Determinants of Indigenous Student Learning with Digital Technology: A Qualitative Study

On By moppenneer

Full Title: Determinants of Indigenous Student Learning with Digital Technology: A Qualitative Study in a Remote Manitoba First Nations Community Abstract The goal of this qualitative study was to identify the determinants that assist remote postsecondary Indigenous Canadian learners (in an isolated fly-in only community) to adapt and orient themselves […]

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Evaluating How ICT Interventions Affect the Wellbeing of Indigenous Communities in the North Rupununi, Guyana

On By moppenneer

Having its roots in computer science and information systems, the field of information and communication technologies (ICT) in development has arguably been dominated by technocentric approaches, mainly concerned with describing and managing the mechanisms of technology diffusion and adoption. However, the high failure rate of many ICT for development (ICT4D) […]

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Community-based materials development: using digital storytelling for teaching and learning Indigenous languages

On By moppenneer

This study examined the potential of using digital storytelling as a mechanism for materials development and Indigenous language learning. Study participants (N = 4) were interviewed after a series of three digital storytelling workshops offered in a First Nations community. The findings of the study support the use of digital […]

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The Myth of the Universal User: Pursuing a Cultural Variable in ICT Design for Conflict Management

On By moppenneer

Full Title: The Myth of the Universal User: Pursuing a Cultural Variable in ICT Design for Conflict Management through Quantitative Analysis: Implications from a Ugandan Case Study This study took a novel experimental approach from the field of cognitive linguistics to quantitatively describe the impact of culture on the use […]

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A Mobile Game World for Māori Language Learning

On By moppenneer

This project involves the research, development and evaluation of a mobile assisted language learning tool that teaches some aspects of the Maori language within a virtual game world. The Maori language has been going through a process of rejuvenation since the mid-1900s. A wide range of multimedia resources have been […]

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Development of Cross-Language Information Retrieval for Resource-Scarce African Languages

On By moppenneer

As we move towards an increasingly globalized and knowledge-based economy, the ability to discover and share information across language and cultural boundaries has become more and more crucial. With the advent and rapid development of the Internet, the amount of information generated in different languages and disseminated via the World […]

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Family Communication Technology Design in Rural and Low Income Parts of Kenya

On By moppenneer

This dissertation focuses on understanding how families communicate over distance when using technology in Kenya, and how we should think about designing technology to support family communication over distance between rural and urban settings of the country. It is divided in two parts with first part exploring family communication practices […]

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Inuit Identity and Technology: An exploration of the use of Facebook by Inuit youth

On By moppenneer

This thesis engages in a broad discussion of technology, communications, identity, and cultural change in the Canadian Arctic. Using an ethnographic methodological strategy, it looks at how a group of Inuit college students in Iqaluit use the online social network Facebook. It was found that Inuit youth are intensive users […]

Integrating cultural factors in user-interface design: the case of the Nasa Colombian native people

On By moppenneer

The research context of this thesis is the inter-cultural development of computer tools. The thesis considers as case study the Nasa people, a Colombian native society, which preserves different traditions and cultural particularities. The research questioning emerges from the sociocultural differences between a rural society, such as the Nasa, and […]

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Towards appropriate user interface design preserving rural African communication practices

On By moppenneer

This mini-thesis examines different socio-cultural norms and communication behaviours of indigenous communities. In spite of existing Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructural challenges, the software solutions that have been designed for rural communities have been a major concern. In this thesis, qualitative methodologies were used with deliberate sampling of two village […]

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Australian Aboriginal Virtual Heritage

On By moppenneer

Cultural knowledge is a central tenant of identity for Aboriginal people and it is vitally important that the preservation of heritage values happens. Digital Songlines is a project that seeks to achieve this and was initiated as a way to develop the tools for recording cultural heritage knowledge in a […]

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Information to Iteration: Using information and communication technologies [ICT] in design for remote regions

On By moppenneer

Remote design comes with significant challenges. A major barrier to designing in remote regions is the lack of communication between designers and users. As a result, the lack of information flow leads to assumptions about the community’s needs- an inherent weakness in the design process. This study examines the role […]

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How the West was Played: Offering Indigenous Voice to Video Game Studies

On By moppenneer

While many scholars have addressed the presence of stereotypical representations of Native Americans in the traditional media of film and literature, there has not as of yet been much dialogue around the newer medium of video games. This is in part due to their newness, as well as a perceptual […]

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The Challenges and Opportunities of Using Mobile Devices to Attain Māori Language Proficiency

On By moppenneer

What are the effects of using mobile devices as part of teacher professional development focused on teaching and learning the Māori language for Māori immersion educational settings? Answers to this question are explored by researching the extent to which electronic devices could be an effective strategy to address the crisis […]

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Towards effective management & preservation of digital cultural heritage resources

On By moppenneer

Abstract In today’s world of digital technologies, cultural heritage institutions, particularly in developed countries, are seeking ways to create national digital memories for the future of the citizenry. However, rapidly developing technologies and their concomitant technological obsolescence put future memories at risk. The challenge is enormous in developing countries that, […]

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Integration of indigenous knowledge with ICTs in coping with effects of climate change

On By moppenneer

Climate change threatens production’s stability and productivity. In many areas of the world where agricultural productivity is already low and the means of coping with adverse events are limited, climate change is expected to reduce productivity to even lower levels and make production more erratic. To help cope with the […]

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Technologies of Indigeneity: Indigenous Collective Identity Narratives in Online Communities

On By moppenneer

This thesis examines contemporary constructions of collective indigenous identity. It specifically focuses on the offline and online interactions among the members of Bibaknets, an online community for indigenous peoples from the highlands of the Cordillera Region, Philippines. The study explores the relational and positional nature of collective indigenous identity as […]

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The Impact of Cultural Assumptions about Technology on Choctaw Heritage Preservation and Sharing

On By moppenneer

Abstract Neither the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) on culture nor the cultural roles of ICT are widely understood, particularly among marginalized ethno-cultures and indigenous people. One theoretical lens that has received attention outside of Native American studies is the theory of Information Technology Cultures, or “IT Culture,” […]

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Multimedia technology & Indigenous language revitalization: Practical educational tools and applications

On By moppenneer

Abstract This dissertation reports findings from a study documenting the use of multimedia technology among Indigenous language communities to assist language learners, speakers, instructors, and institutions learn about multimedia technologies that have contributed to Indigenous language revitalization, education, documentation, preservation, and maintenance. The overall study used an adapted technacy framework […]

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Exploring the Link between ICT Intervention & Human Development through a Social Capital Lens

On By moppenneer

While it is generally accepted that information and communication technology (ICT) can lead to development, the process through which this may happen remains unclear. At the core of this debate is the very definition of the term ‘development’. In this thesis, I adopted Amartya Sen’s definition. According to Sen (1999), […]

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Stone Chips to Silicon Chips: A Grounded Theory of ICT adoption in Australian Indigenous Households

On By rpetersen

Abstract Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become an everyday part of life. Communication networks within Australia link financial, educational, government and non-government services to Australian households. Both the 2001 and 2006 Australian Census data demonstrate that Indigenous Australians are 69% less likely to access the Internet at home than […]

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Natives on the Electric Frontier: Technology and Cultural Change on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation

On By moppenneer

Abstract This dissertation examines the relationship between technology and cultural change on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, home to 7000 Lakota Indians. Recently, a number of popular authors have suggested that technology, especially electronic or ’emerging’ media technologies such as television and the Internet, is a primary […]

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The Evolving Braid: an Ethnography of Technology Change in Uganda

On By moppenneer

Thanks to Melissa for allowing me to share her recently published dissertation! Abstract If there’s one thing one can expect from information technology deployments in developing countries–it’s the unexpected. From 2007-2010, I combined my skills as a software developer with ethnographic methods to observe the use of information technology in […]

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The Social Impact of Emerging Digital Technologies on Australian Indigenous Cultural Preservation Efforts

On By moppenneer

This video documentary and the accompanying paper were created by Daniel C. Hottle in fulfillment of requirements for his Masters degree in Digital Storytelling from Ball State University. From the BSU Digital Storytelling website: “This action research study examines the roles emerging digital technologies play in the cultural preservation efforts […]

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Indigenous Language Usage in a Digital Library: He Hautoa Kia Ora Tonu Ai

On By moppenneer

Abstract The research described in this thesis examines indigenous language usage in a digital library environment that has been accessed via the Internet. By examining discretionary use of the Māori Niupepa and Hawaiian Nūpepa digital libraries this research investigates how indigenous languages were used in these electronic environments in 2005. […]

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