Social Construction Of Technology Research Articles

Mobile textula: a possible new way of reawakening the marginalized Philippine poetry

Introduction: Poetry has long been part of any cultural and literary heritage. Despite poetry’s role in Philippine literature, the 21st-century Filipino learners lack the knowledge about folk poetry. Poems sent through short messaging service (SMS) or mobile textula were then introduced to capture the interest of the Filipino millennial learners. However, studies say little about this emerging means of literary propagation. Anchored in the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) Theory, this study aimed to contribute to the body of knowledge to reawaken the marginalized Philippine poetry.
 Method: Through external desk research, this qualitative study delved into the history, type, sample poems, and the possibility of using mobile textula to reinforce the 21st-century Filipino learners' understanding of the marginalized Philippine poetry. \
 Result: After an integrative literature review of various sources (full paper in conference proceedings, journal articles, education-related sites, and online news), it was found that mobile textula was made known in 2002 through the "Textanaga Contest," the first text-a-poem contest in the Philippines which gathered 10,000 poems on its launching day. Sample poems were that of the tanaga, dalit, and diona which are considered marginalized poetry among the generation of modern Filipinos. Moreover, a private college in one of the provinces in Luzon saw the effectivity of textula in teaching language, literature, and socio-cultural awareness.
 Discussion: Therefore, the study suggests that teachers consider the use of textula in teaching literature. Further, a wide scope of an experimental study on the effectiveness of textula in the classroom is recommended.

Methodology, Legend, and Rhetoric: The Constructions of AI by Academia, Industry, and Policy Groups for Lifelong Learning

Artificial intelligence (AI) is again attracting significant attention across all areas of social life. One important sphere of focus is education; many policy makers across the globe view lifelong learning as an essential means to prepare society for an “AI future” and look to AI as a way to “deliver” learning opportunities to meet these needs. AI is a complex social, cultural, and material artifact that is understood and constructed by different stakeholders in varied ways, and these differences have significant social and educational implications that need to be explored. Through analysis of thirty-four in-depth interviews with stakeholders from academia, commerce, and policy, alongside document analysis, we draw on the social construction of technology (SCOT) to illuminate the diverse understandings, perceptions of, and practices around AI. We find three different technological frames emerging from the three social groups and argue that commercial sector practices wield most power. We propose that greater awareness of the differing technical frames, more interactions among a wider set of relevant social groups, and a stronger focus on the kinds of educational outcomes society seeks are needed in order to design AI for learning in ways that facilitate a democratic education for all.

Rethinking democratizing potential of digital technology

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how the shifting conceptualization of the democratizing potential of digital technology can be more comprehensively understood by bringing in science and technology studies (STS) perspectives to communication scholarship. The synthesis and discussion are aiming at providing an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for comprehensively understand the democratizing potential of digital technology, and urging researchers to be conscious of assumptions underpinning epistemological positions they take when examining the issue of democratizing potential of digital technology.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is a constructive literature review that synthesizes and integrates existed literature from communication and STS on the democratizing potential of digital technology. The author attempts to bridge theoretical perspectives from communication and STS by identifying core arguments and debates around key concepts and discussing potential implications of different epistemological positions.FindingsTracing the evolving analytical perspectives of technological determinism, the social construction of technology and actor-network theory, the author argues that researchers should be aware of their underlying epistemological assumptions embedded in relationships among users, technological systems and social factors. Analyzing the contested notion of power in the democratizing potential of digital technology from two contrasting perspectives, the author argues that researchers should recognize both the front end and the back end of digital technology in their analysis. In addition, new challenges of algorithm opacity and accountability in impacting the democratizing potential of digital technology are further discussed.Originality/valueThis study provides an original interdisciplinary theoretical framework by reviewing and bridging scholarship from communication and STS in examining the democratizing potential of digital technology. Adopting this interdisciplinary theoretical framework helps researchers develop a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the democratizing potential of digital technology.

Micro-foundations of the multi-level perspective on socio-technical transitions: Developing a multi-dimensional model of agency through crossovers between social constructivism, evolutionary economics and neo-institutional theory

The Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) is a prominent framework to understand socio-technical transitions, but its micro-foundations have remained under-developed. The paper's first aim is therefore to develop the MLP's theoretical micro-foundations, which are rooted in Social Construction of Technology, evolutionary economics and neoinstitutional theory. The second aim is to further identify crossovers between these theories. To achieve these goals, the paper analytically reviews the three theories, focusing on: (1) the relevance of each theory for transitions and the MLP, (2) the theory's conceptualisation of agency, (3) criticisms of each theory and subsequent conceptual elaborations (which prepare the ground for potential crossovers between them). Mobilizing insights from the analytical reviews, the paper articulates a multi-dimensional model of agency, which also provides a relational and processual conceptualization of ongoing trajectories in which actors are embedded. Specific conceptual linking points between the three theories are identified, leading to an understanding of socio-technical transitions as evolutionary, interpretive and conflictual processes.

Social construction of innovation and the role of innovation brokers in the construction sector

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to re-visit social construction of technology (SCOT) framework in understanding of innovation in the construction sector and unpack the role of innovation brokers in this context.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper adopting SCOT framework to understand innovation in the context of the construction sector. The role of innovation brokers is unpacked in the paper, currently under-explored in the construction innovation studies.FindingsThe authors suggest SCOT framework as a useful overarching frame through which to understand construction innovation. The authors argue that innovation brokers should be positioned to oversee the interface of multiple social groups.Research limitations/implicationsFurther empirical research is proposed to test the theoretical assumptions outlined in the paper. The research agenda is to conduct further empirical research adopting a socio-technical theoretical lens and appropriate qualitative or mixed-design methodologies. There are other socio-technical theoretical frameworks that could be used to explore socio-technical interactions in different ways, e.g. socio-technical systems theory, sociomateriality, actor-network theory, etc.Practical implicationsThree propositions are developed regarding the position of an innovation broker from the perspectives of multi-social-groups interfaces, shifting significance of the roles of innovation broker and the collaboration with government.Originality/valueThe authors outline the value of SCOT framework for innovation study within project-based construction sector. The authors contribute to better understanding of the role of innovation brokers in the system of construction innovation.

Technical frames, flexibility, and online pressures in TV newsrooms

ABSTRACT Teams of online professionals working for TV news organizations are reacting to a new, powerful wave of technological innovations brought by online video platform and live streaming features. This research uses social construction of technology as a theoretical framework to understand these changes and explain how online professionals working for Colombian TV stations are implementing digital technologies into their newsrooms to reinforce their online presence. This analysis aims to unpack practices and logics behind the implementation of digital technology in TV newsrooms. The study employs participant observation over the course of two months at two TV news organizations – Caracol TV and Citytv – and in-depth interviews with 45 online professionals to understand their practices and organizational arrangements when implementing digital technologies in an effort to adapt the traditional medium to the digital media ecosystem. Results show how socio-economic forces and journalistic practices shape technology but, at the same time, reveal how certain platforms impose their logic on news production and make producers partially lose control over technology.

International Relations Perspectives on Technology

This paper addresses the literature of International Relations approaches to technology as a form of power in international politics in two stages: First, the current IR approaches to technological power in international politics which includes instrumentalism, essentialism and Social Construction of Technology (SCOT). Second, the historical materialist approaches to technological power in IR which includes instrumentalism, essentialism and critical theory of technology.

Исследование социального доверия информационным технологиям при предоставлении электронных государственных услуг и использовании порталов электронного участия (кейс Санкт-Петербурга)

В статье представлены результаты опроса жителей Санкт-Петербурга о доверии к информационным технологиям. Исследование проводилось на основе идей акторно-сетевой теории и подхода социального конструирования технологий (SCOT). В опросе приняли участие 600 респондентов (ошибка выборки не превышает 4%, уровень достоверности 95%). В исследовании применяется подход к изучению киберсоциального доверия в сфере коммуникаций G2C: технологии электронного правительства, предоставления онлайн-услуг, электронного участия граждан в управлении городом. Анкета содержала параметры для оценки доверия новым технологиям, используемым для общения с представителями органов власти и получения государственных и общественных услуг, решения городских проблем и участия в управлении городом. Результаты опроса показали высокий уровень использования интернета, а также повышение уровня доверия к финансовым транзакциям через интернет.
 Благодарность. Исследование выполнено за счет гранта Российского фонда фундаментальных исследований (проект № 18-311-20001 «Исследование киберсоциального доверия в контексте использования и отказа от информационных технологий»).

Analogisen miksauskonsolin elinkaari kolmen laiteyksilön käyttövaiheiden kautta tarkasteltuna

Mikksauskonsoli (engl. Mixing Console, saks. Mischpult) on nimitys musiikkistudioiden keskeiselle äänityslaitteelle. Laite on keskeinen sananmukaisesti, koska se sijaitsee keskellä studion äänitarkkaamoa, eikä laitetta voi olla kokonsa ja sijaintinsa vuoksi huomaamatta. Miksauskonsolin tärkein tehtävä on miksata eli sekoittaa eri äänilähteiden signaalit summasignaaliksi. Konsoli-termi viittaa kaappimaiseen, usein kaltevaan ulkomuotoon ja fyysiseen kokoon. Muita yleisiä laitetyypin nimityksiä ovat miksauspöytä (Mixing Desk, Mixing Board) viitaten pöytämäiseen ulkomuotoon tai pelkkä mikseri (Mixer) viitaten toiminnallisuuteen. Tämä artikkeli käsittelee analogiaelektroniikkaan perustuvien miksauskonsolien kehitystä kolmen esimerkkilaitteen kautta. Erityisesti tekstissä keskitytään käyttäjien tapoihin soveltaa mikseriteknologiaa sekä siihen, miten käyttötavat ovat yhdessä elektroniikan kehityksen kanssa vaikuttaneet mikseriteknologian kehitykseen.

The social construction of technological stasis: The stagnating data structure in OpenStreetMap

The article aims for examining the ‘technological stasis’ of the data structure in OpenStreetMap – the successful global collaborative geodata project devoted to ‘create and distribute free geographic data for the world’. Digital structures are strongly influenced by continuing stagnation. This technological stasis – the lack of change in technology – influences data in various ways, as demonstrated by the intensive discussion of the issue by computer scientists and software engineers. However, existing research describing stagnating software is often technic centred and fuzzy, while critical research is barely considering issues of technological stasis in the digital context at all. Therefore, this paper aims for enriching this body of knowledge in order to shed light on aging data structures. I reframe technological stasis with a social-constructivist perspective – using the approach of Social Construction of Technology – especially with the concept of technological frames. Based on the case example of OpenStreetMap, my findings suggest that the data structure – and its stasis – is the outcome of competing understandings and perspectives, shaped by power asymmetries. Although the data structure did not significantly change for more than 10 years, I demonstrate that this is not because of a lack of motivation, nor technological difficulties of carrying out such changes. The technological stasis is rather rooted in the dominant position of few project members who are able to change the software design; it is their perception of the project that defines how data should be stored and what features are dispensable.

Samantha Adams Festschrift: Sam Adams and the Social Construction of Technology and Health-Implications for Biomedical Informatics.

Clinical informatics, as an applied subdiscipline of biomedical informatics (BMI), must expertly use concepts from BMI core disciplines to design and deploy technologies to improve human health. The core disciplines include, among others, computer science, medicine, and social science. Applying social science concepts is perhaps the most challenging because issues related to people and organizations often have many interpretations, explanations, and solutions. Sam Adams, a social scientist who enjoyed engaging the most complex theoretical domains, made valuable contributions to thorny social problems at the intersection of technology and people. In this article, we argue that her work and the theoretical topics she chose for emphasis should be more widely consumed by practitioners in clinical informatics. As an example, we focus on social constructionism, one general theoretical topic she favored. Sam used social constructionism to explore domains relevant to today's practicing clinical informaticist, including cybersecurity and social media.

Giacomo Macola. The Gun in Central Africa: A History of Technology and Politics.

With The Gun in Central Africa: A History of Technology and Politics, Giacomo Macola has made a major contribution to the history of Africa, and a small one to the history of technology. The book begins by criticizing the histories of guns in Africa written in the 1970s and 1980s for concentrating exclusively on the functional uses of guns for hunting and warfare. The social construction of technology that followed in the 1990s, which stressed the role of users in determining the function of guns, represented a partial advance. In this book, Macola claims to offer a further advance by presenting what he calls the “domestication” perspective (6), in which African guns are embedded in social relations and in personal identities and statuses, as well as in functional uses. The heart of his book, and by far the most significant contribution, is Macola’s description and analysis of the many diverse ethnic groups, from traditional kingdoms to small-scale stateless societies, that occupied south-central Africa—the region between the Great Lakes to the east, Angola to the west, the Congo to the north, and South Africa to the south—in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In this savanna region where there were no clear borders, widely scattered populations moved in search of pastures for their cattle, elephants for ivory, and slaves.

Ride-sharing business model for sustainability in developing country: Case Study Nebengers, Indonesia

The growth of population and urban economy increased the need for humans’ mobility to support their activities. On the other hand, online Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is growing rapidly and more affordable. Within few years, there is some sharing economy business formed by using online platform. This condition brings through the emergence of ride-sharing business model using an online platform which can be beneficial to sustainability. This research aims to explore one of ridesharing business models which use the online platform and its impact on sustainability. This research used the procedure of case study method with a single case study of Nebengers. This research explores the case study with the scope of this research is limited by using several conceptual frameworks, they are sharing economy business model, four elements of a business model for sustainability (BMfS), Social Construction of Technology (SCoT), sustainable mobility and agency theory. Nebengers is a sharing economy business using online platform that historically can be explained using Social Construction of Technology (SCoT) Theory. There are conflicts between nebengers entrepreneur and the city government. Nebengers disrupts traditional and formal public transportation services which are managed by the government. However, nebengers also contributes to achieve the city government goal in developing sustainable mobility. The future challenge is how to arrange ride-sharing collaborative governance business model for sustainability in the cities in Indonesia.

Tecnologia de gestão, ativismo em rede e tecnopolítica: uma narrativa

As ações em rede se dão em processos nos quais a tecnologia de gestão está configurada para um novo valor-trabalho, imaterial, que torna indistinguíveis nas práticas campos antes claramente separáveis como lazer-trabalho, ativismo-business ou acadêmicos-praticantes, dentre outros. O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar uma narrativa da construção de uma rede tecnopolítica atuante nas relações entre tecnologias, cultura e ciência no Brasil. Para tanto, operou-se metodologicamente com a construção social da tecnologia - SCOT, observação participante e manipulação de corpus linguístico. A título de resultados tem-se uma narrativa sobre a rede caracterizando os grupos envolvidos, suas interpretações e uma estrutura de sentidos que faz a rede. Conclui-se propondo reflexões sobre as condições de possibilidade de vida frente à ubiquidade da tecnologia de gestão praticamente invisível e não percebida pelos atuantes em rede.

Depth of Field

Visual journalists were early adopters of DSLR cameras as a technology for the production of video journalism. While early DSLR cameras used by visual journalists were capable of capturing high-definition moving images with superior quality when compared to smaller sensor video cameras, they were designed for photography and thus presented several challenges in the context of filmmaking. DSLR cameras are often rigged with additional stabilization, audio recorders, or specialized lens in order to optimize their functions for video production. This study employs Bourdieu’s constructs of the field and habitus in confluence with the social construction of technology to examine how visual journalists reimagined DSLR cameras as video cameras and how this construction informed their professional practice and filmmaking style. Based largely on nine in-depth interviews with visual journalists who produce video journalism, this study presents how the employment of DSLR cameras informed entirely new habitus and cinematography styles while also supporting existing video journalism conventions. More experienced participants described their experiences in the context of transition, while participants early in their careers described the DSLR as part of their professional distinction.

Towards a Historical Understanding of Critical Raw Materials: Suggestions from a History of Technology Perspective

Does the current debate on critical raw materials have precursors in history and is there anything we can learn from it? Notably during industrialization, certain materials were considered important to further development and at the same time prone to scarcity. A history of technology perspective shows how such considerations shaped material change.The current debate on critical raw materials lacks a historical dimension. While the idea of identifying certain raw materials as particularly problematic ‐ and therefore critical ‐ to future development is not a new one, a historical perspective has not yet been systematically integrated into the debate. This article explores concepts from history of technology to make suggestions about how we can better understand the ways in which reflection triggers and shapes material change.It discusses the concepts of social construction of technology (SCOT) and the development of technological systems, applying them to the debates on the criticality of wood and limestone during the age of industrialization.

“Great Men,” Law, and the Social Construction of Technology

Is Alexander Graham Bell's fame owed to law and lawyers? Two recent histories argue that some popular tales of invention originated with lawyers and judges as part of patent litigation battles (Stathis Arapostathis and Graeme Gooday, Patently Contestable: Electrical Technologies and Inventor Identities on Trial in Britain[2013]; Christopher Beauchamp, Invented by Law: Alexander Graham Bell and the Patent That Changed America[2015]). Bringing law into the historical project of understanding the social construction of technology, the authors unsettle “great man” narratives of invention. A tale of a recent patent war is a case study in the persistence of such narratives, highlighting the uses of legal storytelling (Ronald K. Fierstein, A Triumph of Genius: Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak Patent War[2015]). Together, these works invite consideration of the cultural power possessed by invention origin stories, the role of narratives in law and history, and the judicial performance of truth finding in Anglo-American law.

Magical manes and untamable tresses: (en)coding computer-animated hair for the post-feminist Disney Princess

In this article, I consider discourses of gender and beauty in the production of computer-animated hair, arguing that these discourses reveal the gendered (en)coding of Disney Princesses characters and indicate how social norms influence production practices and entrench themselves in girls’ cultural texts. Building on explorations in post-feminist literature, cultural histories of hair, and the social construction of technology, this research contributes to our understanding of technology’s relationship to gender by examining Disney Princesses film texts and interrogating the computer animation production texts that surround them. I first situate my analysis within feminist considerations of gender, especially as it concerns post-feminism and girl power representations of Disney Princesses. I then explore how animation producers unconsciously incorporate gender and race scripts into the technological production of hair, citing evidence from the two films, Tangled and Brave, and drawing from animation papers published by software engineers and animators. Ultimately, this research expands research on representation by incorporating the production of media technologies into our understanding of aesthetics.

Teaching technological determinism and social construction of technology using everyday objects

ABSTRACTCourses: Communication Technology, Communication Theory, History of Communication, Media and Society.Objectives: Students will develop an understanding of the two principal theories of technology and culture: technological determinism and the social construction of technology.

SUSTAINABILITY AND THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF TECHNOLOGY: THE CASE OF RWH AS SOURCE OF WATER SUPPLY IN GREATER ACCRA

The paper discusses the sustainability of roof rainwater harvesting (RWH) in Greater Accra, Ghana. We take a holistic approach, but focus especially on the social dimension. The discussion is grounded in a research and development project including a holistic sustainability assessment of selected RWH designs based on LCA, cost-benefit analysis and a KAP survey, as well as training of local artisans, stakeholder dialogue and pilot implementation of 21 RWH systems. The performance of the systems largely met the expectation. The households could expect long-term savings, and there were benefits in terms of convenience, hygiene and water sharing. On the other hand, high initial costs, limited awareness, and lack of capacity to implement supportive policies were impediments to wide-scale adoption. The sustainability of the solutions is discussed in further detail. A social construction of technology (SCOT) perspective is applied to throw light on how the stakeholders constructed drivers, barriers, and indeed the technical solutions themselves. We find that the technology was at a stage of low stabilization, meaning-wise, and this clearly affected its sustainability in the local context. The findings suggest that more attention should be paid to socialbconstruction in sustainability research and transition efforts. Keywords: Sustainability, holistic approach, social construction, rainwater harvesting