Technological Frames Research Articles

‘Invented‐on‐the‐fly’ mobile application for disaster response: Construction of technological frames and impact

AbstractThe natural disaster response efforts are time‐constrained, requiring quick and on‐the‐fly development and the adoption of technological innovations to meet the ever‐changing contextual requirements. However, there are limited available insights on implementing and managing those ‘invented‐on‐the‐fly’ innovations. This study draws upon sensemaking and technological frames to examine the adoption process of an on‐the‐fly developed mobile app in the context of the Gaja cyclone in India. Our findings inform that the adoption of technological innovation in disaster response is linked to its ‘features’ that actors draw upon in their sensemaking process and forming their technological frames. Initial sensemaking and technological framing may involve ‘concrete features’. However, the later sensemaking of evolving contingencies may include discovering various ‘abstract features’ in action. Discoveries of abstract features in action trigger reframing, leading to a congruent technological frame and better exploitation of innovations. Given that natural disasters are occurring more frequently, findings from our study provide critical insights into managing technology innovations in these contexts. The revelation of the role of features in technological (re)framing also enriches the analytical power of the technological frame lens.

Media frames, AI romantic relationships, and the perspectives of people in relationships; mapping and comparing news media themes with user perspectives

ABSTRACT Human romantic relationships with artificially intelligent (AI) conversational agents and anthropomorphic computers have long been the realm of science fiction. As companies like Luka, Inc. are developing embodied conversational agents called Replika, people’s ability to engage in romantic relationships has garnered news coverage around the phenomenon. Because news is often a place where emerging technologies are first introduced, it is essential to understand the choice of topics and themes these stories focus on (e.g., the ethics of technological development, human desires and vulnerabilities, and what constitutes meaningful and authentic connection). Similarly, the extent to which these articles include user perspectives and how users respond to these frames is also less well understood. This article reports on a mixed-method study that combines content analysis of news articles in 2023 about Replika (1008 search results, n = 104 unique articles) and qualitative semi-structured interviews with users in romantic relationships with their Replika (n = 16), recruited from the Reddit forum ‘ILoveMyReplika.’ Through a frame analysis of these news stories and coding for the types of futures they present, this study first examines some of the key events, themes, and hopes/fears reported in mass media. A thematic analysis of the interview data offers a comparative study to see where there is some overlap between these hopes/fears and user experiences and places where user reports diverge, downplay, and dispute the media characterizations. These studies help us better understand the interrelationship between media narratives, technological frames, and moral panics around a unique subset of and relationship with AI technologies.

The concepts of technological frame revisited and technological frame parts

The concepts of technological frame revisited and technological frame parts

Trust and distrust coexistence and change in the adoption of an emerging technology in organizations

Emerging technologies challenge organizations by introducing information systems that transform processes and introduce a series of risks and uncertainties for stakeholders. These conditions make trust and distrust important in the adoption and implementation of technology. Most of the trust in Information Systems literature has focused on building the constructs of trust and distrust between an artifact and the final user, but there is a gap in the analysis of changes in trust and distrust beliefs and their possible coexistence across time. This case study illustrates how trust and distrust manifest across a mobile health monitoring system implementation: the attitudes, objects of trust/distrust, and the changes they exhibit across four stages. The results point at the objects of trust/distrust corresponding to the technology frames that shift during the implementation from an artifact-centric to a more encompassing technology involving other users, programmers, and themselves. The actual technology use leads to changes in perceived risks and expectations, which are fed by the interaction of all users with the system. Behaviors are shaped by coexisting trust and distrust in technology beliefs, which usually compensate for the elements of the technology they distrust. The study concludes that the coexistence of trust and distrust in technology is a constantly shifting phenomenon, leading to a complex yet stabilized use of technology.

Shades in technological frames: exploring police attitudes toward body-worn cameras in Chicago

PurposeThis study employed technological frames of reference (TFR) theory to explore officer attitudes toward body-worn cameras (BWCs) in the Chicago Police Department (CPD), identifying frames that may undermine compliance.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 officers, focusing on their perceptions of the BWCs’ purpose, adoption catalysts, effectiveness metrics and benefits and drawbacks.FindingsOfficers viewed BWCs primarily as tools for oversight and cited external influences and the department’s desire to be perceived as progressive as key catalysts for BWC adoption. There was widespread uncertainty regarding the criteria CPD uses to gauge BWC effectiveness. The protective feature of the cameras was cited as the primary benefit of the technology, while privacy intrusion and discretion were identified as key drawbacks. Noteworthy nuances were observed across these perceptual domains.Research limitations/implicationsThe study focuses on a single police agency, limiting its generalizability. Nevertheless, it holds value for departments experiencing BWC policy compliance issues and those preparing to implement the cameras.Practical implicationsInsights into officers’ technological frames help identify perspectives that threaten desired use of BWCs and highlight necessary training and policy interventions that align officers' BWC readings with departmental goals to enhance policy compliance.Originality/valueThis study is among the few that employ TFR theory to examine officer perceptions of BWCs in a large urban police agency.

Research on Cloud-Edge-Device Collaborative Intelligent Monitoring System of Grinding Wheel Wear State for High-Speed Cylindrical Grinding of Bearing Rings

Aiming at the problems of grinding wheel wear during high-speed cylindrical grinding, communication delays, and slow response during data acquisition, processing, and system operation, an intelligent online monitoring technology frame for CNC manufacturing units is proposed, incorporating a real-time-perception grinding mechanism and a cloud-edge device. Based on the grinding data and grinding wheel wear mechanism, a monitoring model using multi-sensor information fusion is constructed to assess the grinding wheel wear state. In addition, edge data acquisition and online monitoring software have been developed to improve the speed of data transmission and processing. Finally, based on the proposed framework, a cloud-edge device collaborative intelligent monitoring system for assessing grinding wheel wear during high-speed cylindrical grinding of bearing rings is constructed. It improves the grinding quality and efficiency, reduces the grinding cost, and incorporates remote control functionality.

We need more network capacity! But why do we get it? Infrastructural refraction and the contingencies of network growth and energy transitions

It is accepted that electricity networks need to grow in scale and scope to facilitate decarbonisation. It is also accepted that infrastructural change is incremental. Yet, the incremental delivery of network capacity and the relevance of this for energy transitions have received little attention. Instead, broader, evolutionary accounts of change predominate. Opportunities therefore remain to conceptualise and study the incrementality of network growth and to consider the implications of this for energy transitions. I conceptualise investment in network capacity as an outcome of infrastructural refraction: as emergent of varied and unevenly distributed histories and geographies of electrification beaming through and being refracted by the prism of socio-technical infrastructure in ways that condition the sited reconstitution of network capacities. Examining practices of translation, enacted by network operators, provides a method of revealing the constitutive details and dynamic of infrastructural refraction. A case study focused on the technological framing of the delivery of a 33 kV substation in Central Manchester is explored. The analysis stresses the importance of examining the contingencies of investment in capacity. This paper contributes a concept-method package that helps reveal such details and by proxy the polycentric politics of electrification, investment in electricity network capacity, and energy transitions.

The framing of educational digitalization: A scoping review of empirical studies

AbstractThe aim of this scoping review is to systematically investigate the framing of European empirical research on digitalization for teaching and learning in the classroom within primary and secondary school (K‐12/K‐13). We believe it is crucial to gain insight in the framing of the knowledge production taking place in the fast‐evolving field of educational digitalization. The framing will influence the research results and conclusions published as well as potentially impact on how policy and practices of educational digitalization evolve. Our findings reveal that the studies of educational digitalization are spread relatively thin over a wide variety of academic journals and fields, where journals within the edtech field dominate in numbers. The dominant technological framing could indicate research driven by technological perspectives rather than pedagogical interests. The research is unevenly geographically distributed. There is a lack of European comparative studies as well as studies framing digitalization as something else than a tool for making learning more effective.

Adopting Third-party Bots for Managing Online Communities

Bots have become critical for managing online communities on platforms, especially to match the increasing technical sophistication of online harms. However, community leaders often adoptthird-party bots, creating room for misalignment in their assumptions, expectations, and understandings (i.e., their technological frames) about them. On platforms where sharing bots can be extremely valuable, how community leaders can revise their frames about bots to more effectively adopt them is unclear. In this work, we conducted a qualitative interview study with 16 community leaders on Discord examining how they adopt third-party bots. We found that participants addressed challenges stemming from uncertainties about a bot's security, reliability, and fit through emergent social ecosystems. Formal and informal opportunities to discuss bots with others across communities enabled participants to revise their technological frames over time, closing gaps in bot-specific skills and knowledge. This social process of learning shifted participants' perspectives of the labor of bot adoption into something that was satisfying and fun, underscoring the value of collaborative and communal approaches to adopting bots. Finally, by shaping participants' mental models of the nature, value, and use of bots, social ecosystems also raise some practical tensions in how they support user creativity and customization in third-party bot use. Together, the social nature of adopting third-party bots in our interviews offers insight into how we can better support the sharing of valuable user-facing tools across online communities.

Anticipating Immunity: Vaccine-induced Immunity and Vaccine Safety in the Finnish News Coverage of COVID-19 Vaccines

In this article I draw on the concept of anticipation to examine Finnish news discourse on the development, licensing and administration of COVID-19 vaccines. I explore the interplay of anticipation of vaccine-induced immunity and vaccine safety concerns, and trace how ideas of protection and risk were invoked in relation to specific vaccine technologies as well as different accounts of biomedical pasts, including cases of narcolepsy associated with one of the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccines. I demonstrate that anticipation around vaccine development during a public health emergency operates through a series of small shifts and twists that magnify affects around novel vaccines in news media discourse. I argue that even a slight shift in the biomedical knowledge about immunity or in the historical framing of specific vaccine technologies may significantly reshape vaccine-induced immunity as an object of anticipation.

Decoding technological frames: a qualitative inquiry into business analytics perspectives

ABSTRACT Technological frames, examined through the lenses of social construction of technology (SCOT) and social cognition, are pivotal in organisational research. This study presents a comprehensive literature review from SCOT and social cognition perspectives, offering nuanced insights into how individuals perceive and interpret technology. Employing an exploratory qualitative approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with professionals from diverse industries, chosen for their varied expertise. Through content analysis, we identified eight technological frame domains: affective and cognitive dimensions, application value, personal attitude, job-related factors, managerial and organisational influence, and colleagues’ impact. Our inquiry delves into the intricate factors shaping these frames, highlighting influences at both individual and organisational levels. Crucially, this study underscores the relevance of its findings for business analytics and technology management, illuminating cognitive and affective dimensions that significantly impact technology adoption and organisational outcomes.

Situating the light: Methodology for sensory and spatial fieldwork

Sensory perceptions are a novel point of departure for lighting research, where human factors have long been approached through isolated variables and controlled environments. However, informed by philosophy and social sciences and supported by ethnographical methods, researchers and practitioners are gaining new ground in understanding human-environment relations by approaching user perspectives in empirical inquiries. Situating the lighting in spatial settings and sensory experiences is crucial when exploring the dynamics of the changing visual perception of aging and vision loss, and how these phenomena can affect everyday life. Although spatial and sensory perceptions have typically been approached from different positions represented by architects or anthropologists, the following question remains: How can we develop a methodological framework for exploring entwined sensory and spatial experiences? This paper presents the method development process for our upcoming sensory and spatial fieldwork in the project “The role of light when vision changes.” The process is described in autoethnographic narratives, analysis of the technological frames, approaches, and understandings of light represented in the project, and the knowledge gained from testing the developed tools and schemes hands-on in a home environment. The initial findings indicate that both spatial and sensory experiences are interactional, as experiences situated in a specific body interacting with the specific environment it is situated in. Furthermore, in addition to the changes in visual perception, the spatial and luminous characteristics of the indoor and outdoor environments are also dynamic and changing, making the aspects of transitions and thresholds relevant for our upcoming fieldwork. Our hypothesis is that the shared technological frame developed in the project includes the relevant qualitative and quantitative measures that will allow us to make the knowledge of visually impaired participants explicit in ways that will inform and improve future lighting design.

Achieving Symmetry in Synchronous Interaction in Hybrid Work is Impossible

Designing new technologies to support synchronous interaction across distance has for many years focused on creating symmetry for participation between geographically distributed actors. Symmetry in synchronous interaction has, to some extent, been achieved technologically (while multiple social, historical, political, and hierarchical concerns continue to exist) and proven empirically in the increased use of remote-work technologies that were used during the pandemic. However, synchronous interaction in hybrid work is achieved differently, since the asymmetry produced by some participants being collocated while others geographically distributed introduces increased complexities for such interactions. Focusing on this challenge, we ask: To what extent can symmetry in cooperative work engagements be achieved in hybrid work contexts? We explore this question by interrogating multiple different empirical examples of synchronous hybrid interaction collected across different organizations, activities, and events. We found that the effort required to accomplish hybrid work includes additional articulation work necessary for bounding multiple intertwined artefacts across sites, devices, and applications. Further, the multiple artefacts setup across sites, combined with asymmetric collocation across participants, produce incongruence in technological frames of reference for each participant. All participants in hybrid work have only partial access to the hybrid setup, and no single person has access to the complete setup. The incongruence in technological frames produces insurmountable gaps in collaboration, causing all hybrid work situations to be characterized fundamentally by asymmetric relationships. We argue that symmetry in hybrid synchronous interaction is impossible to attain in attempts to solve this problem through design. Instead, we propose that designers of cooperative technologies for hybrid work shift towards developing artefact-ecologies supporting hybrid work, focusing on asymmetry as a necessary feature. Fundamentally, the design strategy should explore novel ways of taking advantage of the multiple different artefact-ecologies which serve as the foundation for the hybrid collaboration. Instead of striving for symmetry, we propose to feature asymmetric conditions in future technology designs for hybrid interaction.

Personalising Learning in Maltese - Exploring International Students’ Expectations Towards Ġabra Online Lexicon

The rapid incorporation of digital technologies in formal education has led to significant transformations, albeit not always yielding the anticipated productivity. This study investigates the attitudinal changes towards an online Maltese lexicon, Ġabra, among 46 adult learners of Maltese as a foreign language. By utilising a composite analytical model, the study is grounded in the theoretical frameworks of Technological Frames of Reference, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). These frameworks guided the tracking of the development of respondents’ attitudes over a five-month research period. The survey results gathered at the onset and conclusion of the study highlighted a perceptual discrepancy between the initial expectations towards an e-dictionary and the actual usage experience of the Ġabra platform. As the students gained more experience with the platform, their attitudes towards Ġabra underwent a shift. Despite some initial expectations not being fulfilled, the majority of students ultimately found Ġabra to be a beneficial tool for learning Maltese. The students’ feedback about the Ġabra online dictionary can potentially pave the way for a more personalised learning experience of the Maltese language.

Understanding the challenges of blockchain technology adoption: evidence from China’s developing carbon markets

PurposeBlockchain is a disruptive technology that has matured to deliver robust, global, IT systems, yet adoption lags predictions. The authors explore barriers to adoption in the context of a global challenge with multiple stakeholders: integration of carbon markets. Going beyond the dominant economic-rationalistic paradigm of information system (IS) innovation adoption, the authors reduce pro-innovation bias and broaden inter-organizational scope by using technological frames theory to capture the cognitive framing of the challenges perceived within the world’s largest carbon emitter: China.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews with 15 key experts representing three communities in China’s carbon markets: IT experts in carbon markets; carbon market experts with conceptual knowledge of blockchain and carbon market experts with practical blockchain experience.FindingsPerceived technical challenges were found to be the least significant in explaining adoption. Significant challenges in five areas: social, political legal and policy (PLP), data, organizational and managerial (OM) and economic, with PLP and OM given most weight. Mapping to frames developed to encompass these challenges: nature of technology, strategic use of technology and technology readiness resolved frame incongruence that, in the case explored, did not lead to rejection of blockchain, but a decision to defer investment, increase the scope of analysis and delay the adoption decision.Originality/valueIncreases scope and resolution of IS adoption research. Technological frames theory moves from predominant economic-rational models to a social cognitive perspective. Broadens understanding of blockchain adoption in a context combining the world’s most carbon emissions with ownership of most blockchain patents, detailing socio-technical challenges and delivering practical guidance for policymakers and practitioners.

Cliquepolitik: Multimodal online discourse coalitions on CRISPR‐Cas genome editing technology

AbstractThe influence of visualizations on decision‐making about controversial policy issues is increasingly recognized in the political and policy sciences. In this paper, we explore how combinations of visuals and text on Twitter (now X) lead to the formation of networks of actors sharing similar textual and visual framings about a policy issue in an online setting, which we conceptualize as Multimodal Online Discourse Coalitions (MODCs). MODCs struggle over the meaning of contested policy issues. We examine multiple MODCs in 2018 in the context of the regulatory decisions in that year about CRISPR‐Cas gene editing technology in the USA, Mercosur, and the EU. Based on an SNA and a qualitative visual and discursive analysis in three languages on Twitter in 2018 (covering in total ~ 427 k Tweets), we show that MODCs in English and Spanish focused on technocratic aspects of CRISPR‐Cas, resembling the regulatory decisions in the USA and Mercosur. In Europe, next to technocratic MODCs, an MODC in French formed around ethical/normative framings of the consequences of CRISPR‐Cas applications, using visuals of embryos to represent “GMO babies.” These visuals were emotional triggers in their framing of CRISPR technology. The ethical/normative framing reflected the argument brought to the CJEU by a group of French actors involved in the court case which categorized CRISPR‐Cas as a GMO technology in the EU. These results suggest that the French MODC and their visualization was of influence on the EU decision‐making process; however, more research is needed to verify the role of this online debate in the decision‐making process.

A Functional Perspective on the Emergence of Dominant Designs

Abstract Models of long-term product innovation depict the trajectory of products through an evolutionary selection metaphor in which product designs converge toward a dominant design. The product innovation literature favors trajectory descriptions based on the physical architecture of products while neglecting to account for the functional architecture. This paper offers a new way to explain the life cycle of product innovation by identifying motifs that describe a product’s functions. Functional motifs are recurrent function blocks across multiple generations of designs for a product. A collection of functional motifs defines the functional architecture of the product. Using some key examples from innovations in sewing machines, the paper illustrates the occurrence of motifs as the basis for detecting the emergence of a dominant design. Patents related to the sewing machine over 177 years are analyzed to identify functional motifs characterizing the evolution and convergence toward a dominant design. Results show that motifs do not change over long periods once a dominant design emerges, even though components continue to change. This observation confirms a view of dominant designs as a technological frame but refutes the notion that design no longer matters in the era of incremental change. These motifs refine our understanding of how designs evolve along a particular path over the course of product innovation.

Navigating Online Learning Through “Technological Frames"

This study is part of a larger critical discourse analysis (CDA) that examines technology-enhanced learning environments, such as online learning, e-learning, Web-based learning, computer-assisted learning, computer-mediated learning, and open and distance learning. The goal of this qualitative research was to analyze how educational technology scholars perceive and interpret technology in teaching and learning contexts. Using Carl Mitcham's typology of technological frames, which categorizes technology into four groups: (1) object, (2) knowledge, (3) activity, and (4) volition, we identified the types of technological frames that educational technology scholars use to define learning environments. The content analysis of nine semi-structured interviews showed that scholars primarily associate technology with volition (i.e., individuals’ motivations, desires, will, culture, and consent regarding technology), followed by activity (i.e., technology related actions such as designing, drafting, crafting, programming, and analyzing) and object (i.e., tools), while technology as knowledge (i.e., facts, explicit and implicit skills, recipes, rules, beliefs, descriptive laws, principles, and experiences) was the least referenced technological aspect. Additionally, we discovered a new aspect of technology called “space.” The findings provide theoretical and practical insights into the literature on technological frames in online and distance learning. Importantly, insights into possible directions for research on online learning in the coming decade are offered.

Call it robot: anthropomorphic framing and failure of self-service technologies

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to test the effect that anthropomorphic framing (i.e. robot vs automatic machine) has on consumers’ responses in case of service failure. Specifically, the authors hypothesize that consumers hold an unconscious association between the word “robot” and agency and that the higher agency attributed to self-service machines framed as robots (vs automatic machines) leads, in turn, to a more positive service evaluation in case of service failure.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have conducted four experimental studies to test the framework presented in this paper. In Studies 1a and 1b, the authors used an Implicit Association Test to test for the unconscious association held by consumers about robots as being intelligent machines (i.e. agency). In Studies 2 and 3, the authors tested the effect that framing technology as robots (vs automatic machines) has on consumers’ responses to service failure using two online experiments across different consumption contexts (hotel, restaurant) and using different dependent variables (service evaluation, satisfaction and word-of-mouth).FindingsThe authors show that consumers evaluate more positively a service failure involving a self-service technology framed as a robot rather than one framed as an automatic machine. They provide evidence that this effect is driven by higher perceptions of agency and that the association between technology and agency held by consumers is an unconscious one.Originality/valueThis paper investigates a novel driver of consumers’ perception of agency of technology, namely, how the technology is framed. Moreover, this study sheds light on consumers’ responses to technology’s service failure.

Technology deficit or technologies of schooling – seeing curricular planning and teachers’ knowledge within a systems-theoretical understanding of technology

ABSTRACT This essay starts with the classical assertion of Niklas Luhmann that there exist no pedagogic technologies, but takes up parts of his conceptual understanding of technology to describe and understand mass schooling in the nineteenth century. It is argued that using his terminology and focusing on technologies of schooling brings into focus sources and actors that Luhmann and his colleagues oversaw and that can be integrated in a sociological understanding of the emerging modern mass educational systems. The paper introduces this understanding and contrasts it with other given approaches. It is argued that the theoretical frame of technology allows for a better understanding of causality, bringing back into the discussion actors and their pursued ends that are often left out in concepts and theories of technology and also in sociological interpretations of the history of schooling. The essay shows the possibilities of applying this perspectivisation by using two examples of a technology, “curricular planning” and “teacher’s education,” highlighting curriculum and teachers’ manuals as key sources and core elements of a technology of schooling that systematically aims at achieving given pedagogic ends.