One of the most significant developments in contemporary education is the view that knowing and understanding are anchored in cultural practices within communities. This shift coincides with technological advancements that have reoriented end-user computer interaction from individual work to communication, participation and collaboration. However, while daily interactions are increasingly engulfed in mobile and networked Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), in-school learning interactions are, in comparison, technologically impoverished, creating the phenomenon known as the school-society digital disconnect. This volume argues that the theoretical and practical tools of scientists in both the social and educational sciences must be brought together in order to examine what types of interaction, knowledge construction, social organization and power structures: (a) occur spontaneously in technology-enhanced learning (TEL) communities or (b) can be created by design of TEL. This volume seeks to equip scholars and researchers within the fields of education, educational psychology, science communication, social welfare, information sciences, and instructional design, as well as practitioners and policy-makers, with empirical and theoretical insights, and evidence-based support for decisions providing learners and citizens with 21st century skills and knowledge, and supporting well-being in today’s information-based networked society.
Around the world, citizens in local communities are utilising ICTs to underpin the creation of a participatory and democratic vision of the network society. Embedded in the richness and diversity of community practice, a vision of a 'civil network society' is emerging. A society where ICTs are harnessed as tools to improve the quality of life and reflect the diversity of social networks; where people are viewed as citizens, not just as consumers, and where heterogeneity is perceived as a strength rather than a weakness. Community Practice in the Network Society looks at the broad context in which this is happening, presents case studies of local projects from around the world, and discusses community ICT research methodologies. Not only does it highlight the symbiotic relationship between community ICT practice and research, but it also provides evidence supporting the case for the development of more inclusive and participatory pathways to the network society.
The last three decades have witnessed a dramatic acceleration in the use, demand, and need for telecommunications, data communication, and mass communication transmitted and integrated into networks. Through a synthesis of contemporary theories about modernization, this book offers a broad-ranging introduction to the 'network' society in all its aspects.
The Network Society is now more than ever the essential guide to the past, consequences and future of digital communication. Fully revised, this Third Edition covers crucial new issues and updates, including: • the long history of social media and Web 2.0: why it′s not as new as we think • digital youth culture as a foreshadow of future new media use • the struggle for control of the internet among Microsoft, Google, Apple and Facebook • the contribution of media networks to the current financial crisis • complete update of the literature on the facts, theories, trends and technologies of the internet • new features for students with boxes of chapter questions, conclusions and boxed explanations of key concepts This book remains an accessible, comprehensive, must-read introduction to how new media function in contemporary society.
Editors are well known experts in the field as are many of the contributors Spatial and technological networks are of high interest and this book examines their relationship and deals with the challenges that they raise for planners and policy makers A strong focus on the political and sociological aspect of network-based societies and cities
Broadband is the great infrastructure challenge of the early 21st century. Broadband is a foundation for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life. The number of Americans who have broadband at home has grown from 8 million in 2000 to nearly 200 million last year. But. 100 million Americans do not have broadband at home. In early 2009, Congress directed the FCC to develop a National Broadband Plan to ensure that every American has ¿access to broadband capability.¿ This plan must also include a strategy for achieving affordability and maximizing use of broadband. The plan presented here ensures that the entire broadband ecosystem ¿ networks, devices, content and applications¿ is healthy. Illus.
This first book in Castells' groundbreaking trilogy, with a substantial new preface, highlights the economic and social dynamics of the information age and shows how the network society has now fully risen on a global scale. Groundbreaking volume on the impact of the age of information on all aspects of society Includes coverage of the influence of the internet and the net-economy Describes the accelerating pace of innovation and social transformation Based on research in the USA, Asia, Latin America, and Europe
The proliferation of giant multi-organizational agencies in the last decade has fostered a rethinking of inter-organizational interactions. By synthesizing emerging planning theories with the most recent research in the field, How Organizations Act Together offers a unique and comprehensive perspective on how modern organizations interact. From missions to the moon to management and modern public policy, Alexander unravels the complexities of interorganizational coordination, providing students and scholars with the tools for understanding.
This book builds on the idea that peer-to-peer infrastructures are gradually becoming the general conditions of work, economy, and society. Using a four-scenario approach, the authors seek to simplify possible outcomes and to explore relevant trajectories of the current techno-economic paradigm within and beyond capitalism.