Envisioning IT Use

Steve Howard
Melbourne University
Jennie Carroll
Melbourne University

Tuesday 10 July at 11am

Slides: http://www.dis.unimelb.edu.au/staff/stevenh/Lectures/CSIROpresentation.ppt
Paper: http://www.dis.unimelb.edu.au/staff/idgroup/01-IDG-2001.pdf

Abstract

Why and how do young people adopt and use information and communication technology?  Based on social constructionist theory and empirical research we propose a model of 'technology appropriation'. When young people are faced with a new technology we have observed three outcomes: non-appropriation, appropriation and disappropriation. How the technology is affected by, and in turn affects, young peoples' identity, their experience of power and the degree of cohesion in their activities and relations with others appears to be critical in determining the appropriation outcome. The novelty of this work lies in 'opening up' the way that technology is shaped by users after development; in describing the process of appropriation and in examining some of the key influences upon young people's appropriation of technology. This work contributes to a body of work that sees technology as socially constructed.

Short resume

Steve Howard

Steve's educational background is in psychology (B.Sc. Hons), ergonomics (M.Sc) and human computer interaction (PhD).  He has taught widely in both the UK and Australia on the issue of usable software and human-computer interaction (HCI).

He started work as an engineer with British Nuclear Fuels Ltd and later held research positions at the National Physical Laboratory (UK) and GEC Marconi.  He has consulted on human factors and HCI to Rank Xerox, British Aerospace, DSTO and others.

Steve's current research interests include web and multimedia usability, methodologies for ensuring information systems are usable and the psychological processes underpinning information systems design.  He has published widely in the national and international literature and has been an invited speaker and keynote speaker at a number of usability conferences.  He has been the national secretary of the Australian HCI group (CHISIG) and has three times been technical chair of the national Australian usability conference (OZCHI).  He has received research funding from diverse sources, including the Australian Research Council, DITARD, TELSTRA, DSTO, GEC/Marconi, Rank Xerox and VicRoads.

Jennie Carroll

Jennie's original training was in Economics and Politics (B.Ec.) after which she worked as a teacher before spending eight years out of the paid workforce raising three children. She returned to further her education in computing (Grad.Dip.Computing) and worked for four and a half years as a counsellor at Monash University.  She completed studies in information systems (M.Comp) and requirements engineering (PhD) while teaching at various Victorian universities. She has consulted to government and private organisations on the feasibility and requirements for electronic commerce systems.

Currently, Jennie's research interests centre on understanding, managing and improving the early stages of information systems development processes. Previous work has focused on quality management and improving the process through which requirements are determined.  Jennie has a long-standing interest is research methodologies, particularly qualitative research and its use in information systems research. Her research has been published in various information systems journals and a wide range of national and international conferences.     

 

 

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