Christia n Ma ste r Östlund

Informatics influencing our

lives
Analyze a phenomenon based on
theories in informatics
What is a phenomenon?
› "A fact, occurrence, or circumstance observed or
observable”
Definition of Phenomenon at Dictionary.com

– Gravity
– Examples of phenomenon created by information systems

› Research is an activity that contributes to the

understanding of a phenomenon
(Kuhn, 1970)
What is an analysis?
› “The process of breaking a concept down into more simple
parts, so that its logical structure is displayed”.
Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, 1996, by Simon Blackburn

› Analysis can be different things at different phases of the

research process
– E.g. at the beginning it can be evaluating different perspectives of
the topic or the research design

› Data analysis is a process where the researcher interprets

the data to derive insights that tell a story.
– Can be theory infused
Informatics
› Is a multidisciplinary field
– Computer science
› Programming, Information security
– Operations research
› Decision support systems, Simulations
– Management science
› Knowledge management
– Sociology
› Informatics influencing our lives
– Economics
› Datamining
– Psychology
› How individuals accept new technology
Theories and concepts in informatics
› Diffusion of Innovation
(Rogers 1962)
– Innovation is an idea or item,
that is new to the individual
– "diffusion is the process by
which an innovation is
communicated through a
channel over time in a social
system“
– Proposes 5 stakeholder
groups that explain how
innovation gets adopted over
time and by different cohorts.
Theories and concepts in informatics
› The presentation of self in everyday life (Goffman 1990)
– We act to be congruent in their interactions with those around
them
– The stage and the backstage
› On stage we project the image we want others to see. Put on a role/mask
› Backstage is private
– Social dramaturgy is when we move between the stage and the
backstage
– Difficult when we encounter friends from different social groups
– The different roles are the self, different parts of us
Theories and concepts in informatics
› Affordance (Gibson 1979)
– What the environment or technology offers the individual
› Interactions that is enabled by conditions including properties of one agent
(person or animal) the properties of the environment/artifact.
– Received some critique
› One should make a distinction between action-related and non-action-
related
› A cliff as an object affords climbing but it also affords danger
– Used in the HCI and UX community (Norman 1988)
Theories and concepts in informatics
– Communities of Practice (CoP) (Lave and Wenger 1991)
› A group of people who share a concern, problem or passion regarding a
topic.
› A learning process through interactions under which they deepen their
expertise
› Can be planned or spontaneous
– Three characteristics of CoP
› Domain
– The topic or subject of interest shared by the group
› Community
– Shared activities, discussion and interactions around the domain
› Practice
– The shared repertoire like tools, ideas and strategies
Theories and concepts in informatics
– Technological determinism
› The technology determine social events, societal development and culture
› We adapt to technology instead of shaping the design of technology
– Socio-technical system
› Social and technical components have a mutually influencing relationship
Theories and concepts in informatics
› DeLone and Mclean’s model (1992)
– A model for assessing information systems success
– Provides six categories of information systems success
1. System quality
2. Information quality
3. Use
4. User satisfaction
5. Individual impact
6. Organizational impact
– To measure IS success the result from all six categories should be
put together
DeLone and Mclean’s model (1992)
Theories and concepts in informatics
› DeLone and Mclean’s model (2003)
– Updated categories of information systems success
1. System quality
2. Information quality
3. Service quality
4. Intention to use / Use
– “Intention to use” is an attitude, whereas “use” is a behavior
5. User satisfaction
6. Net benefits
DeLone and Mclean’s model (2003)
Design for e-training
Overall aim of the thesis
› To examine how technology can be designed to support
workplace training, taking into consideration the specific
demands of everyday work.

Research Question:
› How can information technology be designed to support
workplace training?
– How can theories and frameworks of e-learning from a school
setting be adapted to the conditions of formal work-integrated e-
learning?
Design for e-training

› Design research approach

› Developing an information system

› Eight design principles that emerging through intervention

Vaishnavi and Kuechler

Knowledge Process Outputs

Flows steps

Awareness of Proposal
Problem

Suggestion Tentative design

Circumscription

Development Artifact

Evaluation Performance measures

*Operation and
Goal Knowledge

Conclusion Results

The general methodology of design research (Vaishnavi and Kuechler 2008)

Action Design Research (ADR)
ADR – Problem formulation
Se in e t a l, 2011 De sign fo r e -tra ining
› States that ADR should › The problem formulation
generate knowledge that stage of this thesis was
applies to the class of initiated by a literature
problems. review of prior research.
› The artifacts that are to be › The frameworks for
created and then evaluated authentic e-learning, digital
should be informed by material and graphical user
theories. interface (GUI) as kernel
theories.
ADR – Building, Intervention and Evaluation (BIE)
Se in e t a l, 2011 De sign fo r e -tra ining
› Based on the theory › The frameworks of
chosen in the previous authentic e-learning, digital
stage the IT artifact will be material and the GUI
developed. informed the development
of the artifact.
› Re-design in iterative
design cycles of: building of › Design cycles of
the IT artifact, intervention intervention, authentic
in the organization, and evaluation, and further
evaluating it in the target redesign of the WLA at the
organization county administration
ADR – Building, Intervention and Evaluation (BIE)
Se in e t a l, 2011 De sign fo r e -tra ining
› End points for a research › IT-dominant BIE
design continuum. – Development of a system for
a new environment using a
› IT-dominant BIE framework from an
– Technological innovation established environment
where the role of the resulting in a novel design.
practitioner initially is limited – End-user involvement
› Organization-dominant BIE increased as the project
progressed.
– The role of the artifact is
minimal and innovation relies
on organizational intervention
where practitioner and users
play a potential role
ADR – Reflection and learning
Se in e t a l, 2011 De sign fo r e -tra ining
› Constantly ongoing › The artifact and the
refinement of the artifact framework for e-training
emerged through iterative
› Shaping by organizational design cycles
use, perspectives, and
participants as well as the › Resulting in a more mature
constantly ongoing artifact and evolved design
evaluation. principles.
› E.g. workshop with the
county administration that
led to the circumscription in
the development phase
ADR – Formalization of learning
Sein et al, 2011 Design for e-training
› Formalize the learning to a › The eight principles for
general solution for a class e-training
of problem
Design for e-training

› Learning in and for a work context

› Web lecture application

› County administration of Western Götaland

Design for e-training

› The systematic acquisition of skills, rules, concepts, or

attitudes that is facilitated by IT and organized in a way that
enhance the productivity of both the individual learner and
organization.
County administration of Western Götaland
› a government authority ensuring that decisions made by
the government and Parliament are carried out locally in
each of the 21 counties in Sweden
› National and EU directives resulted in many parallell
competence development activities
› Swedish academy of county administrations
› A group of employees expressed a need to be able to
better search the WWW
Research process
Firs t Cycle - Te s t o f a Pilo t Co nce pt
Pha se Type o f a ctivity

The pro ble m id e ntifica tio n • Discussio ns with the co unty a dministra tio n a ca de my
pha se re pre se nta tive s a nd e mplo ye e s
• Lite ra ture re vie w o n fo rma l wo rkpla ce tra ining, d igita l
re so urce s/ multime dia a nd gra phica l use r inte rfa ce (GUI)

The sugge stio n / co nce ptua l • Cho o sing de sign the o rie s fo r pe d a go gica l d e sign, d igita l
de sign pha se re so urce s a nd GUI
The de ve lo pme nt pha se • De sign o f a pro to type

The e va lua tio n pha se • Wo rksho p with the co unty a d ministra tio n a ca de my
• Pro to type te sts a t the Co unty a dministra tio n
Authentic learning environment

› Authentic Context
– provide an authentic context that reflects the way the knowledge will be used in reality.
› Authentic Activities
– provide an ill-defined authentic activity that encourages the students to find and solve problems.
› Expert Performance
– provide access to expert performances by letting the student observe the task before they try themselves.
› Multiple Perspectives
– provide the learner with the opportunity to investigate multiple roles and perspectives.
› Collaboration
– support the collaborative construction of knowledge.
› Reflection
– promote reflection to enable abstractions to be formed.
› Articulation
– promotes articulation to enable tacit knowledge to be made explicit.
› Coaching and Scaffolding
– provides for scaffolding of support and coaching at critical times.
› Integrated Assessment
– provide for integrated assessment of learning within the tasks
Research process
Se co nd Cycle - Explo ring Us a bility a nd Wo rk-Inte gra tio n
Pha se Type o f a ctivity

The pro ble m id e ntifica tio n • Discussing pro to type te st re sults with the co unty
pha se a d ministra tio n a ca de my re pre se nta tive s

The sugge stio n / co nce ptua l • Cho o sing HTML a nd e mbe dd e d vid e o s a s the pla tfo rm
de sign pha se

The de ve lo pme nt pha se • Re d e sign o f GUI to be tte r fit IT infra structure a t the co unty
a dministra tio n

The e va lua tio n pha se • 1 e mplo ye e inte rvie w

• Emplo ye e surve y with 15 re spo nd e nts
• Ana lysis o f lo g d a ta
Searching the WWW
Evaluation

› Searching the WWW version 1

– Discussion board not used.
– Assignment to get a certificate
› Reflection, Assessment > Expert feedback
› Articulation, Collaboration > Peer-review assignment
Research process
Third Cycle - Explo ring Ince ntive s a nd mo tiva tio n fo r Co lla bo rative le a rning
Pha se Type o f a ctivity
The pro ble m ide ntifica tio n • Re fle ctio n o f the re sult fro m the e va lua tio n o f the Se a rch
pha se the WWW WLA

The sugge stio n / co nce ptua l • Re fine me nt o f the pe d a go gica l co nce ptua l d e sign
de sign pha se
The de ve lo pme nt pha se • Re -d e sign o f the Se a rch the WWW WLA ba se d o n the ne w
pe d a go gica l co nce ptua l de sign
The e va lua tio n pha se • 9 inte rvie ws
• Emplo ye e surve y with 11 re spo nd e nts
• Ana lysis o f lo g d a ta
Evaluation

› Searching the WWW version 2

– No one did the assignment
– Discussed/shared with local peers and family
9 interviews (20 participants)

– The employees pointed out the importance of easily being able to

continue the web lecture after a break or an interruption
– some needed a push to get started
› “One advantage with the local courses we’ve had before, for the most parts
it is someone who comes to us and visits the different offices, then there is a
time and a place set aside for the occasion. Then you book it and it gets
done. These types [e-learning like ”searching the WWW”. Authors note]
when it is up to yourself, you need to have discipline to get it done. Often it is
like: Oh, I don’t have time for this now, it will have to wait. It just never gets
done.”
Interviews

› The lack of time was also a factor in their interaction with

the system.
– when asked if they did the exercises two responded
› ”Yes, some of them but not all of them.
So you didn’t feel the need to…
No, some were quite obvious and some I didn’t do due to lack of time really.”
Interviews

› They expressed that it made more sense to discuss with

their local colleagues, even if the colleagues did not
participate in the web lecture.
› “Because it is more spontaneous at the coffee break and yes, sometimes
when I visited someone. I’ve even made suggestions during meetings.”
Analyzing web logs

› Web usage mining

– data pre-processing
› data cleaning, data filtering, user identification, session identification, path
completion, data enrichment and transaction identification
– pattern discovery
– pattern analysis
Use Patterns
Pe e king (P) J ust vis iting the ho me pa ge o f the WL o r just the s ta rt pa ge
fo r the vid e o mo d ule a nd no thing mo re

One go (OG) Go ing thro ugh a ll the mo dule s in the co urse in o ne go

Pa rtia l o rd e r Go ing thro ugh 2 o r mo re vid e o mo dule s o f the WL, but in

(PO) the inte nd e d o rd e r
Pa rtia l uno rd e re d Go ing thro ugh 2 o r mo re vid e o mo dule s o f the WL, but no t
(PU) in the inte nd e d o rd e r, e .g. mo dule 4 the n mo d ule 7 a nd
the n mo d ule 3.
Single mo d ule J ust vis iting o ne o f the vid e o mo d ule s
(SM)
Mixe d mo d ule s Mixing e .g. s tre a me d vid e o mo d ule s with o the r mo d ule s like
(MM) e .g. re a d mo re .
No n vid e o Bro wsing the no n vid e o mo d ule s e .g. re a d mo re a nd
mo d ule s (NV) d is cussio n.
Use Patterns

Chart with all interaction Chart with all interaction

patterns 1st version patterns 2nd version
Visits by hour of day
from the 1st version

Visits by hour of day

from the 2nd version
Research process
Fo urth Cycle - Tra nsla ting the d e s ign Co nce pt
Pha se Type o f a ctivity

The pro ble m ide ntifica tio n • Pre se nting the e me rging de sign fra me wo rk to co unty
pha se a d ministra tio n a ca de my re pre se nta tive s

The sugge stio n / co nce ptua l • Wo rksho p with the Co unty a dministra tio n a ca de my
de sign pha se • A co nce ptua l d e sign ba se d o n the e me rging d e sign
fra me wo rk

The de ve lo pme nt pha se • De sign o f WLA Intro d uctio n to ne w IT milie u

The e va lua tio n pha se • 18 inte rvie ws

Principle #I (Emergent)

› The limitations and opportunities of the organizational and

infrastructural context must be carefully considered as a
frame for the design of e-training.
– Prior to building the WLA, the designer should consider what the
simplest techniques are without sacrificing the pedagogical
approach.
– In this way unnecessarily burdening the implementation process
and the maintenance of the system is avoided, ensuring long-term
organizational commitment.
Principle #II (Emergent)

› Design to support for interruptive use, so that learners are

supported in prompt repetition of previous use-sessions.
– The learning material should be structured in a way that makes it
possible for the employees to choose how they want to interact
with the WLA, i.e. do it in one go or on several occasions.
– It should be easy to re-visit certain parts of the learning material
e.g. if the employee wants to review something.
Principle #III (Adapted)

› Design for explorative use so learners can create flexible

and individual use-patterns.
– Tailor the training method to different individual learning styles.
– The employees should be given the opportunity to investigate the
topic from more than one single perspective.
– Provide the opportunity to go back and forth in the learning
environment and other resources.
Principle #IV (Adapted)

› Design to promote learners’ reflections with peers in their

local workplace context.
– Employees regularly need to teach their colleagues or be taught
by them in informal and unplanned ways
– E-training should encourage optional collaboration by e.g.
providing guided discussion points
– The importance of IT supporting the sharing of narratives and
stories is of less importance in e-training situations with self-
regulated e-training
Principle #V (Adapted)

› Design for reflection and variation in participants’ levels of

expertise, so that scaffolding is integrated into the design.

– Providing tasks and learning material that consider the individual

levels of ZPD, e.g. provide the opportunity to skip parts that the
employee can do without the aid of the e-training system
Principle #VI (Confirmed)

› Design for a learning environment that provides an

authentic context through authentic activities and authentic
tasks.
– Exercises and tasks in the WLA should be designed so that the
employees reflect on how this new knowledge applies to solutions
on problems from their work practice.
– Designers should also strive for making activities in the WLA
interwoven with the work practice and daily duties.
Principle #VII (Adapted)

› Use experts that reflect the ethics and the culture of the
organization as content providers.
– The WLA needs to give the employees access to local experts’
ways of reasoning, mimicing the old apprenticeship system
– The attitude of the experts and co-workers should reflect the
ethics and the culture of the current organization.
Principle #VIII (Emerged)

› Design for attention through gentle reminders to counteract

procrastination.
– The designer should incorporate a discreet reminder system or a
push to learning activities that employees have signed up for
themselves.
Contributions/Outcomes

› The eight design principles for e-training

› Two instantiations of e-training systems
› An example of a longitudinal design research project
Thank you