Laurence Habib

Computers in the home: domestication and gender

This paper investigates the integration of the home computer into the domestic sphere through a gender perspective on the notions of domesticity and domestication. The study is based on a series of interviews with seven British families in the late 1990s. The analysis is used to identify some of the characteristics that contribute to make the home computer domestic or undomestic, and to explore the processes of domestication. A focus on fears and anxieties around the computer as well as the emergence of myths and magical notions allows for deeper insights into the gender‐domestication “problematique”.

The Portfolio as Artifact and Actor.

This article proposes a tentative framework to support empirical analysis of portfolios as pedagogical tools for formative and summative assessment in higher education. It aims to get a deeper understanding of the role of the portfolio in student learning both as a tool and as representations of this tool. To that end, we use three sets of theoretical ideas: Wartofskys conceptualization of perception through the creation of artifacts, actor-network theory, and Wertchs notions of internalization, appropriation and mastery. This article is meant to complement current portfolio research with an original approach that addresses explicitly epistemological questions and concepts like learning and knowledge and explores possible avenues for analyzing and understanding portfolios as artifacts and tools in learning activities.

Dyslexic students in higher education and virtual learning environments: an exploratory study

This paper presents the results of an interview-based study of the use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) among dyslexic students. Interviews were carried out with 12 informants who had been formally diagnosed as dyslexic. The informants were either enrolled in a university or college programme, or had graduated less than a year before the interview. The findings reveal that dyslexic students experience a number of challenges associated with VLE use, including information overload, imperfect word processing tools, inadequate search functions, and having to relate to more than one system at a time.

Virtual learning environments as sociomaterial agents in the network of teaching practice

This article presents findings related to the sociomaterial agency of educators and their practice in Norwegian education. Using actor-network theory, we ask how Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) negotiate the agency of educators and how they shape their teaching practice. Since the same kinds of VLE tools have been widely implemented throughout Norwegian education, it is interesting to study how practices are formed in different parts of the educational system. This research is therefore designed as a case study of two different teaching contexts representing lecturers from a higher education institution and teachers from primary schools. Data are collected by means of interviews, online logging of VLE activities and self-reported personal logs. From the analysis of the data, three main networks of aligned interests can be identified. In each of those, the sociomaterial agency of the teaching practice with VLE is crucial in shaping and consolidating the network.

If I had a rich picture…: Insights into the use of “soft” methodological tools to support the development of interprofessional education

This paper describes a methodological experiment that aimed to test a small number of tools borrowed from Soft Systems Methodology. Those tools were intended to support action research for a project in interprofessional educational development. The intention with using those tools was two-fold: first, they were expected to help structure the analysis of the problem situation that the project was to address; second, they were to facilitate and document the project management process itself, by allowing for the different voices within the interprofessional project team to be heard. The paper relates how the tools functioned relatively successfully as analytical devices for the action researcher, but did not significantly contribute to further interprofessional collaboration or enhance dialogue between the action researcher and the project members. Issues of how to use the tools to support more effectively the existing dialogue across professional cultures and traditions are discussed.

The virtual office and family life

This paper considers the effects of teleworking on family life. In contrast to the substantial literature considering telework from a managerial and, to a lesser extent, individual perspective, there has been far less consideration of the impact of teleworking on family life. This paper argues for the need to study home-based teleworking with an inclusive perspective, looking at teleworking as more than just an organisational initiative, or an opportunity for particular workers, but as a major change in lifestyle which may affect the whole family unit. It proposes a framework for such a study based on an exploration of changes in family rules and norms.

Perspectives on academic staff involvement in the acquisition and implementation of educational technologies

This article presents the results of a study using both quantitative and qualitative data to uncover the extent and nature of the involvement of academic staff in the processes of acquisition and implementation of educational technologies. Actor-network theory (ANT) is used to inform the design of the study and the analysis of the data. Three main areas of investigation are (1) issues of institutional policy and overall purpose of technology, (2) issues of staff involvement in various activities related to acquisition and use of technology and (3) issues related to the existence of arenas for dialogue and discussions of technological needs and requirements across organisational boundaries. The analysis focuses on the diffuseness of the role of academic staff in processes of development of institutional policies and technology acquisition. The article concludes with suggestions for organisational policy in higher education contexts, and possible directions for new research.