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This paper explores the different insider employee-led cyber frauds (IECF) based on the recent large-scale fraud events of prominent Indian banking institutions. Examining the different types of fraud and appropriate control measures will protect the banking industry from fraudsters. In this study, we identify and classify Cyber Fraud (CF), map the severity of the fraud on a scale of priority, test the mitigation effectiveness, and propose optimal mitigation measures. The identification and classification of CF losses were based on a literature review and focus group discussions with risk and vigilance officers and cyber cell experts. The CF was analyzed using secondary data. We predicted and prioritized CF based on machine learning-derived Random Forest (RF). An efficient fraud mitigation model was developed based on an offender-victim-centric approach. Mitigation is advised both before and after fraud occurs. Through the findings of this research, banks and fraud investigators can prevent CF by detecting it quickly and controlling it on time. This study proposes a structured, sustainable CF mitigation plan that protects banks, employees, regulators, customers, and the economy, thus saving time, resources, and money. Further, these mitigation measures will improve the reputation of the Indian banking industry and ensure its survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of information security behavioural intention (ISBI) can be complex and dynamic in different contexts. This paper aims to examine and compare different users' ISBI formalisation mechanisms when dealing with their personal affairs (non-work users) and organisational affairs (work users). Drawing on two principles of Conservation of Resources (COR) theory (i.e. resource loss principle, and resource gain principle), we developed two models to examine how situational support affects ISBI formation. The results of a study of 432 non-worker users and 261 work users indicate a curvilinear relationship between situational support and ISBI through subjective norms and risk perception for non-worker users, whilst a linear relationship via subjective norms is found for worker users. This is the first time that COR has been applied to explain the formation of ISBI. The findings broaden the research scope of individuals' ISBI by revealing how situational support affects the formalisation mechanism for different users in cross-contexts. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings and the future study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is a growing body of literature on information privacy suggesting different mechanisms of how people's privacy concerns might be impacting their attitudes and behaviour when using social media, recent questionable data use practices by social media platforms and third parties call for a renewed validation of existing information privacy models. The objective of this research is to re-examine the variables predicting why people disclose information on social media. Building on previous work, this paper puts forward a comprehensive Privacy Concerns and Social Media Use Model (PC-SMU) and evaluates it in a specific cultural and legal environment (social media users from a single county, Canada). The study delves into the privacy paradox and shows that the benefits of using social media are the main driver of self-disclosure, and that self-disclosing behaviours are nuanced by the users' information privacy protection strategies. We also find that higher levels of social media literacy, and concerns about organisational threats to a lesser extent, lead to higher levels of information privacy management, emphasizing the importance of educating users about how to use the different privacy and security features provided by social media platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant proportion of smartphone notifications are indicative of human behaviour (e.g. delivery updates for purchased items, physical activity summaries, and notification of updates to subscribed content). However, present attempts to understand human behaviour from smartphone traces typically focus on sensors such as location, accelerometer and proximity, overlooking the potential for notifications as a valuable data source. In this paper, we propose a general framework that provides end-to-end processing of notifications to understand behavioural aspects. We realise the framework with an implementation that tackles the specific use case of establishing prior buying behaviour from associated notifications. To evaluate the framework and implementation, we conduct a longitudinal user study in which we collect more than 250, 000 notifications, from twelve users, over an average of three months. We apply knowledge-based and machine learning techniques to those notifications to assess the tasks of the proposed framework. The results show a substantial difference in the performance between the methods used to extract behavioural features from the collected notifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that the unreasonable layout caused by the surge of map information will dramatically reduce the user's operation performance, this paper proposed a 3 V layout method based on human visual motion cognition. According to the visual flow method, two visual search experiments were designed to study the influence of label layouts and graphic overlap rates on users' search efficiency. By testing users' reaction time and gaze behaviour, it was found that L-LR layouts arranged in a vertically symmetrical way had the best search performance among the four layouts. The overall performance of L-LR and L-TB layouts arranged in a unidirectional and symmetrical way was better than that of L-UG and L-EP layouts in the graphic and number search task. However, L-UG and L-EP layouts performed better than L-LR and L-TB ones in the graphic search under lower overlap rates. Moreover, it is also worth noting that the performance of graphic search was significantly higher than that of number search, indicating that users distinguished the location-based information represented by graphics better than that by text. The results provide a certain theoretical basis and application value for the map information layout of the GIS interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facebook community leaders play a significant role in creating and maintaining social environments, and they characteristically exhibit several qualities and skills, such as the ability to generate involvement in the groups. However, their identities and motivations have yet to be investigated in depth. Using the theoretical framework of the Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT), this paper addresses this gap by exploring the motivations of leaders to lead a Facebook online group. Leaders of online parents groups were surveyed for this study. A survey was administered electronically to 160 Facebook community leaders to gather data on the relationship between the community leaders' motivation and the following variables: personality traits (narcissism, altruism, grit), sense of community (immersion, sense of belonging, influence), management features, and demographics. A hierarchical regression indicates that higher narcissism, self-control, immersion, and lower consistency of interest (grit factor) can explain Facebook community leaders' motivations to lead online groups of parents. The results are discussed in the context of the leaders' influential role in social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical manipulatives, such as rods or tiles, are widely used for mathematics learning, as they support embodied cognition, enable the execution of epistemic actions, and foster conceptual metaphors. Counting them, children explore, rearrange, and reinterpret the environment through the haptic channel. Vision generally complements physical actions, which makes using traditional manipulatives limited for children with visual impairments (VIs). Digitally augmenting manipulatives with feedback through alternative modalities might improve them. We specifically discuss conveying number representations to children with VIs using haptic and auditory channels within an environment encouraging exploration and supporting active touch counting strategies while promoting reflection. This paper presents LETSMath, a tangible system for training basic mathematical skills of children with VIs, developed through Design-Based Research with three iterations in which we involved 19 children with VIs and their educators. We discuss how the system may support training skills in the composition of numbers and the impact that the different system features have on slowing down the interaction pace to trigger reflection, on understanding, and on incorporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive use of personal social media has become prevalent in the work environment and has caused significant psychological and behavioural problems among employees. These problems call for in-depth study. In this paper, we develop a usage experience–stressor–strain model to examine the consequences of excessive social media usage behaviour of employees at work, revealing the effects of different excessive usage patterns (i.e. social, hedonic, and cognitive) on employees' psychological state (i.e. emotional exhaustion) and behavioural outcome (i.e. job performance) through dimensions of social media overload (i.e. information, communication, and social). We empirically test the research model with a survey of 422 employees who use social media at work. Our analysis presents that excessive social use at work is the major predictor of dimensions of overload. Furthermore, in contrast to the single effect of communication overload on emotional exhaustion and social overload on job performance, information overload has a significant impact on both emotional exhaustion and job performance of employees. This study advances our understanding of the complex relationships between excessive usage patterns, overload, emotional exhaustion, and job performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has attracted significant attention on social media platforms as these platforms provide users unparalleled access to 'information' from around the globe. In spite of demographic differences, people have been expressing and shaping their opinions using social media on topics ranging from the plight of migrant workers to vaccine development. However, the social media induced polarisation owing to selective online exposure to information during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a major cause of concern for countries across the world. In this paper, we analyse the temporal dynamics of polarisation in online discourse related to the COVID-19. We use random network theory-based simulation to investigate the evolution of opinion formation in comments posted on different COVID-19-related YouTube videos. Our findings reveal that as the pandemic unfolded, the extent of polarisation in the online discourse increased with time. We validate our experimental model using real-world complex networks and compare consensus formation on these networks with equivalent random networks. This study has several implications as polarisation around socio-cultural issues in crises such as pandemic can exacerbate the social divide. The framework proposed in this study can aid regulatory agencies to take required actions and mitigate social media-induced polarisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current design approaches mainly focus on co-design activities for creating (novel) digital artefacts. Less attention is paid on implications of new technologies on people and their experiences. This paper proposes a conceptual framework aimed at describing and supporting systematic and sustained critical co-reflection on artefact use. It employs and expands ideas from design research and user-oriented design approaches to describe sources and nature of critical co-reflection and to discuss appropriate analytical lenses. Experience spaces are introduced as a complementary concept to design spaces. An experience space is a conceptual space emerging from the collaborative creation, manipulation, merging and discarding of experience-related descriptions of technology appropriation. From a critical reflective perspective, designers not only care about rich design spaces with diverse design proposals but also about rich experience spaces displaying diverse appropriation processes and a broad spectrum of users' perspectives on effects of artefact use. The paper suggests that artefact ecologies constitute the elements of experience spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) interruptions are a common feature of people's work activity. In studying interruptions, researchers can understand how people manage and co-ordinate their work when faced with multiple, often competing, demands. However, CMC interruptions are characteristically different from each other and impact people's work performance in different ways. In this theoretical paper, we define and differentiate between computer-mediated communication (CMC) interruptions, according to the level of control people are able to exert over an interruption at different points in the delivery timeline. Informed by the extant interruptions literature and Action Regulation Theory, a classification framework is provided, to help researchers and work designers distinguish which types of real-world CMC interruption are more or less disruptive, based on levels of control. Using the developed framework, two key research propositions are made, which we encourage future research to attend to. Unique contributions and implications of this paper are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social networking sites and apps (SNSAs) are being used more frequently across the world and yet the nature of this online environment and associated interactions are not fully understood. With no restrictions for SNSAs use related to specific geographical regions, language, age, gender, educational level, or any other factors, it is important to find a concept to describe and explain the components of this online environment and their relationships. This paper describes the environment of SNSAs use by Saudi postgraduate students from the perspective of second-generation activity theory (AT). The findings supported the theoretical framework of AT as a useful lens in understanding SNSAs use from the perspective of students, particularly in a cultural environment where physical communication has restrictions based on gender. A similar AT model can be drawn for the use of SNSAs, taking the perspective of different groups of academic users. The flexibility of the AT model appears at the level of SNSAs as technical and physical tools, and at the level of users' community, which was managed by the explicit and implicit rules relating to communication. This feature reveals the way in which this extended framework can be used to indicate pertinent features of SNSAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commercialised voice user interface devices for the home, like Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple HomePod, with integrated digital personal assistants have rapidly grown in popularity. These devices embody intelligent software agents that support users in their everyday life through easy and intuitive conversational interactions. While their use in everyday activities is largely unexplored, the proliferation in home use presents a valuable opportunity to add to understanding around the use of in-home digital personal assistants. In this paper, we investigate their home use in a broad context to learn more about people's experiences, attitudes, interactions and expectations with these devices contributing new insights to current knowledge around this use. Applying the digital ethnography method, we collected 3542 reviews and comments about Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple HomePod on Amazon, eBay, and Reddit. Six main themes and 29 categories were derived through filtering, thematic analysis and affinity diagramming. These findings constitute a conceptual framework characterising the current landscape of home use of digital personal assistants. Additionally, we identify and discuss unique issues discovered around the invisible interface, interactive freedom, and creative appropriation. We use our findings to propose implications for interaction design of DPAs for home use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing importance of social media in conflicts and crises is accompanied by an ever-increasing research interest in the crisis informatics field in order to identify potential benefits and develop measures against the technology's abuse. This special issue sets out to give an overview of current research on the use of social media in conflicts and crises. In doing so, it focuses on both good and malicious aspects of social media and includes a variety of papers of conceptual, theoretical and empirical nature. In six sections, the special issue presents an overview of the field, analytical methods, technical challenges, current advancements and the accepted papers before concluding. Specific topics range from cyber deception over information trustworthiness to mining and near-real-time processing of social media data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to exploit students' sentiments using different machine learning techniques is considered an important strategy for planning and manoeuvring in a collaborative educational environment. The advancement of machine learning technology is energised by the healthy growth of big data technologies. This helps the applications based on Sentiment Mining (SM) using big data to become a common platform for data mining activities. However, very little has been studied on the sentiment application using a huge amount of available educational data. Therefore, this paper has made an attempt to mine the academic data using different efficient machine learning algorithms. The contribution of this paper is two-fold: (i) studying the sentiment polarity (positive, negative and neutral) from students' data using machine learning techniques, and (ii) modelling and predicting students' emotions (Amused, Anxiety, Bored, Confused, Enthused, Excited, Frustrated, etc.) using the big data frameworks. The developed SM techniques using big data frameworks can be scaled and made adaptable for source variation, velocity and veracity to maximise value mining for the benefit of students, faculties and other stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increased popularity of mobile learning, there is a growing demand on the understanding of how the scalable technology, such as mobile devices, influences individual learning behaviours as well as their learning outcome. A theoretical model was built based on the adaptive structuration theory (AST) and the knowledge spiral theory. Using this model, we examined the relationship between structural sources, individuals' adaptive structural behaviours, and their perceived learning. A Structural Equation Modeling method was employed in our empirical study. Findings indicate that users' task adaptation had a positive influence on their perceived learning, In addition, their exploitive technology adaptation influenced the ultimate perceived learning, but the impact of users' exploratory technology adaptation on learning was mediated by their task adaptation. Contrary to expectations, the effect of computer self-efficacy on exploitive and exploratory technology adaptation was negative, and exploratory technology adaptation negatively affected exploitive task adaptation. A detailed discussion of the findings and implications are provided in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public-facing social media platforms, such as Facebook and WeChat, are increasingly being embedded into corporate processes and routines. The use of public social media by employees has aroused widespread interest among scholars in recent years. This study summarises published theories and models and proposes a causal-chain framework for research exploration into employee usage of public social media platforms by systematically analysing the antecedent variables, mediators, moderators, and outcome variables used in 59 quantitative papers. The representative theories include: Social Capital Theory, Job Demands-Resources Model, Boundary Theory, Media Synchronicity Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, Technology Acceptance Model, Self-Determination Theory, and Media Richness Theory. Historically, researchers have studied social media usage behaviours as antecedents, rather than social factors, with many focusing on outcome variables such as job performance and job satisfaction, while the impact of employee social media usage on physical and mental health is less studied. In terms of moderators, variables such as use behaviour, user characteristics and job characteristics receive most attention. With regards to mediators, social capital, job satisfaction, and work conflict are most significant. This study proposes future research directions for this field, including topics relating to platform attributes, social power, organisational culture, and employee health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of serious games to improve collaborative skill transfer and retention has received considerable attention from scholars, web marketing practitioners and business consultants. Team rankings and learning progress in game learning analytics, however, have yet to be empirically examined. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to study the performance of competing teams in a web marketing serious game (Simbound), we highlight a combination of causal conditions (engagement, reach and profitability) affecting team rankings. This paper proposes a conceptual architecture of the forces that influence learning progress within a collaborative learning environment. This learning environment is studied for web marketing boot camps powered by Simbound at three European universities: Grenoble Alpes University (France), University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy) and Dunarea de Jos University of Galati (Romania). Gaining knowledge of cases through game learning analytics is valuable for two reasons: It emphasises the instructor’s role in mobilising players’ engagement, and it tests variability across cases, offering precursors of team performance rankings. This approach to collective skill retention highlights the moderating factors of team performance rankings, whilst purposely calibrating a gameable learning environment. This paper enriches our knowledge of how active experimentation in learning analytics metrics can develop skills for real business competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media have great power to spread information, and this is particularly noticeable when an emergency occurs. The extraction of accurate information from social media can offer an important resource for emergency management, both in terms of decision-making and increasing situational awareness. This paper describes a conceptual framework for the development of applications to treat messages from social media. It is designed to select, classify and prioritise, using parameters, messages containing information that is relevant to the emergency context. It allows a team to act on this information and to generate rescue actions that contribute to the emergency solution. It has a collaborative bias, providing perceptual, coordination and communication mechanisms. We also present an instantiation and the simulation of its use in the treatment of tweets (Twitter messages) about two emergencies: an earthquake in Mexico City (19/09/2017) and a California fire (December, 2017). The volume of messages is enormous, but most of them do not present significant value to the emergency response. We categorised those that contained relevant information. With only 2% of the tweets, it was possible to identify and prioritise messages with potential to aid in response and rescue operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a great number of complex relations among different characters in an opera. Retrieving such relations is crucial for performers and audience to accurately understand the features and behaviour of roles. Aiming to automatically extract relations among characters in an opera, in this paper we propose an effective method that can extract character relations from opera scripts. Firstly, we construct a uniform reasoning framework for opera scripts. Based on this model, we propose a deep syntax-parsing method to detect character relations from opera scripts. After that, we propose a new deep learning approach called SL-Bi-LSTM-CRF to extract the objects involved in character relations. The proposed SL-Bi-LSTM-CRF algorithm is a sentence-level relation extraction algorithm based on the Bi-directional LSTM with a CRF layer. With this mechanism, we are able to get a detailed description for character relations. We conduct experiments on a real dataset of opera scripts. The experimental results in terms of precision, recall, and F-score suggest the effectiveness of our proposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a study of the use of activity theory in human–computer interaction (HCI) research. We analyse activity theory in HCI since its first appearance about 25 years ago. Through an analysis and meta-synthesis of 109 selected HCI activity theory papers, we created a taxonomy of 5 different ways of using activity theory: (1) analysing unique features, principles, and problematic aspects of the theory; (2) identifying domain-specific requirements for new theoretical tools; (3) developing new conceptual accounts of issues in the field of HCI; (4) guiding and supporting empirical analyses of HCI phenomena; and (5) providing new design illustrations, claims, and guidelines. We conclude that HCI researchers are not only users of imported theory, but also theory-makers who adapt and develop theory for different purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gesture elicitation studies, which are a popular technology for collecting requirements and expectations by involving real users in gesture design processes, often suffer from gesture disagreement and legacy bias and may not generate optimal gestures for a target system in practice. This paper reports a research project on user-defined gestures for interacting with immersive VR shopping applications. The main contribution of this work is the proposal of a more practical method for deriving more reliable gestures than traditional gesture elicitation studies. We applied this method to a VR shopping application and obtained empirical evidence for the benefits of deriving two gestures in the a priori stage and selecting the top-two gestures in the a posteriori stage of traditional elicitation studies for each referent. We hope that this research can help lay a theoretical foundation for freehand-gesture-based user interface design and be generalised to all freehand-gesture-based applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One way to ensure good user experience of IT systems is to conduct user centred evaluation, aimed to provide feedback to IT professionals on their IT systems from the user perspective. The objective of this paper is to explore a conceptual framework, named RAMES that supports evaluators when planning, comparing and documenting user centred evaluations in a structured way. The framework structures the elements of an evaluation into five categories: Roles, Activities, Materials, Environments, and System. The framework was developed based on a theoretical analysis. Two explorative studies with 92 participants in total show that two thirds of the participants found it easy or rather easy to use the framework, and 33% find it likely that they would use the framework again. The conclusion of the studies is that frameworks such as RAMES enhance the implementation of user centred evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud computing is gaining increasing interest as an enabling technology for improved productivity, efficiency and cost reduction. It also has the potential to add value to reliability and scalability of organisation’s systems, which would allow organisations to better focus on their core business and strategies. This research paper aimed at exploring the perceived potential for value creation from cloud computing in Australian Regional Governments. Using the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory and Desires Framework (DF), a conceptual research model is devised. The key identified factors that are likely to influence adoption of cloud computing are identified along with the implications to current policies, anticipated benefits and challenges of adoption of cloud computing. The research employed a qualitative approach involving 21 in-depth interviews with Australian local councils’ IT managers. The findings of this research are mapped to the research model factors, thereby presenting and validating a number of value-adding concepts that are expected to contribute to investment decisions on cloud computing adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online technologies have made it possible for practitioners and the public to reach academics directly and seek information and knowledge in areas of professional or personal interest. This paper uses the extended version of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) to examine the factors that affect the adoption of online technologies by practitioners and other members of the public in order to engage with the academic community. Understanding the driving factors of such online engagement is very important as it can inform academic practice and how institutional support is provided. The results of our online survey (N = 241), derived by using Structural Equation Modelling, show that behavioural intention is mainly affected by the user's habit, performance expectancy and facilitating conditions. Also, educational level has a moderating effect in the cases of habit and social influence and gender in the cases of habit and hedonic motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the development of customer relationship management (CRM) started in the developed west, it has rapidly spread to developing countries. However, the way organisations adopt CRM in developing countries, and more specifically in the Arab world, might be different and the context certainly differs. There is a shortage of rigorous studies that examine the drivers of CRM adoption in this context. In this study, we examine the antecedents of CRM adoption in the Jordanian service sector. The conceptual framework of this research is tested using a crosssectional survey of more than 322 practitioners. Using structural equation modelling analysis, results specify six underlying factors that explain CRM adoption: segmentation analysis, clear direction and objectives, performance measurement, rewarding usage, managing project changes, and knowledge management. Each area has implications for improving practices and maximising the benefits of adopting the process or management practice of CRM. This paper identifies key practices to provide useful guidelines for organisations in the Arab world making plans to adopt CRM, with broader implications for the adoption of many systems and projects there and for CRM deployment in developed regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of social networks opened a myriad opportunities for merging the social character of trust with the technical possibilities offered by the Internet and its availability as a mobile service. While most of the computational trust models aim to detect trustworthy entities, much less attention is paid to how these models are perceived by the users who are the core of the system. This paper delves into the workings of online trust systems under user bias and analyses the user behaviour through biases defined by Prospect theory. By performing empirical study on an existing system, we are able to demonstrate that there is a huge discrepancy between the aim of implementation of the online trust models and the users’ perception of those models. Understanding of this relation by the system designers can reduce complexity and improve the user experience and the system performance. The results imply that the tendency of the users to exhibit cognitive biases is not only the cause, but also the effect from the trust system design. These results and the analysis are then used to propose to the system designers a methodology for user bias identification and mitigation in the form of a Choice architecture for trust systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In recent years, online shopping has been proliferated around the world. Online retailers’ reputation and purchase intentions are critical for survival and profitability of any online store. Thus, this study proposes a research framework to examine the perceived justice effects on customers purchase intention and online retailers’ reputation. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to demonstrate the reliability and validity of the measurement model, and the structural equation modelling technique was used to test the research model. The hypothesised model was validated empirically using data collected from 383 online shopping customers in China. The results indicated that perceived procedural, distributive and interactional justice components were strong predictors of customers purchase intention and online retailers’ reputation while online retailers’ reputation had significant effects on purchase intentions. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications are also presented in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The experience of immersive virtual reality (VR) can be considered as a communication process between human beings, mediated by computer systems, which uses visualisation and other sensory stimulation. In this paper, we analyse how VR characteristics can be explored using semiotic theory and, with methods of generative semiotics, we explore aspects of narrative and interaction in VR. We propose a semiotic analysis of VR communication focusing on syntax, semantics and pragmatics and considering also some principles of generative semiotics. The syntactic level is analysed as determined by the characteristics of the visual communication adopted. The semantic of VR is related to the functional model chosen to realise the virtual system. The pragmatic of VR is based on the human–computer interaction that changes the user's role. We explore how these aspects can be characterised in the context of VR communication design and what principles can be adopted for a VR application, and we present an analysis and a classification of the iconic signs that are being used in VR. Moreover, we present a framework that can be used to classify and describe different kinds of virtual reality systems and to better understand communication in VR, and we use it to classify eight popular systems for e-learning and collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Children's participation in information and communication technology (ICT) design is an established interdisciplinary research field. Methods for children's participation have been developed, but a closer link between theory and design has been called for, as well as an examination of various participants influencing children's participation in ICT design. This paper addresses these gaps by introducing the research strategy of nexus analysis as a promising theoretical framework. Especially the concepts of ‘interaction order’ and ‘historical body’ are utilised in the analysis of six empirical studies on ICT design with children. The analysis shows that through the participating children there were also ‘others’ involved, multiple voices to be heard, often invisible but informing design. Some of these ‘others’ have already been acknowledged in literature but the issue has not been examined in depth and common vocabulary for this is lacking. Some practical implications will be offered by illustrating how to consider these concepts in different phases of ICT design: when establishing relationships with children, involving children as participant designers and analysing the results of these participative processes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Facebook is becoming increasingly important for the socio-economic development of countries across the globe as stakeholders engage in online social interaction and expand their reach for new products, services and markets to open up new revenue streams. Past studies have examined the environment that supports effective use of social networking technologies in the developed world. This study argues that the enabling environment in developed and developing countries may vary and therefore may impact Facebook adoption and its socio-economic benefits differently. The model integrates theUnified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology(UTAUT) and revised UTAUT. Using a structured questionnaire on a sample of 367 Facebook users, the results show that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions (affordability and regulatory environment) are important factors that impact Facebook adoption in a developing country such as Malaysia. The study contributes to the literature by identifying that Facebook user's perceived socio-economic benefits act as a mediator between adoption and actual use behaviour (information seeking, socialisation, entertainment and business development). The findings also indicate that religion, ethnicity, language, gender and education are significant factors moderating the adoption-perception-use behaviour of Facebook. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study developed and tested a research model which examined the impact of user perceptions of self-efficacy (SE) and virtual environment (VE) efficacy on the effectiveness of VE training systems. The model distinguishes between the perceptions of one's own capability to perform trained tasks effectively and the perceptions of system performance, regarding the established parameters from literature. Specifically, the model posits that user perceptions will have positive effects on task performance and memory. Seventy-six adults participated in a VE in a controlled experiment, designed to empirically test the model. Each participant performed a series of object assembly tasks. The task involved selecting, rotating, releasing, inserting and manipulating 3D objects. Initially, the results of factor analysis demonstrated dimensionality of two user perception measures and produced a set of empirical validated factors underlining the VE efficacy. The results of regression analysis revealed that SE had a significant positive effect on perceived VE efficacy. No significant effects were found of perceptions on performance and memory. Furthermore, the study provided insights into the relationships between the perception measures and performance measures for assessing the efficacy of VE training systems. The study also addressed how well users learn, perform, adapt to and perceive the VE training, which provides valuable insight into the system efficacy. Research and practical implications are presented at the end of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the opportunities the health sector will offer as a result of the design and development of a technology infrastructure, the fact is that hospitals have been slow to adopt telemedicine technologies, largely because very few organisations are prepared to face this challenge. A possible explanation for the efficiency and effectiveness gaps of services provided by Hospital-in-the-Home Units (HHUs) may relate to the advantages and disadvantages of the knowledge processes that these units exhibit as a result of their different structural properties. This paper investigates the approaches that HHUs have used to update the knowledge of physicians and their members' knowledge of technology, and relates them to an unlearning context (UC) and improvement in the quality of health services. These relationships are examined through an empirical investigation of 55 doctors and 62 nurses belonging to 44 HHUs. The research findings suggest that the key benefits of a UC in HHUs are clear. It enables them to identify and replace poor practices and also avoids the reinvention of the wheel; it enables cost reduction by minimising unnecessary work caused by the use of poor methods and it enables improvements adopting new telemedicine technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employing systems engineering (SE) methodology and principles to the development of smart products has the potential of establishing a novel field of research. This paper summarises previous work in this area in order to define and characterise a revolutionary SE and social-networking framework for collaborative education, design and modelling of the next generation of smarter products. A conceptual framework and practical applications of SE approaches and social networking to support smarter product development is proposed. Future challenges that collaborative SE and interactive social networking techniques are likely to face in this domain are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]