Severina Müller

With a little help of my peers. The supportive role of online contacts for the unemployed

The Internet is used for coping purposes by the majority of the unemployed.Support obtained through social media affect job search self-efficacy.There are group differences in the effect on active job search behaviour.Self-efficacy is more important for women, younger people, less experienced users. Unemployment is an unfortunate reality, whose overcoming often depends on social support, among other factors. Online social media, such as social network sites and communities, may offer an additional source of such support for unemployed people. This paper posits that online social support plays an important role in unemployed peoples ability to cope with unemployment and search for new employment. The paper develops and tests a structural equation model of the influence of online-mediated, enabling and caring social support on job search self-efficacy, which may foster the job search behaviour of unemployed persons. In addition, we control for gender, age, user experience, and attitude towards the Internet. Based on 1322 telephone interviews with unemployed individuals in Germany, we find that online social support drives job search behaviour. Our results show that social support derived from new information and communication technology counteracts the adverse effect of being unemployed to a certain degree. Enabling support and caring support experienced through social media both lead to higher job search self-efficacy, which, in turn, fosters job search behaviour. Furthermore, our model shows that these relationships differ by gender, age, user experience, and attitude towards the Internet.

The Design of Personal Learning Environments (PLE) with Scope on Information Literacy in High School

Information literacy is considered a key competence for the networked 21st century. Despite of its importance it has not been anchored in educational technology research and practice in sufficient manner yet. The paper at hand contributes to this research gap by providing a concept for design of personal learning environments with scope on information literacy. Personal learning environments (PLE) can be defined as conceptual and technological frameworks that help learners take control of and manage their own learning. This includes providing support for learners to: set their own learning goals and manage their learning in terms of both learning outcomes (content) and process. By applying the design science approach, a framework for PLE is proposed that combines subject-oriented learning objectives with goals to build and foster information literacy. The focus of the research lies in the initial theoretical phase of the design cycle. Based on a systematic literature review first a model for measuring information literacy is developed. The developed model is than embedded in a generic PLE framework that supports building and measuring information literacy in addition to other subject-specific learning goals. Therefore, the paper outlines a framework to conceptualize PLE focusing on information literacy by pursuing the design-based research paradigm.

Time Well Wasted? Online Procrastination During Times of Unemployment

This article examines the argument regarding whether perceived social exclusion during unemployment leads to procrastination through online media, which in turn lessens the job search efforts of the unemployed. Based on data from 386 unemployed Internet users, we argue that online procrastination plays an important role in the lives of the unemployed but has no immediate effects on their perceived job search efforts. Contextual factors play an important role; that is, the amount of motivational control that the unemployed can muster exerts a strong effect on job search efforts. Generally, unemployed Internet users with low motivational control struggle more with their job search efforts. Thus, the recreational use of online media as such is not necessarily detrimental to the efforts invested in finding a job; instead, online skill-building and motivational support are key antecedents to better empower the unemployed to use the Internet productively for finding reemployment.

Teaching Information Literacy in Secondary Education: How to Design Professional Development for Teachers?

The networked information and media society provides us increasingly with digital information and knowledge. However, the effective and efficient use of information also requires a high level of information literacy (IL), the competent handling of information and the ability to do that from an early age. Despite this early beginning, the development of IL is considered an important goal of schoolteachers who are required to integrate IL into their daily teaching practice. One reason that IL has only been considered sporadically in education is the lack of a scientifically proven model to operationalize and measure IL. Furthermore, teachers are often uncertain when dealing with digital media pedagogically and need support and clarity in terms of how to evaluate IL in their specific subjects. In the implementation of formal educational efforts, the low practical feasibility in specific working contexts, time and financial aspects are criticized. The current contribution presents a 7i model for the conceptualization and measurement of IL. Furthermore, it provides alternatives to the dominant “training model” to develop the competence of teachers by combining formal and informal learning.