations, university programs, and conferences has expanded these past decades beyond the imagination of anyone in 1982.We will continue to debate strategies for market and social change, torn between the desire for deep change and caution born of past defeats. Many of our authors suggest incremental changes to elide the three obstacles to change: vested interests, rival visions of the good, and the advantages of incumbency. The twin papers by Jack Wennberg and his colleagues take the contrary position, advocating that we use pay-for-performance principles as the thin edge of a wedge to shift Medicare toward supporting informed patient choice for high-cost surgical procedures and the channeling of services to providers that practice in an evidence-based and efficient manner.Lest we despair at what we have not achieved, let us measure our shortcomings against our ambitions. We want to expand insurance coverage, reduce administrative expenses, foster clinical innovation, improve quality and efficiency, reduce errors, encourage prevention, induce cost-conscious and informed consumer demand, limit fraud and excess profits, coordinate the continuum of clinical services, and, speaking for my fellow Californians, feel good, look good, and live forever. Not a bad list. Loading Comments... Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. DetailsExhibitsReferencesRelated Article Metrics History Published online 1 November 2007 InformationCopyright 2007 by Project HOPE - The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.PDF download